My Girls

I know I frequently am writing about my girls, but what can I say, they are my life! They are constantly making me smile and I want to remember the fun stages they are going through. So here’s a little update on my two favorite little girls…As I have said many times, Makenna LOVES to sing. I don’t even turn on the radio when I’m driving, she literally sings that much. However, occasionally she mixes up songs or words, which only makes me smile more. The other day in the car her song went something like this: “Take me out to the ballgame, take me out to the crowd cause I am a child of God and he has sent me here, has given me an earthly home, with parents kind and dear. Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, for it’s one, two, three strikes you’re out at the old ball-game!” How can I not love that girl? That same car ride she also decided to tell a story to Sage. It went: “There were three little pigs who built a house and a girl went in and found some oatmeal but it was TOO hot so she said ‘I’ll blow your house down’. Then she found some oatmeal but it was TOO cold and she wanted it just right so she took a nap. The end.” Sage might be a little mixed up on her stories when she gets older! :) I just love this age!

Sage is also at a super fun age. She is so happy and goofy and just perfectly independent. Not quite to the “I wanna do it myself” stage, but enough that she’ll play alone for half an hour while I make dinner. She signs please, more, eat and all done and says Mama, Dada, uh-oh and ta-da! She can point to eyes, nose, mouth and ears and I swear understands everything we say. She dances when she hears any music (even my phone ringing!) and is super snuggly before bed…my favorite! She loves to wave, blow kisses and purposely scrunch up her nose when she laughs. She always folds her arms when we sit down to eat – at one year old she’s already reminding us to pray! What a sweetheart.

In short, these girls are the light of our lives. Nate and I are two lucky parents! I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for trusting me and blessing me enough to be their Mama. I love my girls.

Mom & Tot Halloween Party!

About 6 months ago, a friend and I started a Mom & Tot playgroup in our ward. All the moms who are home during the day get together once a week to chat and let the kids run around. It has been a great way to get out of the house, have fun with friends and meet new women in our ward! Plus the girls love getting to run around at the park or play with friends inside on rainy days. Today for our activity we put together a fun Halloween party for all the kids! I have to say I was a little overwhelmed being in charge, but there were so many wonderful women helping out that made my job so much easier. We had an awesome turnout (a total of 24 kids!) and I think everyone had a really great time. Our fun (and laughs!) are best shown in the pictures...

We played "Pin the Stem on the Pumpkin". This is the kids coloring their "stems" to personalize them (mostly scribbles of course)!

My favorite part is that we didn't even blindfold the kids and still not one of them put it where it's supposed to go! Notice the little stems all over the pumpkin...not on top. :)

Then we played "Musical Witches" where the kids walked around on witch hats to Halloween music (they loved the "Monster Mash"!). When the music stopped they were supposed to find a hat to stand on and whoever was on the purple hat got to pick a prize. Once again...not many kids had a clue what was going on! What the heck, they had fun parading around in their costumes and dancing to the music anyway!

We also tried a "Ghost Sucker" craft. We handed the kids suckers and tried to help them cover them with a napkin to make a ghost. Do you know what happens when you hand a bunch of two year-olds suckers and tell them not to eat them? This...
(Makayla ripping off the napkin to try to get to the sucker)

and this...

The moms just had to laugh as we were trying to make a cute craft in the midst of tears. Finally we gave each of the kids a sucker to eat while they decorated another sucker to take home. Eventually we made these...
(the orange one is Kenna's, I thought she did a pretty good job!)

Then we made "Owl Cupcakes". It ended up being somewhat of a sugar overload for the kids, but I thought they turned out really cute!

Kenna was pretty proud of her owl! What a cute fairy princess!

Some of the fun...

Overall, it was a great time. And while I came home with two very tired, hyper, and hungry girls (not to mention I was ready for a nap!), I'm already looking forward to next year!

