Little Mate is 4

Little Mate is now 4 years old today. 

 This is the kid that started our crazy parenting adventure.   

He makes me smile, laugh, pull my hair out at times, and cry.  Most of all he makes me happy.

This boy loves dance parties and glow sticks.  We make a weekly trip to the dollar store to get a glow stick, sometimes a turkey baster or a ball but mostly just glow sticks.  Anything that is not a toy is what he likes.  He's not into swords or action figures but a nice stick or sanding sponge is preferred.

His favorite song to dance to at his dance parties is 'Carol of the Bells' (aka Grandpa Bob song) -even after 2 years it never gets old.

Easton loves his little sister and enjoys teasing her and mauling her at times.  He is a good big brother and likes to help out.

{Easton age 3}

Messes are his thing and he is not afraid to make a good mess.  He is getting better though at picking up his things and cleaning his room, which I sure appreciate.

{Easton age 2}

The boy adores his grandparents, cousins and friends.  

He told me when he is bigger he wants to drive a fire truck (like his uncle Reed), drive a race car and build things.

For his birthday I asked him what he wanted and this is the list he had me write:

 Robots  (the movie)

Scary Ball

Duckie

Flashlight Glow Stick

Shrinking Star

Ghost Light Show

Root Beer

Popsicles

We love our little mate and are grateful for the humor and craziness he brings to our home.

I just wanted to share this little story about Easton that means so much to me.   While saying prayers last week he said, "Bless Grandpa Bob that he can get his house solded."  Well, my parents have been trying to sell their home in Grand Junction for the past year so my mom can move to Price where my dad has been working for a year and a half.  The next day after Easton's sweet prayer my parents had a showing of their home and received a great offer.  They close in just a few weeks on the sale of their home.  Such a blessing and an answer to a little boy's prayer.

                          We love our East!   Happy Birthday!

Where Have We Been?

Well, June flew by like a rocket.  Here is a little recap of what we've been up to.

My brother was married on June 11th in Seattle. We rented an RV and made the trek northward.  Easton loved the RV and the RV loved gas. I don't know that I loved spending so much money on gas. However, we had a fabulous trip and enjoyed stopping to see several friends on the way up and back from Seattle.

                                                                     The very happy couple.

Are you wondering why my dress is different from my sisters? ( Maybe you're not but I will tell you anyway.)  My sister forgot my dress as well as Marielle's at the hotel.   She felt really bad though so I won't name which sister it was.  

My beautiful little sisters.

I have lots of pictures of our trip, 404 to be exact.  I will post more later.  Hopefully.

Memorial Day

 My heart is filled with gratitude for the many men and women who sacrifice so much in order to preserve liberty.  We enjoy so many freedoms in this great land because of those heroic, brave people.

My own life has been personally touched by many heroic people.  Two of those hero's are Clint's grandfather, grandpa Ralph and my own grandfather, Don.  In April we had the opportunity to travel down to Manti to watch as Ralph received his Purple Heart award.  While stationed in Iwo Jima during WWII  Ralph was shot in the shoulder.  He quickly returned home after being shot and therefore did not receive his much deserved medal.  Clint's Aunt Kathy completed the necessary paperwork and after over 60 years Grandpa Ralph finally received his Purple Heart.

(Grandpa Ralph with his wife and children)

While in Manti we also had a chance to visit my grandfather Don.  He fought in the Pacific during WWII as well.  Little did I know that my visit with my grandfather in April would be the last time I would see him.  He passed away May 6th.  He was 90 years old. 

I am grateful for these men and so many others who have sacrificed so much in order that we can enjoy the many beautiful freedoms we have here in America.  I love this country and feel so blessed to be an American.

Shower

The day after Marielle's birthday party my mom, sisters and I threw a bridal shower for my brother's fiancee Nicole.  They are planning a June wedding with grey and yellow as the wedding colors so we decided to have a yellow themed shower.

These are the party favors each guest filled with candy from the candy buffet to take home with them.

Now if I would have not had such sweatie armpits from running around and visiting with everyone I may have taken a few photos of the guests.  But apparently I did not have the wherewithal to accomplish such a task and so I am left without pictures of my fabulous family members.  Next time I'll have to hire a photographer.

Sweetie Pie Party

The following are pictures from Marielle's birthday party.  {It's a bit of picture overload-sorry}

I wanted to create a little party for her that was pretty and sweet like she is. 

I love making crafts and so for the past few weeks Easton, Marielle and I sat up in my craft loft or the croft as Easton calls it and created.  Easton loves to help me create as well.  He enjoys gluing, cutting, stamping and punching out paper.  Marielle just likes to dig through all of my supplies and eat the paper.

