my sister is famous!

http://athome.idahostatejournal.com/?p=1431

check out megan's awesome idea for displaying kids artwork.  she will be featured as a guest contributor for a very important design magazine.  well, maybe it's important in idaho.  but it's definitely important to me!
her portrait is pretty cute too!

35 years

happy birthday to my ry!

this guy is a diet coke drinker

a velveeta cheese eater

an inventor

a tickler

a teaser

a teacher

a leader

a bedtime reader

a rap music lover

a just dance-r

a yard worker

a traveler

a hotel pool lover

a basketball-er

a golfer

a tucker-inner

a family lover

a take care of-er

a joke teller

a comedy lover

a supporter

a giver

a milk chocolate eater

a meat eater

a project taker on-er

a cornhusker

a saturday morning pancake maker

a worker

and my lover.

happy birthday! 

double digit birthday!

our sweet aftie turned 10 this week!

she took chocolate cupcakes topped with chocolate ganache to school for her classmates.

 we celebrated her big day with our family.  she requested peanut butter noodles for dinner and jello poke cake for dessert.  yum!

 aftie requested a sleepover to celebrate with friends.  we had quite a few giggling girls.  even ella-belle had a giggling friend stay over.

 they did a scavenger hunt which included deciphering clues, doing jumping jacks and making a human pyramid.  aftie did not appreciate the human pyramid portion, but i do believe the prize at the end was worth it. 

i fell asleep at 1:30am, but these sillies were still going strong.

one of them claims to have stayed up til 4am.

her mom said she was very tired the next day!

happy birthday sweet aftie-girl!

kitchenaid

i asked for a kitchen aid mixer for mother's day. 

this is the kitchen aid ryan found for me.

funny, funny boy!

he also picked up this one.

it's a little easier to use.

i made delicious devil's food cupcakes with chocolate ganache piped on the top.

yummy.

and soooo fun to use my new gadget.

i felt just like the barefoot contessa.



inventor extraordinaire

congratulations to our very own inventor!

ryan received his second u.s. patent award tonite.

ryan is doing such a great job at work.

we are so thankful that he has a job and that he loves his work and has been successful.

so much to be grateful for.

way to go, ry!

i am the mother

that's right.

i am the mother around here.

and i love it.

here are a few things i love about being a mother.

1.  i love finding dirt-lined suds in the bathtub, after a dirty, worn out little girl has taken her evening bath.

2.  i love finding sweet and oftentimes very detailed notes on my bedside table.

3.  i love tucking my girls into bed at night.

4.  i love mother's day.

5.  i love helping my girls figure out who they are.

6.  i love watching them fall in love with a new interest.

7.  i love hearing their questions.

8.  i love how passionate they are about ideas they have.

9.  i love when the girls share their fears and concerns with me.

10.  i love that they want everyone to be kind to each other.

11.  i love when i am able to help them understand.

12.  i love when i can relate to how they are feeling.

13.  i love when their little lips kiss mine.

14.  i love when they take their dad to my favorite stores for presents.

15.  i love watching "wipeout" with them.

16.  i love it when we enjoy doing the same things.

17.  i love watching them entertaining me with their "crazy dancing".

18.  i love sharing special, quiet moments with my girls.

19.  i love reminiscing with them about when they were babies.

20.  i love making new memories with my two sweeties.

happy mother's day to me.

spring break

ryan had a work trip the week before easter.

the girls had school off the same week.

so, we took a little trip.

ryan went to columbus.

the girls and i went to erie to stay with our pennsylvania "family".

 we made easter chick cupcakes.

then we drove to columbus and stayed overnite with ryan.

then we all drove to st louis.

 almost all of the cousins came to grandma and grandpa's house.

we dyed eggs.

we went to eat lunch at the famous Fitz's root beer factory.

two handsome boys!

 we had a serious egg hunt with the cousins.

 we even went to church, cuz that's what you do on easter.

we played and played and had a great time.

then we drove home.  all day.