so plenty!

hawaii part three.

2012-01-24T14:00:00.003-07:00

day five will forever be known as the day we went whale watching. but what we really did on day five was have a great big misadventure.

it started with the intent to go on an early morning whale watching tour. heather, russ, sean, serena & i set out early. we followed russ's GPS all the way into downtown honolulu {with only one trap-you-forever-no-outlets-carpool-lane incindent along the way}. when the directions got kind of confusing, sean got out his google phone, which is way better apparently, and started a navigation. russ's phone said to go one way. sean's said to go another. we followed sean's. and it took us to some random pier that was most certainly not the pier where our whale watching tour was departing from. and that was that. since we missed the tour, and since we were already in honolulu, we decided to go to a breakfast buffet that we had all been to before {heather & russ on a trip with his fam- us on our honeymoon}. after much driving in terrible, terrible traffic, we found the restaurant and parked the car. we walked the block up to the restaurant, only to find out that it is now closed at breakfast!!! bah!!! pregnant heather was about to lose it!!!! so russ got out his trusty smart phone and discovered that we were 300 feet away from a denny's {blech!!!}. we waited forever outside of denny's and waited forever for our food, but eventually dear, hungry heather {and the rest of us} got our breakfast.

four hours after we set out to our whale watching tour, we left denny's and headed back to the house. i didn't want to burden my parents with watching harper all day, but when i called my mom and told her about our morning, she insisted we go do something fun. heather and russ had driven past a beautiful beach the day before but they didn't have their swimsuits on, so we decided to head back to that beach. {luckily we had brougt all of our swim stuff in case!}

the drive along the coast was absolutely beautiful. we stopped at two beaches. the first {makapuu} was literlly the most beautiful place i have ever seen. the waves were huge so we didn't get in the water much, but it was just so so beautiful that we didn't care.

the second beach was just north up the coast, but i don't know what it was called. also beautiful. and with gentler waves. we spent an hour or so playing at this beach. serena played on the sand mostly and we collected seashells & coral & rocks for her.

{some of the things we collected}

later in the day, we had a girls moment- went to dole and haleiwa for dinner. the guys went to ted's bakery for the "best burgers of their lives".

and early to bed again :)

bubble beard.

2012-01-24T13:20:00.003-07:00

this photo deserves its own post. the girls had a lot of baths in hawaii because of all of the beach play. i snapped this photo during one bathtime in which dad used waaaay too much soap and the bath was extra bubbly.

kills me with cuteness.

hawaii part two.

2012-01-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

on the third day, sean and i went with heather and russ to look for the "secret beach" that the homeowner told us we could find access to. we never found it... but we saw some lovely views along the way :)

then my parents took our girls to the beach and the rest of us went on a little kayaking adventure off of kailua beach. i don't have any pictures of this part because i didn't dare bring my camera or phone on the kayaks with us {good call, it turns out! we got really wet.}. it was a lot of fun, but a LOT more challenging than we thought it would be! we rowed out to some little islands that weren't far off the beach... but had to go around a long way to avoid a big coral reef. let's just say that the waves were kinda big and we almost tipped a few times and i was little bit {a lot} terrified. but we made it safely to the island, enjoyed exploring, and then rowed back. the way back was so beyond exhausting. i hated it at the time, but now i think it was awesome and quite funny :) afterward, we had lunch at buzz's with heather & russ, and then took the scenic way back to the house {jamming out to reggae and "positive alternative" tunes all the way}.

on the fourth day, sean and i took our girls to the hukilau beach in laie. serena had a blast playing in the sand & water and building a sandcastle with her dad. we went really early and there was only one other family on the beach which randomly turned out to be a friend of Sean's who was also visiting from utah! {they were still on utah time too.}

the four of us went into haleiwa for lunch and ate at pizza bob's. and it was gooood :)

later in the day, we all went to the dole plantation... mostly to get a delicious dole whip {amazing pineapple sherbet/ice cream}. harper got to walk around for a while. we spent some time in the gift shop. and then we went back to the house.

after we went back to the house, some of us ventured out to see if we could find the "secret beach" again. and we found it! kind of! mom & i went ahead and found one beach. heather, russ, lindsay & jesse found a different one. so i guess there was more than one secret beach :)

{this is the path that led to the beach from the main road}

after that, we had teryaki burgers at the house for dinner, and our little family went to bed early. like we did every single night. because we knew our kids would be up at 4am.

hawaii part one.

2012-01-18T19:22:00.007-07:00

traveling with our kids was... well... interesting. serena was pretty easy. harper was unpredictable. she was perfectly calm and slept on the first flight from SLC to LA. she was whiny and irritable on the long flight to honolulu. on the way home, all heck broke loose. she cried, and i mean BAWLED, for a full hour at the beginning of the flight to san francisco. worst hour of her parents' lives. seriously. i actually was glad that our flight to SLC was cancelled. my kids were DONE with flying. anywho- back to the fun stuff!

{asleep on grandma & heather- a few stress-free moments for us!}

sunset from the balcony on our first night.

on our first morning, my mom, serena & i went to laie and watched the sunrise at the beach {we were still on utah time!}. it was the most beautiful morning!! and it was serena's very first time at the beach. a few more:

then the whole fam ventured to shark's cove where harper had her very first sand experience. she hated it. then she liked it. and then she ate probably a whole pound of it.

also on the second day, we went to the famous giovanni's for lunch and ate lots of yummy garlic shrimp. nothin' like eating shrimp out of truck on a paper plate. gooood stuff.

and THEN we all went to haleiwa for a shave ice.

and THEN played with grandma & grandpa at beach part in haleiwa.

a few pictures of the house:

december ends, january begins. etc. and things.

2012-01-18T12:30:00.004-07:00

serena & a homemade christmas card.

we all got a nasty stomach virus.

family christmas party.

serena was the angel.

attempting to get my sick kids to eat some toast.

lining up the toys- serena's favorite game.

went to see some christmas lights.

made some christmas cookies.

harper wished everyone a merry kiss-mas.

mom took a shower and harper did this...

serena played on grandma's piano.

and did other silly things.

like this.

and made me lunch.

we wished and wished and wished for snow.

and then it came!

and harper was sooo cute. exhibit a.

exhibit b.

exhibit c.

exhibit d.

exhibit e.

exhibit f.

the girls got new sunday clothes.

my family had a big shrimpfest.

we rang in the new year by watching "she's the man" until midnight. love that movie!!

had a rare cuddle moment with both of my girls.

played with the new ikea tent.

and the farm set from my childhood!

and i had my LAST day at work! officially a stay-at-home mom!!!

coming soon- our hawaii 2012 vaction :)

happy 6 years!

2011-12-23T13:30:00.000-07:00

sean and i celebrated our 6th anniversary yesterday. we left the kids with my mom and had 24 whole hours to do whatever we wanted! we did all of our christmas shopping {we always do this on our anniversary... nothing like procrastinating it until 3 days before christmas!}, went to a movie, spent the night at beautiful daniels summit lodge, ate some gooood food, went to another movie, and then finally started to miss our kids :)

6 years.
2 kids.

sometimes i can hardly believe it! they've been fun, challenging, wonderful years and i wouldn't trade them for anything.

december is for...

2011-12-08T21:54:00.003-07:00

hot chocolate.

oranges.

twinkle lights.

counting down the days & reading lots of christmas books.

SL children's choir concert.

bundling up.

reading some Dickens.

missing the park... and the outdoors in general.

gazing at the christmas tree.

glittery crafting.

deck the halls.

