Gracie's Faces

me: "grace, look over here and smile!"

this is what she gave us first. 

followed by this.

i think it's adorable when kids try to act tough and then can't help but smile.

No Fun At All

when you're up most the night with a little girl who has the stomach flu....

you're grateful the other one likes to watch elmo on sesame street....

so you get a chance to tidy your house since it looks like this....

{am i the only one that can't think straight when my house is a mess?}

***thankfully it was a quick little bug and madison feels better than ever. 

New Blog To Follow

i'm still lacking the motivation to blog as of late.
so for today i bring you a new blog to frequent - kamber and porter's.
she's fairly new to this whole blogging thing but has quickly caught on.
i love it since i can copy and paste her pictures as needed
(like above and below- i won't make a habit of it kamber!),
but mostly i'm excited to be able to see what's going on in their lives when we live across the country.
we have loved living close by and letting the three cousins become such good friends.

kamber and porter - we will miss you!

FHE

a five person party on a queen sized bed

and 

fruit loops for dessert.

Journaling

our yw's lesson on sunday was about journals and i came home feeling guilty about being a slacker with the blog, since currently it is my only form of a journal. so here are some notes as of late:

*we returned from an exhaustively perfect trip to "happiest place on earth". update soon.

*i'm loving the spring, though ours has started to feel more like summer. i believe we hit 90 degrees this last week. {above: my favorite tree at disneyland. what says spring more than pink blossoms?}

*it's sad to say, the suburban is officially out of commission.  we might become a mini-van family in the near future. i'm not sure how i feel about it except having a reliable car will be wonderous.

*biggest loser competition - what's that again? basically i did really awesome the first week. not so much since then. BUT, i'm not quite back up to where i started. that's good, right? positive thinking...

*i'm loving lady antebellum. it's late to jump on the bandwagon but when all you listen to in the car is "wee sing silly songs" or high school musical it's hard to get to know the latest groups and hits. better late than never.... my motto for everything.

*separating the girls into different bedrooms for nap time has done wonders for us all. the kiddos are more rested and their mom has become much more pleasant to be around.

*between work and church and money and two little kids and moving and a list a mile long of things i need to do and a separate list of things i want to do, i feel like a chicken running around with my head cut off. thankfully i have a husband who kindly says, "marie, stop running around like a chicken with your head cut off". he really does. and it makes me stop for a second, take a deep breathe, and then keep running around {you guessed it} like a chicken with it's head cut off.  somehow we're still accomplishing a little bit each day.

*i have no less than 10 posts saved as drafts - in various stages of being written, edited, or pictures uploaded. i just haven't found the motivation to do it. maybe it's partially due to the previously mentioned chicken syndrome.  i'll try to be better.

*and last but not least, someone told me something today and it made me cry- happy tears with some sad ones mixed in.  i don't know if she could tell my reaction, but i am happy for her.

very, very happy.

happy monday!

Tanning

used to involve a coffin shaped bed, indoors, tiny goggles, and a heart shaped sticker. 

hello skin cancer.

thankfully, now it's the-

teeter-totter

slide

swings

and 

bubbles.

almost makes me wish i could run around in my undies 

just like my girls. 

{and in case you're wondering...

i win the stumpy toe competition.}

A Couple Things

awesome things i love about our new house {my fingers are crossed until it closes}:

the saloon doors.
so funky.
but it hides the laundry room and unfinished storage room, plus, adds character.
and we like character.

incredible windows.
i LOVE them.
big and beautiful floor-to-ceiling windows in the living/dining room that will be covered with little finger prints.
the windows in the bedrooms are really cool too {can't remember the name of them right now...}.

original flooring.
the tile reminds me of houses i grew up in and the wood in the bedrooms is gorgeous.

this doesn't come with the house but we'll need to get one for sure.

for this:

HUMONGOUS oak tree.
talk about four seasons - we'll witness it firsthand, right in our front yard.
i can't wait to hang a swing from the branches {note to self: buy a ladder}, rake up a bazillion bags of leaves in the fall and see it bloom in the spring.

i really like that the house looks simple and straightforward.
what do you think about painting the shutters black? 
and a flower bed instead of shrubs?
so many things to think about...

and all will be well,

because i felt right at home when i saw this giant, brand new old navy just about a mile from our house.

