{feeling the Love}

This past Monday our Family Night was all about love. We began the night by making heart sugar cookies.

Kaidee and Cole helped me roll out the dough.

Paisley loved frosting her cookie. She kept asking for more frosting. Notice her tongue this must be a very strong gene in our family.

Popsicle sticks work so well for her tiny hands.

Then she figured out it tasted good, and that was it.

No more frosting she was all about eating.

The final result. The kids had fun decorating and I think they did a pretty good job.

For our lesson/activity I had cut out 49 hearts enough for each person in the family to write something about each one of their family members. I didn't do a set for Paisley. I told the kids that they had to write why they loved each family member. I explained that this wasn't a race and that they needed to think about the reasons. I didn't want them to say things like "i love Cole because he is nice." I then told them that we were going to display them all over the house so that everyone could read why they are loved throughout the next few weeks. I must say it turned out better than I imagined. The kids did so well. Even Cole had some great reasons why he loved his family. Here are a few in our kitchen.

I took a close up of a few of them for you to see. I got this idea at 71 toes. This would also make a great fhe on Valentine's Day.

{love #8}

Don't these Valentine's just make you smile. I found them on See Jane Blog.

{love #6}

I love this girl! Jill is the closest thing I have to a sister here in California. She lives 3 hours away but that is so much closer than Utah or Texas. Jill has been staying with us since last Wednesday. I love having her in my home. When she is here I don't feel like I need to act or do anything differently. I just wish we could live closer so that I could see her everyday.

While she was here we (or she) did lots of fun projects. I can't wait to show you everything.

Well now she is gone and I am sad. The time seems to fly when she is here. We always plan lots of stuff but we only end up doing about half of them.

She has a blog called the Galyan Gang and it is adorable. She has lots of fun crafts and ideas to share.

{thankful thursday}

new days - I am thankful for new days. That might sound funny to you but I am so happy that it's today and not yesterday. Yesterday was a bad day. Last night I went to bed with a bad feeling but when I woke up it was gone and today has started out very good.
pictionary - tonight is pictionary here at my house and I can't wait. My sil Celeste is the host and since she lives about an hour away we decided to have it here. I love hanging out with all 11 of the other girls, laughing, playing, talking, eating good food, and having a good time.
teacher's - I am so thankful to have such good teacher's for my kids. Last night was Chloe and Garrett's back to school night. It was so nice to hear about how well they are doing in school and how much their teachers enjoyed having them in their rooms. I am thankful for all of their hard work and willingness to teach my children.

{thankful thursday}

Cars - I don't know how I would get along without a car to drive around in. I am thankful that it allows us to go places in a short amount of time. I am also thankful that we are able to afford a nice car that I don't have to worry if I am going to make it or not or that my kids make me drop them off a mile away so that they won't be seen in it.
Cell Phones - Its hard to believe that 10 years ago we were able to get along without them. I can't imagine my life without one it has com in handy more times than I can remember. l
Swimming pools - I am loving having a swimming pool this summer. Its such a nice cool spot to relax away from this heat. I love that its at my home so that I don't have to hide to go swimming.

So what are you thankful for?

{thankful thursday}

SISTERS - I am so thankful for sisters. As you know I am very close to my sisters and sister in laws. I have been truly blessed when my brothers choose their soul mates. I have heard stories of the sister in laws from $&*@ but I can say I do not have any of those stories. I am thankful for the mother's that they are to my nieces and nephews and future nieces and nephews. They have taught me to be a better mother and friend. I only wish that they lived closer to me. I miss the family bbq's and just hanging out with them. Maybe one day we will all live close again.

CHILDREN - I am so thankful that I have been blessed with great kids they all give me something to be thankful for.
Chase - is such a good protector since Darian has been gone he is always making sure that I am ok and that I am not alone. The other night Nan wanted him to stay the night but he didn't want to leave me alone. I reassured him that I would be fine but he was so concerned about me. I really love the tender side that he has.
Garrett - Is such a hard worker and is always willing to help. they other day he helped me mow the lawn and then when we went to Nan's house he offered to mow her lawn too. I love that if you need him he will always be there.
Chloe - loves to play with Cole. When I am trying to get things done around the house she will entertain Cole and this is a huge help. She is going to be a great Mother when she grows up.
Kaidee - Is my friendly girl and she gets that from her dad. Last night at the park she was talking to everybody. I love that she can make friends so easily. Now that she is at a new school I know that it will be easier for her because she will be making new friends in no time.
Cole - is at such a fun age right now. I love hearing him say new words everyday. I wish that I could stop time and keep him at this age forever. I love when he says "ohhh nasty" whenever he sees something gross it's so cute.

BAND AIDS - Last night the girls were taking a bath and I was getting Cole ready for bed. I told the girls to get out and get their pajamas on next thing I knew Kaidee said " mom Chloe fell and is bleeding really bad" So I told them to come here and it looked like a little scratch there was not much blood at all. Then I noticed one on her arm. Suddenly the thought came to me they were shaving their legs! I asked them if that is what happened and they both just gave me that look like they had been caught. At that point I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Chloe told me "Mom I have too much hair and I don't like it." I told them that what they did was wrong and that they could shave when they were 13. Kaidee shaved both legs and Chloe shaved her arms and legs. Kaidee did a pretty good job but Chloe missed quite a few spots. Now looking back it was quite funny but I am sure thankful for band aids.