2011-11-29T12:51:00.005-07:00

this year, for the first time ever in my life, our tree went up before thanksgiving. i am just so excited about christmas this year.... for the following reasons:

1. it's the best time of the year, obviously.
2. serena will be sooo much fun on christmas morning! she can actually understand the whole santa thing and hopefully about the birth of the Savior as well. we have been talking a lot about both.
3. i love twinkle lights.
4. end of december means beginning of january, and january means HAWAII!!

other wonderful things in the month of december: first annual "you've got mail" party with my sisters & mom. {oh hey ladies, did i mention i'm inviting you to a themed party? get ready! and i think it should be an annual thing.} singing handel's messiah with my choir. lights at temple square. a lunch date with my friends. a new picture book every night. salt lake children's choir concert. christmas eve fondue!! and plenty of other lovely things.

i'm ready for december :)

christmas book advent.

2011-11-28T11:41:00.004-07:00

i've been collecting books all year, and finally {just in time} found all 24 books for our advent!

here they are, in no particular order:

1. a christmas goodnight {nola buck}
2. the night before christmas {clement c. moore}
3. stopping by woods on a snowy evening {robert frost, illustrated by susan jeffers}
4. white snow, bright snow {alvin r. tresselt}
5. wake up, santa claus! {marcus pfister}
6. snowmen at christmas {caralyn buehner}
7. snow {uri shulevitz}
8. i'll be home for christmas {holly hobbie}
9. the twelve days of christmas {jan brett}
10. a wish to be a christmas tree {colleen monroe}
11. mr. willowby's christmas tree {robert e. barry}
12. how the grinch stole christmas {dr. seuss}
13. christmas is here {illustrated by lauren castillo}
14. bear stays up for christmas {karma wilson}
15. who is coming to our house? {joseph slate}
16. christmas in the manger {nola buck}
17. snowmen at night {caralyn buehner}
18. the polar express {chris van allsburg}
19. making a friend {alison mcghee}
20. the christmas magic {lauren thompson}
21. christmas oranges {bethers/sowards}
22. how murray saved christmas {mike reiss}
23. santa mouse {michael brown}
24. the wild christmas reindeer {jan brett}

i can't wait until december 1st!!

hello, world!

2011-11-25T13:21:00.001-07:00

well, friends. it has been almost a month! that must be a record for this little blog of mine. poor, sad, neglected blog. rather than attempt a written update, i will now proceed to dump a whole lot of photos into one post and catch up that way. in order. hopefully. mkay? here goes.

harper was cute. she had her one year dr appointment. she's still a big girl :)

i took lots of pictures of fall leaves.

i spent some time browsing the book garden.

sean and i went to a movie in the middle of a work day.

we carved some pumpkins.

the witch and the duck.

more fall leaves.

we had friends over for baked potato soup.

woops... out of order.

fort.

mannequin friend.

static electricity.

first big snow and a snow man!

watching dad play basketball.

my mom helped me cook some turkey for our fast & feast with the youth of our ward.

table decor for the fast & feast.

i had a choir concert.

more snow.

much fun with the tent & christmas lights.

kids pooped after church.

dancing & singing to selena gomez.

we had a grumpy day, so dad took us to kangaroo zoo.

turkey craft with serena.

decorations for Young Women in Excellence.

sean went on a road trip to arizona.

i got excited for christmas candy.

sean went to a fancy gala in AZ.

gooby was smiley & cute.

i sent sean lots of cute pictures while he was gone.

more snow.

gooby wore a hat on a snowy day.

"eternal family day" for sean's parents' 40th anniversary. we all did sealings at the temple.

book of mormon challenge with the YW.

gooooby!!

i made delicious sugar cookies. grandma's recipe.

lovin on my harper.

i made some cookie cutter ornaments for the tree.

haper got a hair do for thanksgiving.

choir rehearsal on thanksgiving eve.

black friday shopping with heather. we bought matchy pants :)

and i spent a few minutes in lamp heaven.

and there you have it. consider this blog UPDATED!!!

park.

2011-10-27T21:15:00.000-06:00

chilly fall weather.

jackets.

leaves.

playing at the park.

we had a perfect afternoon.

pairs.

2011-10-27T06:00:00.000-06:00

caramels.

autumn walk.

sisters.

stripes.

october.

birthday.

toys.

girls.

harper at one year.

2011-10-26T13:30:00.001-06:00

wow. my baby harper is ONE. it's been a fun/challenging/wonderful year. we love our squishy little baby girl. {i'll consider her a baby until she can walk... and then a toddler?}

a little about harper at one year:
no more new teeth. still the four on top and two on bottom. i like to call her gooby which stems from goober which is because she looks like a big ol' goober when she smiles :)
she points/waves and says "hi".
says "uh oh" whenever she drops something, makes a mess, etc.
she is obsessed with the stairs. the gate must be up at all times.
she is a little bit of a drama queen... any time serena gets near her, she throws a fit. {i don't blame her.}
she's kind of a mama's girl. lately she gets stranger anxiety and freaks if we put her down in a new place.
likes to put things in and out of buckets, drawers, bags, etc.
loves to be tickled.
loooooves the shoe basket.
is a dancing fool when there is music on.
walks all over the place pushing her walker.
likes to swing at the park.
will eat pretty much anything.
is back to spitting up {or should i just call it vomiting now that she eats real food}... all the time. ahhhh!
likes to be read to.
says "ohhhhh" when she snuggles her blanky, bear, pillow, etc.
likes to draw on the magna-doodle.

stats:
weight: 23lbs 4oz {85%}
height: 29 1/2 inches {70%}
head: 19 inches {greater than 95% ... but it's tapering off and getting closer to not being off the charts!}

she's a funny little gooby. we love her.

harper's one year photos.

2011-10-18T15:47:00.000-06:00

my friend dana took these beautiful pictures of harper for her first birthday. i am in looooove. check out her website here.

another weekend.

2011-10-17T21:16:00.001-06:00

lately this blog has become a once a week sort of deal. i admit, it's partly because i spend so much time playing on my new phone. so, we have yet another update. mostly photos.

i finally got to use my mother's day gift. 2011-2012 season tickets to the opera. heather, my mom and i went the first of the season, fidelio. and i loved it, of course. it was beethoven's only opera, fyi. oh and we had the most delicious three cheese cauliflower soup at kneaders before the opera. it was amazing. you need to try it.

on saturday we spent 2 hours at applebee's waiting for some mediocre food, but enjoying some great company. then we went to thanksgiving point to the corn maze and haunted houses and realized what a huuuuuge, awesome production it is over there and wished we hadn't wasted 2 hours at applebee's and had instead had hot dogs from the concessions stand. aside from my getting genuinely freaked out by the "least scary" haunted attraction, and the make-up stain on my white jacket from the actor in said haunted attraction {who, by the way, we were told "wouldn't touch us if we didn't touch him"}, it was really fun. serena would have had a blast. next year we will definitely bring the kids.

harper woke up reeeeeal early on sunday. we made pancakes. the whole family played in serena's room. the girls played nicely with each other for a minute. serena and i did a pumpkin craft. we went to church, and had dinner & cupcakes at my parents' house {cute cupcakes made by my sister, annette}. i'll spare the details about how much i dislike sundays. i'm so glad i get to go to young women's in the third hour of church with no kids. it's the one hour of church that i'm aware of anything besides my kids and their messes and tantrums.{THANK YOU, SEAN. really. thank you.}

i live for the weekends.

a weekend.

2011-10-09T21:42:00.003-06:00

friday:

saturday:

sunday:

we've had a lovely weekend. {and lucky for us, we get tomorrow off too!}

friday night we did some shopping for halloween costumes, decorations, etc. serena loved it, of course, and was so excited to come home and light up the ghosts and pumpkins.

saturday we did chores, sean went to the u of u football game, i cleaned the house and played with kids. when sean got home i took a much deserved 10 minute break to lay on our bed and stare into space.

this morning we bundled up the kids and went for a walk. kids actually napped when they were supposed to, and church was unusually enjoyable. {meaning the girls weren't terrorizing the place.} i embraced the chilly weather {though it was actually much warmer today...} and wore boots for the first time this season {yay!}. we had a delicious sunday dinner with my parents.

tomorrow sean and i are hoping to catch a matinee together. i miss the movies. that has to be in the top 5 things i miss the most from our childless days. seriously. what's better than sitting in a dark theater with a huuuge bucket of popcorn and a huuuuuge box of hot tamales and a huuuuuge diet coke and being totally swept up in a movie? ......................... i love it.

anyway. happy weekend :)

pairs.

