3.31.10 - casual

3.30.10 - another birthday!

sunday was my oldest's 7th birthday but since we were busy celebrating with reegan, we had her party tonight. more pics later on my other blog. :)

3.29.10 - static

the slide at the playground makes her hair stand up. all three kids think it's funny. :)

3.28.10 - bowling party

today is actually my oldest's birthday, however, reegan was having her party today (her birthday was last week) so we will celebrate on tuesday. reegan had a bowling party that was so fun! leah, of course, made her cake and had little puppy dog cupcakes to match. leah, everyone LOVED the cake, as usual - and reegan was soo excited (even though i missed her big smile in this pic...). :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, REEGAN!!!

3.27.10 - teeny tiny!

my brother's cat just had kittens! there are four of them. i finally got to see them today. they are soo cute!! for some reason, this one is my favorite. if it would stay this small, i might be tempted to keep it. :} but really i have no room for a pet. except the fish i used to have. poor henry.... :}

hey abx...what would you name this kitten??

3.26.10 - hey, michael...

i saw this and had to laugh...my first thought was "we would have LOVED this when we were little! these are so much cooler than ours were...why did we never think of stuff like this??" my second thought was "wait. they actually have a KIT for this?!" ours may not have been this cool...but at least it was our idea...we didn't need a kit for it! lol :}

3.25.10 - play-doh world

"look, kiki! it's da whole world at da earf!!"

this is what he calls any globe or picture of the earth. i don't know why. but it's pretty cute. :)

3.24.10 - push me, kiki!

he still insists on sitting in the baby swing when he swings. i told him i thought he was a big boy now to which he replied, "i'm almost a big boy...but i'm still kinda like a baby..." :) i get these smiles from him every time i stand a ways in front of him and slowly turn around with a grin on my face...he knows i'm about to run and push him high in the air and he giggles with anticipation. so much fun! :)

3.23.10 - reading

ok, two fuzzy pictures in a row...not great, but oh well.

today i hung out with lauren and we did girly stuff and then went down to the river walk and sat on a bench swing and read books for a while. it felt SO GOOD to just be outside and with someone! the sky was so clear that the moon was out (it's that white fuzzy thing in the upper right corner...). :)

3.22.10 - big dreams

i know this picture is a bit fuzzy. i don't care. :)

today he was discussing life with me. well, actually, my middle child was telling me i needed to find a boy to marry me. she suggested my brother. i told her that wouldn't work. then my toddler told me he was going to get married when he gets big. i asked him who he was going to marry...this is everything he came up with...

he is going to marry reegan. and buy her a vacuum truck. and him too...and lala too. and he will buy her (reegan) glasses and candy cuz he's gonna be the shop boy. and he will buy a big house. and she will have a butterfly costume. and he'll buy chips. he's not gonna get a baby cuz he already has babies...baby maddox is a baby...and he's kinda grumpy...but he's cute. and benjamin is a baby and he's cute too.

he reminds me of another three year old i used to know...one who asked for "a microwave...and a stove...and a HOUSE!" for his birthday! (that'd be my brother...) :}

3.21.10 - ba dum bum pshhh

today was jonathan's birthday party. he got so many cool presents - they were so cool that after each one, he was done. that was enough. he did NOT want to open any more! :) but after a long time of waiting for toys to be assembled, batteries put in, etc. he decided maybe it might be a good idea to see what else was in those bags and boxes! :) his grandparents gave him this awesome drum set! (the got mommy's permission first...) i think it's totally awesome! so did he. he happily sat right down in the middle of all the tissue paper, packaging, etc. and drummed away - chocolate cake on his chin and all! :)

3.20.10 - cool dude

we were sitting out on my deck. just enjoying the gorgeous day and weather. but the sun was so bright...it always is up on my deck...so i stuck my toddler's sunglasses on benjamin. totally cool, dude. :}

i am finally, slowly getting caught back up on things after a busy week or so. maybe i'll actually get around to writing on my "regular" blog soon.... :}

3.19.10 - great end to a long week

this happy baby is benjamin...my friend, jodi's little boy. jodi and i were roommates in college for my jr and sr years (poor jodi...) :) she lives far away now. in a place that is not home. :( we only get to see each other once or twice a year but it is always so good to hang out again! and this is the first time i've gotten to see this little guy in person. LoVe HiM!!! :)

3.18.10 - my little leprechauns

showing off our st. pat's day cake. :) not exactly "leah standard"...but fun! :) the wig that my toddler has on is one that we pull out every year. it cracks us up every time. more about st. pat's day on my regular blog....if i can ever get caught back up! :}

3.17.10 - happy cake!

so i got this idea here (of course.) and have been waiting seven months to do this for st. patrick's day! i love LOVE this cake!! it is so happy and cheerful and rainbow-order colorful! having things in rainbow order makes me happy. :) i did a different icing - an easy buttercream icing - with almond instead of vanilla extract in it...yuuuuuummmmm! :) and my kiddos decorated it.

now how in the world am i going to top this next 3/17?? :}

3.16.10 - three

today is jonathan's third birthday!! i can. not. believe. he is three whole years old already!! and i will be excited to help celebrate at his party on sunday. today i just went to hang out with him for a while. :) he serenaded me on his guitar. he loves his guitar. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JONATHAN!!! Y

3.15.10 - a hard...but good...day

so many things i could say.

you know the verse...

