The Holts

Gingerbread

2011-12-16T22:25:00.000-08:00

Just a little gingerbread house making action over here. It is really late and I have been up late all week sewing and crafting and wrapping and putting together toys. So there will not be much writing tonight.

Chloe was dying to put this gingerbread house together, or just to eat the candy, either way the girls had lots of fun!

I have a love/hate relationship with these pre-made gingerbread houses.

The are easy, and the kids have fun. but you can't eat it, its disgusting, and the icing was HORRIBLE!! It tasted so gross and was almost impossible to push out of the stupid bag.

But chloe loved it so thats all that matters right?

And ashley was really good at taking the candy off as soon as chloe put it on.

The masterpiece! beautiful isn't it?? ok don't answer that.

Blue tongue after eating half of the candy!

These pics were earlier that day. I thought ashley would grow out of sucking on her blanket, but it seems to just be getting worse. She is always dragging it around...in her mouth. its so gross. ha ha FLEECE in your mouth?? gag me. the edges are just snipped into fringe and she sucks on one piece and rubs another one on her face. kids are so weird.

And chloe wanted a picture too. love this face!

Baby Blue Ballerinas

2011-12-13T14:20:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you guys. But I am pretty sure 3 year old ballerinas just might be the cutest thing I have ever seen! Chloe had her "recital" last week, It wasn't so much a recital as all the parents were invited to come watch their class to see what they have been learning. The University only does a big recital every 3 years and I think they did it last year, but I was really happy with just watching the class, ALOT less stress on everyone involved. Chloe started out LOVING ballet and would go all by herself no problem. Then one week she was sick and didn't want to go in and had a meltdown so I had to come in with her.....and every week since then. I dont' really mind cause i LOVE watching!

She was SO excited for everyone to come watch her she talked about it for days. We even had quite the turnout, My mom and dad came along with Sam and Landon and Tanner(Him and Landon were working out so they decided to come too), Auntie Suz and Lexie came too It was quite the party!

So here are alot of half blurry pictures of chloe being ridiculously cute!

When they first come in they all come sit on their little circle. Chloe is VERY attentive and does EXACTLY what the teacher says!

This is her little friend Brooklyn, they are best buddies and always stand RIGHT beside each other. Claire is usually right there with them, but she was too shy this day.

Her teacher is Miss Madison. She is awesome! she has the softest, most gentle voice and the kids hang on her every word.

This is them doing a song called "Roly Poly" its adorable.

I tried to get this video to the bottom but it wouldn't work. So this is just them doing "monkeys on the bed" It's one of her favorites. She gets a little lost making sure we are watching her! ha such a little performer. My favorite is how she has to make sure her feet are in 1st position every time they stop. and she was the FIRST one to sit down every time, without being told. Yaaaa she is alot like me, teachers pet in the making! haha

She was always making sure her feet were in 1st position .

Look at that form?? she is going professional for sure!

They were drawing pictures on the floor with their sharpened "pencils." Then everyone got to say what they drew in their picture. Chloe said "a rainbow" just like half of the other kids said! ha ha

I just can't get over how stinking cute the look!! I was so sad when I found out they had to wear blue. But luckily Chloe has the best auntie ever who gave her lexies old outfit which is PERFECT!

Just prancing around the room like ponies. they had to stop in this position "whoah" And you can see how many people were there watching. Loved it!

Just sitting patiently waiting for instructions....all by her lonesome!

and again....perfect form! ha ha love her.

They always get to play with balloons for a few minutes at the end. This is when Ashley starts trying REALLY hard to go out there and play.

Then at the veeery end they do a freestyle dance in which they have to do some "thank you curtseys" They curtsey to thank their teacher and miss lori who plays the piano. Chloe watched her teacher the whole time and copied exactly was she was doing. so cute!

Pretty sure she is the cutest little ballerina that ever lived. But I may be a little biased ;)

We are so proud of our Chloe Ballerina!!

back it up

2011-12-13T09:51:00.000-08:00

Whoops looks like i forgot to post our pumpkin carving adventures. my bad, well just pretend it is two months ago and everyone is excited for halloween, not Christmas. ready? ok great thanks.

All excited to carve a pumpkin. Even tho she has no idea what that means.

Reeg was lucky enough to do most of the work. I'm not exactly into the whole pumpkin carving scene. its gross. and smelly.

Ashley was just trying to get her hands on anything and everything in sight. including spoons, guts, knives. she's not picky, just let her in the middle of it and she is happy as a clam!

CHloe was making the BEST faces! ha ha she shares my aversion to anything dirty and slimey, but she tried and thats what counts right?

Ash wouldn't touch it either, raising a couple of sissy girls over here!

Serious pumpkin carving face.

.....and best picture of the night! ha ha

Love her.

And him.

And proof I was there too....looking wonderful as always. ha

It was a successful night I would say. the pumpkin got carved. The seeds were delicious. And it lasted three days on our steps until it blew over and smashed on the lawn!

It's Beginning...

2011-11-26T15:16:00.000-08:00

To Look alot like Christmas!!

We had our first cold spell and Chloe was SO excited to dress up and go play in the snow. too bad there wasn't enough snow to play in. Oh well she still had fun dressing up and she looked cute too.

Chlo has also been obsessed with everything Christmas especially the lights. she begs regan every day to put them up. But since we haven't had the time to do it...Chloe took it into her own hands.

she's a natural.

So then I thought i better be a nice mom and make her some of her own to decorate her house with!

They turned out pretty cute i thought. and she was so excited.

"are those for MEEEE?? I LOVE them mom!!!"

(said in her most dramatic voice)

So then i thought she needed a Christmas tree for the inside too. I was going to decorate the little balls all cute and Christmassy. But she was in heaven with just the plain circles...so I just went with it.

And not related to Christmas in the slightest I recovered a bouncy chair for my friend who just had a baby girl!

It was actually easier than i thought. I really want to do another one....who wants one??

busy busy

2011-11-23T21:44:00.000-08:00

I have been pretty busy lately, with these two.

Aaaand these two.

Please try to ignore the humongous mess that was previously my kitchen table. It doubles as my sewing room, I would like to say sometimes but lets be honest....its like that all the time.

I started babysitting my friends two little boys and its been great! For the most part they all get along, and its so fun for them to have friends to play with. Its sure busy tho....and messy! Our basement is SOOOO close to being done and it can NOT get done fast enough. 4 kids in my tiny living room sometimes makes me go insane. I am crossing my fingers it will be done before Christmas. cross your fingers for me! thanks you're the best.

We have been doing some crafts. trying to keep the kids entertained in this cold/ridiculously windy weather. we dyed some macaroni and made bracelets the kids loved it!

I really don't know who said these two could get so big. its killing me!!!

And this little chickie has more hair than her big sister....what gives?? poor chloe, everyone keeps telling me her hair will come in....but WHEN??? probably when she is 10 and wont let me do it anymore. figures.

I was meaning to do an 18month post for Smash. but I have been REALLY busy sewing pretty much constantly for Christmas. there is something like 34 days until Christmas. WHAT? can you believe it??

So maybe i will say a few things about my favorite 18 month old?

-Firstly she was 18m almost a month ago and started going to nursery! best. day. ever. She did really good actually. especially cause she has been suuuuper clingy lately.
-She is busy busy. I can't get her to sit still for anything. and she is into EVERYTHING! chloe never got into stuff like this little monster. If i open the pantry door she is RIGHT there pulling stuff off the shelves. If i get up from my sewing machine... BAM she is there climbing up and pulling out all my bobbins. she is quick i tell you. and won't take no for an answer.
-She is obsessed with the bathroom. and everything in it. mainly the toilet of course, but she doesn't shy away from the garbage, under the sink and anything and everything else she can reach.
-she talks. she started making words that you can understand...makes me kind of sad really. she is too big :( she says "KITTY" (always as if its the first one she has ever seen) "puppeee," mommy, dada, nana, papa, "gama"(grandma) "toee" (chloe) "Dowah" (dora) "tina" "nigh nigh" (when she is ready for bed, which she loves!) "some?" "sna?" (snack) or "mo?"(more) when she wants a snack. "tub tub?" (after she is done eating and needs a bath" and her newest and my personal favorite is "BYE" her little voice is just too adorable!
-She loves to eat and eats almost everything! she will clear her ENTIRE plate almost every night and then politely places her fork on the plate and holds it up until one of us takes it from her. I have no idea where she got that from.
-She is clumsy. like really clumsy. her nickname "smash" is really fitting. I am beginning to wonder if it was her lack of crawling making her off balance or something. she is always covered in bruises. I feel so bad but she hardly ever cries about it. she's tough....she has to be with Chloe for a big sister!
-She just started to really love to play on the ipad and can navigate through a few games by herself. her favorite game is "peekaboo barn" It is adorable if you have a baby and an ipad, get it.
-She LOVES books. I don't even bother to put the books away until they are all in bed. she will look at books for hours. love it!
-Her last eye tooth finally came through, and is much happier! she has some seriously big chompers!

