An Unwelcomed Visitor

We have been LOVING the warm weather we've had lately. I'm totally addicted to all things summer: warm temperatures, tan lines, ice cream frequently, summer clothes, etc. But, the warm weather also apparently brings in some very unwelcomed guests...in our yard! EWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!

Luckily this nasty of all nasty reptiles started in our neighbors yard, and he saw it come to ours and climbed the fence, to perform his manly duties of catching it. Now I know it's not a rattle snake, and probably perfectly harmless, but seriously there's a reason the devil is always portrayed by a snake, they are sooooo creepy!

Happy Easter

I've decided the holidays come around a lot more frequently and a lot quicker when you are a parent, and suddenly in charge of creating the memories and the magic for your kids as opposed to just being the receipient, counting down the days till you will get more presents. A change that I have loved experiencing, since there is nothing more priceless than living these holidays through a childs eyes and helping them to create memories. I LOVE it!!! That being said, we had a fabulous Easter weekend/week. We are soooo blessed to live by both sets grandparents and to always be able to spend our holidays with them. Between lots of egg hunts, multiple egg colorings and gatherings, I think Carson is convinced that every holiday including his birthday equates to a week long celebration. Sounds good to me! Here's lots of pictures with a few highlights of our week:






One very serious egg artist & two happy egg hunters!













The two cutest Easter clad kiddies that I have ever seen!











Carson is seriously excited for some more egg hunting and Brynlee is just thrilled with her finds....unfortunately it didn't take her long to learn what was inside the plastic eggs!







Dad's been working way too hard and needed a little r&r.

A Diaper Man No More

We finally jumped on "the potty train" as Carson would say, a week ago saturday and everyone in the house is so much happier for it! I decided it was high time to get serious & stop waiting for him to give me "the signs" cause if we're being honest, a guy that can express himself so well is more than ready to take a little control! After lots of good potty training tips, I picked a day and took Carson's diaper off for good when he woke up. He was sooo not happy with this, but after convincing him how cool he looked in his stylish Thomas the Train underwear (and refusing to put a diaper back on) he agreed that the train underwear wasn't so bad. After only one accident on Saturday, and a few on Sunday, he finally got the groove of things and has been accident free since! Besides fighting every urge to take care of his "manly" business, and holding it in for 5 days...(I know that probably pains the male mind to even read that) the whole thing has been so much easier than planned- a refreshing change. He now loves using the toilet, but still not totally fond of the "business" part- that will come, as it eventually does with all men, but as long as there's no accidents i'm one happy mom :)
The best part is that Matt taught him to wipe the toilet seat after every visit. Hopefully a habit that will stick for when he decides he's big enough to stand and sprinkle the seat with a little something extra :) Now that's good training by dad and pretty darn cute!!! Go Carson!

Ellen Day + Birthday = A dance party

I was hoping to maybe get this post up before "Ellen" aired on Tuesday where I was sure Lori, Mariah and I were going to make our National T.V debut dancing like crazy....or maybe I purposefully didn't in the hopes that no one would see us dancing like crazy ladies! Either way, it didn't matter because other than a couple really cute shots of Mariah our T.V debut will have to come another time (don't worry we're not done trying) So how crazy we may have looked dancing, you'll never know :) But we did have the BEST time on our second official "Ellen Day" and it was even better that it was also Lori's 27th Birthday!


Happy Birthday again to Lori- We LOVED spending the day with you, but mostly I liked how fabulous you looked in your birthday crown!





We started our Ellen day by stuffing ourselves beyond any logic eating more breakfast than should be legal for any 3 girls to eat, with a birthday breakfast for Lori at Las Brisas in Laguna Beach.....if your ever looking for a good breakfast place in an insanely beautiful location I highly recommend it- made to order omelets, belgian waffles, bread pudding, croissants, crepes, etc....and as much as you want! Sooooo Good!



