Take a relaxing breath

Well, I am sorry to say I don't have many pictures to post today.
We had quite a week, but I kept forgetting about taking pictures.
On Wednesday the girls had a talent show for Achievement Days. It was really nice to see all the girls (age 8-11) at church show off their talents.
I know you may find this surprising, but Aeva was the first one to present her talent. Her teachers were going to call everyone up one by one, but I think Aeva misunderstood this. She popped right out of her seat and walked up to the front. Luckily her teacher just rolled with it. She recited a poem about hope that she had written.
Rhaevyn was totally taken by surprise that she would have to get up in front of everyone to tell what her talent is and what she made. She made it as far as "my talent is....." and then started to cry. I felt so bad for her, as did her teachers. Thankfully she has two awesome and very sweet teachers who came to her rescue and explained that she had made a very beautiful cake that everyone could have a taste of at the end. One of the 11 year old girls was really sweet too and tried to let Rhaevyn know it was okay and she couldn't' wait to try her cake.
I really wish I had taken a picture of the second cake she made. It was sooooo delicious. Even better than the first. Needless to say, the whole thing was gone by the time the talent show was over and it was time to come home. I am truly so proud of the effort Rhaevyn put into making the two cakes. I think I may have a future baker/cake decorator on my hands.
Aeva sang her solo last night in the program "Women at the Well" for our church Relief Society birthday dinner. The whole program was so beautiful. Everyone who sang did a magnificent job. I am biased about Aeva's performance. I thought she sounded so sweet and angelic. She really did a great job, and I couldn't help but shed a few tears listening to her and watching her.
These are a few pictures of the costume I made for her. She had to have a costume that looked to be from the New Testament time. I am not a sewer, unless it is a blanket where I just sew in a straight line. I don't do patterns or anything fancy. So, when it came to making this costume I kept wishing it would magically make itself.
Once it was all finished, and I tried it on Aeva, I was laughing hysterically. The end product reminded me of the dress the three fairies, in Disney's Sleeping Beauty, made without using their magic. Thank goodness the program was done with minimal lighting. Aeva was sweet though. She told me she thought her costume was beautiful.

Myles, I am happy to report, is doing magnificently with potty training. Every once in a while there is a bump in the road, but for the most part I cannot complain. I've taken him out shopping twice, for several hours at a time, and there have been no accidents.
I just love this little guy. Yesterday he came into my room and said "hi mom, your my best buddy" and then gave me a kiss. I am so thankful for him.
So, now with the passing of Aeva's talk, the talent show and Aeva's solo, I feel like I can take a relaxing breath and the baby can come, any time :)

Test Run

Tomorrow, Rhaevyn and Aeva have a talent show for Achievement Days at church.
Aeva is displaying two poems that she has written.
Rhaevyn decided that her talent was cooking, and she wanted to make a cake.
We put in a call for some help from our wonderful and talented friend Samantha.
She makes the most beautiful and yummy cakes.
We decided that there should probably be a test run before doing the "real" cake for the talent show since Rhaevyn would be going to new cooking heights that she hasn't been before.
We all think for her "test run" she did an awesome job.
While Sam did give us a recipe to make cake from scratch, Rhaevyn decided to save some time and just get a regular cake mix from the store.

The filling is custard. Here she is making it from scratch.

"Am I doing this right mom?"

Now onto the frosting.

Everything has cooled and here Rhaevyn is putting the custard on.

The frosting is done and ganache put on over the top.
She added some colorful sprinkles for fun.

Time to sample.

Rhaevyn certainly learned a lot while making this cake all on her own, as did I as her cheerleader. I couldn't be much help because this was uncharted territory for me as well.
Rhaevyn wants to wish everyone a delicious week.
And now she is off to make the "real" cake.

What's Been Going On

I can't believe February is over, March is here and daylight savings is this weekend.
Myles is doing fantastic with his potty training. He loves giving Chris a high five when he comes home from work, and Myles reports how good he's done all day going potty. We are down to just having him wear pull ups at night. Go Myles!

