Olive Grace.

My beautiful niece turned 2 and here are just a few reasons why I love her so...

Opinionated
Lovable
Irresistible
Very funny
Entertaining

Great Hair
Rascally
Allison's baby girl
Cody's little buddy
Energetic

Happy Birthday Olive Grace! XOXO Auntie Kids

Sebastopol Bound!

Call us crazy! My mom, my mother in law, my J's and I hopped in the car for a turn around trip to visit my sister and her family.  Here's the next 48 hours in a nutshell.

Auntie's House.

Howard's Park.  This park had the most PERFECT flowering plum trees. 



Family Breakfast. 

Our time together is never long enough, but we make the most of it.  Sister, you make my life RICH. xoxo

Family

A birthday in this family is not complete without a family dinner.

Put us all together and you have MAYHEM, but lovable mayhem.

My Chair and the 100th Day of Kindergarten

My Chair...

Some of you may recognize it.  It has been brown, white, turquoise, and now it's black.  It sat in our (mine and allie's) bedroom our entire life. It has it's own story of late night phone calls, makeshift photo shoots, homework, friends, boyfriends, and the memories go on. When my mom sold the El Dorado house, I moved the chair into K2 where it is now, Mrs. Carlson's chair.

100th day excitement!

The twins just celebrated the 100th day of Kindergarten today.  They both made their 100th day T-shirts themselves. Jackson's 100 eyeballs and Jorgia's 100 hearts.  SO THEM!

I had some very big hair this morning, but Jojo insisted on taking a picture with me for my blog. 

She loved that we were both wearing our boots and long sweaters. How could I resist?

9 reasons why...

Dear Jillian,

You are nine today and I am in disbelief.  How did nine years just fly by?  I can still see you in Daddy's arms just minutes after you were born. He looked at me and said, "Babe, we have a peanut." Our Peanut! I am so amazed by you each and every day. You have the kindest heart that I have ever known and I love to watch you share it with others. Yesterday, I got to spend the afternoon with just you and I treasured every minute of it.  We went to the mall, per your request to have a cheese on a stick for our special date.  I loved watching you pay for our food and carry it to our table. You are growing up and I am just not ready for it, but it is happening. You caught me welling up a bit as we were talking over lunch and you said, "Mommy don't worry, I will always be your girl." Awe, my girl with the brightest blue eyes, the biggest smile, and a beautiful spirit. 

Happy 9th Birthday Peanut!  Love, Mommy

Here are nine reasons why I love you so much.....

1. You always have a book in your hand.
2. You still run into our room every morning and yell, "Good Morning."
3. You are a hugger just like me.
4. You are a fantastic big sister.
5. You know exactly who you are.
6. You LOVE your family.
7. You sprinkle JOY wherever you go.
8. You have compassion towards others.
9. You are my greatest accomplishment!

Some pictures from Jilly's Birthday party. A special shout out to Grandma Dee, Okie, and Auntie Kimmy for making her party extra fantastic!

LOVE is...

Yesterday, we received and delivered Valentines. We made cupcakes for Craig, surprised him at work, and took him to lunch. Then the J's and I went to see Gnomeo and Juliet (darling) and then Grandma made us a delicious Valentine dinner.  However, THIS was my favorite shot of the day. Craig sitting with Jilly while she typed up the summary for her American Hero project. Key by key she typed four paragraphs and he sat with her the entire time.  I LOVE that guy of mine. In case you were wondering, I was cleaning the kitchen. ;)

my week in pictures....

Sunday...

Monday...

Tuesday...

Wednesday...

Thursday...

Friday...

Friday...

Saturday....



Sunday...





This past week, was one of the roughest weeks that I have had in a long time.  When I look at these pictures, all I can see are the highlights and I can not help but SMILE. Thrown in-between these snapshots were... a trip to urgent care, walking to the mailbox with my kinders only to have forgotten to put the memory card in my camera, a super messy classroom, homework fights, a lost sweatshirt, a mad dash for party supplies, two trips to costco, and the list goes on. So, this week I will savor each moment, hug my J's a little tighter, and kiss C a little longer because a lot can happen in a week and sometimes you just have ride the roller coaster of  life.