she did it!!

yup my little dancer got on stage and did her thang!! i’m not going to lie it started out pretty rocky. it took some major bribing and me getting a little stern but all in all it was worth it! she was so brave and adorable on stage. i think we have a little performer! she was not so sure if she wanted to go up there at first but with her cousin abby there they pushed through it together. we were so proud to say the least!! good job rila + abby

~

as we were leaving riley must have been on a high because she got on this rock and wanted me to take more pictures. as i did she told me how much fun she had and how cute she looked. it was really funny!!

had a lovely weekend!

a lovely weekend indeed!

we had dinners with our family.

talking, laughing + wrestling.

then damon was wonderful.

on sunday

he made breakfast + lunch for me.

he cleaned up the dishes.

he got the girls ready for church.

he surprised me with a gift from the girls.

{a much needed manicure + pedicure}

we got me some cute chairs coming in june.

+ we enjoyed the jazz game together.

it was wonderful. thanks dame!

i love you!

 

hope all you mothers had a lovely mother’s day weekend as well!!

tagalicious

{love these tags by the way from every jot and tittle.}

 

Anywho, how to play this game of tag. Post these rules on your blog. List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

3 Joys
1. my children + husband

2. being creative
3. being active: running, biking, going for walks. love sunday walks-always have.

 

3 Fears
1. loosing family
2. looking out a dark window and seeing a man right there. (or amy t. - yea scared the crap out of me!!)
3. and yes i am scared of the dark. i’m getting better though. i still run up the stairs.

 

3 Goals (these are my current goals rather than long term goals)
1. do the provo half this year
2. loose 10 pounds + tone up
3. take some photoshop classes along with photography classes

 

3 Current Obsessions
1. i’ve been loving my yard lately. planting, dreaming big + seeing the results!
2. i always blog. along with that i love taking a lot of pics of every day moments.
3. i love to cook however i’ve been in a little of a slump.

 

3 Random Facts
1. i change my hair cut + color every time i go to the salon. i’ve rarely said do the exact same thing. i need change i guess.
2. sometimes i get the urge to want to bite. like if damon and i are wrestling i just want to bite him!! seems like it would feel good. sick i know. {update: I wasn’t the “biter kid” in school by the way!! haha}
3. i wish i taught yoga again. i use to + it was all i thought about. i never felt better when i was doing lots of yoga.

alright, i tag: amanda, cecilie, molly, britta + tiffany

 

 

 

{word of the month}

“If you want to be happy, be.”  ~Leo Tolstoy

i’ve been finding myself forgetting this lately.
luckily my girls have been helping me to remember
this with how happy and silly they are.
so the word of the month for may is:

happy, be happy.

just because

and because i haven’t played with photoshop for a while.

{love this photo taken by heather}

the look we’re going for…

  
we’ve finished our flagstone patio.

now we just need to plant a variety of

moss, creeping thyme + mint.

these pictures gave me just the visual that i needed.

i can’t wait to finish planting so that we can enjoy our yard!

pictures found compliments of sunset mag.

greenhouse love shack

am drooling over this greenhouse love shack.

look at the awnings.

look at the door.

look at the greenery.

doesn’t it look blissful?

i love the color mixed with old woods.

i love the variety of plants.

i love this greenhouse.

here’s a look inside the love shack…

what’s your color?

Your Power Color Is Magenta

At Your Highest: You energize yourself and push others to succeed. At Your Lowest: You feel frustrated and totally overwhelmed. In Love: You are surprised by who you attract. You’re a love magnet. How You’re Attractive: Open and free spirited, people want to explore the world with you. Your Eternal Question: “What is my next source of inspiration?”

http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourpowercolorquiz/

ran the golden gate

{photo taken from Molly’s blog}

was the most amazing thing i’ve done in a long time.

beautiful, breath taking + glad i did it!

best part of our trip…

sf pics

got back yesterday from our girls trip. it was amazing! thanks girls for a wonderful weekend + thank you hubbies for letting us go!

peace out

heading to san fran for a girls weekend. be back soon.

jim+pam={love}

i absolutely love their attraction!!

