Sad day in Midland

Today is the day that the Cummings left for OK. They will be greatly missed. Luckily, we'll be leaving soon as well so the saddest day is behind us. I honestly don't think I'll be nearly as sad the day we pull out of here than when we saw them drive away. I guess only time will tell. Only 6 more weeks to go!

Alli Lookalike

Brighton just loves putting sponge rollers in her hair and wearing them overnight. She hasn't done it in a while so this morning when we took them out of her hair, she was in shock. She gasped as she looked in the mirror and said "I look just like Alli!" She was so excited! Our close friends have a little girl with the best curly hair and Brighton was so happy to look like her that she kept saying "Mom, we have to do this to my hair every night. Now that I look like Alli we have to live next to them." I don't know if that will happen (I can only hope it will!) but I do know she loves her friend Alli and misses them greatly.

P.S. To give you an idea of what Brighton is even talking about I thought I'd put a pic up of little Al too. We miss you guys!

A Colorful Birthday Celebration

When does an ordinary cupcake go from this:

To this rainbow surprise?

When you have an early birthday celebration with friends! Before the Cummings left, since Brighton and Kirsten's birthday is about 2 weeks apart, we decided to have a little joint birthday event which gave me an excuse to make these fun treats. We hung out, played Just Dance on the wii, and just enjoyed some of the last moments we all had together. Brighton is seriously going to miss her best buddy Kirsten. Happy Early Birthday to the both of you!

The Cummings are Going

Today a few friends and I put together a farewell party for our friends the Cummings. They're moving in a week and will be greatly missed. I particularly will miss Jenny. She has made living in Midland tolerable these past 2 years.

Anyway, the party was a success and everyone had a ton of fun. We love you guys and will miss you big time!

Springtime 'See-food'

It's really been heating up here. I'm really embarrassed I ever complained about the cold to be honest. We've got it pretty nice here. So nice, that when our kids go outside for an hour in the spring time, they come inside with burnt little cheeks. That face just makes me want to pinch them.

P.S. Please excuse the nasty chewed up cracker in his mouth. He loves 'see-food' if you know what I mean. He's already a yucky little boy with gross jokes. What's he going to be like when he's 10?! Yikes!

Mo' Doh for the Fam

We were contemplating what to do for family night tonight when what should magically appear in our mailbox? Only a perfect package from a perfect Nana! She sent us a brand new play-doh machine so our family night worries were over. We made spaghetti, snakes, cookies, and all sorts of creatures with our newfound toy. Thanks Nana for a delightful night!

Rainboots in the Sun

The weather has been so nice here and our car has been in dire need of a wash that the second Kyle mentioned getting the hose out, the kids already had their rainboots on and were out the door. I hung back in the house for fear that I would get ambushed and it's a good thing I had my camera in my hands, otherwise I probably would have.

A Day O' Fun

So we decided to celebrate St. Patrick's Day by going to Lubbock. That's a pretty far drive just to celebrate a day set aside for the color green, but it was worth it for the Krispy Kremes! That's right! They've got a Krispy Kreme Donut Shop in Lubbock and anyone who knows me knows I LOVE LOVE LOVE the double K. I even wanted to make a Krispy Kreme donut cake for my wedding. So anyhow, I'm obsessed and just found out they had a shop in Lubbock, and so our St. Patrick's Day was born. The kids loved watching the donuts go through the glaze wall and pop out on the other side. And they were big fans of the green donuts! They gave them a big thumbs up (although Porter has yet to manage a thumbs up with his fingers.).

Also, while Kyle and I took turns going through the temple, the kids had fun walking around the temple grounds with their leprechaun hats (courtesy of library story time) and wishing anyone they saw a Happy St. Patrick's Day. And to top it all off, when we got home Brighton drew a rainbow, pot of gold, and 2 leprechauns which really culminated our day. It was definitely a St. Patrick's Day full O' fun.

I'm Going There Tomorrow

Brighton was so excited to go visit the temple tomorrow that today she crafted one of her own. Can't help but love her sweet little spirit.

A Party to Jump About

Brighton was invited to a birthday party from one of her preschool friends today and it was one she won't soon forget. They held it at a bounce house party place and it was a ton of fun. Porter got to tag along which made him ecstatic. It was hard to keep up with them because they were so excited about it that they would run as fast as they could from one bounce house to another. They could not get enough of it. Anyway, it was fun and I was glad to see the kids having such a great time.

