spreadin' the love...

check out little jane's skirt! isn't it just adorable and so perfect. well, it's a lovely gift from holly because i participated in a clever little giveaway on her blog so now i'm required to do the same.

(ps check out holly's etsy shop where she sells these cute skirts!)

this is how it works:

1. you have to be one of the first 3 people to make a comment on this post.

2. i will either give you something special (and delicious) made by me or do something special for you.

3. then it's your turn to serve someone else. you are supposed to do the same giveaway on your blog.

so fun and so easy - lets spread the love!

****update****

not taking any more comments. guess nobody else wants to spread the love so i'm adding my mom as the third person who will get something special from me. emma, denice, and mom - check your mailboxes or your doorsteps soon!

Y

for months the boys have been asking if we could hike to the Y on the mountain, so saturday we decided to try it...

the first half was great! the boys walked (slowly), but at least they walked and slow enough that i actually wondered why everyone who passed us was so out of breath. and of course, both boys insisted on wearing their pirate costumes. whatever.

jack even hiked all the way up the actual Y. he loved it! on the way up we took turns guessing what the Y was made of. jack and christian guessed snow, marshmellows, gum and ice cream. I was glad they weren't too disappointed when we made it to the top and they found out that it was conrete and paint.



now...on the way down was a whole different story...

we had just started down. christian was complaining so i was carrying him and i also had jane in the backpack. i had just told david that i was fine and felt perfectly balanced with one in front and one in back. well, probably 2 seconds later, my ankle rolled and i totally ate it! downhill! nothing to stop all 3 of us from crashing into the ground. hard. christian was screaming. jane was screaming. i was shocked and was looking around to make sure we were still alive and the first face i see is davids... and he's laughing!!! can you believe it? we almost died and he's laughing at us. well, the kids never quite recovered after that. i ended up holding sweet jane while david carried the other two all the way down the mountian!



fun.

the other day i walked into the bathroom to find this...

the artist...

and his art...

lovely.

Happy Birthday Grammy!!!

and Happy birthday Relief Society!!!

Lucky me. I got to be in charge of cakes this week so naturally i went with cupcakes - i'm loving how fun and easy they are. Check out my first attempt at a chocolate shell/liner for the big cupcake...and it worked!

can winter be over already?

i feel like i've exhausted myself and my ideas on how to entertain the kids during the winter. this past week has been a whole lot of...

christian doing this...

what?

you can't tell what he's doing? maybe this one is better...

jane enjoying these more often...

and we all know what jack (er...peter pan) has been doing...

Attached.

Attached.

Attached?yes!


i'm pretty sure jane is attached to "fuzzy bunny" and i think the greatest thing i've ever done was to pick up another "fuzzy bunny" on my last trip to target ...just in case....
no more trips back to grandma's house, the mall, no more backtracking through the aisles at costco, no more spending hours searching the house, no more stress! ...

because we've got 2!

and the other is safely tucked away ...


for now.

Updated...good guesses everyone!!!

prize to anyone who can guess jack's costumes.

seriously. i'll give you a prize.

so here he is as a...

shark
(i guess the blue blanket (ocean) he laid on ALL DAY would have helped with the guessing. sorry.)

Volcano (brown rock/dirt, red lava)

azul (the blue train from dora)

firetruck (that's a ladder on his back.)
toodles (from mickey mouse clubhouse)

sorry. no prizes this time, but i should give you something for even trying...we'll see.

...and he did these all on his own.

this morning as i was feeding jane...

jack came in and looked at jane

then ducked,

then looked again,

then ducked,

then looked again,

and finally said,

"mom, jane keeps winking at me!!!"

so funny, but so sad because poor miss jane is a little bit sick and woke up with her eye full of junk and sealed shut!

more...

i forgot about all the fun things that happend the week before valentines day! so here is little summary...

this is jack (sparrow) making his class valentines - it was cute how he picked a specific valentine for each person.

christian (brother-in-law) came to renew his green card/visa so we were able to see him a few times while he was here. it was sooooo fun and good to see him, but we missed the rest of the family... hopefully we'll make it out to Germany one of these days.

so.... when he came he brought like a whole suitcase full, like FULL, of chocolate and candy. we ate soooooo much - i don't even remember eating dinner, just chocolate. it was awesome!!! the boys especially loved their kinder eggs. he brought a couple cartons full of disney kinder eggs - the boys loved the walle toys they found inside even more than the chocolate! it was great.

christian thanking christian...


jack thanking christian...

