Sledding in Arlington, Mass. This is the park we play at when we go to the Temple. There is a beautiful view of Boston from this hill. 

 Carly got glasses in January. She was so amazed at the details she can now see.

 Aubree and I take playing house pretty seriously. I had a baby this day. I've never had such an easy (and short) pregnancy and delivery. Aubree is such a proud big sister.

Aubree is famous now. She was in the newspaper a few weeks ago. (Story time at the library)

Ellie was baptized by Aaron on March 1st. It was a beautiful service. There were several people from our little branch there and several friends and neighbors who aren't LDS. We were especially grateful that Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Leon, and Nanny Nette and Grandpa could be there.

This is the only picture I have of Leon and Kathy here with us. So sad! Aaron and Kathy are doing family history and Leon is reading scriptures (pretty typical).

 Also while the grandparents were here we went to Newport, RI to the National Museum of American Illustrators. We love Newport! My parents stayed in a hotel while Aaron's parents were here, so the girls got to spend a couple nights at the hotel and go swimming. After Aaron's parents left my parents moved in with us for the next week and a half. They cooked, cleaned, fixed up, did laundry, entertained and spent quality time with the girls.

We also went to Haverhill, Mass to see the statue of Hannah Dustin (my 11th great grandma on my Dad's side). I wrote a post about her here. We also got a little pamphlet that told us her story and also included a letter she wrote to her church when she was much older. It was so cool because she included some of her favorite scriptures in it, and specifically which scripture she had in her mind during her captivity - Psalm 43 and Psalm 118:7. She said, "… I am Thankful for my Captivity, twas the Comfortablest time that ever I had; In my Affliction God made his Word Comfortable to me…" We had a family home evening lesson a couple days after visiting her statue about how trials can bring us closer to Heavenly Father and he can comfort us during hard times.

One morning Grandpa saw Aubree sitting on this bench and she explained to him that she was in timeout. So Grandpa held her on his lap and told her about a time when he was a little boy and tried to carve something and ended up cutting his hand. He also told her about how life was sometimes hard for him too when he was a little boy and how he liked to have his Mom hold him close and she would bounce him on her leg. (Now I know why my Dad likes to bounce his grandkids on his lap.) It was so sweet to see my Dad hold her close and show her such love and sympathy.

The picture hanging above my Dad is a puzzle that Ellie sent to Nanny Nette and Grandpa for Christmas. After they put it all together, my Dad "engineered" it into about 8 pieces, plus edges, and sent it back to us to put together and keep. (They have no where to put it now that they're homeless.) So, we put it together and then I glued it and framed it for Ellie's birthday.


We LOVED having family here - we are so lucky to have such wonderful grandparents for our kids!

Winter Birthdays

We have three winter birthdays all within 2 weeks of each other - not bragging, just complaining ;) - Ellie, me and Aubree. And this year both Ellie and Aubree had birthday parties with friends. And guess what? I am not a party planner. At all. I get really stressed about all the little details AND the big picture. During all this planning I read the book "Heaven is Here" by Stephanie Clark Nielsen and it helped to remind me that everything that was stressing me out was actually a blessing. Ellie and Aubree are both alive to celebrate another birthday. I am alive and healthy enough to plan and carry out birthday parties for them. (Last year we all went through the flu during our birthday season.) Aaron has a job, so we can pay for presents and parties. Not to mention, these are parties I'm planning. PARTIES. Not PTO fundraisers or funerals or church lessons, but parties. So, really it shouldn't be that stressful. (But I still had to remind myself of that at least once a day for about three weeks.) Here are some pictures:

 This was Ellie's cake for our own family celebration. A cute little round ball… or is it?

 Surprise! Piñata cake!

Her birthday party was a cake decorating party. I made the aprons for each of the girls and a cake for each of them to decorate and take home.  The girls all had a lot of fun with the decorating - some of those cakes have more icing than cake.

Next came my birthday:
Aaron and the girls usually make me breakfast in bed for my birthday, but this year they decided to clean the entire downstairs (kitchen, dining, family rooms) before I came down in the morning. Such a great birthday surprise! It really got my day off to a great start. (In all my slobby childhood years I never dreamed that I would appreciate a clean house for my birthday. I'm becoming my mom. ha ha!)