2011-10-07T06:29:00.001-06:00

events.

2011-10-04T18:49:00.001-06:00

we watched general conference and it was amazing! i especially loved Elder Andersen and Sis. Dalton's remarks.... and Pres. Monson and Pres. Eyring and Pres. Uchtdorf...seriously there were too many good ones to really choose favorites.

serena showed her true two-year-old colors by 1. going into her cousin's room while she was napping and refusing to come out. this ended in me dragging her out of there by the arm while holding harper with the other and trying to keep everyone quiet. serena's screams of protest woke campbell up :) 2. going into harper's room and waking her up after we just put her to bed. 3. getting out of bed and sneaking into my bathroom and crushing my makeup all over the carpet and putting it all over her face. {all in one day! yay!}

we had a family home evening lesson about Jesus and serena actually listened... i think.

i dropped my phone in the toilet while using it as a flashlight in the middle of the night to make sure the toilet seat was down. i tried to save it. i failed.

sean bought me a brand new shiny pretty iphone. i immediately downloaded some awesome camera apps that i have been coveting since forever.

our water heater died and i went 3 days without washing my hair. it wasn't pretty. and then our water heater got fixed. and i took a loooong shower.

harper was sick. a sinus infection, we think. she is better now. but BOY was she grumpy. i dropped her off at a friend's house so i could go visiting teaching and she cried the WHOLE time. poor, poor gina. and harper... :) she is on the mend now.

serena went to the park every day. she is obsessed. but she really only enjoys it if there are other kids to play with.

it rained. and i loved it.

i did some organizing around the house. i tackled and conquered the coat closet and junk drawer. and realized that we are huge closet {and drawer} slobs. maybe that should be a new year's resolution. next year.

we are carrying on. one day at a time with these two crazy kids. life is good.

eleven months.

2011-09-22T14:42:00.000-06:00

here's a little about
harper at eleven months:

loooves her blankie.
crawls up the stairs.
cruises around holding onto the furniture.
loves sippy cups.
loves graham crackers.
likes to feed herself.
has goofy teeth (4 on top, 2 on bottom)
is a biter. when serena makes her mad, she goes in for a bite every time.
loves her mommy and daddy... and kind of has separation anxiety right now.
looooves the bath tub.
likes to eat everything. especially wood chips at the park.
weighs 22 lbs.
likes to be tickled.
has the best chubby thighs and arms and cheeks and belly and booty.
cracks us up all the time. she pulls the funniest faces with those silly teeth :)

love my harpers. can't wait to celebrate her very first birthday next month!

a tale of family photo woe.

2011-09-21T11:43:00.000-06:00

getting ready was a nightmare. our kids had been sick for a couple of days, so i really wanted to make the morning go smoothly. i did what i could to prepare the night before. we all had new outfits. they were washed, ironed, laid out and ready. we started the process as 6:30 am {we're all up by then anyway} so we could leave the house at 9:30 for pictures at 10:00. kids had breakfast & baths. and then all heck broke loose. whining. crying. runny noses. kids fighting. parents trying to get ready. parents trying to get kids ready. sean trying to keep kids from ruining their clothes while i finished getting ready. monster tantrums from serena.

and then we got in the car and had a small break from the whining.

the whole drive, harper stared into space with a glazed over look in her eyes and looked totally pathetic and miserable and sick. poor thing. i attempted to give serena some medicine while the car was in motion... and it spilled all over her sweater. awesome. turned around to get the back-up shirt which wasn't as cute, but would have to do.

we arrived at the photo location. got kids out of the car. wiped noses. i though for sure harper would just look sad and tired and not smile. but it was so much worse. she cried THE ENTIRE TIME. did not stop for a second. nose running. tears streaming. full on bawling. i think we stressed out the photographer. she took some pictures, attempted to get harper to smile, and then called it good. harper bawled in the grandparents & grandkids shot. and we didn't even attempt a photo of the four of us. the photographer kindly offered to take our picture another day and we gratefully accepted and got the heck out of there.

and then i tried really really hard not to burst out in tears. the new outfits! serena's sweater! the nightmarish morning! and for what? some pictures of crying harper and her stressed out parents. and who knows what serena was doing. she wasn't standing by us. at one point the photographer told her to take her hands out of her mouth.?? oh boy. it was bad. so glad we have photos to document that lovely day :)

i look forward to the day when i can laugh about this.

happy things.

2011-09-15T07:11:00.003-06:00

cold packs.
ibuprofen.
magazines.
swelling from my nasty sprained ankle finally going down.
kisses from serena to make it "all better".
my dear husband being super dad all weekend.
my dear mom helping with my kids while i lounge around her house with my feet up.
watching bright star while i lounge.
driving my car for the first time in 4 days.
my dear mom making delicious hummus and soup and greek pizza with veggies from her garden.
my mom's pretty herb garden in the kitchen window.
felicity on netflix. {two episodes in and i'm addicted.}
strawberry sour straws.
shopping spree for little girl fall/winter clothes.
Utah Voices rehearsing again.
kneaders at 9:30 pm.

lately.

2011-09-05T22:00:00.004-06:00

wow, it's been a week.

i guess we've been busy living up these last precious days of summer!

to sum up this week: work, park, carson's first bday, harper pulls to stand, swiss days, don pedros, baby roman's blessing, still on a cooking spree, a lovely labor day weekend.

{what a lazy blogger i've become. all photos and hardly any words...}

a spree.

2011-08-29T17:10:00.002-06:00

you must understand how rarely i cook these days to truly appreciate this post. my family has had lots of cheese quesadillas & cereal for dinner lately. and there is no excuse, really. just plain laziness is all. well, yesterday i went on a cooking spree!

popovers for breakfast. {they didn't turn out... but still.}
broccoli cream soup. {frozen for sean to take to work for lunches.}
lemon bars. {my very most favorite dessert!}
homemade spaghetti sauce. {half for dinner. half frozen for another night.}

yeah, i'm pretty proud of myself. just thought i would toot my own horn for a moment...

that's all.

august via phone.

2011-08-25T20:50:00.004-06:00

lots of time at the park.
lots of bubbles with our new bubble machine.
girls playing with my childhood dollhouse.
lagoon. lake.
growing photo wall.
homemade pizza.
silly girlies.

august has been good to us so far.

ten months.

2011-08-22T12:27:00.004-06:00

harper is 10 months old.
unreal. here's what she's up to:

loving the bath and swimming! what the heck. it was like one day a light bulb went off and she thought "hey... this is actually really fun... why was i making such a fuss about it??"

crawling all over the place.

eating all kinds of foods. she especially loves peaches and beans, but will pretty much eat anything.

getting 2 more teeth! goodbye vampire, hello chicklets. :)

fighting with her sister. now that she's mobile {and can get into serena's toys}, things are getting crazy around here.

learning how to use things. putting on sunglasses and hats. holding the toy phone to her ear. attempting to use the pen to draw on the magna-doodle.

waving when we say "hi" or "bye".

clapping when we say "yay" or "pat-a-cake".

hamming it up for strangers. {stares at them with a big grin until they look at her and smile back.}

still eating any paper/cardboard she can get her hands on. i'm scared for the board books.

bonking her big head on everything. she always has a lovely display of bruises on her forehead.

time is flying. i need to start thinking about her first birthday party!

{i really need to get a scanner so i can start sharing my instax pics.}

pony.

2011-08-19T08:30:00.009-06:00

it was so worth the
30 minute wait in line in
90 degrees for this
3 minute free pony ride.

it was so not worth
3 dollars for this
5 minute ride with only
1 lonely rider.
{she was so bored.}

bear lake 2011.

