Happy Birthday to my best friend!

My wonderful husband and best friend, Jeremy, is 34 today!

We had some friends and family over and had chips and salsa, bread bowls with chili for the adults and mac & cheese for the kids.

I made Jeremy a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I was going to do something awesome, but then I didn't. lol. So just a frosted layer cake is what he got.

The kids made Jeremy a sign for his birthday party. I traced their profiles and the kids each colored their own (Addy had a little help).



Other than being the love of my life, here are some other things I love about Jeremy:

• He started AND finished a project in the same weekend!

I've been whining about this cupboard of mine for almost 7 years. I have this much space (12 inches):

...to get to about a 3 foot long cupboard. Slightly ridiculous. So yes, I can store stuff, but there is no getting it out!

So a couple weeks ago, I mentioned to Jeremy, again, that I wish I had an access door on the other side of my cupboard.

Much to my surprise, Jeremy immediately set to work.

...and made me this! I'm so excited! I can store AND use my stuff! Hooray!

• He is a great dad! This was on a Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago. He was reading to the girls and they all fell asleep.

• He is a wonderful husband! He took care of all the kids this weekend so I could take a trip to Boise to see 2 of my best friends from high school! He was so supportive, which made the trip even better! (more to come on my trip later!)

• Some very exciting news for Jeremy is that he started school again this last week! He is doing the online degree program through BYU-I, and is working toward his Bachelor's. I'm so proud of you!
  

I love you, Jeremy!!! Happy Birthday! You are my best friend and I'm glad we are married!!!

Mommy! I cleaned my room!

Sean was so excited to show me he had cleaned his room. "I got ALL the toys out!"

Sorry bud, this doesn't count. LOL. Although your floor is clear, pushing all of your toys OUT of your room isn't actually "cleaning." I laughed for a good 5 minutes, especially as I watched Addison stumble out of his "clean" room over all the toys in the hallway. Gotta give the kid some credit for cleverness.


And I just loved Addy's stance here. Totally cracked me up.

Love my boys!!!

Gotta love the internet

First, some pictures that have nothing to do with this post. :)

• Here's Addy trying to take a walk in his daddy's shoes.

• I just love this little guy's smile!

• ...and I thought this was hilarious. I found this sign Emily taped to her room door.

(I thought at first that it said something about "no brats," which I support 100%, but after further consideration, I realized that it actually says "no brothers," just spelled "brathrs")

Okay, now on to the whole point of this post!

• My sister is quite possibly the coolest person on the face of this planet. Okay, 100% sure. I can't say enough about how much I love her and miss her. and how I think she should move here. ...so anyway.... I've been playing with blog design a lot lately. Just because I'm a big geek I guess. But I completely revamped my sister's blog, and I think it looks awesome! I'm proud of myself. I designed her header, changed her blog to a 3-column blog, added a navbar underneath the header, and designed the backgrounds, borders, etc. I'm proud of it. Check it out here! If you're not a follower of my sister's blog, you should be! She is just that awesome.

• Also, I love that whenever I want to try a new recipe, or just see if I can make something, I can just do an internet search and find a cazillion recipes. I've been wanting to try making English muffins for a while, because well, I happen to love them. It just seemed like one of those things that you just have to buy if you want them. So I found a recipe this afternoon and thought, why not, I'll give it a shot. Not only were they delightful, but incredibly easy! I highly recommend it! Here is the link.

Seriously, how awesome do these look? I'm so proud.

Learn something new every day...

Today I learned that when Emily trips and her top tooth and bottom lip meet Jeremy's kneecap, and the tooth pops backward behind her other teeth, but not completely disconnected or broken, after a scared freaking out big sister and a call to a dentist friend, you can just pop that tooth right back in place.

Sorry Emily. Guess you'll have to wait a little longer for the tooth fairy to come.

Eating my words... again...

Last year around this time, I was walking with my friend Kim.

Kim: Hey, want to train for a half-marathon with me?
Me: ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? THIRTEEN POINT ONE MILES?!?
Kim: Thank you for saying that number out loud.
(at this point in my life, the furthest I had ever run was ONE mile, 10 years ago in high school)
Me: Um, you go ahead.

Needless to say, I ate those words... when I ran my half marathon last September.

Well, after I ran that half marathon, everyone kept asking me if I was going to do another one.

Me: Um, no. 5Ks and 10Ks are good for me. I just wanted to do a half-marathon once to prove to myself I could do it. I don't think I'm ever doing it again.

Well...

I am eating my words yet again. My sister and I just signed up to run the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Seattle on June 26th! I am so excited!

Last year, my goal was to finish the race and not die. I'm happy to report that I accomplished that goal. This year, I'm going to actually try and beat my time! Last year at this time, I didn't believe that I could ever do a half marathon. Now I KNOW that I can do it, because I HAVE done it, and I'm hoping my confidence will help me do it better. Wish me luck!



Anyone want to train with me??

Today I am thankful for...

• Soap and water and magic erasers... and "washable" markers. I woke up this morning to "Mom! Sean colored all over his-self! and Addison! Sean colored all over Addison's face!" Super. Thanks Emily for taking your markers into Sean's room yesterday... and leaving them there.

• A sewing machine... daily I find more and more things that Emily cut with her scissors... in addition to her hair... before I took them away. A few of my latest findings:

her pajama pants

Liah's brand new sock

her blanket

her underwear...

When I was pregnant with Emily, her doctor would put the doppler on my belly, and Emily would kick it off. One time she said "Whoa! That's gonna be your curtain-cutter right there." Oh how that prophecy has come to pass. Only reason she hasn't cut the curtains yet is because she hasn't thought of it...

• Medicine... poor little Addy is cutting 4 molars right now. Super fun. This picture was taken in the middle of the night. Poor guy was up every two hours. All. night. long. That was a brutal night. Especially since we've been used to him sleeping through the night since he was 2 months old!

• This cute little guy. Have I mentioned I love this kid??

• Time to spend with just my boys while the girls are in school. One of the grossest things to me is listening to people eat. Gross. Especially cereal. My brothers were famous for smacking their lips and slurping. Nas-ty. So it totally grosses me out. Except when babies eat cereal. I think it is the cutest thing EVER.

Seriously, how cute is this??

Are you kidding me??

• This little girl and her daddy. Liah misses her daddy so badly when he's gone. She requested this picture before he left on his last trip, "so she could remember him." Dramatic? Maybe...

• These little brothers. Seriously best buds.

Here is Sean sharing his food with Addy.

• Time after the kids go to bed to do whatever I want.
  

I took these yard sale cut-off jeans (complete with adjustable waistband that my kids can't live without)

and these scraps of fabric from other projects I've made over the years

and made this skirt!

I've been wanting to try it out for a while, but just haven't gotten around to it. I think it turned out pretty well, and Emily is in love. She tried to wear it three days in a row. I intervened.

Valentine's Open House

Hi everyone I know that lives in Pasco...

This awesome girl is having an open house party at her house on Friday. Everyone is invited! (kids too!)

Check out the details here!