Aubree and I had a cozy indoor picnic (notice the space heater behind us) for lunch. 

 Yummy Japanese take-out for dinner. 

And we ended the night with a few episodes of The Cosby Show. It was such a wonderful, low-key, happy birthday!

And last but not least, 

 This silly girl celebrated her GOLDEN birthday on February 5th!

 We had a tea party with a beautiful new (used) mismatched tea set. We had some cute finger foods and the girls made fascinators (the huge, fancy headbands). This party was especially stressful because there was a big storm on the day of the party. Oh the joys of winter birthdays! So, I cancelled the party, rescheduled the party, then switched it back (looking back it's doesn't seem like a big deal, but at the time I was a wreck.) Only one of her original guests was able to make it, but luckily school was canceled so we invited some neighbor friends over that normally would have been at school. In the end I'm glad it worked out the way it did. We had a wonderful time with some friends that we don't get to see very often.

And the night before Aubree's birthday the girls decided they really wanted to cut their hair. It was Aubree's first hair cut. *sniff* They look super cute, but I miss their long hair. 

The Good Samaritan

Ellie is such a sweetheart. Today she came home from school and shared this little incident with me:

One of her classmates, William, had brought a bunch of Pokemon cards to school and was playing with them outside. Ellie was talking to another friend when she looked over and saw that William's cards were suddenly all over the ground. She watched as several kids walked past him, then she went over and helped him pick up all of his cards.

I told her she reminds me of the Good Samaritan.

“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where [the man] was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him” (Luke 10:33).

Something so small, but it just shows the type of girl Ellie is.

Ellie and her first missing tooth (Winter 2012/13)

Such a sweetie face!

bummer birthdays and other stuff

So, last Monday was Ellie's 7th Birthday. Unfortunately our family had the flu. I did not get out the camera on this day as our family neither showered or brushed our hair. We still did all her favorite meals and a cake, but it was hard to actually enjoy it. Ellie's big present was an easel with a white board and chalk board - the girls have LOVED it! I think we've finally got a gift they won't get sick of.

My birthday was last Wednesday, and although I did take a shower, I didn't brush my hair or do anything to get ready, so again no pictures. It was an even bigger bummer than Ellie's birthday because we did absolutely nothing to celebrate (seriously nothing) and the girls were still not well enough to go to school, but well enough to fight most of the day (despite my requests that the only present I wanted from them was no fighting). Or maybe it was a bummer because I still had a sore throat and was stuffed up and had a headache. Or maybe the fact that a bunch of my friends here went out to watch Les Mis, but I couldn't go because of scheduling conflicts (they didn't know it was my birthday). Or maybe the fact that Aaron didn't get me anything for my birthday (either he thought it unnecessary, or he took me seriously when I told him the Kitchenaid I bought clear back in December could be my birthday present. Why does he always have to take me so seriously?!)

So, I'm going to celebrate my birthday tomorrow now that I'm feeling better. Aaron and I are going out to lunch, and after school the girls and I will watch Anne of Green Gables since we don't have any after-school commitments. Then I'll make my favorite Chocolate Sundae Cake with ice cream!

Okay, on to other stuff.

 Just cute Carly

 This is called a house centipede and it's HUGE (about 2 1/2 inches long)! Apparently they're good though because they eat other bugs and spiders. Even so, I am going to let it live outside.

 Carly reading to her sisters - makes my heart feel good! 

Also, this is a great book with beautiful illustrations.

 A work of art by Carly.

 Santa brought us the game Sorry and these girls love to play it.

 Carly's working on a story on the old computer. She is such an amazing writer!

 Just us and the flu!

 Ellie with a headache. :(

Last night when I got home from mutual this whiteboard had "Wirst day ever" written all over it.  I asked her about it this morning and when I came in to the family room she had "This will be the best day ever" written on the white board. A good night's rest can always make a difference. I hope the positive self-talk works for her! (The letters and artwork on the bottom are Aubree's)

Ellie's Kindergarten Program

phone picture :)

She did such a great job! I love to watch her in the school setting and see how she interacts with others. Her favorite friend in Kindergarten is Tessa (in the black dress in the front row). I think it's funny that the only person smaller than her is a boy, Simon. :) Ellie's teacher, Mrs. Heninger, is SO awesome! She is so good with the kindergarteners and is so sweet! After the performance Ellie got to come home with us (Aaron got to be there too) and then we went out for a treat at Tasty's.

