What makes our Mornings...

This is why my man has my heart. Each morning when he is working day shift, Mitch leaves a SWEET note to all of us. It makes our mornings and is sometimes the best part of my day. It can really set the tone for what kind of day we all have. Thank you  my love for being the thoughtful daddy and husband that you are.

Smiles

Brynley scored her first soccer goal at her game on Saturday! She was so proud of herself and so happy that she finally got it in. She ran so fast and hustled everywhere that I was really hoping she would make one for her to see her hard work pay off. Way to go Brynley! I love how she scrunches her nose up when she smiles sometimes.

Aubrie was a very supportive sister at Brynley's game, cheering her on keeping her motivated. Aubrie loves hwe new panda sweatshirt she got recently. I love how cute she looks in this picture.
We had such a nice weekend together. I love this time of year when the weather is cooler and more enjoyable out. It will be sad to see it end soon. So we are taking advantage of it and playing it up!

Forget Me Not

I fell in love with this talk from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf from the Women's General Broadcast last night.  I love, love, love this talk. One of the best I have ever heard. Maybe because I feel as though it spoke directly to me. I feel as though Heavenly Father knows how to speak to each of us in different ways and this talk hit home to me. I wanted to share it on my blog:) Cuz I love you all...

http://lds.org/general-conference/watch/2011/10?lang=eng&vid=1180453706001&cid=7

Can I have some ham with my cheese?

We found out that Carly loves nectarines and peaches! Actually I think she likes any of the fruit that occupy the fruit bowl on the countertop. She really hams it up for the camera when she knows I am taking a picture she automatically says "cheese".

On Sunday evenings, we have a simple routine and I love it! After church we have dinner and then we go for a walk to the nearby park together. Mitch and Caleb usually throw a ball around and the girls play a pretend game called "Spy" and Carl just loves running around with everyone. I love this about our sundays together. Its easy, everyone is happy and we just enjoy our time outside.  Here are a few pictures I took last Sunday of Carly and her funny facial experessions.

Things to Remember...

I wanted to write down some of the things that really stood out for me at Parent Teacher Conferences last week before I forget them. Let's start with the sweetest girl, Aubs. Aubrie is doing magnificent! Her teacher had lots of wonderful things to say about her. Aubrie is very sweet and helpful in the classroom. She gets along with everyone and does great socially. But the most amazing thing was that her teacher said that she could skip a grade and be just fine if we chose to do so. Aubrie scores amazing on all of her tests and Mrs. Erlandson wants to have her tested for gifted next year. She said that she reads in a fourth grade reading level and she will challenge Aubrie in all areas of  curriculum. Let me tell you about Mrs. Erlandson- she is one fo the best teachers I have come in contact with. Super easy going, nice, friendly, and genuinely cares for her students. She goes above and beyond for each of them. I am grateful for good teachers in my kids life. So far we have been so blessed with our kids having good experiences.
Caleb is doing wonderful too. All of his teachers had nothing but great things to say about him and he is doing amazing with his academics as well. I got his test scores from last spring back and he scored Proficent in all subjects he tested on. Math, Reading, and Writing. He is almost out of the box! Caleb was placed in an 8th grade Pre-Algebra class this year and has such a great teacher for it, Mr. Deswood. He is super cool and makes learning really fun. He said that Caleb is breezing right through it all and not having any trouble at all, in fact he didnt know Caleb was a 7th grader until he looked at his tests scores from last spring. He is really impressed with him and his maturity level. He thinks he could have been put in Algebra and been just fine too. Another teacher that had some comments about Caleb was Mr. Knight. Caleb is in his Social Studies/Geography class and was also placed in his Leadership class. Only select students are asked to be in the Leadership class and Caleb is really liking it. Mr. Knight said that Caleb uses his time wisely and stays on task. He is in the top 5% of the class in grades and if he stays that way, Caleb will get the opportunity to go to Albuquerque in February for a special trip the class takes. Very fun experience if that happens.
Mrs. Lyon's teaches Drama and Caleb had her last year for half of the year too. She is a really neat teacher also. Very likable and into her students. She said that Caleb is a very natural actor and very versatile. She has been wanting to do The Phantom of the Opera for a few years now and never came across the perfect actor to play the Phantom until she met Caleb. She said she knew he would make an awesome Phantom and is very excited for the pla coming up. So all in all, both of the kids had great conferences. I am so blessed beyond words that they are doing so well. Thank you Aubrie and Caleb for making my job as a mother much easier. Me and Dad are so proud of you! Keep it up!

31

Today is my everloving, sweet as can be {most of the time], handsome, intelligent husband's 31st Birthday! Happy Birthday my love.
Sometimes I think there are few people who read my blog but the one person I know who reads every word and adds so much with his witty, funny comments on each post is... My biggest fan. But I am his too so we are even:) So this post is for you my dear.
31 Reasons Why I {Heart} You...
1. You make me laugh
2. You are my bestest friend
3. Your smile...contagious
4. Your thoughtfulness
5. Because you help me do dishes and laundry
6. You provide so much for our family
7.  Because you are a WONDERFUL father to our kids
8. You know where I am ticklish....dont be crude people, I am ticklish on my neck:)
9. Because you accept me for me
10. You make me feel beautiful, everyday
11. You are such an amazing, talented writer
12. I like your butt, for reals.
13. You massage my feet every night you are home
14. You like me even when I wake up in the morning {I am not a morning person!}
15. You have seen me at my worst and still love me
16. You are kind
17. You smell good
18. You do tasks I ask you to do even though I know you dislike them {Thank you}
19. You are my high school sweetheart {Good times}
20.  You are spiritual
21. You have a testimony of what is near and dear to your heart
22. You are a good brother and son
23. You let me have the remote control
24. You will take me to watch my chic flicks and end up liking them more than me:)
25. You support me and the kids in all we do
26. Helpful
27. I love your sense of humor
28. You clean my car
29. You are NOT high maintenance, I guess thats why we work because I am.
30.You are snuggly
31.You surprised me with a trip to NY for my birthday and you will still love even though I just wrote you this blog.
Mitch I am so happy you were born! My companion and love. I am so grateful for you and your love. I am blessed because of you. Thank you for being the amazing person that you are. Truly the best thing to happen to me. Happy Birthday baby!

