It's Great to be Eight!

We just celebrated Hannah's eighth birthday. What a fun and busy day! I took donuts (as we have every year, it's her favorite treat) for her class and we had lunch with her. After school she invited a friend to go to Kangaroo Jac's (think bounce house and slides.) We followed that up with a traditional birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse. She and Jake love to eat there and since his birthday is 2 days before Hannah's we go every year on one of their birthdays. Her favorite part is sitting on the saddle and getting a birthday Yee Haw! We finally made it home for presents and cake and phone calls from loved ones.

When we finally got the kids to bed, it was nice to cuddle up with Hannah for a few quiet moments. We talked about what an important part she is in our family and how grateful I am to be her mother. We talked about her upcoming baptism and of how much she has grown and changed and learned since she came to our family 8 years ago. Finally, we talked about all that is coming up in the next few months and the wonderful things she has to look forward to in the future. Definitely my favorite part of the day : )

Hannah is an amazing girl, she's kind and helpful, smart and clever, strong and determined, precocious and fun. I've learned a lot from Hannah and I'm so grateful to be her mom.

I didn't do a slideshow for Hannah's birthday last year, so this is two years worth of pictures. You can really see how much she's changed : ( I'm so glad I have these pictures to remember all the little girl details.

Hannah's Slideshow

Miss Independent

"Okay, Okay!!" That's what I hear from Emma when she wants to do something herself. No polite little "I can do it," just frustrated yelling "Okay, Okay!!" If I've already started to help it usually means she's going to start all over again. For example, if I've lifted her into her carseat and get the "okay, okay!!" then I have to wait while she gets out of the car and climbs back in all by herself. Unfortunately, the "okay, okay!!" is a little unpredictable. Sometimes it's alright for me to help her get in the car, of course usually when I'm in a hurry it's not : )

Then there are the times when she needs help, but doesn't want to ask for it. I'll hear her in the other room having a little fit, I'll go check on her, and she's trying to get her shirt off or her shoes on and she's having problems. Will she politely say "mommy, I need help?" Nope, I guess she thinks having a little fit is more effective.

Another favorite example is when I've asked her to do something, like take something out to the recycling, and she doddles or doesn't want to do it so one of the other kids or I will start to do the job. Again comes the "okay, okay!!" or the little fit.

Don't get me wrong, I know she needs to learn independence and I'm grateful that she doesn't want to be babied all the time. It's all in the joy of having a two year old : ) I guess I'm also grateful for the opportunity to practice patience and not be in such a hurry to get things done. If I'm honest, there are plenty of things that I want to do things myself, and if it's been started incorrectly I'll start the process over so it's done my way. There have also been times when I've needed help and rather than asking, I just get frustrated. I guess I still have some two year old tendencies I'm trying to outgrow ; )

Thankfully, the frustration is a small thing compared to the sweet and joyful moments I enjoy with my Emma. I'm grateful to be her mommy.

Blessed

Feeling so blessed to be a mother of sweet children who gave me such lovely mementos for Mother's Day. Feeling a little spoiled by my dear husband too. I've been wanting to see the musical "Wicked" and Jake got us tickets to go with some friends this weekend! I'm so grateful to be a wife and a mother. My family brings me so much joy and many opportunities to learn and become a better person. I know that my role in our home is instrumental to my children becoming all that I hope for them to be. It's an overwhelming responsibility at times but I've learned much from my own mother and many other great mothers around me. Thank you, and I hope you enjoyed your Mother's Day celebrations.



The card Hannah gave me reads...Happy Mothers Day mom! We celebrate with love and care and thank you for everything you do. For you are very special in a fantastic way!

Hannah's Piano Recital

Hannah has been taking piano for a little over a year now, and last night she had her first recital. I'm so proud of all her hard work. Before she started lessons, I was worried the practicing might become a battle, but overall it's not been too bad : ) Often she'll sit down and play for 20-30 minutes at a time, just for fun. I'm grateful she truly enjoys developing this talent and I hope she stays with it for a few more years. I know I wish I had given a little more effort to developing this talent myself.

Unfortunately, Jake was out of town and missed the big event and Hannah was feeling pretty sad about that. Thankfully, our sweet neighbors, Mister Fred and Miss Jennifer, came with flowers to help make the evening special : )

Love Story

I first heard the song "Love Story" by Taylor Swift last fall and immediately loved it. A few weeks later I happened to catch part of the music video and it was so beautiful. The lighting in the castle scenes was amazing. Since then, the kids have become big fans of the song too and we listen to it almost every time we're out doing errands. Even little Emma sings along : ) Anyway, I thought I would post the video so you could see the kind of light I wish I could get all the time and maybe the song will make you smile too.



On a related topic, in college I discovered the music of pianist, Jon Schmidt (so I've been a fan for awhile now ; ) Well, come to find out (through my friend Sarah), he has composed a piano/cello version of "Love Story". I wanted to include it here for you because it is AMAZING and so fun to watch. Enjoy!!

Double the Love

A friend from church had twins a couple of weeks ago and I offered to come take a few pictures, just for my own fun. These little darlings were wide awake when I arrived and stayed awake for just over two hours before they finally let me get to work. Well, it was well worth the wait. Aren't they beautiful and so sweet snuggled up together?

I've had my eye on these daffodils for awhile now, but we've had so much rain, I haven't been able to get out to photograph them. I finally got my chance this morning. After 3 days of rain, I'm grateful for some spring weather : ) I'm not usually a big fan of textures, but I thought it might be fun to add some to this image and give it more of an artistic feel.

