When did my baby get so big?! Teya's 7th Birthday!

Everyone tells you that kids grow up fast, but it still blows your mind how fast it happens when it's your own kid. 

One day they're just a soft squishy little baby

And then suddenly they're this beautiful, amazing, independent little person. 

And you can't believe they went from this....

 To this in what seems like just a blink of an eye. 

My baby girl Teya is 7 years old! Still trying to wrap my mind around that!

 On her birthday she woke up and requested a waffle with strawberries and whipped cream, an egg specifically cooked sunny side up, and turkey sausages. I love that she is such a good eater and loves to have a variety of different foods. 

 Taber had the day off so he took her out on a special Daddy Daughter birthday date where he bought her lunch, ice cream, and a big giant butterfly balloon. She was one happy girl!

 When she got home there was a big care package from Grandma Karen with presents and Easter stuff for all the kids. Nothing makes her happier than getting stuff in the mail. 

For her party she wanted to invite her entire 1st grade class AND have it at our house. I told her she could invite a small group to our house, or invite everyone and have it somewhere that I wouldn't have to clean up afterwards, so she choose to have it at the Jump Zone.

 It turned out to be one of my favorite parties because I hardly had to do any work, and she had SO much fun with all her friends! 

Brinley had fun with her cousins and little friend there too. 

Teya was especially happy that her best Friend-Boy came. Ryan lives on our street and is in her same class at school. He is the sweetest boy and she adores him.

 The whole crew posing for a group photo after jumping. 

 And then it was time for cake! 

The party was a huge success and everyone, even little Cammer, had a great time. 

At her 7 year old well child exam she was in the 20th percentile for weight and 10th percentile for height, so I guess she inherited the "shortest kid in the class" gene from her Mommy :)

At 7 years old she loves playing outside in the snow with her Daddy, and playing make believe games for hours on end with her sister. She loves helping me cook and listening in on grown up conversations and then trying to guess what we're talking about. She asks lots of questions and is very curious about the "Why" behind everything. She doesn't love reading or doing homework but she works hard on it anyway and is making huge progress in school. She loves reading the scriptures and will not go to sleep until we've read them. She also has the biggest most compassionate heart and would give you the shirt off her back if you asked for it. I love this girl so much and am so grateful for the example she is in our family. Happy Birthday to my big girl Teya! Mommy loves you!!

Valentines Day, and my first attempts at Pinterest!

This year for Valentines I wanted to do something different, so I finally gave in and looked at Pinterest. Immediately I knew why I had stayed away from it for so long; Total sensory overload where my eyes are bigger than my actual ability to do anything crafty! Still, I settled on a few simple ideas and actually had some fun in the kitchen. 

I even told Taber he didn't have to take me out to dinner. He was nervous...

 The day before Valentines I spent 4 solid hours in the kitchen making cookies. My plan was to surprise Taber by dropping in on him at work with cookies for him to share with all his coworkers. I figured it never hurts to butter up the people he works with. 

I made white chocolate M&M cookies

And the worlds' most heavenly, divine Reese's peanut butter heart cookies.  Found this on pinterest and it was by far the most delicious thing I have ever made in my life. 

 After baking all day we loaded up the cookies, hid them in the basement, cleaned up the kitchen and washed all the dishes so there would be no evidence of our surprise for the next day.

When Teya got home from school we worked on making Valentines day cards for her class. I got a little too ambitious on this one...

 And we didn't finish till almost bed time. Poor Teya got so burnt out! I learned my lesson and will be keeping it simple next time. 

 On Valentines day Teya got all dressed up in pretty pink.

 I took some kitchen scissors to her eggo waffles and made them into hearts. Pretty fancy, I know. ;)

As we were leaving to take the cookies to Taber's work, there was a knock at the door. 

I had told Taber he didn't need to get me flowers this year...

 But he knows me better and sent some anyway. Glad he read my mind :) The flowers made my day!

There were also two smaller bouquets for the little ladies in his life. Brinley was thrilled. 

 When we showed up at Taber's work, I thought everyone would be drooling over my amazing cookies, but they were too busy drooling over the kids! :) Seriously everyone went gaga over them! They scored some suckers, some pillsbury dough boy toys, and a bunch of other fun souveniers. They were like little celebrities. I think Taber was happy that we came to visit. (and after the kid excitement wore off a little, everyone DID love the cookies :)

After visiting Taber we went to a friends house for a preschool Valentines day party.

