Lulu's admirers

One of the boys at the clinic loves to play with lulu.  it's pretty sweet.  

One of Miss M's classmates has a bit of a crush of my Lulu. She wrote her this sweet note.

He's a cutie, she could do worse! :)

My Blessings

I'm so thankful for my two greatest blessings.  

They have smothered me with loves, kisses and handmade cards all day. It was perfect.

They stretch me and try me and push all my buttons, but I can't resist when they climb into bed every morning and run up and beg to kiss and hug me and tell me they love me.

I'm amazed at the things they are learning. It is truly magical.

I love their love for each other and I love when they actually get along! :)

I wish they were still my little babies and not losing all their teeth and finishing kindergarten!

But then my little one reminds me that she deserves a picture for being good too and I realize they will always be my babies.  

And I'm so thankful for them!

summer fever!

Only 13 more days of kindergarten left!
I'm so excited for summer! I'm sure I'll be ready for routine by July :) but for now...

I'm looking forward to sleeping in... sometimes (a girl still has to work!)

...So You Think You Can Dance starts on May 24th! It's my favorite! :)

...we are spending Memorial Day in Minnesota! The girls are so excited to see grandparents and Aunt Sarah.

...my baby brother is leaving on his mission on June 27th! He's going to spend two years in Nevada, sharing the gospel. Pretty amazing.

...my cute little pregnant sister is coming to visit so we can all be in the temple together! All of my siblings together with my parents. Pretty awesome.

...swimming!

...I'm trying to be better prepared this summer with lots of activities-free movies, free bowling, summer library program, vacation bible school, fun stuff!

Counting the days!

progress?

week one: down one pound
week two: down eight pounds!!!!!
week three: down one pound
week four?

I was a little scared to weigh in this morning. I really liked the pattern I had been forming, even if I had to wait two weeks for results, but I haven't felt great this week.  I had to take a medicine to start my cycle and after four months of no cycle, well, it's been a doozy. I have still worked out faithfully but I've been suffering more from the munchies and just feeling so blah!!

So, this week? stayed put. not bad but i wanted another week two of course! :)
Back to the grindstone. More discipline, less food, I can do this!

late for luncheon at Downton

So I'm a little late to the party, I know.

I didn't want to watch series two before series one.  And I waited ever so patiently for series one for months until the day before it came in at the library, I found out my friend Rachel had it the whole time! :) But I finished season two this weekend, and I want to talk about it!!!

If you haven't watched Downton Abbey, stop reading and start watching!

Okay, here are my thoughts:

Lady Mary: I know we're supposed to have a love/hate relationship with her, but I'm afraid I fall on the hate side. I don't hate her, but I hate how she treats just about everybody! Matthew's too good for her! I think a lot of Mary's behavior is purely her upbringing-the demands of her social status and how she was taught to treat people, but I also think she's just plain cold sometimes!

Matthew: First, I loved Lavinia, and I am soooo sad that she died. I hope Matthew gets over it, but I also don't think he should be with Mary. Maybe it makes the most sense, but I'm still sad.  He's just a good guy. I hope her death doesn't ruin him.  I think his mother, Isobel is funny, but I can also see why she drives everybody nuts!

Lady Edith: I'm glad she's done double crossing Mary for the moment because I like her. I think she deserves more than she gets. I wanted her to fall in love with one of the soldiers she took care of and live happily ever after!

Lady Sybil: I just love her! I loved her when she came out in those wild pantaloons and headband! I love how she's smart and not afraid of change!

Thomas: I don't trust him. Obviously. Even his good side of helping out while everyone was sick. Wouldn't trust him farther than I could throw him and "with my bad knee", well. You can't trust this guy. And I couldn't figure out how he lasted so long as a servant when everyone knew he was a cheat and a liar.

O'Brien: love the curls, like when she's nice, but also don't trust her.

My favorites though? Of course Anna and Mr. Bates! I love that they finally married and I love that she just wants to be with him! And I love how they made up a room for them after they got married! I love Lady Violet!! She gets the BEST lines!

I thought the housemaid Ethel/baby/soldier fiasco dragged on too much. And I don't think it's done yet. But I guess there had to be something I didn't like about it!
What do you think about Patrick? Was he the wild eyed burn victim? Will he come back?

What are your thoughts? Do you love it? Are you wondering what all the fuss is about?? What will happen next series? How long will we have to wait for it??

lately

Miss M had safety week. She was amazed that I already knew about "stop, drop and roll" :)

All week long, she was quoting the brilliant "Mayor Sayer", leader of Safety Town.

 Lulu has been testing our sleeping tolerance.  We've had multiple wake ups, tears, taking away toys, beds on the floor, night terrors, and uncomfortable cosleeping.  I promised never to complain about my girls' sleeping because my girls slept through the night at three weeks old.  But now that you know how spoiled I am, you know how distressing this is, three years later! She has consequences, rewards, you name it, but it's not enough yet!

 Earth Day at school brought about "recycled art".  Here is Miss M and her owls nest.  

 My Miss M colored a cute coloring page at my work earlier this week. It was of a bunny sweeping the front step of her little bunny cottage.  Before I knew it, Miss M had cut out the bunny and created a real 3D bunny cottage!

 with a bed, chair, lamp, bushes out front and family picture on the wall!

 I love when she is so creative like this! I love when she thinks outside the box. I love that she let Lulu take it over and play with it for the next two days straight!

Tonight in the bath, they just wanted to play. She played with Lulu's hair, pretending to braid it and curl it.  I love love love my girls!

four

four things I learned on this friday:

1. Miss M has never had a fever of 103 before. It freaked me out a bit! Thank heavens for Tylenol!!

2. My house is a wreck! I have no excuse for this because of lesson number one and that we are home today, but I have been ignoring my house all week. I eat less and definitely snack less when I'm running around town! It's so much easier to munch at home!

3. I am in a major sewing slump! I have a humongous list of things to make and do, but I can't bring myself to break out the sewing machine.

4. Lulu is forming some rather strong opinions lately. She is really into side ponytails. I kind of love this one. She holds out a chunk of hair and demands that we put the ponytail "here"!