Please, just stop

Stop growing so fast. Since when did you become a little girl instead of a runny-nosed, tantrum throwing toddler? Since when do your legs stretch out this long on the bed instead of being curled up by your pillow? Since when can you "mother" me and tell me how to do things instead of asking for help? They grow too fast. With a new baby coming I'm starting to miss my other girls as babies. I just want to hold and rock each one to sleep. At least they still let me sing a few lullabies before bed and Olivia actually wanted to rock in the rocking chair before she went to sleep the other night. She must have missed it since that was how I got her to sleep for many, many, months as a toddler.
I love watching my kids grow and become more independent, but it also sad. They will never be little babies again. But I look forward to our new little one with eyes open trying to take in everything around her. The lights and shapes, the smells, the sounds. So, to everyone who ever told me that I need to cherish my children as little ones because it goes by too fast and I thought "You're kidding. I just want this crying kid to go to sleep and to go and play and to clean up after themself,"--You are right. It goes by too fast.

Go Susan!

I love Britain's Got Talent because the most normal of normal people are showcased with amazing and unsuspected talent. I loved the reactions of the judges...especially Simon. It was so awesome. What a great gal.
Click on this Link to see the video

Olivia the Artist

My girls get obsessive about their play. When they get into something they REALLY get into something. They will play and play for hours at their game. Lately Olivia's obsession is drawing. A few weeks ago she was discouraged about her abilities. "My pictures just don't look like how I want them to look." I remember feeling the same way as a kid. In your your head you see a masterpiece, but somehow the end result doesn't even closely resemble what was envisioned. Not wanting her to give up, I am always giving her words of encouragement. I remind her that it takes years for someone to draw really well, but that for only 5 years old, she has an awesome imagination and she can draw SOOOO much better than when she was four so if she keeps at it just think of how much better she can get.
So now? She draws all the time. I often find her at the table in the morning before everyone is up and she is completely in her own little world at the table with pencil in hand, hunched over her latest masterpiece. Her drawings are even starting to develop their own little style. She has all of her own ideas about what is pretty and what is not. She will even watch a movie and then run to the table when it is over and draw her favorite scenes.
Here are some of her latest works. She drew her wedding. I'm keeping this one forever.

Happy Easter!

I really love the Easter holiday. I love celebrating the Resurrection and doing fun springtime activities. I love this time of year when we reflect on the life of our Savior. I feel rejuvenated filled. We had cookies for breakfast. I don't plan it that way. The kids just start to dig in and then aren't hungry anymore. This year I put the Easter baskets up after a little while so that they wouldn't gorge on all of the candy at once. I was tired and didn't feel like being a candy monitor.

I love Sammie's bed hair.

And here they are all ready for church. They looked so cute. Olivia practiced her smile in the mirror before we took pictures. She's a funny girl. I can't get Sammie to hold still long enough for anything. She'd much rather be jumping off of something. Later we had a yummy dinner at a friend's and a little egg hunt too. My friend boiled 68 eggs and colored them all and hid them all over the backyard. It was fun to have an "old-fashioned" easter egg hunt. She made a bunch of deviled eggs afterwards. So yummy.
I am Olivia and I like to play awotside. (Olivia typed this by herself. awotside=outside)

The Belly

I haven't taken a picture of my belly yet this time around. It is becoming a hazard as I bump into things, lose my balance, and get winded anytime I do anything. So here it is. The Belly.

Just 5 1/2 weeks left!

Spring Break

We really needed a break. So we went to my parents where we did...absolutely nothing. It was the most fun I have ever had doing absolutely nothing. My mom asked us before we came if there was anything we wanted to do. I thought...I just want to do nothing. I don't want to clean house, get anyone ready for school, get up early, entertain my kids, work on the house. I just need a break. It was the perfect break. I love going "home." I didn't just completely lay around. We did some shopping, Joey made a yummy dinner, the girls (eek) went swimming, we had an Easter egg hunt, we made some crafts, watched conference, read, visited my grandparents, went on walks...it was just nice to not have to be anywhere or do anything. So now we are home and I feel energized and motivated again to get things done, though I still have to unpack. And do laundry. Or maybe I'll just pick up a book and extend my little vacation a day longer. There's nothing wrong with that.

The Madness is Over

Can we never take a normal picture in this family?!

Ah, there we go.

Well, I didn't fare well in this year's NCAA March Madness bracket. I came in dead last. It was disappointing. I don't know if I have ever come in completely last. I watched as my name gradually slid to the bottom and there it stuck. With all of my teams out of the Final Four it was hopeless. It came down to Nate and Joey in the end. We were at my parent's last weekend and so Nate was presented with "Mad Max." Congratulations Nate...until next year.

Now that's a lot of sauce

Joey was up until midnight making sauce for our Ward Spaghetti dinner. He made 8 batches. 8 messy batches of pasta. My eyes were burning from the onion as I went to bed last night. My towel smelled like pasta sauce when I used it after my shower this morning. It still smells in here. The kitchen was not a pretty picture this morning. I cleaned and scrubbed for an hour this morning.
The Spaghetti Dinner is tonight, but sadly I can't go. Sammie is sick with a fever and we will be staying at home. So goodbye sauce. I hope you get eaten ALL UP.