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Thursday, March 31, 2011

End of March wrap-up

The other day some old friends from our last ward, the Chipmans, came over to see our new baby and to make balloon animals for the rest of the family. Michael Chipman made balloon animals to make money during college. Now the Chipmans visit friends after a baby is born to make the other children balloon animals. He lets the kids choose their animal & color.

A shark for Jack


Working on Callie's...


Unicorn!


And Ellie's...


Kitty Cat!





And his daughter Lucy's...


Unicorn!


And a motorcycle for Jeremiah! I even got a flower!


Here's what I mean about Ellie thinking she's big enough to roll our little baby up onto her chest!


Jack didn't notice anything strange when he got himself dressed today. Silly boy!

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Saturday, March 26, 2011

Couch-tastrophy!

Seriously?!

Okay, I guess it wasn't actually a catastrophy. Not like this time. Thank goodness it was washable marker on a microfiber couch. It still took a good amount of elbow grease to clean up. And guess who the guilty party was?




Yep. Same as last time too.



Saturday, March 19, 2011

They're After Me Lucky Charms!

For the last couple of years a leprechaun has snuck into our home & hidden clues for our kids to find "gold" on St. Patrick's Day. Callie and Jack really wanted to see the leprechaun this year so we decided to make a leprechaun trap. The kids were totally into it & had a great time painting the box green and painting the stripes on our rainbow tube. Jack made the "leprechaun ladder" at preschool, and Callie made the "Come get The Gold" sign that would tempt any leprechaun!

Sadly we were outsmarted by leprechauns again! But he must have just barely gotten away since no clues were hidden this year for a chocolate hunt. Instead he left behind gold coins (he had to in order to escape from our trap!), and a note saying he'd hidden our Lucky Charms. The kids looked all over before finding them in the dryer. Maybe next year!











This was the funniest part of my morning. A day or two before I'd been in a hurry to get something from the pantry & caused a ton of stuff to fall to the floor. I didn't have time then to clean it up and the kids must not have noticed. When they opened the pantry door to check for the Lucky Charms and found the disaster, Callie couldn't believe that the Leprechaun had been so naughty & made a mess of our pantry! Uh yeah, it was totally the leprechaun... LOL

Friday, March 11, 2011

Adelyn - 6 weeks

It's hard to believe that 6 weeks has already passed since Adelyn joined our family! She is so sweet and perfect!

My aunt Lorie made this quilt for her. I love it so much! It's going to replace the quilt that I bought with the crib bedding for Ellie when she was a baby. I love how the fun colors will add a little pop to Adelyn's bedroom (when she moves in). I also love it because Aunt Lorie made it just for Addy. She is always making things for others. I'm so lucky that we're the recipients!




Ellie is very sweet with Adelyn. We worried that she would have a really hard time adjusting to having a new baby since she has been the baby of the family for so long. We have been amazed at how much she loves her new sister and how kind & loving she is. Not that we thought she'd be mean! But we thought she'd be very jealous & she has been anything but!







This little guy is just as smitten as his daddy is with our adorable angel baby!



Life is good.

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Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Adelyn's Blessing Day

We are very {blessed} that so much family was able to be here for Adelyn's baby blessing! It was really fun and awesome that so many of our family came from out of town to support us. After church we had a luncheon at my parents' house with our family & some of our close friends. Jeremiah smoked a brisket & a turkey for the occassion! We had beans, potato salad & freshly baked french bread, cucumber punch & great white punch to go with it, and strawberry shortcake for dessert (important details, cause you know it's all about the food!). All the kids had a great time playing outside despite the wind & cool temperature, and it was really fun passing around our precious little baby & visiting with our family & friends.

March 6, 2011



Jeremiah is a stud. He's got it all - looks, sense of humor, & mad brisket smoking skills! :) But really, I'm soooo glad (and lucky) that he knows his way around the kitchen & is a great cook. It's pretty awesome that he can take over in the middle of a recipe & he knows what he's doing. I always have pictures of him cutting/preparing food at big family gatherings! lol

My sister Kayleigh with Adelyn.


On Monday when things were quiet and calm & I had gotten Callie off to school I went to my m/d's to visit again with my grandparents & my Aunt Lorie & cousin Annie before they had to leave. I love that I could get these pictures of each of them with Addy.

I love my little girls! (And you too Callie. And Jack.)

Jack the Photographer. He loves taking pictures when I'll let him. Center picture is a self-portrait! :)

Jack the Boy Who Can't Handle Disappointment. I love it! Except the times when I don't. My mom got these really cute {looking} mini Lincoln Logs from Cracker Barrel but they are very difficult to build with. Really he did great getting as far as he did.


It was such a fun weekend! It was lots of cooking & lots of decorating, but also lots of partying & tons of laughing. :) Thank you again to all our family who came to spend this eventful weekend with us. We love you so much & having you here made the weekend perfect!


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Monday, March 07, 2011

Birthday Ballerina


Ellie's 3rd birthday was quite the event! Her birthday was on Saturday & we were blessing Adelyn on Sunday so we had lots of family in town. I wanted to make Ellie's birthday special for her because she's old enough to enjoy pretty things & plus we hadn't had a big party for her yet. We had everyone come over for a late lunch/early dinner since Callie had a dance recital later that evening. We had chicken salad on croissants, a fruit & a vegetable tray, and pink punch.



Jack made Ellie this birthday card completely by himself! I couldn't believe it! He's quite artistic! He used cupcake liners I'd cut, he punched the head out & came up with the body on his own, he used a tutu from the ballerina cupcake picks, and stole my glittered number 3 that I'd made for Ellie's birthday hat! I had to make a new one because I just couldn't take it from his amazing birthday card made with so much love. I think it's the sweetest thing ever!



The birthday ballerina enjoying her lunch.



Most of her party guests. My Grandpa & Grandma Watkins aren't pictured but they got there after lunch.





I feel really bad that I didn't remember to take any pictures of Callie in her recital costume! I'm glad I at least have her in these pictures. She looked so beautiful! (She also did a fantastic job at her recital!) Callie & Jack were very helpful to Ellie as she opened up presents.



Proof that I was there :) The only picture I'm in her birthday.



Ellie was exhausted though because of all the excitement + not having a nap. After opening the first presents she became very unenthusiastic/tired and showed very little excitement as she'd open a present, merely glance at it, set it aside, & move on to the next. I was sad that I hadn't made her take a nap. She got really thoughtful & fun gifts & I was looking forward to seeing her reaction/happiness at some of her gifts. Poor sleepy birthday girl!



The ballerina cupcakes! I saw the inspiration for the picks online & cut out the leotard with my cricut. My sweet friend Abby stayed up one night making & assembling most of the picks for me. Not only that but my first batch of icing was an epic fail. It's an exact recipe (which I hadn't made before) and it required a candy thermometer & mine was broken. After my icing didn't turn out Jeremiah & I had to leave to take Callie to her recital so Abby came to my rescue - again! She came over before going on a date with her husband & made a new batch while I wasn't even there! Yeah, she's amazing! Thanks again Abby!



The day didn't end as well as it began. Callie's recital went on forever & it was close to 9 when we finally got home. Our poor birthday girl who had already been exhausted had gone to sleep without us ever singing happy birthday & letting her blow out candles. :( The next night after we got home from our busy day from Adelyn's blessing & luncheon our little family (of SIX!) sang to her & let her blow out her candles. Again she hadn't had a nap & was exhausted! Too much excitement for a brand new 3-year old! She had a couple bites of her cupcake & was ready for bed. We love you so much Ellie-girl!