2011-08-18T12:26:00.003-06:00

some people think fun at a lake has to involve boats, jet skis, and the like. we are satisfied with an umbrella, some floaties, and a well-stocked cooler.

our girls trip to bear lake was so fun. the day included the traditional stop in logan for subway sandwiches, perfect weather, shady parking spot, 5 hours at the beach, showers at the marina, cafe sabor for dinner, and a beautiful sunset on our drive home.

serena had a blast digging in the sand, collecting seashells, bothering heather, floating on the lake, and sneaking lots of cookies. i enjoyed laughing with my mom and sisters, soaking up the sun, loving the beautiful view, and watching serena love my favorite lake.

looking forward to introducing harper to the lake next year!

8:20

2011-08-14T11:29:00.006-06:00

a.m.

p.m.

{sunday is my day of indulgence...}

peachy.

2011-08-13T13:21:00.003-06:00

harper is loving finger foods these days, and peaches are a big hit.

they are a big hit for me too. lucky for us, they are in season!

it's a wonderful time of year, isn't it?

lagoon at night.

2011-08-11T10:34:00.007-06:00

my summer dream come true!

finally went to lagoon at night!
it was perfection. totally met my high expectations.
too bad sean and gina got sick from the rides.
i totally would have gone on the colossus again... :)
{sorry i crowded you out of those last two pictures, gina. geez!}

also,

lagoon in the day:

we took the kids earlier in the afternoon. it was fun... for the most part! serena can't handle not having a nap, so there were some serious tantrums. but it was fun to spend time with our friends :)

to do.

2011-08-09T16:08:00.004-06:00

summer is slipping through my fingers! and i never even made a summer list. so here goes.

to do this summer:

~~day trip to bear lake.~~
~~lagoon at night.~~
pedicure.
~~outdoor concert or movie.~~
swiss days.
~~state/county fair.~~
finish my book.
more friendship bracelets!
picnic with my real live picnic basket.
{with food from home. no kfc.}
get out of town.
finish memorizing the living Christ.
visit temple square with kids.
splash pad.
snow cones/shave ice.
~~buy a bubble machine.~~
steal more veggies from mom.

and on a side note:

harper has been crawling for a few days now.
and
serena ate a mouthful of red pepper flakes this morning while we weren't looking. and then she cried a lot.

sunday drive.

2011-08-07T12:34:00.003-06:00

today we went for a little sunday morning drive.

we needed to fill up the long morning with something other than movies, laziness, pajamas, whining, boredom, etc.

1:00 pm church is the worst.
{ok, 2:30 pm church is the worst, but 1:00 is still rough.}

serena still whined {"grandma's house! grandma's house!} but hey, she's 2... i had better just get used to it already. i think we will have to make the sunday drive a ritual for the next 5 months. it might just save my sanity.

what do YOU do with little kids on long sunday mornings when you have late church??? please help! seriously. HELP.

dear summer,

2011-08-03T21:27:00.009-06:00

please stay forever. we love you.

colorful cookies from parson's, swimming at grandma's pool, bubble gum ice cream, stuck in a huggies box {"mommy! i stuck!"}, beeeautiful sunset, road trip, harper likes swimming {her very first time!}, brand new baby boy cousin {roman}, mommy-serena date at lagoon.

doll bed makeover.

2011-08-02T12:03:00.003-06:00

before:

after:

i've been meaning to post this makeover for a long time, but here it is several months later. serena got this $20 ikea doll bed for her 2nd birthday. as a ploy to get her excited about sleeping in a big girl bed, i thought i would spruce it up a bit. it came with unfinished wood and the most hideous bedding ever {meant to be gender neutral or something}. so i found some fabric and my mom did the sewing. i painted and mod podged the bed, and voila! we bought serena a big girl doll {one with hair} to put in it, but she is napping with her at the moment, thus the baby doll.

if i were to do it over again, i would paint the bed a paler pink or white and skip the mod podging, but overall i like how it turned out.

did the ploy work? not really. but that was weeks ago and she now sleeps in her bed like a champ. for the most part.

roy's pizza & palisade.

2011-07-31T10:21:00.005-06:00

on our way home, we stopped in ephraim for some pizza at roy's {formerly fat jack's} at heather's suggestion. it really did not disappoint. loved it! then we had a swim at palisade state park. we tried and failed at catching some fish {like in a plastic bag, not the real fishing pole type fish-catching}. serena had a love/hate relationship with the lake. she wanted in and out and in out. and mostly only had fun when heather and i swung her around in circles with her feet skimming the water. we left when the dark storm clouds started rolling in. both kids fell fast asleep for the rest of the ride home.

traveling with kids is exhausting. we had a wonderful weekend, and we're glad to be home now!

cove fort.

2011-07-31T10:02:00.004-06:00

we spent part of friday touring cove fort, which is just a 20 minute drive from barbra & gene's house. i really enjoyed it, even though my kids were trying hard not to let me. it's a beautiful place and i loved learning about its history. i'm glad we made it as long as we did before taking the kids back to the house :)

b&g's house.

2011-07-31T09:41:00.005-06:00

the things that are wonderful about barbra & gene's house are as follows:

1. it's in the middle of a beautiful canyon.
2. it's beautiful inside & out, and so comfortable.
4. you can do things like play in the river, build a fire, go for a hike, shoot guns {which we did NOT do!}, see the stars at night, see wildlife and wild flowers, and then go inside and sleep on a warm comfortable bed!
5. and of course, you get to enjoy the company of barbra & gene, and i always enjoy their company.

we had so much fun on our little trip down there this weekend. we ate waaaay too much good food, including an amazing raspberry peach cobbler by heather and russ. we had a devotional each day. we relaxed. we had s'mores and sang a few campfire songs. we played at the river. we took a beautiful morning walk through the canyon. we played card games. we ate more food. we stayed up late. and we ate more food. it was lovely.

petting zoo.

2011-07-31T08:25:00.004-06:00

over the weekend we took a trip down to my aunt & uncle's house for a little family "camp out". quotation marks because sean and i stayed in the house with our kids while the others camped in barbra & gene's yard :)

on the way, we stopped at a little petting zoo in scipio to let serena stretch her legs. it was kind of scary. something about a bunch of farm animals crowding up around me feels a little nightmarish. but serena enjoyed it and didn't want to leave :)

oh, harper.

2011-07-27T07:33:00.002-06:00

you know how when you have a baby you spend hours and hours thinking about and debating with your spouse over a name for them?

and then you finally decide on one name that is perfect and you both love and agree on?

and then every time you hear of someone else naming their baby THAT name, it makes you cringe because you feel like it belongs to your baby and your baby alone {and maybe one famous author who actually gave the name inspiration}?

you know what's even worse than that?

when celebrities start naming their baby THAT name.

we knew about tiffani thiessen {and were already pretty set on the name}, heard about neil patrick harris after she was born, now the beckhams, and E! news told me last night that THAT name is the new baby name trend.

please bless that harper isn't the new madison.

2nd annual backyard campout.

2011-07-26T08:54:00.003-06:00

remember last year? love this tradition!

nine months.

2011-07-24T07:45:00.005-06:00

harper at nine months:
hates water. including swimming. and any splashes that might get on her when serena is swimming.
has 4 teeth. two on bottom, two on top. still missing those middle front teeth :)
is sooo close to crawling. i'm not sure how she gets places, but she does. and it's not by crawling.
is always bonking her head on everything now that she moves around more.
is a mama's girl :)
waves! adorableness!
has the biggest, gummiest smile ever. scrunches up that nose too.
loves all food! especially cheerios and those baby puffs.
sleeps really well at night... and still has an inconsistent nap schedule in the day.
loves her grandmas.
loves to eat paper.
starts crying pretty much soon as serena gets near her. {i wonder why...}
loves to be around people.
dances {rocks on her bum} when she hears music.
is a serious chunk. her thighs are always a crowd pleaser.
wears size 12-18 months clothes.
likes to be tickled on her face and neck.

she is so smiley and fun. she always keeps us laughing and smiling.

july-ish photos.

