Summer flies by!


I really admire the people who manage to post daily and weekly on their blogs – I just get too busy with other things!  So far the summer has been a blur of trips to the park, swimming in the kiddie pool out back and spending time with family.  So here are some new pictures of our latest goings on.

My mom and all my sisters out for lunch – this rarely happens but it was sooo much fun.  I will cherish the memory and picture forever.  I love these girls!

Doesn’t Liam look cute in a hat?  Now he can say he’s always been a Broncos fan.  Also Liam is finally getting to the point of being more social, it is really fun to watch he and Brooklyn play together!  Check out the pictures below:

And to top it off Liam has also learned to crawl – finally!

We found a really cool public park that has a bunch of water features, Brooklyn loves it!

And when we don’t want to go on the drive we get out the sprinkler and the kiddie pool.

Or just soak up the sun.

We also go on walks.

Or just play inside with the AC blasting. (Isn’t she getting tall?)

Usually the kids are worn out by the end of the day – or in some cases before the end of the day.

Hopefully I will get to more posting before the summer is over!  Hope you enjoy the pictures!



Scotty turns one!


My adorable nephew Scotty (who is practically a son to me) turned one last Friday.  Here are some pictures of him from the last year.

Newborn!

Proud Mama!

Scotty and Grandpa Collier

Halloween with cousin Liam

Sled ride with Brooklyn

Playing!

Liam and Scotty

February

Playing on his slide

First Birthday, Ann made him a Broncos blue and orange cake.



April Showers bring May Snow?!


Yes snow in Idaho in May, I’m sooo ready for some sunshine!  Here are some fun photos from this month:

Brooklyn’s “hat”

Brooklyn’s favorite blankets – she drags them everywhere.

In the stroller, we did have a few days of nice weather this month, Liam always falls asleep on Brooklyn’s shoulder.

Playing on the couch – so cute!

Liam hanging out in the backyard with SPF 50 and in the shade – gotta protect that delicate skin!

Brooklyn getting all my handbags out of my closet – I hope she doesn’t get too high maintenance on me!

Our bedtime ritual, we all get on the big bed to hang out and play for about 20 minutes before the kids go down for the night.

Went to Chubbuck (yes for the second time this month) to house sit while Mom, Dad and Melanie went to Kevin’s for Cody’s graduation.  It was a long week,  way too long to be away from Chris.  But my best friend Jamie had her baby while I was there and it was awesome to see her while she was still in the hospital.

Ann lotioning up Liam – he loves it!

Ann and I at Race for the Cure. 

Brooklyn’s little “nest”.  When the tunnel is tied up she brings her toys, blankets and books and plays in the middle.  Love it!



Another trip to the Chubb


Brooklyn and Danika – Lindsay and I bought them the same Easter dress and we didn’t even plan it!  Always fun to do pictures when they are twinners!

How cute is this face?  This is Embrie, my friend Cassie’s daughter.  I just want to gobble up those beautiful chubby cheeks!!

After four hours in the car and the last two of them crying I was left in wonderment, all Brooklyn wanted to do was sit in her car seat after I brought it in!!!



Growing up so fast!


Both sitting in the Costco cart!  We had fun trying all the taste tests!

Finally holding his own bottle, woo hoo!



The Boys


The cutest boys ever – I LOVE LOVE LOVE them :-)



Sick of being sick


So it’s been a while since I’ve posted….what’s new you ask?  Well last week we decided to take the kids to visit Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Melanie.  However, the night we got there Chris got violently ill.  He was barfing from 2 a.m. till 2 p.m.  I finally convinced him to go to the ER.  He was very dehydrated and he hyperventilated when they  put the IV in him.  He went through 3 bags of fluid just to get him to the point that he could pee again. 

The nurse was nice enough to make his prescription of pain pills and anti-nausea pills big enough to cover me too, since she could tell I was in the beginning stages.  I was lucky enough to not have to puke as much as Chris.  We were also EXTREMELY lucky to have three loving caregivers to take care of us and our children.  We pretty much spent the entire trip in bed.  We owe them big!

We also got our tax refund and paid off our two credit cards and cut them up!  Woo hoo!!

Our next goal is to have our cars paid off by the end of the year.  Also with our tax return we bought a new treadmill, I am so happy and excited!!

Ann watched the kids while we went to pick it up in Boise (we got a good deal from a guy on Craigslist).  This was the view when we got back (so cute!!!).

Today it snowed, it was so awesome!  It was a total blizzard, I just wish it would have lasted longer….the sun came out later though and that was nice.



The Zoo


Zoo Boise is half off on Thursdays and kids under 2 are free – just $3.75 for a few hours of fun.  I went with Ann, Scotty and my friend Breanna with her 2 kids.  It was sooo much fun!  We will definitely be going again.  The best part was the lions because one of the lions came up to the plexiglass and was putting her front paws on the glass swatting like she wanted to eat Brooklyn for lunch.  Brooklyn just swatted back, she wasn’t scared at all, she laughed and had a great time. 

 Another really fun part was the carousel, it was only $1 and Brooklyn absolutely had a ball.

This slide was so much fun – we went down a few times and I was glad it was wide enough to accomadate me with Brooklyn between my legs.



Oops!


So I forgot to post this a couple weeks back but it was just too funny.  Guess what this is a picture of?

Well I decided to make some cookies.  In between baking the cookies I was making a list.  I was using keep a pen  on the fridge that is held by a clip magnet.  Halfway through my baking process I lost my pen.  Yes you guessed it, when I had taken one of the pans out of the oven the magnet – with the pen attached – had attached itself to the cookie pan without me noticing.  So back in it went with a tray full of cookies and the pen and magnet fell on to the bottom of the oven.  Boy did it smell!  I had to run the self-cleaning cycle that night after we went to bed and shut the doors (it got a lot worse before it got better, I know because I came back downstairs for a minute and I swear I couldn’t breathe). 

 Moral of the story?  Well I’m not sure but if you think of a good one leave it in the comments.

On to better things I was feeling like a health nut today so I walked 2 1/2 miles with Ann and our kids then took them to a park.  Liam fell asleep by the time we got to the park but Brooklyn, Scotty and Ann had fun on the swings.

 

Doesn’t Ann look so cute?

LOVE the tongue, guess she’s just having too much fun to keep it in her mouth, he he.

Then I came home, played some Wii Fit (Chris got me one for my birthday, it’s fun) and made a fantastically yummy yet healthy dinner that I devised.  I call them “Yummy Chicken Spinach Rollups”

I started with a whole wheat tortilla, covered it with Tzatziki Sauce, added 2 layers of baby spinach, grilled chicken, diced grilled onions and orange peppers, 1/2 slice of lowfat pepper jack cheese and a sprinkling of feta cheese to top it off.  Heaven I tell you, heaven.

If you want to try some other great food add this new blog to your list: http://dontforgettolickthespoon.blogspot.com/  my cousin Heather and her friend Ashley are the authors.  Maybe one day they will let me do a guest blog on there (hint hint Heather ;-) )



And we lived happily ever after


Today me and my partner in life and crime celebrate our 6th anniversary and exactly 6 1/2 years since the day we met.  I am so lucky to have a husband who is so thoughtful, selfless, loving, sensitive, hard working, funny, a great dad, handsome, smart, creative, and loyal. 

In the past six years we have moved 4 times, owned 6 different cars, had 7 different jobs, welcomed two beautiful babies of our own into the world, had happy times, sad times, devastating times, growing times and blissful times.  We still feel like we are in the honeymoon stage and are so utterly happy to have eachother.