Our Mini-Mommy

At two-years old, I already know Makenna is going to be a wonderful mother. For better or for worse she is spending a lot of time practicing! :) Today I found her in the bathroom washing her baby’s hands. Unfortunately the sink is a little tall for her, so the baby ended up getting a bath…but it was a good thought! Later, she sat down with her baby to read a story. She could spend hours looking through her books and coming up with her own stories (and I could spend hours watching her). She has such a love of books and I am amazed at how quickly she can memorize the stories we read her! Plus it is so fun hearing her versions of the things we read, especially the words or parts she doesn’t understand. It is adorable. She is very good to her dolls, but she also likes to be a little mommy to Sage. Sometimes it is great, for example most mornings she goes into Sage’s room and says things like “Hi sweetie, you are so cute! Did you have a good rest?” Or at the doctor’s office when Sage was terrified that a strange man was touching her, Kenna calmly rubbed her tummy and said “Don’t worry Miss Sage, he’s really nice and you’re very brave!” What a good big sister! However, I also frequently hear “Sage we don’t throw our food or you’ll have to go to timeout”, or “Don’t bang that toy or I’ll have to take it away”, or my favorite “Stop Sage, that’s dangerous. You have to be a big girl like me but you’re only a baby.” Yes, having a miniature mommy at our house can be a joy and a pain, but it’s our Makenna and we love her either way!

Reading to her baby

...and her other "baby" :)
What a good big sister!

Sage wanted to be a "Little Mommy" today, too. (Or at least a big helper!)

Murder Mystery Dinner Party!

On Saturday night we hosted a murder mystery dinner party at our house! I think the guys were a little hesitant about the idea after their wives volunteered them for it, but we had a great time! Everyone played their parts magnificently - it was pretty entertaining. :) The costumes were excellent, the food was delicious and the acting was hilarious! It was a great night!

High School Reunion Cast of Characters:
Chelsea & Ryan Belton: Cheerleader & Class President
Zac & Christie Harris: Cowboy & Rich Girl
Bryce & Melissa Huff: Jock & Drama Queen
Brooke & Nate: Recovering Nerd & Smart Nerd :)

Nate & I found some sweet glasses at Dollar Tree! I thought he looked pretty studly in the bow-tie and Alfalfa hair-do. Too bad you can't see it!

Our fantastic trip to the Coast!

Saturday we spent a fabulous day with some of our very best friends at the coast in Newport! We had a fantastic beach house that looked right out to a beautiful view of the ocean. It rained most of the time we were there, but we still fit as much fun into one day as imaginable! We ate amazing meals, played many games, did a whole lot of chatting and let the kids run wild! By the end of the day the kids were whipped, but I think the parents were even more tired. At least I was! While the kids napped (6 of them in 1 house…it was a miracle!), the guys let the gals head out shopping. While it sounds especially thoughtful of them, I think they were happy to get us out of the house so they could play cards and watch football. :) No matter what the motive, we had a ball! Afterward we all went to the harbor to see the seals. (Kenna kept saying we were going to see the sea lions and zebras.) Still days later she talks about they way they very noisily say “ar ar”! (Course if you ask her friend Mac, they say “honk!”) :) Thanks so much to the Huffs for putting it all together and to the Beltons and Harris’ for sharing a very memorable vacation with us! We had a wonderful time and look forward to doing it again soon!

All the kiddos - 4 2-year-olds (Mac, Carter, Makenna & Calvin) and 2 1-year-olds (Simon & Sage) ...we were busy!

The view of the ocean from our living room window

The view out the side window...gorgeous.

Ryan & Chelsea Belton

The guys got a crazy idea to do a "polar bear swim" in the freezing ocean! I don't know whether to say they were brave or crazy, but either way they had a blast!

Our tough husbands! Ryan Belton, Nate, Bryce Huff & Zac Harris

Checking out the sea lions (unfortunately no zebras!)

These are the few we could see close up...but there were tons!

My chilly girls!

Sage snuggled up with Daddy

A view of the harbor

What a great day!

Happy 1st Birthday Sage!

Thursday October 7^th was Sage’s FIRST Birthday!! Looking back over the past year, it is amazing how much joy she has brought into our lives. From the minute she was born, our home has been filled with extra smiles and laughter. Sage truly is a sweetheart and at just one year old already has such a caring and loving spirit about her. Yes she can be very feisty and stubborn, but for the most part she is our little angel. She and Makenna are the best of friends and while they frequently push each other’s buttons (already!), there’s nothing that fills my heart quite like hearing them laugh together. I love the way they have their own personalities, but each brings a special light to our family. Sage, I love you so much sweetheart! I look forward to watching you grow, but no matter what, you will always be my little princess!

