St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's day this year was a busy green filled day! Ja made the girls green pancakes and green milk for breakfast. 

First, Macy had preschool where she dressed up in green. I forgot to have her wear her green jacket in this picture. She has a lot of green clothes! She wanted to color her pants with a green marker since they weren't green. A leprechaun came to their school and left a surprise. 

After school we raced home, ate lunch, then went to a birthday party for a girl at church. It was a speed party because it was only an hour long since moms had to leave to pick up older kids from school. 

Then we raced off to another party. This time we had a St. Patrick's day party at Melissa Porters house. She had so many supplies for a great educational party that was fun. 

Macy loved these dot rainbows and make a few of them. 

The kids were supposed to make necklaces with the fruit loops but I think most of them just ate the cereal (like Anna here). I made Anna a necklace and Macy did make herself one. They were great because when the kids got hungry later they crunched on their necklace!

Here is Macy and Miles working on their fine motor skills while making their necklace. Melissa also had green bubbles to play with and a bin outside filled with lucky charms for the kids to dig in. I think the kids liked eating that too. 

Then Katie put together a treasure hunt. A leprechaun left them clues to where the treasure was hidden. The kids really loved this. 

They found the treasure!

The group- minus Anna. She wouldn't join them. 

Then we played in the backyard. The green grass really compliments our St. Patrick's day party. 

For some reason I love seeing everyone wear the same color. It's fun to be festive and wear green and have a party. It was a last minute decision but the kids had a blast  we didn't leave until 5:15 I think. The weather was perfect and the kids were having a great time playing together. 

We had a very busy but very fun day!

Canaan zip line Canopy Tour

I got Ja tickets to go zip lining for his birthday and we went yesterday. It was so much fun! I was pretty scared to go on the first zip line but after that it was a blast!

Here's our group. There were 10 of us to begin with. One lady was too scared to zip line once we got to the top of the first platform so she stayed behind. 

It was pretty high- 11 flights of stairs!

From that we zip lined to a little platform high in the air that looked like a birds perch. 

Once I got over the initial fear I had a blast. Next time it would be fun to do it with leaves on the trees. 

Here are our fun guides. 

We are so lucky to have the best babysitter. She watched all 3 kids for 6 hours! I paid her $60 but she ended up giving $20 back because she said she felt guilty taking so much since our kids were so good! How great is she?! 

Macy the great big sister

This is a scene I wake up to most mornings (at least for the last two weeks).  Macy quietly walks into our room and talks to Owen. She plays with him for a few minutes. I think it's so sweet of her. I sneak a peek while I pretend to be asleep. 

Today the three of us hung out on the bed together. Macy was so happy when Owen held on to her finger. 

Macy was coloring on the floor while I took a shower. When I got out I saw her trying to put an open marker in Owens hand. I said that wasn't a good idea but he could hold a closed one. She had something in mind so she gave him a crayon. She wanted to teach him how to color. 

Then she opened the laptop and taught him how to type. She had a hard time getting him to open his fist and type with one finger. 

Because of that she used his foot to type and said, "this is much easier."

Owen loved the attention from his big sister! Every night before bed Macy likes to give Owen a big hug and kiss. 

Anna still gives Owen a lot of attention but it isn't always the best kind. She likes to squeeze his cheeks, poke his face, press on his tummy, pull his blankets and socks off. I have a feeling that won't stop because she pesters Macy too. Ja says Owen will grow up to be tough because of it. I guess Anna is helping out in a different way. 

Both girls loves it when he smiles at them. He's smiling a lot more and laughs occasionally. Every morning when I get him out of the bassinet he looks at me and gives me big smiles. That makes waking up much easier. He is such a sweet boy and we all love him so much! 

I love having a baby at home!

Spring is in the air!

I think my favorite season is spring! Flowers are blossoming, trees are blooming, the grass is growing, and the air is warming. By mid-March we had been to play at the lake three times! 

It's been so fun getting to know more friends and having so much fun exploring outside with them. 

Here at Ramsey creek park on Lake Norman. It was a beautiful day! We played at the lake for a little, then the playground, then back to the lake. Surprisingly the water wasn't freezing cold. The kids didn't seem to mind the temperature of it all all. 

A couple days later we had a picnic at Latta Plantation. This time I was better prepared and brought a change of clothes for the kids. They got extra wet before. 

Anna sat in the lake accidentally. She squat down to pick up a shell not noticing it was in water. So, she walked around with no shorts for the rest of the time. I love that little butt cheek showing 😊

Ja's 32 birthday

Ja's birthday was on a Saturday this year which meant we could spend the whole day with him. I planned to take him in a zip line canopy tour but the babysitter couldn't do it so we are going in the 21st instead. Hopefully there will be another post on that later! (It ended up raining on his birthday so I'm glad we are going later.)