2011-07-19T21:15:00.010-06:00

we love us some watermelon in july.
flag in the sunset.
best friends.
back on the crochet saddle again. {blanket for roman!}
sunset from my bedroom window.
canoe.
campfire.
harper not too sure about mom after girls camp. {who is this lady?}

i am in love with these people.

2011-07-18T10:35:00.006-06:00

nothing bonds a group of people together quite like spending 4 straight days with them. every waking moment. sleeping together. cooking together. praying together. crafting together. laughing together.

sure, you get on each others nerves. but you also learn to love each other like you couldn't have before.

so so happy i was able to be there the whole time.

{and a BIG HUGE thank you to my dear husband who played mr. mom so i could be where i needed to be last week! and to grandmas for taking the day shift. i'm so glad to be home again with my family.}

loves.

2011-07-11T10:17:00.003-06:00

this friendship bracelet tutorial. i am obsessed. perfect for girls camp!! {totally making these next}

girls camp in 2 days!!!

this gorgeous re-telling of rapunzel. the illustrations make me so happy! serena will love it... when i'm ready to quit hoarding it to myself and accept that she will ruin it and that's ok.

$5 pizza for dinner when i really don't wanna cook.

the adorableness of this dollhouse makeover.

wiley wallaby licorice. original red + green apple!

bbq with little sisters. best hamburger of the summer!

my camera finally fixed {after sending it in for repair twice.}

harper's top teeth coming in.... fangs first! looks so goofy.

stormy summer evenings.

serena saying the word favorite {"fabrit"} about all of her things.

one, two, babies.

2011-07-06T15:59:00.005-06:00

serena likes to sit next to harper and count the babies.
"one, two, babies!"

{harper and herself.}

she acts like such a big girl these days. sleeps in her big bed. is getting ready to potty train. talks nonstop. sean and i were looking at old pictures of her on my phone yesterday and marveling at how much she has grown! craziness.

i asked sean this morning "when did serena get to be so sassy??"
when did it happen?
she's only 17 months older than harper...
so somewhere in the next 17 months,
harper will likely develop a sassy little toddler attitude.
yikes!
one, two, sassy toddlers!?

sure wish my babies would stop growing up!!

fourth.

2011-07-05T11:19:00.006-06:00

veggie skewers + tin foil dinners on the grill.
festivities + fireworks with friends and family.
lots of glow sticks.
yw lesson on integrity.
patriotic concert for centerville city.
kaysville 5k. {sean}
breakfast with my family.
{biscuits & gravy + fruit salad + sticky butterscotch rolls = deliciousness!}
lazy afternoon.
bbq + kiddy pool with sean's famiy.
snaps + sparklers for kids.
burned finger. {serena}
cuddles from grandma.
more glow sticks.
more fireworks.
worn out kids. {and parents}

i love independence day. it's my very favorite. and it was a good one in 2011.

colors of our summer.

2011-06-30T12:22:00.006-06:00

1. yellow blossoms on my tomato plant
2. red toes
3. neon yellow + turquoise {can a woman of my age, marital & parental status pull off these glasses? truthfully, now.}
4. pinwheel baby shower decorations
5. colorful summery notebooks
6. harper in her pink hat
7. blue swings + blue eyes + green grass
8. summer salads + grilled hot dogs

and last but not least:

9. red theater seats + us
10. darkened theater + spotlight on brian regan
{we laughed ourselves silly. tears were streaming down my face. so very hilarious.}

eight months.

2011-06-26T12:07:00.005-06:00

harper at 8 months:
still hates the bathtub. {we haven't tried swimming yet.}

has two bottom teeth.
claps her hands when we say "yaaaay!"
mimics us when we shake our heads.
loves to eat anything {including paper towels or any paper she gets her hands on. we have to be verrrry careful about what we leave around}.
might be allergic to blueberries. {she always gets a rash on her face after eating them.}
takes 2-ish naps a day {we haven't been very structured with her naps...}
sleeps all night long... hooooooooooooooray!!!
weighs 19 lbs. nineteen pounds. she is huuuge!
wears size 12-18 months clothes.
says "mamamamamama" all the time. 'cause i'm obviously her favorite :)
is a happy chunky monkey baby.

we love her. and her thighs.

all in a week.

2011-06-24T21:52:00.006-06:00

lagoon.
goofy kids.
work.
summer sun, pony tails, flip flops, shorts.
well check for serena.
choir rehearsal.
recovering from croup.
lots of not cooking and eating out.
near death experience for serena.
kiddie pool + sprinkler time.
baby shower for kirsten.
youth conference.
sun burn {farmer's tan}.
chores.
park.
another baby shower for kirsten.

and then...
something super duper amazingly fun and relaxing which is yet to be determined. but it needs to be good after this crazy week.

lagoon with kids.

2011-06-22T12:39:00.004-06:00

so much fun. we thought for sure that serena would be terrified of all the rides and refuse to ride by herself. we were so wrong. she was in heaven. she wanted to ride everything. the only thing she hated was waiting her turn :)

can't wait until next time!

{can you tell that she hates the camera?}

♥

2011-06-17T22:20:00.003-06:00

loving these pictures that jen took of my girls!

grass.

2011-06-16T15:34:00.002-06:00

weeeekend.

2011-06-15T13:52:00.003-06:00

most weekends we have a million things to do and fri-sun seem more stressful than the weekdays.

last weekend was wonderful.

i spent a few hours laughing and catching up with some friends.
we got all of our saturday chores done before noon.
we went up to the cabin to be with sean's extended family.
{the mountains were soooo green and beautiful!}
we had an awesome ward conference on sunday.
and a relaxing sunday evening at my parents house.

a few pictures of our weekend:

we need more weekends like that.

too darn early.

2011-06-09T12:03:00.002-06:00

this little munchkin thinks that 6 a.m. is time to wake up.

her parents disagree.

it's a good thing she's {usually} smiley and adorable at 6 a.m.

things i learned or was reminded of at lagoon today.

2011-06-07T17:50:00.003-06:00

01. the parking opens at 10. the gates open at 10:30. the actual RIDES don't open until 11. wasted lots of time standing around waiting this morning.

02. jr high is an awful awful stage of life. the girls are bratty {except for my beloved yw, of course!}, the boys are stinky and annoying. no fun at all. i wanted to hug the nerdy, pimple-faced boy eating a big soft pretzel all by himself while dozens of his peers sat in groups just feet away, gabbing and laughing. it will soon be over, buddy. promise.

03. we should avoid going on 9th grade lagoon day ever again.

04. amusement park rides are soooo fun! holy cow. i love screaming at the top of my lungs on all of those roller coasters. makes me feel like a kid. first time on the wicked coaster. loved it!

05. i cannot resist amusement park food. i just can't. churro + farr's bubble gum ice cream seemed like a great idea while i was stuffing my face. not so much now that i think about my poor diet choices today.

06. kids 2 and under may ENTER THE PARK for free. emphasis on the ENTER THE PARK. if they want to actually ride the rides, IT'S NOT FREE. we really should have known. {what did you season ticket holders with kids under 2 do? fork out $100 bucks to buy them a season pass to0? buy individual tickets for the rides? a day pass or two? please help.}

07. even in 65 degrees {it was quite cool when we got there this morning}, the butt shorts are out in full force. amazing. none of those girls should wear them {because it's immodest...} and only .01% actually have the legs to pull them off. bad. bad. bad.

08. going at night is kind of magical. must do that soon.

09. all of the old-school rides that i loved as a kid look sad and neglected with only a few riders. i will make an effort to visit them, too.

10. it's going to be a fun-filled summer at lagoon :)

serenese.

