morning hugs

I love morning hugs!! As soon as my kids wake up in the morning, we give "morning hugs".

We love, love, love to hug our kids!! Every morning before Todd leaves for work, all of the children give him hugs. This morning they all attacked him at once and I was able to catch it on "film"{okay, digital camera but how do you say that?!} I was ironing Charlies's shirt so the "big man" is showing off his diaper which makes the picture that much cuter.

classic father & son moment

I was so glad to catch this cute little moment of Charlie watching Todd shave. It's the classic "father & son" kind of picture. I'm so grateful to have a wonderful husband who is such an amazing example to all of my children{and not just because he shaves}. He is so kind and loving towards me and everyone he is around. He is always so willing to help with anything I need.

He is such a hard worker. And most of all he is dedicated to the Lord and His gospel.

up to something {2}

Charlie LOVES getting the balloons at the grocery store and everyone at the store knows it. As soon as he sees them he starts going crazy! Of course, there is no easy way of explaining to a 16 month old that the big shiny ones cost money...sorry Charlie!
After getting the balloon at the grocery store, Charlie was in heaven as he stomped in the water in our backyard from the recent rainfall. He was soaking wet and loving life!

playing in the snow

Okay...before I go any further on this post, I have to apologize for the horrible picture quality on these photos. I had my camera set to take pictures of stuff to put on craigslist and didn't change my setting for better pictures. Oh well!
We went to Williams, Arizona about 3 hours North of here for the weekend. Our GREAT friends, the Rolfe's, have a beautiful cabin and they have been so gracious to invite us to come play with them a couple of times.

The sledding was great! This is a picture of Marie and me at the bottom of the hill. What a blast!! Brenna took this picture of us but only after overcoming a mild sledding injury of her own.
Bless her heart! She was being so brave and hiked it to the top of the hill. No one realized that the part of the hill she was going to go down had lots of little jumps. She started down and began to gain momentum. She hit one jump after another and flew straight in the air and back down on her back. Once she stopped, she couldn't breathe and her back hurt really bad. She sat out for a little bit and then regained the courage to go again.
All of the kiddos were so excited to have a snowball fight. They prepared by making a snow wall and making a big pile of snow balls. It was "kids against parents" and we got creamed{that's the story they're telling anyway}. Emma Grace getting ready to go down on the tube!
Emma Grace chugging hot chocolate after sledding!! YUMMY!

up to something

Can't you just see it in his eyes? He's up to something....always! Charlie is a busy little guy. All day long he is looking for something to get into or something to climb on or a way to get another bruise on his forehead. My least favorite is his obsession with the toilet. Yuck! I have to lock the door to the bathroom sometimes. But that doesn't work out so well for the 3 year old that needs to hurry to the bathroom. So at any opportunity he is dipping his pacifier{disgusting}, dumping clothes or my notepad, or just taking a little swirl with his finger. When do they grow out of this?
This picture was taken while he was out on the back porch climbing on everything. It was raining that day so he went out into the yard to stomp in rain puddles, of course.
Today Charlie and I dropped Eliza off at Preschool and then went on a little walk with his little car. He sits in the car and I push him with the handle. When we got to the one small hill in the neighborhood, I pushed him really fast and then let go at the bottom of the hill. We were both laughing and he was giving me high fives and making his little noise that means "again". We did it several times. He's a little thrill seeker...watch out Disneyland!

guess how much this penny is worth...

... too much!!

This penny that is sitting in this dirty water came out of the back of my washing machine. It was clogging up the drain hose and had already made it's way through the pump destroying it in the process. You guessed it...because of this penny we had to buy a new washing machine.

The picture doesn't do justice to just how chewed up this penny became after going through the washing machines pump. I should have taken another but I'm feeling to lazy right now.

So from now on I will do a better job of checking for any loose change, any pens, and any polly pocket pieces that might do damage to my laundry or my machine.

The good news....I got a really great new machine!

gotta try 'em

It's not too often that I find new favorites in the cereal aisle or ice cream freezer but I found a couple and I have to share the discovery.

I'm addicted to this new Cranberry Vanilla Trail Mix Crunch and not just for breakfast. So good!

Todd and I have been eating the same Breyer's Vanilla Ice Cream for the past...oh...6 years. We put our own yummy mix in's in it{oreo's, brownie's, warm chocolate chip cookies}. But I've discovered "Cyclone Chocolate Fudge Brownie". Oh my...so good. Todd tried it after I had already had some a few nights before and he agreed.

If you're reading this and you know Dr. Brimhall...please don't tell on me! {lol}