cherry blossoms

i’m in desperate need of a pick me up.

this is what did it for me.

isn’t it just so cute…

you can make them a la Martha.

i’m just jacked up!!

so i have an mri scheduled for tuesday, however my neighbor invited me to go to the chiropractor with her today after my dr. appointment. am i glad i did! i got x-rays taken and apparently my spine is messed up!! i couldn’t believe how crooked it was in the x-rays. not to mention my posture being totally weird. i guess there are 3 stages our bodies revert to after misalignment of a vertebra and mine is in stage 3 which is ‘messed up’ as shannon put it maybe she said ‘jacked up’ - i can’t remember now. anywhoo, it’s the worst one you could have. so my chiropractor put tension on some the the nerve endings in my spine and sure enough the #1 vertebra is what is causing me so much pain. my head was killing me as he pressed on that nerve. then he went down my back and he knew exactly the spots where i was huring. not to mention my shoulders and neck being hard as a rock from all the tension and pain my body has been in.

so with all that said i have to thank my wonderful neighbor shannon for taking me there! it was so awesome of her to take time out of her day and watch my kids while i found my problem {seriously thank you!!} and i think i’ll be cancelling my mri after seeing my messed up spine! i’m confident my body just needs to be realigned.

cupcake pops

ummm, heck yea! found these via martha. i watched the video on how to make ‘em, they look super easy. the recipe is here. i so want to make them for riley’s birthday. how cute are they?!! also the lady who made these has a blog. it’s so cute and worth looking at!!

wooden pedestals

I love these wooden pedestals from Pottery Barn. If I had them I know I’d use them all the time!! So cute and so on sale!!

why the lack of posts?

been having a hard time posting lately.

i’ve had a headache since november.

i have a hard time concentrating.

and now my days are filled with lots of naps.

the pain is frustrating me.

i’m now thinking i should go see a doctor.

maybe i need glasses or something.

{sigh}

*UPDATE: i’m going to the dr. tomorrow!! it’s all good. surprisingly i’m not too worried. thanks for all the concern!!

a notepad

so i’ve always been a fan of writing things down. including a ‘to do list’. i simply adore this cute little birdie notepad. you can buy them here for only $5.

our little outing

We took a wagon ride to feed the horses.
It was very windy.
We fed them carrots and apples.
Hadley thinks we saw dogs.
Riley liked the chocolate one.
She giggled when it pooped.
It was a fun little outing.

happy day

Came across this book and am dying to get it. The cover is just so inspiring to me, makes me happy and I want to know what else is inside. So cute and creative!! You can purchase it here.

Have a warm, sunny, happy day!

so funny…

I love love love this video. This kid is so cute!!

{family time}

For FHE on Monday we went to feed the ducks. Riley was feeling under the weather earlier that day but I could tell she was feeling better and needed to get out of the house. She HAD to bring her Dora umbrella and was so glad she did because it started to rain for a few minutes. Damon and I had so much fun watching Riley and Hadley light up as all the ducks came over to get some bread!! It was nice to get out. It was even better to be together.

two things…

First, check this out!!

Yup, my girl Jamie is giving away free photo shoots!! Go here to check out the details and email her quick!!

~

Second, not as exciting as a free give away but I posted my mom’s yummy chicken noodle soup recipe. With a couple cold days ahead you should make this cozy soup!!

nothing better

Yup, there’s nothing better than my mom’s homemade chicken & noodle soup. With Riley under the weather I thought this would hit the spot for an upset tummy. She is feeling a lot better though. Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments!! I’ll post this delicious recipe later…

You will absolutely love it!!

a long night…

Was a long night indeed. Riley was up with a tummy ache which then turned into throwing up and not feeling good. Poor Hadley thought we were having a party in their room and was so hyper!! We then had to ragulate by taking her into another room. She cried for a while. Riley was hurting and I couldn’t sleep because I was so worried that Riley was going to throw up again. Finally 3:30 rolled around and we all got some more shut-eye. Feel so bad for Riley. This morning she felt better and ate but now is on the couch feeling sick again. So we made a special sick bed for her and we are just hanging out inside. Feeling so thankful that we have eachother. Feeling thankful that I was able to have such a wonderful weekend listening to conference. Am thankful for our prophet. And am thankful for a warm home.

