Snow Day

It snowed last night and since Bridget has some fab snow gear, I couldn't wait to get my little angel out in the snow to play! She was so excited to build a snowman and as we were walking out of the house, she said "Mom, make sure you get a carrot." So cute! The snow was too powdery to build a snowman but that didn't stop her from having a great time!

She is so funny when she gets in the snow. If she falls onto her back, she's like a beetle - struggles to turn right side up! Of course being the mother I am, I don't help but just sit back and watch her struggle.

I love her eye lashes!

I love this picture! It just shows her quirky personality so much and I love how the hat (mine) is sitting over her eye. Sigh.

Snow golf anyone?

But here is the real reason anyone plays out in the cold, wet snow - hot chocolate made by mom!

I am loving my vintage melamine tea cup and saucer I picked up at the best second hand shop downtown. My heart swells just thinking about what a great find this was! Perfect for tea parties with my best gal. And it gives me even more joy to know I have a set of six. Who's up for a tea party?


The smile of a happy and warm little girl.

Christmas 2010 | Beaded Spiders

I was given this cute Christmas story at our ward's Relief Society Christmas dinner. I'd never heard of it before but it was so cute James and I decided to share it with our family. I found a great tutorial on how to make these beaded spiders on You Tube. James helped me bead them and then I curled the edges. All in all we made 13 spiders for friends and family.

Here is the story that goes with the spiders:

Once upon a time a gentle mother was busily cleaning the house for the most wonderful day of the year - the day on which the Christ child came to bless the house. Not a speck of dust was left. Even the spiders had been banished from their cozy corner in the ceiling to avoid the housewife's busy cleaning and fled the farthest corner of the attic.

'Twas the Christmas eve at last! The tree was decorated and waiting for the children to see it. But the poor spiders were frantic, for they could not see the tree, nor be present for the Christ child's visit. The oldest and wisest spider suggested that perhaps they could peep through the crack in the door to see him. Silently they crept out of their attic, down the stairs and across the floor to wait in the crack in the threshold. When the door opened a wee bit the spiders scurried into the room.

They must see the tree closely, since their eyes weren't accustomed to the brightness of the room so they crept all over the tree, up and down and over every branch and twig until they saw every one of the pretty things. At last they satisfied themselves completely of the Christmas tree beauty.

But alas!! Everywhere they went they had left their webs, and when the little Christ child came to bless the house he was dismayed. He loved the little spiders, for they were God's creatures too, but he knew the mother, who had trimmed the tree for the little children, wouldn't feel the same, so He touched the webs and they all turned to sparkling, shimmering, silver and gold! Ever since that time, we have hung tinsel on our christmas trees, and according to the legend, it has been a custom to include a spider among the decorations on the tree.

The spiders are designed to just sit on a branch, not suspended like most ornaments. They look so cute on the tree!



This was Jack's favorite spider.

Christmas 2010 | Sledding with the Ballou Cousins

It's always fun to have a white Christmas and this year didn't disappoint. It snowed a ton in Roosevelt right before we went which meant it was time to drag out the snow pants and have some fun with the cousins. We went out to Bob's office to sled and have some fun on the Razer in the snow. That was so fun! Bridget had a great time being pulled on the sled behind the Razer and was so upset when her turn was over.

Bridget really got into the sledding thing this year and had a lot of fun coming down the hill. She had a little trouble getting back up the hill so that meant James got to pull her up on the sled. He was such a cute dad with her that day, so patient and kind making sure she had so much fun.

I love these pictures of Jack and Bridget. What I wish you could have experienced was the sound as they drove by. Both of them were just giggling they were having so much fun being pulled behind the Razer.

Heading down the hill with Bailey. I got such a kick out of watching her because every time she went down the hill, she'd put her arms up and lay back on the sled, which meant she would roll off of it into the snow. It was so funny to watch.

James got in on the sledding action too.
Doesn't he look so cute going down the hill? Sigh.

Remember how when we were kids we'd build up jumps to use with the sleds? I'm happy to report they are just as much fun watching your kids do the same thing! I had the brilliant idea to build a jump and having Brian pull the kids over it with the Razer. The results were awesome!

Jack showed the most skill. He was able to land all his jumps with a style and grace I've not seen before in him. He held it steady and landed them perfectly. He could turn out to be quite the wake boarder.

Bailey had the best spills of the day. As soon as she went over that jump, she just let go and let nature take it course. She had so much fun jumping, which surprised me.