Love you smashy boo.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

2011-11-07T19:42:00.000-08:00

Well first of all I would just like to say a big THANK YOU for all the nice comments and everyone who entered the contest!! You are all too nice :)

But we do have a wonderful winner I am so excited about!! drumroll please......#16!!

And the commenter was Karlene who said:

I was really excited that she won, she is an awesome lady who buys alot of my bows!! (and she had the most GORGEOUS little girls to put them on :)

Congratulations Karlene!! I will be messaging you shortly!

And some of you were asking in the comments If you can buy them. Yes of course you can!! right now they are for sale in the thriving metropolis of Raymond AB, At the local Hardware store! They are all freshly stocked up and ready for you to come down and check out! If you are not fortunate enough to live close enough to head to the store, and would like to order some, send me a message and we can work something out!

jennieholt4@gmail.com

JRaeBows Bowlicious giveaway!

2011-11-04T16:52:00.000-07:00

PHEW! I got em done! not as many as I would have liked but I can always make some if I get some time....There are just NOT enough hours in the day! anyways...

I like bows! and I like plain simple bows. I am just not a fan of huge bows with corker ribbons and all the colors of the rainbow, I'm not saying that style isn't cute....it's just not me. So i made like a hundred of these little beauties!! I LOVE them!!

So nice and plain and simple and Adorable!

These are my new bows, I have them on clips and on skinny little bands in all colors and patterns. I hope you like em!!

I still made a bunch of the regulars too....just new ones! with some "oh so hot right now" yellow and grey!! (my fave)

Lots of ruffles, because the more ruffles the better in my opinion!!

Chloe did all her own posing....pretty good i thought :)

I just love how they look super cute on kids and adults or on a neckalce, or anywhere really!

And I also made a bunch of little baby headbands that are so nice and soft so they won't hurt or leave a mark on your band new bundle of joy!

My sister in law was so nice to come over and be my model...isn't she gorgeous??

If you are new to JRaeBows Welcome!! I currently do not have an online store. I have been thinking about starting an etsy shop, but I just don't have the time in my life right now. Hopefully someday! So my bows and headbands can be found At Raymond Pro Hardware. I know, strangest place to sell bows in! ha ha But it works for us! They are right by the till you so can't miss them!

And check out my new packaging!!

I don't know WHY i haven't thought of this sooner. That store is the dustiest store ever, and i was always so sad when the bows would get all sad and dusty. but NO MORE!!

The only downside to the bags is that all my cute ruffles get squished and don't look near as adorable as they do in real life. So if you see a headband that looks a little off, take it out of the bag, cause I promise it IS really cute! ;)

So now you have seen a few that will be at the store waiting for you to come buy them on Monday....which is the soonest I can get out there. so in the meantime make sure you enter the giveaway to enter THIS beauty!!

This one turned out to be my favorite so I will be giving it away! How do you enter??

Simple:

1. Leave me a comment telling me your favorite of the ones I have shown!

2. post about the giveaway on Facebook or your blog and come back and leave a SEPARATE comment telling me you did so!

See super easy! make sure you leave you EMAIL address in your comment so I can get ahold of you! The contest will end Monday night. And if there are any bows you want or want to place a custom order, email me at jenniholt4@gmail.com

Thanks so much and GOOD LUCK!!

Happy Halloween Strawberry style.

2011-10-31T22:47:00.000-07:00

Everyone know who these two cuties are?? well obviously the majority of people do not have little girls who watch Strawberry Shortcake ALL.THE.TIME. Well everyone knew who CHloe was but nobody recognized my cute little smashy kitty.

For those of you wondering She is "Custard" Strawberry's cute little polka dot kitty!

I was pretty excited about Ashley's Costume. After I decided to have Chloe be strawberry I wanted Ash to match, and my wonderful sister in law let me cut up Lexie's poodle costume from a few halloween's ago that looked a little something like this:

It wasn't exactly like this...but you get the picture. giant dog head. not too attractive. (no offense suz)

But i love the way it turned out. And yes those polka dots were hand sewn on. nbd.

And her little tail was just so adorable swingin around as she ran around. She totally learned how to say "tick er teet" tonight. aaaaand it was probably the cutest thing ever. She kept looking in the mirror all surprised "KITTY!!" ha ha

I was all set to have Chlo be a princess, easy peasy, pick one out of your dress up box! Then one day chloe was watching cartoons and turns to me and says " I LOOOOOVE Strawberry Shortcake!" ha ha so of course we had to get her one. Luckily my awesome sister in law has the best friends who had this adorable costume. Chloe has seriously LIVED in this costume since we got it last week. The girl who we borrowed it from was so happy Chloe liked it so much she sold it to us! yay! now we can be strawberry any time!!

Chloe seriously LOVED trick or treating this year. After every house she would say "I wanna do a diffrint one!" It was hilarious. We did two culdesacs over by my parents house with cam and lexie. and then hit a few family houses. I think she would have done alot more but we didn't start until after 7 so it was getting pretty late. and like half of the houses ran out of candy right before we got there! Wally world must be the trick or treating hot spot! We got in the car and she sighs "I just love halloween!"

She looked pretty hilarious with all that hair. It Really made me wish she had long hair to play with. She hated it tho, I had to bribe her to wear it, but she was a trooper and wore it all night! And she loved her freckles she thought those were pretty darn cool!

Then we headed down to the Firehall for my dad's Birthday bash. They always have a party down there on halloween, too bad my parents had to be in Calgary this week :( But it was alot of fun, good burgers and Chloe got to drive the fire truck. I wish I would have video'd her face when papa turned on the lights! ha ha it was ridiculous!

The cute trick or treaters Visiting Auntie Chelle at the hospital.

And some other cute trick or treaters at gma Dixie's. We had to have halloween at my moms a day early cause they were gonna miss it. the boys looked so cute, but these were not their REAL costumes. you will have to go check out my other SIL's blog and see their other ones.....they were SO cute!!

behind.

2011-10-16T12:30:00.000-07:00

Yes I am behind. I am behind in soooo many things. I am behind in laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping (meaning we have milk and bread and nothing else) I am behind in blogging (As always) and i am waaaaay behind in keeping my promise of having my new line of bows finished soon. Gaaaaah I am sorry.

It has been one of the worst weeks ever. It all started last week when one of the little boys I babysit came to my house sick. It was fine, i knew this was bound to happen, kids get other kids sick, no biggie. But it has been a biggie. Chloe started last week and it has been over a week of the whiniest, loudest, most headache inducing non stop crying i have ever experienced....Times FOUR. ok most of it was from Chloe but the other 3 kids did not help seeing as they were sick too. It was a loooooong week. So to say the least my bow making was put on hold...and now I am sick....and laying on the couch feeling guilty for not getting my butt over to my sewing machine. but you will all forgive me right? great thanks you guys are the best!! I promise to do my best to get them done as soon as I can....it will just be longer than i thought.

I will try and get caught up a little in one area, and blog some pics from the last day we got to spend at the lake!

It was a GORGEOUS day full of fun and sun and lots of MUD!!

We dug some big holes in the mud with our feet and the kids had a blast playing in them!

And how sweet it is THIS?? I almost never put pictures in black and white but I really liked how sweet it made them look!

Thanks for that.

2011-10-11T14:28:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend!! I know i DID. My favorite person came home to play, TINA!!! ...and we had a slumber party!! well sorta...we both fell asleep 5 minutes into our movie. but it was still fun.

The girls were so excited to see Tina and Al, even ash didn't play shy. Chloe woke up this morning asking for Tina to blow her a kiss. she wants to go to Tina's house "far far away" And maybe someday we will.

We also go together one day and snapped a few family pictures at the riverbottom.

We had alot of fun. I am so THANKful for my wonderful photographer and the best brother in Law anyone could ask for :)

And I don't think I could ever ask for better parents. So Thankful I get to have these ones!!

Isn't my mom stylish?? wish I could be as cute as her!

I am Thankful every day that I get to have these little munchins in my life!

So Thankful That I get to be their mom.

And that they have such a great dad who loves them more than anything!

Pretty Thankful for this guy too. Love him ;)

Ash was being super uncooperative by this point so we had to take what we could get.

Aren't we just the cutest?? man why can't I be photogenic like those two?

littls Sass-afrass.

We didn't get any of ash alone....but i got this cute one of her with moi.

Sorry for All the sappy Thanksgiving comments. But I AM so thankful for everything in my life. I have the best family and in laws and couldn't ask for anything! (except for Al to be done med school so Tina can be closer) I am thankful for great friends who are there for me when I need them, even when I am not the best friend in return. I am so thankful for the gospel all the ways it blesses my life. I am so thankful for my dishwasher and washing machine. (seriously they are the best) And Thank the heavens for Chocolate I would be lost without you. (but probably much skinnier) And Thanks for reading my long boring Thanksgiving post. Even tho I am sure you just looked at the pictures! ;)

And I will leave you with my favorite one. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Bows?

