What could I do with $45???

*Go out to dinner with my hubby.

*Buy a new pair of shoes for the summer.

*Get some decor for my master bedroom (while I'm waiting for my bed to come).

*Send flowers to someone.

*Put 1/2 tank of gas in my car (yikes)!

*Find my hubby a birthday present (any ideas???).

*Order some new leotards for Sydney :)

*Go to the movies with my family and buy a HUGE bucket of popcorn.

***The list could go on and on...

But what did I ACTUALLY do with my $45???

Before...

After...
And at the groomers she has a sign that says "Yes, you may tip your groomer." What's she trying to say???

{TOP 5} Tuesday- D.I. Run!

This all began a few weeks ago when I talked to my good friend Adrie, who is in the process of selling her home in the Denver area. She is the mother of small children and knows how hard it is to keep a house looking decent, not to mention perfect for prospective buyers and agents. She told me that they literally packed up 60% of their stuff and put it in a storage unit. The interesting part was that she was telling me how much they did NOT miss all that stuff! She said her kids were totally happy playing with the toys that were left at home. This really struck me because sometimes I (and I'm sure all of us) feel like we're over-run with 'STUFF'. So I decided it was high time that some of our 'STUFF' hit the road. And truthfully it has been a very liberating and cleansing experience to empty and re-organize closets, cubbies, drawers etc...

Don Aslett (the cleaning expert) said: Dejunk- toss it, trade it, tromp it, give it away, sell it-- but get rid of it. It'll be the greatest housework reducing move you ever make. The formula is easy: Don't love anything that can't love you back. If something doesn't enhance your life then part with it. When? Now, today. I can promise that dejunking will change your life (& housework schedule) more than any other single thing you can do.

Amen!!!

So today the 'TOP 5' things that are on their way to DI (not to mention an entire load we already took last Saturday). These are in no particular order and if any of you want these items (don't laugh...some of these things are nice) just let me know, first come first serve :)


Two, practically brand new, king size pillows from Costco. The shams I bought were actually for queen size pillows, so I have no use for these.

A very cute (needs batteries) baby toy, that is perfect when babies are just starting to stand. It plays music and you stack the blocks on top and they each do something different. Fun toy, but by the time Norris baby #3 FINALLY makes it's appearance we will have to buy a different one. I'm not packing this around any more :)

An entire bucket of kids hangers. We have mostly resorted to drawers because there is a slightly greater chance that the clothing may get put away, the curtain rod is too high for little people.
Baby Halloween costumes. A chick, a pumpkin, and a sheep jacket (Kallie was Mary and Sydney was her little lamb). Same reasoning behind the baby toy...
Last, and certainly least, an assortment of books (including a Holy Bible someone gave us while we were riding our bikes through the cemetary) fleece blankets, and queen size mattress pads.

If there is anything else around my house that you want, just ask...I may give it to you :)

Last word from Don Aslett: Junk wastes our time and makes us inefficient, steals our love and affection, and stops us from getting to the things we really care about in life!!!

Welcome Henry!

Meet Kallie's birthday present, Henry the gerbil, the newest member of the family! And to answer a few questions:

*Yes, we have had gerbils in the past.

*Yes their lives have ended unhappily :(

*Yes, Kallie's birthday is not for a few weeks.

*Yes, I am the mother who gave in early because I was a little tired of the begging and pleading every day for this early gift...



Henry...



Kallie's new friend! Just think, if we get one more pet, we will have equal numbers of animals and humans in our house.

Beau...meet Henry! No Beau, you can't eat Henry, but you sure can jump high trying to get him!

Look very close at Sydney's forehead, between her eyes. That little circle you see is what happens when you squish the tube end of a gerbils water bottle on your forehead :)

Believe it or not, these kids assembled the ENTIRE cage all by themselves. Nice work guys!

Should we place bets on how long this one will last???

Roast!

We can't believe it, our fire pit isn't buried under snow anymore...yay!!! So to celebrate the occasion we decided to have a hot dog roast Thursday. It was so fun, until Beau's squeeky ball accidentally got thrown into the fire and destroyed. Sorry Beau! he, he




I LOVE that Sydney is wearing pajamas and pink cowgirl boots, and that her bare knees are sticking out and there's snow everywhere. Classic Sydney :)


Yum! (Actually it looks a little disgusting but you get the idea)


The Grand Finale---SMORES!

