Megan's Cookie Monster Party!

Megan turned 2 and had a Cookie Monster party. When you ask her what Cookie Monster says, she sticks her hand in her mouth and pretends to eat it while making loud munching sounds. It cracks us up and is pretty cute to watch! She's standing with a Cookie Monster cutout that my mom made, it's become tradition to make a wooden cutout for each party. So far we've had Elmo, Dora, giant ice cream cones, and now Cookie Monster!

Blowing out the candles!

Our family.

I've been so busy with work and end of school stuff and life in general that I opted to make cupcakes instead of a cake this year! They were super easy and everyone had their own Monster eating a cookie!
Megan with Mikayla, Erik, Brock, and Matthew. Happy Birthday Megs!

I Want An Imagination Like That

While watching the sunset the other night, Mikayla saw lots of images in the clouds. I seem to see airplanes, bugs, and a cookie with a bite out of it. Not Mikayla. She stares up at the clouds and says,

"That one is a T-Rex with lava coming out of his bum." Huh?! Okay.... and how about that cloud?

"That one is a mommy alligator and a baby alligator sleeping and the mommy is laying on a pillow and she has one eye open to watch her baby sleep." You got all that from a cloud?!
And the next one?

"That one is a T-Rex sleeping, then he gets up and chases a pelican." Either we're not looking at the same clouds or I am seriously boring. :)

Last Day of School

Mikayla on the last day of preschool 2009. I can't believe my baby girl is getting ready for kindergarten! She's growing up too fast!

Here's Mikayla with Teacher Noel on the last day of preschool 2008. It was wonderful having the same teacher for 2 years and Mikayla has loved her friends, teacher, and school. Preschool has been M-F for 3 1/2 hrs. a day so kindergarten really won't be much of a change for her. She is so ready for kindergarten though and I can't wait for all the new experiences that await her!

Santa Cruz 2009

Mikayla and Erik teasing the waves.

We buried them up to their necks in the sand and then watched them try to squirm their way free! Pretty funny!

The very sandy aftermath--we're talking sand EVERYwhere!

Me and my girl at the beach.

This is how we bathed the girls after the beach--their idea, not ours! Pretty funny sight though!

Daddy and Megs roasting marshmallows.

Megan and Brock cruisin' in the little red wagon. They were in this wagon constantly, it was so cute!

Two two year olds bein' too stinkin' cute!

I am in love with this picture of Megan! She looks so grown up with her hands in her pockets.

Me and Megs riding a scooter and a bunch of others waiting for our awesome tri-tips to finish cooking! We had such a wonderful trip. It was our second year to go camping with the Astle's and a ton of other people from our stake. Mikayla spent hours a day bike riding with 4 little boys, we all loved the beach and walks in the woods, and roasting marshmallows and hot dogs and visiting until midnight with our friends by the campfire. We had such a fun trip and can't wait to go again next year!

Altered Flip-Flops

We got a pair of plain old purple flip-flops from the Dollar Tree and spruced them up a bit for Mikayla. I put a safety pin through the end of some cute ribbon and pushed the safety pin through the flip-flop right next to the plastic that goes through the bottom of the shoe(don't know what it's called!). Then I wrapped the ribbon around the plastic gluing it along the way. I wrapped down to one end of the shoe and the other and used the safety pin trick on the end of the ribbon to pull it through the shoe to the bottom one more time. I snipped the ends on the underside and used a big scrapbooking brad to attach a white flower (from my scrapbooking stash, bought in a pack from Wal-Mart) through the plastic strap to secure it. It was pretty much a mommy craft but Mikayla loved picking out her flip-flops and going through my stash to find ribbon and flowers!

Pretty simple and dang cute! They were so cute I had each of my achievement day girls (8-12 yrs old from church) bring a pair of flip-flops, new or old, and we decorated a pair for them to each take home. Some did buttons, some used jewels, some did the ribbon and flower and others just used ribbon. No matter what the used they all turned out so cute and unique and way more fun than the plain sandals they showed up with!