3.14.10 - older pic...newly edited

3.13.10 - chocolate face paint

saturday evening, abby, emily, and i took a serious chocolate therapy break...that kinda sorta might have turned into a face painting experience.... :}

3.12.10 - beautiful

this is my best friend's beautiful momma.

sort of my "other mom" growing up.

and this is how i will always remember her. :)

and these things will always make me think of her...

~m&m "energy pills"

~ pretty cursive handwriting that someone once said mine looked like

...that was a compliment

~ a thousand walks...in all seasons

...including one in the snow late one night

~ taco bell in the van

~ sprite

~ "the" knock

~ a phonebook

~ a certain picture of abby

(not that she looks like her in the pic...just the story behind it)

~ tea parties with little girls

~ road trips to piano competitions

~ daffodils in the spring

~ tagalong girl scout cookies

~ homeschooling

...and a thousand other memories from my childhood and growing up.

it's such a strange feeling to be sad and joyful at the same time. sad because her family...and mine...will miss her. sad because there are times when every guy needs his momma...no matter how old he is.

joyful because of the many lives she touched with her quiet and gentle spirit, her cheerful smile, and her faith in Jesus. joyful because after going through alzheimer's that took away so much of who she was, i know she is whole and healed and in the presence of her sweet Saviour. that is an awesome thought. :) joyful because the goodbye is only for a little while.

m...i'm here. always.

3.11.10 - such a nut :}

so evidently this child right here stuck a pistachio nut up her nose a few days ago!! just being her usual goofy self i guess... ha! thankfully there was no trip to the dr. required...

sheesh! :}

3.10.10 - not something you see every day

check out what was on the bottom of my receipt yesterday! it was not from a christian bookstore either. cool. :)

3.9.10 - little cutie

i got to hang out with mad max again today (that's his nick name :). i set him down in his crib where he could watch the mobile above his head and hear the music...and he stayed there most happily cooing and talking to the little animals on the mobile - for 45 whole minutes!! then he fell asleep for a little while. loved it. :) oh. his hands were freezing. thus he has socks on them. they were so fuzzy and soft...they had to feel so cozy! :)

3.8.10 - handsome

yay for getting to go across the street to the playground today!! it felt so good to be back outside...at least for a day...now we're supposed to get buckets of rain.

my little boy informed mommy and me the other day something to the effect that he "needed to be handsome" (it was really out of the blue and i have no idea where he got that notion...!) i said, "oh you do? i think you ARE handsome!" he answered, "yeah...well...my CHIN isn't very handsome though!! ...SEE??" and stuck out his chin for me to see. i just laughed and kissed his very handsome chin. :) he's so goofy sometimes! :)

then today he slipped and scraped his handsome chin and it required a band aid...so he walked around with "rusty" from handy manny on his chin all day. :}

i love little boys!

3.7.10 - ben the hippo

ever realize you could use some of the strangest things? i realized i could use a "chip clip" and put it on my wish list for christmas. my cousins, benjamin and jonathan gave me two way cute chip clips! benjamin, the resident artist in our family, added his name to one and jonathan's (jon) name to the other one (it is currently in use...). so now i have two very friendly little hippo chip clips in my kitchen. :)

3.6.10 - baby model

look at this cutie i got to take pictures of today!! sierra is two months old and such a sweetheart! i had put on my fbook status a few weeks ago that i needed a baby girl to model some items for my etsy shop and a friends said they had a niece close by. her mommy said she would be willing to let me use her for my pictures (thanks, amy!!) and my friend was even in town today! (rebekah...kristen s. says hi!) :) eventually i will have her pictures up in my shop, but i just wanted to give a sneak preview tonight.

3.5.10 - pretty in pink

this tiara has accompanied several of her outfits this week. wouldn't you like to wear a tiara whenever you felt like it too?

3.4.10 - butterfly

just a happy little playdough butterfly. :)

3.3.10 - curling up

....on the couch, with lala, a good book (don't you just love amelia bedelia??), and his "sicky cup". (i only recently realized that's what he calls them.) :) a great way to help a toddler wake up from a nap!

3.2.10 - perfect

look who's smiling these days! :) today i snuggled up with him on my chest and watched a movie with lauren while he slept the entire length of the movie. perfect way to spend an afternoon! :)

3.1.10 - umbrellas