learning to use a spoon

Sometimes words are overrated and over used. Sometimes less is more. For example:
Grayson, spoon, oatmeal.

party planning

Choosing a birthday theme with a young little lady is tricky business. First of all party planning must begin a two or three months ahead of time to allow for adequate time for pinterest surfing, price comparing, and decoration creating. Thus it came to be that in mid March Emily was over-the-moon excited at the idea of having a ladybug party. As time passed, that excitement cooled and tears flowed at the mere mention of ladybug party as the little miss alternated between princesses, Dora, butterflies,Hello Kitty, etc. etc. as the party themo-the-day. A sure fire way to re-establish the idea that ladybugs were the way to go? Styrofoam, pipe cleaners, and paint. And googly eyes. Yup, recipe for success!

Red ladybugs just wouldn't do for Miss Emily, oh no, pink was the way to go. You can always count on Kyle for a little help, especially when googly eyes are involved.

 Experience has taught me that the nano second my back was turned that my angel children would probably be painting something other than the styrofoam balls so I used a little reverse psychology and told them not to paint their hands. I like to believe that by planting that seed I prevented further mayhem such as painting their clothes, the chairs, or more likely than not, each other's faces

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 In the end the 2 mama ladybugs and 6 baby ladybugs renewed the excitement until the day of the party! Mama wins again!

snow...

In most parts of the country people are breaking out their summer gear, getting ready to plant flowers and gardens, and doing all those other things that people do to welcome Spring. Here are the highlights from the last three days here in good 'ol Bismarck

 Emily was excited to go out and shovel until she was bombarded with a never ending tornado of snow, wind and more snow swirling around her little face from every direction. She stayed out long enough for me to snap this picture and then high tailed it back into safety.

 Kyle on the other hand stayed outside until he was practically a human snow pop!

 Grayson's first time bundled up to face the elements started of well,

 until he tipped over and all and discovered that the marshmallow puffiness that is necessary to keep him warm made moving practically impossible, resulting in.....

 unhappy baby, rolling from side to stomach. There were tears. And screams. Believe you me.

 Not quite sure what to make of this cold, white stuff.

 Of course 17" of snow means only one thing....snow fort!

 And photo ops

 Can you tell who actually enjoys being outside?

I attempted to go to work this morning. Attempted being the key word. Other key words to summarize my failure attempt include blinding white snow, no wheel tracks, shovels, tow rope, annoyed friendly neighbor......enough said.

Happy Spring ND!

little man mustache bash

What do you get when you mix family, cake, ice cream,balloons, a ton of fun hats (thank you Kari!), and mustaches? A little man mustache bash, of course! After all, celebrating one's first year of life should be memorable, should it not?

My kids don't have the expected "O-M-G, I'm in heaaaaaven, give me more, more, more," kind of reaction to their first taste of cake, and Grayson kept up the tradition

Being the wonderful big brother that he is, Kyle tried to help Gray see what he's been missing....

but Grayson really just preferred to use the cake and frosting like war paint.

Happy birthday Grayson Thomas!

This years Christmas card? Perhaps.

grayson is one

Today my thoughts have been filled with moments from the past year. Grayson, you have grown so quickly, learning more and more every day. I hardly remember how it felt to hold you in my arms as a newborn.

You fit so perfectly into our lives, it is hard to remember life before you.

You have a big brother that adores you. He will teach you so many things, like how to climb and jump and ride a bike, how to "get the bad guys" on the wii. He is good at getting Emmie in trouble, so I have no doubt you will benefit from his expertise in mischief as well.

From a young age you learned how to torment your big sister. For some reason you have an amazing power over her, and all you have to do is look her way to send her into hysterics. She does love you though, and another thing I know for certain is that if you are anything like your father you will be a master at pestering and Emily may just be your favorite target.

You love to laugh and wrestle and be chased, you rival Emily in the insatiable appetite department and spent a huge majority of your day sitting here...

 looking like this....

Today my baby boy turns one. You are so loved and cherished, dear one. Thank you for making our family complete.

35 it is

Thinking about turning 30 used to make me less than excited, way less than excited. Now I think that if the 35 year old me could have given the 25 year old me a wee little glimpse into life past 30 I may have spent less time in mourning and more time looking with great anticipation at my future. After all, who doesn't want a little bit of this in their life! I'm just glad Grayson didn't go squirting off my lap. Lesson to all parents of littles out there ~ while the camera is shooting never stop smiling, no matter what the children do, don't stop smiling!

Times like this make me wish we could take photographs Harry Potter style. Kyle was jumping with excitement as I was opening his present. The present he made at preschool and kept hidden and *mostly* secret for almost 2 weeks. I say mostly secret because in a series of unknown events the necklace ended up moving from its hiding place under the comforter on the bed to being gathered up with a pile of clothes that got tossed into the washing machine. That and the fact that little sister is not good at keeping secrets and not less than 10 times in the past 2 days she came up to me smiling and saying my present was a "secwet" only to lean in close and whisper "it's a neckwace mama!"

Today I say goodbye to the first 35 years and look forward with great anticipation at what this crazy life has in store for me1

goodbye auntie cheerio

Yesterday we said goodbye to Auntie Cheerio. Right before the family went upstairs in the church for the funeral service, Emily saw a picture of Jesus. She was standing on the hearth of a fireplace and began singing "Jesus Loves Me". It was perfect and I know Cheryl loved it!

Auntie Cheerio, we will miss you more than you can know. Your lake cabin was your dream, but it was one that you so willingly shared with others. There are many wonderful memories that wouldn't have happened without you. Thank you for sharing your life with us.

"I may seem far away, but it only takes a thought to bring me near."