6 Years!

Today is our Anniversary, and I am so grateful for the years I've have with Chris! He is an incredible father and wonderful husband and I am so lucky to have him!
It's crazy how much has happened since this great day:

We celebrated our anniversary on Friday by going out to eat at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse (we had a gift card!)  The food and environment were amazing and we finished our date by walking on the beach like we did on our first date. It was a ton of fun.

Now for a quick update on us before I get to the kids. Chris is enjoying work and keeping busy. He went to the midwest and Toronto (and got to see Niagara Falls) last month, and he is looking forward to a business trip to Denmark, Germany and Netherlands next month. He works so hard that sometimes he does things like spread toothpaste on his face at 5:00 am, thinking it is lotion!

Besides the day to day life with my sweet kids, I find times to do little projects or hobbies. This was my first real craft I did by myself. I had to buy the materials, including a glue gun, at Wal-Mart in the area I have always completely avoided. The product is certainly not that impressive, and I'm not really anxious to do my next craft, but this was a big step for me! Silly, huh?

 I've been trying to play piano more often, which has been fun. I've also considered taking piano lessons, but then again, I also want to run a half-marathon this year, and I also want to start teaching piano, and maybe start a little preschool this fall, and do more arts/projects/outtings with the kids, and put together some kind of photo books for the kids....the list goes on. But some days I don't accomplish a whole lot besides basic care of kids and cleaning the house! It's good to have goals to work toward though. Meanwhile, I try to enjoy each day with the kids and look forward to the evening when Chris walks in the door and gets mauled by the kids. I have lots to be grateful for! (There are also 3 NEW POSTS about the kids below this; Enjoy!)

Stop, Time!

There is a song I remember a good family friend singing called "Stop, Time!" that talks about how kids grow up and change so quickly. I remember crying then, and I wasn't even a mom yet! Time really does fly, and the kids are all growing up too fast!
But we really are enjoying the fun stages our kids are in.  Christopher seriously is such a crack up! Chris and I are constantly laughing at the things he does and says. Here are some of his quotes:

• "Can we listen to Michael Blueberry?" (Buble)
• "When I was in heaven, I told Jesus I'm gonna kill the bad guys, so I can be a super-hero, firefighter, super agent, truck driver!"
• Prayer- "Thank thee for our blessings and to have a good day, and to eat good, and to have the strength, and for gospel and for sacrifice."
• Prayer- "Please bless Heavenly Father to send Jesus so I can ask him questions."
• One night Chris put the igloo (a playhouse type thing) against the door and Christopher didn't like it there. He asked him to move it and said "I'm gonna wake up and be annoyed that it's there." Then during his prayer he said "Please bless Dad not have any more bad ideas and pick up the igloo."
• One day we were playing in the backyard and Christopher was working on a project. He knew it was almost time to go inside but wanted to show me what he was doing. After I saw it, he said, "This is going to take a long time, so why don't you go lie down in the sun." I said, "No thanks, we need to go inside in a minute." He responded, "But I want you to, cuz then you'll get distracted."
• A couple of days ago, Brooklyn was upset about something, and Christopher spoke very sweetly to her and gave her a hug. Then he was super excited and said, "I helped her choose the right and be happy! I'm changing the world!"
• We often tell Dad he's our hero. Well, the other day, Chris was struggling to pack something in the jeep, and Christopher said, "Dad, sometimes you're not such a hero." Chris asked why not, and Christopher said, "Sometimes you're just un-perfect."
• He has also started using big words (sometimes in the wrong context and other times he's dead-on) like unsuccessful, unsuccesive (meant to be "unsuccessfully"), occasionally, and restrictive.

Here are a couple of pictures and videos of cute Christopher:

He is very excited about his new bed we set up last night. (Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for sharing!)

Our Little Princess

Miss Brooklyn had a birthday last week and is now 2 years old!  Our sweet girl is growing up fast, learning a lot, talking a ton, and yes, she has her terrible-two moments. For her birthday we went to Rainforest Cafe and did presents and cake and ice cream at Grandma and Grandpa's house. She is such a girly-girl, so we gave her the Cabbage Patch doll that used to be mine along with a purse that she has carried around pretty much non-stop. She also got fun clothes, jewelry, doll and accessories, and other fun things from grandparents and aunts and uncles.

She can have a little attitude but can also be so sweet. She still loves to follow Christopher around and they are best little buddies. She loves to copy him and HAS to do everything he does. (You'll notice in Christopher's video the "Me too! Me too! Me too! and No! Mine turn!.")

Brooklyn is super fun and playful and often gets really hyper with Christopher and makes him laugh. She is a little goofball and also likes to tease Christopher.

She now sleeps in the toddler bed and immediately loved it and became very possessive of it, refusing to let Christopher even sit on it! We are also in the very beginning stages of potty training; she'll go occassionally when I sit her on the toilet and still gets super excited about it.  She had a little phase where she would get scared of everything and say "Scare me, Brooklyn." It was pretty cute. She is such a girl though. Besides being a wimp quite often and loving her cute clothes and accessories, this girl loves chocolate!
 I love sitting down with her and watching her play with her dolls and make pretend food and show me her pretty necklaces.

Here are a few pictures and videos of our sweet girl:

Chunky Monkey

Matthew is our cute little chunky monkey! It seems like he is looking and acting older every day now. He loves to reach out and play with toys, roll around, watch Christopher and Brooklyn play, be held, and be heard! He's quite noisy at church but it's almost always happy noises. He sleeps through the night and is still a content, happy little guy. His awesome dark mohawk is gone but his hair is growing in pretty well. His thighs are huge and his cheeks are just super kissable! We sure love our sweet Matthew babe!