St. Patty's Day Party

I am not much of a party planner/thrower and I wish I was, but it kind of gives me anxiety. Carly, on the other hand is a party planner. Birthdays, tea parties, St. Patrick's Day, etc....  

So, she's been planning and begging me for a St. Patrick's Day party since the end of February and today was the big day. Planning a party for kids is a good way to ease me into hosting for adults (if I ever get to that point). Also, I want our home to be a place where the girls' friends always feel welcome and I want our girls to feel comfortable inviting friends over. 

I wish I would have gotten a picture of all 5 of these school girls getting off the bus at our house - you could just feel the excitement! 

 The dining room was all decked out for the occasion. We had some brownies that a leprechaun had smudged green mint icing on. The leprechaun also snuck into our freezer somehow and made our ice cubes rainbow colors!

Here they are playing Don't Eat Pete (St. Patrick's Day style). I really wanted to figure out how to make this into a printable (to share with my three devoted followers) :) but I can not figure it out!! I think if you just right click on the image you can copy it onto a word document... I think. Give it a try, you'll like this game and so will your kids.

At the end of the party we hid these pots filled with yummy treasures for them to find.

I'm really glad Carly was so persistent about doing this party - fun was had by all! I love getting to know their friends and seeing them have such a wonderful time together.

There is Sunshine in My Soul Today

Me and the girls, enjoying spring-like weather a couple days ago

Ellie, watching the spring flowers grow

One thing I love about living somewhere with all four seasons is the anticipation just before a new season begins, and the feelings associated with that new beginning. In the fall I look forward to making soup and pumpkin muffins and the start of a new school year. Winter brings Christmastime and beautiful, clean, fluffy snow and hot cocoa. Summer means vacation! And now that we're by the ocean summertime means beach time. 

Maybe it's because Spring is just around the corner, but I feel like it's the most anticipated because it's a natural anti-depressant. In the spring the air smells so fresh and crisp and like newly mowed grass (sometimes with a hint of skunk here in our neighborhood). I remember pulling out of our garage last May with the window down and being caught off guard by the absolutely delicious smell of the lilac bush in the driveway. Lilacs remind me of my Mom because they're one of her favorite flowers, and in that moment my heart was so so happy and felt like it was overflowing - I just knew that Heavenly Father loved me. And the sunshine. Oh how I LOVE the sunshine - it truly just brightens my soul and makes the day happier!

To me, it's no wonder that the sun and The Son are homophones. Just as the sun brings light and happiness into our lives, so does Jesus Christ. He truly is the light of the world! The more we allow Him into our lives, the brighter our lives will be.

If I had a Million

I think it's fun to play the "What would you do with a million dollars" game.

*I would live in a beautiful home (ideal location, size, style, yard...)

In all honesty I wouldn't even want a house this big, but I do love the federal style

*and have a cleaning service come once a week


*Go to Europe once a year

*Shopping spree

*New cars
*My girls would get to take all the dance, gymnastics, music and sports lessons they've ever dreamed of (too bad you can't buy more time)

Just the other day we were playing this game with some friends and I realized something for the first time. If I had a million dollars I probably wouldn't actually appreciate some of these things. At least not as much as if I had to scrimp and save for them. New car? No biggie, I get a new car every two years. Shopping spree? I go shopping whenever I want and buy whatever I want. Clean house? Someone does it for me. Going to Europe? I go every year.

Anyway, you get the picture. So, basically I'm glad that I don't have all the money in the world because it makes my life a little more exciting that way. And half the fun is in all the anticipation anyway, right?

The everyday

"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, savor you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may,for it will not always be so." 

-Mary Jean Irion

Right now our our family life is pretty normal. No major illnesses, financial disasters, or marital problems. But we do have the occasional cold or flu and wish we had just a little more money and occasionally get annoyed with each other - normal right? Well, someday we may have some big trial come our way, and I'll wish for these normal days back. So, I'm trying to be more grateful for the everyday.

"Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation." Robert Schuller

The day-to-day process of raising our children is quite unspectacular and I would say even downright dirty work sometimes. But those few perfect moments when you wish you could freeze time and make that memory hold fast in your family's mind forever; those moments are spectacular. And I'm sure when twenty years have passed and I see what truly amazing women our three girls have become (because I'm sure they will be absolutely amazing), it will be spectacular! 

At the same time, even though life isn't always spectacular, there are always moments to enjoy and I love this quote:

So often we get caught up in the illusion that there is something just beyond our reach that would bring us happiness: a better family situation, a better financial situation, or the end of a challenging trial.

We shouldn’t wait to be happy until we reach some future point, only to discover that happiness was already available—all the time! Life is not meant to be appreciated only in retrospect. “This is the day which the Lord hath made … ,” the Psalmist wrote. “Rejoice and be glad in it.”

President Uchtdorf

I just love Pres. Uchdorf! (General Conference is in just 4 weeks - yay!)

Style

So, as many of you know (from my New Year's Resolution post), I am trying to not spend any money on clothing this year. And guess what? I've held to it so far - amazing huh?! I did get some birthday money that I hope to find some great deals for shorts and/or casual skirts for the summer (which is so hot and humid here). I do occasionally check a few fashion blogs, which makes it really hard to hold to my resolution, but they also give me great ideas and get me to be creative with what I already have in my closet. So, in an attempt to show my creativity .... 

please excuse the reflection in my glasses

And look at these two girls ..... STYLISH!

Aubree turned 4

Aubree the new 4-year old and big sister Carly

How did this happen?! She's still my baby.... and unfortunately I still treat her like one. I'm not sure if we'll have anymore kids and I just can't let go of that baby stage yet. (I do get extremely baby hungry.) 

 She got this adorable outfit and tea set from Nanny Nette and Grandpa.

 So, she had her first tea party with her friend, Hannah.

 They reminded me of Anne and Diana when they had their cherry cordial. They were so excited and proper to start out, but as the tea party continued they got a little sloppy with the pouring.

 Ellie helped Aubree rig up this baby carrier.

One afternoon as I was in the kitchen, Aubree was in the parlor rocking and singing. After a few minutes of quiet I went to see what she was up to. This is what I found. :)

The Blizzard of 2013

This past weekend we experienced one of the biggest blizzards to come to New England in the past century! It. was. BIG. We woke up to at least two feet of snow on Saturday morning. We also woke up to a very cold house because our power went out after dinner on Friday night. We spent the day in our 48 degree home with double layers and robes on. The girls had a wonderful time playing outside - it reminded me of my childhood winters in Idaho. The piles of snow along the sidewalks were taller than the girls.

(I totally remember walking up the sidewalk to my home through piles of snow on either side that were taller than me. I also loved when the snowplow would come by and make a nice little snow hill in the middle of our col-de-sac where we could sled and play to our hearts content. Love those memories!)

Luckily we kept our hot water during the power outage and have a gas stove to prepare food. Also, one benefit of losing power when it's so stinkin' cold outside is that you don't have to worry about losing the food in your fridge and freezer. On Saturday night the temperature got down to about 10 degrees outside so we spent the night at our friend's, the Abston's, house (they didn't lose power). After church on Sunday we came home to 37 degrees inside!!! So, we went outside to warm up (yesterday's weather report says it was a 33 degree high yesterday, but it was pretty sunny, so it felt really nice)! We planned to spend the night at Abston's house again last night, but just as we were getting ready to go to bed we found out that our power was back on. Hooray!!!! We are so grateful for our friends for letting us crash at their house, but it is always so nice to be in your own home (although the girls don't think so - they were very disappointed to leave).

I'm so sad because I looked and looked for my camera to take pictures of the beautiful snow and the girls playing and Aaron shoveling, but I just barely found it today and now it's raining and the snow is disappearing! So, these are artistic renderings of the blizzard of 2013. (I'm not sure why they are so blurry.)

by Ellise Parson

by Carly Parson