Monday, Monday

I can already hear the collective groan I'm gonna get with this declaration, but,

I {BIG PUFFY HEART} MONDAYS.

How is that possible, you ask?

Because I get to have 'the girls' for the entire day.

Taylor and Bella

aka: Tator and Belly

This particular Monday the kiddos where having a hard time remembering that they are actually best buds.

So, out came some sugar cookies and icing.

Each hooligan got to choose their own icing color.

I already knew what color 3 out of 4 where gonna pick.

Belly likes to keep me guessing.

It was so amusing to see how they each reacted to the adventure.

Taylor was meticulous with her purple icing.

She didn't start eating until

EVERY LAST ONE

of her cookies where decorated to her satisfaction.

In fact, it got a little hairy at one point when she accidentally got icing on the BOTTOM of one of her beloved cookies.

NOT EXCEPTABLE!

Belly had no interest in her cookies but was infinitely fascinated with her yellow icing.

It took some convincing that the icing didn't belong in her hair.

Ultimately she decided that icing is for eating and finger painting, not wasting on cookies.

When I asked Noah to show me his cookie, this is what I got.

I'm sure showing me the cookie in his hand never crossed his mind.

This was the only picture I got of him because the next time I turned around all of his cookies and icing where G.O.N.E.

This kid doesn't waste time.

Eden really had me cracking up.

Her tongue was moving nonstop.

She would ice a cookie, lick all the icing off, ice it again, then eat the cookie.

Backwards much?

Yep, groan and moan.

Shake your fists at the heavens Scarlett O'Hara style.

Roll your eyes if you must.

But, I loves me some Mondays!

{Heart} Day

We had a RAD Valentine's Day.

We started out the day with opening a few little V-Day presents.

{Thank You Target dollar section!}

The truly horrendous couch the kiddos are sitting on was my present. Isn't Chris so sweet?! Ha. Never fear. This baby has great 'bones', perfect for slipcovering and it was only $40. Yep, give me an ugly couch and I'm yours!

For lunch we met up with some of our favorite people in the world, Mimi, Debbie, Taylor (TaterBug), and Bella (BellyBaby). We invaded the Taco Bell close to the hospital and, along with consuming shameful amounts of nachos, our little ones charmed all the seniors that frequent the place. Mimi had to get back to work but the rest of us still had something fun up our sleeves.

HEART ATTACK!!!

We covered our beloved Mimi's car in love. If you'll remember, it was an insanely windy day that day so getting the hearts to stay put took some serious effort.

The vandals.

(Notice Noah's shirt and Eden's outfit. Cute right?!)

In the end, because of the wind, we had Misty's office manager trick Misty into coming out to look at the car before all of our hard work blew away. Her manager told her that she thought Misty's car had just gotten hit. Mist may or may not have let a colorful word or two fly and she rushed out to see the damage. Ha! Gotcha ya! The kiddos loved yelling surprise and telling Mimi that they tricked her.

That night, after Daddy got home from work, we had a 'heart'y dinner.

Heart and other silly shaped pancakes, heart-shaped breakfast pockets, and pink milk.

What a fabulous day with all of my Valentines.

Go Ahead. Eat the Yellow Snow.

Since the weather man is telling us that we can expect a little more snow this week, I thought I'd share something fun in case anyone wanted to give it a try.

I armed both of the kiddos with spray bottles filled with water and food coloring and let them go to town 'painting' the snow.

It took E a bit to figure out which way to face the bottle before squirting.

Noah's 'canvas' of choice was our snow fort. He tried to rule the whole process and got quite cross with Eden for 'mixing up' the colors.

Then Noah decided that our snowman, Pah, (as in the sound you make when trying to teach a child what the letter P sounds like. Every time I ask Eden what she wants to name something this is what I get) needed a little color.

This activity was a ton of fun and we will definitely be doing it again. I like that it is something you can do no matter the amount of snow that falls. I will warn you though, IT IS MESSY!

The good news is, I washed the clothes right after we got changed and everything came out fine. As for the skin, believe it or not, toothpaste was the answer. Just a bit of scrubbing and it came right off. Of course, we were all obnoxiously minty fresh for a few hours.

Just Wanna Remember

Noah is constantly making me laugh these days. He's in the stage where he thinks he knows what certain words or phrases mean. So funny.

Today he was 'reading' to Eden. He began the story like any selfrespecting story should begin, "Unce upon de time". He told of a train named Thomas and his adventures in crashing into Percy. He got appropriately animated as he shared how Thomas could go "whelly, whelly, whelly"...(10 minutes later)..."whelly fast!" And to end the tale? "In the name of Jesus Twyst (Christ), Amen!"

Amen, indeed.

Snowmageddon

Yesterday we woke up to an INSANE amount of snow. Nine inches?!?!?! WHA?!