Ellie's Art (age 6)

This girl is an artist! She usually has an art project going on in the family room/kitchen on any given day. She loves to color, glue, cut, paint, bead, you name it. She comes up with all of these art projects on her own (and is usually the one to give Carly ideas too). 

These are (poisonous) berries from one of our bushes out front
glued into heart shapes.
Obviously, I got this picture after some damage had already been done.

This is one of her favorite things to do. She cuts out paper to make a frame
then she glues cut-out artwork inside. Some of them are more intricate than this.

Decorated paper airplane

ahh - so sweet!

Look at the details on those beautiful flowers!
I want some in my front yard!

Easter decorations

The rest of her easter artwork decorating the fireplace.

Random Happenings in February

Carly and Ellie planned a little Fairy Party for some of their friends. I start to get a little stressed when they plan things like this because I feel like I have to get involved and make it all organized. Well, this time I didn't, I just let them do the planning and let myself relax.
Here's one of the invitations that Carly made (interpretation below with original spelling) To Allie From Carly
do you beleave in fairies? write back to me if you do. we are going to play fairies and bild fairy houses and crafts and there will be prizes and more fun thigs
ps. it is a club about Fairies. it is this Saturday. love Carly

Presidents Day
We went sledding in our neighbors back yard - super convenient and lots of fun. Aubree only went down once and then sat in the swing and watched.


Aubree is so proud of how she has learned to hold books. So cute!

Aubree loves to have me wrap her up in my robe and carry her around like shes a baby in my belly.

Speaking of a baby in my belly - there isn't one - but Aubree seems to think there is. So, last week when my parents were visiting, Aubree told Nanny Nette that there was a baby in my belly. Well, Ellie overheard the little exchange and quickly cleared it up. She said, "No, there's not a baby, it just looks like it". ha ha!! She went on to explain to Nanny Nette that the reason her belly (Nanny Nette's) looks like it has a baby in it is because it was stretched out from having so many babies. (Ellie has wondered in the past why I sometimes look like I'm pregnant and I've explained that when Mommies have babies, their tummies get stretched out and sometimes make it look like there's a little baby in there.) Anyway, glad she could come to the rescue in that instance.

I just love that chubby little face poking out of my robe!

Happy 6th Birthday Ellie

December 16th 2005 - I was 8 months pregnant with baby #2 and was sick with the flu. I was dehydrated and having very regular contractions, but not feeling so much pain that I wanted to go to the hospital. I finally got to sleep for the night and found out the next day that Sophie Joan, Ellie's closest cousin, was born on December 16th. I think my body was having sympathy contractions for my sister, Angela, and I also think that Sophie and Ellie just wanted to stick together.
1 month later - Aaron and I went to a neighbor's house with some other couples to play a board game late at night. I was feeling a little uncomfortable, so my friends were giving me advice on how to induce labor naturally. I decided I would try some of their advice the next day(I can't remember now what all of it was).
Jan 21st 2006 - Well, I didn't get a chance to try my friends' advice because in the middle of the night (about 4 am) I was awakened with a very painful contraction. We called my sister, Jennifer, who lived 1.5 hours away. We checked into the hospital and started watching "A Cinderella Story" (for some reason I was really excited to watch a movie while I labored at the hospital), but the contractions were so bad I had to turn it off. Jen and Aaron coached me through a VERY painful, 7-hour labor (again, I had the Pit, but no epidural). My dr. was out of town, so his partner, Dr. Ruby, was my dr. that day. The nurse who was with me said, "When it comes down to it, you wouldn't care if it's the Boy Scouts of America who deliver your baby, just as long as you get it out." I pushed for 1.5 hours and Ellise Suzanne was born at 12:30 pm. She was 8 lbs. 3 oz and born posterior - I was so proud of myself, but vowed right then and there that I would definitely get an epidural next time around! January 21 2012 - I have a sweet, loving, playful, and beautiful 6-year old Ellie. She is loving kindergarten and is doing really well with her reading. I have been impressed with how well she adjusted to school and also with how well she makes friends. In the past year she has really matured and become more independent without Carly constantly by her side. It was nice (but sometimes boring for her) to have her home with me last year while Carly was at kindergarten. And now that Carly's gone all day, Aubree and I really enjoy having Ellie with us in the mornings. I've learned that as a Mom you still need to get to know your own kids and I feel like I've been able to understand Ellie better this past year. Anyway, it's been fun to "get to know" her. I am so grateful to be her Mom.