2011-10-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

Yes i know you thought my bow "business" career was over. I know I haven't really been the best crafter and bow maker this year, I have had other things I have been making. (ahem felt playhouse) But I have now decided to pick up my socks and get making an enormous amount of bows/headbands that I am trying to have ready ASAP.

I am really excited about my new "line" I am making with a bunch of new designs and fun headbands and whatnot. They are gonna be cute....real cute! and I even took a few to the store yesterday along with some cute orange/black bows for HALLOWEEN!!! So if you are in need make sure you go pick some up!! also There was some old stock that had been there for a while and I put it ALL on clearance!! They are super cheap and wanting to get off the rack and come to YOUR house!!

Of course I forgot to take any pictures of the new ones I dropped off, but I will try to get some soon....But here is a cute one of my girls in some of my favorite ruffle headbands! Stay tuned for pics and bows, and of course a great Giveaway!!!

Chloe's 3rd Birthday!

2011-09-20T20:29:00.000-07:00

So here you go, I know you have been dying to see these pictures. (Tina) there are a million so brace yourself!

So first thing in the morning we let her open our presents from us. she got this FAbulous Cinderella dress to wear to her party and she LOVED it. she wore it ALL day and most of the days since!

Then she opened her playhouse....which was less than climactic. ha ha she opened it and said "Oh my house!" and started playing with it. Not much fanfare! but she has been really excited whenever someone comes over to see it....and plays in in constantly so I guess that makes up for the lame reaction!

And as always I am way too lazy to move my pictures where I would actually like them in the post....does anyone else hate moving around their pictures?? why can't they make it easier?? - moving on.

I wasn't going to have a "friends" party for chloe until she was older cause they are so much work/stress. But then she was invited to Kylie and Mckenna's birthday parties this past year and has talked about HER party non stop ever since....so I couldn't NOT do it right?? So being the wonderful mother that I am, we had the funnest princess party ever (well ever at our house)

These were our rice krispie "wands" me and chlo mo made for everyone to put in their treat bags. oh and do you love my cookie jar?? ya me too! :)

THE CAKE!!

I was so happy with how it turned out. I had bought these tiered cake pans from a garage sale and wanted to try them out. I loved this cake and so i made my own little (well big) version. I sort of wish that I would have made the swirls a little bigger and all my cakes fell...but we worked it out. Thank heavens Regan was around to help me with the girls and clean the house so we could get everything done!

The girls' treat bags with some flower hair clips I made.

They got to bling up some crowns....

...and of course I didn't take any pictures of how cute they were after...but they were. trust me!

We had a little snack.

Loved Ash surrounded by pink ruffles! I love having girls :)

There were some rambunctious rounds of "ring around the rosy"

It got a little out of control so we decided to open presents.

It was sort of a gong show...but she was so excited about all her wonderful presents! Thank you to all the moms for the presents! they were all so thoughtful and I really appreciate it!

Time for CAKE!!

Blowing out the candles. It took about 6 tries...but she got it!

The only thing i am SO MAD about was that I never got all the girls together for a picture in their dresses. Next time I think Pam needs to come and take pictures for me! ;)

But these are all the lovely little girls who came to celebrate!

Me and my (gulp) 3 year old!!

was it really 3 years ago that I changed my life forever?? (cheesy i know) but its true. I can't imagine my life without this little ball of attitude!

Her favorite present...(besides the house of course) is her big girl bike!! she HAD to ride it right away so we just tied up her princess dress as not to get it caught in the chain....oh so stylish.

We blew out candles for a 2nd time for the rest of the family who came about an hour after the kids left.

She got this mickey mouse pen that she was obsessed with.

This was just too presh. Ash loves Chloes new book we have read it a zillion times...no exaggeration.

She loved her stamps and stamped them until they were void of ink. and check out her adorable doll/backpack carrier!! so cute!!

aaaand randomly back to the beginning of the party....we played pin the crown on the princess.

Chloe at the end of a VERY long and wonderful day. she is still HAPPY! even without a nap!

she was wearing her new ballet costume, carrying her doll in one hand, and her puppy and princess purse in the other wearing her new backpack! I think the party was a HIT!

Happy Birthday to my sweet sweet girl!!

I'm so glad when daddy comes home!

2011-09-18T17:31:00.000-07:00

Well we had a fabulous weekend with Chloe's birthday party and all. You would think I would post about it first. but I am not going to. soooorrry Tina! but I promise to do it very soon!! I just found all these cute random pictures and wanted to post them before I forgot.

"Look I just like Nana!" (is what she said, not me! ha ha)

I had to document her hair getting longer. check out that curly little pig tail....its growing like Crazy!! ha ha ha I can pretend tho right?

Ash's new Van's. seriously cutest things ever. chloe never got to wear them with her chubby feet, I was pretty upset about it...hooray for sisters!!

Regan forced me to Can peaches and pears this year. Dont they look yummy?? yaaa they are ;) And thank heavens for my MIL who let us do them at her house and then did most of the work! ha ha she's the best!! I was just going to wing it....I'm sure they would've turned out right??

This kid kills me. Her love of animals stuffed and real is amazing. Like who's kid is she?? Anyone who knows me can attest for my deep dislike for animals close up. Take me to the zoo anytime, but don't make me pet your dog. yuck.

And a huge bag of yummy cereal for $3??? YES please!!

Random dance party broke out at Wally's beach. Britts got the moves!!

Regan's parents bought a couple of seadoos this summer. We only got to go on them once this year and it was the last hot day of the summer and it was SO FUN!!!

Chloe loved it! "I go FAST and then i go slow"

This series of pictures are the best. The girls get SO FREAKING excited when Regan comes home. this is them after they went RUNNING out to the deck when they heard his truck pull up.

They are both yelling "Daddeeeee!!"

And ya thats a bed frame that we are currently using as a baby gate. It works great, minus that one time Ashley pulled it over on top of her. and note the monkey....she ALWAYS has a stuffed animal with her!

Love it!!

And i was just in love with her outfit this day for some reason. I love this age. she is so funny ALL the time. and today all the sudden is in love with Salad?? She definitely didn't get that from me! she was just munchin it down "some? some??"

And just a couple of my new favorite pictures. they LOVE their dad!

Chloe's favorite book. we always have to get a "Charlie and Lola" book out when we go to the Library and this one we read pretty much EVERY night. Along with "I love you Forever"

This little Lady started Ballet on Friday. I am pretty sure I was way more nervous than she was...I totally couldn't sleep! ha ha I couldn't pick a favorite picture so you get two...isn't she adorable?? I was sad that she has to wear blue, when I picture a little ballerina they are head to toe pink right? But luckily Lexie took classes from the University when she was Chloe's size so we were lucky enough to borrow her outfit!! of course she was the cutest one there!! :)

Her Teacher is Miss Madison and Chloe didn't even hesitate she loved it. They supposed to be walking to the circle in the middle of the room on their tippy toes and Chloe was walking so gracefully on her heels and turns around and says "look at me mom!!" ha ha love her.

And just a messy Smash helping me make Chloe's birthday cake....more on that to come!

Waterton '11

2011-09-15T11:43:00.000-07:00

We have been trying to help Ashley find her belly button...with no luck thus far. she just points to any random place on her body and laughs. So while discussing them in the tub this morning it went a little like this.
chloe: I have a belly button.
me. yup you sure do.
C: daddy does too. but not gramma
me: why not grandma?
C: cause she went to the castle and the dragon stole it. she has to get dora to help her find it.
me: (laughing my butt off) well what if swiper gets it?
C: no mom. swiper has his OWN belly button. (duh mom)

She makes me laugh. Then we are getting ready this morning and she comes in the bathroom and says "I would like to go to Olives new house your highness" (complete with bow) ha ha odd.

Anyway back to the point of this post. still trying to get caught up on summer. That will happen when you don't blog for 2 months. Anywho we really like waterton. like really REALLY! it's the best. and while we didn't get any hiking in this year (sorry reeg) we were still able to go up and play a few times. We were also SOOO lucky and got the best days EVER they were so hot and no wind!! anyone who has been to waterton knows how awesome and rare that is! but we got it both times! i think we went one other time but i forgot my camera....i can't remember. I am getting senile in my old age. anyway here are a bunch of random pictures in a random order cause I don't feel like dragging them around for an hour.

These two pics down below...left one is Ash at 16 months. and the other is chloe at about 9 months. They have the same sandals on and Ashley had that same hat on earlier in the day. aaaand that swimsuit still fits Ashley. my kids are complete opposites.

She was loving the water. even tho it was glacier fresh. (freezing cold for those of you who don't live near glaciers) love it when its hot enough to want to go in!!

We took out papa's boat one day the girls loved it and I even got to drive since I recently acquired my boat license. whats up now??!!?!

Sure hope I look this good when I'm a grandma.

What the Bruce Willis?? oh wait that's just steve! ;)

We were on there all day, lots of pictures. My dad's sock blew out of the boat at one point and we couldn't find it. Chloe has been concerned about it ever since, and talks about it frequently!

