Catch Up

In an effort to keep all my pictures in the same month and because I was so far behind and tomorrow is May 1st (!?!!?) I've posted A TON below. Just so you know and don't miss out on all of our crazy fun!

Funny Face

Addysen has this new face she has been making for the last couple of days. She scrunches up her nose and sucks air back and forth really fast through her nose. It's pretty cute and she'll do it for you as soon as you make the face first.

On this night (April 26,2009) we were trying to get Addysen to make the face so I could get some video of it. Of course Elodie had to get in on the action and it was pure sillyness from then on out!!

Got Milk

Another fun thing we did while my mom was here was hit Wal-Mart a million times. It doesn't matter where we are (Louisiana or Arizona) but it never fails, we hit Wal-Mart almost every day. When I was home in October we must have gone for something almost everyday I was there. Same thing happened while she was out here. Wal-Mart must have some strange draw when Moms and Daughters are together! It's the only explanation!

Albertson's was having a great sale on their big boxes of General Mills cereal and since Wal-Mart price matches we totally racked up. You can't tell from the picture but we got 16 boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios. I had already stored them in my pantry when I thought to take a picture and didn't feel like hauling them all out again. Since it was limit 4 per purchase, mom and I both checked out seperately and went 2 days in a row to get 16 boxes.

The best part is I've got my 3 month supply of cereal out of this great deal!! They may last us longer but Addysen can eat some cheerios!! Now I just need to work on our powdered milk supply. Addysen is the only one that enjoys cereal without milk!

Thanks for the fun shopping trips mom! Great memories!

Last Night

The evening before my mom left town we took her over to the Riparian Reserve right near our house. The weather was amazing and we enjoyed being outside and walking the trails. It's right up my mom's alley, looking at all the different plants. The geese were especially fun as we use to have 2 when we were growing up.

Addysen giving her daddy kisses

I love all these pictures of Addysen- we don't have any Arizona desert pictures so I thought this was fun. Especially if we ever move from Arizona.

FHE with MawMaw

While my mom was here, she and Elodie planned family home evening. For treat my mom had bought all the ingredients to make chocolate covered ritz crackers. Elodie had never had them before but they have been a staple from my childhood. For as far back as I can remember my parents would make these as treats for christmas for other families in the ward. The recipe is very simply and I was surprised why I hadn't thought to make them with Elodie before now.




Either way, Elodie enjoyed making these tasty treats with MawMaw and we all enjoyed them!!




Here's the recipe if you want to try them with your own kids. Their very versatile and the leftover chocolate can be used to dip pretzels or nuts. You really can't go wrong with anything dipped in chocolate!

Chocolate Covered Ritz Crackers:


1 sleeve Ritz crackers
4 to 6 blocks chocolate flavored Almond Bark ( you can easily find this at wal-mart on the baking isle)
Crunchy or Plain Peanut Butter
Almond slivers (or any type of nut your family likes)


In a microwavable bowl melt your chocolate
While the chocolate is melting, take 2 ritz crackers and some peanut butter and make a little sandwich.
After the chocolate is melted, dip each sandwich in chocolate and place on aluminum foil.
Cover with almonds and place in your refrigerater to harden.
Store leftovers in fridge too.

Bath Time Fun

We usually bath Addysen in our kitchen sink. 2 reasons- 1. Addysen is still so tiny and feels a little overwhelmed in the big tub and 2. Because Elodie baths in the morning and Addysen baths at night. Since they don't bath together it's mostly a convenience thing.


For whatever reason Addysen didn't get a bath one night so I threw her in the tub with Elodie the next morning. Both girls were thrilled to play together in the tub. The only problem with this is Elodie loves a ton of hot water and Addysen can only have a little luke warm water. I ended up having to take Addysen out early and filling the tub with more hot water for Elodie to enjoy.


I don't see them sharing the tub for a while but it was fun for a few minutes!




This is a picture of Elodie's new trick in the bath tub. She loves to lay back in the water and get her hair wet like this. Some mornings I'll find her laying back with her eyes closed just relaxing. Such a silly girl. It's definitely helpful though because since she can lay back like this she can wet her own hair before I wash it and she can also rinse her hair out after I wash it. Slowly but surely she is becoming more independent. Bittersweet.

Addysen's New Trick

There were a ton of milestones for Addysen while my mom was here. She cut her first tooth, learned to sign bath and fold her arms for prayer, and started saying MawMaw. But the most exciting of all ( I think anyway) is her learning to stand on her own. And you can tell she is so proud of herself! She will now crawl to the middle of the floor, stand up, then look around with this huge smile on her face waiting for everyone to clap for her!

Let's back up...

to EASTER! I don't think I've been this far behind in a while. It's all my mom's fault! (wink! wink!) We had a crazy Easter weekend! It was freezing cold and rainy the WHOLE DAY Saturday! Nothing like Arizona weather! Our ward still had it's annual easter egg hunt at the park so we loaded up the girls in long sleeves and umbrellas and headed over to the park. It didn't matter that it was cold and wet outside, ALL the kids were so excited for the big egg hunt!

Little Miss Elodie

Addysen was not liking the Easter bunny!

