Memorable Moments

Frank has really been working on his counting lately. And since his b-day was last week, he's been counting how old he is.

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I'm 3, then I'll be 4, then 5.... etc.

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(Personally, thinking about him being so old makes me want to cry, but that's my problem not his, I guess.)

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But last night at dinner he was counting, then stopped.

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Frank: I don't like getting older, Mom.

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Mom: Why, Frank?

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Frank: Because I want to stay your Snugglebug!

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Oh! Could I love this kid any more?

Hair Success

Here on our blog I've chronicled my journey from a hair-stupid tomboy to the somewhat adequate mother of a hair-obsessed princess. And now I feel that I've truly completed that journey. In the past couple of weeks, I've had dozens of people ask me for advice or tips on how to do their daughter's hair.

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I've arrived!!!!

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I am very quick to lay all credit at the feet of the hair blog goddesses that I worship. But the really exciting thing is that I have found my creative groove. Every once in a while I borrow a hairdo from the blogs, but more & more I find myself coming up with cool looks all on my own.

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So Mom, Amanda, be proud of me. Emma no longer needs to beg for me to take her to Aunt Amanda's house so that she can have her hair done pretty. I've finally become a proper mother for Emma & her girly infatuations.

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Here are Emma's 2 latest favorites. The hairband one caused quite the stir at church last week. I even had the bishop ask me how I did it. Cool!

Little Bruiser

What happens when you roll over, somehow crawl over/under the pillows that are penning you in (without even disturbing them), and catapult yourself off the bed?

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Your very first black eye. To this day, I still have not figured out how he got over/under those pillows. I've even tried to re-create the situation, but he hasn't shown me his tricks. Oh well, no more time on Mommy's bed for Jack!

Monday Madness- LONG POST!!

Yesterday was a totally crazy, busy day. Since Frank was gone for most of his birthday, we had a party for him & his little buddies. And then in the evening, Emma's preschool held their "Promotion Ceremony." We were so lucky to have 4 of the grandparents here for that, THANK YOU for coming over! Emma told me last night that she felt so special to have so many grandparents here.

First, the birthday festivities:

Here's Rowley, Frank, Ben, and Jayden (who wouldn't look at the camera no matter how hard we tried to get him to.)

Once again we enlisted the help of the ball ramp. It's a whole lot more fun to bowl when you're not having to retrieve the ball from halfway down the lane every time a kid throws it.Daddy came to Frank's party for moral support, and babysat Jack for me, too! Mmmmm, pizza & root beer!
OK. Mommy didn't have a lot of time to make a nice cake, but I did attempt some bowling ball cupcakes. Too bad they don't look at all like bowling balls! The kids didn't care if they didn't look like bowling balls, though. Something tells me this kid likes chocolate!

All in all, it was a great party! No clean-up, somebody else did the cooking, and the whole party (minus the food) cost less than $10. Can't beat that!

{Just a little heads-up. There's a great website called kidsbowlfree.com. You can register your kids & they receive 2 free games of bowling every single day until September. It's awesome! Just go to the website & you can see if bowling alleys in your area are participating.}

Now for the Preschool Promotion:

Wow. My very own little graduate!

The caps & gowns are a little much, but who cares when your kid looks this cute?
Emma & Ms. Heidi. We love this teacher! She has done wonders for Emma. I know that the Lord made sure that Emma was in the perfect classroom, and Ms. Heidi was the perfect teacher for her. So even though we literally fell into bed last night & were totally exhausted still this morning, yesterday was just a perfect day.

My Kind of Mother's Day!

I sat in church yesterday listening to all of the women around me talk about the wonderful jewelry, flowers, and kitchenware they received as gifts for Mother's Day. And as I listened, I thought of the gift that my family got me.
Does my family know & love me or what? And to top it off, the ward young men handed out full-size candy bars as Mother's Day gifts. Happy Mother's Day, indeed!

Frank is 3!!!!

Friday was Frank's big #3 birthday.

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This child truly is the light of my life, and I'd like to list my 3 favorite things about him. (Maybe more, if it's too hard to chose only 3!)
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1. Frank was born to be my own personal salvation. He soothes my soul. I truly believe that the Lord sent this little boy to our family just for me. I can't make it through a day without him there to comfort me & restore to me what the world strips away. (No pressure for him, huh?)

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2. Frank is Mommy's "Snugglebug." I'm so grateful that he hasn't outgrown this yet!

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3. THOSE EYES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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4. Frank loves to share.

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5. Frank is AMAZINGLY loving to everyone around him, especially the baby. I have never seen a child capable of so much empathy & tenderness.

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I'll stop now, although I think I could go on forever.

If you can't tell, I LOVE THIS BOY!!!!!!!!!

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Happy Birthday, Bug!

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We didn't get to do too much celebrating on Friday because the boys had the Father/Son's campout that night. So we had a little birthday breakfast,

opened all of the stuff to have 1 killer T-ball game,
went to lunch & had a HUGE birthday sundae, and then the males of the family were off! Grandpa drove down & they all camped together in his little Scamp trailer.

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Frank had TONS of fun playing with his bestest friend in the whole wide world- Rowley. I really think that these 2 have been buddies since the pre-existence. They have been inseparable since they could walk. Rowley even decided that Frank's grandpa should be his grandpa, too!

The boys had fun climbing the rocks. That's Frank about halfway up with the orange hat on. And if that looks scary to you, Andy says that he was on his way DOWN from the big crack that's almost at the top. YIKES!!!

Frank also got some instruction on how to shoot like a pro. How cute are those little safety glasses?

Andrew & Grandpa had fun competing in the Cornhole Tournament (it's kind of a cross between horseshoes & a beanbag toss), but were cranky when they lost, so they came home. Men!
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All in all, it was a great couple of days for little Frankie, I just hope that he recovers soon. He's been taking 4 hour naps since Saturday!

I'm the Ugly Stepmother?

While "encouraging" Emma & Frank to pick up their room this evening:

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Emma (while whining hysterically): Why do we always have to be like Cinderella?

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I was also asked to be Ursula this afternoon while the kids played "Under the Sea" games.

No thank you!

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It's nice to know that my kids have such a loving perspective of their mother.