Snow and snuggles

It's been a long, cold, snowy winter in Iowa! With the snow finally starting to melt, I thought I'd celebrate my favorite snowy moments.......



It takes team work to move all this snow. Ella took it upon herself one day after school to clear away the latest batch. Thanks Ella!



Nothing like the pride of a
hard day's work!


"It was this high!" That's what we'll all be telling our grandkids about the winter of '09-'10!



Nothing left to do now but snuggle
up together and stay warm.

Congrats to all my Iowa friends for surviving this winter.
To all my friends and family out west; you don't know what your missing!

"It's a miracle swimming cure!"

When Claire was little she was shy. I mean, very shy.

When she was in Kindergarten she didn't want to participate.

She was too shy to raise her hand, too shy to join in, too shy to have fun.

When Claire was little she didn't want to stand out.

She didn't think she was brave or strong.

Well, look at her now!

Swimming has been a blessing for our family.

It has given Claire something that neither I or anyone else could give her... Confidence.

Today, this kid is proud. She is brave. She is outgoing. She is daring.

She has found something she loves.

She has found friends and camaraderie.

She has found her place.

I am so proud of my little swimmer. Not because she's good, but because she works hard at something she loves.

Thank you to the Walnut Creek Dolphin swimmers and coaches!

Oh that Avery.....

Avery has decided that the American Girl Doll Hairstyling Chair

is the perfect reading chair for a cute little 2 year old!

Claire's school concert

Claire recently had her 2nd grade music show.
Her music teacher this year is great and really had a "lively" show happening.
A good time was had by all!


Claire and one of her BFFs, Lexie




Avery jumping off the stage before the show. That kid!




The Walnut Hills 2nd grade class warming up




Claire's group solo. The show was about Saturdays,
and her group did the "Chore song". If only I could
get her to sweep the floor at home!

Reason #27 not to have another baby.....

Skiing! We had the great opportunity to go skiing with Grandpa and Grandma Johnson and Aunt Jamie and Uncle Kyle a couple of weekends ago. A great time was had by all!


Avery took to skiing right away. As she was flying down the hill between our legs she'd scream, "faster, faster!"







Claire, while hesitant at first, became quite the snow bunny within an hour. By the end of the day she could go up the rope pull and down the bunny hill all by herself!

She even managed to ski down the big hill by herself. Uncle Kyle was skiing ahead of her, "just to be safe."







Ella, our proud and determined one. That kid did not give up. She would fall and get right back up again. She tried over and over again to get down that mountain. Thanks to a very loving (and patient) grandpa, she managed to have a pretty good time. She is certainly an inspiration to us all in never giving up!

At the end of the day, we were tired but happy!

The best part for me, besides having a great time and watching my kids get to experience something new, the realization that I am ready to "grow up". By that I mean, I'm ready to start experiencing things that I can't do with a baby sling on. I'm ready to forge ahead into the school years. I'm ready to do all the fun stuff that comes with big kids and afternoons of activity and not napping. I'm ready to pack the trail mix instead of the bottles.

Thank you God for showing me how much fun being a big kid can be!

And thank you Jamie, for organizing this and getting us all "on the slopes" again!

Love is in the air

With February, comes Valentine's Day, parties and Daddy Daughter Dance!

Dave had the privilege of taking his 2 oldest daughters to Hope's Daddy Daughter Dance again this year. I love how excited they all get in anticipation. They love the dancing, the flowers, the playing and the candy! I love watching my husband enjoying time with his girls. I love watching their relationship grow and, of course, I love taking their picture every year and seeing them grow up before my eyes.

Fast on the heels of Daddy Daughter Dance is Valentine's and the school parties!

This year the girls decided they wanted to make homemade Valentine's for their friends. N0w, those of you who know me know, this sends shivers down my spine. I don't do homemade crafts! I can hardly cut a heart out, yet alone think of creative ways to decorate it. So, I set out to google "awesome homemade valentine" but Claire stopped me. "No mom, we don't need to do that, I know what I want to do." "So do I!" Says Ella.

Now, I'm no perfectionist, oh wait, I am. I needed to know what they were doing, how it would look, what was involved. God bless my kids. They just told me to relax and take them to the craft store. There we loaded up on red poster board (out of which I cut 50 large hearts!), foam Valentine stickers, lace doilies, and suckers. We came home, dumped it all on the table and had a great time cutting, pasting and coloring.

What I learned: creating gifts for our friends isn't about being cool or perfect, it's about making something from the heart that we can be proud of. Oh, and it also means giving mom a callous from cutting 50 poster board hearts!

Happy Hearts Month!

Sleepover weekend

One of my favorite things about being a mother of girls..... sleepovers!!!!

Dressing up, dancing, cheering, eating, giggling, laughing, pouting, then starting it all over again!

Thank you God for little girls!