An Observation

I ran into an old friend whom I haven't seen for several years the other day. After catching up for a moment or two she began her lament about the summer flying by and not having had any time to spend with her children (she doesn't work, by the way) and began listing all of the things she needed to do ending with, "I still need to go home and clean my house, it's been neglected for three whole days now." Wow!
I chose not to say anything, but if she came to my house she would soon realize that my house comes AFTER everything else! Sometimes it can take me a couple of weeks before I decide it really is time to clean. But here's the thing: my house will NEVER be Buckingham Palace. As long as small children roam my house there will always be fingerprint smudges on the glass (right after I do clean it, of course); there will always be tiny shoes scattered across my kitchen floor; my carpets will never again have that "just vacuumed" look to them; there will most likely be Barbie shoes, tiaras, play dresses, and pom poms mixed in with my laundry baskets and there will ALWAYS be a place on my refrigerator for original works of art compliments of my little girls. It will never pass a white glove test, but you know what? I'm okay with it.
My children have one childhood. I have one chance to spend their childhood with them. If I have the choice between going to the park or cleaning out my pantry, the park will win every time. Being a mother is the most important job I will ever have and I enjoy every crazy, funny, stressful, hair-pulling, tear-jerking, wacky, loving moment of it. As Pres. David O. McKay once said, "No amount of success can compensate for failure in the home." To me, that speaks volumes. I could not imagine my life without my children, it's up to me to make sure they grow up knowing just how much they are loved and cared for. I'm just grateful that I have the opportunity to do just that. The housework can wait!

Backyard Fun!

Sprinklers and a trampoline...pure magic to kids!

Why Can't Flowers Last Longer????

Aren't these beautiful? They're from my mom and dad's backyard. Haylie and Mikaela persuaded my dad to give them some and he ended up giving all three of us pretty bouquets! I stuffed them all into this vase and just love how summer-y they make the house feel. I just wish they lasted a lot longer!

Just Dance!

Feelin' Hot, hot, hot! My little flamenco dancer! Isn't she cute?

Stuck like glue! Haylie's adorable costume!

Haylie's dance group. They all looked so cute for their dance recital. I love these costumes-they are the perfect color for these little gals!

Mikaela's dance group. This outfit was for their dance to the Tangled soundtrack. Haylie also had another costume for Tangled as well, but I forgot to download those photos. They both did such a good job and they are learning so much. I love watching them perform.

My little dancers. They sure love posing for pictures!

Clucker's Cove...or The Poultry Palace...or the Eggs-Caliber...whatever!

So, Eric decided one fine April day in 2010 that he wanted to try his hand at raising chickens. I was a little unsure about the whole ordeal, but thought, "What the heck, it's not like we don't have the room, and we like eggs." I told him I was all for it. The next day, I come home from work and Eric has five little chicks in a box and he's begun work on what I now refer to as the Poultry Palace. It took him four solid weeks of work, every night, to get this thing finished. It also required the help of four solid men to help Eric move this monster into the back yard.
We now have fresh eggs every day, to the delight of our daughters and our dogs, hours of entertainment chasing the chickens around the garden. I love the fact that they keep the bugs down and they are fairly easy to maintain. Eric asked a store clerk if we needed to give them shots or anything like that. The clerk's answer, "Nope, just food and water. If you see one laying dead in the dirt, don't eat it." Truly a wise man. :)
We have had them for over a year and a half now and have added two more to our brood. It would have been four more, but one of our older chickens is into bird murder and ended up offing two of them. That was fun, oh wait, no it wasn't!
If you ever want to try some of our eggs, give us a call- we'll hook you up!

Easter 2011

Easter was fast and furious around our house this year. We didn't even make it to the candy hunt at the city park! Oh well, the girls didn't seem too upset by it so I wasn't going to rock the boat. We stored up a bunch of our chicken eggs (clarification: Eric and I bought some chickens a year ago and built a chicken "palace" in the back yard-see the next blog for more details), and went to work. I was a little skeptical at first about how well the eggs would actually color since our eggs are all brown, tan, green and blue. But they held the colors surprisingly well.

The girls colored all of the eggs this year. I was given the position of spectator/supervisor this year.

They turned out pretty darn good. Especially considering this was our first year using brown and blue eggs.

Luckily, the Easter Bunny didn't hide the eggs too well. Haylie likes her hunts to be quick and easy. She's not into "hunting".

Mikaela, on the other hand, loves the hunt and kept yelling at Haylie to quit pointing all of them out to her. Silly girls!

Mikaela Turns 5!

I'm still trying to figure out how this rambunctious little ball of energy is already five years old. I'm sure by the time I figure it out, she'll be turning six. She has the most generous, kind, outgoing spirit of any little girl I know. She is sassy and sweet, sugar and spice, fire and ice all wrapped up in a pretty little package. I love her playful nature and spunky personality. She is my little helper. She is always looking to please others and I love her for that. Anyone who meets her is immediately taken with her beautiful green eyes and her angelic smile. Anyone who knows her also knows how fast she can flip her little switch to, as I like to call it, "demon mode". No matter, she captures hearts and keeps them and she has mine and her daddy's forever! We love you, Cricket! Happy Birthday!




She wanted a blue butterfly birthday cake. Since I'm definitely NOT Martha Stewart, this is my sad attempt at a butterfly. Just wanted to clear that up if you were wondering what the heck it was!