We are so proud of Aeva and the wonderful talk she gave last Sunday in front of at least 300 + people at church. She was not nervous at all, had most of her talk memorized and was able to look out at the audience and smile while she gave her talk.
You would have thought I was the one giving it, as my heart was pounding so fast, I had butterflies and thought I was going to throw up. Aeva was just as calm as could be.
There were so many nice people who came up to her afterward to let her know how much they enjoyed her talk, which I must add, she wrote entirely on her own.

Right now I have two sick kiddos and am trying to keep Aeva healthy since she will be singing in a church program next Saturday. And I would like everyone to be healthy when the baby arrives.
Myles has been enjoying racing cars with Chris. They have so much fun together doing it. Myles gets sooooo excited about it. I've noticed lately in the car he will tell me "go faster mommy!" Hmmm.... faster, race cars.......does this mean he has the Lindsay disease???

Yesterday I splurged and treated the kids to a date at Krispy Kreme. Myles was distraught over the fact that there were no donuts being made at the time we were there. He didn't get to see the donuts go down the conveyor belt. He laid his head down on the ledge and said "I can't believe it." Oh well.

Rhaevyn, Myles and I went for a walk around a duck pond a week ago while Aeva was getting help with her solo. Myles was enjoying chasing the ducks around.

Rhaevyn dressed Aeva up. Aeva said she was supposed to be from the 1800's.

Myles decided he needed to pose for the camera too.

In case you would like to know how many days are left until my due date, Aeva says 25.
I haven't really been counting down because she reminds me everyday how much time is left until the 31st. Can you tell she is excited?

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend:)

Baby Blanket

I did it! I made a blanket for the baby. I wasn't sure I was going to, but I just didn't feel right not making one. I have made one for each of my babies. So, now I am definitely ready for her to come.
Anyway, I just thought I'd share what the blanket looks like. The girls helped me pick out the material (pinks and browns). I made it in two hours, which I think is a record for me.

It's for real this time

Life has gotten busy all of a sudden.
I have five weeks left until my due date. I am so excited!
Aeva is preparing for a solo at a church function as well as a 3-4 minute talk for church conference. She is quite excited about both. She definitely has confidence that I lacked at her age and still due. I am not one for being in front of crowds.
And if that isn't exciting enough, Myles is potty training.....really and truly this time.
Sometimes not having enough money to go buy pull-ups can be a blessing in disguise.
Last Thursday I told him that there were no more pull-ups (except enough for nighttime until Chris got his paycheck). My good friend lent us some, but Myles refused to wear them, which turned out to be a good thing. Anyway, I explained to him the alternative was big boy underwear and having to go in the potty. Well, it is working my friends. This morning, while I was in the shower, Mr. Myles came in, took off his undies, got on the potty, tinkled, got off the potty, used a wet wipe, washed his hands and put his underwear back on all by himself with no prompting from me. I could hardly believe it. His underwear was on backwards but no complaints here.
Unfortunately, we did have a minor set back this afternoon. I went shopping to get the last of what I need before the baby comes. This is the hard part about potty training with each child. You are so excited they are finally doing it, but then there is the "what do I do when we are out and about?" I mean, that is the nice thing about diapers or pull-ups. If they have to go you don't have to search for a bathroom. However, you can't exactly stay cooped up 24/7 when they are potty training and one doesn't want to revert backwards. So, I brought a change of clothes for Myles and his little potty. He had a minor accident at the first store, and we hurried out to the van where I sat him on the potty. That really wasn't working for him, and I can understand why. Sitting in a van on the kiddie potty just isn't the same as being at home. Anyway, I put his fresh clothes on him and proceeded to the second store where we had a major accident. This might have been avoided if the lines had not moved so slowly. Poor thing, his eyes got as big as saucers and there was a major puddle under our cart. Then he started to fall asleep. Anyway, we managed to get him changed again in the car and home before he made a bee line for the bathroom, but he didn't quite make it to the potty in time. I kept thinking, "where is all this coming from?". He hadn't had anything to drink. He has done well since being home though. I am so proud of my big boy.
While at the first store he got to pick out some new underwear since we were going through what we have a bit fast.