...and did you notice the unicycle in the background of the pictures - it's justin's!!! he got special permission to take his fancy pants unicycle on his mission instead of a normal bike. he gave us a demo - riding it with his suit on and scriptures in hand. it was cool and exciting. he left on feb. 11th and we went to the MTC with him. being in there brought back so many memories - all the same pictures on the wall, the cafeteria smells, the large group meetings, the emotions - oh boy, the crazy roller coaster emotions while serving a mission!!!...

anyway...we're so happy he's out serving (and not home giving my mom stress!)

lately...

i've really got the bug to...

to start a business doing this...

to be here...

to do more of this...

to use stuff like this...


and to spend more time with just...

how we 'posed to get in shape around here?

curse you valentines...

curse you jenny...

how am i supposed to get all hot-to-trot with these delectables around...?

cupcake pops create muffin tops...

who stole the cupcake from the cupcake jar...

who me?

yes you...

couldn't be...

then who...?

oh i will snug-a-duck her

(those not familiar with the art of snug-a-ducking, please call me for a free demo.)

weep not for me my friends...i still have my own midnight snacks beckoning me to indulge...

bless you sweet swamp smoothie...bless you

what was i thinking!?!

...6 easters, 6 mothers days, 7 birthdays, 7 christmases, 7 new years, and now 7 VALENTINES DAYS!!!....you'd think i'd have learned by now...that david would to do something wonderful, thoughtful, and so perfect to celebrate (when i thought we'd agreed to not doing anything). and i would be standing there feeling so loved, so thankful to have such a fun husband, and of course so bad that i didn't get him anything!!!

some pictures from valentines day...

our cute fruit bouquet that david made!

the boys enjoying our valentines day breakfast with heart shaped fruit and bagels, pink cream cheese and pink milk. yum! (david made all of it!)

the kids playing with the fun balloons from grammy and papa...

(hmmm...i wonder where david gets his holiday thoughtfulness from...)

Ok...since nobody even attempted a guess, i'll just tell you what i spent my afternoon making - a prancer costume (yes, as in one of santa's reindeer!) complete with antlers and a jinglebell collar. luckily, the green pants and red shirt he was already wearing (because he's been an elf for the past 3 days) worked out just fine.

$20 to anyone who can guess what costume i'm being forced to put together right now...

just so you know what a typical conversation is like when jack decides he needs a new costume:

jack: mom, i need you to make me ______.

me: what?! i don't know how to make that.

jack: yes you do.

me: umm...no i don't.

jack: yes you do. make it please.

me: ummmm....can you wait until i can get some lunch.

jack: no, make it right now.

me: jack, we don't have the stuff. i have no idea how to make that.

jack: yes you do. you can use this and this.

me: ...

jack: find a picture on the computer.

me: ....

jack: mom, you can do it.

me: ... (looking it up on the computer)

jack: ...(brings me the stuff he thinks the costume should be made out of and then describes (in detail) how to do it. )

...then i proceed to make something that will certainly not be right the first time, the second time but i'll occassionally get it right the third time. and it will take me much longer than anticipated and so the dishes will remain undone, my stomach will continue to growl because i haven't had any lunch and any other plans i had will be neglected.... but, i continue because there is nothing more satisfying than seeing my cute little 4 year old's face light up when i hand him the finished products and he gives me one of the best hugs ever and says "thank you for making that for me mom. i love it."

...just in case you were wondering what happend to jackson...

...in the past year, he has been buzz lightyear (for 10 months!)

a lion

superman

a ghost an elf

the conductor (from polar express)

wall e

eve

a pirate
jack sparrow

the new jack sparrow
jasmin's dad jafar
and stitch