Starting Early

What did I do yesterday while watching the kiddos swim outside in the 90 degree weather?

Made these oh-so-cute winter hats for the girls. I got the yarn at Hobby Lobby on clearance for $1.19. Steal of a deal! I think I need to go back today and get some more....

Did I mention that Hobby Lobby already had it's Christmas stuff out?! It's only June! Ahhh! You may be asking yourself why Courtney doesn't just walk past the displays and ignore them until it is more calendar-appropriate for such things. Well, when I see Christmas stuff, I get a little panic attack, thinking about how I need to start my Christmas preperations (which, by the way, I have. I happen to have all of our family gifts done. Wahoo). The same thing happens when they put winter clothes out to buy in July (did I mention that I have the girl's winter clothes all done? Coats, boots and all).

It's a conspiracy, and I play right into their hands...

Every Morning....

Porter wakes me up at 5:45.

Every morning, I turn Noggin so Porter can get his speech lessons from Franklin for the day.

Every morning at 6:10 I hear Piper get out of bed, turn on her bedroom light, and shut her door.

Every morning at 6:35, Piper peeks her little head around the corner and says, "Come here Mom, I want to show you something."

Then, "Close your eyes."

Every morning, I close my eyes as ordered and allow Piper to guide me slowly into her room. I also happen to run into the corner wall by the stairs every morning.

Every morning, Piper throws open her bedroom door, yells, "OPEN YOUR EYES!!" and I see a clean room (and I mean clean- no scraps on the floor of shoes out of place), and Pip's beaming face turned my way.

And every morning, I thank my lucky stars for my practically-perfect Piper Pauline.

For the Father of My Kiddies...

No dad has ever been as loved as you, my dear. All three of these crazy monkeys love and adore you in a way that amazes me. Adi tries her hardest to be just like you, going as far as to ask me, "Did I sound like Dad when I said that?". Pipes thinks that you are her own personal Prince Charming and I believe that she holds it against me that I married you first. And Porter, well that little man mimics all that you do. He wears his hat and sunglasses when you do (two things he absolutely hates), he puts on a belt when you do, he laughs at all you do and say.

The second you walk in the door at night you have these adoring fans stuck to you, -and even though I can see you tired and worn out you are- you always have a huge grin for them and a round of rough-housing in you.

No man has ever deserved this special day more than you, OP. Enjoy it!

Cooperation

On most days, by dinner time I think that I will end up pulling my hair out if I hear the kiddos fighting one more time. Will they ever get along? Why can't they just be friends?

And then something totally spontaneous like this happens:

And I think that maybe it will all work out in the end.

Decorating, Girlie-Style

Here's a glimpse of what I've been doing in the girlie's room- I am far from done, but my sis wanted an update...

First, here are the masterpieces, painted by me and the girls on some old canvases of my Grandma's. And the vinyl writing? Created on my new love... my mom's Cricut!

Ok, here's the curtains. The curtain rod I got for an awesome deal on Walmart.com (check out their Site-to-Store). Then I just tied some tuelle onto that (hoping for a tutu-kind-of-look). The rose garland is from Roberts on clearance for 50 cents (wahoo!). It lookes kind of strange, so I put these girls above it to hopefully look like they are wearing a tutu... not sure if that worked or not.

Oh, and I wrapped some pink tuelle around a cream lampshade and hot glued some roses and ended up with that lamp.

My mommy got the bedding for the girls at Target (notice the adorable bed-skirt). Let me tell you that the mostly white comforter is a pain to keep clean with Adi and Pipes! The hangy-curtain-thing (anyone know what that is called?) is from Ikea... only $7.99...

So that's what I have done so far. I still have big plans to repaint all of their furniture... we'll see how far I get on that!

Goodbye K!

1st day of school:

Last day of school:

My, how this little girl has grown- not only in size, but also in attitude.

The Decorating Itch...

It's taken me eight months, but I'm finally feeling like doing some decorating, and once I started, I haven't been able to stop...

I haven't taken pics of everything since I only have a little bit of everything done, but nothing entirely. So, here are two things that are actually done-

#1: My picture wall. No house of mine can be considered a home until I have my family montage up. Thanks goes to Whit for the "Memories" frames....

#2: I've repainted a few things, but this is my favorite so far. I'm trying to add in a casual, beachy sense to the decor, and this end table looks perfect for that! OP thinks I distressed it a bit too much, but I'm in love.

I'm working on repainting the computer desk right now, and then it's on to the girl's bedroom furniture (wish me luck)...

Game Over

The girlies had their final soccer game Saturday. It was a double header- two games right after another. They did pretty well considering they pretty much ran for two straight hours!

Piper was very focused on the game...

This is Adi's "Killer Face". It means that whoever has the ball had better move or they're about to get their shins kicked and then shoved down... (if you can't see the face, you have to zoom in, it's hilarious)

The girls sometimes forget that they are on the same team...

Waiting for the game to start (and Adi is begging for a time-out).

At the end of it all, they both got a cookie, a Capri-Sun and a trophy. It made their day.

And then they found out that they get to keep their uniform and that made their week.

The funnest part of soccer (at least for me) is watching my tiny-baby-girls shove their way to the ball- they aren't afraid of getting hurt. All they are focused on is getting the ball into the net (sometimes into the wrong net *ahem Piper*) but still very, very focused and very, very tough. The boys they played against had no advantage on these tenacious creatures!

Moving On...

Adi had her Kindergarten Program yesterday (thank goodness they didn't have a kindergarten graduation- I would have hated to boycott my own daughter's day). Anywho, Adi looked like an angel sitting up there on the stage- she had practiced so hard for months to be able to sing all of the songs loud and clear and to say her part without any help.

I promised Nae that I would post all of her songs on here for all of our long-lost family to watch, but due to two horrific happenings beyond my control (ok, I put off charging my camera's battery until an hour before the program and didn't charge the video camera at all- I know, I know), my battery was nearly dead when we got there, so I only have a couple of songs, but I did get her saying her part!

**Oh and sorry about how shaky the recording is. I was having a hard time keeping the camera steady while being jostled by every other parent trying to record.**

To say that I was an emotional wreck watching her up there being a big-girl would be an understatement. Wasn't she born just last month? Learning to talk last week? How is it that I watch her grow and change everyday and yet days like this seem to smack me upside the head and say "She's growing so quickly"? She can now tell the time, sound out words, tie her shoes, add and subtract, and dial phone numbers. We celebrate each of these new little pieces of freedom she learns, and yet...

Soon she'll be off to first grade, staying at school all day, eating lunch with her friends (hopefully Mommy can remember to pack said lunch), and not with me. Playing with her friends, and not with me. Telling her oh-so-important secrets to her friends, and not to me...

Bittersweet, isn't it?

We Love to See the Temple...

After months of watching the Oquirrh Mountain Temple being built, we finally had the opportunity to tour it last night. After a yummy dinner at Red Robin, we skipped over to the temple and had the chance to show the kiddos where families are sealed for time and all eternity. Adi loved the mirrors in the sealing room where you can see your reflection forever and Piper loved the huge chandeleirs.

Porter liked the chocolate chip cookies we got after the tour.

My darn camera had some smudges on the lens, courtesy of my Lil' Man, so all my pics turned out fuzzy! And I had actually got a good one of the kids!

One More, and That's All...

OK, one more New Moon post. Here's the preview that debuted last night on MTV:


<a href="http://www.mtv.com/ontv/movieawards/2009/" target="_blank">The Twilight Saga: New Moon 'Trailer'</a>

The Twilight Saga: New Moon 'Trailer'

I am so on Team Jacob...