I love being a Mother!

This is me with my four sweet children on mother's day.


I know that Mother's Day has already passed but I am now finally able to post about it. I kept thinking about how I played with babies when I was a little girl and how I longed to be a mother and now I get to live what I always dreamed of doing. I love it so much. I am so grateful for each of my sweet children. They each have so many gifts and talents that teach me each day to want to be better.

I have been amazed at how much Kamren is in tune with the spirit. He is constantly reminding me of how the spirit guides him at school to be better and how the spirit helped him on his test. He was very sick a week ago and recieved a blessing. He asked if I could put his name on the temple roll and the next day he was better. His faith is amazing. I'm grateful that he is teaching me to be more in tune with the spirit.

Ashleigh is the sweetest mother. She helps me to focus on the details of mothering. She always helps me with Andrew and is naturally such a nurturing person. She wants to make sure Andrew is happy and is so willing to care for him when I need to get dinner ready. Ashleigh always loves to be on time. I'm not so good at that so it's nice to have someone encouraging me to do that.

Brynn is our go getter. She is so determined to do anything and she wants to do it well. She always gets excited to do things and brings so much sunshine to all of us. I love her energy and her drive to try new things. Brynn teaches me to love life and to have fun.

Andrew is so fun to tickle and play with. I still can't believe how much he loves to eat. He loves people so much and loves to be in the middle of everything. Andrew helps me to slow down. He always makes sure I stop to enjoy the simple things of life. I'm so grateful that he is happy with a simple car to hold.

I couldn't ask for a better family. I feel so blessed to have my children to learn from. I had the best Mother's Day with my family.

Here are some updates on our family!




I'm so grateful Andrew has a big brother to look up to. Kamren is so good at sharing his airplanes and other toys. Andrew always has an eye for Kamren's legos.

We are loving every minute of spring. It's so much fun to see all the flowers blooming. Color is wonderful.



The girls still love looking alike. I just love hot pink on them. I just bought a hot pink sweater so I could match with them.



Soccer is just about over and Kevin loved every minute coaching his team. Kamren loves soccer and we love watching him play.



I'm so excited for Kamren and Ashleigh's new elementary school. It's finished and they'll be able to use it next year!



Kamren and Ashleigh's school had their first 5K fundraiser. They had over 300 people participate. I thought that was great. I ran the 5K and Ashleigh and Brynn ran the fun run with me. Kevin and Kamren weren't feeling so good but they were the best cheerleaders:)



Here's Andrew in his shirt. We are trying to get him ready for bed. He likes to move so much it's a challenge to keep him still.



Kamren being funny and putting on Andrew's 18 month shirt. Andrew is wearing the same shirt in the picture above.



Spring is here and I wanted some change in the home but I didn't want to spend any money. I had a friend come over who is an interior decorator and she gave me so many great ideas. I moved so many things around in each bedroom and it felt so different. I moved the girls beds and changed some pictures and spray painted some frames and took some things away. The girls love the new look. It just needed a little updating. It was nice to change things around from things I already had in the home. My husband loved that I didn't spend any money:)



Kamren was feeling a little left out since I didn't do much in his room. He decided to let me know that he wanted a change and showed me how to rearrange his room. I was a little hesitant but we did it and we love it. I changed up a few things in his room and it feels new again. I changed his curtains (the old ones are in the background) and repainted his cork board. I love having it red, white and blue, with airplane accents.




Kamren is all about army right now. He told me that he wants to join the army. He loves his country so much that he wants to defend it.




Brynn has just moved up to the 16 inch bike. She begs to ride it everyday. Dad is ready to teach her how to ride a two wheeler.

I love Philly!

I just got back from a five day trip with my sister. Five years ago we decided to travel together without children. We enjoyed our first trip in Florida so much that this is our fourth trip together. We went to New York City and then to Boston. We are both huge into American History so we have chosen places where there is lots of it.

This is what we did while we were there.
Independance Hall, Liberty bell, Bus tour, Capagiaro gelato (yummy), U.S. Mint, Christchurch Cemetary, Betsy Ross House,Christchurch, eat at Old Tavern, Post office, Penitentiary, Philly Pretzel Co., Rittenhouse Square, Love sign, Tomb of the unknown Soldier, Pat's on a Steak, Italian Market,saw Chinatown, Valley Forge, King of Prussia Mall, Lancaster Amish Country, visit friends Jim and Annie, National Constitution Center, Free Quaker Church, Quaker Church, Reading Terminal Market, Penn's Landing/Seaport Museum, Macy's to see Wanamaker organ, Philidelphia Museum of Art, Fairmount Park, lunch at Pete's Pizza, strolled the city, ate at Marathon (yummy burger)

We walked everywhere except we rented a car one day to see the sites outside of Philly. My sister was 28 weeks pregnant and I couldn't believe all the walking she could do. She is a trooper!



This is the oldest residential street in the United States.



We visited an old submarine and the oldest warship. My sister and I got very chlostraphobic on the submarine. It's amazing how little space they really have to move and sleep. I loved learning more about the warship we were on. The Titanic was very similar to this one. After the tours, my sister and I were more thankful for those who sacrifice their lives so we have freedom.



