March 12

Yesterday there was a HUGE earthquake that struck Japan, followed by a tsunami that wiped out entire towns and villages along the Japan coastline. Our first concern was Nate, Elizabeth and their family. They are safe and accounted for but are having a harrowing experience helping those in need around them. In one of her emails Biz mentioned how this experience has reminded them the importance of being prepared. This lit a fire under us and we spent the morning reevaluating our 72 hour kits. We rotated all the food out of our food kit and added some baby essentials to our other kit. We are so grateful for their safety and for the good reminder to be prepared!

March 11

With the lovely 70 degree temperatures this week we've been taking every advantage to be outside. The kids had breakfast on the patio this morning. It was a lovely start to the day and it promises to be another gorgeous one here!

March 10

I am battling a bit of stomach flu today so I took a nap after I got the kids from school. The big kids got out the painting supplies and I came down an hour later to a fully decorated kitchen. Carter taught them how to do splatter paint and now my kitchen is full of their creations. It was also full of paint splattered all over the table, floor and counters but it cleaned up quickly!

March 9

I want to include 1 picture of my St. Patrick's day decor this year. Chelsie gave me the idea to make a Skittles rainbow in one of my apothecary jars. I LOVE it. It took me almost 2 hours of sorting 8 bags of Skittles to get enough to make the rainbow but it was worth it!

March 8

Today we had a playdate after school with the Larsen's. Carter and Noah love to play chess together and lately have been spending most of their playdates playing game after game. It's so cute to watch them strategize and learn the intricacies of the game together! I'm glad they're such good friends.

March 7

Emery is 1 month old today! I can't believe it's only been a month since she's been here and I also can't believe it has already been a month. Poor Ems has had a rough couple of weeks after being diagnosed with RSV when she was barely 3 weeks old. We had lots of long nights giving breathing treatments and long days at the doctor's office. She is doing well now though and we are so grateful. Emery weighed in at 12 lbs. at the doctor on her 1 month birthday. She is a great sleeper and nurser. She loves her binky and being swaddled. We all love her so much and can't imagine that we thought our lives might be complete without her!

March 6

I believe in thank you notes! In fact, I feel really strongly about them. I want my children to learn gratitude in their lives so I make sure we always send thank you's to friends and family for gifts they sent or kind deeds. Today Makenna worked on her birthday thank you notes and did such a great job writing them mostly on her own!

March 5

The weather here has just been gorgeous! Today we took the kids to the park to play for awhile. It was so nice to be out enjoying the sunshine. I love watching little, tiny Addison riding her princess scooter. She is barely big enough to see over the top of the handle bars but she loves riding it. She's been pretty proficient at it since she was just over 2 and will not accept a lick of help, no matter what. Adorable!

March 4

I very clearly placed my Girl Scout cookie order when I was 9 months pregnant! I have no idea why I thought we would need 8 boxes but obviously thought it was a good idea then. I do love GS cookies though and always order the same kinds every year - Thin Mints and Samoas. YUM! I also have such fond memories of my GS cookie selling days!

March 3

Love, love, love this picture. It was a GORGEOUS day today and the kids spent all afternoon outside riding bikes and scooters, jumping on the trampoline and drawing with sidewalk chalk. These are Addie's feet as she was drawing and definitely showcase a little girl who has been playing hard outside. I'm SO happy that spring is in the air. I always feel a bit more alive when the weather warms up! And yes, she came inside and went straight into the bath!

March 2

This afternoon I noticed Emery's breathing was a tiny bit labored so I called the doctor and they had me bring her right in. She was tested for RSV and immediately tested positive. Her oxygen levels were still high so the doctor did not want to hospitalize her but he did send us home with a nebulizer to give her breathing treatments every 2 hours. We are so concerned about her and are praying like crazy that she'll be ok.

March 1

It was so sad saying goodbye to my parents today, after they've been here to help me for almost 2 full weeks. I don't know what I would have done without them here. Dad was great and helped us with some projects around the house. One thing he did was build drawer dividers for the girls dressers. They turned out awesome and saved us tons of money over purchasing premade ones. I'm so happy to be a tad bit more organized and was amazed at just how many clothes/tights/pjs/etc. the girls really have once it's all organized!

February 28

This morning Makenna was holding Emery while I made my bed. Addie quickly wanted in on the action and then they asked me to take this picture. I can't believe I'm the mother of 3 little girls and hope and pray I can teach them all they need to know in life! What a great privilege.

February 27

Happy Birthday to our sweet Kenna girl! I can't believe she is already 6 years old. She had a fun day opening presents, having crepes for breakfast, playing with her gifts, having pizza fondue and chocolate eclair cake for dinner. Makenna is such a sweet and loving child. She is our most sensitive child and is always concerned about those around her. She is still a very girlie girl and my best helper with little sisters and around the house. We can't imagine our family without her in it!

February 26

Today we had an early celebration for Makenna's birthday since her actual bday is on Sunday. She chose to go to Chili's for lunch and was so happy to have Grandma and Grandpa here to celebrate with her. The waitstaff brought out this chocolate milkshake and she loved having it all to herself. We love our girl.

February 25

Today I took this picture of Emery while we were out and about. I love it. It captures her

newborn beauty so well. I'm so grateful to be the mother to this precious new spirit and love all that she has already brought to our family and home.

February 24

Ugh. This is a typical week for Allen at work. He is usually triple booked with back to back meetings all day long. Poor guy. I'm so grateful for how hard he works for our family!

February 23

I am finally getting around to taking a picture of my 365 book from last year. I'm thrilled to pieces with how well it turned out. Everyone who has seen the book has commented on what a great way it is to capture family history. Having the book in my hands just makes me want to continue the project indefinitely.

February 22

Each month Carter's class has a project assigned to them to work on for the month. For Jan/Feb there was one HUGE project. The kids were supposed to invent a new state, write a constitution for it, write laws for it, define the jobs of governor and mayor and then build a model of the state and of the capital city. It was A LOT of work but he really enjoyed learning how a state is organized and run. This is his model of the capital city. He did a great job!