Weeks 41 & 42: 282-295

What's made me happy or grateful these past 2 weeks:

282. Happy Valentine's Day!

I made heart shaped food for my family all day.

Pink heart whole-grain pancakes with homemade pink buttermilk syrup

(I promise it tastes better than it looks)

 yummy roast dinner with the mashed potatoes formed into hearts :)

283. For Valentine's Day my sweet Father-in-law dropped by 

unexpectedly and gave us some strawberries.

N was so excited she ran to the bathroom to wash them

so she could eat them

before Grandpa even left.

284. Grumpy baby boy throwing a fit because he didn't 

want to come inside.

He LOVES to be outside. 

Unfortunately for him, mom doesn't like it during the winter

so our time outdoors is limited.

285. My cutie cowgirl running errands with me one day.

She got so many comments on that hat ;)

286. Shopping at IKEA.

I really like this mirror for my entryway,

though I think it might be a little small??

So... I didn't get anything that day :(

287.  I did get some new sheets though.

And I love them!

540 count damask egyptian cotton :)

We have only had cheap sheets that I bought years ago in college.  

It was time for an upgrade. 

Next... my bedding, or maybe a headboard???

288.  Baby boy loving a koi pond we found one day.

289. My little boy pushing a stroller with a pink doll, 

and those are pink high heels on him.

Oh my.

The Poor Kid.

That's what happens with older sisters I guess.

 290.  This is how boring my hubby and I are...

we finally go out on a date (we haven't been on one for about a month)

We went to dinner....

then shopping for knobs for our cabinets. :)

I'm thinking these ones?

(can you tell I'm on a bit of a kick for projects on my house?)

291.  As I've mentioned before my kids get ahold of my camera

at times and take pictures.

N was excited about her and S getting new shoes.

 She took about 20 pictures of them.

292.  I love things my kids say.  

Tonight having a snack N was about to take an especially yummy bite and said this:

"as soon as I bite this all my dreams of Jesus will come true of my heart"

293.  Finished reading this book.

I really enjoyed it.

("Peach Keeper" by Sarah Addison Allen)

294.  My fav kid's artwork of the week.

N did this.

I just love that the pictures she randomly draws are of

happy smiling little girls on sunny days.

It makes me happy :)

295.  I know I've mentioned this show before but I just finished the 

Season 2 Finale of Downton Abbey.

I LOVE this show!!! 

 I just have this thing for period British dramas.

And this one has it all.

Beautiful setting, magnificent house & Edwardian costumes, 

frustrating love triangles, tons of historical facts and details
(Edwardian era, so lots of WW1 and Titanic info)

upstairs/downstairs goings-on, characters you love and those you hate,

tears & laughter.... So GOOD!

how could you not love Maggie Smith as grandmama?

Beautiful Mary

 Anna

Cora

Carson

 Matthew

So I hope I have convinced you to watch this show!

It is a fantastic!

Its on PBS... maybe you could find it online,

but I'm sure you could get it through Netflix also.

Week 40: 275-281

What made me happy or grateful this week:

275.  My new favorite artwork this week from the kids...

276.  baby boy loves to read books.

So sweet here on my lap helping me hold the book.

277.  Cutting up veggies to make soup for a family get-together 

to celebrate my mother-in-laws 75 b-day.

Don't they look pretty?

278. J and I like to go play tennis on his days off.

We have to bring the kids sometimes so here

they are trying to be entertained while we hit.

279. W's favorite toy is the Rapunzel doll 

that he confiscated from N.  

He carries it around everywhere!

The part that makes me not "worry"... 

he makes her growl all the time ;)

280.  We had a bridal shower at my house this past weekend

for my brother's fiance, Ali.

She is super sweet and we had a great time with 

my family getting to know her. 

here is the cute invite for her shower we did

281. daddy-daughter dance at the school

Week 37, 38, 39: 254-274

I guess I was a little tired of blogging and took a break for a while.

I'm debating quitting the blog all together 

but I think I'll try to finish out my goal of a 365 posts first.

Here's what I've enjoyed or been grateful for for the last few weeks:

254. N had a birthday!

She wanted a Peter Pan Party.

The invites and the costume I made 

(yes... made... the first costume I ever sewed ;)

She loved it!  Wore it for a week straight!

 255. Birthday ice cream at Leatherby's.

256. birthday outing to Build-a-Bear.

Amazingly this was our first time ever going there.

So kids were stoked!

257. had a rough night with baby boy so brought him to bed with us.

I love how conked out he is!

258. Going through and getting rid of kids school papers.

Fun project from Christmas time.

259.  S's best little friend's dad owns some Papa Johns stores.

She is apparently inspired by him or something 

because her school assignment was to design a gingerbread man

in some way, (baseball player, ballerina, etc) and this is what she came up with :)

Guess she likes pizza!

260. my cute kids on a nice day outside.

Most of the time they share and play so well together!

261. The kids love to play with my camera.

Here's us all hanging out one day.

262. I do Chalean Extreme (my favorite home video workouts) 3 times a week.

W is usually downstairs playing with toys but sometimes he joins me ;)

263. Where W plays all day!  

In my cupboards and drawers.

264. Quadruple decker cookie!

We had fun baking one Sunday afternoon.

265. How lucky are we to get these notes all the time!

Thanks S!

266. Made baby boy peas one day.

He LOVED them.

It's not the first time I've made them but for some reason he was really into them this day.

Check him out chugging them down!

267. Aaaah... date night.

We went to funny man Brian Regan 

with my parents and sister and her date.

Haven't laughed that much in a while!

(ps.s Love the LDS temple in the background of this shot).

 268.  Baby cozying up on our new squishy-soft

bathroom rug while I get ready in the morn.

269.  I have been loving Season 2 of this show

that recently came back on the air.

Thank you BBC!

270. Again with the adorable, 

heart-warming notes.

She taped them on our mirrors so we can see them all the time!

271.  Watched a lot of the Australian Open.  

It was awesome to watch the longest 

Men's Final Matchin open era history.

I wanted Nadal but Djokovic is fun to watch!

272. Our ward recently split.

I'm so relieved and sad at the same time.

It was a ridiculously large ward so it is so much more

manageable and we can get to know people better.

But I'm missing some good friends already!

Guess that's the way it goes!

But I'm so grateful to be a member of

 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!

273. I can count on one hand how many times I've thrown up

in my adult life.  (i fortunately don't throw up pregnant)

And this past week was one of them.

Caught a nasty 24 hour flu bug.

It makes me soooooooooooooooooo

grateful for good health to come off a gross sickness.

274. Baby boy has been the worst sleeper since birth 

(as mentioned before and in the above picture where he ended up in bed with us).

But the last week he has got back on track sleeping "through the night".

This is going to bed at 8pm and waking up at 6am (occasionally 7).

6 is a little rough for me but I appreciate sleeping solidly through the night now!

I'll take 6 am over 2 am.