2011-06-06T20:40:00.001-06:00

jamatose: {the J is said with a french accent} jam and toast. a new favorite of hers. usually yelled at the top of her lungs over and over until she gets it. jamatose! jamatose! jamatose!

hodog: hot dog. her other favorite food.

i mees {miss} you: says this every time dad leaves or comes home from work. and also about people who are not with us. like "i mees you harper" when she is napping. or "i mees you grandma" when we haven't seen her in over 24 hours.

trawberry cocake: strawberry shortcake. she kinda loves her right now.

uh-dairs: upstairs or downstairs. depending on where she is and where she wants to go.

bing one: big one. her big brown bear. always accompanied by piggert.

piggert: her fuzzy pink bear. not sure how "pink bear" evolved into "piggert". always accompanied by bing one.

tink-a-bell: tinkerbell. her favorite movie of the moment.

uh-suit: swimming suit.

yike it: means either "i like it" or "i don't like it". confusing, right?

minnie-house: minnie mouse.

funny guy: her cousin carson :)

sisser one: sister one. meaning she wants to hear the happy family primary song.

yes-ah-do: yes i do. said very enthusiastically and often out of context. like i say "serena, did you see that big truck?" and she says "yes-ah-do!!". or "are you hungry?" "yes-ah-do!".

and here is her version of twinkle twinkle little star:

happy thoughts.

2011-06-01T07:51:00.002-06:00

i had a wonderful birthday. biaggi's {yum!} + downeast {new dress & skirts!} + pirates {meh.} with sean. memorial day breakfast with my family. all kinds of sweet gifts. seriously, it was such a fun bday weekend! i love that my birthday almost always falls over memorial day weekend.

we may actually get to lagoon this week. first time of the season!

feeling good about the fact that i've lost nearly 45 lbs since being 9 months pregnant with harper. i'm horrified {that i was that huge} and so proud of myself at the same time.

choir school and summer rehearsals start next week!

sophie arrived on our doorstep yesterday. she and harper are already fast friends.

my sister gave me the most perfect t-shirt ever for my birthday. i keep texting her about how amazing it is. neckline=perfection. sleeves=perfection. length=perfection. i'm obsessed.

loving summery dinners with fruit and banana muffins for breakfast.

successfully assembled a new bookcase for our bedroom... with only one hiccup... which can hopefully be fixed with some wood glue.

serena is cracking me up and melting my heart these days. she is into being a mommy and wearing my clothes and shoes around. sooo cute.

harper is continuing to be a chunky monkey. love that girl. {'specially when she's nakey.}

we finally moved to the new office! goodbye dungeon of despair. hello almost-finished fancy new office!

happy happy thoughts.

girls lately.

2011-05-23T21:10:00.003-06:00

seven months.

2011-05-22T21:05:00.006-06:00

harper at seven months:

sits up so well all by herself!
eats breakfast, lunch & dinner with bottles in between.
{and looooooooooooves food!}
is a mama's girl :)
is wearing size 12 months clothes... she's a big girl!
loves to pat your back when you hold her, like you're her buddy.
likes to grab faces, hair, and earrings. {goodbye chandeliers}
thinks serena is hilarious.
loves to be tickled on her cheeks and neck.
has a hilarious laugh. {see video}

mary blair.

2011-05-15T21:39:00.004-06:00

while i was shopping for serena's birthday, i came across this book. the illustrations were adorable and i thought serena would love it since she's all about babies and baby dolls lately. as it turns out, she's not much interested in the book, but i soooo am! i've been a little obsessed with it so i did a google search on the illustrator, mary blair. and then i took a long trip down memory lane...

my grandma had a collection of disney stories that my sisters and i would read before bed when we slept over at her house. my favorite was always cinderella, and the illustrations were all by mary blair. finding these images brought back so many happy memories. are they not gorgeous!?

peter pan was also in the book.

and alice in wonderland.

i think i need to own a copy of all of these {already on my amazon wishlist...}! and someday let my girls look at them, too :)

pink.

2011-05-14T21:06:00.004-06:00

{pink cookies. pink watermelon. pink balloons. pink blossoms. pink bowl. pink cheeks x2.}

two years.

2011-05-11T08:30:00.004-06:00

remember when we announced we were expecting our firstborn child?
remember the day this little nugget was born?
remember her first week?
remember her blessing day?
remember her first birthday?

well, i do. seems like yesterday. i can't believe i have a two year old. she is such a little girl now. this is what serena is up to lately:

saying all kinds of funny things:
favorites: i ruv you. i mees you. sit down ight dere {right there}. hold you.
least favorites: i no yike it. roun-an-roun. {meaning round and round. meaning put me by the computer and play every youtube version of "the wheels on the bus" you can find}
funniest: lissen me, harper! lissen me, ariel! seenie eat hogoggs {hot dogs} and ham! {this is what she wanted desperately when she was sick. random!}

she can count to 11. sometimes.
if you ask her what color something is, the answer is always "green".
she loves to sing and be sung to and listen to music and dance.
she loves taking care of her baby dolls.
she loves the park, especially the slide.
she remembers everything.
she loves to repeat what we say. {yikes!}
she often walks around with a play phone at her ear, jabbering away. and a lot of the time you can even understand the conversation. "hi-lo, russ! ear are you? oh. work. uh huh. ok. oh. buh bye!"
she tries to be really nice to her sister but is usually driving her crazy.
she loves to be around other kids her age.
she asks to go to grandma's house multiple times a day.
she loooooooves to be outside.

i'm so grateful for that day 2 years ago when we welcomed this sweet girl into our family.

mother's day.

2011-05-09T20:17:00.003-06:00

it was quite an interesting mother's day this year. the girls came down with a nasty stomach flu on saturday night, so we spent the rest of the weekend cleaning up vomit and doing laundry. i will definitely remind them of this when they are older. just so they reeeeally appreciate their loving parents :)

so anyway, sick kids and stuff.

i also got quite spoiled by my husband and kids {ok, we all know the 2 year old and 6 month old didn't contribute...}. i got a lovely book, a pretty beaded belt, and season tickets to the utah opera {wooohooo!}. ok maybe i just spoiled myself and sean allowed it ?? sorry to rat you out, sean, but it's the truth :) WAIT. he did buy the tickets for me after i told him how many and what seats and whatnot.

so anyway, really nice presents and such.

and then we debated about it but ended up going to visit our moms with sick kids in tow. we gave my mom this recipe book which heather and i spent months working on. it turned out so well thanks to my dear sister, the amazing editor/formatter/designer. we compiled all of the favorite family recipes into one handy book. and i've already been using my copy. whipped up that yummy chicken chili the other day.

so to sum it up, i had a really nice mother's day. i hope our mothers did, too. sorry for getting you sick, mom! we just really wanted to visit on mother's day :)

silence.

2011-05-03T10:38:00.003-06:00

oh how i miss the days of free time and daily blogging. they were good days. but these days are good too. these days are full of playing and working and cooking and singing and cleaning and entertaining and laundry and reading {her books, not mine...} and micky mouse and shopping {groceries, not clothes} and laughing and smiling and tantrums and time out and going to bed before 10 pm so we can wake up and do it all again the next day. busy days. but good days.

a few years ago my little sister went on a first date and was making small talk during the car ride to their destination. she asked him "so, what kind of music do you like to listen to?" and he said "i prefer silence". wait, what??? silence?? we never let that go and joke about it all the time to this day.

but i kind of get him now.

sometimes all i want is silence. like, to lay on my bed by myself and do nothing and hear nothing. and on my drives to and from work, sometimes i just want silence. no blasting my favorite tunes. not even soothing classical music. just pure, wonderful silence.

i try to never wish away these days, as hectic as they may be, but i do like to daydream about my kids being old enough for school....

a few things i learned at the bowling alley.

2011-04-26T22:51:00.003-06:00

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.

2011-04-25T21:56:00.005-06:00

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.

2011-04-22T09:25:00.004-06:00

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.

2011-04-19T08:57:00.004-06:00

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!}

2011-04-18T20:22:00.004-06:00

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.

2011-04-12T14:56:00.002-06:00

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.

2011-04-07T23:57:00.005-06:00

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.