She will love me for this one someday!

and We threw rocks in the lake cause its fun!

This one kills me, really giving it her all!

Daddy threw in a BIG rock. she was excited!

And ash was being a doll as usual just throwing rocks and eatin dirt.

She was as shocked as chloe at dad's rock throwing abilities.

Love this picture. and now i remember we did come one time when it was really windy, with Regan's family at the holt reunion. see 2 out of 3 times we got gorgeous weather....its a record.

and another boat pic thrown in there. cause I love this little munchin.

The one picture i got of the scenery before my camera died. It was fun to see Waterton from the lake instead of just the beach. SO pretty...we should go again before it gets cold. Wanna come?

Then we had a Brown family reunion that was really fun. We don't get together with this side of the family much so It was so nice to see them! especially Carole and Kim and the kids. We miss them so much...once every two years just isn't cutting it!! Hopefully we will get to go to bear lake again soon and see everybody.

Kor is really funny apparently.

Ash just sitting in her own little corner of the park eating some wood chips.

A little cold on the bum ash?? ha ha

cousins chillin on the "beach"

good thing we bought our bikes. they were riding them through the spray park, SO fun!

Summer Photo Dump Part 2

2011-09-12T14:56:00.000-07:00

Aaaaand the rest of our pictures from the summer?? here they are for your viewing pleasure!

We Love this park by the probe school cause it has the rubber mat stuff on the ground. This stuff is the bomb.com my kids are not disgustingly dirty when we leave and ashley can actually get around all by herself.. win-win! I am in love with these pink little outfits i got for the girls from the superstore for $4! love that store (for clothes....not much for anything else...but thats just me. ;)

This little lady learned how to climb stairs!! ya i know its late...or is it? I haven't the slightest. But since we don't have our basement finished Ash has hardly been on the stairs in her life. But a week or two ago she finally firgured it out and now goes up and down like a pro!

side note: As I am sure I have mentioned before Ashley has the TINIEST little feet. and I just have to point out her 0-6 month sandals she is wearing that are just FALLING off her feet?? ya seriously hilarious. We got them for Chloe at her baby shower and she never got to wear them cause her feet were ginormous. (well not really just compared to Ash)

Just loved this one I took of Smash with my phone. This was the park over by the hospital...I forget the name. We went with Van, Boston, and Baker....Thanks again to Pam for inviting us!

The girls just having a snack in their play house I made with chloe one day out of a random box i had in the back of my truck. They played in this thing for HOURS a day, until it was smashed beyond recognition. Yes Chloe sometimes wears pants, just not this day.

Chloe all dressed up to go "shopping" she was walking around the house in her heels "buying" stuff and putting it in bags. I have taught her well. :)

We had lots of watermelon picnics on our GRASS!!! yup thats my backyard!! It has been so much fun to be able to play back there, even if there are a bajillion weeds.

My sweet little girl trying to share with daddy!

We play in this pool all. the. time. LOVE it. best $3 I ever spent! I heart garage sales!!

Chloe was using this tube as a hula hoop. She can really shake it when she wants to...and she went all out. Wish i would have got it on video!

This girl loves to be outside too. she is a crazy water baby just like her sister. One thing I never want my kids to be is scared of water. I think we have done pretty good. Chloe loves swimming and even went off the diving board a bunch of times out in raymond!

Upside down!! she does this all the time. so cute! I remember chloe doing the exact same thing...I wonder where they got it from? cause it certainly wasn't from me doing yoga or anything of the sort! ha

Ash discovering her love affair with ribs.

Ha I just loved her face in this one she was concentrating SOOOO hard.

This kid loves shoes. like really. First thing she does after she gets up (after a snuggle with me of course) is head over and take all of my shoes off the shelf and try to put them on for at least a half an hour. Its the best. SHE's the best!!

Check out her HAIR! love it. I totally have to do it every day or it looks a little crazy....but SO happy that she has some for me to do!! I think she may just pass chloe in the hair department....and soon!

Favorite Picture of the month!!

Ash is hard to get smile in pictures but I have just discovered that if you fake sneeze she will laugh and laugh!! Perfect for taking pictures!

These cute little tank tops are from superstore for like $2 but really plain so i added a little bow....so cute right? they are my favorites now!

And probably my favorite garage sale item of the summer....$3 for this baby!! we have been having SO much fun with it!!!

And there you go most of our pictures from the summer. sorry it was so long! and THANK YOU so SO much for all the nice comments on my playhouse! you are all way too kind!! We are having chloe's party this saturday and are SO SO excited to give it to her!!

Feltacular.

2011-09-01T15:28:00.000-07:00

Well Folks, Its a good day. I am SUPER happy to announce that i have FINALLY finished Chloes birthday present!! I hummed and hawed over what to get her, and i really love giving the girls something i made them, that will (hopefully) last for a really long time and be sentimental and all that. I have seen these around the blogosphere and thought they would be WAY too much work and was even considering buying one... I am so glad i didn't. And after weeks of drowning in a huge pile of felt....I am thrilled with how it turned out and I just hope Chloe will love it as much as I do.....cause seriously, I wish I was 3 so I could play too :)

So without further Ado....`The cutest little Felt house on the block.

I know I know, you love it right?? ha ha well It's ok if you don't, just as long as my little girl does!

This is the front of the house (obviously) complete with flowers that come out and are fun and bendy.

If you are lucky enough to be invited inside....

You just might have a spot of tea....

Or celebrate some lucky someone's birthday!

This little cake stand might be my favorite piece of the whole house! :)

Oh and in case you were wondering the whole thing is just a big slip cover over the quilt frame I got from my mother in law.

I have seen many of the felt houses that are made to fit over a folding card table or even just a kitchen table....but I already had this laying around so it was perfect. And i can't take any credit for the idea I am a huge copier and got it from this talented lady.

Ok and back to the house:

Chloe loves her babies so of course we had to have a little nursery for her to take care of them. but don't look too closely, these panels on the inside of the house were an afterthought so sewing them on was a PAIN....and it was very sloppily sewn. But totally worth it! The "dresser" on the side is just some pockets to store all the baby's bottles and clothes or whatever a young mother might need ;)

And back outside I think I hear the mailman....

Delivering some love notes from the cute boy down the street ;)

And probably the cutest kitty I have ever seen.

(If I do say so myself) My favorite kind of pet....easy to clean up after, cheap to feed....and very loveable!

In the back "yard" we have a lush garden ready for harvest. With a big red basket to put everything in, and I think I will even make some oranges and lemons to give the tree some variety. and maybe some different vegetables if I am feeling ambitious.

And the garden wouldn't be complete without a watering can...and the most labor intensive corn on the cob on the planet!

And after your garden is all picked and ready to eat....you can cook it on you grill!! cause who doesn't love grilled veggies??

I made the spatula to cook with but decided to put the ribbon on it so I don't have to look for it every 5 minutes.

And this little guy lives in the apple tree just awaiting kisses and snuggles from smashley!!

And THERE you have it!! It was alot....and i mean ALOT of work. But I seriously love it. and no I won't make you one...ha ha ;)

Summer Photo Dump

2011-08-31T21:28:00.000-07:00

I am seriously almost in tears with the rainy, cold weather we are having this week. Summer is over.....wtf??? I was really hoping September would bring me some more hot days to laze around in....I am still crossing my fingers tho. But the short summer we have had, has been awesome. And since I pretty much haven't blogged since it started here are all. yes ALL of my photos from summer. its a long one....i think i will break it up into 2 posts for you... Tina.

We hit a lot of playgrounds this summer, Henderson being a fave with the rubber ground for Ash to run around on. Chloe and her BFF Lincoln and Carson.

They must have played really hard cause they were both snoozing on the swing! ha ha

Ash loves the park too. She is awesome, If there is a dog at the park...she will follow it. she is OBSESSED with dogs. so weird cause I am pretty much the polar opposite. Honestly her first word after "mommy" and "daddy" was "PUPPEEE!" she says it ridiculously cute too. and not just dogs are puppees, any stuffed animal gets the "puppeeeeee" squeal. So funny cause chloe was never into stuffed animals but ash pretty much always has one in her hand hugging and kissing it. she's cute.

She's cute too.

My mom got these cutest hoodies at Target for the girls aren't they adorable??

We finally got a new Library card and ventured over to the new library across the road. Chloe loves it she tries to play on the "puter" the second we get there. but i can't help her play and chase Ash around at the same time. Ashley seem to think its her job to de-shelve every book within reach so our visits are usually pretty short.

And we have been eating my favorite meal -fruit drenched in cream and sugar. Mmmmm

We have been riding alot of bikes. Chloe refuses to attempt to ride her Strider, so its a good thing we borrowed this trike from Cam....she LOVES it!!

"Cool Dude"

I love my (huge) baby girl!!

Pretty much the cutest princesses around. WE have been playing with Olive on a regular basis. Her mom Allison is the best, and the girls have so much fun together, I wish they could live in our backyard forever!!

