a few things i learned at the bowling alley.

1. serena has no patience for bowling {or waiting her turn, rather}, but she looooved the bowling ball machiney thing that brings them back up. she was fascinated.

2. i am a terrible bowler.

3. bowling shoes look kinda ridiculous with skinny jeans.

4. serena loves the 25-cents-a-ride merry-go-round. my dad was kind enough to distract her with that for 5 rides or so :)

5. harper loves the bowling alley.

6. i got the bad bowler gene from my mom. BOTH of us even did that classic move where the bowling ball flies out of your grasp when you're swinging it back and thumps on the floor behind you. the bowlers next to us got a good show.

7. when it's past 8:30 pm, even ice cream won't appease my cranky, over-tired toddler.

8. some people take bowling very seriously.

9. i really need to go to the lanes more often! monthly fhe???

note{s} to self.

try to remember to boil eggs more often. creamed eggs on toast is the best ever and {your butt and thighs will kill me for saying this...} you should probably eat it, like, several times a week.

next time you take flonase, be sure to have an entire box of tissues handy.

be grateful that your sweet almost-two-year-old loves it when you sing lullabies to her. stop trying to sing "i love to see the temple" in one breath so you can get out of her room faster at night.

serena turns two in like 3 weeks. get crackin' on planning her birthday party.

you go through paper towels like it's nobody's business. did you know that it's just as effective to dry your hands on a clean dish towel as it is to dry them on 5 sheets of paper towel? plus, they are expensive.

stop trying on your pre-pregnancy jeans. the scale will tell you when it's time.

accept that any toy you give to harper will be cast aside when she sees a paper towel, plastic cup, a sock, or a package of diaper wipes. those seemingly boring items are apparently much more fun/interesting than any cute toy you might buy her.

don't procrastinate planning your yw lessons until 10:30 pm the saturday night before. unnecessary amounts of stress.

look into the bountiful basket.

stop playing angry birds so much. it's making your carpal tunnel act up.

tell sean he's awesome for bringing serena to work today while you had lunch with your sister.

try this recipe asap. pretty sure the whole fam will love it.

love, ariel

oh, and you're out of paper towels.

six months.

this squishy pink baby is 6 months old today!

harper at six months:

still haaaaaaaaaaaates bath time. i have no clue what to do with the girl. she screams bloody murder the second she touches the water.

can roll from back to front but usually chooses not to. she's not a fan of tummy time and hasn't learned to roll front to back yet :)

eats cereal and is starting fruit, too. {and loves it all}

puts everything in her mouth. yeah, i know that's normal but serena never did that. so it's new and interesting to us.

sleeps like a champ at night. and we are still bad at scheduled naps in the day. i'm a working {part-time} mom. it's hard.

looooooves her big sis. she is always fussy when serena is napping because she needs the entertainment.

likes to sit up whenever possible. she's getting pretty good at it, but still needs support.

nicknames: harpers, harp, harpsichord, harpsies, harps-a-lot, and that's about it... it's a tough one for nicknames.

has a love/hate relationship with her bouncer, as you will see in the following video:

{i call this "you can't stop the beat"}

search.

i thought it was high time i evaluated my life based on my recent google search history again. this is what's been happening at our house lately:

do cough suppressants work? {ariel}
cough suppressant {ariel}
villa trapp salzburg {sean}
meningitis {ariel}
flonase {ariel}
avocational singer {ariel}
my computer screen is sideways {sean}
sesame street twinkle twinkle little star {ariel}
sesame street songs {sean}
strep throat and rheumatic fever {ariel}
my kindle wifi won't connect {sean}
amazon kindle support {sean}
shepherds pie {ariel}
best mashed potatoes recipe {ariel}
i walk by faith song {ariel}
thank you letters to donors of non profits {ariel}
kobe bryant homophobic slur {sean}
elmo {sean}
hot diggity dog {sean}
how to remove sticker goo {ariel}
chocolate frosting recipe {ariel}
lds distribution center {ariel}
tangled voice cast {ariel}
what is my wpa2 password? {sean}
i can't get my kindle to connect to wifi {sean}
set up kindle without wifi {sean}
set up kindle {sean}
hawaii beaches {ariel}

now we know that i'm sick. that someone in the house is a fan of elmo, mickey & tangled. that we really can't figure out our kindle. that i rely completely on the internet for recipes. that sean is obsessed with the sound of music. that we recently removed some sticker goo {from our front window and mr clean magic eraser did the trick!!}. and that while watching elmo songs on youtube recently, our toddler pushed some buttons and the computer screen turned sideways.

what's interesting in your search history lately?

{if you're wondering what that picture has to do with anything, it has to do with the avocational singer search. my mom and i attended the NATS winners concert the other night and one of the divisions was "avocational". so i looked it up. and now i know what it means. and that guy is an avocational singer. and if i took voice lessons and participated in that competition, i would be an avocational singer. just fyi...}

sean had a birthday. {shout hooray!}

thursday:
i made the shepherds pie that the birthday boy requested.
and some delicious oreo treats.
serena had fun with the balloons all day.
{and i came down with the worst cold/flu/sinus infection of all time.}

friday:
we had biaggi's for lunch.
we saw source code.
we played at the park with the girls.
we saw hanna.
that's right. two movies in one day. it was pretty awesome :)

dear sean,
i hope your 31st birthday was fun even though i got sick and complained about that a lot...
love, ariel

a trip to brigham city.

horrible weather and traffic.
serena demanding "i know it's today" on repeat.
seth's graduation dinner at maddox.
best rolls ever.
a salad dressing mishap about 2 seconds after that first photo was taken.
turkey steak. yum.
a speech from the graduate.
sean's antique rick's college sweatshirt gets replaced... thanks a lot, guys!!
strawberry pie. yum.

way to graduate, seth!

blur.

there is just something about blurry photos that i love sooooo much.

also.

life is a blur right now. familyworkyoungwomenschoirchoresmeals. and a little bit of sleep in there sometimes. busybusybusy.

april third.

inSANE amounts of snow at the cabin. we woke up to another foot or so this morning. quite the adventure. and in april!
favorites from our g.c. weekend:

my girls were well-behaved. . . unlike last time!
tangled on the projector.
cute cousins playing together.
and being so patient with serena!
paul calls his son "the disaster".
kids slept better than at home.
staying up late to watch the patriot.
falling asleep to the sound of rain on the roof.
way too much good food for breakfast.
especially the cinnamon rolls...
inspired words from the prophet & apostles.
pillow fight after the first session this morning.
finding some gems in the reject cabin books.
adventures leaving the driveway.
coming home to a clean house.

debut.

the double stroller made its debut yesterday. it's pretty sweet.

serena is going through an ariel phase. i went through a LONG phase in my childhood when i hid my face or turned my back every time the camera was out. i guess it's only fair that my daughter does it :)