Elodie and her best friend Macy. We are sad because Macy and her family are moving to Utah this summer. Macy and Elodie are in the same primary class and go to the same pre-school. We will miss them so much and I'm sad for Elodie to lose such a great friend!

Ready and Waiting!

Because it's a community event, the ward hides something crazy like 1200 eggs! It's nuts!

An egg hunting expert this year!

On Sunday morning Elodie woke up to her Easter basket- next year I think we will do a egg hunt for her basket but this year we tricked her in to thinking the Easter bunny would come to her room and leave her Easter basket...but only if her room was clean! I don't think I've ever seen her room so clean and she was so excited that the Easter bunny came to her house!

After breakfast Sunday morning we dyed Easter eggs.

And then after church we headed over to our friends Audrey and Derek's for Easter dinner and more egg hunting. It was a stunning day on Sunday and the kids enjoyed being outside! Overall, it was a great Easter weekend spent as a family with friends!

Dear Mom,

Remember that non-stick pan you bought for me a few days ago? The one you said was really nice and I would never need to buy another pan ever again? Well, I believe you.

I never meant to challenge this really nice pan. I always believed you. But today, I'm convinced! In my defense, here's the story.

This morning before church I was planning to make rice, chicken, and gravy for dinner. NORMALY, I use my crock pot for this recipe but didn't have it because I left it at the church. Instead I thought to use my new non-stick pan and pop it in the oven while we were at church. Everything went fine until we got home and the whole house smelt like burning something. Not good. I took the pan out of the oven and this is what I found. I guess the heat was too high and since I hadn't ever done this recipe in the oven, I didn't know how low to turn my heat. Oops!

Thank heavens for the lifetime guarantee non-stick pan! I would have hated to see any other pan I might have used! Thanks Mom!

Here's the recipe in case you want to try it. It's really good...just not the way I did it this time.

In a CROCK POT:

-Melt one stick of butter

-Add one packet onion soup mix, one can cream of chicken or mushroom soup, and 1 cup milk

-Mix well

-Add 3 chicken breast ( I use frozen) and cook on low for 3 to 4 hours

- Shred chicken and serve over rice.

* I usually serve with a side salad, green beans, and rolls.

Tomorrow morning...

Bright and Early my mom is flying home to Louisiana. She has been with us for the last 2 weeks and we have loved every minute that she has been here. I'll highlight some of the fun things we've done in the last couple of days later. Right now, I just want my mom to know how much we love her! We love you Mom! Thank you for coming to be with us. If it was up to us, and if dad didn't miss you so much, we would keep you forever!! Thank you for spending so much time with your grandgirls. Thank you for spoiling us. And most importantly, thank you for your great example and good advice! You are amazing!

THANK YOU!! We love you MawMaw!

Doing my part...

You may think differently of me after you read this. It's okay. I'm not sure what to think of myself either.

Last night I spent the entire 2 hours after American Idol voting for Matt. And when I mean the entire 2 hours, I mean from the minute the phone lines opened to the minute they closed.

I like him. I've been rooting for him since the very beginning. I think he is very talented and a great entertainer.

I definitely think he is better than Lil and Anoop!!!

We will see what happens tonight.

Good luck Matt! I did all I could. Hopefully it's enought!

Easter Dresses 2009

A HUGE thank you to my mom who jumped, clapped, and played peek a boo to get these cute smiles out of Addysen!

Practice and Prayers

The 2 cutest things our little Addysen is doing lately...

1. Practicing her walk..she is so impressed with herself!

2. Folding her arms for prayer! We discovered this this morning after my mom asked me when we taught her to fold her arms for prayer. We hadn't taught her to fold her arms. Isn't it just amazing what our children learn when we aren't paying attention. In this case, a very sweet acknowledgment that we might just be doing something right!

ENJOY!

Milestone!

Addysen is finally cutting her first tooth!!! We've seen the bumb for the last few days and knew she was close. Yesterday we could see the white poking through but couldn't feel anything. Today she woke up and that cute little white tooth is in! Well, just a little piece of it!! But we can feel it!

So cute and sad. I always feel like as soon as my kids start getting teeth they aren't little babies anymore. And then their faces change as more teeth come in and POOF! All babyness is gone.

But for now, just one tooth and still my little baby!

Coming Soon.

Easter egg hunt pictures from Saturday...

Easter dress pictures....

and

Easter Sunday pictures....

But today my mom is coming to town and staying for 2 weeks! WOO HOO!

And since I didn't take any pictures of the girls in their dresses on Sunday, I don't have any to share right now. Don't worry. We are going to the park this week for a Easter dress photo shoot. (Which is why I didn't take any pictures on Sunday- and because I was running around like a crazy woman!)

And really. Their dresses were so cute they deserve their own shoot! ;)

It will all be worth the wait!! Promise!

Reminders

These....Addysen today

Reminded me of these.... Elodie 2005





And those reminded me of these....
How I HEART hand me downs. We loved these shoes so much that we got them in sizes 3 and 4 when Elodie was a baby. So not only does Addysen have them to wear now in size 2. She has them to wear for the next 2 years too! Aren't they the cutest little pink tennies you've ever seen!