The Green Machine

Have you ever heard of a 4-year-old who is in love with avocado? Well this little girl is! Surprisingly enough she can't get enough of them! Every time we go to the grocery store, she ropes me into getting her more avocados and if 4 are bought, they will be gone in 4 days max. She asks for them in her lunch, for snacks, and even for breakfast if you can imagine! If only I could get Porter to eat anything green the way Brighton eats her avocados, we'd be set!

Fort Night

Brighton and Porter have been begging me to make them a fort for about a month now and honestly the reason I've been dragging my feet is because I hate the way it makes any room look completely trashed. But today I sucked it up and even said they could have a sleepover in it. Well they couldn't get enough of that and initially it was a ton of fun in the fort, but about 15 minutes after they were snuggled into their fort bed, they were screaming and arguing at each other so the sleepover was quickly revised to going back to their beds. Maybe in a few years they'll be old enough to realize they have to be quiet in order to stay in the fort for bed. Then again, it'll probably be more than a few years before they can even be in the same room without arguing.

Porter the Monster

Porter loves to hide and scare everyone in the house. It's his favorite thing to do. We will find him in random places like behind the toilet or in a closet and he'll give his loudest monster scream ever. The only problem is half the time we don't even know he's hiding and all of a sudden we'll hear this loud roar in the distance somewhere. What a little monster. He makes us laugh. I don't think that will ever stop.

From the Heart

Today Brighton brought this family portrait home from preschool and I loved it so I thought I would share it. The funny thing is that I'm the biggest person, then comes Brighton, then Kyle (the small one with the crazy hair), then Porter. Let's hope she doesn't really think of me as this giant compared to everyone else in the fam. Maybe it's my overbearing personality that tipped the scale in her heart.

The Golden 10 Minutes

I love the ten minutes before we go to church. It's the only time the kids' hair is in place, there's no food on their face or clothes, and they are actually ready to get out the door. It makes me feel like my family is somewhat put together... for 10 minutes at least.

The Distant Future

For years Kyle has said that he wants a Great Dane. As of right now, that is completely out of the question but he's already buttering the kids up. He will constantly go online and look at pictures of them and research them out. Today was the first time he had them studying up with him. They were in love and now won't stop begging for a pet. Sadly for them, that might happen in the distant distant distant future. Thanks for the kids' new infatuation Kyle.

Happy 107th to The Doc!

Today our local library had a birthday party for Dr. Suess. He would have been 107 years old this year! They always have the cat in the hat visit and read a few of the Doc's books. This year they also had a 'pin the heart on the Grinch' game and Brighton got it in the right spot! I was shocked she even let the lady put on her blindfold, but she did really well. Anyway, it was fun and the kids enjoyed partaking in the silly festivities.

Nanners

So the other day I wrote about one of my closest friends Evelyn. I mentioned our 3rd musketeer named Vanessa. Vanessa got married today. Maybe that's why I've been nostalgic lately. Life changes. People change. It makes me sad and happy at the same time. Sad for the past and all the good memories but happy for the future and the mems that could be created. Well, the beginning of the mems for Vanessa and I was at an EFY in 9th grade. We were in the same group and hit it off instantly. Then came stake girls' camp and I met Evelyn. After that, there was no stopping the 3 of us. Anyway, after they graduated from high school (they were a grade behind me in school), Vanessa joined me at BYU-Idaho and we became roommates. We had so many crazy good times. We joined the cross country team together (neither of us had ever run before), we made music videos together, we studied for hours at the library together, and I even came home from my first date with Kyle and told her that I thought he might be the one. She has been there for a lot of big moments in my life and I was sad that I couldn't make it to her wedding (does this post sound familiar? I felt the same with Evelyn.). I wanted to say congratulations to her and hope her day was amazing.

Anyway, the nostalgia was in high gear when I was looking through all my pictures and honestly, it was harder to find pics of just Vanessa and I or Evelyn and I because we never did anything without all 3 of us. So I had to post some pictures of us that I found and loved. It brought back SO many mems. Music videos (tons and tons), youth conferences, school dances, hiking, spring break trips, and professional pictures (embarrassingly enough, my idea) just to name a few of those mems. I really miss and love these girls!