the most crowded place on earth

it is often said that Disneyland is the happiest place on earth. well, it may be...but, during spring break, it is the most crowded place on earth! we planned a Disney vacation for our kids at the very last minute, and even with the crowds, we had a really great time!

waiting for our first ride...Peter Pan!

then on to Dumbo, which quickly became the favorite ride...

especially for the girls!

we made it see Mickey in his house...i've never seen the kids' eyes so big.


then to Pluto's dog house...so cool!

that evening, we took a break and went swimming at the hotel, as well as some short naps...then headed back to the park for some more fun!

here are the kids during the firework show! it's a good thing, too, 'cause none of them like fireworks....but i had to see them at least once.

i love the symmetry of this picture!

day 2: started with more of Disneyland. the kids always love a carousel ride...and we rode it at least 3 or 4 times.

then we headed to California Adventure for some of the trip highlights! what gets better than Lightening McQueen and Mater?! Clate was in heaven! the girls were pretty excited too.

we also enjoyed Playhouse Disney live on stage. adam laughed at me because he thought i was enjoying more than the kids...and maybe i was. it was so fun! we also watched some of the best parades i've ever seen!

here are my 3 beggers waiting for some treats while waiting in line for the Jungle Cruise.

day 3: waiting in line for Dumbo once again.

we spent most of this day on rides for mom and dad, but we made sure to fit in some rides for the kids too. halle did ask me later, "why did we only do fast passes today?" i think she would have preferred more rides for them. they were good sports.

this is what clate thought of Grizzly River; however, now he says it was AWESOME!!!

ending the trip with the purchase of souvenirs...not these hats, but they had fun trying them on.

if asked their favorite thing at disneyland, clate would say "the tire ride" referring to Grizzly River, halle would say the carousel, and chloe would say Dumbo.

as expected, the kids have been asking to go back since the day we got home! maybe in 2 years!

keepin' mom on track

my little chloe had a bit of a diaper rash today and during sacrament meeting it burned when she peed and she started screaming and saying her "bum" hurt. i didn't have any desitin with me, so i decided to take her home. adam stayed at church with the other two. i figured that i would change her and put her down for a nap, and then start on dinner. as soon as i started to put her down for a nap she said, "i go back to church." i told her that we were going to stay home and take a nap instead. she insisted, "i go back to church." i asked her if she wanted me to rock her; she said yes. after a minute of rocking, again she said, "i go back to church." again i tried to convince her to take a nap. then, with a big smile on her face, she said, "mom, bum all better. i go back to church." i couldn't keep battling with my little girl who just wanted to go back to church. i told her that if we went back she would have to sit very reverently. again with a smile, "i will! i sit reverent." so we headed back to church for the last 20 minutes of sacrament meeting. what would i do without this little girl in my life. i love her so much!

happy easter...a week late

i did it! i decided to make the girls' easter dresses...and i think they turned out darn cute! too bad they didn't get to wear them on easter. since easter sunday fell on general conference, they didn't actually get to wear their easter dresses until the following week. easter snuck up on the easter bunny this year and he didn't quite do his job, but we had a good morning with grammie and pa and enjoyed listening to general conference...AND got on our way to our Disneyland vacation.

we did have an easter egg hunt on saturday...the kids made sure i didn't forget that.

and this is just a cute picture of the girls...it makes me smile when i see them happy together.

exclusively mine

you know what i like most about homemade clothing? usually, the piece is the only one like it in the whole world. it's more exclusive than any "exclusive" line of clothing. it's exclusively MINE! i remember back in the day, at least as i remember it, when wearing homemade clothing was not cool, and yet it seems to me that it's a pretty popular thing these days. not that i'm trying to be cool or popular, but i really enjoy making things for my girls. things don't always turn out quite as planned or quite as cute as i hoped, but sometimes i am successful. and then, i wonder why i don't make all of their clothes. (acutally, i know why i don't...i'm not nearly talented enough.)

anyway, a trend these days is to make a dress out of a pillowcase. sounds easy, right? it is easy! and they are SO cute! instead of shopping for a pillowcase that i liked, i decided to find fabric that i liked and make (almost) a pillowcase and then make the dress. which i did...and this is how it turned out.

this was so easy, i might just make both girls new easter dresses....we'll see!

what else happened in february???

first things first...february before march. so what else happened in february???

i turned 33! life is good and i am happy. i got to make my own cake; chocolate with chocolate frosting...mmmm! and then got to enjoy it with my favorite people (including adam, not shown).

Chocolate cake makes everyone smile!

then, we enjoyed a pink breakfast for valentine's day...always a fun treat! pink waffles, pink eggs, and pink milk!

chloe decided that cutting paper was her new favorite activity.

clate's drawings and coloring are becoming more and more interesting. here is our house and family...i love it!

apparently, he learned about rainbows at preschool, and he drew just a few of them for me...everyday.

and finally, halle got her first real haircut. she was so excited about it and it turned out really cute! many thanks to grandma-dell, who came to help mom with the scary task.

she has more bounce to the curls again!

can you spy something green?

march came and the kids were ready for st. patrick's day. clate thought he was supposed to wear green everyday so he wouldn't get pinched; it was quite a challenge to get him to wear anything else. he was also excited to help decorate the house. when i was too slow and getting the job done, he decided to do it himself. one day while i was cleaning, i started to pick up all of the toys in the living room. clate immediately told me to put them back...they weren't toys, they were decorations. he had gotten many of his green toys and displayed them on the shelves in the living room. he was so proud of his work, i had to let them stay!

can you spy the green? (sorry, not the best picture.)

love was in the air

before i forget all of the fun things my kids have been doing lately, i better write about down...and that's what my blog is for, right?

last month, for valentine's day, all of my kids got into making valentines. about every day for the 2 weeks before vday and for at least a week or two after, my kids made valentines for anyone and everyone. clate learned how to draw hearts at preschool and i taught him how to cut out hearts, and he became a heart-making machine. halle and chloe would have clate draw them a page full of hearts and they would color them OR they would put sticker hearts all over a page. they couldn't get enough of it! i, of course, couldn't keep every valentine they made, but i tried to hang up some of their favorites.

Here's the collection that ended up on our bedroom wall.

This is a picture of me...just beautiful.

He made this at school and could hardly wait for us to open it.