Quick 5

This week was epic.

1. What is more fun than your own birthday? According to Bria it's Happy Hearts. That girl had the time of her life at Happy Hearts. It was the worst news ever when it was time to leave. Not even the promise of cupcakes and birthday presents could soothe her little soul. She enjoyed them when they came around, but Happy Hearts has dominated her conversation this week. There were so many games and crafts to do at Happy Hearts, but Bria spent 97% of her time in the bouncy house. I managed to drag her away once or twice, but she only did it to humor me.

 2. One of my favorite traditions at Happy Hearts is the family picture. We so rarely get a full family picture and I was excited about this. I forgot that three-year-olds are not known for their cooperation. So this is what will go down in history for our family for that day:

 Thankfully Pastor Jeff let us have a re-do so we could at least see her eyes.

3. Grammy, Grandad, Uncle Nick, Aunt Jamie, Naomi, Oliver and Elisabeth all came over after Happy Hearts for lunch and cake and presents. It was a fun time, but not as fun as Happy Hearts (for Bria.)

 4. Bria got some fun toys and cool costumes, but apparently her favorite gift was a backpack. Honestly I got that for her because I couldn't bring myself to buy her another toy, but I didn't know what else to get her. It was a good call. She is convinced she has all she needs to go to school now.

5. It's been a fun Bria week, but equally as amazing and excited was the engagement of my brother Ben. He proposed to his girlfriend Cora last Saturday, and we were all so thrilled that she said yes! We've been wanting to make her an official part of our family for quite awhile now. So we've added a wedding to our event list for 2016 and we can hardly wait. Congrats Ben and Cora!

Here comes (dreaded) March!

Happy 3rd Birthday Bria!!

Oh Bria! You are three years old! You are officially a preschooler and no longer a toddler. You have your own opinions about things, and you are going to stick to them no matter what! It's good...but we pray that you have humility of spirit and learn to temper it with love and grace. We also pray that this is the year you potty train! It's time, girl. Make it happen!

You still love the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse gang, and you developed a love for Sheriff Callie. You love to sing and you like to pretend with play food. You are most definitely a momma's girl, but you and Daddy have your own jokes that make you giggle.

We pray that you grow in patience and obedience this year. We pray that you grow to love Jesus and to hate sin. We pray that God protects your life and protects your health.

We love you! You are our firecracker!

Love,
Mommy, Daddy, Alaina & Joya

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2016

Quick 5

We have been thoroughly fooled into thinking it is spring.

1. Last Friday I took the two little girls in for haircuts. I had a coupon. And Bria actually had her hair cut at Great Clips. I thought I was going to have to take her to the $$$$ kid place, but she did just fine for the good, affordable people of Great Clips. The promise of a sucker at the end is pretty magical.

 2. Alaina had a great time at her Valentine's party at school. She ate tons of junk, watched The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, and came home with some great booty. And her box was a perfect representation of her:

3. Speaking of Alaina, I forgot to mention that she got new glasses. I caved to the pressure of the eye doctor and got her glasses with transition lenses, so they turn to sunglasses outside. I know it's probably a good thing. But how old does this girl look?

4. Then there was our annual tradition of a heart pizza. We love that one.

5. The girls even got to have Valentine's fun with Grammy, decorating heart cookies. I really don't recommend eating any of the ones that Bria decorated, though. I cannot verify whether or not the sprinkles were licked before they were put on the cookies.

 Hope you have a peaceful weekend!

Quick 5

This has been a week filled with highs and lows. And I'm not just talking about the 60+ degrees we've enjoyed all week.

1. The first high: the Broncos won the Superbowl! Did you hear? I can hardly believe it. I told Lee in October that this didn't feel like a Superbowl year for the Broncos. I loved them, but I wasn't a believer. But watching them has sure been fun. And I had forgotten how fun it is to have a championship team in your city. No I didn't go to the parade, but the excitement around town has been enjoyable for everyone.

2. But the low of the whole deal was Joya dealing with the stomach bug all day Saturday. We had planned to go to a Superbowl party, but Joya was pretty sick in the morning, then right before bed. So we had to stay home, which was so sad. But then we had the high of our friends bringing us food that they had made for the party, since we couldn't be there to eat it with them. That was so amazing, and turned our stay at home party into something a little better.

3. Then a high came when my secret sister at MOPS gave me these flowers. I'm way too practical to ever really want flowers, but I cannot deny the joy they bring when you have a vase of real, fresh flowers on your table. So fun.

4. Then Tuesday night (or early Wednesday morning, I suppose) we hit another low when Bria woke up with the stomach bug. Thankfully hers was less intense than Joya, with only two episodes. But I'm now a pro at dealing with puke, and if you want some good ideas on how to handle it, I could help you out.

5. And now we get to have a lovely Valentine's weekend, which is in fact a three day weekend for everyone, including Lee, thanks to President's Day on Monday. Up first is our annual heart pizza. With girls who are healthy.

Happy weekend!

Quick 5

Seeing pink and red hearts all over the place in every store makes me smile.

1. This was a weird short week. It was already short due to parent teacher conferences. Alaina was scheduled to have Thursday and Friday off of school. But then you throw in a random Tuesday snow day and the week becomes a hodge podge of unpredictability. We're surviving, but these kind of weeks are hard on the mom who has zero creativity when it comes to finding things for her kids to do. So she just doesn't. Anyway, we probably got a little over a foot of snow. It's pretty. Now I wish it would go away.

2. We heard a good report from Alaina's teacher at the conference. She's doing just fine with her school work, as long as she remembers to turn in her homework. She can be chatty during group work, but we all knew that about her, didn't we?

3. Thanks to some Christmas money from my grandparents, and one of those crazy "If the Broncos make the Superbowl, we'll give you a 50% discount on all work done!" deals, we are having our carpets cleaned today. I know this isn't exciting news, but it's the news we have this week.

4. Our taxes are done. It's a task I enjoy doing every year. I like checking off the box and making the government give me back my money.

5. The most exciting news is that I entered a contest on Way FM and it turns out I am one of the 100 finalists in the running to win a 60" TV and home theater system. It's based on the Superbowl scores...you know, one of those grid things. If the last digits of the final score coincide with my box, I win! And if the last digits of the score at the end of any of the quarters coincide with my box, then I win a $100 gift card. It's still a long shot, but it's fun to be a finalist!  And since we have a sneaking suspicion that this game will not go in our favor, then it's nice to have a little side game going to keep us in good spirits.

Go Broncos!!