Valentine Decor

Brett and I put up our Valentine decor today.  Better late than never.  Right?

We put up our usual heart garland.  It's one of my favorite things.

I would love to make another one for the mantel.  If I'm very lucky I might be able to pull that off before Saturday.

 My favorite hand heart wreath.  

These are Grant's and Brett's hands from a couple years ago.

 Brett said, "Do you like my earrings Mom?"

Ha!  What a silly boy!

Tonight we will challenge our little family to show love to others through acts of service.

I did this for my primary class on Sunday too.  They have paper hearts to leave at the scene of their service.  Our family will do the same.

Happy pre-Valentine's Day!

Weekend things

I was so excited to see that Target has their swimsuits in stock now!  We go swimming pretty much year round here and were needing new suits for Brett and Camille.  Grant still fits in last years.  Woo hoo!  We walked Grant home from school on Friday afternoon and it was kind of hot outside.  So we decided to go swimming.  Here's my little pile of kids ready to go!  

"Stare into the sun and smile kids!"  Ha!

And here's the back of Camille.  Her suit was just a little too big for her, but I know she'll be growing out of it by the end of the summer.  So I tied the straps together with a bow in the back and it fits like a charm!  I just love those chubby legs and that tutu!

 Grant rocked at his soccer game!  He was super fast and aggressive and his coach worked with him a lot during the game to teach him different things.

 He loves soccer so much!  I think it's perfect for him because he's a kid that needs to be out running and actively doing something.  It's fun to see him get so passionate about it.  And he loves the kids on his team too.

 Camille loves watching the game too, but she really wanted to be out there kicking the ball with everyone else.

 Brett is still warming up to the game.  He didn't want to play on Saturday and was one of the crying kids most of the game.  He gets so upset when someone takes the ball from him.  

 Looking pretty defeated.

 But, hey, he got the ball here and got to kick it down the field for a while!

 Camille was still excited and clapped a lot for her brother!

 We got some of our flowers planted.  I have some petunias that still need a home in the yard.

 Lots of fun playing time in the backyard.

 Keith and I had our fun date to my friends concert.  Keith gave me tickets for Christmas and got us really good seats.  We had a great time and the concert was awesome!

Happy Weekend!

I finished making draperies for my boys closet.  Their door had been installed wrong (from before we owned the house) and it would never slide open right.  It was a big pain and I'd had it, so I took those doors off one day.  I love how it opened up the closet space so much!  I still need to get the inside organized, but here's the outside for now.

We took the door track out when we installed the rod.  Luckily there's no bottom track.

We put in a tension rod that also screws in on the ends.  This way it can hold up better to this heavy-weight fabric and to kids pulling on it.

 The boys were so excited!  And I'm excited to check that thing off my list!

 In other news, I took the kids over to a fun local park after Grant got out of school on Wednesday.

We had fun seeing a variety of animals.

 We saw so many rabbits!  And we had fun taking pictures of them.

 Then we dug for dinosaur bones.

 Camille loved digging and only tried to eat sand once.  That's a big improvement for her!  :)

 This weekend will bring us soccer games, BBQ, planting flowers, and a fun concert date night with my man.

Can't wait to soak up some sun!

Happy Weekend!

Weekend things

We got a lot of rain at the end of last weekend, which lasted through most of Saturday.

Keith was out of town and I was so glad to have the boys soccer games cancelled so I didn't have to take everyone by myself!  :)

And rain is always welcome here in the desert!

My Dad came by and hung out in Brett's tent for a little while.

On Sunday morning we woke up to heavy fog.  It was so awesome!

 We could barely see down the street.

 I hope it does this again soon.  It was so fun!

 After church, we went to Keith's sister's house to watch the Super Bowl.  Camille learned how to clap yesterday and she did plenty of clapping during the game.  And I got to snuggle with their sweet newborn baby girl!

 The kids enjoyed a movie in the toy room.

We're happy to have our dad home!  Camille is such a daddy's girl and only wanted him yesterday.  And I didn't mind because after a week by myself, I was ready for a break!  :)

January things

Early in January, Keith and I got to go on a hike without the kids.  

 There was still snow in the shady areas on the Superstitions from a couple days before.

And I don't want to forget about how I got a jumping cactus stuck through my shoe and into the side of my foot, just after we had finished talking about them!  Those things are crazy!  Keith rescued me and knocked it off with his car keys.

 We went to the other side of town for the baby blessing of my cousins sweet new baby girl.

She made her this beautiful dress!  This is the same cousin that made Camille's cute raccoon for her birthday.

 My dad kept the boys entertained with this huge rock outside the church building.  They pretended they were riding on a horse.

 We drove by the Phoenix Temple while we were out that way.  I hadn't seen it yet and it was so pretty!

 The tops of some of our trees froze so Keith gave them a trim.

 Busy, busy girl!

 I made this wild blackberry pie.  Oh, it was so good!  I started using this crust recipe and I can't get enough of it!  Plus it's always fun to do a lattice top!

 Here' some more food.  :)

I made this Baked Potato Soup for the second time.  It's amazing!  Totally restaurant worthy.  We had some friends over and everyone loved it.

 Brett wanted to sit in the high chair.  It's so hilarious how big he is in that thing now.

 We enjoyed some sunshine in the backyard.

 I was there too!  

My boys love taking pictures with my camera.  And I love handing it over to them and then seeing what they captured.

 Brett LOVES olives.  He has some almost every day with his lunch.

 I got new hair!  Ha!  Just kidding.

I was going through some stuff and found this wig that I'd bought for Halloween, but never got to wear it.  So I put it on and gave everyone a good laugh.  We put it on the kids too and it was so funny.  Especially funny on Camille, but I don't have that picture.  I'll have to get it from Keith.

Our days are full of soccer practice, piano, homework, naps, trying out the recipes that I've saved on Pinterest, keeping up with Camille, working on projects around the house (I have several going on right now), playing outside, working hard, reading books, lots of dishes and laundry, and cleaning up the floor after Camille eats.  We're staying busy and having lots of fun.