Haircuts

The before

In progress

The After!

My friend Amber cut my hair and both of the girls' also.  Brooke lost the straggly stuff at the bottom and her hair instantly looked thicker and Eryn had a few inches off the bottom and a little layering just like me.  Brooke was really nervous and even was shaking in the chair.  After reassuring her that she was pretty and that princesses get haircuts too, she was OK.  She wanted to make sure her hair was still yellow after it was cut and that it didn't turn brown like Rapunzel's hair in Tangled.  This was our first official trip to the salon with all 3 of us girls and I'm sure that there will be many more!

Princess Tea Party

The Princess Tea Party in the Park that Eryn had been planning for nearly 5 months did not quite go as planned, but was fun and somehow worked out.

Due to SNOW we had to abandon the park idea and have it at our house.  This shot down Eryn's planning on playing on the swings and slides with her friends and "Chase the Princess" which is her version of tag.  Yes, she's IT and everyone has to try to catch her.

We frosted and ate tiny cupcakes.

The party favors that Eryn helped me put together.

Awesome all red Starburst Jellybeans in a container that once was home to roasted red peppers equals roasted red jelly beans.  Yeah, they were strange.  Not gross and not great, but different.  Lesson learned though.  Rinse out things like that with a little vinegar and that will kill any overpowering flavor that lingers in a jar.

Oreo Cookie Balls.  WOW!  These were super easy and amazing.

Cake balls made out of the large cupcakes that didn't turn out.

Princesses CAN have their elbows on the table.

The tea cups and plates were collected from thrift stores over the last few months.  It was a fun game finding them in all of the dishes and having REAL cups for the party.  The best part though was that because they were bought from second hand stores nothing really matched and if something broke it wouldn't have really mattered that much.

The girls had fun playing Duck Duck Goose.

Eryn really wanted to have silly pictures with her friends.  They were quite the hammy bunch!

Then, it became a dance party with LOTS of twirling and spinning and the same 3 Disney songs over and over, but the kids never seemed to mind.

Little out of order, but this is the Cake Batter Chex Mix that I made for the party.  Oh yeah!  It was a lot easier than Muddy Buddies and with white chocolate and cake mix in there, how could it go wrong?  I may have found a new favorite.

Recycled cans with a little scrapbook paper glued on them and dollar store flowers.  Eryn had so much fun picking out what paper to use, gluing it on, and choosing flowers.  I swear she loves projects so much that she was born to the wrong mother!  It's kind of nice to have her help push me more into making things like this.  They are now on display in her room because she was so proud of them.

Eryn's party did not go as envisioned, but it worked.  After all of her planning and her ideas over the last few months that went into a very small gathering like this I can certainly say that I might NEVER be ready for her wedding!  In the end, she was happy and had a good time with a few of her friends.

Life Comes at Ya Fast

Here's a fast recap of what's been going on lately. I took pictures of Eryn's Tea Party Birthday Party, but that will be another post. So, we kind of skipped over that for now. Sorry if you're waiting for those!

The kid's all dressed up for Easter.

The daffodils at Mike's parents' house on Easter.

The boys.

I went to the eye doctor and had my eyes checked out. He was so kind to make me look like this for the rest of the day. Like how my left eye is HUGE and round and my right eye is squinter? I blame taking too many pictures. That right eye spends a LOT of time closed these days! Occupational hazard I guess.

Brooke continues her potty training Mexican Stand Off with me. Grrrrr...

Eryn LOVES preschool and comes home everyday smiling and telling me all about what they did at school.

Ian's up on his knees and rocking with an occasional huge lunge forward. He's so close to officially crawling, but just would rather roll around because he gets there faster. He can sit up by himself, but just sitting there is boring so he doesn't stay like that for very long.

Playing Outside

All winter Eryn's been begging to go play outside with this...

(OCD Brooke lined them all up every time the other kids stopped playing with them.)

We invited a friend to come play with us.

It was so windy that day.

This was about the happiest he looked the whole time we were playing. For whatever reason, Ian hates being outside! Sorry kiddo, that's going to have to change.

My Garden

Desert and arid climates aren't stopping my amazing gardening skills! Look what I can grow...

MOSS!!!!!

It takes tons of talent and skill to neglect a flower box and be sure that the snow piles up on it and fills it with water to totally saturate it throughout the year in order to grow such amazing moss, but I did it!

Seriously though, the moss was a happy accident. I miss the green softness that the forest type yards the overly humid Michigan provided me as a child. When I spotted this, I nearly cried. It was a bright splash of color and a beautiful reminder that no matter the surroundings that anything can survive and thrive.

Gushing About Mike

Prepare for a seriously sappy post...

This mug was purchased in Seattle on a trip I took with a friend and his roommate many years ago. My friend's roommate was from Seattle and they were driving up to visit his family and my friend asked if I'd want to come.

It was on this trip that my friend Mike went from more than a guy I was dating to, "the guy I wanted to marry." It's difficult to explain exactly when I had that official "ah ha moment," but I know for sure that it was on this trip.

For many years I'd wanted to go to Seattle. No idea why really, but I always wanted to go. Mike helped me get there.

As we continue out life together it seems (at least from my perspective) that a lot of the things that I've always wanted to do or places that I've always wanted to see are being checked off my bucket list because of my husband. He helps me to achieve my goals and to know that everything is eventual if you have patience.

Go to Atlanta Braves game in Atlanta - check.

Be married in the temple - check.

Go to Germany - check.

Have children and go insane -check and check.

His birthday is right around the corner and I just can't stop thinking about how blessed I am to share my life with him.

OK, gushing done now. I'm returning to the massive pile of laundry that 2 of the 3 children are playing in now.

Lasagna Soup

Lasagna Soup stolen from KSL.com's Studio 5. Here's the link .

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=204&sid=19345997.

I made mine with the Italian Sausage, so I should have backed off of the Italian seasoning a little and didn't realize it until it was too late. Amazing soup though. The kids really liked it and it made for good leftovers.

Oh and I'm probably going to make this for the Soup Cook Off Dinner at the end of the month. Mostly because I liked it and I really don't have experience making soups at all.