Aubrie's Baptism

I am so late on posting this but here it is finally. Aubrie Quinn got baptized on September 3, 2011 by her daddy. It was such a special emotional day for us. Aubrie looked so beautiful and was so poised through it all. Very grown up and mature. I still cant get over the fact that she is old enough to be baptized. I know I speak for many when I say we are so proud of her choice to follow Christ and she was also confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost. Mitch also confirmed her and gave her a sweet blessing along with it. I am so grateful for the people who came to support Aubrie and our family in this event. Thanks to my sister Heather for coming here from Denver and my Dad and Mary for also making the trip to be here with Aubrie. I have to give a huge shout out to the members of our ward who came and showed their support for us. All the men but my dad who stood in were from our ward or previous ward. I am so grateful for all of those worthy, wonderful men. Each of them mean so much to us and we are blessed to know each of them. It gives a new meaning to us "ward family", because they are our family. Thank you to everyone who came-Friends and family!

                          I can't leave out my other girls, aren't they so adorable?

Another special thing happened at the baptism-Caleb got ordained to the office of a deacon and recieved the Aaronic priesthood. Mitch also performed this ordination and gave Caleb a special blessing too. It was a such a special night for our little family. I am so grateful for the gospel and so grateful for my husband who was worthy and able to perform these ordinances. Blessed to have him. He is a good man and even better example to the children. Thank you Mitchy.

I am so proud of you Caleb and Aubrie! What wonderful choices and examples you are to those around you.

Stuck on Me

Aren't big sisters so nice to have? Brynley thought it would be fun funny to put stickers all over her baby sisters body. Carly didnt seem to mind either, I was laughing so hard that when I pulled out the camera she hammed it up for me.

Bubble burst

For about a month now I have either woke up at the crack of dawn to go walk, run, or go to the gym. I have been very pleased with myself and  even more pleased with the way I have been feeling. More energy, rejuvenated, clear minded. Today I met up with my walking buddy Kami. She has two little girls at home still and lives just a few streets over so we meet up halfway and walk and chat about our lives. Its been great to have someone to hang with. I have missed my husband as he has worked the vast majority of the month. So I havent even gotten to really see him or talk to him but on the phone. So ready for him to be off this weekend. But anyways, back to my story. Kami and I had a conversation that lead me to think about my life as a whole. On my way back home by myself, I had this thought come to me "Life is good. Its not perfect but its really good right now. Simple in so many ways." Such a calm, comforting thought. Then I had another thought come to mind "When will the bubble burst?" I know what a downer huh. I had such a great feeling of happiness and then BAM! Another thought ricocheted and ruined my happy thought. But I do often wonder when will something bad happen in our lives. Our kids are so happy and healthy, Mitch has a good job, I am  able to stay at home with the kids. I have little worry in my life compared to some I know. It made me feel very grateful for all that I have in my life.
So today I celebrated the simplicity of my life by making homemade fruit roll-ups and some pesto. Yum! Our neighbors {we have the best neighbors}, have been giving us alot of peaches and melon, so I am using those up in the roll-ups.  Monique made the best pesto and shared with us a few weeks and so it spawned the idea for me to make some too with all my basil.My basil plants were out of control. Glad I made good use of them.
I decided to put that unpleasant thought to rest for now. Because life is good and I need to be enjoying the simplicity of my life at the moment and enjoy days like this. Days were I can just stay at home, with no makeup and my comfy pants on. Days were my girls can play outside and watch Tangled to the hearts content. Days that I can take pride in being a mom and enjoy my littles running around. So here is to yummy fresh food and happy thoughts for the day...

Stylin

My girls have style. They know whats hot and whats not when it comes to fashion. They love shopping and love getting new clothes and accessories. I mean what girl doesnt right? So when Aubrie got a gift card to Claire's for her birthday along with some cash, she couldnt wait to go and pick something out. One of the items she got was a pair of sunglasses. Right after she picked them Brynley ran over and just had to get a pair herself. I love that she does everything her sister does. She was so happy about getting the same thing as her sister that I could not get them for her. And I am happy I did, or else I wouldnt have gotten these super cute pictures of them:)

It's Great to Be Eight!

Happy Happy Birthday to our Aubrie Quinn! 8 years old! Gosh I still cant believe our little girl is so grown up and getting so old. Seems like yesterday she was still just a vivacious, smart baby running around in her princess dresses and shoes. Still likes to play dress up and she is so smart and sweet. Definately the sweetest of our kids. I hope that okay to say. She is very thoughtful and happy and such a great helper to me. Her sisters adore her and her brother thinks she is cool. She has made the choice to get baptized tomorrow night and we all are very happy and excited for her about that! We love you Aubs!

Just one of my favorite pics of her. Isnt her skin lovely?