Cars and tape.

Quite a few years ago when Tyson was Saydee's age we'd have playdates with the neighbor boys who had a rug like this one from Ikea. He loved that rug and we'd make our own versions using some string or posterboard and markers or whatever we had on hand. I wished I had thought of tape back then...

A few weeks ago friend Maria from our Texarkana days shared this idea on TheMotherHuddle.
The racing track she made for her boys was awesome. I loved her ideas for including the boats and airplanes. Creative girl that Maria.
I couldn't resist making one for the girls. We went big because we had little friends over that day. And our sweet neighborhood kids stop by alot. Big hit with all the kids... girls, boys, husbands... Kept 'em busy for quite some time.

Big enough for little people too.


It's lasted a few days now. I only give it a few more but it was worth it. Next time I'll scale back a bit. And I'm sure there will be a next time. What's a few bucks in tape and an hour of my time...

This past week.

We love these silly girls. I love that they call people, humans. As in... "Wow, there's alot of humans out here today." or "Sometimes humans are so crazy." or "Will there be alot of humans in my class?"

Soccer season ended. Saydee really enjoyed it at times. And sometimes during the game she would ask to play at the nearby playground instead. Personally I was a little disappointed I didn't see more cartwheels and handstands out there. Kids were cute though.

Heath had a birthday. The girls decorated his cake. It was a good day; we love this amazing man.

Strawberries

Went Strawberry picking this weekend. Paid $2.29 a lb, for the experience I guess. I grew up picking fruit because it was way cheaper. So it caught me by surprise to be overcharged for some semi-ripe strawberries. Probably should have waited another week or two.

Don't get me wrong we did love the experience (Heath might have a different perspective on that). And the girls ate more strawberries than they put in the box. But next time we'll probably just hit up the farmer's market.

We love strawberries, and stawberry jam maybe even more. I've tried alot of delicious homemade jam, but this recipe is by far our favorite and the easiest. A good combo right?
Here she is...

Our Aunt Allison's Strawberry freezer Jam

2 cups sugar

3 rounded tbs of clearjell

1 pkg strawberry coolaid

5 cups diced uncrushed strawberries

1/2 cup white corn syrup

Add corn syrup to strawberries. Combine all dry ingredients. Then add to the strawberry mixture. Stir really well. Done. And believe me you'll want to stock up. Good on pancakes, in shakes, straight from the iv... you get the picture.

planting seeds

The girls have been begging to plant flowers for a while so we braved this crazy weather and planted a few. We'll be transplanting to a larger planter later on.

Where they stand today...

This picture may not find you wildly impressed. To me it's all very exciting and a bit surprising every time I plant and something grows. I have no green thumb or maybe just no know-how.
I'll be honest, despite my love for all things green, colorful gardens, and yummy homegrown food, even the thought of researching this topic bores me to death. You must agree there's an overwhelming amount of info.

Working in the yard and getting down and dirty actually appeals to me. So I'm ok to throw down a few seeds and just see what happens. I love flowers and the girls love to pick them, so that second bed will become a flowerbed, we hope. We're late planting mostly due to our crazy weather and some personal laziness on my girls' part. Kidding. But its on this week's To Do list.

The kids will miss sitting in mud and digging for worms.

amazing women

My life has been greatly influenced by amazing women. Women of character and admiration. I will be forever grateful for their inspiration in my life.

"The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity ; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity."
--- Margaret Nadauld

I was raised by such a woman. Not perfect, but very very good. And she taught me love.



My sweeties and I sitting on our beautiful new bench Heath made me for mother's day.

Happy Mother's Day to all you amazing women!

A Sweet Easter Wedding.

My baby sister Breanne got married the weekend before last. The girls and I were so excited to be able to go. We flew out early Wednesday morning to Utah. Heath teaches Wed and Thurs nights and so had to stay home.

It was so wonderful to spend time with our family. And as vacations go for the stressed out parents of young kids, lots of emotions, excitement and not much sleep. So wonderful and exhausting. I do wish we could have had a little more down time to just relax and visit. But it was great to get to do alot and see so many people I love. I cuddled all my little nieces and nephews every chance I got.

One of the biggest highlights for me and the girls was having Tyson and Grandma Nese spend Saturday with us. We sure love and miss that boy so so much. And I just love that he still lets me smother him with hugs and kisses. It was a log trip for them just to spend half a day with us and we treasured every moment.

The other highlight of coarse was our very reason for going. My sister married her "prince" as my girls would say. She was the epitome of the beautiful glowing bride. Such a happy couple these two. The sealing ceremony was Friday morning in the Mt Timpanogos temple. It was so special and beautiful there. Their reception was held Saturday evening in Price. It was also so beautiful. I didn't get many pictures so you'll just have to take my word. Mom did a phenomenal job.



Now for some random pictures...

The morning Stetson and Breanne were to be sealed for time and all eternity.

Most of our pictures look like this. I love it.

And of coarse a shot of the beautiful Mt Timanogos Temple.

Dad and Mom with some of their grandkids.

The kids had two Easter egg hunts at my sweet Aunt's house and then Mom and Dad's house. It started to rain, so we held the hunt in Mom and Dad's basement. Still a hit. Here are the kids waiting for the Go.

So our wonderful four days in Utah were fast and furious. Though without Heath and not much sleep we were ready to head home.

Getting back home was a bit stressful. During our short visit the St Louis area was hit with tornado after tornado. The airport was hit pretty hard and out of commission for days, some terminals even longer. Luckily we flew Southwest, the terminal hit with the least damage. Even until that very morning we left, all flights were cancelled. We were lucky to make it back and spend the rest of our Easter Sunday relaxing with Heath, something I love to do. Now we're in recovery from a lovely trip.

Smiles and sunburns

Friday Heath was off, so we headed to the zoo. The girls actually touched the animals this time. We had to drag them away from brushing down some dirty goats. Progress.

This cracked me right up.

Playing at the park with our friends after Saydee's soccer game. This cute little girl had a birthday today. We just love them.

And yes we all fried. But we are so happy for warmer weather. The girls love to wear summer dresses and comfy summer clothes. The last few months the girls have been refusing to wear all "hardpants". Unfortunately they are down to two pairs of "softpants" or leggings. Summer will be a welcome change.