The beautiful Birthday Girl!

The birthday haul...she loved opening presents
(and Kenna loved helping her!)

Oh how I love that smile!

Sage with her ladybug birthday cake!
She has just pulled off two of it's legs...and is very proud of herself. :)

I made her an ice-cream filled ladybug cake. It was definitely an experiment, but it turned out pretty tasty! I figured I've got quite a few girly birthday cakes in my future, so I better get started!

Gotta love those cheeks!

My two beautiful (and frosting covered) girls!

I love this picture...So Sage!

It took some serious effort to get this little girl clean! I think she enjoyed every minute of her bath in the kitchen sink. :)

The aftermath...

My morning serenade

This morning I woke up to Kenna singing "Army of Helaman" (as she calls it). What a great way to start the day! I swear I can sing a primary song a few times and Makenna has it memorized. Oh how I love that little girl!

Another week gone...

Can I just say that at times law school can be no fun?! This weekend Nate had to spend a lot of time at school for a project and I missed him terribly. I often find myself living for the weekend because I LOVE spending time as a family. We have so much fun when we are all together and I appreciate Nate’s companionship and support with the girls more than he knows. I love living in Oregon, I love my friends, I love my job and I am so thankful for everything that has brought us here… but to be honest, I would be happy almost anywhere as long as I get lots of time with my family! So when I don’t get lots of that time, I find myself feeling discontent. Something I need to work on for sure. Nate works so hard at law school (and it is paying off!), but unfortunately it is time consuming. Yes, it would be wonderful to have a husband who is gone 8-5 and then home with nothing else to worry about except us for the rest of the night, but I am grateful that at least he tries his best and makes us his top priority. (And being realistic, I understand that that schedule may never happen… but a girl can dream!)

Alright, now I feel a little better, so on to the fun that we had when Nate was home this weekend! First of all – he got an internship for next summer already!!! Due to his extra hard work and diligence he has had several interviews and accepted a job offer at a law firm in Springfield, about 15 minutes from our house! The name of it is Thorp Purdy Jewett Urness & Wilkinson (it’s going to take me a while to get that one down). They cover many aspects of the law and Nate will get some really great experience working for them. He’ll work full-time during the summer then continue part-time for the 2011-12 school year. It is a paid position and we feel SO blessed that he will have such a great opportunity. Congrats Nate! So to celebrate the fun news, we had a special night out. After the girls were in bed, Nate and I enjoyed a candle-lit fondue dinner under the stars (complete with dancing…very romantic!). :) It was a wonderful way to celebrate a fantastic accomplishment.

Then on Friday, we got another camping bug! Unfortunately the time frame we had didn’t allow for real camping, but we made a pretty good substitute. We recently bought a 6-man tent (I’m SO excited!), so the girls “helped” me set it up on our back deck and we had a ball! I don’t think Kenna got that excited even for Christmas. She was literally giddy! We blew up our air mattresses and even fit in the girls’ little table so they could eat dinner in there (it’s pretty roomy!). When Nate got home we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and then just hung out in our tent. Nate tried sticking an M&M in the middle of the marshmallow and now Kenna asks for a “lemonem in a mellow” for about every snack. Guess she liked it! It was a lot of fun and made me so excited for next summer to start some real camping adventures! On Saturday night Nate and Makenna had a special daddy-daughter date sleeping in the tent. Kenna was so excited I thought she’d never go to sleep. Partly thanks to a late night, she hit the pillow and didn’t wake up until morning. They had a great time!

Other than that it was a pretty relaxing Conference weekend complete with pj’s till noon, bubble baths and lots of girl time. Why does the weekend have to go by so fast?

Our special evening

Roasting hot dogs and 'mellows...Kenna was pretty proud!

Dinner in the tent - what lucky girls!

Ready for the lemonem?

Reading bedtime stories in the tent...of course Kenna pays attention even though she knows the book by heart, and Sage can't sit through a book to save her life...guess that comes with being 1! :)

Our attempts to take our own family picture...

Giggly girls!

All snuggled up and ready for a sleep-over!

Bath-time fun!