Anna decided that she wanted to organize her jewelry box this afternoon. Such a fun task for a 5 year old! So we lugged it off her shelf, and she spent a good 15 minutes separating all of her baubles. Bracelets in one pile, necklaces in the next, rock collection in the third pile (didn't see that one coming, did ya?). My important task was to untangle all of the things that were stuck together. When it was all done she invited me to come see.

With her jewelry box


Her necklace drawer


My favorite part...her treasures. A Dora watch, a Hannah Montana lip gloss, a dollar bill, and a Jesus pass-along card. I love this girl!

Lots of Love

(Please be advised: This post has a lot of pictures of Linc in it. We will call it my Lincoln Log!)

Whew, the last few days have done me in, I need a nap! On Friday Linc had an ear infection...so we snuggled all day (ok....I held him and he cried).

Never too big for a Pacifier, his Mama, and his baby sling!


On Saturday was Valentines Day. Valentines Day at the McBride-house-O-fun is really never THAT big of a deal. It seems like we are always on a bit of a budget, so fancy dinners out and diamonds in velvet boxes are never in the cards : ). Mr. Wonderful and I will typically do something small and sweet for each other (there was one year that we BOTH secretly set our alarms early to wake up and make the other one breakfast!). This year I wanted to include the kids in a little more on the V-Day fun. We had heart shaped pancakes for breakfast (the girls LOVED this). Randy always buys the kids valentines and this year sent them on a treasure hunt around the house to find them. We got together with some friends for a V-Day lunch. And to top it all off, we had heart shaped pizza for dinner outside on the patio. I even bought champagne glasses for the event (which were clinked and clanked in a continual "cheers" fashion throughout our fancy dinner). It was wonderful to share the day with the people I love best.

The kids with their "treasure"


The two of us...and Blondie!

Yummy!


Yesterday we were invited to go to the zoo with some friends and had such a great time. It was the first time that Linc has gone and actually been aware of the animals. He loved them!!

My children who insist on going down slides together

Linc very happy with his snack...would rather eat said snack than see little monkeys

At the petting zoo...Linc very confused by the goats.

Lets squat and point at the goats (that'll teach 'em!)

Oh here's another one, lets contemplate that one now.

Who is going to win this staring contest?

Squatting and pointing, but definetly not touching!

The zoo was terrific. The best part? That not a single kid of mine cried inside the petting zoo. Now I call that success!

Tonight...

Tonight my parents are keeping the kids overnight so that Randy and I can celebrate our 7th year Anniversary. Thats right folks...not only have we been married for 7 years, but we will be free from all of our baby baggage from 3:45 Friday afternoon until about 9:30 Saturday morning. Thats over 17 hours! We plan on going out to dinner AND going to a movie (we never, ever get to do both...there is only enough time on our dates to do one or the other, but tonight we will indulge!). We also have grand plans of sleeping in...although I can garauntee you that we will wake up at 6am because that is when Little Buddy always makes his morning shout-out. I am so excited to be out with Mr. Wonderful, he who grows more wonderful to me with each passing year. Here is what I will NOT have to do tonight: Pack a diaper bag, wipe anyones nose, make multiple tripts to the Princesses chamber to give drinks, kisses, books, warnings, stern-talking-to's, etc., or chase Linc with a diaper as he runs away from me naked (that kid is wicked fast). All I have to worry about tonight is having fun with my favorite guy. Now that I can handle!!

Pictures in my camera...

So my mother tells me that her favorite thing about blogs is the pictures, and since my mom truly does always know best, here is a post for her! Keep in mind, I have not downloaded pictures from my camera since Halloween!

Our Halloween was a fun spectacle of non-stop candy, various parties, and lots of fun. Here is a pic of me and the kids right before the candy begging began:


Linc was a soccer player (I believe that he just scored a goal in this picture, thatta boy!)


Anna was the lovely Giselle from Enchanted


Our sweet little Blondie was a Purple Princess (a tad generic, but purple is a lovely color right??


Moving on to Thanksgiving now, we drove out to Gold Canyon to spend thanksgiving with Randy's family. It was a great day of yummy food, lots of family, and a few wild games of Spoons. The kids were busy all day playing...we had a great time.

Randy and Linc with Mom & Dad McBride


Grandmother reading to the kiddos...this is the only time they sat still all day!


