Where we've been...

Have you met me??? I really really like to travel. So, wherever we live I have to discover what's "near" us. This time
we went to the Great Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. To get there we drove through, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. It was a beautiful place. We invited my parents to come out and see us in Illinois and then go on the trip with us. it was so fun to have them along and so helpful (as you can see from the photo above. I rarely had to sit back by the kids and entertain them. And grand entertainer Grandma Ruthie is and Grandpa Robert kept Lola happy and Brad happy when I took over that seat and snoozed for a second) So...The Smokies...
It was very cold when we went but we still saw some spectacular scenery.

 We stopped at this Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum and that's just what it was. I loved it for the artistic coloring and set up. It was quite impressive to see.

 The driving around brought amazing views and scenes.

 A 2 miles hike up to this gorgeous waterfall.

 There was this large meadowy area which you drove around and could get out at several spots.

 That road seperates North Carolina from Tennessee. I guess you could say we've been to North Carolina because you could stand in both states at one point. Kind of like the time we drove 2 hours over the most rocky terrain in the Andes to be able to say we were in Chile and Argentina at the same time. Another trip with Ruthie and Robert. We are adventures!!

After a week of fun in the Smokies we drove home via Mammoth Cave Kentucky. This cave is 400 miles long. We did the "easy" hike with over 500 stairs and narrow passageways. Brad and I carried Lola and EZ. I would definitly recommend going to the cave if you every can. It was amazing to see.

Then a stop at the Louisville Slugger Museum in Kentucky.

And finally, a quick trip to the Kentucky Derby. Something is so fascinating to me about horses and racing. Once I was accepted to this all girls college in Virginia somewhere and I was awarded a pretty good scholarship and was really considering going until I received something in my welcome packet that asked me about how many horses I owned and where did I stable them. I could've only faked it for so long!! Another time, Brad came home from studying all day and I was glued to the tv watching a horse race called the Preekness. I'm just saying...it's fascinating stuff and seeing Churchill Downs was spectacular. Come to find out both my parents would love to go to a race one day.

And look at Chloe. She did her second dance concert. This time we tried the cheerleading/tumbling class. She loved it and did so well.

 Here we are smiling, which was a good thing because about 20 minutes later I got my first ever blow out in the van and had to leave it at Baskin Robbins. Good thing our friends was there to rescue us.

And Lola, see the boot on her hand. She sleeps with it sometimes and almost always will crawl around with a shoe on each hand. Crazy lady. She is officially walking, too.

A commitment

We returned the day before Easter from an amazing trip to the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. First of all, who goes to Tennessee? I love to travel and am always planning our next trip, but as a girl from Utah, I can't say that I'd ever even inquired about, much less thought I'd be traveling to Tennessee.  It was awesome and so was Kentucky! (more to come)

As we sat in church on Easter Sunday we listened to this 17 year old talk about how he was in an interview for his dream job. The interview was going well until the topic of not working on Sundays came up. The story ends with the boy telling them that he would not, under no circumstances, work on Sunday. He would hold strong to his commitment regardless of the outcome. I respected this boy so much. What a strong character. 

So, later that night, Brad and I got talking about how special it was to be back in time for church on Easter Sunday. How many times does Easter Sunday fall right in the perfect time for an extra day for travel or relaxation? We decided that night that we would commit to always being in a church on Easter Sunday, (or I guess listening to conference in our jammies every 5 years or however the voodoo calender system works:))

 My sweet parents were still in town. They left before we had a chance to eat one or two of the 18 hardboiled eggs we made. I tried to make cookies with them the other day and realized they were my only pack of eggs left...no regular eggs. So i made soft batch, then later in the day discovered that another carton I had seen way back in the fridge that I thought had hard-boiled eggs in it was actually a carton of good eggs. It was like gold. So i made those cookies in addition, but halved the batch, so that was good, right?

Do you see those lovelies above? What to do with hard-boiled egg leftovers recipe #1
and how to healthify an already kindof healthy muffin. Go over to www.22bluestars.blogspot.com
if you're interested. I'm not sure how people do all those linky things to other websites, but I only wanted to type it once.

Miss Blue

 Chloe Blue, guess who loves you?

This little girl of ours turned 6 last week. She got a bike, a jump rope, and some fun barbies. 

I love her testimony. She is so inquisitive. She wants to be a volcanologist and is so intrigued/mystified by volcanoes. She loves hearing you tell her stories. She has the most amazing memory. I love hearing and watching her read. She is so confident and can sound out anything. She loves routine. She loves to be with me. She likes to be the center of what we are doing or talking to.

She has very small feet but is pretty tall for her age. She could jump on the tramp all day if we'd/i'd watch her. She loves carrying Lola around. She loves getting Lola when she's awake. She "understands" so much of what we say and don't say. She has such a kind heart.

