For Stampin' Up! ladies :)

Sydney made this and asked that I share it with my Stampin' Up! ladies :)

She told me she would teach you all how to make it next time you come over!

Spring Break Journals

YEAH! We're on spring break for 2 weeks! This morning the kids made these fun journals to document all their fun. Inside are clear envelopes so they can slide in their writings and drawings from the next two weeks. Each kid's personality totally shows through on their covers.

Sydney is a total princess so the "Princess Time" stamp set was perfect for her. She insisted that everything be pink...definitely easy enough with Pretty in Pink, Pink Passion, and Sending all my Love DSP. And what's a princess without some sparkle so we added some Champagne Mist shimmer spritz.

Sierra has decided that blue is now her favorite color (for some reason it's not cool to like pink anymore) so Bashful Blue fit the bill. Punches are definitely her favorite thing to use...Scallop Circle, Lg. Star, and Lg. Heart punches are definitely her favorites. The "Holiday Blitz" stamp set had every stamp that she could want for her background.

J.R. is definitely all boy. But he couldn't just use the "Extreme Skateboard" stamp set as is...he had to jazz it up by drawing directly on the stamp with the markers. He loves to be classified as an inventor...so I thought that really shows how much his mind is CONSTANTLY going!

Can't wait to see what they write about in their journals each day of our adventures together.

Kid creations!

Here are a few of the kids' creations for thank you cards. Some had already been given away before I got a picture of them.

This one was made by JR & Sierra for Mom & Dad (do you see the M and D?) :) It even had the cutest note written in side...definitely a keeper!

How creative is this one to make a bow for the top of the card?

I love how this one was modified to have a back page...just add staples backwards :)

The picture doesn't really show the creativeness in this card....the front square it actually cut out so it pops out at you like a spring. It was so fun to watch the kids create without me telling them what they can and can't use :) Too precious!

Kiddos' Valentines

Thanks to the rain on Monday valentines were completed for classmates...

Sydney's was made with retired designer series paper that I cut with the Big Shot Scallop #2 die. Just simply wrapped it around the pencil, stapled it, and covered the staple with the tag from the stamp set "Happy Heart Day" that had been punched out with the small tag punch that was popped up with a dimensional. (The other two wrote her name on all the tags, thankfully!!)

J.R.'s was probably the fastest valentine. He stuffed the jar of playdough in the cello bag, folded the bag over, and stapled the top. I cut 4"x4" pieces of a retired designer series paper (boy colors that he insisted on), folded them in half, and adhered them to the top of the cello bag with SNAIL adhesive. He then added a tag from the stamp set "Happy Heart Day" that had been punched out with the small tag punch that was popped up with a dimensional.

We had actually started Sierra's valentines last week but then when she got sick she just didn't have the motivation to do anymore. We cut the Box #2 die using the Big Shot. We were going to wheel hearts all over the box but just didn't have the time or energy to do it so we just went with plain boxes. I put the boxes together for her with just one little piece of sticky strip. She added the playdough jar, closed up the box, and attached a popped-up heart tag that she had punched out with the Full Heart punch that she wrote her name on.
Now we're ready for the Valentine Day celebrations!!!

Princess Party

Wow! What a week of fun and preparation! Sierra had her "2nd birthday" yesterday with 30+ of her friends. We enjoyed lunch together and then had some fun with box towers/castles,

musical thrones, graham cracker castle decorating,


pin the crown on the princess,
and her special request...a pinata.

(this was Sydney's first time swinging at a pinata :)



After most everyone left, Sierra had fun opening the presents. After each one, she would make some really cute comment..."oh, just what I wanted" "isn't this so cute" "I love it" "can I play with this right now?"


It was a great day...and so fun to share it with such good friends.

Birthday Princess

Our princess is 5! What a fun day we had today. We started the morning with number 5 blueberry pancakes complete with candles.


Presents followed. She was so excited about everything.

We went out for a birthday lunch at her favorite restaurant where they sang to her and gave her balloons and a free meal on her next visit.

This afternoon she kept asking if the phone was ringing for her...she loved it when the aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents called to sing and wish her a happy birthday! Now she's looking forward to her "2nd birthday"...her friend b-day party this weekend! :)

Monster Jam 2009

Last night Dave & JR enjoyed a night of fun with Nick & Courtney at the Monster Jam. I think this will definitely be on the schedule every year for awhile. JR's favorite part was when Gravedigger won two trophies. Since they went last year, they learned a few things...buy tickets ahead of the event (they had GREAT seats this year), buy nachos early in the night so they don't run out, the hot chocolate is hot but very nice for a chilly night, and be prepared for cold weather and lots of noise. You can see the pics from last year here.

Intense

The kids received a wii for Christmas...a lot of time has been spent practicing so they can race Uncle Roger better. This afternoon the kids did very well against him! You could tell they've been practicing :)

Weekend Family Fun

Being that the kids were sick off and on this week, we didn't get outside much during the week. Saturday afternoon we enjoyed some time in the garden. We even cooked dinner over a fire. Our most exciting news is watching our oranges change on our orange tree!! It will be our first year of our own oranges. :)

Family FUN Day

Today we met Dave's brother, his wife, and baby and his wife's mom and two siblings "half-way." We ate lunch together, rode the carousel, and walked the mall looking for things for the kids to do.




On the way back, we stopped to ice skate. It was the kids' first time skating. They did really well for their first time! Sydney was so jealous that she couldn't get on the ice...can't wait until Christmas so we can go again.

Happy New Year!

Thanks for the reminder of these easy noise makers! Have fun ringing in the New Year! May it be filled with lots of noise!

Christmas Day

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! What a day of fun! We started the fun with seeing what Santa brought...a science kit for JR, a camera for Sierra, and a baby stroller for Sydney.

We continued on to open presents that were under the tree. The biggest surprise for the kids was a Wii from Mom and Dad :)

The Elders joined us for lunch.



The rest of the day/evening was spent playing the wii (MarioKart and WiiFit are the favorites)!!! We took some time out to try out J.R.'s volcano kit. We built our first volcano and hope to try it out tomorrow.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was great! Most of the day was spent preparing for Christmas...lots of cleaning, baking, and cooking at our house!

Here's our wall of cards :) DEFINITELY one of the highlights of the season for me.

We left food for Santa's reindeer on the lawn.

We read the Nativity story from the scriptures and let the kids act it out...too precious!!! This will definitely be something we continue to do each year.

Tradition is to open one present on Christmas eve...new pjs!!