That evening after the Thanksgiving fiesta was over, we drove to my parents cabin in Pine. The kids (ok, mainly my "little" brother Dennis) were insistent on finding snow. Much to my surprise, we actually found a lot of snow and managed to take pictures and do a bit of playing.

Hallie had a great time building this lovely snowman...


Hallie had an even better time pushing the snowman over...poor snow guy


My brother Dennis had the best time trying to throw the snowdudes body on Hallie...


A poem for my honey-I love to hug you in the snow, in the rain, or on a train...


A poem for my baby sister............. Just kidding, I only write one poem per day. However, it would be fun to be a cute 16 year old again, for maybe just a day.


And lastly, a pic of my cute, chubby, baby with sweet little cheeks that I love to smooch...

This is Linc tuckered out after playing in the snow. I use the word playing very loosely, it appears that our little guy doesn't like to be cold...so he was passed from warm adult to warm adult the whole time. Its a rough life. Oh...and Linc's New Years Resolution is to get rid of his Paci...pray for us people!!!

Gratitude....

I am thankful for 3 little faces to kiss each morning. I am thankful for chubby little toddler hands, for the opportunity to teach those hands how to hold a spoon, a crayon, play pat-a-cake. I am grateful for the sounds of my babies playing, and singing, and laughing. I am grateful to be home all day to cook, and clean, and kiss, and hug. I am grateful for dirty hands, feet and faces that have enjoyed the beautiful earth we have been given. I am grateful for bath water splashed everywhere in the bathroom, and the sudsy smiles that greet me. I am thankful for the memories I make everyday with these little souls who will only be little for an instant.

Family Pictures Fiasco

I love pictures of my family. Everyone scrubbed clean in new clothes, hair just perfect, pretty little smiles. I love fun pictures all over the house that remind us what a cute happy family we are. However, I don't always love the road that it takes to GET family pictures. Figuring out what everyone will wear, going to a million stores to find just the right outfits, doing the girls hair in a pretty soft hairdo and then stressing about them not ruining that pretty soft hair before the photographer even takes the first picture. In my life there is always a baby in the picture...which means an inevitable runny nose and lots of effort to get said baby to look reasonably happy and to stay in one place without crawling off (or walking off, or running off). There is always a grumpy toddler (and sometimes a grumpy husband!). There is always bribes of candy, fun, McDonalds, Saturday afternoon football (for Mr.Wonderful of course)...whatever it takes to get the joys of my life looking joyful at the same time. There is a litany of NO's on the drive over....no fits, no fights, no crying, no fussing, no whining. So I finally got all of my ducks in a row. The outfits, the hair, a fun new photographer. My bribes were in place, and my happy little campers came through in the end. The girls were great (ok, one pouty face picture from little Miss.Drama hardly counts right?). Mr.Wonderful came through wonderfully. Linc was our little bump in the road but we managed to get a few shots of him smiling whilst running away from the camera (what else would make a little boy so happy?). A big thanks to our awesome photographer Steve Watson who I highly recommend...a man with 4 children of his own and plenty of patience to deal with my crew. Also a huge thanks to my darling husband who puts up with my high-strung personality and perfectionism at picture time every year...he was a gem (and he even got to watch his Saturday afternoon football!). Enjoy the pics...there are more at stevewatson.smugmug.com.

Cute little stinker

Blondie being sweet

My favorite family pic...love the corn!!

The Princesses

Very Vintage

Isn't he handsome??

How did I get so lucky with those 3?

Anna is great at posing for the camera...

And last but not least...Miss.Drama decides to pout! But not to worry, with a promise of candy she snapped right out of it on the next shot (I am a shameless briber on picture day).

Today...

What I DID do:

1. Excerised with a girlfriend
2. Took the gang to the park, and even gave a few pushes on the swings!
3. Did 3 loads of laundry (washed, dried, folded, put away!)
4. Gave Mr. Wonderful a big hug and kiss before work!
5. Put Blondie in time-out once and Linc down for a nap twice
6. Fed all the munchkins and even got lunch myself!

What I WILL do:

1. Make a million spiral curls in the girls hair for their big Halloween night debut
2. Let them pick whichever lipstick their little hearts desire for the big night
3. Take a bunch of pictures of the princesses and little buddy
4. Take the gang trick-or-treating until exhaustion sets in
5. Haul them home, baths, kisses, prayers, bed
5. Read my scriptures, say my prayers and then...
6. Snuggle with Mr. Wonderful on the couch!