frames

since i was a little girl i have always wanted glasses. i wanted them so badly that for my fourth or fifth birthday i got a pair from my dad, who popped the lenses out for me.

everyone in my family needs glasses... except me. lately i have really been wishing i could wear some. i know its one of those things that i should be grateful for, and i definitely am, but i still wish i had glasses. too bad it isnt cool to wear them with non-prescription lenses. i would pick something like these for sure:

i can just picture my mom cringing while scrolling through these hahaha!

a spot o' tea

i miss being the achievement day leader. it was probably the second best calling in the world (the first being the "birthday coordinator" when i was at byu-i... seriously, that was an awesome one!) (ok, i also LOVED being the activity co-chairmen with chris in our provo family ward... that was a great one too) (nursery was also great because we had snack time) (perhaps i am just thinking of how easy these ones were compared to my current position of primary president and they all seem so great) (ok, im done with the parenthesis)

moving on...

i was lucky to have the achievement day girls over this morning and taught a little 'class' on table manners and etiquette. they are such sweet little ladies and pretty much knew more than i did. BUT the class was more of an excuse for me to have a tea party. i love tea parties.

my kids played with some other younger siblings of the girls while we had our class and then had a picnic on the floor while the girls enjoyed cookies, strawberries, cheese, and raspberry herbal tea at the table.

i hope they enjoyed it as much as i did!

im loving mums right now with all their varieties and textures

after everyone left, j and e wanted to have their own tea party with water and strawberries. so i did what all moms would do and used that as a bribe to get them to tidy up :)

they desperately wanted to do a toast with their teacups and i finally gave in. im so glad i did, look at those chubby little hands... that might be the thing i miss most when they grow up...

the many faces of charlie

charlie is almost 3 months, whew time has flown!

every night i flop into bed, completely exhausted. when i review my day im usually amazed that i didnt really get anything of importance accomplished even though i feel like all i do is go go go. its been a good day when ive made more than one full meal, was able to wipe down a bathroom, or even just taken a shower!

i'll eventually get the hang of things... i hope :)

i was able to take some pictures of charlie today while ellie fell asleep on the couch. he is so stinkin sweet, its hard not to drop the camera and give him kisses

reed & cathy!

chris' amazing sister cathy, and her hubby reed, came for a visit!

we had a blast!

reed just finished CRNA school (the same thing chris is doing) and he had a conference on marco over the weekend.

we went to the beach, out to eat, looked at the gargantuan houses on gordon dr, went to bennets fresh roast on st. patty's day for donuts and whole bunch of other fun things!

the only thing that would could have made it any better, would have been there awesome kids, kayla, cade, and daniel. but there is always next time!

on a completely different subject, jack fell a couple weeks ago at a baptism and hit his mouth on a chair. he cried and bled all over chris' white dress shirt. that always makes for a little excitement at a baptism! anyways, about a week later we noticed his front tooth turning gray. hopefully it wont have any lasting effects on his permanent tooth!

this isnt the best picture, but you can still see it

a hayday with the devil

it poured yesterday and we were trapped indoors. but that didnt stop us from having a good time! we made forts, did a bobcat craft (dont ask), played tons of memory games, made silly faces, and made peanut-butter-truffle-brownies. whew. we were busy!

(this picture came from the blog that i picked this recipe up from)

as i said, these brownies are called "peanut-butter-truffle-brownies". they are the richest, sweetest brownies i have ever had. i think i've finally met my match!

if i could, i would change their name to something more appropriate like "the seven deadly sins" brownies or "a hayday with the devil" brownies - thats how intense they are!

ev came over and played on wednesday night. it was my kids night for a bath, so we made it a party and had a bubble bath. i know between larissa and i there is a picture of them in the tub from way back when... it sure would be fun to compare.

this is their "funny hair and mustacheses" as ellie calls it.

this will be embarrassing when he's older :)

random & lengthy

i've had a few random thoughts over the past week.

(this post is long because there is a plethora of video clips that you are welcome to skip)

first of all, whoever said the twos were terrible, never had a three year old!

most days, it seems our sweet ellie has been replaced with a feisty, screaming banshee. both kids started their terrible twos early, around 18 months, and the only thing i could do to get through the day was to tell myself, "self, dont worry, if they started this early, they should finish this phase early too". welp, ellie sure has proved that theory wrong! hopefully this will be short-lived. although i do have to give her some praise- she is very gentle and sweet to her 'lil charles'.

second, never try to make something that your husband is a lot better at, just to be helpful, because odds are good you'll both be disappointed. chris is the salsa maker. its that simple. and i have learned (about a gallon of not-so-tasty salsa later) that i am not.

also, out of all of the kids shows on pbs, sesame street is still my favorite. they try to make it entertaining for parents as well as educational for kids. thank you sesame street! here is one of our favorite clips that makes us laugh each time we see it. it was on this morning and reminded me why i like sesame street. i mean, if you have to watch or hear it in the background, this isnt too bad!

and lastly, i am so ready for summer. i cant wait to be living everyday in a swimsuit again. its much more fun for the kids. although im not sure how its going to work while nursing a baby. my suit isnt very conducive to that sort of thing. maybe i'll just have to keep my eyes peeled for a new, more conducive suit :)

(and for those that care, that means that i DID reach my goal of nursing charlie for two months. yipee! and i am going to continue until i dont feel like it anymore and NOT feel guilty when i want to quit. i know it was a short-term goal and very simple for some, but it was a really difficult one for me. it sure feels good to reach a goal like that every once in a while!)

here are a couple videos of the little people from this morning:

sometimes these two are so funny. they didnt know i was recording them while they were watching their shadows.

earning their keep

it's march 1st

and this is what we are doing RIGHT NOW as i am typing:

is this child labor or are they just earning their keep?

it's definitely the latter.

they are learning important things right?! yes, i think so.

jack is singing a little ditty that he made up as he folds.

"jack is a big kid because he's listening to his mom and thats what a big boy does and im gonna get a penny for my piggy bank"

he's very smart :)

out of all my chores, folding and actually putting away the laundry is my absolute least favorite thing. i despise it. hence, the pile of clothes thats the size of mt everest.

i bet that 96% of the time, we have at least two loads of clean laundry sitting on the guest bed, either waiting to be folded or folded and waiting to be put away. but they never end up getting put in their designated places and we just whittle away at the pile until its all been worn. pretty sad, but true. i would bet money that this could be one of those things that drives chris out of his mind, but he's too nice to me to complain about it. what a great guy he is.

this video is for rikki, as requested.

all right, i better get back to tackling that mountain...