Growing

Welp folks, the time has come for our family (and my belly!) to grow. 

Baby number 2 is in the oven! 

Is there even room in Summer 2012 for another baby??

my life as a sucker in a tent

The other day, my dear little Owyn discovered the tunnel to his tent that he got as a gift for his first birthday from Grand-Jen. He was having to much fun being in the little tunnel (and might I add, had to be shirt and pantless to be in it (?)) I thought we should break out the entire tent.

And so, I set up the tent and haven't left it since. This is now day 3 and I am currently typing from inside the tent. I am a hostage. If I try to get out Owyn points and yells, "MOMMY, GO NIGHT NIGHT IN THE TENT!". 

That is what these kids do to us. We so deeply desire to see excitement in their eyes and smiles on their faces and it makes us do crazy things like get them their own mini "coffees" (fancy over-priced chocolate milk) from the coffee shop. Even though we know they will be bouncing off the walls raising hell after the sugar rush kicks in and we will regret it, we do it to see them happy. Same goes with the tent. I want to take it down. I've had enough, and if I have to watch "Mars Needs Moms" or "WALL-E" one more time I might scream, but I am a sucker for that kids love and happiness.

bringing power into the tent

heart chain

One of my jobs at work as an Art Educator is to develop art/craft activities for the children. 

We have various areas throughout the museum with art and craft activities that change on a daily/weekly basis. Needless to say, it gets really difficult to come up with activities that haven't been done before. Thanks to Pinterest, I have found a few new things. 

I figured I would start to share some of them with you. 

This weeks activity for the older kiddos is a heart chain. They seem to really love it. I have seen them do all sorts of stuff with them, like turned them into wreaths and hats.

Here are my own instructions to creating a heart chain. 

Kids seem to follow pictures better than words. 

rays

I am convinced that there's nothing on earth that cannot be cured by a little sunshine.

Lately I've found myself sitting in the sun for a few minutes just to re-energize my battery. I feel like WALL-E.

I am craving the summer sun. I want to be lounging by a pool with some sort of frozen rum drink in hand. Is that too much to ask for?

 

 I want this dumb season to end.

I should tell you how much I despise yellow grass, fallen leaves and bare trees. 

Between the winter and the crazy construction, that yes, is still going on, and a bee hive, our yard looks so sad. I'm a actually a little embarrassed when I dive up to our house. There are holes in the street covered by metal boards, dirt everywhere, bright orange barricades being stored on our lawn, leaves in the mulch (honestly, how do you get it out??) and overgrown hedges.

Good news is, irrigation starts back up this month, our bee hive is getting removed as I type (which means I can finally do yard work in the front without being attacked) and Spring is just around the corner.

ps. I didn't realize how long it had been since I posted until I uploaded these photos and saw my last album was created in December. woops.

alive

 

I'm alive and I can hardly believe it. 

I'm not sure what it feels like to be on your death bed, but if I had to  guess, I'm pretty sure it's what i've been feeling like the past two weeks. I'm slowly getting better but have absolutely no energy at all. I'm pretty sure it's the flu, but how do you get diagnosed with the flu? Is there a test?

At any rate, my body was craving sunshine on Friday. Owyn and I both needed to get out of the house and even though I didn't feel like I could, I got ourselves together and we went to the zoo. Our plan wasn't to go there, but that's where we ended up. We went to the petting zoo, where we saw a horse that looked like the horse we had when I was a kid, and called it a day.  It was such a nice day so we spent the rest of it playing in the backyard. It was good to get some sun.

Best of 2011

Here is my list of the BEST things that took place in 2011

 Took Owyn sledding

Went to Denver 

 Graduated with two BAs

Got a fantastic job

 

Finally tied the knot, and had the most beautiful wedding. EVER.  

Went on an AMAZING honeymoon 

So many great things happened this year. It's crazy how fast time flies by.

This year we will meet new challenges, receive new joys, and grow as a family and as individuals. 

I'm so excited!

Christmas

This Christmas has been one of the funnest yet, now that Owyn can appreciate the gifts. 

Following tradition, on Christmas Eve we went to see Temple lights and drove around the nearby neighborhoods admiring the bright colors, giant blown up snow globs and lit up reindeer. Then we came home, lit a fire, and got to open one gift each. Owyn opened a book and after I saw how happy he was I thought, shoot, lets just take all these gifts back, he's happy with his book!

I've been really sick this past two week, and I worked so much the week leading up to Christmas that it hit me hard once Christmas came. So, I didn't get to do all of the things I wanted to, like make Christmas breakfast. Good news is, I finally got myself out of bed and into the doctor for meds, and now I'm getting better. That's how bad it was. I couldn't get out of bed. I didn't shower for 4 days straight. Gross. 

We also had some losses in our family this past week. My great Aunt passed, who was an incredible woman who could fill the emptiest hearts with joy in an instant with her laugh. We also had to put down our beloved Sparky who has been our family dog for 12 years. Anyone who has had that dog who you don't consider a dog, you consider them a family member, knows the pain that comes with losing them. The pain that makes you never want to have another dog again, just so you don't have to go through it again. My heart goes out to my mom because these loses have impacted her more than any of us kids. Aunt Evie was her favorite aunt and went out to Iowa any chance she had to see her and Sparky was her dog. Sparky followed her everywhere for years and years. But I am happy to know they are free of their aching bodies.

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. 

God is good. We should thank him everyday for his Grace.

Nutcracker

Last weekend we went to see the Nutcracker by the Arizona Ballet. 

I can't even tell you how many years I've gone, it's sort a tradition.I love dressing up and seeing all of the fancy ladies with their furs. Thank goodness Dave enjoys the ballet as well! This year it was the hubs and I and we also brought along Laura (my mother-in-law) because she does so much for us and we wanted to treat her. Laura watches Owyn for us when I work and when I was in school and if it wasn't for her, our lives would be a lot more difficult.

After the ballet we went to LGO, which as always, was absolutely delish.

We are getting ready for our Christmas weekend! 

I have a feeling this will be one of the best! 

 Owyn is so excited for Santa to come and he has a BIG surprise come Christmas morning.. 

we have a very special present planned for him!

boat parade

My sis and I took the kiddos to see the Boat Parade at Tempe Town Lake last weekend. 

It was awesome and insanely busy.

 I can't believe how many people were there, I also can't believe Ive never gone before.

haps

I feel impulsed to share the current "notable" happenings around here

so, here it goes

dave and I went to the Iron and Wine concert! 

the Grand-dude (my dad) was briefly in town

today, Dave told me that he got me an "unexpected xmas gift" that is apparently almost as good as a puppy pug. im guessing it's a summer beach house?

we finally got  owyn off of the pacifiers. yipee!

at one point I turned to Dave and said,

"man, I hope we never have to do a drug intervention, because this SUCKS!" talk about addiction!

today I made homemade protein bars and laundry soap! 

hello, my name is Chelsea, but you can call me Martha.

tonight Owyn went to bed early (because he took no nap) and Dave is out for a friends birthday. Basically it is official chick-flick night!

Oh, the simple joys in life.

Warm fuzzies

We're just about finished with the holiday decorating. 

My house feels extra warm and cozy. 

Can I just leave this stuff up all year?