 Brinley had so much fun with her new little bestie Maddie. 

 When Teya got home she told us all about the fun they had at school and got super excited over her flowers from Daddy. 

I made us a nice Valentines dinner and once the kids were down I gave Taber his gift.

 It was a love jar I'd been working on for the last 30 days. Each day I would write something down that Taber had done that made me love him. Little things like taking time to make jewelry one day with the girls, or making silly voices to Cam while he brushed his teeth, or coming down to the basement to watch the Biggest Loser with me, even though he's not really into that show. 

It was fun watching him read them because he had forgotten some of the things he did so it was fun to be reminded. 

 Then Taber gave me some amazing chocolate dipped strawberries from the Rocky Mountain chocolate factory. It was the perfect way to end an awesome Valentines Day. 

February Phone Pics

Some of February's highlights in Phone pictures:

 Teya celebrated her 100th day of school by dressing up as a 100 year old.  Her tiny handmade shawl from Grandma Karen and her missing teeth were the perfect accents to her look.

Fancy Brinley wearing my necklace to church. If she's this cute now, we're in trouble when she's a teenager!

 After a LONG break from running due to surgeries, moving, holiday craziness and a nasty case of shin splints, I'm FINALLY recovered and making my comeback. New shoes, compression socks, and taking it real easy have kept the injuries at bay. Taber and I signed up for a half marathon in May so I'm pumped to have a race on deck again!

 Little miss Teya got a 100% on a spelling test! This is a HUGE deal because she has really struggled with reading and spelling in her new school. The curriculum is a lot more challenging than she was used to in NH so she's had to have special tutoring to get up to speed. She's worked so so hard on her spelling and even though it doesn't come easy to her, we are so proud to see her conquering this challenge!

 Treats from our Super Bowl party with Naomi and Kevin. I made 7 layer hummus dip, it was awesome!

 We discovered that our neighbors 2 doors down love playing Settlers! They don't have kids so we had them come over after our kids were in bed and played till the wee hours of the morning. That's how we party :)

 My niece had a puppy/kitty birthday party so I painted the kids faces. 

They looked SO cute!

Best part of living close to my sister, being there for my nieces birthdays!! So glad I got to squeeze the birthday girl in person this year!

 Another perk of living close to Naomi, Brinley gets to jump in on her at home preschool once a week. They made George Washington wigs for Presidents day. So funny!

 Cam wanted to wear a wig too. He took it very seriously. :)

 I organized my art supplies and have been trying to do more art projects with the kids. Finger paint is their favorite. 

 We took the kids to a bird exhibit and as we were walking out the door Brinley decided she needed a neon green tutu to compliment her red polka pants. Love that girl. 

 And finally, I conquered my fear/hatred of brussel sprouts and actually bought some for the first time in my life, AND cooked them. I'm pleased to say that my tastebuds have matured since my childhood and I actually enjoyed them. Kind of a big deal for me :)

Mommy's Little Super Helper

Next year Brinley goes to Kindergarten, so right now I'm relishing having her home with me, she is totally mommy's little Super helper.

She loves to help me cook and can mix up a mean pancake batter.

She's also a great grocery shopping companion and always asks, "Is that on the list?" When I try to sneak extra stuff in the cart. 

She keeps my toenails looking fabulous with her personal pedicures.

Seriously how awesome is this pedi? 

She's a great little snow shoveler

And the best helper with Cam, always entertaining him, bringing him toys, treats, blanky, and most recently she's even started helping change his diapers. 

She helps me with the dishes and is pro at putting away silverware.

And loading it in the dishwasher.

She loves taking the warm clothes out of the drier 

(mostly so she can cuddle up in them and get all nice and toasty:)

And pouring in the soap.

Of course I reward her for all her hard super helper work. Making cookies together is one of her favorite things in the world, so we do it...a lot :)

And when she asks to go to Chik-Fila to get nuggets and chocolate milk, well how could I possibly say no to that face? I love my little sidekick and and I'm so grateful for this precious time when she's all mine before she goes to school.