Compliments to the chef!

You know your kids are getting old when they can make cookies all by themselves (almost). I helped her with the measurements and I took the hot pan out of the oven...Kallie did the rest :)

Go Kallie!



Waiting...


Divine!

Layout

Um yeah...can ya tell I'm a little bored being at home with a sick kiddo???

Spelling Bee

Kallie came up with this idea of how to make spelling practice way more fun...PLAY-DOH! She asked me to put these pictures on my blog :) Smart girl...



And here's what Syd's been doing for 2 1/2 hours :( Sick girl...

{TOP 5} Tuesday!

Today's list is the 'TOP 5' things my next house will have that this one doesn't (in an ideal world). And don't get me wrong, my house is great and I love it, but a girl can dream right???

#5 (This is sort of a dumb one I admit) I want a TV in my kitchen, or one I can see from my kitchen so I can watch something while I'm doing dishes. I think this would make the time rinsing and scrubbing go faster. But don't feel too sorry for me because this is the view out my kitchen window!!!


#4- A 3 car garage would be nice, then we might be able to fit our 2 cars in and still be able to open the doors to get out. Plus, then we might have room for all the extra junk we don't really need :)


#3- I would love an office that is ONLY an office (not a play room/library/pretend school etc.)! I would love to be able to shut (and lock) the door, and know that no little people are stamping 'Wood River Dental' all over their bodies or coloring with highlighter things that shouldn't be colored. And yes, I know my desk is a mess but I decided to show it like it is instead of making you all believe that my stuff is clean and organized.


#2- My next house will have solid surface counter-tops (quartz or granite) without grout lines to collect who-knows-what and catch crumbs all day!


#1- I would love it if my next house had a big, bright open basement (this one may never happen). I think it would be so nice to have a place to store these...

and hide this...


I really do love my house, I don't have one single thing to complain about!!!

Also, I think it would be fun to do a "Parade of Homes" blog style. Whether you live in an apartment, a mansion or your parent's basement, I think it would be fun to take photos so we can tour each other's homes. Anyone game???

Easter Dresses

We actually went to church yesterday (I know you are all amazed) and I did a little photo shoot before church. My girls are at a very cheesy smile stage- I was getting a little frustrated, but I got a few good ones!









Have I told you how much I love these girls?!?

Saturday in Boise

Yesterday we went to Boise to see our friends,Jay and Kristin, get sealed to their sweet baby Ashlynn that they adopted about 9 months ago (I think :). I went to the sealing while Dan hung out with the girls. It was so neat to be there!


After that we got some lunch and headed to the zoo. The Boise zoo is hilarious because it takes about 1 hour to tour the entire thing. They are building an Africa exhibit right now, so when that is done you might have to be there for an hour and a half. The girls loved seeing the animals and I think they loved the cotton candy at the end even more!!!

Our favorite animal was the huge squirrel eating somebodies old ham sandwich. He was HUGE and he wasn't the least bit concerned about us taking his photo!


Kallie and Sydney thought they were very cool because the lady gave them each their own map. They kept opening them and asking, "Where should we go next?" As I mentioned before, the zoo is pretty tiny and I'm pretty sure you could find your way around without a map, but what fun would that be?!?


Kallie growling like a lion (while saying, "Mom, take my picture!")


What a cute little baby chick! Don't ya love the pink boots!


All Ears!


We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo...how about you, you, you...would you like to come too, too, too...'cause we're going to the zoo! (Sing along :)

Bowling!

Last night we met some friends at the bowling alley for Bridger Rand's birthday. We had a great time (even though we are terrible bowlers) and we had a blast hanging out with everybody!

"The Boys"


"The Girls"


Dan in action- nice form!


Josh- you look like a pro!


Syd and I in a self portrait.

2 Years In A Row!

Congratulations to my cute hubby who was voted "Valley's Best Dentist" by the local newspaper! Here are the articles that were in the paper (sorry they are bad pictures, I need a scanner).




Yay Dan!