If anyone wants to try this and my instructions were unclear let me know and I'll try to explain it better!

Big Girl Bed and Mini Burgers

Megan wanted to sleep in Kayla's bed for naptime and I told her she could sleep there, but if she got out of bed I'd put her in her crib. I came back to check on her and this is what I found! I was quite impressed that she obeyed and stayed in bed and I just love sleeping baby pictures. So precious!

Mikayla has discovered Mini Sirloin Burgers from Jack in the Box after seeing the commercials and it's a new favorite of hers. Not because they taste any better than any other burgers, but because they're small she gets to eat 2! She thought that was pretty cool. They come 3 in a pack, so Megan gets 1 and she gets 2. Everyone's happy.

At Jack in the Box waiting for our food.
Sisterly love...

Mikayla's Zoo Fieldtrip

My cute kangaroo girls! We all went as a family on Mikayla's preschool fieldtrip to the zoo. Sadly there is not one family picture and the girls only wanted their pictures taken peeking out of the animal scene things. It was a great day at the zoo nonetheless.

She has to take her picture here EVERY time we go to the zoo.

Mikayla's favorite animal at the zoo is the flamingo. I must admit, I too love seeing them and took lots of pictures of them. They're fascinating to me.

Megan's favorite animals were the chimpanzees. We sat there and watched them for a half hour! She was completely enthralled and they were putting on quite a show. Two of them were swinging on the ropes and chasing each other and wrestling and getting *ahem* quite frisky with each other as well. Poor things have no privacy just a wall of glass and tons of people watching! They were so active it really was fun to watch and Megan kept laughing and pointing at the wild ones and making monkey noises, she absolutely loved it!

Again, we LOVED the flamingos and came back to them several times.

Pool Party!

We went to Chico last weekend to give Trent a full weekend of study time without kids wanting to constantly play with him. It was hot--like 102 degrees hot!! So, naturally, we went swimming in my parents pool and 2 of my brothers and my cousin always enjoy doing tricks off the trampoline into the 5 foot pool. Safe? Not really. Fun to watch and makes for great pictures? You betcha!

He actually made it in the pool even though it looks like he smacks his head on the side!

Nope, no back flop.

Naw, he didn't freefall from the trees into the pool, but it'd be cool if he did! Freezing action is so much fun in photography. If I had planned on these I would've busted out the tripod and gotten nice crystal clear shots, but they're fun to look at anyways!

Some belated pictures

Some tire swinging at the park near our house.
Mikayla trying to learn to ride without training wheels.
a birthday cake the girls and I made for Trent. Can you tell how much they helped with the red lines! We didn't have a mold, we were just inventing a sphere shape with what we had!
Megs with the cake.

Happy Birthday Megan!

Two years ago today, little Megan Dean entered the world at 6lbs. 13oz. and has remained tall and skinny all the way. She is such a wonderful addition to our family and was the BEST baby ever and is turning into quite a great little kid too. We just love Megan and I'm so glad Mikayla has a sister to love, cuddle, read to, sing to, and make laugh. They have so much fun playing together and I know their bond will only grow stronger with time. We love you Megan and can't believe you're 2 years old already!
The day Megan was born, our first family picture!
Mikayla holding her baby sister, already so in love!

She smothered her with hugs, kisses, loves, and lots of songs.

Megan, about 3 months old, finally with a little hair.

The other day Meggy wanted a skirt on and picked out a hair pretty, necklace, and bracelet to wear. I told her we were going to go pick up Mikayla from school and she grabbed my camera and wanted me to take her picture. She's so funny sometimes! She knew she looked cute and wanted her picture taken.

Before church the other day I showered with Megan and then put mousse in her hair. When it dried, it curled right up like mine does, she had the cutest little ringlets all over I wish she'd let me curl her hair everyday!

Yay! She's in!

