St. Patty's Day Tricks and Treats

We started our St. Patrick's day celebration making our "Leprechaun trap". With colored rainbows and gold nuggets we were sure to attract the little green guys.

Hyrum came home from preschool to find tiny green footprints leading to a special box. It was filled with a few rainbow treats (try to find an acceptable Leprechaun treat without milk in it!) and bubble swords.

It also contained a note from the Leprechaun himself:

You did not catch me, but I

caught your gold

To show my gratitude I am told

To leave behind treasures you will adore

I gave you some goodies and a little bit more

Drink the magic Leprechaun potion, but do not scream

Your mommie’s toes might turn green!

Here's the magic potion (green Crystal Light)

And here's my green toes.

I totally thought the kids would get a kick out of the little trick, but Hyrum was terrified to sobbing proportions. It took quite a bit of coaxing for him to understand it was a silly trick.

Here's Hyrum checking to see if his toes turned green.

After all that excitement we headed to the zoo.

I love taking advantage of this short time when my kids play along. Since my imagination is sad and shriveled, I'm so glad I can live through them.

Go Away, We're Hibernating

With the cold weather and extreme pregnancy woes, we quickly ran out of exciting activities to keep busy this winter.

j

I vaguely remember my pre-pregnancy life: I remember cramming the kids' days with different experiences to help them learn and just plain have fun. I remember having fun creating outfits for me and the kids and really caring what I looked like. I remember exercising two hours a day and feeling energetic. I remember looking forward to rainy days for a lazy break filled with pjs, books, shows, and relaxing. I remember being super busy, but feeling like my kids were thriving.
j

Nowadays just getting off the couch all day is a real challenge. Expecting a five and two year old to understand how I feel and that it's temporary is difficult. They've been much more clingy and emotional because they're confused and scared. I have the faith that the damage won't be permanent though.

j

Here's some of our cold weather adventures:

Ivy decided to potty train herself. I guess she realized all those long days cooped up at home were the perfect opportunity for potty training. And she was right, she's done wonderfully.

During those first days of training the only way she could stay dry was complete nudity. We played plenty of naked board games that week.

Soon after, she graduated to big girl undies and proudly shows them to everyone.

LONG video game marathons were had.

Thanks to the Walkers for letting us borrow their Wii Games!

I had to share Ivy's cute sweater and leg warmers her Aunt Traci made. So cute!

It's amazing how many hours of entertainment a simple cardboard box with holes cut out can give a tired, sick mama. Thank you cardboard inventors!

Pj days mean no taming the crazy morning hair. This 'do is worthy of the hall of fame.

Another great entertainer is the remote controlled helicopter. The kids begged their dad as soon as he stepped in the door to play with it. They didn't even notice as I crept up the stairs to go to bed.

I'm so lucky to have a healthy family, amazing, supportive hubby, imaginative kids who find ways to have fun with little help from me, and lots of Disney movies to babysit them all.

Girl Name OVERLOAD

Naming a new little person is hard.

Revealing your name to strangers is an important moment. It sums up who you are in one word. Cutsie, fun, tough, beautiful, handsome, romantic, old school, trendy, traditional- it's hard not to judge someone on their name. One thing I've noticed is a confident person can really pull off a unique name. But, what if my children aren't confident? What if they're just weird and their name makes them weirder?

With all this in mind, we have a list of girl names we like. But we can't decide which one and don't know how to make the final cut.

Layla

Lainey

Leah

Paige

Cassidy

Violet

Vera

Lilly

Grace

Joslyn

Macie

Delia

Gloria

Noelle

Joy

Mara

Lena

Maya

Bailey

Lyla

This is the SHORT LIST. So... pretty much we're going to name her Girl or Kid until she's old enough to pick her own dang name.

Snowy Days

We had a CRAZY cold, snowy winter.

It was all fun and games until almost two weeks worth of school was canceled, roads were never plowed, and we were sick of being stuck inside!

We did have a blast making snow caves and snow men, I guess snow isn't THAT bad.

The first thing Ivy said after spotting our beautiful snowman: "Can I kick it?"

Yes, she appreciates great art.

My Guy

Nope, he's not perfect, but he's super close.

l

Bry and I recently celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary and his 28th birthday.

l

We've been together long enough for some major fights, catastrophes, emergencies, meltdowns, sicknesses, deaths, and days where we couldn't stand to be in the same room. But miraculously he still comes home every day with excitement in his eyes- even though he's exhausted and our life is pretty dang boring. He's really something special and I'm a lucky girl.

l

There's so little time he gets to spend with us, so he likes to leave notes before he leaves early in the morning to remind us of his love.

l

Here's two examples of their hilarity:

(yes, he's going to kill me for sharing these)

"Roses R' Red

Violets R' Blue

I scream sad that I have to leave you.

But don't you fret,

I'll be right back.

Just as surely as cats are black."

l

"Of all the places on earth to go,

I would like to have you know,

there's no place I'd rather be

than, well, anywhere as long as my beautiful family is with me.

Which is why a sorrowful moment

I face each day, when 'goodbye' I have to say.

But what joy comes at the end of the day

when my angel children come running my way.

But that's not the crowning jewel,

you'd better sit on a stool.

For the greatest gift I was given

was my angel wife -Erin."

l

One thing we've discovered in our humble marriage: laughing together heals and strengthens. I'm so, so grateful to have a guy who will laugh with me, even when life is yucky.

Ivy June Turns Two

We had a sweet little family celebration for Ivy's 2nd Birthday.

We ventured to the mall for some dinner and Build-a-Bear bliss. I thought Ivy would totally love picking out her own little friend, but she was still a little too young to understand what was going on.

After the mall we came home for some cake and presents.

I attempted my first Ivy safe cake; (no eggs or milk) it tasted like bread with icing and sprinkles. So the kids loved it and Bry and I choked it down.

Ivy has brought a new dynamic to our family- mostly good and sometimes very... not good. She has a HUGE personality, I'll just put it that way.

Here's her top five phrases:

1. "HYWUM!!!!!" (ear-piercingly screamed)


2. "I can't have it? It has milk in it?" (She's getting used to the fact that almost everything everyone else is eating is off limits- yes, it's heartbreaking)


3. "Can I kick/bite/eat/break it?" (This girl has a giganto destroy impulse I have no idea how to handle. All of our books and toys are taped to unrecognizability.)


4. "I ready to be a good girl!" (I swear she spends half of her life on the naughty chair. For those two minutes she can be heard promising repentance. It takes her about one minute of freedom to find more trouble.)


5. "Mom! There's a ghost in my room." (Umm... I don't know where she got this one from. We spend a lot of time chasing ghosts out of rooms though.)

Even though she tends to complicate things a wee bit, we love her so dang much. She might be a little high maintenance, but she gives the best hugs and kisses we can't live without.