But Bridget's response was the shocker of the day. If you know my daughter, you know she's a total wimp and not brave at all. But she had so much fun going over the jump like the big kids and didn't fall off once. She's awesome, what can I say?

Christmas 2010 | Progressive Dinner

I got James's family hooked on progressive dinners and they've made it a family tradition over the last few years. This year we started at our house for appetizers and I must say, they were so good. This was our menu:

Cucumber cups with poached salmon and cucumber dill sauce
Bacon wrapped chicken bites with Green Goddess dressing
Veggie plate with Green Goddess dressing
Swedish Meatballs
Cranberry Sierra Mist with blackberries

Salmon and cucumber are a natural fit and even non-salmon lovers couldn't fight the attraction of such an attractive appetizer. The cucumber dill sauce came from Market Street's recipe and it is so good on any kind of fish, but especially salmon. Yum!

Who doesn't love homemade Reindeer Antlers?

Sigh. Look how cute my baby looks! She made this cute head band at preschool today and the antlers are her little hands.
So cute!

Christmas Crafty Projects | Beaded Candy Canes

We decided a Christmas crafty project was a great idea for a beautiful, snowy afternoon. I had to get some stuff at Hobby Lobby so I thought I'd spend about $3 on beads and and pipe cleaners. Bridget had a ball making these cute little candy canes.

She's so serious when she's doing these projects, I love it.

It's true, they do look good enough to eat!

Christmas 2010 | Santa Pictures

Bridget grew up a lot in the past year and sitting on Santa's lap was a big accomplishment for her! Last year she wouldn't go near the fat man and when I told her we needed to leave cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve, she told me it was time for bed and headed upstairs. Once she realized that he brings presents, she decided maybe he isn't so bad after all.

So cute, right? I love it!

We had my friend Emilie at Photo by Emilie take these pictures. Seriously, if you haven't checked her out yet, you are missing out! She is so great with the kids and takes amazing photos. I love the way these pictures turned out.

I bought Bridget a new necklace, earrings and bracelet to go with her cute dress. We actually bought it last year but didn't take any pictures and since it still fits her well, we decided to use it. The earrings are Bridget's first dangle pair. She looks so big in these pictures.

Who would have thought Bridget would actually give Santa a kiss on the cheek? Never underestimate the power of the promise of presents.

I love this picture! This is actually me in the Santa sleeve.
I love how she's looking up at "Santa". Sigh.

Hogle Zoo adventure

I know, it seems odd to visit the zoo in December, but actually, it was pretty amazing! The weather has been so mild this month so far and we wanted to take advantage of it. Plus we had some free passes the zoo gave us when we donated our day lilies earlier this summer. A very nice worker came and spent several hours digging up lilies from our yard to transplant at the zoo in the big apes area. Apparently they like eating the leaves from day lilies, who knew? We were just grateful to have them out of our yard (with out having to dig them up ourselves) and happy they could find a new home in a place that really needed them.

There were only a few people there, which was great and the animals seemed a little more willing to interact. Nearly all the animals we saw were close to the glass and were moving around. We saw lots of crazy monkey's, the big cats and of course the elephants and rhinos.

Surprise, surprise Bridget wasn't looking at the camera. She was actually picking my pocket and managed to get my cell phone out. Little brat, good thing I love her.


Normally, this outing would have just been the girls, but we were fortunate to have James with us so us girls got a great picture! We sure love Heather and Elle.



Elle wanted to check out the tigers but drew the line at actually sitting on them. She would shake her head "no" and get a very determined look on her face. She's a rock star, I'm telling you!


Golly, I love these two girls!


Bridget has the hardest time smiling sincerely in a picture. I think it's her devilish nature, which I'm sure comes from James.


We loved seeing baby Zuri. We saw her last year right after she was born and she doesn't look much different. Bridget was pretty excited about seeing her. We bought her a stuffed elephant the last time we came and she still talks about it.


Elle wasn't keen on sitting on the elephants trunk and Heather barely
caught her before she went ass over tea kettle off the trunk!
Good thing for mom's lighting fast response!

I loved seeing these golden Tamarinds. They are the cutest damn things ever!

Bridget had a great time looking at the animals up close, especially the lemurs in the small animal exhibit. She kept saying "I just want to look at King Julien, mom". She's a big fan of "Madagascar" and we both think King Julien is the best! But she seriously got freaked out when she saw the disgusting bug exhibit in that building. I must admit, they are gross. We had a great time with Heather and Elle and of course with all the cute animals!