New spot

She likes to hang out in the bottom of one of the kitchen stools. It's her own special place!

Listen!

I think it's so cute how she mimics me and puts her hand up by her ear to really listen to something. After breakfast, we get dressed and hang out on the porch for a while. We usually get to see big trucks (garbage truck, recycling, etc.), the school bus, dog dogs going for a walk, and other exciting things.

Cardinal's fan

She wore this super cute Cardinal's dress yesterday and it was a HUGE hit. People love a little Cardinal's fan!

Blackberries!!

It is clear that Violet LOVES blackberries.



It is also clear that we need a good stain remover.

Calling Grammy

Violet had so much fun with Grammy while we were at the Lake that she keeps calling her on her new phone. My mom is welcome to come back and babysit anytime! They had a GREAT time together and while my mom was here she: got us all new camelbaks, fixed our vacuum cleaner I didn't realize was broken, and scored an awesome little kitchen complete with groceries and a shopping cart at a garage sale. Go mom!!

Both videos were so cute so I posted them both :-)

trip to the Lake

Over the weekend we took a super fun trip to the Lake of the Ozarks with the Shooks. We stayed in a condo right on the lake and it was great! We went mini-golfing, hung out at the pool, enjoyed margaritas, and napped. We came back refreshed and - it was just what we all needed!

Enjoying the screened in porch


We took a bet on how many kids we'll have combined if we come back in exactly 5 years. The popular guess was: 5! The addition of the Shook twins later this year we'll be a good start - hard to believe we'll have 3 kids between us by Thanksgiving!! Another adults-only vacation is definitely in the future for all of us.

Deals this week

I'm so pumped for couponing now! I got all of these things, things we really do need and will use, for $10.50!!


-2 6 packs of paper towels
-2 80ct boxes of Snuggle dryer sheets
-3 bars of dial soap
-hand soap
-shave gel
-3 tape dispensers
-1 3 pack of gum

The paper towels alone were $10, so basically I got everything else for free! And I still have $2 extra bucks to use at CVS like cash on my next purchase. Woot woot!

Lazy Sunday

All of the rearranging of schedules has been worth it. Making Sundays our true family Sabbath day is so rewarding. Going to church on Saturday nights and moving our serving schedules to Saturdays has made for busy days. A day like today makes the busy week so worth it.

Continuing her long nap on the couch with mom with dad snoozing in the comfy chair nearby...


Time to put my bathing suit on and have some party time in the bath!

Mother's Day

I felt so special on Mother's Day this year! I got to sleep in and when I woke up at 8! a handsome man and cute toddler brought me breakfast in bed! It was delicious and an excellent way to start the day.


We went to the park and it was glorious. Lots of smiles and giggles and just a great day hanging out with my two favorite people.

Botanical Garden s

We went to the Botanical Gardens last week with some friends and had a great day. The weather was perfect, the babies were in good moods, and there were plenty of things for Violet to point at and ask "dat?"




Check out the ducks, mom!

coupons

I went to a coupon class last week and put my new skills to use last night. I'm pretty proud of the deals I got through clipping coupons, using helpful websites, and buying the right combination of things. I was happy to go to Walgreens and get things that we actually need and use and to save so much money. It was pretty exciting :-)

I got all of this for $11!!! (I paid $24 but got $13 in register rewards for Walgreens which I used like cash in my next transaction! So net was $11. The retail price for everything is $50!)



-2 12 packs of toilet paper
-Pantene Pro-V shampoo and conditioner
-Tylenol Precise cream for achy muscles (it ended up being free so I just thought we'd try it)
-Gum Eez flossers (also free)
-Dawn dish soap
-Gillette razor with 2 cartridges for Nate
-Bic Soleil razors for me
-Skinny Cow snack bar

Nerds

I didn't realize it until we were in the middle of our Little Gym class. I wondered why everyone was smiling extra big and kind of giggling at us this morning. I saw our reflection in a window and noticed we were accidentally wearing the EXACT SAME OUTFIT. We've worn the same color almost every day recently but today was ridiculous! I felt like such a nerd!!