Hadley Picasso

Hadley loves to draw, especially with markers.  Here are some of her latest masterpieces...

Can you guess what/who this is?

No...it's not cousin "It" - It's her dear old mom!  When I asked what she was drawing she said, "Drawing Mommy!  See?  Long, beautiful hair!"  The brown blob was the start of her drawing and she told me it was a bandaid (one of her favorite things)...so I'm not exactly sure how she got from a bandaid to her mom...but it's all good.  The blob/bandaid doubles as my nose quite nicely.  ;)  This was the first real time she has ever tried to draw an actual person, so I was honored it was me, regardless of how hairy I was.  

The second drawing she said is "Baby Jesus in the hay."  So sweet...

Happy Pooh Year!!!

We had a totally wild and crazy New Year's Eve at home with the kids this year!  ;)

We relaxed and read books...

 Watched the new Winnie the Pooh movie...

Ate happy meals and teriyaki (you guess who ate what)...

and then the kids had a wild and crazy painting party in the tub!

When the clock struck midnight, the kids were sound asleep, Chris was up taking a bath and reading, and I was on the couch uploading a new picture of our dog, Koda, for this blog.  DOESN'T GET MUCH MORE EXCITING FOLKS!!! ;)  (It is a cute picture of Koda, though...check it out on the side)

All joking aside, it actually was just perfect for us.  I have not been feeling too hot the last few days and have lost my voice, so it felt good to be low-key and home as a family. 

On a side note, Hadley has been searching the house high and low for my "boice" (voice), and has concluded, "We gotta get a new one at the store later."  Why didn't I think of that?

I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, but here are some goals I have for 2012 (in no particular order):

1) Read through the Bible at least once & actually FINISH a reading plan I start

2) Be a better blogger & post on a more consistent basis 

3) Workout regularly 

4) Not try to give Koda away every other day (she's my Marley) 

5) Actually do something with the thousands of pictures I take (TBD what that is exactly)

And for the huge goals that are a bit more ambiguous:

6) Be thankful in all things

7) Be a better wife, mommy, daughter, & friend

Wow, that sounds like a lot.  I'm tired already.  I better go find something to do so I don't have to start my workouts quite yet.  

Random Summer Pics

Just came across some of my favorite pics from this summer...melt my heart!

MERRRRRRY CHRISTMAS!!!

~ Our 2011 Christmas Card ~

{I designed in Photoshop & printed at Costco}

I have decided to dust off my ole' blogging shoes and get back in the game.  I know I have been MIA from this blog for awhile now...just busy with life and letting myself feel like I couldn't blog without catching up on ALL of it.  How SILLY!  I'm just gonna "do the best I can, bless my heart" (as my Grandma DB would say) and see if I can't get back into it!

I love to have a record of our family happenings and growing munchkins...so I need to just get over the fact that I will never be able to post every cute pic I take or family outing we go on, and just post as I can.

There, just had to get that out of my system.  Can I get an AMEN anyone?! ;)

Corban is 1!

C-Monster is 1!  We had a great day celebrating him at a great local park with our family.  

Tammy made AMAZING cookies!

I made him a football cake - we went with the sports balls theme since he loves to play with them and his first real word (after "uh-oh") was "ball."  :)

We went with some good ole' fashioned fried chicken for the main dish! 

 Corban had so much fun!

He didn't dive into the cake like I expected...

He was pretty happy just picking at the frosting!

Then he dug in a bit more! :)

He was so blessed with tons of fun gifts (that all the kids loved). :)

 My silly boy...

 Grandma Holly is reading him and Cole his new birthday book (while he sits on it).

"Happy birthday baby brudda." (melts my heart!)

The girls snuck his new train when he wasn't looking.  ;)

What a fabulous day!  We are so blessed.  Corban James, we love you more than words can describe, little buddy.  

4th of July

The 4th of July is always a fun holiday for our family (except for my mom who is a nervous wreck the whole time...she admits it!). ;)  My uncle is a professional pyro-technician and is hired to shoot off the  huge fireworks show each year at Joint Base Lewis/McCord.  My aunt (his sister) shoots the show with him, along with a great team of guys (hence the reason behind my mom's nervousness).  They do it old school style (no computers) and light each shell by hand!  It's always an AMAZING show!

We all go out during the day while they prep for the show and have a great time BBQ'ing and just having fun outside!  Chris had to work this year, so I took the kids out with my parents and hung out for a few hours.  We didn't stay for the show this year cause the kids are still so young...but Hadley loved looking at the "sparkles" in the sky around our neighborhood that night!  

 Corban's 1st 4th of July!

 She jumped on the tractor Uncle Scott was using to prep for the show...

 Don't worry, I only let her drive it around for a few minutes. ;)

CLOSE UP!

Ok, that's a bit better...

 Ash & her friend, Will, came out for the show

 Ash & I even busted out some vball for a while!  So fun!  Haddy wanted in on the action...

 Towards the end of our time there we found an AMAZING playground...the kids loved it!

Cheese ball face if you love 4th of July!!!!

Happy 4th of July! Hop, hop, hop...

To celebrate the 4th of July...I give you some Easter pics from this year that I never posted.  They were just too cute to leave off...& this about sums up life for me right now!  I never really know what day it is or who's diaper I'm changing!  As long as we are all fed and clean (to some extent) - we have had a good day!  Just keepin' it real as a momma of 2 lil' turkey basters under 2 (ok, Haddy just turned 2, but you get the point...and yes, I lovingly call my kids turkey basters!)! ;)

I will post some real pics from the 4th "soon"...so, maybe by Christmas? ;)