2011-04-03T22:42:00.005-06:00

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.

2011-04-01T14:30:00.003-06:00

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 :)

{un}interesting facts.

2011-03-29T10:08:00.003-06:00

serena has taken a liking to dress-ups. she loves wearing her swimsuits around the house all day long. i have to hide them now.

we slept with a flat sheet on our bed last night for the first time in a very long time. i felt like i was in a hotel. i hate how they always get tangled and wadded up and make it complicated to make the bed. but last night it was kind of luxurious.

i am totally aware of the many incomplete and run-on sentences i use. but this is a blog. not an essay for class. {see. i just started two sentences with "but". does that rule about starting a sentence with a conjunction still apply? help me out here, jenny.}

i love the original chapstick. the one with the black label. the one that smells and tastes like medicine. it's my favorite.

serena has a cold sore. which means she will probably get them her whole life. poor girl.

we went to the store and bought tangled at 9 a.m. this morning.

sean told me we could buy the $90 bouncer if i promised to have more babies to use it. i told him i promised to sell it when harper grew out of it... ha!

serena said a full sentence when sean was assembling the bouncer. "harper sits right there." she's pretty much a genius.

i fell asleep reading the glass castle last night. that's a good thing. it wasn't boring. it was so interesting that i wouldn't put it down until my body finally gave in to sleep.

waiting.

2011-03-28T19:17:00.002-06:00

house rented. tickets purchased. now the waiting begins.

dear hawaii,

see you in 9 months.

love, ariel

{image}

lunch.

2011-03-24T10:11:00.002-06:00

I have had this for lunch every day this week... and I plan to make it again today.

It's that good.

five months.

2011-03-22T12:00:00.003-06:00

my baby is five months old! can you believe it? i can't!

harper at five months:
she learned how to roll from back to tummy yesterday!
she smiles like crazy.
she has stranger anxiety. {i kind of love it...}
she likes watching mickey mouse... takes after her sister, i guess.
she has absolutely no nap schedule.
she goes to bed at 9 pm, wakes up once, and is up for good around 8 am.
she reaches and grabs for things and loves holding onto her toys.
she still spits up a lot, but it's getting better.
she still HATES the bathtub. HATES.
she loves her sister.
she is terrified of her sister.
she gets sooooo excited when her daddy comes home from work.
she has a great big head.
she laughs. it kinda sounds like crying. this is the video that least showcases serena's crying in the background:

that's a toy monkey at the end... not serena. and yes, i know my baby talk voice is annoying.

too juicy to hide under pants.

2011-03-21T14:46:00.001-06:00

mini boden.

2011-03-19T13:25:00.008-06:00

wishing my budget allowed for $50 dresses for my baby & toddler. and that they made that yellow dress in my size. {they do make clothing for women.... also outta my budget range...}

mini

baby

polish perfection.

2011-03-18T17:12:00.003-06:00

i've searched high and low for the perfect gold nail polish, and i have found it.

nicole by opi- the next ceo.

love it! it's the perfect not-too-yellow, perfectly shimmery gold.

also loving you're an angel, the right thing, and dandy lyon {which is a gold shimmer, not so much the flat yellow that it looks like in the picture}.

don't judge my cuticles too harshly.

mommy + harper = ♥

2011-03-17T15:58:00.002-06:00

i love our mommy-harper time when serena is napping. she is seriously a JOY. such a happy and sweet little thing. every time you look at her she grins from ear to ear. looooove her.

on a side note, last night serena threw a crazy fit in the middle of the night and cried and cried and CRIED every time we put her in her back into bed and left the room. we comforted her, held her, loved her, and couldn't find anything wrong with her. after this went on for over an hour we put her in bed, shut the door, and left. she continued to cry and call for daddy, so i shut our door, turned on our bathroom fan, and slept peacefully until 8:30.

i'm not opposed to her coming and laying in our bed for awhile if she will LAY THERE AND SLEEP. every time we let her, she giggles, smacks us in the face, pulls my hair and just goofs off. so i'm done with that.

is that bad? i'm sure harper woke up sometime and wanted to eat, but she didn't resent us in the morning or anything.

{i hope my mom doesn't read this. i'm pretty sure her heart would break knowing that serena was crying all alone in her room for who knows how long...}

sometimes.

2011-03-16T15:52:00.003-06:00

sometimes when my kids are napping i search the internet for an english translation of a german song i love. and then write the words in. and then sing it. and pretend that i sound as good as dawn upshaw does on this album.

because that's the sort of thing that's fun to me.

past nine o'clock.

2011-03-14T20:55:00.004-06:00

this time change is totally messing with our schedules. boo!

{loving the lighter evenings, though.}

it was another fantastically bad day with serena. but there were some bright spots:

a happy, content, sweet little harper.
learning that whatever is bothering serena is lessened with some tylenol. {molars?}
chile relleno for lunch.
bachelor finale tonight.
lots of diet dr pepper.

tomorrow will be a better day. i feel it.

lately.

2011-03-12T21:41:00.004-07:00

this week serena was required to entertain herself a lot. which she is not very good at. but here she is, playing with her toys. this lasted a good 10 minutes.

after a long day at home on tuesday, we all went to kangaroo zoo to get serena out of the house. she cried for the first 30 minutes and wouldn't go on any of the balloons. but eventually she would let us put her at the top of a slide so she could go down. sean and i got a good workout.

wednesday: rehearsal. thursday: dress rehearsal. friday: concert x2. our broadway bingo concert was a little chaotic and a lot of fun! sold out house at 7:00 so we added a show at 9:00. needless to say, i was completely exhausted on friday night!

but on saturday, we had tickets to disney on ice. despite the fits serena threw all morning, we went to the show. on the way there we found ourselves in the middle of a st patrick's day parade {which we are totally going to next year! fun!}. i stepped in dog crap and had to buy a new pair of shoes at old navy.

we made it to the ESA, bought a $24 minnie mouse doll, an enormous bag of kettle corn and a $10 drink {we didn't know the regular concessions were open and bought everything from those dang disney people...}. and serena made it about 30 minutes before she was crying and asking to go home. what kid goes to disney on ice and begs to go home? it's a good thing she took a 4 hour nap because the whining and crying were driving me insane.

seriously, what is wrong with my child? she has suddenly become the WHINIEST, CLINGIEST kid ever! teeth coming in? terrible twos? whatever it is, it had better be a short phase.

i love. i hate.

2011-03-07T09:52:00.006-07:00

i love my shiny, sequined shoes.
i hate when they get worn out because i wear them every day.
i love word games.
i hate mean drivers.
i love fine point sharpies.
i hate painting {walls}.
i love seeing bad movies with good friends. {i am number four}
i hate 12:45-1:15 pm on sundays.
i love sunday dinners.
i hate diet pepsi.
i love catalogs in the mail.
i hate rain on my hair.
i love umbrellas.
i hate oxford shoes on women, especially the ones with heels. bleh!
i love the new shade.
i hate sitting by teenagers at the movies.
i love popcorn with hot tamales.
i hate cleaning the shower/tub.
i love carried away.
i hate missing a girls night.
i love this military chalkboard map.
i hate the price tag.
i love lists.
i hate budgets.
i love happy baby noises.
i hate whiny toddler noises.
i love a hot dog with relish.
i hate my crazy full inbox.
i love alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
i hate having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
i love tights.
i hate leggings.
i love going to bed at 9:30 pm.
i hate getting out of bed before 7 am.
i love singing every wednesday night.
i hate facebook status updates about the weather.
i love my new double stroller.
i hate that we haven't used it yet.
i love strawberry rhubarb pie.
i hate german chocolate cake.
i love nakey babies after bathtime.
i hate finding a pile of clothes + diaper and wondering where naked serena is hiding this time.
i love sparkly snow.
i hate sleep training!
i love serena's hugs around the neck.
i hate when she eats my chapstick.
i love our little home.
i hate shuffling cars.
i love people watching at a jazz game.

hello outside.