We walked up the stairs that Rocky did in one of his movies. This is in front of the Philidelphia Art Museum.



Lots of art in the area. LOVE is a very big one.



This restaurant was fun to eat at because we got to try George Washington's favorite rolls and many others favorite recipes from the past.



We really loved our hotel. We got a great deal. It was normally 220-240 a night and we got it for 70 a night on priceline. It was fun to have a gym a few floors down to use and I loved the infused water we got everyday. I loved the strawberry, blueberry and mint mix.



Having fun trying our first philly cheesesteak. Now I get to try and lose the pounds I gained after eating so much yummy food.



I'm so grateful I have a sister to cherish these memories with. I love America. I love having the right to vote and to be free. I'm so grateful for my parents who have instilled this in me.

P.S. My sister inspired me to change my blog background. It was too hard too read so hopefully this will be a lot easier to read and it's my favorite color right now. I love orange!!!

Happy Birthday kaa (kam, ash, andrew)

Happy Birthday Andrew! He is now one!! Here are some pics of Andrew growing up to be one! Andrew truly is a blessing in our lives. I love how he loves people. Everywhere we go he wants to say hi. I'm grateful he wants to spread joy!



He is two weeks old here.



3 months old



6 months old



9 months old



Here he is at one! Andrew had fun on his birthday. We decided not to have a big birthday party for Andrew and we kept it simple. We had a two neighbors over to enjoy some cake and ice cream.



Kam chose the cake he wanted me to make Andrew. Andrew loves race cars. He even makes the sounds to go with it. I made this cake for Kam a few years ago.



Kam fed Andrew his first bite of cake on his first birthday.



Andrew loved his first taste of cake!

I've decided to get rid of all my boxed cake mixes and premade frosting and make everything from scratch. I'm trying to not buy many processed foods anymore. I'm going back to the basics. It tasted so much better.




The day before Andrew's birthday we went on a fun run together.




Brynn is so proud of herself since she ran the whole mile all by herself without stopping. I couldn't believe it.



I really find joy in watching the children acheive something. I took the younger ones on the race and Kevin went with Kam. He said he couldn't keep up. He ran it in 7 minutes. He is a fast boy!



Ashleigh is now seven. She is a beautiful girl who is so sweet. She is always writing us sweet notes and making us something. We are so grateful for her spirit. Ashleigh chose to have brownies and mint chocolate chip ice cream for her birthday treat. She loved sharing this with some of her friends.



Ashleigh got to open up all of her presents from grandparents and family in the morning after breakfast. I made her cinnamon rolls with eggs and orange juice. This is her favorite. She loved all the presents she received.



I made Ashleigh a veil and bouquet to play with for dress up for her birthday. It was so fun to make.



Ashleigh enjoyed sharing her day with her friends.




Kam is now nine. Kam loves to do stunts on his bike but it was getting too small so we surprised him with a bigger bike. Kamren has really grown this year. He is really listening to the spirit in his life. He sure makes us laugh. We love having him in our home.



Kamren chose to have waffles for dinner.



Andrew celebrating Kam's birthday at Chuck E. Cheese.



Kam loved getting some legos and other fun things from family.
Kamren loved it when I surprised him at lunch and brought him a happy meal on his birthday. We loved spending lunch with him.



In the midst of all the birthday celebrating, Brynn was not forgotten. A friend was so kind to give her a Barbie jeep. She loves it!

We made it through three birthdays this month! Whew! I actually loved having them together because we just keep up the decorations and they all wanted a different treat for dessert. This way when someone else gets presents we say they only have to wait a few days for their birthday.



This is a Wedding cake I made for a sister who's son was getting married. It was fun to make this from scratch too. It brought back memories when I took the three course Wilton decorating classes with a friend in college.



I decorated the knife and cups for the wedding also. I had fun decorating the tables and room they were married in. This was Kevin's first wedding he did as a Bishop.

Spring Break and Easter

This year we wore green for our Easter outfits. General Conference was on Easter so they wore their outfits the Sunday before.



Ashleigh is so loving to sweet Andrew.



This is the first time Kam and Andrew wore the exact same outfits.



I had fun making the girls hair accessories. They loved the flowers.



Sisterly love:)



Sweet Andrew is walking everywhere now. He doesn't crawl anymore. He's trying to keep up with the big kids.



Kamren enjoyed all the candy in his basket. He ate it so fast.



Ashleigh loved her new leggings.



Andrew loved playing with the plastic eggs. He loves put them all over the house.



Every six months we build a tent in the basement for General Conference. The kids love it. They all slept in it the night before General Conference.



We had a fun excursion to Chicago during Spring Break. What an amazing replica of downtown Chicago all built in legos.



The legos were so amazing to look at in the Lego Museum.



Andrew went on his first ride at the lego museum and loved it.



Kamren sure wished he could stay longer at the museum.



Popcorn popping on the apricot tree! This is our favorite time of the year. We try to enjoy each day they are blossomed because soon they will all be green leaves.



Having fun with our friends at the museum.



We had fun at Medieval Times together.



It was a beautiful day. We have had the best Spring here this year.



The two big kids had fun using their birthday coupons to go bowling with some friends.



The kids had fun with their friends. It's nice to have a week to hang out.