March Photo Challenge

In an attempt to create something, be a little more daring, and perhaps happier in the process, I challenged myself to take a picture a day during March, and then share it.

for more instagram pics and descriptions visit:
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Valentine Bedroom Makeover

I redid our bedroom for Valentine's Day and surprised Ben when he got home from work. I got a headboard, new duvet, sewed some pillow covers, rearranged furniture and covered the lamps with fabric! Everything is gray and green. I have been wanting to hang out in my bedroom all week!

I Love Lucy!

I just love this baby girl of mine! I love that she is the "unifier" of the siblings; urge kids usually have someone they aren't getting along with, but never Lucy! Everybody loves Lucy. We are so happy she is part of this crazy family.

Warm January Days

I LOVE it when it is warm in January. Ben took the boys to Legoland and I took the girls to the zoo.

What did you do for Christmas?

One of our Christmas traditions: going to see crazy Christmas lights.

Not so traditional: swimming on Christmas Eve.

Utah Fun

Spent a great week in Utah visiting Ben's sister in Mt. Pleasant, seeing both sets of grandparents and 7 siblings, catching up with old friends, and ringing in the New Year with some sweet puzzle action, playing 2011 charades and Just Dance on the Wii. Good times!

Halloween, again.

Okay, yes, it's been a while. I have a whole list of excuses, but really, I'm just busy. But for now, here are some Halloween pics from this year:

Lucy on the porch with pumpkins, our jack o'lanterns, our front-yard spider, and an awesome family of Angry Birds.

Pumpkin Patch

I get a kick out of the Socal Pumpkin patches that are smack in the middle of the urban sprawl. Just lay out a bunch of pumpkins, put up a few hay bales, decorate with some corn, and VOILA, you've got yourself a real-life pumpkin patch. Throw in some ponies, goats, and a haunted house and it's a fair! The downer is that the pony rides cost $5 and the bounce house is $2 for five minutes! But this year we took the kids, and had ourselves some fall fun.

This is Halloween, this is Halloween...

Happy Halloween to all you boys and ghouls!

From:

Mario

Pac-man

Princess Peach

and this little ladybug!

Baby Update

Lucy is already five and a half months -she has grown so much! I feel like she needs an update.

Lucy continues to be a happy baby and sleeps 8 hours at night! She rolls over both ways and can pretty much roll anywhere she wants to go. She even does a pretty good job entertaining herself. Two teeth have broken through and rice cereal is a hit! She loves to grab the spoon and "feed herself."

Lucy listens intently if you say Mama or Dada and wants to join in any fun her siblings are having. She has these big baby blues and a smile that just melts you!



Can you even stand how adorable she is?

Back to School

Now that I got the summer post out of the way (phew!) I can move on to other stuff. My kids started school at the beginning of September -about six weeks ago- but it's still blog-worthy.

Ian is in fourth grade now and rides his bike to school. He started playing violin as part of the music program at school and loves it! He's still doing swim team, and was moved up to the older team. They swim two hours every day!
Jacob is in 2nd grade and is getting used to a stricter, home-work lovin' teacher. It's good for him! He's playing soccer and enjoys being a defender.
Kate started preschool two days a week and looooves it. She insists on taking her backpack, even though she doesn't need one. Her favorite thing to do is play in the playhouse!

Summer Recap!

I have to crank out this post so I can be free and move on to others...you understand, right?

Summer was a sleep-deprived blur...I guess that's what a new baby does to you! We did manage to do some fun things I had to report on the blog, though.
In July, we celebrated the 4th with a bike parade and breakfast at our church. The kids decorated their bikes and zoomed around the church parking lot. Here's our bishop announcing the beginning of the parade. "This is not a race, okay?" Riiiight....

A week later, we had a family reunion with Ben's family in the Redwoods in Northern California. The drive was long and the stay was way too short. I married into an incredibly fun and united family!

Redwood National Forest

Getting ready for the the famous races! Cousins in each age group race each other.

Ian won his division!

A day at the beach. It was definitely not sunny Southern California, but still a blast!

The "outlaw" in-law picture. We're sooo bad!

Our sweet baby Lucy was blessed on August 1st. Notice the new suit...Ben had to buy one to be in the bishopric!

My mom made Lucy's beautiful dress

We did not go to the beach enough! My favorite beach trips were the 3rd annual Three Arch Bay Mom's Beach Retreat...

We missed getting a picture with the later group

...and our first trip to San Clemente Beach on Labor Day. It was relaxing just hanging out with friends, and the waves in San Clemente were perfect for boogie boarding...even Kate gave it a try.



Hope you had a great summer yourself!

Girlies

Here are my girls, each at about three months, in the same outfit! Can you tell them apart? DO you think they look alike, or different?