I just got a call today from Cowan Elementary School saying Mikayla has a spot for kindergarten! I am so excited! We did open enrollment, but ended up on the waiting list and had to register her at our neighborhood school and then at the other school she got into. Now, I get to go in tomorrow and register Mikayla at the school of our choice and I couldn't be happier! :) Yay!

Mother's Day...

I want to find joy in motherhood. Joy in living life. Joy in all the little things that pass so quickly. Joy in the crayon scribbles on the table knowing I won't see those chubby little fingers grasping a crayon in a few years. Joy in a messy kitchen, knowing I've just fed my husband and children a meal. Joy in water on the bathroom floor knowing I've just bathed my little beauties and before long they'll want their privacy in a shower. Joy in hearing the word, "Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom..." twelve-hundred times a day knowing that is the sweetest word I shall ever hear.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just a little scared for our new little baby coming. I'm a little scared about how messy my house might be, how tired I'll be, how many more handprints and muddy feet there will be, how many more Dr.'s appts. and bouts with the flu there will be. But I know I need to leave my fears in the hands of my Heavenly Father. He will help me get through all the challenges and obstacles to come my way and will help give me those moments of hugs, kisses, and tender words that I need with my beautiful, sweet children that help to get me through the day.

I am thankful for the mother's in my life and how they have shaped me into who I am. I follow their examples and try to be the best mom I can to these two little ones. Am I a gourmet chef? Hardly. But I still try to make healthy, homecooked meals when I can and love that my kids like to snack on blueberries and broccoli. Am I a seamstress who makes all my kids' clothes? Nope. But I bargain hunt and today they're wearing clothes that I got on sale at the end of last year's summer season to save a buck. Do I keep a perfectly clean house day in and day out? Let me tell you how much I'd like to. I have run myself ragged this week cleaning, organizing, scrubbing, wiping the fingerprints off the bathroom mirror several times each day, cleaning the carpets, doing laundry, and putting away toys to see if I could keep it spotless for a week. I would LOVE a perfectly clean house, but know that life goes on and this isn't as realistic as I'd like it to be. Am I careful with my words and never raise my voice? Again, wishful... I try. But sometimes, yeah, okay, I yell. I feel badly afterward and wish I didn't, but I don't understand some days why we need the sweater that goes with the shirt that goes with the pants that goes with the sandals that goes with the particular hairbow for 8am preschool?! I need more patience.

You know, I didn't want this post to be about what I'm not, because one day a year I want to feel great. I want to feel like a wonderful mom who loves her children and tries hard to take care of them. My dad told me today what a great mom I am and what a great job I'm doing. That's it. That's all I needed to hear. That's what every mom needs to hear on Mother's Day. I work hard to get the flowers from my husband, new griddle from my girls, and chocolate dipped strawberries from church, and a day to not cook or clean. And I want to enjoy it. And I did. With my family and my children. And that is a pretty spectacular Mother's Day.

Cinco De Mayo!

Here's the girls in their Cinco De Mayo dresses. Uncle Josh and Aunt Chloe went to Mexico in January and brought back some little dresses for them. I told Mikayla where the dresses were from and she wanted to wear hers for Cinco de Mayo. She wore it to preschool and her teacher said, "What a pretty dress Mikayla! It's perfect for today, and I love all the pretty colors!" She said, "Yeah, I look like a Mexican girl." Uhhh, not quite what I had said in the morning, but whatever! I taught water aerobics and worked and had achievement days that night, so for our holiday-themed meal we had ultimate nachos! C'mon give me a break, it's kinda Mexican food!

Megs loves wearing her comfy blue dress.

They both love all the hand-embroidered flowers and Mikayla loved that her dress had all the colors of the rainbow in it. Thanks Josh and Chloe!

Ducks and Chicks

My aunt and cousins got some chicken and duck eggs and placed them in an incubator and turned them each day until they hatched. We got to go and hold them when they were less than 48 hrs. old. The girls loved it! They both were fearless and just picked them right up and held them close and petted them. So neat!

I didn't get a pic of Megan holding the chicks and ducks unfortunately, but here she is on the ride over. :)