We Hit up the Whoop Up parade with Britty and Suz. Chloe was less than thrilled....terrified is more accurate. Are anyone else's kids afraid of parades?? I mean sure the mascots are a little creepy....but Chloe was scared of EVERYTHING!!

She seriously just sat there biting her nails the whole time (a really annoying new habit) And Ash was loving it, pointing at everything, there were lots of puppies so she was in heaven!

Just a picture of the cutest bum alive.

Learning the art of Laying out. I think she has it down.

We went to the spray park a few times...not nearly enough. Ash loved it, chloe sort of liked it. ha ha

LOVE!

Chloe was building a town out of her books. I love how much her imagination has grown...I love to just watch her play when she thinks I am not looking, I usually have to excuse myself before I bust out laughing!

Finished cleaning the kitchen and found this. some snacks and the ipad, doesn't get much better than that!!

I crave how much they are starting to play together. I don't have a toddler and a baby anymore. I have two kids....who are big :( i can't even stand how much i love them.

hope you enjoyed this photo dump. stay tuned for part two very soon. And I am SO CLOSE to finishing chloe's birthday present...your really not gonna want to miss that one!!

Besties

2011-07-15T15:03:00.000-07:00

This is Olive. Olive is our backyard neighbor. She is pretty much the cutest little girl, and SO sweet! Every day without fail If chloe steps foot on the deck and olive is on her deck there is a lot of yelling....

"HI CHLOE!!"

(chloe turns to me "MOM its my Best Friend OLIVE!!")

"HI OLIVE!!!"

"CAN YOU COME PLAY?"

which then usually results in a fun afternoon of them playing for hours at one house or the other. It has been pretty much a little piece of heaven. They play SOOOO good together. they NEVER fight and will play for hours without needing anything.

We were invited to go to Park Lake the other day with them and the kids had so much fun in the green sludge we like to call water. Here are just a few cute pics from the day. It was gorgeous and we only stayed for a few hours. So great to live nice and close it was kind of nice not to have to spend the whole day stuck there.

yesterday.

2011-07-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

That's right. you are seeing the cutest piggie tails alive. I have no idea why I haven't tried doing these before. Probably because of her ridiculous hatred of having her hair/head touched. So i have to be super quick and sneaky getting them in. But it was SO worth it!!

After getting their jammies on the other day we were reading stories and stuff and Ash got up, walked over and grabbed her blanky and walked into her room. "ready for bed mom!" oh man I love this kid.

WE hit up the pool in raymond yesterday, always a good time. It wasn't super hot and half of the town was out at girls camp so it wasn't even busy!

Smash was hilarious. just giggling and splashing the whole time she LOVES the water! And they both loved the waterslide we went 5 million times. Chlo even went once by herself but she fell over round the corner and came out upside down so that didn't happen again.

This is just Ash in the pharmacy having the best day of her life! she LOVES anything soft and fuzzy, and they have stuffies for sale on like every corner of the store! yaaa she was lovin it.

July 1st. 2011

2011-07-06T21:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Canada Day to all!

Love smashy.

Check out that crazy hair!! where is this kids mother?

Oh there she is...with the bestest gramma ever!

The parade was off the hook?? maybe?? ok its pretty lame. but Ash thought it was the cat's meow!

Chloe on the other hand was a big chicken as per usual and wouldn't leave my lap. not even to get candy. Maybe next year she will like it??

Our cute little fam jam, partyin it up! July 1st was great. lots of family and food which everybody loves. especially ME!!

Then on Saturday guess who ran 10k?? thats right WE DID!!! BOOYA!

This handsome devil was the best husband ever and ran my ridiculously slow pace the entire way!

It was really fun...ok maybe fun isn't the right word. But it is fun now that it's over! ha ha it was long. very long. the longest I have done this year was 8k so those last two were seriously the devil. but we perservered and I came in at 1:17. pretty good considering my goal was 2 hours! (I figure make your goal real big and you will always beat it :)

All the wonderful runners. good work errbody!

After some delicious mass produced pancakes and sausage (my personal fave) we went to pick up the girlies at Nana's house and took a little cat nap while we were there. Big thanks to Nana for watching them for us so we could run!!

Then we headed over to my parent's house for some fun in the pool!

Everyone had a blast! don't you love that pink ruffle bum??

chloe showin off her cute beach hat and her supermodel moves.

Ash thinks she can stand up wherever she wants now all by herself.

my main squeeze cookin up some grub!

Ok this was hilarious. she was like half asleep here just power lounging for ever!

And the entertainment isn't only outside. Alan's audience was captivated.

Hooray for SUMMER!!!

Baditude.

2011-07-06T16:24:00.000-07:00

That's right i am Bad-A.

June pics

2011-07-06T16:19:00.000-07:00

Wow i really didn't think much has been going on with us, but then i uploaded my camera and there was like 300 pictures....of what? you might ask. well i shall show you.

Chloe finished her class at the YMCA. and is now officially a "tumbling tiger." We have been going once a week since forever and on the last day they got to play in the bouncy castle. It was great! Chloe loved it, but is sad her class is over.

It was a really fun class where they learned a few different things, such as

-jumping (chloe really had a hard time with this...who knew it was so hard??)

-walking backwards and through pylons (pretty sure she would have failed this one)

-lots of listening and waiting your turn (this got progressively better i would say)

- hockey (her worst, instead of participating she would put herself in time out)

-lots of tumbling and obstacle courses. (she did like these but got really flustered if there was someone too close behind her)

- games like red light green light, what time is it mr. wolf that sort of thing, (these and stretching or just mindless running around were probably her favorite)

MY worst part of it?? one day they got out the rings and had the kids hang on them and Lindsay (the instructor) wanted the moms to put them on. but i could NOT for the life of me lift chloe over my head. I mean she is pretty solid, add on my less than nothing muscle on my arms and yaaaaa it was a pretty sad sight. suuuper embarassing! good thing one of the other moms was like a gymnastics instructor and took over for all of us weeklings.

The best thing about the last day was I got to bring Ashley with me instead of leaving her screaming bloody murder for an hour in the daycare. I swear she is the best easiest baby in the world but you take her into daycare for 5 minutes and it is the saddest thing you have EVER seen. she hates it. i mean REALLY HATES it! I am not sure if it the people, or what, but I am not looking forward to going back to the gym and leaving her in there.

here is a clip i took of her one day on my phone. note how she refuses to weave through the pylons?? told ya...fail.

ASh is a messy messy eater. but if she is lucky and is covered in something that will get all over the bath she gets a hose off in the sink!

Which she kinda likes :)

Also she hates. and i mean HATES getting her hair done. see that giant tear on her cheek? ya these pigtails were a torture to get in.

but totally worth it right??

She is walking like a pro now and even pulling herself up on things (some things) but if she falls over onto her back?? just rolls back and forth like a turtle until someone comes and rescues her. and she is still walking with her arms up in the air...its pretty darn cute!

Very 1st Ice cream cone deliciousness!

Me and chloe got some matching sandals. I like mine but i think they have a few TOO many ruffles. i think i might take some of them off....what do you think??

I never take sleeping pictures of my kids cause they always wake up when i do. But i was lucky enough that this time she didn't cause that is just perfection if you ask me!

Father's day Fishing

2011-07-06T15:28:00.000-07:00

All the men were getting together to go fishing for father's day so we decided to take the girls along, good thing too cause chloe had a blast!

Regan just setting up her pink princess fishing rod....doesn't get much better than that!

Ashley just wants to be a big girl and walk by herself. good thing Auntie Sam was there to help her!

Chloe was seriously hard core. She took her fishing VERY seriously!!

The love birds!

How cute is that?? ha ha Brady is such a sweetheart!

Chlo and britty fished off this rock forever. Chloe would just dump her rod in and pull up the plastic fish....she was the only person who caught anything all day!

Is that Robert De Niro??

2011-06-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to give a shout out to a couple of my favorite fathers out there!!

I seriously could not ask for a better dad for my girls. He loves them a ridiculous amount and it really shows! I know he would do absolutely anything for them, and I hope they know that too.

He is always willing to "babysit" them for me when I want to go out with the girls or go running. He LOVES to spend time with them, and who wouldn't they are pretty cute! ha ha

There is nothing better than watching the girl's faces when they see dad walk through the door at the end of the day...it's pure bliss.

We did this really fun question and answer thing in primary yesterday with the kids and I thought I should see what Chloe thought her dad liked. SO i asked her a few questions. here are her cute answers...She might be a little small for this. she was pretty confused with most of the questions....but it was still cute!

How old is dad? six

what is dad’s name? reedan

what is dad’s favorite color? blue

what is dad’s favorite food? french fries

what is your favorite thing to do with dad? paint

what does dad do at work? go swimming

why do you love your dad? cause i love my dad

why does daddy love you? cause he loves me

She gave me the weirdest most confused look on those last two...like duh. he loves me cause he LOVES me. ha ha she is adorable!

