Tornados!

I crochet snowflakes... aren't they pretty!

I've come to the conclusion that tornado's have nothing on the life of the average mother. Tornado's may be able to rip through buildings and make complete havoc of everything laying in it's path making sure all the while to not miss anything important, but Mom's know how to do the SAME thing and clean up the mess they leave behind as well as the mess those two little tornado's left that came after them (aka kids).
In the past two weeks if you saw the condition of my house I apologize. That tornado I referenced earlier was what the house looked like and it did not receive any repair for almost a full week. The laundry has piled up for almost a week and a half and that results in two days worth of non-stop washing. The toys in the toy cupboard got organized but that meant that my two little helpers also discovered that when the cupboard is empty they can both fit inside it and play flashlight games. Guess what cupboard is never full of toys anymore. All the duties aside we have had a fun few weeks.

Last week was a blurr. I honestly can't remember most of what happened. Not that it wasn't important, I just have decided that I'm too busy to remember anything aside from, remembering to occasionally feed and bathe the children.

The week last week included some fun things like playing in Loveland! lots and lots. Ben and I got to go out to dinner alone on Saturday in between his meetings. The girls and I played with my family for the day and enjoyed just getting to relax. I also did the Lundmark's family photos that Friday which turned out pretty well. I defiantly need more practice on shooting a whole family vs individuals but in the end I felt like they turned out nice. And the most important highlight from the week last week was lots and lots of bike rides/walks for Eliza and myself. Eliza thinks her trike is the coolest thing in the world and it is so much fun for us to get out of the house and get her to ride for a while. She's starting to get a little more courage when she rides and goes a little faster. But she still insists on walking her bike across any driveways that slope down to the street level.

Alayna is really walking these days! She has been taking steps here and there for a while but now she is really walking. At least if she doesn't have to get somewhere quickly she'll walk. but if she wants something fast she just crawls because it's still a lot faster because there is not nearly as much falling involved.

This past week has been really busy. I don't even honestly remember everything we did! There was another attempt made at the library story time again this week. We haven't been in months but the girls did really well this time around. We also had a fantastic park/playdate with a new family in the ward. The Reedy's they also have two little girls who are about 6mo younger than my girls (2.5, and 6mo). I loved the adult social time with someone my age and in my stage of life and the girls sure seemed to enjoy one another.

Friday Ben had the day off. We were planning on a trip to Idaho to go to my beautiful cousin's wedding but ended up not being able to go so Ben just got to have a day at home! We really enjoyed the time just being together and I got a chance to run around without the girls. Eliza had a blast at playgroup and Alayna got to have normal naps for once! It was a wonderful day!

Saturday I got to go to a babyshower with Mom Merritt. I enjoyed the time out with her! We also did a run to the store for a beautiful shall for her and somehow I walked out of there with a beautiful dress and tights! (thanks mom!) On a side note... I looked FANTASTIC at church today ;-) That's about it for this post that feels like it's getting longer by the second!

Do you remember who Santa is?

Well it's been a normal week. Now this happened in so long that it might just be debatable of what is actually normal anymore.
We've had some wonderful and warm weather this past week so the girls and I have taken advantage of it while it lasts. I love fall so much! the crisp mornings and perfect weather in the afternoon makes it ideal for playing outside without freezing or roasting! There's that and the excitement of the changing trees and holidays that all seem to be squished into the next few months.

Speaking of holidays: here's my happy birthday's to people who I can't remember if I mentioned them before: Happy birthday to Nana (Sept 29) Bruce (Oct 1) Jaron (Oct 5) and in the week to come Heather and Heidi (Oct 12)! I hope they all had fantastic birthdays!
Now back to my week;

Monday was filled with cleaning, and one very fun trip to the swimming pool. Alayna has been having some very poor sleeping habits and it's getting to the point where her mommy is going to snap and kill someone. So a trip to the pool and a couple of good naps she finally slept a little better that night. That said it made for one difficult day for Eliza who was woken up at 6am and not allowed a nap all day.

Tuesday we made a trip to Loveland. in that trip we hit up the Farmers Market (I sure do enjoy those!) went to Hobby Lobby, Arc thrift store, and Wal Mart. We also worked on getting some packages out in the mail for Jaron's birthday etc. Both girls were just angels the whole day. Grandma Waite just about gave Eliza a heart attack when a car in the parking lot almost backed over her (didn't see her) and Grandma came running after her screaming.
Funny story from that day: walking into Hobby Lobby their entrance displays were out and there was an incredible frame that my mom and I stopped to admire the frame, Eliza being very curious these days comes over to see what we're looking at. She promptly points up at the picture and says: "That's Santa, I DON'T like him!" we nearly busted a gut laughing at her the poor old lady walking in at the same time also enjoyed the comment to the point of giggles!

Wednesday was going to be another fun day. I was planning on a bike ride or the zoo or something fun for the girls... well neither of those happened. The wind was terrible so I didn't want to deal with the bike and cart and the zoo just sounded like too much work. So we ended up going on a walk (Eliza's new favorite thing to do!) our walk was just about a mile long and it took us about 2 hours to complete. It was a special treat for Eliza, she got to ride her trike the whole time but let me tell you those are SLOW little bikes. AND when your 2 yr old insists on walking the bike across every sloped driveway, stopping for every daisy to wish on, and taking the time to let Alayna blow one too a mile long walk can take forever! Good thing I was in just the right mommy mood for a good long walk with my two wonderful girls!

