A simpler time...

(the cute kids in the following pictures are Karl and me Ü)

Do you ever wish you could go back in time?
To the days of make believing and day dreaming.
When your biggest worry was having to share your favorite toy
Or not being able to leave the table until you finished your dinner.
To the days when you actually wanted to help with the cleaning.
When being silly was not only welcome but expected.
Or when going to school was actually exciting.
Sometimes I wish that just for a minute,
I didn’t have to worry about finances or homework,
Or whether my children would make the right choices.
But since I know this is all part of life,
I guess I should gear up for life’s daily battles.
And enjoy each sweet moment I have with my children,
Who just so happen to be great stress relievers.

P.S. I promise I'm not depressed. Just stressed.

Book Sale!

Many of you who live in Logan may have heard of "The Book Lady" also known as Barbara Hales. She loved reading and dedicated much of her life to sharing this love with others. She was always on the lookout for good books for good prices that she could buy and sell to others for really good prices. Every few months she would have a book sale in her own home where she would sell thousands of books at a time. She spent many hours and a whole lot of money to make this all possible, not with the intent to make money but rather to spread her love of reading with others. She always knew which books were the best and if you were looking for a book that she didn't have, she made it her duty to find it for you. All of her books were a really good deal- a book you would normally pay $15 for at a store, she would sell for $3. I have never bought a book from her that cost more than $5. Last August, she passed away very unexpectedly. The loss was felt by many. Anyway, as a result, their family decided to have one final book sale and sell the thousands of books she had sitting in her house waiting to be read. So last December, they did just that- or so we thought. Barbara's daughter (my brother-in-laws Aunt) has decided to keep the tradition going and she's having a book sale this weekend and she's got lots of wonderful books.

She's got everything from board books to young adult novels, so come check it out!

When: Friday and Saturday from 9 to Noon

Address: The Hales residence, 1612 E. 1220 N. (near Lundstrom Park)

I will be up there helping her out tomorrow morning so feel free to stop by. I'd love to see you.

(these are a few of our favorite books we have collected over the past few years)

A Chicken-filled Easter

Per tradition, EaStEr came early for our family today. (read about our tradition here) Here's a little sample of some of our cute new clothes Grandma and Nana bought for the girls. (If it weren't for both of our wonderful families, our girls would never have anything to wear!) Thanks Nana and Grandma for all of the yummy treats and the clothes.

Maddie loved them so much she had to try on every outfit for me to take a picture.

And thanks to cousin Ivy, Brooklyn now has a new favorite toy. Thanks Ivy for sharing your jumper!

Chicken Pox Update: Brooklyn's pox have gotten a little worse over the past few days. They still don't look like normal pox but you can tell they are bothering her because she tries to scratch at them whenever they aren't covered. So, once again, here's to at least another week of complete seclusion.

P.S. I'm tired of being stuck at home...

We did run away to my parents house this weekend but now it's back to being stuck at home. Thanks family for letting your sick family come to visit. We loved getting out of the house.

Oh and P.S.S. Check out these fun home made spudnuts we made the other day. I used our fun spring time cookie cutters (flowers, bunny, Easter egg and butterfly) to cut out the doughnuts and then we used neon food coloring to make bright colored glaze. They were both yummy and fun to eat. I highly suggest trying it out.

What did we do to celebrate the holiday?

Absolutely nothing! We didn't even wear green. Pathetic, I know.

We have been very fortunate with Brooklyn only having a very mild case of the chicken pox. If it hadn't been for Ivy breaking out, I never would have thought she actually even had them. There is no question in my mind that she really does have them but they are very small and seem to be pretty pain free (just a slight fever and a little irritability). The only problem is, I know she has them, which is why we have had to seclude ourselves from the rest of the world. I hate being stuck in my house! Especially when the weather is finally warming up and we could be out playing with our friends.

So, what have we been doing? Absolutely nothing! Except for being lazy and watching movies all day long. We did actually go outside and play for a while today. But we have done a lot of this...

this is Maddie with her "car" she made all by herself

Lincoln Log City- which Maddie actually loved. Until she accidentally knocked down her house and had a major meltdown (hers is the one with the slide)

Maddie is finally able to reach the pedals on her trike. Now for the learning how to use them.

Brooklyn loved playing outside. She's never really been able to play outside, so it was a new experience for her. - I don't know if you can tell, but do you see how her eye brows look like they are red? ... those are her little mini pox. They are mostly on her face and in her hair and look more like a rash now then anything
Karl even got to sit outside and enjoy the warm weather with us. He was doing homework but he was with us.
We even played some ball.

Dad, these two are for you. Check out Maddie's great soccer skills.

Doesn't she look like a pro?

We've been on the look out...

Last Sunday we found out that our little cousin Ivy had the chicken pox. We usually spend a lot of time together, and this weekend was no exception. So when we discovered that she had the chicken pox we suspected it would only be a matter of time before the chicken pox struck our home. Well, this morning I spotted the first official spot on Brooklyn's eye brow.

Needless to say, you won't see us coming your way anytime soon.

