Chloe's New Favourite Toy

We bought this toy stroller used for a whopping $3. Chloe loves it so much! She takes it with her everywhere, and when I say everywhere I mean everywhere! She was sitting at the table drawing and suddenly she says, "Mom! I have to go potty!" She gets down off her chair, and runs into the bathroom, pushing the stroller in front of her, taking it into the bathroom too.

Swimming for FHE

Last night we went swimming at the YMCA for Family Home Evening. Recently, the girls all just completed (with flying colours I might add) a level of swimming lessons there. They all had so much fun! Izzy and Lily have improved in their swimming so much. They can actually swim on their own! They had fun playing mermaids. Chloe can swim on her own too, with a life jacket of course. Olivia had a blast as well. The last time we took her swimming there, she was only 2 months old, and she lasted a whole 5 min before crying to leave! Last night though, she had tonnes of fun. Her legs didn't stop kicking. It was as if she were thinking, "this feels so different!" She also kept dipping her hand in the water and then bringing it to her mouth to "taste" it. It was her way of trying to drink the water. It was so adorable!

SPRING IS HERE!!!!!!!!!

Today was a really lovely day. I believe it was about 17 or 18 degrees out! I took the girls to the playground and we had so much fun. Olivia tried out the swings for the first time. She tilted her head back in the sunshine, opened her mouth wide with a huge grin, and just started laughing and laughing. It was so adorable! The older girls all wanted a turn pushing her on the little swing. It is so fun to watch your children experience things for the first time.

Thank Goodness Its Friday

I'm also thankful for:

1. Izzy's Spring Break next week! Sleeping in, here we come...
2. The rain instead of the snow.
3. Rice Krispies.
4. Olivia's ability to feed herself baby fingerfood. My life just got a little easier!
5. Lily's great practising of her talk she has to give on Sunday. She is so excited!

Spaghetti Dogs and Snuggly Dogs

My cousin came up with this great idea to poke uncooked, dry spaghetti through uncooked hot dogs....

....boil them and voila!!!!

Spaghetti Dogs! I personally think they look gross but the kids love them and they really love to make them!

I also let the girls make some yummy Snuggly Dogs as well (hot dogs wrapped in biscuit dough and then baked to perfection!)

A fun meal for the kids!

Thank Goodness Its Friday

I am also thankful that...
1. Izzy has the day off school and is home with us.
2. Lily brings me several beautiful drawings all day.
3. Chloe gets herself dressed, even if the clothes don't match and are often backwards.
4. Izzy's teacher said she was doing great at school at the parent teacher conference.
5. I was able to finally clean the washrooms this morning.

Do I Dare Take This Project On????

So I stumbled upon this blog and saw that they transformed this chair....

...into this fabulous chair!

I think that is just so amazing! The blog gives a really detailed tutorial too.

I have this chair in our home that was a hand-me-down from Ben's mom:

I really love the chair, I just don't love the pink. I would love to re-upholster it, but I just wonder, is it too much to take on? It seems so hard. But I know for a fact that getting a professional to re-upholster furniture is just as expensive as buying it brand new! Trust me I've looked into it. Maybe I will do it. I just need the right fabric.

I also want to paint these...

I have two of them, they were my mom's back in the day. I want one white and one black. That is simple enough to do I think. It is hard to believe that pink was the popular colour everyone decorated their home with not too long ago. It is funny how styles and fashions come and go.

She's Sitting Up! And She Says "Mama"!!!!

Last week she would start crying and say, "HmmmmmMA, HmmmmmMA." This week she'll cry and say, "MammmmA, MammmmA." I really do think that is her first word! My other kids all said their first word around this age. Izzy's was also Mama, Lily and Chloe were Dadda. Yay! She is growing up so fast!

Here are some photos of her sitting up, she is so strong:

Here's the girl that's getting her to smile...

Thank Goodness Its Friday

I am also thankful for...


1. Her....

2. Her...

3. Her...

4. Her...

5. And most importantly, him...

C-H-L-O-E

*Be sure to pause my music so you can hear!*

**Also, Please ignore my scratchy, froggy voice. I had a cold at the time.

Great Crafts I Want To Make...Sometime

At the bottom left side of my blog is a list of great craft blogs that are FULL of neat ideas for crafts. One that I have loved looking at lately is U-Create. This blog has ideas that then link you to hundreds of other craft blogs. I have added a link for the tutorial to each of the crafts I want to do below. Here are the crafts I want to make:


Hair Bow Holder by Nannygoat


So cute and a great way to keep all of my girls hair clips organized.

