February 2017

We have had an absolutely beautiful February! There have been more warm days to play outside than not and lots of sunshine. Clara still loves to wear her mittens and sunglasses inside while she's "grocery shopping" though. She is developing her own sense of style fast.

With all of the warm weather we were able to try out Lexi's new bike she got for her birthday. Yes, she is wearing her ballet leotard under her clothes. She also has her own sense of style.

Clara was excited that Lexi got a new bike because that meant she got Lexi's old tricycle. Eventually she'll figure out the whole peddling concept, but for now she insists on scooting around with no help.

Lexi had some birthday money she had not spent yet and decided she wanted a tea set. Here is our bunch having their own little tea party.

Clara thinks that markers are for coloring on her body, and anytime she can she sneaks away and tattoos herself. This time Daddy found her.

The kids wanted to help Dave put together some chairs for our new place. I'm not sure he found them so helpful, but they were happy.

A much needed ice cream break one evening Daddy was working late.

Cole continues to lose more teeth, this time in the middle of Sacrament meeting at church. Technically he lost the tooth twice, once when it came out of his mouth and once during primary. The tooth fairy seemed to understand his note and left him some money anyway. ;-)

Lexi loves to be active. She's currently in tumbling, swim lessons, ballet and preschool, and would do a million other things if she could.

Clara spends a lot of time in the car with me these days, dropping off and picking up older siblings and running errands. Sometimes it requires a few more bribes than other times to keep her happy.

According to the kids, the biggest progress on our house this month was toilets going in! Clara ran through the house finding all the "potties" and yelling and screaming until we came to look. Cole was just as excited as Clara. I guess there's something magical about toilets. There was loads of progress on our house though - move in date is about three weeks away!

Look closely - do you see the little boots hanging off the bench in the shower? Lexi and Clara decided to camp out in the shower with Dave's phone one visit to the house. 

We also had a very quick visit to Albuquerque at the end of the month to meet my sister Shantae's brand new baby, Lily. The kids were smitten immediately. Lexi sang a never-ending lullaby to her and Clara has not stopped talking about her since they met. Cole's eyes say it all in these pictures. Last night he asked me if I was hoping for a baby boy and told me he was really, really, really hoping for a baby brother. He loves babies.

There was a new pile of rocks in the arroyo by my parent's house and they took the kids to go rock climbing. It was the perfect kind of "hiking" for them and they are already asking to go back.

Somehow Grandpa managed to make it to the top of the bouncy house slide and down again without the entire thing collapsing on him and the kids. Lexi was particularly tickled to go down the slide with him.

Clara has developed a new fear of bouncy houses and wouldn't go in, but she loved her time on the trampoline.

Grandma and Grandpa also took the kids bowling for the first time on base. I think Cole was the only one that waited to see if his ball actually knocked down anything, but the girls enjoyed rolling the ball down the lane (almost as much as Grandma).

January 2017

Our January was a bit less exciting than last month, but still busy enough to keep us all exhausted.

Clara has started "reading" to her dollies recently, and it is the cutest thing to listen to.

She has also jumped on the baking train with the rest of the kids. I officially can not make anything by myself anymore. Sometimes it's fun to have helpers...

We celebrated Cole's 6th birthday on January 7th. He was one happy 6-yr-old. He brought blue and green cupcakes to school to share, got a crown from his teacher (which subsequently slid down his face and gave him a paper cut on his nose, if you're wondering why he has that band aid), and got to celebrate with his family.

Cole's big present from Mom and Dad was a Razor Bike. It has gliders on the back wheels and he can make some pretty sick turns around the cul-de-sac down the street. He was also pretty excited about his new legos, shoes, and other presents from family.

Cole specifically requested a cake with green and yellow frosting (green is his new favorite color and yellow is Clara's favorite color). It was not the most attractive cake but he thought it was the bomb. That's all that counts, right? Clara was heartbroken that she didn't get to blow out the candles on Cole's birthday cake. It's a little confusing for a two year old when everyone's birthdays are so close together and she gets to blow out some of the candles but not others. Cole was kind enough to let her blow out the candles after he had blown them out once. He has a soft spot for Clara.

I love the way Cole is smiling at making Clara happy in this picture. It captures his sentiments towards her exactly (well, most of the time).

Cole is still doing karate, and it has been a good thing for him. He struggles with the discipline of listening to his instructor but is getting better, and the physical activity is good for him.

Lexi went shopping with me the other day and just had to get these outfits for her and Clara. She was thrilled to be twins with her baby sister and loves these clothes to death, mostly because she picked them out. I love that these two love each other so much.

More progress on our house! My life has officially been taken over by the process of building, but we really can't complain. Our home is coming along beautifully with minimal hick-ups, and is going to be done early!

This is going to be our front entry.

Our guest room shower. I'm obsessed with the soft gray tiles in here. It's hard to see all the colors in my pictures because there's not any lighting besides windows at this point, but it's a dove gray subway tile with a white accent wall that has a pebbled texture.

Our light fixtures are just starting to go in!

I don't think I'm ever going to 

My dining room ceiling (not totally done yet, but close)

Cabinets are starting to go in!!!!

My kitchen pantry is one of my happy places in this house.

Our flex room. The chevron floor in here is to-die-for.

My sconces to flank our bed. I'm in love!

On the wall opposite the sconces is shiplap painted in a soft metalic gray/silver. It's hard to see in the picture, but stunning.

Our master bathroom. My big freestanding soaker tub is going against this wall.

The skylight in our master bathroom.

Our master shower in progress.

The dutch doors to our gym in the basement. We can still see and hear the littles but don't have to worry about their hands getting stuck in the elliptical or smashed by weights.

Our downstairs laundry in progress.

Cole's room.

There's a secret door in Cole's closet that leads to his special room under the stairs. Whenever we go see the house you can find the kids either playing in here or on the built-in bunk beds in the room next door.

The main hall bathroom in the basement.

Lexi's room (the ceiling is a light purple).

The jack and jill bathroom between Lexi and Clara's room. Not finished yet, but I'm obsessed with the hexagon floor in here.

Clara's room.

My favorite bunch of trees on our property. It makes me happy to look at them. :)

We have had a very mild winter, relatively speaking (it was 61 degrees today - not really missing Phoenix winters right now), but this is one of our trees after a light dusting of snow this past month. When it snows and there is no wind everything looks like it's been covered with powdered sugar or dipped in white chocolate. Just stunning.