Here's hoping for a very mild case.

Best Friends Already

A few Maddie-isms:

It seems like every time Maddie opens her mouth lately she throws something new at us. Here are a few of my favorites from this week.

*Every morning when Maddie wakes up she calls for Karl to come in to her room before she gets up to go to the bathroom. Last Sunday we heard her calling, "Daddy... Daddy... Come here." As Karl walks sleepily in to her room she looks at him and says, "BOO" and laid back down to go back to sleep.

*Maddie talking to me- "Mom, I'm not a mean person. I'm a child of God."

*Daddy and Maddie talking this morning-

D: Are we going to be a family of all girls or are we going to have a boy someday?

M: We're going to have a boy, but not until after we get a van (I promise I have not been doing any coaching on this one, it was all her!)

*Maddie loves to use her imagination. I caught her yesterday reading (her own stories to Brooklyn who was laying on the floor. "No more monkeys jumping on the bed."

*Maddie loves to sing songs she has been learning in Nursery like I am a child of God and I love to see the temple "I'm going to the temple, someday. Tomorrow." Her newest... "a sunbeemp, a sunbeemp today!"

A few Brookie-isms:

Brooklyn has become very vocal these past 2 days. She loves to squeal and make her voice go as high as she can (she is definitely a soprano!) She also is just starting to be a lot more involved in everything that is going on around her. She loves to sit and play with her sister, and has been showing a lot of interest in stealing her sister's sippy cup of milk. She loves to roll from her stomach to her back but does not usually even try to go from her stomach to her back, even though she hates being on her stomach.

What happens when you don't know the camera is on?

This is what happens at our house... when you don't know the camera is on you.

Brookie

...Is officially rolling from her back to her tummy and her tummy to her back. Way to go little Brookie!

And look a bonus. She is already steady on her feet.

I'm planting a garden...

...And it's starting to grow!When we first moved into our house, one of the things I was most excited about was having a big garden. So this year I decided to try my hand at gardening (which is something I really know nothing about.)

I went to a little seed store here in town this last Wednesday and asked for lots of advice about what I need to do, what plants grow well here and when I need to get things planted. They gave me a wonderful paper that includes all of this kind of information and then they helped me choose which seeds I wanted that needed to be planted here shortly and would need to be started indoors for best results. Here is my list.

Artichoke

Cauliflower

Broccoli

Spinach

Lettuce

Candy Onions

Dulce Grande Onions

(I also bought seeds for Bell peppers and Peas but did not need to start them yet)

(pictures taken from andersonseedandgarden.com)

I planted about 24 seeds of each hoping that at least a few of each would start to grow. I have been a little worried that I did something wrong and that they wouldn't really grow.

But today, I found this!

A lettuce seed and a broccoli seed have already started to sprout. Hooray!

Days like today...

Make me sad!

Get feeling better fast little Miss Madison! I hate seeing you like this.

Temple Pictures

My Sister-In-Law just made this beautiful picture for her husband for Valentines day. You know the kind you can find at Deseret Book or Sam's Club for about $250? Well there is now a company that has decided to help make these pictures more affordable by letting you do the work yourself. So, here's the deal. My SIL is hosting a party where we will be able to make these pictures for only $53.00 and I wanted to spread the word.

WHO: YOU! And anyone else that you'd like to invite…

WHAT: A DIY Antiqued Temple Portrait Class

The picture is 26" x 32"

WHEN: Friday, April 30, 2010 -- 6:30 pm

WHERE: Let me know if you're interested and I will give you these details

WHY: Because you can make a gorgeous antiqued temple portrait, very similar to the ones sold at Deseret Book or Sam's Club, for a fraction of the cost ($53 and 3 hours of your time, to be exact). There are eight different temple pictures you can choose from (click HERE and scroll down to see examples), and it's simple enough that anyone can do it!

HOW: If you're interested in joining in on the fun, just email me back and I'll send you another email with more details. Just think of what an AWESOME Mother's Day/Father's Day gift this would make for someone special!

P.S. If you want to see a finished picture in real life before committing, I have access to one!

P.P.S. Really and truly, please feel free to invite anyone you know who may be interested in joining us! It should be a really fun Girls Night Out. :)

These pictures really are worth it. I am so excited to make one. (My SIL invited me to go last time and I totally didn't think they would be nearly as cool as they are so I didn't go, so I'm glad I get a chance to do it again.) Really if you are interested please let me know.

Two year old Fashion Sense

Conversation between Maddie and her Aunt Katie:

Katie: (who had just put on her new yellow shirt) Maddie do you like my new shirt?

Maddie: Yeah! . . . Take off those pants

(Katie, who was still wearing her pajama pants with a pattern that didn't go with the shirt, was shocked)

Katie: Why?

Maddie: They don't match.

Well, she was right. They didn't match. She wasn't finished changing yet.

We know that Maddie does know when things match, so why then, do her own outfits always turn out so interesting?

This outfit isn't quite so bad(it's better in person than on here), but some days... I really wonder.

She must get it from her daddy . Ü

P.S. Happy Birthday Katie!