It feels like Spring and Tragic Pie Story

Today my Dad took Luke skiing with him and I wish I was with them!  It is BEAUTIFUL outside with some serious sunshine.  My kind of ski day!  I feel Spring in the air and I love it!

We took Sophie for skiing for the first time with the family on President's Day.  She loved it.  

It was also a beautiful day, but very windy up top.  Since I was with Sophie though, I stayed at the bottom of the hill.  

She looked so cute!  There were some younger kids there that day, but I think she was the perfect age.  Old enough to "sort of" get what she was doing.  She is fearless and very competitive, so that helps!

Dad and Sophie

Mom and the girls…with the hula hoop.  It is a saving grace skiing with a little one.  I used it on Annie too and it made things a cinch!  And don't even laugh at my outfit.  It's vintage…circa 1998.  It is seriously so dorky and my kids laugh at me, however, a new ski outfit for mom never seems to make it to the top of the priority list. 

Sassy Sophie and Annie all grown up now.  

Can't help it…had to throw in this one cause what is that face? 

Little kids just make everything look cute.  Puffy ski gear…cute.  Boots, cute.  Mittens, cute. 

Check out that happy face! "Come on, Mom!"  It was awesome having EVERY kid there!  Finally!  Maybe one of these days I will see the older boys ski.  They did come down and do a "family" run with us, but usually I don't see them all day!

Joshua is so lucky, he seriously has the best friends and they all live really close. They do everything together.  I wish this picture showed what they looked like this night a little better.  They are COVERED with mud.  Like, covered.  Good work guys. 

I am so glad these two have each other. It is so cute to see them watching TV cause they usually hold hands.  I love it. 

The 8 and 9 year old girls from church surprised me with Valentines they hung on my door!  What a sweet surprise!

My sister Jennifer just  put new couches in her family room She called and said she was getting rid of their beloved couches they have had for 11 years.  I volunteered to take the old ones off her hands since we don't have couches in the basement.  However, once we got them to our house, I decided (and then talked Ryan into) putting our leather sectional in the basement and these in our family room.  I love it!  Even the boys all like it better!  (Seriously guys, trust me on these things!)  I switched pictures around, and moved a dresser into this room, and presto…new family room without a single trip to the store. Just moving things around.   

I love to switch furniture and decorations around.  Like REALLY switch it around.  Sometimes I have to talk people into my games.  I am so glad Joshua can do it now and I can usually snag a friend of his and I don't even  have to bother Ryan with my silly plans.  I blame it on my military upbringing. I am used to change and moving, so it is just my way of "moving" without moving.  It makes me happy, especially since we are renting our house and I can't sink my paws into anything to make any perm.  changes, and I don't have money to go buy new things, so this gives me my "fix".  I swear, if you hate your house, or you want something new, just move things around, clean it up, organize something, and you will feel much better!  With all my winter decor gone, I am doing some serious de-JUNKING and donating. Spring is in the air!

And finally, speaking of cleaning….while on a weekend away in Utah I purchased this Chocolate Cream Pie.  I could not bare to part with it, so set it on my front seat for my ride back to Idaho.  Of course, I got hungry on the way home and tried to eat some with a fork, while balancing it, and lets just say one tap to the break and this happened.  So tragic, and yet so typical.  I think it was the universe speaking to me, trying to save me from hours of calorie ridden bites of cream pie on my way home.  (Did I mention it said each slice had like 560 calories?)  Every time I am greedy and try to take something home with me, it gets smashed, and by the time I get it home it no longer even looks appealing and I might as well just chuck it.  I can sadly report this from experiences just this week- smuggling donuts home from a Relief Society gathering for my kids, and then cupcakes from a birthday gathering only to drop them on the cement and then shamelessly trying to salvage them anyway.  

And that is the end of my pie on car floor story.  

PS At least I didn't try to salvage this one.  (Don't think I wouldn't have tried if I could.)

The week leading up to Valentines

A week on my phone...

Facts about Sophie:

*She dresses herself everyday. 

 Lately, I just go with it.  Sometimes I suggest a change.  She gets dressed the second her eyes open and often I am downstairs cleaning up from the school kids. 

*She loves "spicy chips". 

*She likes the dogs and they like her. 

Thanks to a dear friend I got a manicure AND a pedicure last weekend.  A very rare treat.  It makes me feel happy every time I look at my nails. 

Another rare treat…I spent two days with these ladies and it was so relaxing and fun to catch up and give each other encouragement as mothers!

A staple at Grand Targhee Resort died this week after a battle with Cancer.  As I read about him, it makes you want to be the kind of person that influences everyone around you for the positive.  It doesn't take much, often just a smile.  

Sophie accidentally spilled her drink at Costa Vida.  She felt so busted she made the funniest face, but of course I didn't get it captured soon enough.  She still looks a little busted here though...

She is a softy...

Annie and her twin friend Isabella.  Seriously, when I have them out in public together they look like twins!