On an unrelated topic. . .I've long enjoyed the words of Sheri Dew. My friend Holly linked me up with a talk she gave at the BYU Women's Conference last year. I've listened to it several times, read it a few times, and even used it in a lesson for Relief Society. Each time I come away feeling inspired to be a little better. If you have time and need a little inspiration, you can listen here or read here. If you're interested you can also download a free screensaver with images and quotes from her latest book.

Enjoy your weekend!!

Easter Weekend

This past weekend was really enjoyable. The Easter Bunny came on Saturday morning (trying to keep the fun stuff and Saturday so we can truly celebrate Easter on Sunday). Like last year, he brought buckets of fruit. He also brought summer pajamas.

Later that morning we colored eggs (one of my favorite traditions). We also filled a bunch of plastic eggs for an egg hunt in the afternoon. The weather wasn't going to be great and I didn't feel like going to the "big event" in town, so we decided to host our own egg hunt for our neighbors and friends. The kids had a lot of fun, it might be something we'll do again.

Sunday was a beautiful and sunny day, although it was cold. We didn't get pictures before church, it was just too cold. But I got a few when we got home. Noon is definitely not my favorite time for pictures, bright sun and not a lot of shade, but that's the way it goes : ) A kind neighbor offered to take one of all of us. Thanks to my mom for the girls beautiful new dresses. Later in the afternoon we watched a movie about the Savior and continued a long tradition of opening a special set of eggs that teach about the atonement, the crucifixion and the resurrection. Although we did a lot of fun things on Saturday, I hope my children are learning the true reason for our Easter celebration.

Letter Art

A few months ago I came across a letter collecting group at Two Peas. I was lucky enough to join and have access to lots of fun letter images. Since we had two of my brother's names for Christmas, I decided to make them some "guy art" for their apartments (Dredge is my maiden name.) I converted the original images to BW and added a lot of contrast to get a grungy feel. The printed size was 12x5, made to fit some black frames I found at Wal-Mart. Now the real question is...after 3 months did they actually hang them anywhere? ; )

Spring Break

Hannah's spring break officially started today! In honor of the day we had some very spring like weather, including clouds, sunshine, rain, & wind. I had told the kids it was supposed to be rainy today so when they saw it wasn't raining yet they dressed quickly and headed out to play. About 15 minutes later, the first raindrops started to fall and they came running in to get the umbrellas. I looked out the window a few minutes later to see this. . .


They lasted a few more minutes and then decided they'd had enough : )

The Celebration

I'm finally getting around to the photos of Ben's birthday celebration. We had a great day spending time together and enjoying Ben. He requested a race track cake, and although I'm not a great cake decorator, he and I were both happy with the result!

Ben had preschool in the morning and we made little mini cupcakes for him to take (see center picture.) I scanned some of Ben's artwork and printed mini pictures. Ben helped glue the art to toothpicks and put them in the cupcakes. They were a hit.

As for gifts, Ben had been asking for Star Wars Legos and a remote control car and lets just say he was not disappointed. We had planned to go the the park after he opened his gifts but he was too into the Legos. In fact here we are a month later, and the Legos are still the favorite. He's always taking the little ships apart and putting them back together.

Survival Mode

That's what I've been in for the past couple of weeks. It all started with a major snow storm (major for Richmond anyway : ) on the 1st of March. They closed school for 3 days. Pretty crazy for this Idaho girl to see everything shut down over 6 inches of snow!

Next, Hannah came down with the flu and ended up home the other two days of the week. Unfortunately, Hannah couldn't keep that little bug to herself and Ben and I were next. Ben ran a fever for six days and missed the whole next week of school. As for me, I had three days of fever followed by a couple of okay days then a relapse with some major sinus issues. I actually missed two Sundays of church in a row, which I don't think I've ever done.

Thankfully, Jake had spring break last week and was a real help. He's really so wonderful with the kids and did plenty of cooking and laundry as well. I'm just sorry we didn't get to enjoy his time off. This week I still felt like I'm recovering a bit, but I'm definitely trying to catch up. I hope March has been better for all of you!! And now back to more regular blogging : )

What 5 Years Looks Like . . .

Today we're celebrating 5 years with Ben! The day started very early with a call for mom at 5:30. Is it time to wake up yet? When I said no, he got up anyway and crawled in bed with me. But it's hard to complain about some nice Ben cuddles. So I thought I would give a little run down of a few of Ben's favorite's...

Favorite Breakfast :: Hot Chocolate and Toast
Favorite Lunch :: Ramen Noodles
Favorite Dinner :: Korean Chicken & Rice
Favorite Colors :: Black & Blue
Favorite TV Show :: Curious George
Favorite Movies :: Mulan & Kung Foo Panda
Favorite Treat :: CHOCOLATE
Favorite Day of the Week :: Saturday, because his dad stays home
Favorite Friend :: Clark
Favorite Sport :: Baseball
Favorite Book :: The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss
Favorite Outdoor Activities :: Roller Skating, Riding Bikes & Scooters
Favorite Game :: Sleeping Queens
Favorite Toys :: Cars & Trains
Favorite Song :: The Sweet Escape (Gwen Stafani)

I love my little Ben and I am so grateful he is mine. He brings so much joy into our family. He is a friend to all. He gives the best cuddles and I can't imagine life without him. Happy Birthday Buddy!

Looking Back...
{4 years}

{3 years}

{2 years}

{1 year}

{1 day}

Little Smiles

This little one was one of my harder newborn sessions. Not super sleepy and wow could that girl poop! Not only that, but it was very overcast and windows were limited. But I love it when I capture one of those sweet sleepy newborn smiles, it makes all the other stuff worth every minute. Besides, when they're fussy that means I get to love on them a little extra : )

Little Miss February

I actually took these images back in December so I could use them for my calendar. I forgot I hadn't ever shared, so here's a little extra Valentine fun.

And of course, the classic Emma smile!