Valentine festivities

A few of our fun Valentine celebrations....

Mom, Megan, and lifetime friends Kathy and her daughter, Taryn at Maggianos in Bellevue last week. Mom completely spoiled us with Victoria secret gifts and an amazing FEAST (and I do mean that I broke some sort of record by how much food I put away.) Super great time catching up and laughing with these girls. 

Addison had her first valentine party at preschool. I love that I get to be her preschool teacher and see all this cute stuff first hand. She was passing out her Dora valentines here.

Hailey was much too busy wearing her postman valentine vest and passing out valentines for me to get a good picture in her kindergarten class. She was so adorable. I got a picture of my two big girls later on.

Nana surprised the girls - she took Hailey and me to lunch after her party and then was able to be at Symantha's party. Her and Hailey were storekeepers at Symantha's party. They had a shop set up this year to practice counting back change, as part of their party. It made it very easy for the party mom (me!).

 Symantha is down in the middle of this picture, giving someone change.

 And here was her whole class, the silly face pose. I have another regular pic too, but I think this one is hilarious.

Such a fun holiday.

Valentine Getaway

Derek and I were able to getaway to Leavenworth this weekend with our good friends, Chad and Holly. My face was actually sore from laughing at certain points - these two are a crack up. The whole little trip was the perfect blend of relaxation, good food, and great conversation.

Here was the "little" cabin we stayed in.

And Leavenworth was great, however I was a little bitter that it was still Christmas there instead of Valentine's Day. Lights and Christmas decorations everywhere! This was one of the only little pieces of evidence that it was February.

But the scenery is still as beautiful as ever.

And the boys LOVED the shops. So many jokes about trinkets, hats, figurines, stuffed animals, etc. This picture cracks me up. No, they weren't making fun of it at all:)

We had a cozy dinner at this little restaurant called The Alley Cafe on Saturday night. Cutest restaurant and super delicious food.

Other weekend highlights include:

Car sing-alongs, playing cards, afternoon nap, rocky road ice cream, reading, and most importantly

total grown-up time where we only worried about ourselves. That is so appreciated now and then.

Thanks for a great weekend, Boyds!

Ten on Ten: February

You know the drill, on the tenth of the month, a picture every hour, for ten hours.

Beautiful cold morning

Doing hair

Valentine's theme at preschool

Hello Mr. Sun

 Recess

Too much temptation

Prepared for the first party

Flowers everywhere (except my house:))

Bookworm at the library

Love this

Welcome baby Molly!

Addison and I got to meet my friend Andrea's new baby girl today. Molly was born last night and she was only 5lbs. 14oz. So tiny! And so sweet. I have been waiting to get a baby fix, and I loved every second of snuggling this little bundle.

I LOVE this picture of Andrea and Casey.

Wish I had these kind of hospital shots:)

Addison loved seeing the baby too. The first thing she asked is, "Where is her rattle?" which we had put in her shower gift. She continued to whisper all sorts of funny little questions and observations, while petting her and wanting to hold her and see her. It is about the closest Addi will get to being a big sister:)

The big girls were sad to miss it because they were at school, but we'll see her again soon.

Congratulations Bell family! 

We are looking forward to lots of girl time in the coming years!

Addison's Big Day

We celebrated Addison's third birthday at My Gym this year. It was highly recommended from my friend Holly, and it did not disappoint! It was so much fun and they really did make the birthday girl feel pretty special. For the first time, I invited only friends that are around Addison's age, as difficult as it was not to invite all of our family friends. I invited the girls in her preschool class and a few others, which made it a nice little party of 9. It was great that it could all be geared towards little kids, and the big kids couldn't take over (although her sisters were allowed, they knew it was to be about Addison:))

They took me and Addison into the back room and dressed her up, while asking all the kids, "Where did Addison go?" Then they pull her out and give her a ride around the gym while the kids are saying Happy birthday - it was SO cute.

 Then, she got to ride in this swing while everyone sang happy birthday, right before we had cupcakes. 

 

After presents, there was the super fun ending of having a "Space ride". Everyone got a few turns and the expressions on each one's face was awesome.

 Such a great party.

Can't believe my baby is three!!

January Celebrations

I've been having lots of fun celebrating some pretty great people lately. 

My friend Andrea is having her third girl... something I can totally relate to and LOVE. 

Sara and I had so much fun picking out some cute baby things for her "sprinkle" (not a big "shower", just a few friends and family).

And I cannot WAIT to squeeze on baby Molly when she arrives in a few more weeks.

  

Another good friend, Chrissy, celebrated her 40th birthday last weekend.

Isn't she cute? She can't be 40:)

Heather, Amy Jo, and I surprised her and took her out to Palisade for the most amazing dinner. Amy Jo supplied the birthday headband and glowing rings for all of us to wear (which drew a surprising number of compliments, from ladies wanting to know where we got the rings and wanting them for themselves). 

Such a great night celebrating a great friend!

And let's not forget my littlest girl to celebrate....

But more on that one later:)

Busy girls

Sort of in a blogging funk, which snowballs into getting myself overwhelmed and not sure where to begin. I don't like it when it becomes a chore and I fall behind. But I'm about to pull myself out of it and get back on track... maybe it will be motivating. I think that part of my problem is I'm back to taking a picture a day for Project Life, and I have tons of pictures. I know it will all be documented in my album, so maybe I'm less motivated to blog it? Another part of my problem is TIME. There isn't enough of it. Especially when you are researching appliances and bathtubs and kitchen cabinets for a soon-to-be-built house. Whatever the reason, it's time to get back at it. The girls have been busy with all kinds of activities lately...

Symantha is doing Upward basketball (Derek is her coach). 

Addison is her biggest fan.... as long as she has a sucker in her hand. I love suckers.

We've been swimming and skating. Symantha is loving Saturday morning drop-in lessons at the skating rink.

Addison had a teddy bear picnic at preschool, which she LOVED.

Hailey started My Gym (which she chose instead of Upward this year. It's nice so all of us can be gone at practices on one night of the week). Every week is so super fun for her.

Symantha had her third grade musical performance, complete with instruments and speaking parts. 

 I almost had one of those crazy "Mommy moments" when this blonde haired lady went up right in front of my excellent seat when it was time for Symantha to say her part. THE NERVE!! Right down the aisle and in front of everyone to get more pictures of her kid hitting a bongo on the side of the stage. I tried to crop her head out as much as I could, but I was NOT happy with her. (Am I actually saying these words? Am I actually that crazy mom? Yes, I guess I am)

So, that blogging process was not painful and actually a little therapeutic... I am feeling more motivated. We'll see how much more gets done in the near future:)