We had a pizza party at our house for Ellie on her birthday. Everyone had a great time! We even had Aunt Angela there with her kids and Aunt Steph came too.

All about Ellie

Ellie is such a little lady! She is very consciencious about how she looks. She wears a skirt or dress at least 5 days a week and is very good at putting together her own *unique* outfits. :) She asked Santa for make-up for Christmas. She loves her long blonde hair and is very good about keeping it brushed and looking nice.


She loves to cook and bake! She is my shadow when I'm in the kitchen and unfortunately I'm not always a good sport about it. But, my goal is to be more patient with her and willing to help her learn to help out.

She has so much personality and can be very demanding and bossy at times, but if she doesn't know you she is actually quite shy. She is very nervous about meeting new people and about doing things on her own (like going to primary by herself or going to a friends house by herself - which she has never done before). I think this is partly because she has always had Carly to rely on. I think it will be such a good thing for her when Carly goes to kindergarten so she can make her own friends, have some one-on-one time with me, be her own person and build her self-confidence.


Ellie loves to color and I love her style - it is so colorful! She also likes to cut out the pictures that she colors in her coloring books. She always has artwork out.

If you ever think your life is hard...

try being Ellie.

Mommy makes me put on new panties even if I don't mind wearing my panties with pee in them

I wanted Mac 'n Cheese for dinner but all we were having were homemade egg rolls (that Mom slaved over)

I'm so dang cute that Mommy and Daddy are always wanting to hug and kiss me!

Quotes from the Fridge (VII)

(I keep a piece of paper on the fridge for the purpose of writing down the funny/cute things the girls say.)

-A few days ago I was in the bathroom with Ellie as she was going potty. I heard quite the explosion and asked her if she needed some privacy. "Yeah," she grunted, "I'm doing a balleriah".

-Carly and Ellie were watching "The Restoration" movie (First Vision/Joseph Smith Story) last night. At one point in the movie Joseph asks his father, "How does a person know if they are saved?" Carly quickly answered for him, "Well, if you just fall off a cliff and someone catches you then you'll know you're saved." (What a little smarty :))

We celebrated Ellie's 3rd birthday yesterday and the first thing she asked me this morning was "Mommy, am I still three?" What a little sweetheart! She just makes me laugh so much. I wish I could put up a video of her to show her personality - I can't describe how cute and funny it is. She is just the type of girl you want to squeeze! :) Some of Ellie's favorites:

-Brushing Mommy's hair - this has been her passion for the past several months (she LOVES to do this and will spend lots of time at it - she totally gets into it too)

-Eating sweets

-Being independent

-Doing puzzles (and she's really quite good)

-Singing, dancing, reading, coloring, playdough, workbooks

-She just loves to do whatever Carly is doing and to be wherever Carly is

------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had a doctor's appt. today and I'm 3 cm dilated and 50% effaced - Yipee!!! I was definitely not expecting to have progressed so much because I have had such a nice 9th month so far - not too much pressure and my Braxton-Hicks haven't been too frequent or too strong (I'm comparing this to my 9th month with Ellie...which was NOT fun! Very uncomfortable.) People keep saying "Oh, I bet you are SO ready to be done with this pregnancy" or "you look so uncomfortable"... but really I've been feeling pretty good, so I think I can wait a little while. (I know that the baby is a whole lot easier to take care of right now than she will be after she's born - baby's are so much work! But SO worth it!) On the other hand, I do want the pregnancy to be over soon just so I can meet this little baby and hold her and nurse her and dress her and listen to her breath and smell her... and all that good stuff! Oh, I just can't wait to have another little sweetheart!

So, I'll keep you posted....

37 weeks