2011-03-01T21:50:00.004-07:00

it had been a while.

we missed you.

serena was deliriously happy.

harper was in awe. {it was her first time really spending time outside.}

i love me some winter, but our house seems to be getting smaller and smaller and we're running out of fun things to do inside. lucky we got some sunshine before the rain & snow in the forecast.

picture books to love.

2011-03-01T11:18:00.006-07:00

“children are made readers on

the laps of their parents.”
- emilie buchwald

since i started this project, i've been obsessing over children's books. i'm on amazon almost daily {mostly looking, sometimes buying} finding old favorites and new ones to love. these are a few:

a tree is nice, janice way udry

sylvester and the magic pebble, william steig

cinderella, marcia brown

knuffle bunny, mo willems

i had entirely forgotten about a tree is nice and sylvester. marcia brown's cinderella was my all-time favorite book as a kid because i loved the magical illustrations {minus the sissy prince}. knuffle bunny is a new favorite at our house. serena asks for it all the time.

isn't reading to kids the best thing ever? serena would be totally content with nothing but books to entertain her. and so would i.

hooray for:

2011-02-28T11:44:00.010-07:00

shirtless harper.

this on the way. {time to start thinking about swimsuits...}

sickness subsiding.

margherita pizza from the pizza factory.

finally beating ludicris in wordfeud.

7.5 hours of sleep. in a row. hallelujah!

jimmy kimmel as karl malone. recycling & taxes are my faves.

steak & shrimp fondue.

2 of sean's 3 basketball leagues ending!! i have a husband again.

serena's super tight, super sweet hugs around the neck.

finishing a good book and starting another.

wixel {boggle} app.

your refined heavenly home. love this talk!

kids in jammies.

kids in bed.

quiet in the house.

from my phone. {volume 2}

2011-02-24T13:41:00.005-07:00

{see volume 1 here.}

chubby feet.

crazed rocking horse girl.

state capitol at night.

creepy, way too life-like baby doll.

classic camera flash face.

weird alphabet app.

serena likes to undress herself.

snowy view from my bedroom window.

harper kind of loving the bumbo.

sent to sean as a hint.

jammies. first thing in the morning.

yummy dinner. pesto tortellini.

harper sucked her thumb for like a week.

sitting in the toy bucket sucking on a bink.

snowy drive.

napping at 5:30 pm.

fun with the "bulge" app.

bachelor brad.

{had to make this one big so you could see him.}

pure torture=

2011-02-23T17:00:00.004-07:00

waiting in the exam room for the pediatrician.
for an hour.
with a sick baby.
who is getting closer and closer to her eating time.
and is screaming her lungs out.

our appointment was at 2:50.
i had decided that if the doctor didn't come in by 3:50, i was walking out and demanding a refund.
and she walked in at exactly 3:49.
i might be more annoyed that she made it in time because i was geared up to take my frustrations out on the receptionist {slash cry and kindly ask if they would refund our copay}.

the harpsichord has 2 ear infections.

it's been a long day.

four months.

2011-02-21T08:00:00.001-07:00

harper at four months:
loves talking very loudly.
still wakes up once or twice at night.
has basically no nap schedule.
can almost roll over from back to front.
is getting so much better at tummy time.
is fattening up nicely.
likes standing up on her legs.
still HATES bathtime.
hasn't tried rice cereal yet.
still spits up a lot.
is a very happy, smiley, adorable little girl.

valentines's day weekend.

2011-02-15T12:28:00.006-07:00

lots of snow.

some lovey decor.

lots of babies.

{this is 4 of the 6}

lots of treats.

a vday dinner.

sledding.

friends. games. late nights. goooooood food. pedicures and girl talk for the ladies. pool and xbox for the boys. it was a much needed break from real life.

and a final rose after the bachelor :)

{well, a dozen, to be exact.}

now i need to go on a cleanse diet. holy cow.

hearts.

2011-02-10T07:12:00.002-07:00

we had some fun with heart shaped sticky notes the other day. serena thought it was pretty awesome to wake up from her nap to a wall of hearts. "heart" is one of her new favorite words.

and then we kept finding them stuck to the bottom of our socks.

top of my amazon wish list.

2011-02-09T15:32:00.002-07:00

love her!

questions.

2011-02-08T09:27:00.004-07:00

why can't chinese food and fun size snickers bars be good for you? they totally ruined my diet yesterday. {yeah, i'm not going to take any responsibility for that. all blame goes to the food.}

why is it so hard to walk 20 feet to the gym and exercise?

why are babies so happy and smiley at 5 a.m. when you just want to be sleeping, but you don't want to miss their smiles?

how do all kids know how to throw a tantrum? inconsolable crying. kicking legs. hitting things. they all do it. {right?}

why does my voice sound so different in my head than it does on a recording? bleh. nasaly.

why is everyone so anxious for spring? i love winter. especially when there is snow on the ground.

are scrunchies really coming back? cause i'm going to boycott that.

is there a way to actually win tic-tac-toe?

awesome. {edit}

2011-02-04T16:55:00.006-07:00

i was planning meals for our cabin trip with kirsten via text messaging. {phone plugged into the wall, my back to serena.}

she was lovingly putting dots of milk from her sippy cup all over the coffee table, computer chair and desk.

what a lovely surprise!

and then she says "uh oh! uh oh! uh oh!" like it accidentally happened :)

edit:

apparently it's a new favorite game. i was looking up a recipe on the computer for 2 minutes, and when i turned around, harper's face and head were mysteriously wet. then i saw the white droplets on the blanket. i asked serena if she put milk in harper's mouth and she said "yeah" like it was no big deal. awesome! she is grounded from her big girl minnie mouse sippy cups.

loves.

2011-01-31T21:02:00.006-07:00

wordfeud vs. sean {and tara & chris} on our phones.
the maze runner!
my pretty 2011 calendar from sarah jane.
new flat iron. {i've needed one for like 3 years. maybe you'll actually see me with my hair down now.}
a recipe book project with heather.
an early spring!
cheesy potato soup and homemade bread on a cold, cold, windy day.
finding a chocolate marshmallow santa behind some stuff in the pantry. jackpot!
valentinesy everything. i love the holiday.
a visit to the grocery store with a sleepy harper and zero meltdowns from serena.
a bribe balloon.
sweet old lady who offered to help move my 24 packs of soda into my car and bring in my shopping cart! {i only let her do the latter.}
if i loved you.
brother-in-law safely out of afghanistan. {but not home yet.}

serena lately.

2011-01-31T16:13:00.007-07:00

{watching the snowstorm outside}

she calls herself "seenie". her version of serenie.

today she was found wiping her teddy bear's bum with a diaper wipe. i asked her what she was doing and she looked at the bear and said "a poop". as in the bear pooped.

she asks for a "toe-tee toe-tee" {cheesy tortilla} for lunch every day.

she sings herself to sleep every night. it's usually twinkle twinkle little star or i love to see the temple.

she gets soooo excited to see churches and buses when we're in the car.

she has the same conversation with me dozens of times a day:

serena: daddy?
me: he's at work.
serena: all gone.
me: yup, he's all gone.
serena: mugga? {grandma}
me: she's at her house.
serena: all gone.
me: yup, she's all gone.
over and over and over.

says "hol-doo" {hold you, meaning hold ME} in the sweetest little voice. we can never turn her down.

meet shannon.

2011-01-31T11:56:00.004-07:00

she is my sister-in-law and the sweetest person i know.

{serena makes a 2 second appearance at the end. she loves her aunt shanny!}

video by seth.

soggy soggy girl.

2011-01-27T16:12:00.003-07:00

anyone know the cure for a baby that spits up a lot all the time?

harper is constantly soggy with spit up. she goes through several outfits, bibs, blankets and burp cloths a day. i don't hold her as often as i would like to because she will inevitably spit up all over me. even 2 hours after she eats, she'll spit up.

help, pleeeeease.