When we got to the Ellen show- barely in time I might add- we immediately volunteered Lori to do Karoake when they panned the crowd looking for people willing to humiliate themselves. (except Lori is the next american idol so it wouldn't be humilitation for her....the humiliation comes from Mariah and I when she forced us to volunteer with her, against our every better judgement....but whatever the birthday girl wants, the birthday girl gets- just kidding Lori you know I love you!) It turned out to be the best thing ever because apparently that is how they find people to call up & play the games you see sometimes on the show...kareoke is just an excuse to get high energy people. Not only that we got killer seats and kind of a VIP sort of treatment. Lori was chosen with 5 other people to potentially be called up for the game....but no luck! But, we did get 3rd row seats, had a blast, & wore ourselves out after they make you dance during EVERY commercial break (seriously that's exhausting) Thanks girls for another fun day.....can't wait for the next one... SOON PLEASE!!!!

*disclaimer...sorry if there are any spelling errors..not in the mood to go back and proof read right now...maybe later!

Easter Delights

Can I just say that easter candy is THE BEST!!!!!!!!! It beats any other holiday hands down. Unfortunately for my waist..I can't get enough. I have dreams of Cadbury cream eggs, chocolate eggs, nestle peanut butter cup eggs, oh and peeps- LOVE THEM! And not only that, I discovered at Target just last year coconut marshmallows and they're back. They make the best s'mores and rice krispy treats. And that's about all I have to say about that!

Another Tag...

Here's just another fun tag....a good blog when your still in a blog stump..

10 years ago:

5 Things on my to-do list today:
1. Clean...somehow it always gets bumped down on the list of priorities and reappears EVERYDAY!!!
2. Veg and waste time on the internet while the kids nap...might as well put it on a list cause we all know i'm gonna do it- then I can cross it off and feel efficient.
3. Figure out where to go to dinner to avoid cooking.
4. organize, organize, organize....everything!
5. Meet friends for lunch...by the beach - woohoo!

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Anything chocolate
2. Cheesy Doritos
3. Ice Cream
4. Nachos
5. Cadbury Cream Eggs- it's the season
Clearly I'm a health nut

What would I do if I was suddenly a billionaire:
Buy a big house about a block away from the beach and fully deck it out with pottery barn and anthropolgie stuff
Buy a cool vacation house..well maybe a couple...somewhere amazing and take friends all the time.
Travel A LOT!
Invest, and invest a little more...set up funds for the kiddos.
Buy all the people I really like a nice car and just drive it to their house and surprise them...wouldn't that be fun!
And of course tithing.

5 places I've lived:
1. San Diego, CA
2. Provo, Ut
3. New Zealand
4. Orange County, CA
I don't have anymore...that about sums it up!

5 Jobs I've had:
1. Hostess
2. Nanny
3. Great Harvest
4. Bookkeeper
5. and the best yet....mommy!

5 Things you don't know about me:
Get back to me on this one....seriously the kids are napping and this one is making me think far to much for my vegging time.

Quirky Carson

These are probably total mommy moments that I want to have documented since this is the only journal i'm remotely regular with, so hopefully you'll enjoy...if not, maybe you just had to be there.

Why I LOVE listening to a 3 yr. olds thought process, and attempt to try make sense of things:

Carson: "Dad will you read me a story when we get home?"
Dad: "It's way past your bed time so i'll tell you one in the car instead.....When I was a little boy, my dad-- Carson, did you know that Grandpa Floyd is my dad, and I used to be a little boy like you?"
Carson: "Well then who would my dad be?"
Dad: "I'm your dad, and Grandpa Floyd is my dad"
Carson: "But I said what would happen to me if you're a little boy?"
Dad: "Carson I'm still your Daddy."
Carson: "But then why did you say you were a little boy?"
Dad: "I'm not a little boy anymore, but I used to be one."
Carson: "Well I don't want you to tell me that story."

Why I don't love having a VERY verbal 3 yr. old when I am about to pee my pants and DYING to go the bathroom and we are out, so he has to come in with me, to the loudly echoing bathrooms:
...nevermind, i'll spare you that dialogue. Let's just leave it at EMBARRASING!!!!!!!! And mommies, do your best to always, always, use the bathroom before you go out- and don't drink anything until you return home!