Most of the frames are from the thrift store, spray painted to match her room.

The banner is made from doilies purchased at the dollar store.

A little scrapbook to honor the birthday girl.

Little Miss Turns One

Marielle turned 1 on May 6th.  I know it's cliche but I truly can't believe my baby is already one.  I just love this girl.  The way she smells I could just eat her up.

She is walking all around and is a very cautious little walker.  She can successfully climb up the stairs and down the stairs as well.  My cousin told me to not get a stair gate and just teach her how to go down stairs.  I'm so glad she did because I hate those obnoxious gates and now Marielle knows how to navigate the stairs on her own.

She has eight teeth and is beginning to get her molars in.

I think she is already starting her terrible two's because when she gets mad she clenches her fists and starts wailing.  It's rather funny to me.

Marielle loves to play with Easton and gets so excited to see him when she wakes up from naps. 

  She is a great eater and enjoys almost everything.  Although she now has a new trick of taking the half chewed food from her mouth and throwing it onto the floor.  I'm loving that. 

She still gets up at night at least once, sometimes more.  I guess she hasen't received the memo yet that it's ok to sleep through the night.   So here's the memo- please start sleeping through the night.  Thanks, Mom.

We had a little family party for her first birthday.  I will post pictures later.

Mantel Re-vamp

I love to spy in on other people's homes to see how they have decorated.  With the blogging world it makes it a lot easier to get a sneak peak into how people decorate.  That is why I am joining the mantel linky party over at the Nester. 

After taking down the Easter decor my mantel was seriously lacking.  I wanted to change things up a bit so I shopped the house {and Ross}.

I took the picture from my living room. I originally purchased it at an antique store.  I love the monochromatic feel.  The glassware is from Ross.  Candlesticks, vase, & frame are from the thrift store.  I spray painted the candlesticks gold and rubbed them with raw umber.  I sponge painted the plaque thing with cream paint and then sanded it down to see the gold.

It's still a work in progress.  I don't know that I'm loving the hydrangeas.  {Probably because they are not real.}  And Clint asked if I wanted him to put a picture in the frame.  Very funny. 

 I'm sure I will rearrange and rearrange some more but that's the fun of mantel decorating. 

Glimpse of Our Easter

There were Techno Dance Parties in the kitchen, Egg Dyeing, Egg Hunts- 4 to be exact{including an egg hunt with my sisters and myself- it was a blast!  Lots of pushing and shoving.}  The Easter Bunny came and left lots of goodies.  We ate lots & lots of food including coconut cream pie- yum! 

Spending the Easter weekend with family and watching General Conference together made for the perfect weekend.   I love the spirit that was felt in my home and the beautiful messsages shared.  I came away inspired to be a better mother & wife. 

My heart melted when I asked Easton who that kind man on the screen with gentle eyes was and he replied, "Thomas Monson."   What a blessing to have a living prophet on our earth at this time.

I Did Not Forget

I wanted to ensure Easton knew I wouldn't miss Easter so we went to two egg hunts over the weekend.

My sister Danielle accompanied us to the first egg hunt.  It was held in the Lehi pool and it was a blast.  Easton loved jumping in the wading pool and searching for eggs.  He even won a big Easter basket filled with toys and candy.  After the hunt we all swam in the pool, much to Marielle's delight.

Danielle gave him this kite and a glow stick while she was here.  This kid loves glow sticks.  I mean LOVES glow sticks.  He constantly carries them around with him, sleeps with them and even hands them out at preschool for show and tell even though they no longer glow and are months old. 

On Saturday we went to This Is The Place monument for another egg hunt and it really was the 'place.'  About half of the state of Utah attended making it crowded and not so fun.  However, Easton did manage to find a golden egg worth 4 tickets to the aquarium.  Lucky kid.

I'm not sure what is going on in this picture.

And Little Miss is starting to walk at 10 months of age.  She will take a couple of steps and then slink to the floor where she prefers to crawl. 

Here she is doing the 'slink.'

Is it Easter Time Yet?

I hear this refrain daily.

Easton: "Mom, is it Easter time yet."

Mom: "Not yet.  Not for a week or so."

Easton: "I really like Easter time."

Mom: "I know you do bud."

Easton: "I don't want to miss it."

And so it goes, each day we have this same conversation. 

The boy also enjoys watching himself open all of his Christmas presents again and again on the flip camera.   It's sixteen minutes of boredom to everyone else but to Easton it's non-stop entertainment. 

                            Oh the joy and excitement found in holidays when you are a child.