Family Valentines Day

This year, we decided to have a family Valentines Day, no babysitters (no romantic night on the town.) I was a little sad about it at first, but it ended up being so much fun, and my sweetheart surprised me with the sweetest card and these beauties!
So, it was a heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's, homemade cheesecake, and chocolate dipped strawberries for the family, (on paper plates while watching Horton Hears a Who!) And it was total bliss! I got to spend Valentines day with all 3 of the loves of my life!

Photo of the Week: 1

(Now that I have a camara that I acutally LOVE taking pictures with,

I thought it would be fun to post a fun photo each week)Valentine cupcakes: White cake mix, Red Jello drizzled on top, loads of cool whip, and super fun edible valentine cards* to decorate the top! Looks good. . . Tastes even better!

*Wal-Mart: $1.88 per 20 cards!

hug.. HUG... HUUUGGGG!

A few weeks ago, a friend asked me if my two kids fight. I thought about it, and smiled, and said "No, they really never do!" ('Wow, aren't I lucky!' I thought.)

But, I forgot to knock on wood! And kids learn. . . Rowen has learned how to push his big sister's buttons! He has perfected this little arm flap, that ALMOST looks like hitting. And let me tell you, it ANNOYS his big sister! (Seriously, he wouldn't be able to hurt a fly with his little flapping arm!)

It goes something like this: She'll look at him (how dare her!) and he'll flap his little spastic arm at her, and she'll yell "Rowen, BE NICE!!! " He will immediately stop, and say "Hug" and she'll melt, give him a huge hug and say "Oh, he is so sweet!"

It is admittedly cute the first time, but this sequence happens over, and over, and OVER! And if Makaylee gets sick of it, or if she gets genuinely offended and won't hug him, he'll chase her around yelling "hug. .Hug!!.. HUG!!.. HHHUUUGGG!!!" Until she gives in and gives him a hug and tells him how sweet he is!

Extreme Makeover: Closet Edition!

Our closet looked big enough when we were building our house, BEFORE we put any clothes in it! It has been way too small and unorganized ever since! So, we hit IKEA on their winter sale and decided to rip out our old closet and CoMpLeTlEy redo it! It was a ton of work, and a lot of fun, and in the end it was dEfInItElY worth it!

Stef's side of the closet!

Terry's side of the closet

Believe me. . . the kids were TONS of help! (Sarcasm implied!)

It was a week of messes, and I wondered what we had gotten ourselves into!

What a difference a week makes!

Terry's side of the closet!

Stef's side of the closet!

(And I rElUcTaNtLy have to admit that Terry is a little more handy than I give him credit for! :) Thanks babe, for making my closet wishes come true!

She's so Vain. . .

The other day I told Makaylee that I loved her.
She smiled and said, "Mommy, why do you love me so much?"
I took the opportunity to rattle off a bunch of reasons, "You are so funny, and cute, you are such a good big sister, and daughter, you sing pretty, you are a good dancer, you are such a good girl, you are pretty. . . " and on and on.
After I finished, I took and exaggerated breath and said "Wow, that's a lot of reasons, hu!"
She said, "Yes, but you forgot one!"
"I did? What did I forget?"
She said, "Just that I'm so smart!"
He he he, smart, yes, but I think the one I forgot was VAIN!

18 Months. . . Really?

My sweet baby boy has turned 18 months! I can't believe it! He is such a CuTe LiTtLe pEaNut! He went to his checkup this week and he is 21.25 lbs (3rd %) and 31.1 inches (15th %) the Dr. says he looks great, he's just little, so that I should try to stop worrying about him, sigh. . . (I told him that I would TRY!) I guess it is just hard to accept because Makaylee was always kind of big for her age. He also went to nursery for the first time this week. I was having worse separation anxiety than he was, he didn't even notice when I left and I was the one that was crying not him!

Christmas Day the Anderson Way

How to have an Anderson Christmas:
Start with a WaY-To-GeNeRoUs Santa:
(It's not my fault, I inherited an overactive gifting gene from my mom and grandma!) Add a super cute, but overstimulated 18month old in new Christmas PJ's: Add a funny little blond that tears into her presents (and everyone elses,) and shouts out excited phrases at random intervals:

And last but not least, devour a famous Kimball style home-made Egg McMuffin.

EnJoY!

Christmas Eve the Cummings Way

Every Christmas Eve, we have a party with the entire Cummings side of the family. It goes something like this:
First, we eat tons of delicious food. (Usually sandwiches and lots of side dishes.)
Second, we have a (fairly irreverent) version of the Nativity story. This part of the night is so nostalgic to me, because now my kids are dressing up in the costumes that I used to wear when I was part of the play!
Next, we have a talent show, it usually borders on hilarious, rather than serious.
Then, ALL the kids tear into their presents from a way to generous Grandma Joye!
This year she made them all hats and scarfs! Here is a picture with most of the kids and grandma:

Christmas Eve has always been as fun for me as Christmas, since I was tiny, thanks to these family traditions.

Early Merry Christmas to Me!

My little bitty camera died around Halloween and I was so sad! But my super sweet Santa gave me my Christmas gift early (a nice Digital SLR camera) so that I wouldn't miss any more holiday moments. This collage is the product of me playing with my camera at my sisters studio with my kids, my super cute nieces, and nephew. The photographer (me!) needs A LOT more practice, but these cute kids sure were fun to take pictures of!

The Cutest Little Helper

I was doing laundry the other day and Rowen ended up climbing into the dryer while it was empty. He thought it was so fun, like his own little fort, so he kept on climbing in and out until I had to actually put clothes in. When I closed the door and wouldn't let him in any more, he cried and cried!

My Little Dancer

Makaylee started dance this year, and it has been fun, but I am really loving it now that she has had her Christmas dance recitals. It was so much fun to get her all glammed up and watch her shake it on the stage. It is so adorable to see little kids dance, they are so uncoordinated, and so hilarious! She really did an awesome job and we are so proud of her!

Preschool Christmas Program

Makaylee's preschool put on a little Christmas performance. They had made these little reindeer hats for them, and painted their noses red! They looked so stinking cute! Makaylee likes to dance. . . but put this girl on a stage and let her sing, and you see where her true talent is! She had ALL the words memorized, and she BELTED the songs out! It was almost like she was singing a solo the whole time, because you couldn't really hear any one else!

'Tis The Season

Here are some cute but random Christmasy pictures

Rowen looking out the window, watching Makaylee and Terrill shovel the driveway

The adorable gingerbread house Makaylee made at preschool

A psychedelic Christmas tree we saw at the Festival of trees

Makaylee's best impersonation of Santa!

Rowen's GI Scope

Just a Rowen update. . . Rowen had an upper GI endoscopy at Primary children's last week. It was no fun! I had to starve him until 2:30 in the afternoon! (But, since he doesn't really like eating, he didn't even fuss about it!) They let me be in the room when they put him to sleep, and it was really hard to walk away from his little sleeping sweetness. I think it may have been more traumatic for me because he at least got to sleep through most of it! But, it only lasted about 20 minutes, everything went well, and every thing looked good! He just has some acid reflux, and it is pretty mild. So-- no allergies, no ulcers, no Chron's disease, nothing really serious! (It WAS a relief, but we still find ourselves in a frustrating spot, having to force feed the kid 5 times a day! ) His GI Dr. has now prescribed Zinc for him to take. Zinc supposedly can stimulate your appetite, and make you hungry. . . Who knew?