The kiddos where beside themselves. Noah kept telling me, "Wake you, Mommy!" (translation: Thank you, mommy). For the hugs and kisses that ensued, sure, I'll take credit.

After the TORTURE! of getting everyone dressed, we headed out. Noah didn't let the fact that the snow came up to his knees slow him down. He just barreled his way through. Eden had the same determination but, alas, with the snow reaching her lil bum, she was pretty much stuck.

We attempted a run with a power wheels but it was a no go. Chris got it to go a bit on the road but it was rough so he and Noah decided to have a snowball fight instead.

Eden and I spent most of our time on the road where some cars where nice enough to have left some tracks so she could actually walk around.

We spent some more time outside today. Noah was just as excited....

Eden?

Uuummm...not so much.

Despite the tears...and whining...and clinging...and whining, we managed to start a fort. Noah and I needed something to defend ourselves against Daddy and his 'monster snowballs'.

Is my husband the only one that sees nothing wrong with throwing a snow cluster at a 3 year old that is basically the same size as said 3 year old?

Looking forward to adding more onto our fort and doing some snow painting tomorrow. I'm wondering if Daddy is going to have another day off of work. Fingers crossed!

My Baby is 2?!

I am in serious denial that my baby girl is 2 years old. But, I guess posting about it really makes it official. Boo. Sniffle.

The 22nd is Eden's bday. After a rough start to the day...

(she was mad that I was snuggling Noah instead of her)

we got going with all of the festivities.
She helped her brother DESTROY his room.


We had lunch at Chick-fil-A with Mimi, Dawn, and Ty. I didn't get any pictures (boo) but to our surprise, there was a cow Santa at Chick-fil-A. Each of the kids got a balloon and a stocking with candy. But, the best part, as always, was the playground. Unfortunetly, it was a bit wet and cold so we didn't hang out long.

Then we went to Target and spent her bday $ from Grani and Papa. She chose a broom and mop.

After Target we had to get home so mommy could bake her cake and it was naptime.

a>
While I was making dinner and decorating for her party, she and big brother got to go out and ride power wheels, a favorite pass time in this house.

She came back in to a house DRIPPING in princess.


I had asked her what she wanted for dinner and she said pizza. Pizza it is, of course, with a smiley face.


After dinner we dove into presents.


My fab SIL, Sarah, gave Eden a play kitchen a couple months ago so we set her up with everything she will need to run a proper kitchen.
Apron, dishtowels, wash clothes, hot pads, oven mitts, etc. (all made by mommy, of course.)


Food galore courtesy of Target $1 section and Kid's Market. (SCORE!!)


Yum-o!!


Pots, pans, 'hot chocolate' set, plates, bowls, etc. (also from Kid's Market)


And lastly, a new love of hers. A puppy. (She used to be terrified but now loves on any and all doggies she sees)


Then came cake time. Nothing fancy.

>
Now, this was actually her 2nd cake. We had celebrated a joint Christmas and bday party the previous weekend with Chris's side of the family. She got to blow out candles then so it was hard for Noah to wrap his brain around the fact that she got to blow out candles TWICE. He felt very cheated. Luckily, Eden was generous and let big bro help her out.


Here she is in full bday mode.


I sure do love my lil girl.
Even if she does refuse to remain my eternal 1 year old. Sniffle. Sob.

Ward Christmas Party

I had to document this so I have something to blackmail my kiddos with when they get older.

For our Ward Christmas Party they asked the nursery kids to dress up as nativity animals for the live nativity the primary kids were putting on. The day before the party I got a stroke of genius (I realize this term is relative). I was gonna make a camel costume! I traced the kids out on some wrapping paper and got to work, figuring the pattern out as I went. It didn't turn out exactly how I had envisioned, but, it was cute enough.

Noah was the head and Eden was the hump. Heehee! They are so gonna hate me for this.

Eden is not a fan of strangers. If she doesn't know you, she will usually give you 'the stare down' and then hide her face. Really makes ya feel good about yourself. Anyway, so I was really curious what her reaction to Santa was going to be. Surprisingly enough, it was love at first sight. The instant he walked in, she tried to walk right up to him. As she stood in line for her turn to sit on his lap, she kept looking around all of the other kids making sure that Santa didn't decide to make a surprise escape. When it was finally her turn, with no hesitation, she waltzed right up to him and let herself be put in his lap. Amazing.

Noah has never been a fan of Santa so I was curious about his reaction as well. He is, of course, older and more able to understand the concept of Santa so he has been more excited when he saw a Santa on TV. He, too, walked right up to ole St. Nick, ready to receive his treat.

My kiddos are full of surprises.

p.s. The pics of the kids on Santa's lap are courtesy of Becky Kanigan. Thx Becky!!