Spring Break Outing

Spring Break is upon us and luckily we are having some awesome weather! Let's get these crazy kids outside to burn off some energy!

Yep, Porter is all boy, he LOVES playing with the rocks 

 Thursday afternoon I met up with my friend Ryanne and her two girls at City Creek. Jocelyn and Brooke loved the fountains.

 I kept having to yell at Brooke and tell her they are NOT drinking fountains!

 Then we headed over to temple square and walked around.

 It was a fun day to be outside and do something different.

 This is Z. She is our neighbor and Brooke's best buddy. Z. is the youngest in her family and is sometimes overwhelmed by Porter. I love this picture of the two of them trying to having some alone time and then there's Porter in the background--definitely not one to be left out!

Happy Spring!

Naughty or Nice?

Okay, this post has many different aspects to it. One, Brooke is on a major naughty streak right now and I don't know what to do about it. 1) She cut her barbie's hair 2) she's drawn on her closet wall and on her slide

okay, so this is cute and we'll probably keep this but STILL,
drawing on things is naughty!

3) she went outside and broke the branches off our little apple fruit tree (We flipped out over this because now our beloved fruit tree is probably ruined)

4) she's been on a kick about having a major fit when we tell her no

What are we to do? After the fruit tree incident, Blake made her work outside with him for two days picking up leaves. I am also thinking of putting some kind of prize up on the fridge for her to earn if she behaves and doesn't have any timeouts that day. I also know that we need to give more positive praise and have more positive interactions with her, and we do try to do that. We make an effort to play candyland or watch special movies with popcorn with her after Porter goes to bed. Anything we're missing here?

I know there is a nice girl in there somewhere. She occasionally comes out. Like in these pictures taken on St. Patrick's Day.

And speaking of holidays, have you read this article? So many things I agree with in her writing about holidays. Espeically how they are getting seriously crazy with the amount of work/time/money people are starting to put into them. It makes me wonder if we are doing it for the kids or to impress/compete with the other parents in the keeping up with Jones's/facebook/blogging/pinterest world we now live in.

This article and those thoughts were for me. So please don't be offended if you love to go crazy during the holidays. No judgement from me. I just remember last year on St. Patrick's day looking on FB at all these photos of leprechaun footprints and furniture upside down and feeling like the world's worst mom because all I did was dress my kids in green. I didn't even have enough creativity to dye the milk green! Then I see how other holidays have become like mini Christmases (or just like Christmas) and I feel all this pressure to perform so my kid doesn't feel jipped. I am now realizing that I just need to do my best and not give in to that pressure, especially when it goes against what I want my children to know/learn about that holiday. There may be certain traditions i start with my kids, and i need to figure out my limits. Okay, I am done with my rant.

And finally, speaking of holidays, I do like to celebrate and be festive although my craftiness is pretty limited. I just took down my one Valentine's Day decoration a week ago and put up my one Easter decoration. See, like I said: limited

 If you want a print for yourself or others , you can get one free HERE

A Breath of Fresh Air

I had to do 3 posts today because it seems like every time I go to blog, I have tons of pictures I need upload. 

My kids have been trying my patience this week BIG TIME. Brooke is not listening, she is defiant, telling me "no" all the time, she hasn't wanted to get dressed in actual clothes for weeks now, I told her to go upstairs and get dressed and found her playing with toys in her underwear....Porter is teething again and when he is teething he gets a cold/cough and is just generally grumpy. Blake and I have some plans on Saturday, just the two of us, so looking forward to that is making this week especially drag.  And I think all of us have major cabin fever. The weather has been teasing us and all the snow in our front yard finally melted so we took advantage of the sun and relative warmth and headed outdoors.

Welcome Spring!

Our day in pictures

Blake and I were recently talking about how much we love that photography has become so accessible. I remember my parents saving his precious film shots for "special occasions  and then not seeing the prints for weeks or even months later. I love that I can take pictures of my kids and document their growing up years, especially when they are young and actually want me to photograph them & put up with me following them around with my camera :) Here is a typical day at our house:

Most days, Brooke just stays in her PJs. Even if I make her get dressed she will quickly change back into her PJs as soon as she can. She spends a lot of time doing her "crafts"

 Mr. P just loves his blankies. This yellow one is by far his favorite

 Whenever I can't find Porter I know that he has probably gone up to Brooke's room to play with her little people house. He loves the door on it and opens and closes it.

 Putting his binky inside the house and shutting the door

 Two soft blankies, he didn't know which one to choose

I am so thankful to be able to remember these little things.