February is Over?

We spent pretty much all of February sick with colds and RSV, so clearly the blogging suffered.  Here are a few pictures of things you might have missed:

The kids were so cute pretending to go to school (in their jammies)!

A new tradition was started this year with a few heart pizzas on Valentine's Day -- they were so fun and tasty!

Once the kids started to feel better, they headed outside for some "Daddy Recess" Time!

We also had a little visitor with us for a week.  Peyton (little sis, Jessie's 8 month old baby) was a fun addition to our family for 8 days.  Jessica and her husband, Eric, were moving from Seattle to Savannah and didn't want Peyton to suffer in a car seat for 4 days.  I flew up to Seattle and brought Peyton down here to Las Vegas for her first "Cousin Camp" Vacation!  She is such an easy baby (and so quiet compared to my own).  The night before I flew Peyton back to Georgia, Camden said to me, "So after tomorrow we're only going to have 2 kids?"  It was so funny!  He was a terrific helper with the baby.

So now we're in March and I can't believe it.  Where has the time gone?  We better get our GREEN clothes ready, it's almost time for St. Patrick's Day!  

Sabbath Day Blessings

This will be one of the classic Camden and Karina pics of all time.  I love this!  We keep trying to get Karina out of the crib by giving her a chance to sleep with Camden.  She is very particular about only sleeping in her crib, but wants so badly to sleep in a big kid bed.  This picture is of a recent attempt which failed like all the others.  We'll keep trying . . .

Today was a great day.  Karina went into her class at church and I only had to stay for about 10 minutes and then left.  She loves being in there and her favorite part (when I ask her on the way home) is when she gets to sing, "The Itsy, Bitsy Spider."  The way she sings it is so wonderful!  Camden and I just listened to her sing the whole song on the way home and we couldn't do anything except smile!  Music just gets to me like nothing else!

Camden gave his second talk in Primary today.  The Primary is an organization in the LDS church for children ages 4 - 12.  Daddy and Grandma attended Primary with us to hear Camden's talk.  He was so excited to have his family there to support him.  If he would have had a microphone it would have been perfect.  He didn't seem scared at all.  I think it was an important message for us all, so I'm going to post it here:

The Plan of Salvation 

Before we came to this earth, we were spirits.  We lived with Heavenly Father and Jesus.

We were very happy when Heavenly Father told us we could come to earth and have bodies.

Heavenly Father and Jesus knew we would miss them, so they promised to stay close to us and help us choose the right.

If we choose the right, we can live with them again someday.

I am so proud of my two bambinos.  Whenever it seems like I have more to deal with than anyone else, I go to church and am reminded that all moms have their struggles.  I'm grateful for that.  With that -- I'm off to fold some laundry and go to sleep!

Recess

We had recess today for a few reasons.  First and foremost, Camden got rave reviews from his teacher for his improved behavior since he returned from winter break.  I was so proud I could hardly stand it!  He is also 1 of only 2 kids in the class that can count and write 1 - 100.  He is doing so well.  Eric was the helping parent today in Camden's class and verified all of this to me.

Secondly, the weather here has been pretty decent compared to the rest of the country and I figured we should enjoy it!  And it doesn't hurt to take a break from iCarly every once in a while.  That's Karina's favorite show.  It's on "Teen Nick!"  She is so mature for her age . . . NOT!!

These two can be such love bugs when they want to be!  I'm putting in an order for more of this -- we'll see what happens.

Karina is doing so well on the playground -- she just tries everything until she can keep up with Camden.  She has no fear!

The biggest reason why we played outside today is the way Camden asks.  How could I say no?  He calls it "recess!"  I think it's so cute.  He has finally mastered the swings.  He knows how to get swinging by himself and he gets really high.  He'd swing like that all day.  He was swinging for at least 30 minutes when we were out there.  It's too bad there aren't swings at school.  I used to love swinging in elementary school.  Heck, I have memories of swinging in middle and high school!  Who doesn't love swinging?

I took close to 100 pics of them out there today.  I'm a pic-a-holic!  (That's the photo kind, not the nose kind!  HA!)  I hope you enjoy them.  I sure enjoyed watching them play.  I'll post more pics tomorrow.  Good night!

Karina's Birthday Brunch!

Here are the pics from the birthday brunch today.  We had buttermilk pancakes, cinnamon rolls, hash browns, bacon, and fruit.  It was very yummy.  Too much food for anyone to eat, but delicious (and homemade)!  Karina smiled when I said, "Happy Birthday" to her first thing this morning.  After that, it was up and down -- to say the least!  She is so cute, but very shy around the family.  I think she gets overwhelmed with the number of people looking at her.  Camden was always fine with all that attention stuff -- wonder who he takes after??  

So, here is Karina holding up one of her many outfits she got today.  The girl hit the jackpot of cute clothes -- that's for sure!

This was a really cute wooden puzzle she got.  She did so well opening her own gifts.  Camden was on stand-by right next to her in case she needed assistance.