 She is also practical. She decided rather than buy a 6 year old crown, "we should make one because you're just going to throw it away in a few minutes".

 I made the Rapunzel cake this year. I wanted it to be all things "hair" so a 9x13 cake was dedicated to the yellow hair and then you can see the rest. She loved it. And always love how much Brad loves the cakes.

Happy Happy birthday sweet Chloe Blue.

My birthday!

Good Morning Birthday. I awoke to Ez's little face right in front of mine saying, "come out here." Then he took my hand and led me to the kitchen where all my favorites were. A tray full of delicious gourmet pastries, chocolate milk, gerber daisies, new pink running shoes, new bracelets from Chloe, a homemade birthday card and my 4 favorite people. So then we ate and I may or may not have sampled every one of those pastries. Brad knows me...can't make up my mind and I love all things breakfast and sweet.

 I just think this picture is so funny. This was Chloe taking a series of me with my guy. Plus take a closer look at her birthday card to me hanging on the wall. I just love her creativity.

 Ahh...that's more like it.

 Then they made me a redvelvet cake and we indulged after a dinner of sausage and peppers.

 My cute friend decorated my van while I was in church. She is the best.

 we have had a lot of sickies around here. This was how we found Lola one night after she wouldn't stop crying and we got her out of bed, she just kindof passed out with her eyes open right on the floor.
EZ thought it was really fun to take everyone's temperature.

 

She felt much better on my birthday so we did the "cake thing" again.

So, I made this bag to help me organize stuff in my purse. This bag is for snacks so EZ can just grab it and choose something while i'm talking to the doctor or driving or on the phone or picking Chloe up from school. I made it out of the hood of an old lightweight hoodie sweatshirt.

I also have this blog that I basically posted a jillion pictures of projects or cakes we have done over the years. It is by no means a "craft blog" but maybe you'd find some sort of inspiration over there. www.22bluestars.blogspot.com

Lots of Lola Love

Happy Birthday Miss Lola Belle. 

 Look at all your teeth you sprouted during your 11 months of life. We started to wonder if there were any teeth in there at all. Your smile is getting even bigger with those new teeth.

Lola loves to be snuggled. She rests her head on my should all the time. She reaches out for dad when he is around. She doesn't like milk or juice very much but we're working on it. She doesn't love bows in her hair like Chloe did. She always yanks them out. She has tiny feet. She still wears those 3-6 month slippers. She can say "mama, baby, dank you," and various other words. It's so funny that we don't just sit and recount the words she can say, but I do know she says "mama" and I love it. She has an ity bity waist which I love to squeeze. She can cruise around the furniture and seems more confident in her ability to one day walk. She stays away from the stairs. Thank goodness. She loves to hold a marker in each hand. She loves to throw things down the toilet. The bathroom is now off limits. She loves tubs when she is with her brother and sister (in the middle) She loves her pink soft blankey and her new monkey. She has the sweetest personality and is quite a charmer as she smiles and tilts her head in a flirty fashion.

We love this little lady so so so much.

 This is actually what you looked like on your real birthday. We did a redo the next day and you were much much happier. I love how tender Chloe is. She takes her role as big sister very seriously.

And I take my role as momma very seriously, too. Love these 3 with all my heart.

 I am pretty pleased with with how this cake turned out. It was 5 layers and decked with beautiful pink roses. Chloe helped with every detail of her day. All things party around here.

 I'm going to have to say, her reaction to her cake with way lame. There were others who seemed to actually care about the cake and ice cream so we just gave this to her and moved on. Atleast I got a few photos.

 It wouldn't be a one year old party with out some friends.

Eating pistachios

 The other day, EZ and I sat down and ate a bowl of pistachios together. It was so fun to just sit with him and "talk". The next day we bought some more at the store. When he woke up from his nap he said, "i'm ready for some statues. After having him take me around the kitchen, in and out of cupboards, he finally said, "the things with shells." Ah ha! pistachios! This boy LOVES to be with me. He loves me sitting right next to him doing anything. My special boy!

 B-rad is such a romantic at heart. He makes Valentine's Day so special. We woke to a cute set table with little gifts for each of us. He is the BEST.

 I love a plate of valentine's sugar cookies. We decorated these and doorbell snitched some friends.

 Valentine's morning.
And Chloe had been busy in her room each morning "getting her surprises ready for Valentine's Day. Last night we went to bed with special hearts on each of our pillows and this morning she had layed out a special handwritten card for each of us (including EZ and Miss Belle) Mine is pictured below in front of my new cake stand.

100 triangles for 100 days of school. I love that she did this entire thing on her own. She just wanted me to sit and watch her.

I've been training for a half marathon and Brad snapped this of just the girls.

We started a new tumbling/pom class.