The Simple Joy's in Life

How is it that dressing my daughters up in matchy-matchy outfits can bring such fulfillment to my heart?

I have yet to figure this out.

I vividly recall rolling my eyes at the thought of having an ans amble remotely resembling my kid sis'. Yet somehow that memory of old plays no part in my decision to twinerize my ladies now.

For now, Issy thinks looking alike is fun, but that could be because I let her think it was her idea. I'll keep my excitement over it to a minimal ( not to lead her on. )

Last day of school / preschool graduation

For Issy's last day of preschool, her class headed to the neighborhood park for treats and games. After letting a little energy out on the slides, and gobbling up the snacks, the parachute was busted out. I'm not talking about the mini multicolored ones we all remember from elementary, this thing was huge! It was an actual parachute! There was very little wind that day which was a good thing because I'm certain if there was more than a breeze, we would of had ten little ones + a few adults para sailing over the city.



When the breeze would come the kids would all run underneath,






and when the breeze was gone, us adults created bubbles (by vigorously flapping our arms up and down) for the kids to run on and pop. It was a real hit with the kids, and a hot sweaty workout for the adults!



It was a good way to end a great 1st year of preschool! Issy will miss her friends she made and her teachers Mrs. Janae and Mrs. Danae.( how's that for a tongue twister)



Preschool Graduation




While driving in the car the week before her graduation i asked Issy about what to expect from the up coming graduation event. She had stated "We are singing songs. We have to put our arms on our hips and shake our booty's, and I'm NOT doing it!"

Come graduation night, expecting a protest to performing for a crowd, Issy stayed true to her word.



Yep that's my Issy, second to the end on the right....the one with her hands in her mouth.



She didn't shake her booty, she didn't do the actions to the songs, she didn't even SING the songs! She just stood there, sucking on her fingers.

She does this thing when she is being shy, it consists of standing, staring, and putting her hands to her mouth.



It was actually still enjoyable for me to watch her try hard to look like she wasn't having any kind of fun.
After her silent and motionless performance, we were cheering and congratulating her. As she hurried to sit down to get out of the spotlight she stated "I didn't even DO anything!"

Which was too bad for Alyza because she wished she could have.




Isabella didn't even want to go up to shake her teachers hands to receive her diploma...sigh. However as soon as the performance end of the night was over and the ice cream was being dished her nerves settled and she was back to her unshy self.

Isabella is such a funny little thing, I get such a kick out of her! It is so rewarding to see her grow and change into her own little person with likes and dislikes...
...and stage fright.

I love you Issy, I'm so proud of how much hard work and learning you have done this last year! You are such a Joy!

...and they call it puppy love!

Koda and Alyza have a thing for one-another. Alyza just adores the puppy, and Koda is very gentle and sweet with her, It's quite the relationship.


They do this little almost kiss where they are face to face with noses just inches apart.

But,



I'll have to put a stop to that if it should one day get any closer,

and I don't care what people say about dogs mouths being cleaner than humans, Alyza has never once drank from the toilet or eaten her own poo.



For now, I'll let the air kisses continue.

Casual Conversation

I was getting my girls ready to go down for the night. Changing Alyza into her pajamas, my back was to Isabella. She and I were having a chat about the day. When I finished with Alyza I turned to see Isabella in mid-sentence perched on a ledge atop her bedroom moldings. My eyebrows furled. I was a bit perplexed at her choice of seating! Not seeing anything wrong, she continued on her thought as if this was a regular occurrence.
Just then I smiled and raised my eyebrows at her. She must have clued into my thoughts of her odd placement on the wall, because after that the laughs got the best of both of us.

Breakfast with a side of Boogie!

Jake bump'n his music throughout the house +
open floor room =
girls leaving the breakfast table to cut-a-rug.

The apples do not fall far from the tree...

Seems as if even the wee ones enjoy a rousing game of X-box, even if their controller cords aren't connected. Love that Dad!

It's Been Years!

This past weekend Jake and I celebrated our fifth year anniversary. It's so interesting because five years sounds like a big marriage milestone but, it feels like I've been with him longer. I can't hardly remember a time without my best friend around. We had some wonderful family members take our children over the weekend giving us two days and a night mono e mono. I missed my ladies, but it was nice being free from mommydom to focus on my man. We chose to spend our time Thursday getting projects around the house done ( I know what your thinking...LAME! But it was quite enjoyable. I guess you know you've been a mom/wife of a couple years when you spend special occasions kid-free working on the house... by choice.) Saturday morning we slept in (a distant memory of the past), then left to spend the day out.
First I stopped by Calli's ever stylish home for Emily's Baby Shower. I was able to spend some enjoyable female time.



Our newest Mommy friend Emily was all lit up and looked more beautiful than ever. Her newly adopted Milo baby is as about as cute as the come, full of features and all. He is the most content little thing, which was wonderful for the women's cause we all took a turn, or two, or three, holding him.



After all that fun, my hub and I thought it most appropriate to start our days celebration back to the place where it all began...



...OK, OK so we where actually married in the Salt Lake Temple, but we figured this was close enough. We chose to do sealings that day. It was especially neat to sit through it again on this special day and hear the covenants and promises we had made to one-another and our Heavenly Father five years ago. Kneeling across from Jake on our wedding day was definitely exciting and spiritual, but this time it was moving to be looking into the eyes of my Sweetheart with years, depth and hard work behind us. Jake truly is my everything.

We ended our day and weekend off with dinner and a movie. It was so fun to have him to myself for a bit, a much needed couple of days.