Thanks for being such a great dad. Love you hunny!

And then there is my AMAZING daddy-O.

Bet you didn't know he was a twin did ya??

Ok maybe not the best picture to compare them, but seriously they look like brudders.

Steve has got to be the best guy I know hands down. He has taught me so much about being a good person and working hard (though you probably wouldn't have guess that I knew that) He is just a genuinely wonderful person and I am sure everyone knows it. He is always going out of his way to help people and always does the right thing. We always call him the "safety dad" cause he always follows the rules and never breaks em. He is always honest and is very wise....I always think of the wise owl from Mr. dressup when I think of my dad. I would follow his advice any day, he always knows what to do. He is very quiet and hilarious at the same time. We love him so so much!

He is also a great gandpa, all his grandkids love him so much! You are the best papa steve!! LOVE you! Happy FAthers day!

6 years.

2011-06-16T11:22:00.000-07:00

Yup its been 6 years since I married this stud muffin. And it's been grand. I mean we have had our ups and downs of course, who hasn't? But I wouldn't trade it for anything! I LOVE YOU REGAN!

Happy Anniversary to us!!

You gotta love our scanned in old pics eh? I have been forever sad that I lost the cd with all my pictures on it. :( maybe someday when I am that skinny we could get the dress on and take some more pics...BA HA HA I am hilarious.

geez louise.

2011-06-15T15:24:00.000-07:00

I have been having neck pain, since i don't know....forever? but It comes and goes and I just kind of live with it. I have changed my pillow numerous times to try and help, but it was never bad enough i thought i needed to see someone about it really. But since I have been running it has been EXCRUCIATING! uggh i haven't been able to look behind me for days (better not be behind me when I back my truck up!) So my sister finally convinced me to go to a chiropractor. We are covered so I figured it couldn't hurt. He told me I was in rough shape and probably shouldn't be driving! ha ha (like i said...watch out!) so he sent me for an x ray yesterday and today i went back to him, where he showed me my x-ray. it looked a little like this:

The picture on the left is a normal neck "curvature" or so they call it. and the picture on the right is my perfectly straight piece of crap spine. I have an abnormal cervical (neck) curve, which could be caused from lots of things but I am sure it is due to my extremely bad posture. So the doc told me that cause I have no curve to my neck it is just putting pressure on all my vertebrae and disks and blah blah big words i didn't understand. so I came home and looked it up, and Kyphosis they call it is also called the "hunchback" disease. aaaaawesome. so what your telling me is if I don't fix it I am going to start looking like this guy??

Well I guess it could be worse, at least he had a girlfriend right?

run fat girl run

2011-06-11T20:13:00.000-07:00

Phew i did it! my first 8k ever!

It was a really great run, the weather was awesome, my legs didn't hurt, I didn't die. good times all around. I may not be able to walk NOW but thats what happens right? I seriously don't know what is wrong but the top of my left foot hates me. Every time i run i can't walk for a day after....so weird. and this time was the worst of all (I blame the westside hill of death) But it was so worth it. I think. ha ha but really it was a great run and i aaalmost ran the whole thing, until i got to the aforementioned hill. It was killer, to say the least. I NEVER run hills and my hips weren't happy about it. BUT i finished and thats what counts right??

Bring on the 10k!

Me and my favorite ladies in the land! Seriously they are the best. we even went garage sale-ing after the run and it was awesome! (and i DO own another tank top other than this one i swear! if SOMEONE would just do that laundry once in a while...jeesh!)

All of the running buddies we could find! i think we are missing a couple. Sure wish i would have put on my jacket for these pictures, but i am sure you all love a little cleave right? ha ha I was a little tired, I am always the LAST one to be done.

I think we are missing a daughter in there....Sam?? ahem.

And my west side running buddy! she killed me by like 20 minutes!!

Aaaaand in case you were wanting a little more than just lame pictures of sweaty ladies who just ran their butts off. Here are some cute pics of the kids from the park the other day!

Me and my girls. love them!

Ash sitting in the rocks just WISHING she could walk so she could go play....someday smash.

Chloe was being a monkey. ooh ooh aah aahh!

Runnin fool

2011-06-06T21:44:00.000-07:00

So I don't think I talk about myself much on this blog. which is weird since it is MY blog. but really besides my IUD incident I don't really feel like I do anything of interest. my life is pretty darn boring actually. I am pretty sure nobody wants to hear about how I sit on my butt all day and play with my kids, feed and bathe them, clean up on occasion. gets pretty monotonous.

I was going to the gym way back when, but then my realiable gym buddy had to get herself knocked up and I quit going. So then I decided I better do SOMETHING. so I joined the "learn to run" group at Runnersoul. Which i have probably done twice before and never gotten to the end. once after I had Chloe (i DID do a 10k after that one) and last fall i tried to do it again but my hips had another idea. so this time i was determined to finish. and i did! 3 weeks early! ha ha

If you don't know what the learn to run club is here is the lowdown. we run a 5k every week, we started with 1 min running and a 5 min walk. then you up your running and decrease your walking every week. so eventually you run the whole thing! I was doing pretty good and we were up to running 5 minutes and walking 2 minutes. but it was HARD. my legs were always just KILLING me. and then my mom made me sign up very last minute to do the 5k with them in calgary so i did! and I did awesome. ha I am not going to lie it was my best run/race i have ever done! I ran the ENTIRE thing without stopping. now i know all you runners might think that is peanuts but i was only up to FIVE minutes in my group....so it was a huge deal for me. And it just seemed like something clicked, like i figured out how to keep pace which is WAY easier than running and then stopping to walk all the time. and I have felt great in all my runs since and have hardly had to walk! yay for me! ( I am allowed to brag right?)

Anyway i really like running all the sudden, so lets hope we can keep it up and lose some of this baby weight shall we? sounds good to me. and as always here are some pics from the lovely event.

Team Steve with our awesome medals!

Dix and teen ran the half, lanny, pam and derick ran the 10k and me and shelley ran the 5.

I don't know where kim and kole went....she must be taking the picture!

Here is my fat butt crossing the finish line. ha ha ok i dont' really think i am that fat, but seriously they sent me a video of me crossing the finish line. it wasn't pretty. I think i have a severely distorted self image....I think i am way skinner than i am! ha ha

My mom with all her cute kids!!

This is where we hung out for an HOUR before they started their run, ya we had to be up at 4:00 AM cause somebody thought they needed to be an hour early. and i didn't have to run until 9. it was a long day. (but a super fun one!!)

And completely unrelated to this post in the slightest. check out chloe's cute dress i made her! She thinks she needs to wear a dress EVERY day so i thought i would make her a comfy one out of on old t-shirt. I used this tutorial, it was super easy and turned out way cuter than i thought!

And i just came across these random pictures and thought they should be on here too!

Ash rockin her sublime onsie!

Chloe reading Ash a story. love it when she is nice to her :)

ha ha love her face..."mom why the crap aren't you helping me get my arm out of this stupid book?"

that's all folks!

The Muffin Man

2011-06-06T11:11:00.000-07:00

It's hard to be ONE. Its hard to walk. It's hard to try and pull yourself up on things, especially at church in your dress. It's really frustrating that the boy who is months younger than you can stand up and look out the window while i am glued to the floor. Maybe i will try reeeeallly hard then i can look out the window too. I will just grab onto this moulding it can't be that hard..........

#@*!!*#$%^!!

Well I tried. thats all that matters right?!

(pictures don't really do those bruises justice but man are they ever ugly.)

On another note, I was going to send this recipe to tina and thought maybe you ALL wanted a yummy recipe for strawberry muffins. you DO?? oh perfect, you're welcome.

Strawberry Muffins

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup Brown sugar

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup chopped strawberries

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oil a muffin tin, or use paper liners.

2. In a small bowl, combine oil, milk, and egg. Beat lightly. In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Toss in chopped strawberries and stir to coat with flour. Pour in milk mixture and stir together.

3. Fill muffin cups. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 25 minutes, or until the tops bounce back from the touch. Cool 10 minutes and remove from pans.

Puddle Jumping

2011-06-03T21:15:00.000-07:00

Fun in the Rain!

(to the tune of "Three Blind Mice")

Rain, rain, rain

Dribble, dribble, sploosh!

Grab your boots, your coat, and hat,

Jump in a puddle and go kersplat!

Stomp about and become a drowned rat,

Rain, rain, rain

Rain, rain, rain.

Ready.......Set........JUMP!!!

Ridiculous.

2011-05-24T21:42:00.000-07:00

That's the word I use most often to describe this face.

I found these adorable antique dresses at the bottom of my mom's cedar chest and they just happened to be Ash's size...perfect!! And they really ARE antique they were probably my aunt carole's dresses and she is like 20 years older than my mom. Aren't they to die for?

I am lucky enough to have a VERY talented Sister in law who takes AMAZING pictures. She is also a crazy talented decorator, her house is ridiculously cute. And when you see how cute her blog is try not to note that I have been blogging for like years and she has been doing it for weeks. She makes us all look bad.

