princess day

today was princess day at school. Lily looooooooved getting all dolled up and being allowed to wear MAKEUP(!) to school! I put lipstick on her and rushed her outside as quickly as possible hoping that it wouldn't get messed up. BUT when I took her pictures it was somehow already smudged. oh well. she's STILL a princess.

26 years

Disclaimer: I could go on all day about how wonderful I think my parents are. This post does not do them justice!  

Happy Anniversary to the two most wonderful people I know. I am sooooo lucky and blessed to call them Mom and Dad!!!

My dad is such an example of everything a man should be. He is hardworking and diligent in all his responsibilities. He works all day at his job and then he comes home and just keeps on working. It is a rare sight to see my dad take a break. Not only does he work hard doing "man" work but he is also helpful around the house and with the children. My dad can often be found cooking a meal or sweeping the floor. I also remember him fixing our hair a handful of times when my mom was sick or otherwise unable to dress us and get us ready. Geri and I were fancy ladies with our hair parted straight down the middle and combed wet and flat to our heads:)

My mom has taught me so many important lessons. She is the most generous person I know. She gives and gives and gives to her family, her extended family, her community, and to complete strangers. She is also the most compassionate person I know. So often I have seen her weep for people she has never even met. When others hurt she truly feels their pain, her heart literally aches when she sees the trials of those around her. She also gives everyone the benefit of the doubt and recognizes that there are two sides to every story. This quality of my mother's is especially beneficial to my husband:) It seems like every time she is present for one of our spats (which are few and far between- or fewer and farther between than they used to be!:)) she is on both our sides. Sometimes this is irritating. Sometimes when I am upset with an individual it feels good to have someone fuel my fire, but my mom will dump a bucket of water on it and put it out. It's because she's smart. It's because she knows that it's much better not to have a fire.

Both of my parents have taught by example. I grew up seeing them kneel in prayer beside their bed late at night and early in the morning. If I was up early enough I knew that I would find my dad at the kitchen table with his scriptures propped up behind his cereal bowl. I have watched my mother give and be overgenerous to people who are unkind and undeserving. My parents have taught us to love and to be faithful and they continue to love and teach us every day. Though we are mostly grown and there are many miles between us, they will always be our parents, setting an example and expecting the best from their children.

 Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! Thank you for being the best parents I could ever even hope for!!

I LOVE YOU!

crazy day

So it's Spirit Week at Lily's school (I didn't realize they did that for elementary school???) and today was CRAZY day. Yesterday was pajama day and Lily was overjoyed to wear her "beautiful pink nightgown" to school. I didn't get a picture but aren't there enough pictures of my kids in their jammies on this blog??
We made sure to get pictures of her in her crazy outfit today. She giggled all morning as we got her ready for school. She was soooooo thrilled to be dressing up so silly!

Tomorrow is Princess Day. I'm pretty sure EVERY day is Princess Day around here.

(another) first day if school!

Today was Kaylee's very first day of preschool! She was sooooo excited to go and when I dropped her off she was very shy but she didn't cling to me or ask for me to stay at ALL! I was very pleasantly surprised:) I watched her from the observation booth for a  few minutes before I left and she jumped right in to the preschool action. I was so happy!!

 Riley really wanted to be in these pictures but apparently she didn't care about taking a good photograph.

 I just think Kaylee is the cutest thing ever.

 I took this one from the observation booth. It's a two-way mirror so she couldn't see me. When she saw this pic she was like "How did you take that??? Where were you??"

 Riley and I had a whole hour and a half of Riley and Mommy time. We decided to make playdough.

Here is our creation. He was ill-fated and was squished flat by a Giant Riley Monster.

Kaylee had a great first day. When I picked her up from school she said she didn't learn anything but she ate applesauce and cheese and got to play outside... sounds good to me.

nothing very much

I haven't posted yet because I want to wait until I do a birthday post for Michael. but.... we just packed up the photo albums and I need pictures of his sweet little angel face as a tiny child. hopefully I can do it next week after we move! oh yeah, and in May half my family celebrated their birthdays and I COMPLETELY spaced doing birthday posts for them. so that will be coming up too:)

and because my blog is all about the pictures, I simply can't leave you with a post withOUT a photo or two.

Kaylee thought that toting the bunny around in this basket was loads of fun. I'm not sure how Snowflake(Rapunzel-Makelle) felt about it....

These two are bestie best friends.

and do I have to tell you they dressed themselves?? i love the outfits they come up with. and Kaylee's clothes are always on backwards, everything from her shirt to her undies. she insists. she says she like them that way. 

a surprise

it's michael's birthday (as of five minutes ago). he is just gonna love his birthday surprise at 6:00am :)

Riley had a lot of fun helping me, but she  pooped out loooong before I finished!

just wanted to share...

we went to the park the other day and I let Kaylee do her own hair. she looked amazing.

Makenzie Lee

At 6:01 last night, my beautiful, precious, tiny perfect niece was born. She is 7 lbs 6 ounces of Heaven:) I can't wait to hold her!

Makenzie Lee

hair

On Tuesday I took the girls in to get their hair cut for the last time before Heather graduated!

Aren't they cute?? We didn't change very much on any of them, just trims and curls:)

Thanks Heather! WHAT will we do without you??:(

bunny girl

For Kaylee's birthday we did something I never thought we'd do. We got her a bunny rabbit! Kaylee is such an animal girl and she adores this tiny little creature. She has already gone through several names. I prefer Rapunzel; that's what Kaylee first named her, but now she consistently calls her Snowflake. If you ask Lily what we named her she'll tell you Makelle. Good thing she is a bunny and not a dog. She'd be quite confused.

meet Rapunzel Makelle Snowflake Bunny-Girl:

This is Kaylee's favorite way to hold "snowflake". She's such a little mommy.

a walk

eeeeek!

 

I was super excited to see my due date on the half and half as I placed it in my cart today. 8 more weeks!

more is more

Here are a million pictures from our beach day. Kaylee watched me make this post and she said, "Let's just go back to Grandpa Christensen's house. I love the beach." Me too, Kaylee!

Lily makes friends everywhere she goes. The little girl you don't recognize is Lucia. She was our new friend for the day and the girls had lots of fun playing with her.