Learning the ABC's with pizzaz!

My sister Kim and I are both trying to teach our kids the alphabet. So she heard of the idea to make learning fun and memorable by having a day for each letter of the alphabet. So for example on day "B" you would eat bagels, blueberries, etc. You would go to a place that starts with B like a bakery or bookstore. And you would work on writing the letter B and saying it's sound throughout the day. We also decided to take it one step further and make a look book of each day we do. We are going to collect memorabilia and pictures from each day and put them in a book so our kids can look through them and see the letters and all of the fun stuff we do! We decided if we did two letters a week it will keep us busy the whole summer. You can get really creative with the activities you do, and you can come up with a lot of things that are free!
So on Wednesday we stared with "A" day and went to the Aerospace museum at Hill Air force Base. Admission was free and the kids loved seeing all of the real airplanes. There are even flight simulator games the kids can play, and paper airplane making contests. After the museum we ate at Artic circle- notice the A in Artic circle- and had apples for afternoon snacks. It was a really fun day- but both of us forgot our cameras! So no pictures of this day, hopefully I won't forget again! But here are some cute pictures of my kids anyway! Have fun learning!


What happens at dinnertime when Mommy is not home!



Alexis the cool ballerina!

Vroom,Vroom, Beep, Beep, CRASH!

Do you remember those "Little Tyke" plastic cars from when you were little? Well, I do! I never actually had one of my own, but I secretly coveted one. So when one of my friends got one for her kids it brought back serious feelings of want! So I found these beauties on the Walmart website and never looked back! It's so fun to watch the kids zoom around the house (they will be exiled outside as soon as the weather is warmer)! When Alexis isn't looking Tommy will try to hijack her pink car- for some reason he always likes Alexis' stuff better! I don't blame him that pink and blue car is a beauty. I seriously love reliving my childhood through my kids!

Treehouse Museum

On Monday my friends Jamie, Becky, and Michelle and I, along with our excited kiddos, took a trip to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. It was too funny to see how Alexis ran from each exhibit with an excited fervor, never stopping to take a breath! And when she couldn't find her friends she made new ones! Tommy had so much fun playing with the trains and his favorite thing- the BIG fire truck! He did freak out though at the big stuffed dinosaur (thanks Jamie!) I highly suggest taking your kids! Mondays from 10-12 am parents are free and kids are $3. Don't you just love a great deal?!

Tommy and his best buddies Abby and Bryson (too busy to look at the camera!)

Tommy navigating the huge map of Utah

The future President?

Alexis sailing on the Mayflower

I couldn't get the kid off of this BIG fire truck!

Alexis jamming on the bongo drums in a life-size tee pee

Cruise to Me-hi-co!

This last week Nate and I left the kiddies with my parents and took a cruise to Mexico! Mind you this was the very first time I have ever left the kids- the only other time I have been away from Alexis is in the hospital when Tommy was born! I braced myself for hysterics but as we boarded the ship all I felt was excitement! We had such a great time- I have never been so lazy in my life! We would wake up around 9:00 am, eat breakfast, lay out by the pool, eat lunch, lay out by the pool, eat ice cream, read a book or two, maybe have another ice cream, head to dinner, and return to our room where our bed had been turned down for the night with little chocolates on our pillows and towels formed in animal shapes! We also toured Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas. I'll tell you I could get used to having all of my meals cooked for me and having a maid service! At the end of the week I was ready to see the kids and be back on land- although I will miss the soft serve machine and told Nate that once he hits it big we should get one for the kitchen!

Puerto Vallarta


Mazatlan


Cabo San Lucas


At Dinner on the ship


View from our balcony on the ship

Thomas' One Year pictures

So here are Tommy's one year pictures actually taken at thirteen months- but whatever! I want to thank my very talented, awesome, and generous friend Jamie for taking and editing the pictures! I must say-though very biased- he is completely adorable and very handsome!

Spring Fever!

Raise your hand if you are soooo sick of winter! That's what I thought! These days we have been having to get creative to keep our selves busy. . . The laundry basket is the new "it" toy.

Making my favorite childhood treat Frosted Graham Crackers has kept us busy for awhile and satiated our sweet tooth. It's really easy just make your favorite frosting ( butter cream, cream cheese, etc.) and frost between two graham cracker squares making a "sandwhich." I recommend putting them in the fridge for awhile to harden the frosting up a little. My personal favorite is chocolate butter cream- it tastes a little like smores without the marshmellow.

We have taken several trips to Target which just results in me buying something I didn't really need! So, I'm running out of ideas. What do you do to keep yourself and your kids entertained on those cold, snowy, boring winter days? Well, for now we will have to make do, but until spring

comes I will be dreaming of this . . .

Happy First Birthday Tommy!

Yesterday was Tommy's first birthday. I can't believe how fast this last year went, and how fast my baby has grown! We had our families over for cake and ice cream. Tommy didn't quite now what to do with all of the attention! He was a little timid with the cake at first, and then he really got into it by smushing it in his hands and pretending he was rubbing in lotion (it's so funny-whenever he sees me rubbing lotion on my hands he rubs his hands together too!) I just want to tell my sweet little boy how much I love him, and how grateful I am to be his mommy.

Here are a few things about Thomas at age 1:

• He loves to cuddle and when I pick him up he always gives me pat on the back


• He always has a smile (well, almost always) on his face and loves to laugh


• His favorite toys are cars and he loves to drive them on the ground


• He also loves to look at books and point to the pictures


• He is a very good eater and will eat just about anything I put infront of him


• His hair has awesome body and will not lay down no matter what I try!


• He finally started crawling on new years eve!


• Most of all he is a little angel who brings me so much joy

I love you Tom Tom!

The Birthday Boy!

Not quite sure what he should do . . .

Now he's got the hang of it!

Opening his super cool digger truck!

Taking the truck for a spin just he before he tipped over!