{off to Utah}

Lakers 120

Jazz 110

Game 3 will be in Utah on Friday night. This will be a tough game because Utah has done very well at home. The Lakers smoked Utah when they played them at home during the regular season and that was without Pau Gasol. I think the Lakers do well their because the team got upset when they booed Derek Fisher. Derek Fisher left because his daughter has eye cancer and needed to go to a bigger city for treatment. He also took a huge paycut. I think I would do the same thing in his situation wouldn't you. So I hope the Utah fans are a little more considerate this time and if they aren't then they better be careful because the Lakers will be fired up and you don't want to get Kobe mad.

{bring it on}

Game One:

109

98

One down three more to go

The Last and Final I love Post

I love Blogging. It was introduced to me by my cousin Jill last year and ever since I have been addicted. The first thing I do when I wake up every morning is check out my blogs and then I will take a peek at my friends blogs. I have made some very sweet friends through my blog. They have inspired me and given me great advice. Someday I hope to meet them face to face. I love to blog surf and look at other peoples blogs sometimes I will leave a comment to let them know how much I liked their blog. My family is enjoying all of the new recipes I have been getting too. Thanks Chantri and Emily. I love that I can get this published as a journal for my family. I have never been very good at keeping a journal but blogging is something that I can do along with the pictures it is my kind of journal. Blogging has been such a blessing in my life. Since most of my family is now in Texas it allows us to stay connected through the miles. I just wish that they posted a little bit more. I think that they feel like something big has to happen in order for them to make a post. But I love hearing about the little daily things too. I love having my adult time here in blogging world too. Being a stay at home mom I don't get too much but on here I feel I get just what I need.

Things I Love #22

You have to check out Gymboree's newest store. It's called crazy 8. They specialize in kids clothes sizes 0-14 and the prices are great. You can check it out here http://www.crazy8.com/index.jsp I will be definitely be a frequent shopper.

Just A Quick Shout Out

My Lakers are 6 - 2 on their long 9 game road trip. One more game to go and then they come back home. Way to go Lakers!

Things I Love #20

I love laying around with family on Sunday's after church. My family goes to my parents home for dinner and then we just hang out talking or playing games. Sometimes I will even take a nap. It's just a nice and relaxing day where I can forget about cleaning and running the kids around and just take a break.

Things I Love #19

MAC Makeup. I don't wear makeup everyday but when I do I love this stuff. The shadows come in such beautiful brilliant colors and they stay on all day. Now if I could put it on like the girls that I buy it from.

I am not a lipstick girl but I love lipgloss and the LIPGLASS by MAC is my favorite and it comes in so many different colors.

I love the eyeshadow. Naked Lunch is my favorite color.

Things I Love #18

Chloe and Kaidee's new bed. We have been looking for a trundle bed for them for a long time and I was never able to find one that I liked. The only ones that I liked were from Pottery Barn and I just couldn't justify spending that much money on a bed that doesn't include mattresses. So the other day we were at Costco and they had this trundle bed. I think that it is supposed to be for a boy but when you put a pink bedspread on it who can tell the difference? And the best thing of all was that we got the bed and two brand new mattresses all from Costco for under $800.00. The pottery bed was $1799.00. I love Costco.

Things I Love #17

This is great magazine that every family should have.

Things I Love #15

Knowing that at any moment Darian will be walking through the door after spending the weekend in Las Vegas with the guys. I was excited for him to get away and have some male bonding time but I am tired of being the only parent in the house. He did have fun and he was able to stay in a suite that was completely paid for can't beat that. The Super Bowl party was good too he especially loved all of the food he had to choose from. He said the desserts were the best. Hopefully he gets to stay home a little while before heading out to drive a train.

Things I Love #14

This may come as a surprise but I love the Lakers and Kobe Bryant. I don't ever miss a game. If I know that I won't be home I will set the DVR to tape it and then I will watch it when I get home. We love to watch the Lakers as a family too. This past Friday we got soem exciting news. The Lakers traded Kwame Brown and Javaris Crittenton for Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies. So now when Andrew Bynum comes back you better watch out. We are now in contention to be the 2008 NBA Champions.

Things I Love #13

Whenever I go to Disneyland I love to look at their landscaping. They always have such beautiful things planted there. I would love to have my yard look like theirs. When we went yesterday there were tulips everywhere bright pink ones. Tulips are my favorite flower and I have never seen so many in one place. They were breathtaking and the smell was amazing. These pictures were from yesterday while we were at Disneyland. The overhead shot was taken while I was on the rocket ride with he girls. I am surprised at how well it came out since we were going so fast.

Things I Love #11

There is one thing that I can't stand doing when it comes to cooking and that is cutting onions. I always tear up no matter how fast I cut them. So my mom discovered onion cutting goggles. Now when I cut onions my eyes stay dry. Even the kids enjoy cutting onions now.

Things I Love #10

My Plates! They arrived not a day to soon. I am so happy with the way they came out. I love the colors too. Thank you so much Lynda for finding them.