Thursday morning the girls spent the morning with Grandma Merritt while I ran errands kid free! It was a wonderful trip out for a little while. I sure love those mornings when I can get so much done. It never ceases to amaze me how much faster a trip to the store is when you don't have to load and unload kids or beg them to keep up with you as you walk! I also attempted to ship a package to a friend but that didn't happen thanks to the cost (boo on international shipping!)

Friday was playgroup for Eliza. She had a blast while Alayna and I made a vain attempt at getting my homework done. Alayna wasn't very much help. In the end it got done... sometime around 10pm that night, but it got done. Other than that the day was spent cleaning up after my two mini tornadoes! Alayna has recently discovered the joy of emptying cupboards and Eliza of course cannot miss out on the fun. So if you ever walk in my house and there are neat little lines of blows, lids, pots, pans and everything else they can reach then you'll understand why.

Saturday I took the girls and we went on a long morning adventure so Ben could work on his homework. We did the farmers market, Target, and SmartCo. The best deal of the day was two comforter sets (sheets, pillowcases, comforter) for $10 each at Target. One full and one twin for the girls bunk beds! (they're pink and brown stripe for those who care. I'll take pictures later)

Sunday: church was good. we enjoyed all the wonderful talks and lessons and are hoping for well behaved kids who sleep good in spite of the lack of naps!

One week off... 5 weeks on

Peek-a-Boo with sister! so sweet! I love these little girls!

random photo shoot, wanted some pictures for the wall so I went and took some!

Eliza having a tea party with Alayna... so sweet, notice how Alayna's lap is soaking wet!

Well I missed last week. It was finals week for classes. So I was a little pre-occupied with trying to pass my classes as was Ben in his attempt at getting trough the last few days of class. Then came the desperately needed week off from school. These past few weeks I feel like I'm doing great just to keep my head above water and school is just making that harder. I really should have just finished this before having kids and such! That said I'm very thankful for a supportive family and patient children who forgive me when I turn on a movie so I can do homework instead of play with them!

There hasn't been much in the major happenings around our house. And if there was I was apparently too busy to notice.

Alayna is getting closer and closer to walking these days! She thinks the funnest game in the world is walking between mommy and daddy... 3-6 steps, fall over into mom's/dad's arms, get tickled and giggle! The other day she randomly stood up in the middle of the living room completely unassisted. I think it was an accident though because she hasn't done it since. She is the happiest kid I've ever seen and always looking for a smile. So independent too! We are officially 100% stair safe. Now the stairs are blocked so that mom can take the occasional shower without having the curtain ripped open or toys dropped on her feet while taking that incredibly long 10min shower!

Eliza has been discovering the joy of friends recently. We are part of a 6 family playgroup. There are 6 little girls around Eliza's age and we rotate houses for a drop off playgroup once a week (so fantastic!). Eliza is learning all kinds of things, like dress up is apparently fun (in very small doses!). and Tea party's are not just for play they're for lunch too! Ohh and her current favorite, "Mom, I want a scooter for my birthday!"

Speaking of tea party's, Eliza has been having tea party's with Alayna recently. Alayna is not big enough to get on the kid chairs at the little table herself but if Mommy will put her up there she will contently sit and play tea party as long as Eliza wants (and as long as she keeps pouring her more 'tea') In the end Alayna ends up totally soaked and Mom cuts them off at 1 pot of water because I don't want wet carpet.

Other than that I feel like a running taxi. I run from one thing to the next and have a new appreciation for parents with kids in school, I have no idea how they ever get anything in the house done cuz they're never there!

I forgot to post about my birthday too! It was fantastic! The day was pretty normal... or not. I spent a little time in the morning with Grandma Merritt with the girls, then I watched 3 extra kids (2 more 2yr olds and a 1 mo old) for a few hours. When Ben got home Abby came over and watched the girls while we went out to dinner. Dinner resulted in a survey that got us $15 in gift cards to come back again! SWEET! Following a great dinner we went shopping for cloths. I admitted that I have not bought any cloths for myself since we got married 4 years ago and 90% of my wardrobe was still from high school. So that was a fantastic b-day! My mom's b-day was 3 days after that, we had a surprise party for her that went well and the Nana's birthday was 3 days after that so I took the girls and we went and visited her in the nursing home for a little bit! So the birthday season has begun. Speaking of which Happy early Birthday to Jaron!

This weekend was general conference. we enjoyed being able to just stay home and listen. I kept my hands busy with some crocheting and the girls did fantastically well with playing quietly and listening (as much as any 2 year old will after the first 2 hours). Between sessions on Saturday we had the chance to go get some family portraits taken by a good friend. I'm very excited to get those in a week or two and take some time to really look at them! so much fun! the girls did well with the shoot and were rewarded with suckers in the end! Other pictures sessions were done earlier in the week so I have some more to put on my wall :-) yippee for decorating the house (2.5 years after moving in!)