Let it snow

Everyone on facebook is talking about all the snow they have. We had a light dusting...


Thankfully there was little accumulation and the power stayed on.

And even better, there was enough to build a snowman. Allie made this all by herself:)

Summer needs to come quickly before I gain 10 pounds!

This recipe from the Mother in Law's kitchen...better known as "Bunny". If you want me to email it to you, let me know.

Fonts for Peas

I have had several people ask me about the fonts I've been using on my blog. I was reading my sisnlaw Katie's blog not long ago. Someone commented that a font had been named with Reese's name, so I had to check it out.


The website is called Fonts for Peas . The trick is that you can choose any font, and she has over 300 on her blog (all are free), and you download them to your computer. The fonts are installed to photoshop or your office software. I used photoshop to write with them, and then saved them as a jpeg and uploaded to blogger.


I took this pic of Allie yesterday before Awanas...bribed her with gummy life savers. She's starting to hide her chicklet teeth when she smiles (no I don't tell her to), but honestly it makes for a better picture.

My mom gave the girls these outfits. The wore them out to eat on Mary's bday. I can't believe how big they look:)

Now I lay me down to sleep

The biggest reason for my blogging is so that I will remain intentional about documenting what the kids do and say. Allie especially loves clicking on the old posts and watching videos and looking at pictures.

Tonight Mary's prayer was especially detailed compared to what she normally prays, so I decided to write it down before I forgot. There is nothing sweeter than listening to a child pray.

Dear Jesus, Thank you for listening to even the little children.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14

FOUR!

What a perfect day for a birthday party!!! Two years in a ROW it has been 70 degrees and sunny in January! I can't believe my Mary is 4. They don't get much sweeter than this kiddo! Just to clarify..her birthday is actually tomorrow, but we had her party today. It's only 14 minutes away from midnight anyways...what a day!





The craft table

Mary and I made crown cookies the day before, and the kids decorated the cookies to take home. This was a messy hit.

These three cuties have been friends since they could barely hold their heads up.

For some crazy reason the power went out. That put a damper on the bounce house, but it didn't even phase the kids. It came back on for dinner at the royal table...chicken nuggets and cheese of course.

The nail painting station was Mary's idea. I put Allie and her friend Emma Cate in charge....they had a great thing going.

Here comes trouble!

Problem solving

My silly sista popped in tonight to visit...not knowing I would put her to work. Tomorrow, we are having Mary's birthday party, and I saw my her favorite flowers at Sam's yesterday. Now if I could just find a vase to arrange them....

Too small..
Too LARGE...
Just RIGHT...hmmm...where did that soccer ball come from?? It is STUCK STUCK STUCK! I've been trying to get it out for at least 2 years. We filled the vase with water...everything you can think except breaking the vase.

Ahh...ribbon. Most problems can be solved with a little ribbon...and two brilliant minds of course. Ok well, it was actually her idea, but this is my blog.

"Strike" a pose

Starting to show....

Allie had a bowling party for her bday over the weekend. The girls were being silly, but I thought this picture was only "fitting" to announce that my sis-n-law Katie is pregnant again!!! She's due in JULY!!! Congratulations Katie and Jason...praying every day for this precious gift!!!

Birthday smiles

After school, Allie did our normal routine of playing outside with our neighbor friends. We are loving this "warmer" weather. She chose a local mexican restaurant to go out to eat. The biggest change from last year...she read the menu, decided what she wanted, and very politely asked the waitress, "May I have cheese enchiladas with rice and beans?" Seven is HEAVEN!! If you knew this kid at 3, she was one TOUGH cookie....for sure the strongest willed of our crew.

Allie has "speech meet" tomorrow. She was required to choose a short poem and will be reciting it for a panel of judges and parents tomorrow. Here's the video of her practicing yesterday. I think she should get some kudos for being short about 5 teeth!

My big girl

Allie bounded out of bed this morning and in classic "Allie fashion" exclaimed that she needed to get started on her sign. I said, hmmm..."what sign?". She replied, "I want us to make a sign to put on the front of the car that says.....BIRTHDAY GIRL RIDING IN HERE!!!" Only Allie...she wasn't even looking for presents....just wanted everyone to know that it's her birthday!!

Love you baby girl!!!

Kid Conversation

The conversations around here range from GROSS to GROSSER. Yesterday afternoon I picked up Allie from school, and here was our conversation.

Allie: Mom I loved the salad you sent in my lunch (for some crazy reason she is on a salad loving kick). All of my friends loved the salad dressing.

Mom: Oh...well did they all try it??

Allie: Oh yeah, Meredith asked me if she could dip her finger in the bowl and I said, sure! Then Cade, Jesse, Madyn, and blah blah blah.

Can't be a germophobe when you have a first grader.

I'm babysitting today. Abbott is becoming quite the little talker.

Pajama Party

What a much needed weekend of some PAJAMA TIME! My sis-n-law, Mandy (hub's sister) and my sweet niece, Abby came over for the weekend. The girls had a GREAT time bossing leading Abby around the house. They had tea parties, dress up, bounced in the bounce house, and watched ANNIE!! The girls had never seen it; Abby knew every word!

Abby reminds me alot of Mary "personality"-wise. She's very observant, quiet, and a little timid to step out in an unfamiliar situation. These pics were taken shortly after she woke up. It didn't take her long to warm up!!! Isn't she cute?

She's only 8 months older than Garrett...looks so old in this picture. She probably has 500 more words than him too...I'm thinking it's a girl thing! (I'm hoping so anyways!) One minute she was hanging out with the girls and the next running around squealing with Garrett.

Allie acted CRAZY the whole weekend...that's what she does when she's excited:)
Check out those duds! Love it girls. Thanks for the extended PJ party Mando and Abs; I enjoyed the girl time as much as the girls did!

HI!!!!!

Garrett's trademark greeting these days is a very boisterous, HIIIIII!!!! I wanted to get it on camera because as soon as it started, it will stop. I found a video of Allie from below with a very similar, yet not quite as spunky, HIIII! He really reminds me of her at this age.

My sis-in-law Melissa caught this sweet pic of him and of Emily (my sister) while we were visiting.


I took both of these videos with the viewing screen flipped around for them to view themselves. Makes for great video! I think they must have gotten the HIIII from Elmo because they sound just alike.