{snow}

we finally got enough of the white stuff to go sledding!

aubrey preferred the calmer slopes in the backyard.

playing in the snow at home can be fun too...

because it usually always involves hot chocolate!:)

have a happy day,

cindy

{Janey Turns Eight}

our sweet little janey brooke is eight!
how in the world did that happen?
of course we made our favorite chocolate sugar cookies to share with her class.
and she was very methodical about her m&m placement.:)

this is janey looking oh so janey-ish as they sang "happy birthday to you".
her favorite part of her classroom party was getting to lead the game "heads-up 7up".
remember that one??

her class has been studying the weather.
on her birthday it was her turn to present the weather report to the class.
i love this shot of her all bundled up in the morning practicing.

and look what she got to report...
our first real and so far only substantial snowfall of the winter and it came on her birthday.
she kept saying all day it was God's present to her.:)

i love this progression of pictures.
between janey snacking on snow (?) and aubrey losing her hat and being shielded and rushed inside by her sisters...it's cracking me up...funny sweet stuff.

i knew it was too cold and windy outside for aubrey, but sometimes us mammas just have to let them figure things out for themselves don't we? it's soooo much easier to wait it out 5 minutes till she wants to come in on her own then to sit and tell her no it's too cold and listen to her cry for an hour while her big sisters play outside.:)
sometimes we really do have it all figured out don't we?
sometimes.

eight was the year of the horse....stables, black beauty books and model horses.
and some other goodies too.

janey's party theme was cupcakes.
we painted canvases, played games and decorated our own cupcakes.
lots of girly fun.

 the cutest mason jar lids right!!!??? ordered them here.

we celebrated again that evening with our neighbors.

and for some reason my camera and i were not getting along.
sorry janey.

can i blame it on a day of sugar overload??

we love you so very much janey brooke!
you are a hard working, spunky, snuggly, love filled little girl.
you amaze us every day with your mind and your heart and we are so very blessed to know you and be your parents.
we hope you feel our love every day!!!


{Janey Turns Seven}

{Thirteen Years}

happy anniversary to us!!
13 years....wow!
seems like only yesterday, really!

we celebrated our anniversary by doing the things we typically do on a monday.
drop the big girls off at school
panera
grocery shop
lunch at our favorite mexican place
but we would look at the clock throughout the day and say "what were we doing now?"
it was sweet and simple and perfect.
(well maybe not perfect i would have loved to be in a tropical place with the sun on our shoulders and sand under our feet...but it was pretty close):)

dave surprised me with beautiful flowers.

and made a wonderful dinner

(of course he tweaked it a bit so let me know if you want the updates)

janey has tumbling on mondays so we were eating a bit later then normal.
after their showers the girls were playing hide and seek upstairs with aubrey.
our soup was ready but their grilled cheese was not. we looked at each other and decided to sit down and eat, just the two of us. it was the closest we were going to get to a babysitter i guess!

we took a family pic before bed.
first time we had used the tripod and timer so it took a bit.

our three silly, squirmy monkeys didn't help either.

throw in the learning curve for the cameras live view and self-timer and we just gave up

yes dave turned his eyelids inside out...totally gross!

happy day
happy life
happy anniversary
i love you baby

{twelve years}

{thankful for}
1. 13 years
2. those words "how can i help you?"
3. having a family
4. mexican food
5. love

{Weekend Glimpses}

you know that kind of happy feeling you get when you feel like you are ready to bust out of your skin.
that's the feeling i have had the last few days.
i love it.

why so happy...not really sure...
~janey's birthday party is coming up and i feel prepared.
~we have 24 frames on our dining room table waiting for paint to create our new picture wall
~i have the paint and the colors are fun
~i have a new word of the year and a little craft project that goes a long with it
~this new song on my blog...play it loud and you'll know how i feel!!:)
life is good....and happy!

...back to the weekend...

the girls had friends over friday after school.

the girls stayed for pizza and we all went to a school function together.

bounce houses

popcorn

cake walk

it was fun.

and we got to be the cool fun parents!!:)

instead of the ones always reminding them about homework and bedtimes.

i liked that.

we had breakfast together at panera on saturday and then got the oil changed and the car washed.

exciting stuff i know.

i love a clean car with new oil.

i swear it drives better!:)

janey had a girl scout function and riley played with a friend while i shopped for frames.

i think i must have bought 50... ok...maybe 20.

the girls had another friend over on saturday for a pajama movie night.

they wanted to watch in the basement hideout which meant dave and i could still watch our tv....score!

cool parents who still get to watch their own show.

all we had to do was provide the popcorn and m&m's.:)

sunday we relaxed a bit, shopped for party favors and worked on the picture wall.

it was a good weekend.

a happy one for sure.

you can tell i didn't pick the camera up.

so with janey's birthday coming up here are some pics of baby jane.

have a happy day,

cindy

{thankful for}

1. happy days

2. a plan that comes together

3. fun

4. friends

5. love

{Happy New Year...A Photo Recap}

i have seen so many wonderful photo collage recaps out there i thought i would give it a try.

of course i'm a bit behind.

i think this post would have been better on january 1st:)

there's always next year right?

i have to admit...i'm a bit excited...i think my photos have improved a little. :)

{happy new year}

what a blessed, blessed year

have a happy day,

cindy

{Pie, Cupcake Jars, and Crafts}

happy thursday!
when my alarm woke me up this morning i had the thought to turn it off for the weekend...since it was finally friday. again in the shower i thought, wow i am soooo glad it's finally friday.  then it hit me....wait a minute...bummer...only thursday...but thursdays can be good too right?

check out the pie my baby made.

sweet potato pie from a show he saw on diners drive-ins and dives.
he even brought his "heat gun thingy" home from work to toast the marshmallows...now that's a passion for cooking.

we have been having the most beautiful sunsets this week.
i have no idea how to truly capture one.

the skies were on fire with color.
it was so beautiful.

speaking of beautiful...
check out this little cutie i just added to my counter today.

i saw a jar like this filled with cupcake wrappers floating around blog land somewhere and i just loved it the minute i saw it. this jar was from walmart for $7.50 and most of the liners i got from michaels for $1.50 a pkg.  every time i look at it i smile.:) perfect decoration for janey's cupcake party next week!

this little sweetie has really been into crafting lately.



of course we pick the sunniest place in the house to craft, which is great for keeping warm but not so great for photos.

i love how she babbles to herself when she works..."dease (these) are my magic scissors and dease are my magic markers"

"let's see...."

"right side up so you can see the color"

still with me??
i got a little carried away i think....

do my photos look crystal clear and bright??? probably not, cause i have no idea what i'm doing but i am shooting them with my new Christmas present. dave surprised me and i love it. (thanks again nicolle for the behind the scenes sneaky assistance) in other exciting news, i am signing up for a photography class at our local community college. it's only a couple of hours for two saturdays, but i am hoping to learn a lot.

see...thursdays can be good too.:)

have a happy day,

cindy