Making Valentines is hard work.  

Ryan has been out of town and it hasn't been to bad, but last night I was feeling the stress as my house looked like this and James needed homework help and there was no dinner on the horizon.  AHHHHH!  Deep Breath.  

This morning it was worth it because they were so excited to bring their Valentines and Boxes to school.  This was the conversation I overheard as we were rushing to get out the door:

Michael: "So, do you have any ladies you are gonna give a Valentine to?" 

Luke (really contemplative and serious): "No, there are not really any hotties this year."  

Luke took this of me last night bringing the girls up to bed.  Both wanted me to hold them.  I didn't make it far.  The older boys have been awesome this week helping me get the kids to bed since I have gone to my exercise class twice, (it is at 830 at night), had a school board meeting, and a late night trip to the store.  It is amazing!  They are getting more responsible and they can actually put the little ones to bed in a pinch.  With 4 boys as the oldest I wasn't sure if this would actually happen.  Horray!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO RYAN!!!!!  I LOVE YOU!!!!  Hurry home!  XOXO

January Decorating

I think I mentioned before I was kind of slow taking our holiday decor down this January.  I thought I would share a couple tricks from my holiday take down.  

This year we tried a new little trick with our tree and it worked like a charm.  To prevent the branches from sagging more and more throughout the whole season, Ryan and/or Joshua came up with a great idea.  They tied up the weaker branches with bungie cords to the strong branches.  We kept up our tree for a long time and it didn't barely droop, in fact, many people were surprised it was real it looked so "perky".  If only bungie cords could lift up other things that are drooping and less than perky around here. :)

I zoomed in on the bungie cords, but you really could not even see them once you stood back.  Good work, guys!

My mom always keeps M&M's at her house in every color to match each holiday. I got this idea from her.  (Usually I don't have enough chocolate left to do it!)  This year I actually had some leftovers and then Target had lots of Hershey Kisses on sale after Christmas.  I could not pass them up!  I just separated all the red and white candy from the green.  The red and white works great for Valentines, and I can bust out with the Green come St Patricks Day.  

I bought one package of pink to mix in with the Hershey Kisses, and poof…we are in business for Valentines.   

 

With Winter lasting so long where we live…I need to celebrate each Holiday to keep us from getting too gloomy around here.  Even though I like a clean slate after Christmas, I just couldn't take everything down, so going straight to Valentines helps ease the pain.  :)  Plus, I can use some of the things I already have up!  

Pretty much what I had out for Christmas…with a new print out in my frame.  

Love on the Kitchen Wall...

I bought four of these OLD Valentines from my favorite Garage Sale down the road.  They are so cute and have little messages on the other side from the people that sent them back in the day.  Everyone had such beautiful cursive. It is a lost art. This Valentine is my favorite because don't our lovers drive us all a little Cuckoo!?  

These plates were a post-Valentine Target Sale find one year.  The Hello Kitty TOASTER was a post-holiday Target clearance item that Annie saw and fell in love with. (They also had a popcorn popper that I think I should have snagged.)  It isn't the highest quality toaster, but it makes me laugh and it thrills the girls.  She bought it with her Christmas Money so I think it will not be going anywhere after Valentines.  

The Hot Chocolate isn't going anywhere for a while either.   

One of my best friends in California got this for me when we lived there…she must have had some intuition that we were moving to the land of the snow.  Oh, how true the statement is, but it doesn't mean you get to stop shoveling OR cleaning, unfortunately.  

More Vintage Valentines…this one is the oldest I believe.  

Still have this art project I made at Grandma's House with my nieces one year.  It is a little smashed, so maybe I should re-visit this project.  The garland was my best find yet…dollar section at Target this year.  (Are you sensing a theme here…I should get paid for the Target promotion!)  

I really wanted to keep some "lights" up from Christmas.  I love how they twinkle. I was so happy when in the same dollar section I found VALENTINE HEART LIGHTS!  Bingo, I had an official excuse to leave up a few Christmas Trees.  

Pine Trees are a winter thing, right?  

Another "Winter Wreath"...

Winter Popsicles...

Less you think I left my holiday wreath up…there are some hearts stuck in there too!

I even kept up one of my garlands…infused with my newfound heart lights of course.

More decorations that I let stick around after Christmas...

I love red and white.  I love that they are colors of TWO holidays in a row, and I love me a wreath every day of the week!  

Felt Coaster thing…Target Dollar Section!  

Just a few more things… (And that is it.  Wink Wink to Jennifer, Heidi, and Robin… I think you know why.)

So many complain about the snow…but I will take it.  A.  We desperately need it.  B.  Without it, this time of year is just plain UGLY.  With snow, it is beautiful!  James is getting pretty good about taking the girls for rides around the yard and to Grandma's House.  

Some of the people I love so much that I squish.  

Happy Valentines this week! For us that means school parties, sugar cookies, and a steak dinner for all the family cooked by Grandpa.  Oh, and there will be lots of Olympics Watching too!