{word of the month}

The past few days I’ve been thinking a lot about what matters most. I’ve thought of my Savior, my husband, my girls, my testimony, my family, my friends and even my every day moments. I use to have this quote on my side bar and thinking of the word of the month I thought this was perfect. So the word of the month is, today.

“Live in the moment and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering.”
~author unknown

live in today.

make today beautiful.

cherish family today.

leave a legacy today.

be happy today.

be imaginative today.

learn something new today.

kiss your kids today.

call a friend today.

strengthen you today.

find something beautiful today.

say ‘I love you’ today.

be kind today.

teach your children today.

love your spouse today.

make today count.

What got me thinking about all this was a realization of not knowing how much time we will have with our families. We think we will always have each other but your today could make all the difference. Live today so that tomorrow will be beautiful.

bitten

Went to check out the sale today at Steve & Barry’s (everything $8.98) and picked up a ton of Sarah Jessica Parker’s line, Bitten. It was so great!!

My favorite find was this jean jacket…yup…$8.98!!

I also love this t-shirt I got. It’s so cozy!

an old door…

Found these pics via inspireco from Cottage. I love this vintage look of an old door, rustic emty picture frames, bright colored beds with bright picture frames. I love old chiped paint and odd shaped chairs. Old luggage, little lamps, lots of tables. The mix of random colors. I love it all. We’ll last Saturday we went to visit an old friend that happens to have a whole bunch of old doors and said that I could have one!! I can’t wait to go pick it out!! Thanks Lynn! 

basket + books

So I was looking on-line here and found some cute finds. I love this basket that sits on your stairs. If you know me or have been to my house, you know I have a special spot on my stairs where I just put things that need to go upstairs at the end of the day. So I think this is a great invention!! Then I about died when I saw these cute books. They are actually dictionaries but I would need one in every color to make me happy!! How cute!!

a riley moment

Well I guess last night I was having a ‘Riley Moment’ myself. About one and a half years ago I lost pretty much all her pics from when she was a baby except for a few. I was almost caugt up on her scrapbook when my hard drive crashed…we lost it ALL. I was a mess to say the least. I couldn’t even attempt to scrapbook her life because it would make me so sad to even look at what pictures we had because all I could think about was what pics we were missing. Well I guess time is all you need. I was almost in tears last night looking at all the sweet pics of her. So I mustered up the courage to scrap a few.
Here are some of my favs…

addicted

I’m addicted, yes…but getting a lot done! Riley loves this page
so I thought I’d share yet another one.

hadley

here’s another layout. it’s simple but i just love the pic.

{inspiration}

I am finally finding the inspiration that I am needing to continue to decorate my house. I’ve always loved the task of hunting for the perfect thing to go on my walls or thinking up the perfect thing for Damon to build or refinish. I am loving color and rusticness (if that’s a word) right now. And I love how it is all put together in the room below found via Black*Eiffel. The colorful pillow was found here and the sweet frames were found here. Now I just need to find time to scope out my favorite antique shoppes.
 

{free people clothing}

I actually love it all! I found this cute sight & I am now dreaming about this oversized tote. How cute is all the ric rac & patchwork?! You can take a looksy here for more adorable stuff. Enjoy!!

today

at that point…

Yup, we’re there. Hadley is now big enough to feed herself oatmeal. You think this would be a good thing but I have such a hard time with this. I don’t like the food in the hair thing or food missing their mouths by a long shot and the food going everywhere but in their mouths thing. But when I think back I remember Riley feeding herself pretty much everything at 14 months. So I have to stop babying my baby and let her grow up. It’s so hard though!!
 ~
Play group

Today playgroup was at my house. It was also bug day. So we decided to venture out and do some bug hunting. The kids loved it!! Riley and I made binoculars before the kids came and Riley handed them out one by one as everyone showed up. Then we talked about different bugs and sang all the bug songs that I knew of and went outside. It was so fun and so cute. The kids all claimed to see all sorts of bugs. It was really funny!! Then we came in to draw pictures of all the bugs we saw and they all got butterfly stickers. Riley was so excited and made it a point to tell me that she was excited to have her friends come over rather than my friends. She cracks me up!!

happy spring

Got some much needed scrapbooking done.

happy tuesday

Hit the pavement early this morning with some neighbors.