Here is a red, white and blue dress she got from Aunt Stephanie & Uncle Vinny!  I can't wait for the 4th of July.  Maybe she'll wear it for the inauguration next Tuesday??

Here is her cute face right after she pulled the sheet off her wooden kitchen.  She was so happy she ran over and hugged Daddy and then ran a lap around the living room.  It's a great feeling when you know what the "right" gift is!
She got this cute necklace this morning before the party from Mommy & Daddy.  She wants her own jewelry so badly.  She is also wearing sticker earrings -- can you tell?
No family function is complete without these delicious bad boys!  They were so good today.  (Caution: DO NOT lick your computer screen.  Bad things can happen and people might think you're weird!)

This is what I came up with for her cake.  I knew it had to have pink and yellow, but the butterfly was just beautiful.  I saw it at Michael's and just had to get it.  With the pink and the sparkles -- Karina just LOVED it!

After we sang to Karina and she blew out the candles, Camden said, "Happy Birthday Baby!"  Karina leaned over and kissed him and it was so cute.  This one is just Camden giving her a little "kissie" on the cheek.  When they want to get along, they are so sweet to each other.  I hope they always are.

So, the birthday brunch was a success!  I am so grateful for my little girl.  I had to go through a lot to get her and I definitely treasure her.  She sure can be a stinker, but she is MY stinker and I'm glad she picked me to be her mommy.  I love you Karina -- a.k.a. "Baby!"

Happy Birthday Karina!

Karina turned 2 today!  Happy Birthday Baby.  It's hard to believe it's been that long.  I'll write all the details about her birthday brunch later (after the kids go to bed).  Enjoy the baby pic of my (now) 2 year old.

Christmas is Coming . . .

This is just a quick blog to show you how cute the kiddies were at church today.  I always love the Christmas program at church.  Today was slightly less enjoyable because Karina was a little pill.  She didn't have her binky and just couldn't sit still.  I'll be happy when that phase is over.  Most Sundays I'm there alone and don't enjoy that struggle.  Camden was so handsome in his suit from Uncle Jonathan & Aunt Vanessa's wedding.  He's outgrown the pants (they were replaced), but the vest, shirt and jacket looked fantastic.  The red tie looked so dashing on him!  Karina looked so cute, too.  I love when she lets me do her hair.  Now I understand why my dad always liked our hair pulled back. :)

I can't believe we are less than 4 days away from Christmas morning!  The kids watched The Santa Clause tonight as I finished my 3rd batch of cookies.  The house smells amazing right now!  Camden decorated gingerbread cookies after church today and that is what Karina is holding in the picture (above).  She is turning in to quite a little ham.  The snow has been melting over the last few days and I miss it already.  We'll have to plan a vacation to a snowy destination -- the kids loved it and miss it, too.  

Jacob's Snow Day!

It's been 3 years since I gave birth to my "angel" son, Jacob.  I wanted to find something meaningful to do to mark his birthday this year and decided on balloons to send up to Heaven.  Camden asked if Jacob would get them and I told him he would.  It's a nice thought!  So, we got 3 white balloons (Camden says that is Jacob's favorite color), and then 2 each of our favorite colors - green for Daddy, red for Mommy, blue for Camden and pink for Karina.  We each held our balloons, sang "Happy Birthday" and then let them go together.  Actually, Karina jumped the gun a bit.  The snow had just started to fall and it was beautiful to watch them sail away.

Eric had to go to an appointment today, but stopped by the cemetery on his way back and took this picture of Jacob's headstone with the snow next to it.  I think it's a beautiful picture and thought it was so sweet of Daddy to get that picture for me.  He is so thoughtful and I'm grateful for him.  He said Jacob may never have snow on his birthday again.  It's so rare out here in Las Vegas.  The snow was nice symbolism today.  The valley was covered in Jacob's favorite color!

When we got back home, the snow continued to fall all afternoon.  It brought back so many memories of being a little kid in Utah and a teenager on the northeast coast.  I LOVE the snow!  I even ate some and it tasted the same as I remembered it.  We had ramen and grilled cheese for lunch and watched the Polar Express.  That is special for me, because we bought it right around the time we had Jacob.  Camden would always ask me to dance at the end when the song, "Believe" comes on.  It just happened to be on the Disney Channel today.  He is such a sweet and special little man.

Camden has been learning about snowmen in school and draws them ALL the time.  Of course, we had to make a snowman in the backyard.  He received the traditional carrot nose and raisin eyes and mouth.  The kids had a blast -- you would never have known it was freezing outside.  They could have played out there for hours.

So, today was a perfect celebration for Jacob.  There was so much joy in our home today.  The beautiful snow seemed to bring a peace that I really needed.  Kids will still be kids, but I almost didn't mind the noise today because they are here with me and I love them so much.  I think I kissed and hugged them extra today.  I'll even get to sleep in a little tomorrow, because they've already cancelled school.  

Happy Birthday Jacob!  I hope you enjoyed your special snow day.  We love and miss you, but know we'll see you again.