cupcakes!!!!!!!!!

in honor of uncle Collier's birthday, Anna requested cupcakes for a treat, and how could i resist. 1) she is so sweet and always asks so nicely i am putty in her hands, 2) i love cupcakes as much as she does and my will power was very very low today.

Anna loves to help me "steer" the batter and lick the spoon. Maddie enjoys eating, well anything, but cover anything in chocolate and she's extra happy!

Happy Birthday to Collier!!!!!

happy birthday to ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

okay, so it was in March, but....
so, Jason and i really don't give each other gifts. i mean not like huge extravagant, expensive gifts or anything. we decided a while ago to keep it simple and focus on our family and relationship. generally, i like this policy. but this year, i requested something very specific: Cure tickets. for those of you who maybe casual friends or blog-stalkers, you may not realize that i am, and have been for the majority of my life, an enormous, die-hard, fanatic, Cure lover!!!!! tonight marked my 11th show over the past 16 years, and it was amazing! things have changed since the old days, the fans are much older, including me who could not rock quite as hard as even 4 years ago being 5 months pregnant with sciatica. but, nonetheless i enjoyed myself completely. the seats were amazing, the best i've had in years. and the music was breathtaking as always. thank you honey, for making my birthday wish come true!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yay for me!

happy birthday to Sierra

Anna went to her first, real, drop off, birthday party. she was so excited she could hardly sleep the night before. she actually requested i take a picture, she was so proud of her gift. it was really cute. after the party we went to Costco and she kept telling everyone, "i went to a birthday party." oh the joy of childhood!

kick ball change

so, the last time my mom was in town, she brought Anna a special treat, "tap dancing shoes." now, she loves to do dancing, and is begging for dancing classes. here is a sampling of her work:

everyday is like Sunday

on Sunday, Jason snapped some cute pics of the girls while we got ready for church. Anna, always wants her sunglasses for the car ride, and never remembers them. this week she was prepared. i am always struggling for that perfect time to get the kids ready for church, either i do it too early and they get messy before we go, or i do it too late, and we are, well, late.
i couldn't resist sharing this one. this is the Madeline of my daily life. for some reason she likes to mad-dog everyone outside the house, but usually she is just a sweet, little, mischievous, angel!
when we got home from church we saw that Nalu had thrown-up. coming off her recent camping experience, Anna showed real sympathy for her pet. she crawled over to her on the floor and gave her kisses saying, "oh Nalu, did you have too much candy?" too cute!

photo shoots and bathing suits!

i am so excited about this service project! i feel like Florence Crittenton is such a deserving organization, and the photo project is something these young mothers can have forever. on Saturday, 4 area photographers shot the girls and their children. the Young Women in my ward put the photos in albums. it was so much fun, and such a great way to serve!

our bathing suit/towel drive just wrapped up as well. it was literally miraculous the way it all came together. we gave the girls each a goal of collecting 2 suits and 2 towels or the monetary equivalent. their deadline was May 25. on that day we had about 7 towels and suits, and money to purchase about 13 more. we we thrilled at the response, and glad we could get half way to our goal. now for the miracle: as we shopped for the remaining items, Memorial Day sales, additional donations, and out and out luck helped us get ALL 40. by Tuesday, i had received even more money allowing us to purchase beach bags, flip flops, and sunglasses for all 40 girls at Florence Crittenton. as of today, i have even more money that will go to providing shoes to those girls as well. i have been so overjoyed to reach and exceed our goal for such a wonderful organization. and i think we all learned a great lesson about generosity in the world!

the mud

so, the girls decided to help daddy with some yard work. you know what they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words...."