Mother's Day

We have the best moms. Which means our kids have the best Grandma and Granny. Britt and Marnie answered a short questionare about each grandma and we put them inside the lovely Mother's Day cards they made for them. Britt said that his favorite thing to do with Grandma Tara is to get plastic pink flamingoes from random yards and break the heads off of them (never happened), and Marnie said that Granny Moe makes the best corndogs. They also made cards for their great-grandmas, and said that Grandma Ruby's job is driving around with Aunt Hazel (close enough), and Grandma Marili loves to play with string (it's called crocheting). :)

Britt and I went on a lovely date to his school's Mother's Day Luau. The kids danced the hula and served the moms cake and punch. Britt wasn't too keen on dancing in front of everyone, but he did a great job. We had a fun evening being just the two of us.

Britt took this picture of me and Marnie with my momma. I'd hoped he would get a full body shot so you could see the killer outfit I was wearing. It was a shirt and skirt that my Grandma Loe made for my mom in the 70s. The shoes alone were worth a picture. :) Oh, well.

It's been a while since I posted funny stuff the kids have said, so here are a few things from this weekend.
Justin's dad is a bishop and was talking about a couple who asked him to come to Hawaii to marry them. Somewhere in his conversation with Justin's mom, Britt started listening and got very confused. (He has a priceless look he gets when he's baffled.)
He interjected with, "what?! Grandpa! Why would you want to marry a new wife? [points to grandma] This one's perfect!" It sure made his Grandma's day. :)

Justin took Marnie with him to pick up a Mother's Day surprise on Saturday. She swore to keep it a secret. Later that day she said to me, "mom, I know a secret, but I'm NOT gonna tell you! I promised daddy, and I am NOT gonna tell you where we got your flowers." Nice secret keeping. :)

When they picked up the flowers, Justin let Marnie hold them in the car. He asked her how they smelled, expecting to hear, "beeeeeautiful," but she said, "hmm...pretty different from yogurt." Good to know. :)

I'm so glad I have my two silly littles. I always wanted to be a mom, and as hard as it is sometimes, it's a thousand times more rewarding. I'm fortunate that I've been able to stay home with Britt and Marnie for these first years of their lives. I'm also lucky to have a husband who was totally on board with me staying home to teach and love them. A good dad makes "momming" easier, and Justin always has. I'm glad to have stellar examples of motherhood all around me. I've only been in the parenting game for 6.5 years (funny enough, Mother's Day this year fell on the 7 year anniversary of the day we found out I was pregnant with Britt) and I know I still have a lot to learn, but it's good to know I have other moms, grandmas, great-grandmas, sisters, etc. to lean on.

swoon

I can't tell you how lovely it makes my day when these two shake the walls with squeals and laughter. When they're best buddies, they're reeeeeally best buddies. They disappear into another room to play "Princesses and Paleontologists" or giggle while playing silly parts in iPod games. They're our yin and our yang. He's a little version of his dad and she's just like her mom (poor girl...). They do have their moments when one is dramatic and the other is moody (I won't tell who's who), but for the most part they love being together. The moment Britt disappeared into the doors of his school this morning Marnie said, "aww...I miss my brother." Aren't brothers and sisters the best?

Easter went like this

The boy's basket overflowed with dinosaurs. 

The girl's was loaded with Squinkies.

In between helping his dad smoke and glaze the dinner ham,  Justin took a few pictures. :)

Britt was nice enough to share some of his chocolate bunnies with his carnivorous dinos. The herbivores were stuck eating Skittles.

Beck played pat-a-cake with eggs.  :)
He had a blast...and he wasn't even aware there was candy involved!

How cute is this slobbery little mug?! :)

Look out...

This is my boyfriend, Beck. He also happens to be my nephew. He also happens to have no clue what's in store for him. It's been almost 4 months since I got to smooch those cheeks and tickle those chubby legs...but in less than 24 hours I'm going to make up for all that lost time. :) 

I can't wait. 

it smelled like camping

How nice would it be if adults got Spring Break? While Britt has been enjoying this week and sleeping late, my poor Justin is still getting up at 5:45 for work. Yesterday was the exception. Justin had a day off. Monday night, we went on a movie date and the kids went to have a sleepover/party at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Tuesday morning, with no kids to wake us up, we slept until almost 9:00AM! It was glorious. Now I know why Marnie has so much energy all the time. 10 solid hours of sleep feels amazing. We picked up the kids and took our newfound vigor to a nearby lake. Picnic lunch, skipping rocks, looking for lizards, feeding geese...it was a fun break-from-the-ordinary.

Beyond Behind

It's funny to me when I look back at my first years with this blog. 2008 is the first full year that I blogged, and I had 139 posts during that year. 2009, Marnie came along and my posts dropped to 88. Then 53 in 2010 and 42 in 2011. Now look at me. Almost 3 months into 2012, and I'm writing post #2. Naptime was once my blogging time, but (sadly) our kids are sooo over napping. Combine that with the fact that it takes me a solid 30 minutes to get "going" on the computer (i.e. figure out what I want to say, what pictures I want to post, make sure the kids are engaged in whatever busywork I gave them, etc.). That being said, I'm always glad when I do post something. I love looking back at the old posts and reminiscing about the funny stages they went through and how much they've grown. I reeeeeally need to get back on board with the blog. They only grow up once. I only have the chance to record things for a short time. With all that jumbles around in my mommy head, I need to try harder to make a hard copy of these days before they fade.
This post will be a hodge-podge, so be prepared.

Last month we took a day trip to hike and check out the ruins at Walnut Canyon. 

For her third birthday,  Ms. Marnie requested, "a ballerina cake that's pink and fluffy and lovely."

We had a great visit from cousins Haylee and Brynn recently.

He loves to try on new hats.

I love how sweet Griz is. This pictures was taken on Christmas morning, when he laid right down in front of Beck and invited him to pat his head and pull his ears. He's such a gentle dog.

Marnie has been obsessed with The Wizard of Oz for months. I made her a Dorothy dress (out of the curtains I made for Britt's room a few years ago) and she was in heaven.

I can't wait to watch this little lady run around Granny's house in a few weeks...

 and Britt and Marnie can't wait to play with cousins Emelyn and Ellee again.

And we're counting down the days till we get to snuggle our handsome little Beck again.

I love how these two are best buddies. 

Britt got another best buddy from Santa too... Isn't he gorgeous?! Both of them, really. I better introduce the scaly guy, Tesla, the corn snake. He's awesome. We all LOVE him.