And he was so excited to buy himself a kite with the money Oma and Opa sent for Valentine's day. He can hardly wait to go fly it with dad at the playground.

Last week I was talking to Ben and noticed the house had gotten very quiet. I went to check on Myles. I found him in bed. I thought he was asleep and went to get the camera. When I came back and took the picture I saw he was smiling and he was trying to keep his eyes closed, but they were fluttering, which gave him away.

This is where I find Myles most mornings because this is the only time the heater is on. He loves to lay on the heater vent and make noises and play with anything that is nearby. This reminds me of when Ben and Cullen were little, and they used to lay on the heater vents in the morning.

Best wishes for a wonderful week :)

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to you all.

As I think back to our first Valentine's Day together, I discover that we've come a long way.
Not only has our little family grown from just the two of us to now almost six of us, but I realize that it's not all about flowers, or jewelry or chocolates.
It's the little things that make the day so special. We may not be able to give "things" to each other today, but we've got a lot of love to go around.

Sending lots of love to all our family and friends.

Found: Two Litte Feet

Yesterday evening I found these two little feet......

Dinner turned out to be a bit of a challenge last night. Nothing was finished at the same time. I burned the first round of garlic toast a la Jen. The second round turned out perfecto. And while the second round of pasta was cooking (I think the first round had been mislabeled because it was not strictly the four cheese pasta it claimed to be), I let the kids snack on the garlic toast. While the pasta was busy boiling I was on the phone with my best friend and waiting for Chris to return from his errand. I decided to sit down for a few minutes. I looked over and saw these cute feet. They were awfully still. I looked under the table and saw the body attached to the cute feet.

Poor Myles had finished his toast and was out like a light.

He didn't get much of a cat nap. I picked him up and started talking to him. He was not going to open his eyes or come out of his sweet slumber for pasta. However, I did mention oatmeal (his absolute favorite meal) with diced peaches, and his eyes popped right open. I think we must have played hard yesterday for him to have been so tired. He did enjoy chasing the girls around the house with his toy bucket over his head.......and nothing else on but that toy bucket I might add.

These are the modest pictures.

Gotta love my little man :)

Too Sweet

Friday, while I was helping Rhaevyn finish up her math studies, I looked over to see this sweet sight.
These are my two cuties with very strong personalities. This is not the average seen in our house when it comes to Myles and Aeva.
I just loved that Myles actually sat quietly and very still while he drank up the story Aeva was reading him.

This is the honey, the sweet stuff, in the life of a mother that makes it all worthwhile.

Cookies and the Playground

On Monday Aeva and Myles helped make chocolate chip cookies.
Myles absolutely loves to help bake. He is right there with anything that requires stirring and adding ingredients.
Aeva wanted one huge cookie made. We might have to try that next time.
Myles saw Aeva put on an apron and decided he needed to wear one too.

Who knew it could be so difficult to get butter out of the wrapper?

Time to be taste testers.

We have had some nice sunny weather. Nice as in the sun is out, but it is still chilly. So, we decided to walk to the playground at the school.
Myles can put his shoes on now all by himself. I do love the no shoelace shoes for kids.

Here are some videos from our outing to the playground.

This is Rhaevyn and Chris playing HORSE. Rhaevyn really enjoyed playing this and did pretty good.

A girl after my own heart. The monkey bars and rings used to be my favorite equipment on the playground. I had lots of blisters and calluses to prove it.

Myles loves this playground. It is hard to get him to leave when it is time to go home. He normally loves the slides, but yesterday it was almost impossible to get him off the swing.

After Aeva got tired of kickball Myles wanted a turn. They look like tiny specks out there, but Chris and Myles were running hard after the ball.

When I took this next video poor Myles was all tuckered out. He didn't want to run anymore.