The girls slept in (yay!) so I made Ja scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast. He had a seminary in-service day so he left at 8:45 for that. 

Friday night we talked about how we should have a Pi day party for his party next year. Friday night seemed to late to do anything. Then he realized it was the most perfect Pi day of the century since it was 3-14-15 and with the time of 9:26:53 (Pi is 3.141592653). We had to celebrate! I texted a few friends and they were able to come Saturday at 6pm. 

(The reason I hadn't planned anything earlier was due to Ja saying he didn't want a party. He doesn't like being the center of attention.)

Back to Saturday- 

I was able to get everyone bathed and showered before going to Target to buy party supplies. Then we met Ja at Shane's rib shack for lunch. It was delicious! The perfect lunch for Ja- ribs, smoked pork, and chicken. 

Then Ja took Macy and Anna to a friends birthday party at Bounce U. I stayed home to make the pies (French silk and coconut cream). 

The Cub Scouts In our ward were having a fundraiser and selling pizzas and sodas. We picked up our pizza and brought it home. Our friends did the same. It was perfect! No cooking for me, everyone contributed and kids were happy. I cut up some fruit and veggies to go with it. 

Here are the decorations. There's three themes going on: birthday, Pi Day, and Pirate. Macy wanted the pirate stuff and I was ok with it since it went with the PI theme. 

I wrote out Pi all along the wall and window. 

The pirate with no eyes who is turning 32. 

Here are some of the wee pirates. They did this all on their own. I turned around and saw this scene. Too cute!

I put the candles in the cupcakes. Macy said I needed to make cupcakes since kids don't like pie. 

The kids played perfectly together all night. There was no fighting, no bickering, no parental involvement. They were excellent! Us parents said we have to get that group together more often because they played so well together. 

At one point the kids brought Macy's blankets and tent downstairs to play camping. They turned out the lights and asked for flashlights. (I'm glad I recently found all the flashlights around the house and put them in one place.) 

Then they all found little sticks from the backyard and "roasted" marshmallows over the big flashlight. It was adorable! 

We had such a great time celebrating Ja's birthday with our friends! 

We made sure to note the time at 9:26:53pm! It was the perfect Pi day!

Macy surprised Ja with the remote control car! She, I mean he, loves it!

Owen was extra cute for daddy's birthday!!

February 2015

Between going to California and all the snow days Macy hardly went to school in February. At least that's what it felt like! We had fun playing in the snow though! Macy had been asking for snow since December so I'm glad she got some. We had two good days of playing in the snow and I think that was the perfect amount. 

It snowed the day after we got back from California so it was a big change in weather for us! Here are the girls ready to go out in the snow.

Macy made a snowman complete with a carrot nose. The snow was more like little ice beads so it was hard to pack into a snowman.

I loved watching Anna walk around in the snow. She liked it to until her gloves got wet.


Macy made a snow angel.


The girls loved eating the icicles off of the car.

I had to cut another huge knot out of Anna's hair! She is seriously going to be bald on the left side of her head soon if she doesn't stop it.

I was trying to get pictures of Owen smiling and Anna said, "I want picture too!" so she hopped in.

This picture was my favorite one of Owen smiling!


He is growing up too fast. I almost can't stand it.


I don't know why exactly I like this picture of Macy and Anna on the bed. Maybe it's because Macy's arm is around Anna. Or that they are both adoring their little brother. Or that it's a candid shot of my kids. Macy took the picture of Anna shoving the binky into Owen's mouth. You may notice the bike in the background- I started exercising again!


Macy and the neighbor Parker "cleaned" up her room.


Macy has recently discovered selfies. There were 18 on my camera so I chose my top four. She sure loves making funny faces.




I read a blog post from a mom whose children were all grown up. She said we take pictures of the big events in life but don't often take pictures of daily life. I think that has changed with the availability of cell phone cameras but I still stopped and took a moment to snap these of the girls drawing on the counter. Anna was complaining about something so I asked her to write down a grocery list for me. She was excited to and Macy joined in.



Macy likes to take my phone and take lots of pictures with it. These three were my favorite of Anna.




Macy is always asking me to take pictures of her silly faces.


Macy wedged Owen between these two pillows. It scared me at first because I couldn't see him. He liked it though and slept a long time!


Here is me and my favorite little boy.


Anna likes to be a duck in the bath tub.



Here is our second snow. This snow was very wet and packed better so we could make a bigger snow man. Macy dressed him up with a hat, stick smile, and acorn eyes. His name was Olaf.

Even Owen came out into the snow for a few minutes.

I thought Owen looked so cute in this "hunk" outfit. It's the first one that actually fits him and isn't baggy. He looks like a little boy and not a baby!

Macy made this "trap" at the bottom of the stairs.

Here is Owen reading up for the seminary lesson the next day.