Happy Valentine's Day

We had a great Valentine's Day weekend. Our ward had a dinner/dance that we attended. That was nice to have an evening out, but I'd have to say a highlight for me as a mother was watching Katelyn have so much fun participating in the holiday. Her class had a fun Valentine's party at school and she was so excited. She has learned to write her name by herself and so she carefully prepared all of her valentine's for her friends with her name on it. Here is a video of her handing them out to all her friends.

Happy 28th Birthday Sean

So we decided to adventure out and make a fun birthday/Valentine's weekend for the both of us. We got brave and left our two beautiful children overnight with Grandma and Grandpa and we headed off to St. Louis for the weekend. This was our first time ever staying the night away from the both of them at the same time. I'd have to say, "I wish I had done this sooner!" It was so fun! I love my children and I love being a mother, rocking them to sleep, wiping the peanut butter from their cheeks, and reading them books from the library, but there is just something wonderful about going on a trip and not having to turn around every second, answering those "why" questions, ordering their chicken nuggets as fast as we can, and trying to get them to calm down before bed in a hotel. It was so nice to just focus on my sweetheart and give him a great birthday weekend. We had a great time visiting and spending time shopping, eating out, going to the temple, and then to a science museum.

Of course our first stop upon arrival was the Apple Store. Sean would love to get the Iphone, but our contract is not up for a while unfortunately. So we got the next best thing: An ipod touch



We went to the cheesecake factory for his birthday dinner and then we did a little shopping. We went back to the hotel for some swimming and relaxation.





The next day we got up at six to spend time in the exercise room and then we got ready for a session at the temple. Then we headed to a science museum with lots of things that Sean enjoys. His highlight of the day was riding on a Segway. It was $5 for 5 minutes, but well worth it. They weren't that busy so they gave Sean more time than that and then they convinced me to ride one too. I felt I was getting the hang of it until I ran into the wall. Hahaha. I think I was just day dreaming or something like that. It was pretty funny. To me, it was a lot harder than it looked! Trust me!

First and Probably Last Snow Storm

It's funny how most of Sean's family is probably wishing they could get a break from the snow where they live, but here we are so excited to have it that we spend the day playing in the little bit that we got.





There was a lot of ice under it so it made for a great sledding day. Katelyn and Brayden had fun playing in it together. When daddy got home from work, Brayden hopped on for a fun ride down our backyard which is a gradual hill. It made for a long fun ride.





Then he had to have his first lick from an ice cycle. Yuck! I remember doing that when I was a kid too! I guess there is a first for everything.



Of course we had to make a snow man too!

Cousin Logan

My sister came into town this past weekend and we got to see Logan. He turned one this month so he has really grown since we last saw him. He was walking all over and talking to the kids in a "baby talk" way. He was so cute. I wish I had gotten more pictures, but here are some of Katelyn, Brayden, and Logan together just before bedtime. You can definitely tell they are related because it is amazing how much they look alike!

New Beds

I guess I have been working on kind of a big project. Katelyn and Brayden both have bigger beds now. Katelyn is in a twin bed and Brayden has her old toddler bed now. Katelyn adjusted just fine to hers and my mother had already given me a quilt for it. I just had to make a dust ruffle to match. Here she is in her favorite pajamas this morning.





I searched for something cute to go in Brayden's room and just decided to make everything myself. So far I have made him some soft flannel sheets with his favorite "Cars" print to help warm him up to the idea. He had a hard time sleeping in it at first, but now he likes it.




My project now is decorating the room with a "Transportation" theme with all the things he likes, cars, dump trucks, boats, planes, and trains. The only thing I have had time to finish is the window treatment so far, but here are the colors and designs to give you a sneak preview of his room when it is all done. I'm having fun with it although it is a lot of work cutting out each individual section and then cutting an iron on sticky paper and then stitching a zigzag over every detail. I think he will really like it when it is all done though.

Beginning a new year...

Hope everyone is having a great 2009 so far. We have not been very busy at all which has been kind of nice. The kids and I have been trying to find things to do indoors because it is so cold outside still. Katelyn and Brayden really enjoy art work. Brayden wakes up every morning and says, "Mom can I play play dough?" He has also discovered the joys of Elmer's glue! One of their Christmas presents I made were aprons for them to wear while they do their artwork. I thought I would share these pictures of them...






Katelyn is still attending preschool twice a week. It is so neat all of the things she has learned from memory. She knows the pledge of allegiance, days of the week, months of the year, and tons of songs. She does very well remembering words to music. She has also memorized almost the entire chapter of Psalms 23. She came home reciting it one day and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I'm really glad she is able to attend this Christian school here. She is having a lot of fun with it. They had spirit week last week for basketball and she had fun dressing up for the different days. She was an Indian for "blast from the past" and Cinderella for "your favorite disney character." I don't have those pictures, but her teacher took some. Her favorite thing to do at grandma's is dress up with her cousins. They go through a huge box of wigs and dress up clothes and make up every time we go over there. Don't ask me what they are wearing in these pictures, but they have a lot of fun doing it.