Houses

It was built in 1999, but the architectural style looks like something from 1899. I LOVE that!


Don't get me wrong, I would love to live in this house too (the one below), but there are about 20 other homes in the neighborhood that look exactly like it.

(By the way, we aren't really house hunting right now, we just occasionally check the MLS to see what's out there. We love where we're at and are getting such an awesome deal that we don't really feel that motivated to buy quite yet.)

My little nurses

Yesterday evening we went grocery shopping as a family. Aaron and the girls got a birthday present for a friend and a bird feeder for our birds in the backyard. I did the grocery shopping. I kind of had a headache all day long, but after being at Wal-Mart for over an hour it was pretty bad. So when we got home Ellie made a comfortable bed for me on the couch and covered me with blankets. Carly brought me dinner on the couch and offered to rub my feet with oils. Aubree brought me a sopping wet rag and "gently" patted it on my forehead. :) Aaron made dinner for us - scrambled eggs, his specialty - and put almost all the groceries away (I found the chicken still on the counter this morning).

They are such sweethearts!

Some Aubree Cuteness

I know I do a lot of posts about Aubree, but she is at that age where almost every day she does something so cute and funny! So, I have to record it.

Yesterday I put Aubree's hair in two little buns - super cute - but, of course it's uncomfortable to take naps with those. Well, Aubree is a little confused about what "comfortable" means. So she says to me, "Take these out, they're too comfortable!" Other things that Aubree finds too "comfortable" are turtlenecks, just like Carly and Ellie, and jeans or other pants with tight waist bands.

I don't know if I ever mentioned that Aubree has been potty trained for a couple months now (woo hoo!) Before her nap today she sat on the potty and did a #2 and then she said to me: "My little baby poopie is such a cutie!" She loves all things baby! She loves to pretend to be a baby, or have someone else be the baby. She loves to hear stories about babies. And anything that is little is a baby - a car, a toy, stuffed animal, twig, pebble, whatever - she talks about it in a high little voice and says she wants to pinch it's cheeks!

You know how she used to put "ssss" on the beginning of a word if she wasn't pronouncing it right, so we could understand her? (This post here) Well, now she actually spells words out for us (I know, genius). Her spelling is pretty creative though.
"I wanna take a sour with you!"
I know she meant to say shower, but I still ask, "You want to take a sour with me?"
Aubree, a little impatiently replies, "No. D-I-N-M-O, sour!"

Happy Leap Year Day!

We celebrated Leap Year by going to the mall to get Carly and Ellie's ears pierced!
Ellie was the brave one who went first. These two take turns being brave. Sometimes Carly is the brave one, sometimes Ellie.Carly was SO nervous! In the end, they both said it wasn't as bad as they thought it would be. Carly said she imagined she would be laying down (like on a doctors exam table) and they would have a big machine that would shoot a needle into her ear. I got my ears pierced the first time when I was 11 (at my friends' house - Natalie and Nicole Vohs). But, I ended up letting those grow in because it made me too queezy to put earrings in and out of my ear. :) I got them pierced again when I was about 13 or 14. Aaron and I decided we would let our girls get their ears pierced when they were old enough to take care of them and when they really wanted to. (They wanted to so much that they even paid for part of it - a handful of coins from each. And Carly wanted to so bad that she was willing to lay on an exam table and have a big machine shoot needles into her ears! ha ha!)

After they got their ears done we started walking out of the mall when the lady at Kiddie Kandids stopped us and asked if she could take the girls' picture and she would give us a free portrait. So, of course that's what we did.

I can't remember which one I ordered. But it was one of these with a black background.

Carly and Ellie liked this one best with the meadow background, so I ordered them one of these with a cute sister quote on it.

Carly - 7.5 years

Ellise - 6 years

Aubree - 3 years

(Don't you just love that little pea coat that Aunt Ang and Steph got for her b-day last year?!)

It was so nice to not have to stress and plan to get these pictures done. Of course I would have matched their outfits better and made sure their hair was just right and probably had a nervous breakdown in the process. But this was totally stress free and they turned out so cute. AND, I only had to pay $6 for the shipping on the meadow picture!

HAPPY LEAP YEAR DAY!!

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!

Valentine's Day 2012

Carly and Ellie have been looking forward to Valentine's Day for about a month now! I got on pinterest and found some really cute ideas for homemade Valentines that I knew they would love. But instead, the girls started making homemade Valentine's. So, today at their class parties, each of their classmates got a totally authentic, unique and hand-made valentine card from Carly and Ellie. They were so cute and so much better than the pinterest ideas - because it was thought up and made by them! I was very impressed (but not surprised) that they spent so much time on the Valentines and didn't give up. They are such talented and creative girls! (I wish I would have taken pictures - what was I thinking?!!)

I was able to help out in Carly's class for the Valentine party and Aubree came with me. I love volunteering in Carly and Ellie's classes. They are always so excited to see me and so proud to have their Mom there at school. It's also good to see who the kids are that I hear them talk about at home. I let Carly choose out my outfit for the party - my pink sequined shirt with a cream cardi - pretty snazzy! I let her choose it because when I first told her that I would be coming to her Valentine Party, this was our conversation:
Carly, "What if the kids don't like how you look?"
Me, (a little offended), "It's not very polite to tell someone that you don't like how they look sweetie."
Carly, "I know, I don't ever do that."
Me, "Well, do you like how I look?"
Carly, "Yes"
Me, *sigh a sigh of relief*
So, even though I'm sure she didn't remember that conversation, I decided to let her choose my outfit so she could be proud of her mama! :)

Valentine's Day was always my favorite school holiday. I started having crushes on boys in preschool, so you can bet I loved giving and getting Valentines and comparing them with friends and trying to figure out who had crushes on who based on the Valentines recieved! :) Speaking of which, I did notice that Ellie's Valentine for Brooks was the biggest one she made, and Carly's valentine for Tate had two pieces of candy on it. :) I still remember agonizing over which valentine to give to Doug Bowen - should I go ahead and and give him the one that says "Be Mine" or just play it safe? (Doug, was probably my biggest crush on and off throughout elementary.)

29 years and 364 days

Tomorrow I turn 30. Below I've listed a few of the reasons I look forward to my thirties (or reasons why I'm not sad about turning 30).
-I still have great health. I don't have as much energy and I'm not as flexible as I once was, but that isn't so much my age as it is my lack of exercise (I definitely want to do better with this so I can keep my health). I might start getting worried about my age when I need new hips or something like that, but for now my body doesn't really feel that much older.
-I'm not concerned about wrinkles - in fact, I didn't even notice I had any until other friends my age started complaining about theirs. And I'm not worried about my three gray hairs that I have stopped plucking out of my head - I'm going to embrace the wisdom that comes with them! (When it becomes noticable I'll start dying my hair. ha ha!)
-With the bigger number in my age I'm sure that our income will also get bigger with the years - always something to look forward to.
-One of my friends turned thirty a few months ago and posted this quote on her blog: "Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many." Since my nephew died, I've thought a lot about death and I realize that death is not an awful thing and that our spirits go on living and go to a better place. But, I'm so grateful to be given this privilege of growing older and having this mortal experience. I'm grateful to watch my children grow and I expect to see my grandkids grow too.

My family