I am so glad we got this done when we did cause like a week later her poor little earring got infected and I had to take it out. so sad :(

I just can't get over the cuteness of her face. I mean i know i am a little biased but i just think my smash is just ridiculously gorgeous. It's ok I am allowed to think that.

Ha ha love this picture, they were SO not into having their pictures taken. Boss and Van were in the room and Chloe was not very happy to sit there while they got to play.

But THIS picture?? was sooo worth it. thats my baby girl (my bigger baby girl) and I LOVE her!

So Happy we got one of the smiling...it doesn't happen very often! and I loved their white dresses.

LOVE this baby girl too. Even if she is super serious.

Thanks again Pam i love LOVE them!!

Warning extremely long birthday post ahead.

2011-05-23T20:12:00.000-07:00

Ok well I know I say this every time i post....there are a billion pictures so feel free to scroll down to the adorable videos at the veeeeery bottom! But I can NEVER pick which ones I want to post. And since this is going to be my "scrapbook" someday when i print it into a book, I want all my favorite pics on here! And we all know you don't come here for my beautifully written words so bring on the thousands of pictures!

Ashley turned 1 on May 1st. I know I am only 22 days behind. I have been Busy?? ok you got me. just suuuuper lazy.

Aannnnyways. I can't figure out how to move my pictures around very good here so we are just gonna leave them as they are and comment from there! These first pics are Ashley's B-day present I so lovingly made for her. I have had that fabric in the first pic since before I was pregnant with her and it took me until now to make it. but i LOVE the giant ric rac edging. And then my mom got Ash (and chloe) a Dr. Kit so made them some nurses outfits complete with some pretty adorable hats if I do say so myself ;)

Ok don't judge me on Chloes ghetto outfit above....she likes to dress herself these days, i just turned around and they were snuggling like this watching cartoons. love them! (and Chloe was happy i swear)

Ash has decided to turn one with full force. As of like 2 weeks before her birthday she was still VERY much a baby....a 9 month old baby if i had to choose. Just sittin on her butt all day scooting ever so slowly after her sister, being so nice and quiet and content to play with anything in reaching distance. But seriously since her birthday she is a new baby, she is wanting to walk SOOO bad and doing very good as of today. She has become WAY more demanding of attention and vocal. She has learned some new "tricks" (see video at bottom)

Ash's favorite place to be. Looking out the window/ pondering life.

Ash loves her dad. she gets super excited when he comes home, he always get the hugest smiles and squeals from ash!

hmmm I am not doing very good today. sorry if my pictures are all over the place....and i accidently put this video right in the middle....enjoy??

I love how excited she gets when she walks. She is going to be running around here soon enough and I am going to be in trouble!

Ok onto the actual BIRTHDAY!

These were the girls all ready for church before the big party. Ya we had her party on a Sunday It was awesome almost everyone came to party in our ginormous house!

Some yummy cupcakes and Ash's very own little cake. don't look too close tho, i royally screwed up icing it.

the CAKE!! i was so excited that it turned out! and it even tasted good....double prizes!!!

Ashley was less than happy with all the people trying to get her attention. She has been VERY shy and clingy lately especially when there are alot of people. so she pretty much just cried for the first hour until uncle Greg showed up with some timbits....they cure anything.

giving a "shout out!" (or a loud yell/screech)

Then she decided to be happy and the party was ON.

where's ashy?? she is a pro at peek a boo....sort of.

I think she got to open 1 present...if that. There were alot of really good "helpers" there.

Chlo was the #1 helper.

Here is Ash in her new nurse duds. (she hates it btw)

Guess we need a bigger house with more chairs so people don't have to resort to sitting in boxes.

Cam and Lex checking out all the new toys.

She wasn't too sure about the cake. and surprisingly could have cared less about the candle.

She figured it out and went to town!

And having a little bit MORE cake after an outfit change. She was so cute just making her mmmm sounds. It was a great party and I am sad i didn't get more pictures of everyone else that was there. I was a little distracted I forget to take pictures! But a big thank you to our families for coming see Ashley turn ONE!!

This is just ash doing some of her new "tricks" the fishy is my favorite!

Chloe likes to bump down the stairs on her bum...well guess who else likes to do it?? yup EVERY time the gate is down Ash is right there heading down the stairs. She went down headfirst a few times but is pretty good at it now. scares the beejeezes out of me tho. and dont worry about the sweatpants under her dress....I think chloe dressed her.

EASTER!!!

2011-04-29T21:54:00.000-07:00

I Love Easter! Everything about it is great. The bunnies, the chocolate, the crafts, the chocolate, the egg dying, the chocolate, having regan home all week, and did I mention the CHOCOLATE?? yes my name is Jennie and I am a chocaholic.

Chloe didn't really get Easter last year so we didn't do much. I don't even think we dyed eggs. But I got her the Little Critters easter book and she was SO excited when we did all the things that were in the book. we now have to read it a hundred times a day so she can tell me what she did. good times.

Chloe was having a blast doing her very first Easter crafts....paper plate, glue, cotton balls. easiest craft ever.

Ash was enjoying it too....I think she was yelling in approval.

and VOILA add on some paper ears and you have a fluffy bunny. Your kids will LOVE to make one...or 3. Chloe wanted to use the whole pile of paper plates. thank heavens we ran out of cotton balls.

Then she wanted to keep being creative so I cut a big egg out of a diaper box and we modge podged scraps of fabric all over it. I didn't take a picture of the finished product...but you get the idea. It was cute.

We were Lucky enough to have a couple of Nice days on our Easter break so we hit the park.

Yup thats me. Bet you didn't know I am an expert princess kite flyer.

My girls LOVE the swings....I couldn't pick my favorites. sorry this post has a zillion pictures.

Best $2 I ever spent. Living on the westside 99.9% of the days are windy.

Kites are a must! and it's Chloe who wants to take the kite out, not me i swear! ok maybe its me, I forgot how much fun they are! :)

Ash just loves to be outside, I am excited for summer....but i am really hoping she figures out how to walk!!

Then we went home to dye Eggs. Chloe loved it. I just wanted ONE picture with me and Ash in it.

And if you noticed the arrow in the picture you can see the millisecond move that dyed my jeans yellow.

So then we Let ash go stare out the window while Chloe made some Eggs.

She pulls out my food coloring daily to try and dye more eggs. I hope this stops soon, I am so worried she is going to try and open the food coloring while i am in the shower or something!

Then The EASTER BUNNY stopped by.

The girls were excited about all the goodies in there baskets.

Ok maybe Ash was holding in her excitement a little bit.

These straws and the stickers were the best presents Chloe could have ever asked for. (much MUCH better than the present i spent 4 hours making her....but I am not bitter)

My favorite bunnies!!

So after they played with there baskets for a few minutes I had to show chloe that there were eggs hidden all over that were filled with Candy. I thought she would have SO much fun finding them....

But I would be wrong again. Here she is just nonchalantly walking around picking up the eggs we are pointing out to her, cause she is too lazy to actually LOOK for them.

Then the girls each got one big present from us. We always got a big chocolate bunny growing up, but i figured she had enough candy already so we got them some books about Jesus.

And then I had ordered this Rapunzel dress online because Chloe is OBSESSED with Tangled. Every time she watches it she tells me she needs "yong hair"....yes chloe yes you do. So being the nice mom I am I just whipped her up this rapunzel wig/headband thing (that took me 4 hours) and well, She couldn't have cared less. MAN that kid. I was SO excited to give it to her too! oh well, she really like the stickers she got. sigh.

I did finally convince her to try it on. and she did like it for the 2 minutes it stayed on.

I am almost done I Promise!! (It's Pam's fault for teaching me how to upload a ton of pictures at the same time....I coulnd't help myself)

Here are the Girls on Easter Sunday in the Easter Dresses!!

Not the best picture but i took this one and on other one before my camera died...sooo that was the best i got. but i had to remember their cute dresses!

These were their other Easter outfits that they wore the next day...so cute right? And i was SUPER excited that i could fit Chloes hair into REAL pigtails!! It was a good day.

ANd I was just loving Ash swinging her chubby little legs back and forth on the steps.

Man i love that baby.

Beautiful day in the neighborhood

2011-04-19T09:07:00.000-07:00

OH what do you do in the Sprinnnng time, when all the world is white?

Well it has just been oh so gorgeous this spring, we have been so lucky. Spring is my favorite time of year with the sun always shining the green grass, birds, just being able to go outside to run and play. what? whats that you say? it has been snowing all month? oh riiiiight. I forgot for a minute there. But when spring gives you snow you must make snowmanade. (hardy har)

So If Spring refuses to come play we will play without him.

We love it when the cousins come to play.

Even tho they fight like brother and sister they love each other like cousins should!

And then some of us have to just wish we were big enough to play with the big kids.

And while waiting for spring to come, we will learn how to stand up by ourselves.

And get into the flour just cause there is nothing else to do.