Felt great. Going to be a lovely day.

our Easter weekend…

Such a fun Easter weekend! Damon had Friday off so we went to the zoo! The girls loved it! It was so cold when we got there that I had to buy a sweatshirt to keep me warm. Of course when we got out of the gift shop it seemed so much warmer. But we had a blast. All the animals were out and about. Then Saturday we had the Sant Easter-egg hunt and the girls loved it. Hadley has been practicing putting things in a basket so she did pretty good! And Riley would not put that frozen, yes frozen corn dog down. She loves things cold. We also had an egg hunt at my moms. The kids went wild and got sooo many eggs! We all had so much fun watching the kids run like crazy through the house! And finally Easter Sunday was kind of crazy getting kids to church (as always). But all in all we had a wonderful weekend and had so much fun being together! The best part for me was watching the kids have so much fun, the girls’ Easter dresses and remembering why we celebrate Easter. Such a great day!!

Happy Easter

Love Riley & Hadley!!

{remembering}

Love this picture of little Riley last Easter.

random

This week has been so much fun. I’ve even been able to get a couple runs in! One of which was during Riley & Abby’s dance class. So that left Hadley & Boston to chill in the stroller together while Amanda & I got our giggles out running. Of course Hadley has her finger in her nose, she always has her finger up there!! And Boston is about to smile. Good times!!

Then Hadley is just too cute! She’s getting so big and so much fun.
Also, Hadley ate dirt yesterday. Whole mouthful. Apparently, she liked it.

This was today. I’m so glad that my cute friend Kim puts these playdates together every week. It’s so much fun getting together every week and letting our kids play together. This is Riley & Kanani playing with the twin neighbor girls. They just looked so cute!!

spring is here!!

Woohooo!! I love, love, love yard work. So yesterday we spent a few hours in our yard planting these beauts + tulips + two cute trees. Riley had so much fun watering them after I planted each one. She really is a great helper!!

puzzle dinner tray

How cool is this?! I love the idea of a puzzle that teaches your kids how to set the table & as they play with it, they will get use to where
everything goes!! Oh found it here.

stress reliever

My cute friend Shannon emailed this to me and I just spent way too much time doing it!! Thought you all would be able to enjoy relieving some stress as well. Manic mode seemed to be more effective for me!! Gotta love your bubblewrap - thanks Shannon!! Just click on the bubblewrap…

BUBBLEWRAP

feelin’ lucky

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

still think these are adorable!

for daddy

giving a shout out to daddy - we love you & miss you!!

oh, riley wanted to show you her broken microphone.

too busy!!

I’ve been so busy this week & have so much going on this weekend. Sunday by noon I will be feeling a lot better about things. I haven’t had time to even put up my Easter decor. This is the only thing I’ve managed to get out…my favorite spring wreath. Next week I’m laying low and going to do nothing, hopefully!!

I’m home

got back this morning from a weekend trip to Las Vegas with my sister & mom. It was wonderful! Thanks Damon for a great weekend getaway!! And thanks Tyler & Janeen for letting us stay at your crib! It was so fun to see you guys, your little family & just be together (minus the whole driving thing!!) It was great to get away to shop & relax but even better to come home to
happy girls, a clean house & a wonderful husband!

the bag lady

Growing up my family always called me the bag lady because I always had a bag with me. Empty or full, I always had a bag on my shoulder. To this day the bag lady lives on!! I still love ‘em!! With 2 little girls and traveling to cabins, pools & doing the Sunday get-togethers…I really think I need these adorable bags to put all the girls’ stuff in. How cute! Found them here.

all about comfy shoes

Found these sporty kicks and thought they looked perfect for Spring.

Found them here.