Ash is walking

Our cute little boy is walking, yay!  But along with that comes lots of falling down.  It's hard to see my little guy fall.  Most of the time he gets right back up but sometimes his poor little tush has had enough and he needs his mama or dad or sisters to come scoop him up for some tlc.  I'm so thankful for my children, I sure do love them.

Eye Pleasing Functionality

Before...

and after.  The photos speak for themselves.

These new barstools make life a little bit easier.

The girls use them a lot.  This area is perfect for them to eat and watch a tv show or movie from.  It's made clean up a lot easier for me.  It also gives the girls a place to color and do other activities out of their little brothers reach.  Miraculously, Ashton hasn't even tried climbing on the barstools.  I'm sure that will come in time. I just realized I haven't even sat on them yet.  I suppose I should do that.

This is what we had here before.  Much, much better now.  Good idea I had, if I do say so myself. :)

Long Weekend...but not long enough

Here the girls are playing with my vintage Barbie House. It's held up really well through all the moves and all of the playing.  I'm so glad we still have it, the girls love playing with it.

We went to visit my parents and sister in Orem over the long weekend.  My mom had her last radiation treatment on Monday.  They gave her a nice certificate of completion and a bottle of sparkling cider.  She completed 6 weeks of treatment.  Madison and I sang an impromtu congratulatory song for her.  "Congratulations, Grandma Susie."  It really had a catchy tune! ;)

Madison captured a photo of Laney and PJ snuggling together.  She thought it was so cute of them!

Ash and his scrunchy face.  He LOVES going up and down my parents stairs.  They have four levels and 3 different sets of stairs in their home, it was a workout for mom, grandma and Madison keeping Ash happy on the stairs.

Ashton is walking now!  Here he is pushing the shopping cart from when I was a youngster. 

Ashton was captivated with PJ resting under her blanket. 

He wanted to be right under there with her.

"I see you!"

I'm crafty and I know it

I made tissue pom poms for the girls room.  Easy and fun to make!

I also hung a new shelf in the girls bedroom.  Much better than the old one, it was cute, but falling apart and it was a re-gift from one of my relatives.  How do I know it was a re-gift??  Because it had their name and wedding date written on the back, in ink, by the person who gave it to them.  Special! 
Moving on...Madison and I made the bear "Corduroy" who's standing on the shelf, a few years ago.  We drew him on poster board, colored him, cut him out, stapled around the edges and put some stuffing in him.  Good memories :)

I hung two shelves in Ashton's room.  I've enjoyed decorating with the rich chocolate brown in his room, yum!

I hung this picture too, finally.  Exciting, I know.

I found the cute little bucket with the "R" on it at hobby lobby.  I thought it was bizarre that they enter every item that you buy by hand, into their register.  They don't have scanners to scan the bar codes.   

Uh-Ohh!!  This didn't happen from crafting and it's not blood, thank goodness.  It's hot wax that spilled on my arm, on the counter, towel, flat iron, curling iron and splashed my shirt.  I was too impatient and tried to remove the scentsy pot from the outlet while the wax was in liquid form.  I needed to plug in a hair appliance, and felt I couldn't wait for the wax to solidify.  I paid the price!

It gets worse....As I was trying to clean the wax off of my flat iron, I burned myself on the 360 degree plates.  It hurt!  And I got a blister, ouch! 

Oh yes, I'm really not that crafty, as you can see, but it is fulfilling to pretty up the home.

Happy Heart Day

Jeff enlisted Madison's help in putting together a little romantic dinner for Jeff and myself. 

He bought me red roses.  We danced to "Crazy for You" by Madonna.  I also danced in my seat to "Moves Like Jagger", a great way to burn calories, dance while you're eating!  This lovely song selection was brought to us compliments of Madison's playlist.

We ate the kiddie table, it was small and intimate....or, it would have been an intimate, if it weren't for our chaperon in pink. 

Caught off guard by our chaperon.  Don't you love the looks on our faces??

Our event planner, Madison, checking in on us and keeping our chaperon, Bailee in line.

She insisted on eating her dinner with us.  She was helpful with changing up the tunes though.  At one point we were listening to "Big Fat Bass" by Britney Spears.  Bailee chimed right in, serenading us with her version....."Big fat face, big fat face."

On a whim, I did a Valentine's love cheer for Jeff.  He quite like it!  We had to keep the pom poms out of Aston's sight though, he's scared of them.

Moves like Jagger, right?

Mmm, a yummy heart sucker with BBQ chips stuck on it.  Tasty!  We had a great Valentine's Day together, full of lots of laughs.

Boys Will Boys (and I love mine)



My funny little boy loves to climb everything and scare his mom in the process.  In this photo he's standing precariously on the arm of the couch so he can see into the kitchen.  Big sister Bailee is there to protect him.  I'm so grateful my kids have got each others backs, literally and figuratively speaking.

The dare devil in action.  Dad was standing nearby, to save the day, if needed.



We see this face from Ashton a lot lately.  He makes us all laugh.



He loves chocolate too!

Ash isn't walking on his own yet, but he sure is trying.  He takes steps unassisted and falls on his tush a lot.  He's a tough boy.  He bonks his poor little forehead way too often, it makes me sad.  He doesn't cry from pain frequently, so when he does, we know it really hurt him.  :(  He walks quite fast along the furniture and he crawls really fast too, especially when he wants something of his sister's.

Thankfully all four of the first batch of molars have come through.  He's feeling better and sleeping better now.  I'm sure the next group of teeth will be disturbing us before we know it.  I'm in the process of weaning Ashton right now, which is a bit tough on both of us.  Things are going fairly smoothly with the transition though.  Ash doesn't like milk but he does like formula, which makes things a little tricky.  We're testing out vanilla flavored rice milk right now.  He doesn't seem to mind it, and will sip it.  It's funny how each child is different and things often don't go as planned.  I try not to sweat the small stuff and as long as the kids are healthy and happy, I'm happy.

Living with Integrity

Integrity:   is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions. Integrity can be regarded as the opposite of hypocrisy

I try to live my life with integrity.  I probably don't always succeed, but I do my best.  I was just commenting to Jeff tonight, that my integrity seems to get me in trouble often enough.  I wonder if other's who know me think I live with integrity. 

I'm beautiful in my way

'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track baby
I was born this way
Don't hide yourself in regret
Just love yourself and your set
I'm on the right track baby
I was born this way

I'm quoting Lady Gaga, can you believe it??  I'm not what you would call a huge fan of hers, but she does have two songs out right now that I quite like.  Born This Way and The Edge of Glory.  Who knew? 

Anyway, I'm glad my husband and children love me for who I am.  They've seen me at my worst and still love me to pieces.  I couldn't ask for anything more.  When life gets me down, I look at their sweet faces, give them extra hugs and kisses and thank my Father in Heaven for what he has blessed me with.

More of Ashton

Ashton

Photographs taken by Jennifer Tree