Door Way Puppet Theatre by Country Living

Such a great idea! My kids love playing puppets.

Rain Gutter Book Shelf by Raising Olives

A great way to keep kids books organized.

Shutter Door Bulletin Board by Craftynest

I love bulletin boards but hate how they can look cluttered. This is such a great idea on how to "hide" them and the clutter!

She's Cuter When Its Not 3 am

Thank Goodness Its Friday

I'm also thankful for...
1. Red grapefruits. I love them lately!
2. Good music and its powerful effect.
3. The warmth of the sun today. I can feel it through the window at 8:30am!
4. Izzy's progress with her piano. She finally mastered a difficult song.
5. The date Ben and I have planned for tonight.

A Fun Little Activity

My friend, Sh'nell, sent me this link to this blog.

Thank you so much Sh'nell!

The blog is full of wonderful ideas to help and teach your children. I used the following idea with Isabelle. I write her a question, and she writes her answer back. Then she writes me a question and I write her an answer back and so on and so forth. Isabelle loves to write and so this was perfect for her. I took some pictures of some of the notes we created. (She is still learning a lot of her spelling, so I have captioned what she wrote underneath.)

What is your favorite animal? A Zebra (she sometimes gets her "b"'s and "d"'s mixed up)

What is your favorite color and why? Red because it is bright and pretty.

Do you like the color of your hair? Why? Brown, I like it because it matches my eyes.

She was getting really bored in church last week, and so we played this game.

What do you don't like to do? Why? I don't like to clean toilets because they are gross.

What is your favorite part of church? Why? You going to my class. I like you. (I was filling in for her teacher that day.)

What are you scared of? I am scared of spiders.

I think it is such a great little activity! It really helps her to think of things to write about and practise writing and spelling. I found this note she wrote on the bus on the way to school the other day:

(I am six. March 3, 2010. I see a house. I see a tree. I see a sign.)

She makes me smile!

The Blue Snowsuit

Having 4 girls, many of the clothes and coats have gotten very good use over the years. This blue snowsuit is one of them.


Isabelle

Lily
Chloe

Olivia

Scripture Bags

So the girls got these new scripture bags at their Primary Party the other week. I think they are such a fantastic idea. All of the kids in our ward were carrying them around on Sunday. They are all really simple and cute. There were boyish ones for boys and girlish ones for girls.

The little girl who was supposed to give the scripture in Primary on Sunday was not there, and immediately Lily raised her new scripture bag high in the air and said, "I'll give it! I have my scriptures right here!" She was so excited to use her new scripture bag.

Once Upon A Time....

...WAY back in my YSA days, there was this guy who asked me out on a date. To say the least, he was really weird! He talked a lot, and he was just this nervous-like creature. My first thought was, "How am I going to get out of this one?" But then, I thought, "No no no, I'll go on the date with him, it'll be fine, just one date." So I went out with him. He took me to a play at the U of A, "Oz". It was a version of the Wizard of Oz, and it was very good. We then went out to a bonfire after, that a group of our friends were at. Let me tell you, I had such a good time on that date, and I found that I liked this guy so much, that I eventually...

...MARRIED HIM!!!!!

Yes, my first impressions of Ben were not really great ones. First impressions are rarely accurate! I have thought about that since, and I realized when he gets nervous, he talks a lot. He was asking a total stranger out on a date, of course he was nervous! Who wouldn't be? But once we started dating, the nervousness wore off and I got to see his true colours.

Had I not gone out on that first date with him, I would never have learned all about him and his best qualities. His best qualities are the following:

-He is funny! He still makes me laugh on a daily basis, even when I am mad at him. He can also make anyone, anywhere, anytime, always smile, if not laugh.

-He is positive, uplifting, and cheerful.

-He is a very good person. Once, we were stopped at a red light downtown, and this man in a wheelchair started to cross the crosswalk. There were atleast 20 other people crossing too. It was slushy and icy out that day, and the man in the wheelchair was having a really difficult time. Out of nowhere, Ben put the car into park, unbuckled his seatbelt, and got out of the car to push the man across the crosswalk. He'll often do things like that without being asked.

-He has a strong knowledge and deep love for the Gospel.

-He is really, really good with children and, needless to say, I have also discovered he is a really GREAT dad!

I am so thankful he asked me out on that day and dated me and married me and has stuck beside me through thick and thin, despite all of my flaws. He is my one and only. He is the best!