Lehi Days

{taken by/stolen from lindsay palmer}

oh how we love lehi days! it's the annual stake rodeo held at the arena behind our church building.  if we settle in mesa permanently this is one thing we'll attend every year, whether we end up back in this neighborhood or not. we started the day out with pony rides and the petting zoo. {we found that chickens are the one animal grace doesn't like.} we ate a DELICIOUS lunch of slow cooked bbq beef, beans, coleslaw, and rolls. yum. we watched many of the events, including the lehi lariats drill team. many of the yw in our ward ride in it and they did a great job.  the weather was beautiful and we had a blast!!

grace wasn't sure who she should hang on to, the horse or the stranger trying to help her.

madison was really excited... until she got on the horse.  her face says it all - poor girl! it was the strange man that did her in.

our whole group - dan's parent's and grandparents. we were so happy they came with us!

some of my favorite events-

mutton bustin' :: little kids hang on to sheep for dear life to see who can ride the longest - a tame version of bronc bustin'

goat dressing :: a relay where you run, throw the goat to the ground, and transfer a pair of bloomers you're wearing, to the goat

greased pig :: just that. a greased pig running around the arena and whoever catches it and holds on, wins

money goat :: a goat with various bills taped to it. the goal is to get close enough to pull off some of the money

grocery race :: many a people fell and were bucked off during this one. its a relay to collect "groceries" and three people ride the same horse. SO FUNNY.

chicken chase :: my favorite. basically chickens are lightly tossed into the air and then get chased until they're caught. if you catch it, you keep it. the cutest is watching the little 2 and 3 year olds running after the little chicks {they divide everyone into age groups}. what's even better is watching all the parents cringe when their kid is the one to catch the chicken, wondering what they're supposed to do with it when they get home.

and some of us got more sun than others.  i generously applied sunscreen to the girls like any good mother should but forgot about myself. i've almost gotten that farmer tan under control. {and i wasn't as ornery as i look in the picture. promise.}

Verbal

i should be writing about Easter but that will have to wait for another day.
i'm a rebel like that.

grace is quite the talker for being just 17 months old.
this is uncharted territory for us because madison chose not to talk for so long  - stubborn little girl.
here is a sample of the words grace is saying these days:

mommy              daddy                nash               uh oh              hot

up                      down                 here               sucker             cold

there                  please                thanks            key                 bed

milk                   juice                  cheese            ranch               camera

teeth                 toes                    owie               amen               cake

grandpa            grandma             apple              elmo                boat

banana              chip                   movie             vacuum            on/off

plane                 book                 bear                tractor             fork

ball                    bike                  bowl               doctor              Jesus

baby                  cow                  moon              spoon              yes

chicken             eyes                  nose                pig                   loud

kitty                  dog                   flower             oh no

no                     bed                   cat                  salsa

egg                   tractor               open               open

stroller              moon                cheek              close

fishies               teeth                  mermaid         outside

blankie             back                  sticker            ella {cinderella}

*the columns are crazy crooked. oh well.

we've jotted these words down over the last couple days. some sound closer to the real thing than others, but she says all of them unprompted and very intelligible. she seems to be picking up more words daily by imitating anything we say. madison now talks nonstop and has been a great help in teaching grace new words. grace is a book worm. she would read books all day long if i sat next to her and most definitely has a few favorites. sometimes she refuses to turn the last page because she knows the book is finished. 

we love seeing grace learn and grow and its been especially fun to observe all the differences in both our girls. they are their own individuals, thats for sure!