We will play in sheet forts

And have countless hours of peek a boo

With two very cute little girls.

So I guess we will just snuggle up with our favorite blankie.....

And Patiently wait for Spring to come.

Smash

2011-04-11T15:15:00.000-07:00

So my baby is going to be one in a couple of weeks so i thought she deserved her own little post. Or maybe I only had new pictures of her when I uploaded my camera....either or.

I don't know why these are all blurry....oh wait I do. A certain big sister was probably jumping on my back screaming for me to give her the camera the whole time I was attempting to take these. Oh well they are still cute. She loves her jolly jumper, as long as someone is in viewing range.

AH her pony tail gets me every time i look at her. I now know what its like to have a baby with hair! feels good.

She loves to sleep. She usually sleeps from 8:30-7 and then naps for 3-4 hours during the day. She still sucks on her fleecy blanket with the tags....gag me. I can't imagine wanting to suck on something fuzzy, but she loves it. she is always trying to lick the pages of her touchy feely books. She does NOT like to sleep being held, which makes 1:00 church veeeery difficult. And now that she is such a big girl she has decided she wants to follow in her sisters footsteps and be very LOUD. Not as in a cranky sad baby loud, still very happy, just loud. she makes this growling/yelling sound when she is happy and it is SO loud. She is a funny girl, she looks dainty but then this GROWL comes out and everyone looks twice. She is also talking alot, you know the baba, mama, gaga sounds all the time. I love the babble, i thought she was going to be oh so quiet forever, such is not the case!

Ash loves her walker. (video down below) I love her little toddle as she cruises around the kitchen. She is alot faster now than in the video resulting in one too many bruises on my heels. SO annoying, especially when I am trying to cook she is ALWAYS under my feet. she LOVES being chased around the island and jumping out at her brings squeals and giggles for hours. Peek-a-boo is definitely her favorite game. along with patty cake, itsy bitsy spider and popcorn popping. She loves to play with my phone or the ipad. We have a game on there thats just for babies when you touch the screen a letter or shape pops up and you can bounce them around the screen, i know riveting right? well you would think it was gold by the way she freaks out if I take it away from her! Oh we also just got this book for the ipad,if you have one, and a toddler, get the bedtime book, by Sandra boynton. SO cute!!

What the red eye?? can you tell i forgot to edit these pictures first? meh.

And today she took 2 steps all by her self! maybe she will be walking sooner than i thought! she wants to SO bad. and while she still doesn't want to crawl the last couple of days she has been pushing herself up onto her knees and rocking back and forth....i know she is slow....but its a start right?

She even holds her own sippy cup...sometimes. she won't drink anything but milk, we are working on it

She is SUCH a good eater. She will pretty much eat anything you put in front of her. Regan calls her our little garburator. Her favorites are probably pears, strawberries and PB&J, or bread of any kind (she is definitley mine!) I usually feed her some oatmeal with either veggies or fruit in it and then some of whatever we are eating. She always eats EVERYTHING we giver her. thats why her double chin is so nice and lovely.

This girl loves her rice a roni!

Chloe and ash were playing so good this morning with this sheet. they played peek a boo for over an hour, giggling like crazy. It was hilarious!

Here we have some expert peek a boo from smash, she just started doing this today, hilarious!

We have the single ladies video on our apple tv and Ashley absolutely LOVES it!! without fail every time we turn it on she gets so excited, she laughs and claps her hands and kicks her feet its soooo funny. I haven't gotten the reaction on video yet, she is camera shy. but this is the girls dancing to it. Chloe loves to shake her bum like beyonce, and ash will watch the entire thing start to finish if chloe would let her!

Some walker action. This was the first day she started going forward in it, she has long surpassed this and is running around like crazy in it now. You also get to hear some of the yelling in this one...lucky you.

piggies and ponies.

2011-03-23T14:02:00.000-07:00

Houstan...we have hair! yup it's official my baby has a ponytail!! how exciting, and ridiculously cute is that??? I have been putting it off for a while cause she HATES to have her hair touched or combed, her face wiped, her boogers cleaned, or any pestering of any kind. But i finally bucked down, held her head in between my legs (don't call social services) and managed to pull that tiny elastic around that tiny chunk of hair and into the most adorable pony ever! and at 10 months to boot!! I think CHloe was 2?? ok maybe not but it seems that way.

My serious kids. They get that from their dad. When they scowl....they are shooting daggers so you better watch out! Ashley especially has been so serious lately, like she is studying everything, concentrating so hard on everything she is doing. While Chloe is the same, she is so serious when she is playing with her dolls, so concerned with their sleeping habits! But she goes from happy to serious very quickly it is very funny to watch. But with ASh you really have to work hard to get the smiles and giggles from this girl....but it is sooooo worth it!

Those chompers will blow you away!!

And look how tall this girl is?? what gives? I am not ready for this. My friends were telling me the other day she can go to preschool this year....what?? good thing she misses the cut-off by 20 days so I don't have to deal with that yet! She is in no way old enough for school....and more importantly I am not old enough to have a kid in school! but she DOES have hair....sort of. Its getting there, Its really curly and fun, I just wish it would GROW already....pure torture for me.

Chloe is really into books these days. She really loves the bearenstein bears book that has like 5 stories in 1, the doctor one is her favorite. Then she had to go to the doctor last week when she woke up telling me her ears hurt. She was been talking about it constantly to anyone who will listen. And her favorite topic of conversation is all of her owies that she has or has ever had. The books she also loves, "the bike lesson" "the best nest" all her princess and fairy books and her alphabet book with all the touchy feelies in it. we have to read a million stories and sing "twinkle twinkle" every night before bed.

I love to hear her talk, she chatters non-stop and most of the time I know exactly what she is saying. It is sure handy and annoying at the same time! ha ha she is just so LOUD sometimes! but oh so funny, she makes me laugh all day long. Like the other day i was feeding ashley in her high chair and Chloe had brought her potty stool over to the chair to "help" feed Ash. I asked her "How come you are so big?" (to which she usually replies "I two mom") But she just looked at me like I was ridiculous and said "I on stool" ha ha oh right my bad!

She knows most of her colors, and can count to 10....sort of...in a roundabout way. She loves hide and go seek, and counts "3 2 1...I find you!!" She loves playdough and coloring with MARKERS not crayons, and painting. I brought home a castle that I got when I worked in the Kindergarten that they were getting rid of and she plays with it all. the. time. It's so cute, she sings the princess songs and puts the tiny Cinderella to bed. (in the dungeon)

Ok that was alot longer than I was planning, but whatcha gonna do.

Ashley is going to be one. I can't believe it. in a month and a bit. I know i am biased but I just think she is so gorgeous and I love her to death. I wish she would learn to crawl tho. She is still refusing to get on her knees. And she isn't really into walking. Her legs have always been a little weak, so I think we are dealing with a scooter for a while. She gets around....just slowly. she did fall down the stairs the other day, so I guess she is faster than i thought. oops! we have the baby gate up now, so its all good.

I love both my girls....we are so lucky!

St. Paddy's

2011-03-23T12:55:00.000-07:00

We go big on holidays around here.....or maybe not. Ok really not at all. We DID however make some green shamrock biscuits for St. Paddy's day....look at me go! Chloe LOVES biscuits, we make them alot, she is a great helper. she gets mad when i don't let her do every little step by herself, but she gets to use the cookie cutter, which is the best part anyways right? And i love how ashley is just hanging out in the highchair in the background, she always gets left out. Maybe she should be more demanding of my time then I would be forced not to let her out of my sights.....no no i take that back...please stay just as wonderful as you are :)

And i DID get the girls dressed up in Green and take some pictures. mainly because It is also gramma Dix's birthday so we have to be semi-festive. Lucky for us my girls each had one green shirt!

Happy Birthday Gramma!!

Chloe was being very uncooperative so this was the only picture we got of her.

Ash is making more and more noises, she makes like an "ST...SSTTT" kind of sound where she spits alot, its my favorite! and there is some "MAMA" and "BABA" going on, and every time i try and get her to say "dada" she just cracks up...I guess I talk funny.

You will find her clapping most of the day, and will clap on cue for you if you start singing Patty cake. I love it when they know "tricks" I love to show off my kids and how smart they are....don't we all?? I hope so, so I am not just a weirdo freak all by myself.

Ash is also becoming more moody and aggressive. Which is a good thing for her, It kind of slows Chloe down when she is tormenting her to no end. She even bit Chloe the other day, I didn't feel very bad for her....she deserved it. Chloe can be very nice and share her toys with ash, she even loves to help get her bottle, and diapers, and she is good to get her a toy if they are wanting the same one... SOME of the time. But i would definitely venture to say that the majority of the time is spent mauling her to death, pushing her down, taking her toys away, and generally just pestering the daylights out of her. I am sure it is normal 2 year old behavior and i DO try to discipline her, time outs seem to do the trick. It's a good thing Ash just seems to go with the flow, makes my life alot easier!