children's museum

the last time we went to the children's museum logan had just turned one (and wasn't walking yet) and so we thought it was time. it was a lot of fun!

beware of photo overload 

(this is why the children's museum got its own post instead of being part of my birthday post)

 logan loved popping these huge bubbles in the bubble room

emma's favorite toy was the banana

 emma kept sucking on the bar (sick) so we removed the temptation by sticking in her binkie

my birthday weekend

my birthday was a couple of weeks ago. i have never really worried or cared about getting older, but i must admit that i had a little bit of a hard time turning 31. turning 30 wasn't that bad. it was fun and exciting. but 31 seems significantly older to me than 30. i am officially "in my 30's!" last week i was filling out an evaluation and suddenly my age range fell in the 31-40 category. yikes! ok, enough whining! it was a fun birthday and we celebrated for 3 days and i can't complain about that! the night before my birthday we celebrated with dinner at a nearby indian restaurant. we were glad it was close because there was 2 feet of snow on the ground by the time we left for dinner. both kids loved the sweet potato masala. i had to laugh because i was 21 or 22 the first time i had indian food and they are 2 and a half and 10 months!  

emma needed a little extra cuddling that night and dave was more than happy to oblige

 the next morning, on my actual birthday, dave told me i had to stay in bed while he took care of breakfast. i was more than happy to obey. he prepared a yummy breakfast and bought me some beautiful star gazer lilies. 

the lilies once they opened

 i wasn't going to post this picture because it definitely isn't my cutest, but hey, it's reality. i got to cuddle with these two while dave slaved away.

 another charming picture (frizzy hair and all)

 these two love to sit and eat their cereal together

 too funny (left) and too cute (right) not to capture

 then we headed to the children's museum. i must really be a mom when my birthday request is to do something for my kids. but seeing them happy makes me happy and quality family time seemed like a good way to spend my birthday! who wouldn't want to play with these two: 

 and this little one?! of course we took lots of picture, so a separate post is coming.

 that night we got together with my family for dessert and games. this is the only picture i took. it was a fantastic night. scattergories and taboo with my family is hilarious. we laughed the whole night. i love playing games!

 the next night we headed to the wesslers for a little superbowl party. dave finally got to try out the fryer we got for christmas. he made homemade corndogs (some with cheese in them) and they were really good! 

 and they were nice enough to have a yummy bundt cake for my birthday! it was so cute!

logan and gammy watching the fish. logan loves to sit and watch them.

 it was a fun weekend of celebrating. 31 is bound to be a good year!

our little helper

logan is very interested in helping out these days. this past week he helped:

make homemade syrup for our french toast

 make chocolate chip cookies (and roll them into balls) 

 lately he's not into looking at the camera, so this is the kind of picture i end up with 

eat cookies 

(that's the kind of help i like to provide ;)

 and unload the dishwasher. 

he loves doing this and for the most part, it makes it go more quickly (until we get to unloading the silverware)

i can't believe how big logan is getting. it's so much fun watching him grow up.

one little word 2012: intentional

have you heard of choosing "one little word" at the beginning of each year? essentially it is your theme for the year (and i did choose it at the beginning of the year, i've just been slow to write about it). i don't know if this lady is the one who started the idea, but i like what she said about it, "In 2006, I began a tradition of choosing one word for myself each January - a word that I can focus on, meditate on, and reflect upon as I go about my daily life. These words have each become a part of my life in one way or another. They've been imbedded into who I am, and into who I'm becoming. They've been what I've needed (and didn't know I needed). They've helped me to breathe deeper, to see clearer, and to grow." 

even though i have seen some of my friends do this for years, i actually didn't set out to choose a word. but as i began to think of my goals for 2012 and the person i want to become this year, it hit me. these things don't just happen. life moves by too quickly and unless i am intentional about the things i am doing and the person i am striving to become, it's not going to happen. i am going to look back at the time that has passed and wonder what i have done with it. i don't want to regret lost or wasted time.  i want to stop talking about the things i want to do and actually do them! i want to be deliberate and purposeful in the way i live my life each day. these thoughts reminded me of  a talk i gave in sacrament meeting back in june. julie b. beck, the relief society general president said, “We know that we are involved in God’s work every day, and that changes everything. It changes the way we think. It changes our decisions. It changes the way we dress. It changes the way we talk. It changes the way we live...[it] means we have to be intentional about everything we do. Our life is not just happenstance. We know where we are going and what we have to do" (emphasis added).

i went to the temple last month with my word in mind and jotted down some of my impressions following the session i attended. impressions about how i can be more intentional as a wife, mother, individual (my personal goals), relief society president and be more intentional with my family. i want to be more intentional about how i spend my time, how i take care of myself, the relationships that are important to me. i think if i keep this word in mind, i will begin to be a little bit better and i figure even small progress is still progress!