Love You!

Why are these flowers so special? Besides that it's Valentine's Day and they are beautiful and no doubt they are from my perfect in every way husband? Well, he happens to be on a business trip cruising the Caribbean (I know, right?) and, knowing he was going to be MIA this Valentine's Day, made special plans to have our awesome florist neighbor make me this stunning arrangement. And even better then the flowers, was that the satelite phone worked for about two minutes and I got to hear his voice!

I am so blessed to be married and the eternal companion of my wonderful husband. He really is more amazing than I could have ever dreamed and makes me so happy. I love anticipating him coming home from work every day and I love the butterflies I still get when he kisses me. I love spending each day with him, and love that I get him for eternity!

LOVE YOU!

And these are my beautiful kids. We were having a great time with some great friends at the church and I caught them for a quick pic. Wow! I really can't ask for anything else. I have it all.

LOVE YOU!

Happy Valentine's Day to my perfect family.

I Love These Kids

It's no secret that I have some SUPER cute kids! Lately, I've noticed a few things that I really love about them.

I love Brookie's hair after we take out her pigtails. And I love when we don't have anywhere to go so she can stay like this all day!

I love that she loves cereal. She grabs the first box she can reach and either brings it to me for help, or helps herself.

I love that Jordo does everything his own way. Not just getting a drink of water, but everything.

I love that Ty loves to read and loves to learn. He starts kindergarten this fall and he couldn't be more excited. In the mean time, we'll do what we can at home to get him ready.

I LOVE MY KIDS. It's been a long winter indoors and we are ready for some sun, some space, pool time, picnics, parks, bare feet... the list goes on and on. But through it all, I have loved getting to know these three kiddos a little bit better each day.

Nothing like a little cat for dinner

Today I was cooking some ground beef for dinner and Ty came over. Here's how the conversation went....

Ty: "Mom, what are you cooking?"

Me: "Some meat for dinner." (It came from a tube package, so he was a bit worried.)

Ty: "What kind of meat?"

Me: "Just ground beef, but once it's cooked it'll look better. It's like what we use for meatballs."

Ty: "But what does it come from"

(My brother-in-law hunts and so Ty has been fascinated with which animal is which meat)

I tried to lay low and act like it was no big deal.

Me: "A cow" (I said it quickly so he wouldn't make any judgements)

He didn't say anything and when I looked over he looked like he was trying to control his gag reflex.

Me: "Ok?"

Ty: (Trying to be brave) "Ok, so ground beef from a cat, ok."

I tried so hard not to laugh, but couldn't help it.

Me: "Oh, not a cat! A cow!"

I've never seen him so reassured before. I promised that we'd never eat cat (let's hope we never have lows that low) and gave him a hug and showed him, since it was finished, what normal cow ground beef looked like.

I think we'll laugh about that one for a while.

If you want a good taco soup recipe that is 100% cat free, go HERE.

Poor Baby Girl

Poor poor Brookie.

We learned the hard way that she is allergic to amoxicillin.

She was one big rash from head to toe and couldn't stop itching. After three long days and even longer nights, she is feeling a lot better. Still a bit red, but that should fade soon.

I wish it could be really caught on camera.

This was after the worst, but still not looking great.

Baths were pretty much the only way to soothe her.

These are just a few pics of her quirky personality.

She does this whine where she squishes her face. We have yet to truly capture it, but this is close.

Ty picked these at the dollar store, and Brookie loved trying them on.

Love this girl and so glad the rash is gone. Now if she could just finish teething and get rid of those ear infections.

Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We had a very busy, but wonderful holiday season.

I slacked on Christmas cards this year, but we wish you all the very best and hope the new year brings lots of joy. Love you all!

Hear's a few highlights...

Brookie turned one!

I can't believe how fast this year has gone (I know everyone says that), but I really think having a holiday birthday made it really feel faster.

She's signing 'hot' or 'fire', not sucking on her finger, but either way she's adorable! We've LOVED having this beautiful girl in our family for a whole year.

Here's the kiddos in their new PJs.
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Shaw!

For months, Ty wanted a guitar that turned into a piano. I know, intense. Well this year, Santa totally pulled through.

Brookie with her new doll saying 'Baby'.

We've resisted getting too many 'girly girl' things, but she loves her baby.

We got to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas with Kev's family, but I somehow made it through without any pictures of the kids with their cousins. So trust me when I say it was full of fun!

New Years' we were able to finally get together with my whole family (this pic was the closest thing we got). That hasn't happened for years, so it was a lot of fun and the kids had a great time playing with the whole gang.

This was Jordo's gift and he wore it ALL night!

And this was what Brooke loved. Why do we ever spend money on kids under two? They just like the paper and boxes anyways.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and here's to 2011!!!