lovers you

Valentines day is pretty awesome. Not because I am spoiled, (i am.) Or because I've got a lotta love in my life (i do.) Mostly because it's a day of candy and baking. And I pretty much live off of candy and making a large mess in my kitchen.

So on Valentines Day it's a perfect excuse to make donuts. I do love donuts, and these were freakin real good.

We* crafted valentines for school friends and donuts for Uncle Hunter. We* frosted cookies and colored more pictures. It was a pretty great day to be a stay at home mom.  **(we meaning, I crafted the valentines and they wrote their names on the back, and I baked the cookies and let them frost a few. I'm not that patient of a mother...)

(Gus was there, but he still is blowing snot bubbles. And I don't like taking his picture when he is covered in snot.)

Then when I had scrubbed the walls of all the flour, Kevin came home early with flowers and fixed dinner. He never fixes like a real dinner, he's pretty good at pizza and scrambled eggs. But this was like real deal fancy dinner. He should cook dinner more often. dee-lish.

Kevin helped the girls make me the largest card they could think of. The inside was covered in their handprints. Which is pretty fantastic. 

It took us 3 days to come down from the sugar high of Friday, but it was well worth it. Thanks Tall Friend for making it such a great day. He put thought into the day, took effort with the girls and made me feel loved. Well done Brimhall, well done!

love love

Are you ready?

Remember how I tend to over do the travel blog posts? There are like days and days of blog posts for the days and days of dreamy vacations I went on. It's fantastic right? Right? Well I'm just adding to the fire here, cause this extra dreamy life of mine has me heading off to the land of the French with no children and no tall friend. Deb and I will meet Micall as she finishes her Moroccan adventure for another fantastic vacation filled with pastries and more pastries in Paris. So just get ready for the insane about of photo blogs that will come, I mean I upgraded my sad little 8GB SD card for a 32GB monster and I plan to fill it like I'm a tourist. Boo-Yah.

**Thanks tall friend for letting me run off to Paris with my favorite girls for a couple of weeks. You're a dream for taking care of those darling children of ours and watering the flowers. J'adore!**

Oh, and we jumped on the trampoline and you would have thought the girls were going to Disneyland. They were so excited that I was going to jump with them. I'm glad they understand how small my bladder is and how much I love them. 

 Excellent form for a non-cheerleader.

 Gus does not like the tramp, or the sunshine or the fact that his hair is translucent. poor kid.

love love

Easter Weekend

We celebrated Easter weekend just a week earlier this year; the girls will be at their dad's next week. Regardless of the date and time of the holiday it was celebrated none the less. We started the weekend out with an Easter Egg hunt with Grandma Jan. It was perfect indeed. Then we spent the day laying on the grass enjoying the sunshine. Oh how I do love the sunshine. The girls ran around and played with Grandma Jan and Grandpa Richard; throwing balls and carrying around their Easter egg baskets. It was so relaxing!

 

That silly Easter bunny didn't come when the girls woke up, he must have been running late as June told me; We were waiting for Kevin to join us. Then the Easter Bunny "sneaked" in while I was getting Stella's hair ready for church. She even heard a hop. He brought way to many presents and not enough candy. Really. I'm pretty sure I can control how much candy the stupid bunny brings, and well he just brought KitKats. Fail me. Also, why is it a Easter Bunny bringing Eggs? I just don't understand, and have no good explanation for Stella when she asks. Yes she already asked. I'm blaming Hallmark.

Then after wrestling the girls into their new Easter Dresses of course a few hundred photos were taken... Please notice the shiny white shoes. Kevin had a vision and little girls Easter Dresses include shiny white shoes. Not just leather white shoes, or silver or even pink. Shiny White Shoes.

Just as years past it wouldn't be an Easter Sunday without the traditional photo on the stairs. It wasn't as funny as years past because it was just us, but I'm sure we can remedy that next week.

After dining on ham and funeral potatoes we laid around watching Tangled and configuring my new work computer. Stella was struggling with a cough and fever, and it was terribly sad to see her sick. But at the same time, kind of nice to have her snuggled on my chest listening to her sing the songs from Tangled. It was all I could do to help Kevin understand that we can't just take the fever ridden child to the ER, to just keep on top of the Tylenol and make her comfortable. It was very cute to see how sad and helpless he felt. He just can't snap out of the "safety first" thought process. All in all, it was a great weekend! We relaxed, spent time with our families, spent time with each other, played and as you can see took a few photos.
Happy Easter!
love love

Party People

The month of December was a month of parties. Isn't it always like that though? Every weekend was consumed with a party here and a party there. But really, who doesn't love a good Christmas party?
Work hosted a fantastic Ugly Sweater Party at the DreamHome. I brought my Tall Friend and we had a great time in our saaweeet sweaters.

We had a little party with Ash. The best part about Kevin's family is that I get to play with Ashley at family functions.I promise to not miss any family function I am invited to! Plus Will and Stella are the best of friends.

Then of course, my favorite party of the entire year is the beloved Tolbert Family Christmas party. The menu and agenda never changes and I adore it. This year I got to participate in the nativity with all the great grand kids. It was a Christmas miracle that I was the virgin Mary. Stella and Ruby both adored Santa, and I mean who wouldn't? He was legit. Like really. Ruby tried her hardest to pull that beard off, but it wasn't going anywhere. 

 Kevin's parents were so nice to invite me and the girls to their family Christmas party. It was really nice to just sit down and have great conversation with them. They adored the girls and spoiled them. Stella has a lot of new favorite people in her life, and it's pretty fantastic.

Because Christmas isn't just about family, its about friends too, we attended another fabulous Christmas party with all the girls! Kevin and I failed at the ugly sweater theme, but enjoyed ourselves regardless!

Thanks to all who invited us to your party and thanks to the Tall friend for wrestling the girls with me. It was really awesome to see all of our family and friends!

Love Love