Winter Favorites

 It seems like at all different times of year I go through different phases where I have different phases.  Well, I currently have several really good 'winter' favorites.  Please allow me to share :)

My sister was bugging me for a long time to read the series of books Vampire Academy, but I just didn't for some reason.  But I got the box set for Christmas and was instantly hooked- they are right up my alley!  A good mix between Twilight and Mortal Instruments.  I just finished the sixth and last book and highly recommend them :)

It's back... finally!!  Steve and I love ABC show Shark Tank.  Just based on the description you think it may seem a bit dull, but honestly, it's anything but!  It premiered last Friday night and you better believe we watched it right away!

 Last week on a quick trip to Walmart I made the huge mistake of picking up a couple of boxes of Toaster Strudels.  Not a good idea!  I forgot how delicious, addicting, plus fattening they are!  And it doesn't help that both Steve and Hadley feel the same way...

Hadley's kitchen (that she got for Christmas) and her baby, which was actually mine when I was little, have provided HOURS and HOURS of entertainment.  She's constantly asking to play kitchen or baby and she just is so cute while she plays.  She rarely allows me to play with her so I'll just sit and watch or sit and read.  I can already see what a good little mommy she will be someday :)  Plus I'm loving that she is so in love with her baby right now since she is getting almost all baby things for her birthday!

What are some of your winter favorites?

The Update

 Nothing to exciting to report around here so I thought I would do a quick update of what we are up to!

Steve:

Busy, busy, busy!  Between full time work and full time school I sometimes feel like we only see him on weekends.  That is actually the case, Steve doesn't get home lots of nights until like 8 or 8:30.  But he's doing really well and really enjoying this new set of classes (finally getting into the core of the information systems training).  But he's the best dad ever- Hadley is always asking where dad is and when he gets home they instantly go to their wrestling and crazy wild games!

Me:

Since we have so many nights just me and Hads we are always on the look out for ways to spend our evenings.  We are always up for visitors and playdates ;)  I finished my portfolio for my level 2 license last week and I also just two my second praxis test.  So as long as I passed I'm good to go for my Level 2!  Besides all this school stuff and planning, Hadley is certainly still keeping me on my toes and I love every minute I get with her!

Hadley:

When did my baby get so big!!  She just grows and grows more each day!  She hasn't hit anything 'terrible' at all is seriously so fun to be around all the time- she has such a funny personality.  Her interests are all Pooh and I've never seen a 2 year old more obsessed with anything!  She is talking up a storm these days, including some full sentences and funny comments :)  We are excited to celebrate her birthday here in a few weeks!

And no post is complete without a few pictures of Hadley of course... I mean who really wants to see pictures of Steve and I?

Snip Snip!

 Hadley had her first real hair cut this week!!  I probably shouldn't have waited 2 years to get it done but since it's pretty curly you couldn't really tell how uneven it was :)  I took her to a girl in our ward who sometimes does my hair and Hadley actually did really well.  Of course she had to sit on my lap the entire time so I didn't get very many good pictures.  But between candy, being fascinated watching Whitney's two little boys, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse she was a trooper!!  Whitney really only took like 1/2 an inch but just evened the whole thing out!!

I've been straightening her hair a couple times a week and it's been look pretty scraggly... so here's a before picture.

 During...

And after...

When did my baby become such a little person?  I need to take some better pictures of it but we seriously think she looks so cute and Steve keeps commenting on how old she looks!!

Christmas 2011

 We had a great Christmas with our little family.  We ate lots of food and played with cousins all night on Christmas eve...

We tried to get a good picture of all the kids in their new jammies...

 Hadley got very spoiled by Santa (and of course by mom!)...

 She came downstairs and of course ran immediately to her new Pooh books and pillow!  We then played with our new Santa toys...

 Took a bath with our new bubbles that came in our stocking...

 This year we opened presents at our house and it was a bit crazy.  Hadley had a massive meltdown and spent a great deal of the morning in 'quiet time.'  I guess you could say that it wasn't exactly the Christmas morning that we had planned...

We spent the day together watching lots of basketball, eating more delicious food, and playing lots and lots with cousins...

Loved the day (aside from the crying and screaming) and we couldn't feel more blessed!!

Twas the Season...

 To spend time with family and friends!!

We had a really great December and were able to do lots of fun things!  But of course I forgot my camera for several of them (temple square, Festival of Lights, playdates).  We did get to go the zoo with Becca, Jesse, Kevin, Hillary and the kids.  Afterwards we kinda wished we stayed home... It was freezing, it was $3 Thursday which resulted in about a million people up there, and they blocked off most of the animals.  But the kids enjoyed what little we did see and sipping on hot cocoa!



 We also went to dinner and bowling with our friends that live in Tennesee, Nate, Cami, and Jane!  The girls played around the fountain for a little while and this was the most they ever interacted :)  They both just kinda had their own things going that night- I guess that's the life of a 2 year old!!

 Hadley loved bowling but most loved running around the bowling alley!  I love this time of year and am always sad to see it end... here's til next year!

Two Truths & A Lie

Two truths and lie- one of the few things that got me to seminary (I know I'm horrible!).  We used to play this game all the time.  Three different stories would be told and you had to decide which were truth and which was the lie.  Ready to play?

Story 1:

We've had some snowy/freezing weekends recently.  You know the kind of where you have list of things to get done (errands, school stuff, work stuff and what not) and you don't even want to get out of your pj's or leave the house.  So that's exactly wha we did!  We built a fort and hung out inside most of the day.  We read books, played games, even at our lunch inside... and of course Hadley enjoyed every minute!

Story 2:

December 17th had been on the books for a while.  Another 12 person date with my team teachers and their husbands to make gingerbread houses and play games.  Well, what ya know that when we go to get Hadley up from her nap she has thrown up EVERYWHERE!!  The poor thing was so traumatized with it being her first experiece throwing up and all.  So we had to cancel our plans :( to stay home and take care of the little women.  She threw up 4 more times that night and has slowly returned to normalcy since.

Story 3:

Becca and I took the kids to the mall last week to visit Santa.  Hadley was so cute and waving and saying hi while we killed time waiting for Becca.  When it was our turn she just hopped right up on his lap and was quite pleased.  She got a little coloring book where she made me proud when she said all by herself, "Thank you."

Story 1- TRUTH!!  And just for the record Steve makes much better forts that I ever dreamed of!!

 Story 2- TRUTH!!  And be grateful that I did not document the weekend with pictures!

Story 3- LIE- the picture says it all!!



Thanks Kelly for the post idea- I always need a fun idea to spice things up!!

Unplugged Play

 I mentioned a few months ago about a book I bought from Amazon.  It was recommended by my friend Cami and the book is called Unplugged Play.  It is awesome!  It has literally hundreds of ideas of fun things to do inside that really don't require much extra then what's lying around your house!  And obviously none of the activities use anything electrical..  Since we have such cold weather we have really enjoyed using this book during these freezing winter months :)

This is one of Hadley's favorites.  You mark a bunch of notecards with colored circles and then staple one of each colored card onto a brown bag.  Then you hide the cards around the room and she finds them and puts them in the matching bag.  We started with just two bags (blue and yellow because those were the colors she could recognize consistently).  But now we have blue, yellow, pink, and purple cards and she's really good!!

 Another favorite is we collect all the balls in the entire house and play basketball with a laundry basket.

We've also make homemake 'goo' with flour, water, and food color (a messy but definite favorite) and Hadley loves to do her own dishes :)  Which is really just soapy water in a tuperware with some smaller (plastic) dishes.  Hope this book lasts us until May!!