Fairy garden

We made a fairy garden. We keep going back and forth between fairies existing and not existing. Anyway, we got a rusty red wagon, some small plants and some birdhouses which we hand-painted. Throw in some rock pathways and boom! Fairy garden.

Just something cute

Eliza did something very cute tonight. She was in my bedroom while I was in the kitchen, she came out to tell me something was "bleh", I told her to clean it up or wait until I could. I wandered in a few minutes later to see that my nightstand had been cleared off and everything was on the floor. I asked Anna to put it all back, I assumed that was the "bleh" (They have been surprisingly cooperative this week while Ben has been gone). Later Eliza wanted to show me something that she had no word for so she took my by the hand and led me to the coat closet. I opened it, she pointed up and said "blue". I lifted her up and she pointed to the swifter duster. Now I understood.
Last week, in a fit of productivity, Eliza and I cleaned off an dusted my nightstand. I taught her the ins and outs of dusting and de-cluttering. She took it to heart I guess.
I gave her the duster that she had requested and followed her back to my room. I peeked in and saw that she had taken everything off again and put it all on the floor. Now she was dusting. She caught me looking so I asked if I could take a picture. She said no. When I got out my iPod she more vehemently said "no!" But I took it anyway because she's such a cutie.

Exploding Egg (RTDW)

Anna and I made some cookies tonight. I measured out the sugar while she thawed the butter in the microwave and added it to the bowl. Then I got out the eggs, I cracked one and handed her the other. I turned to throw my shells away when I heard hers crack, then silence. I turned back and saw half the shell in her hand. I hurriedly turned off the mixer as she stood there stunned, then she stated: "it was an exploding egg"

The Most Beautiful Woman I Ever Saw

Honestly, this is kind of an off-topic post, but I remembered this woman today and thought, someday my kids might benefit from hearing about her.

Of course, Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder, but this was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. Ben and I were out together over a year ago, I can't remember when, we were at a fancy sushi restaurant in Salt Lake when this woman walked in. She was possibly late 20's to early 30's, the first thing I noticed about her was her shirt.

She honestly seemed a bit underdressed for this restaurant but she was totally confident. She was trim, not large but also not bone skinny. Her hair was short, but very clean and simple.

Her face was what captivated me most. Her eyes were bright and open, you could tell she was kind and gracious. She wore very little make-up, and just small jewels in her ears. She had a kind and genuine smile. I kept finding myself peeking over at her during dinner. She was polite with her dining companion, listening to what he said, not overpowering the conversation with idle laughter or immature silliness. She was just the most attractive woman I have ever seen and it wasn't because she was wearing anything special or adorning herself with expensive or gaudy accessories. If I had dared, I would have walked up to her and said "Excuse me, but you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, and I just want you to know that." And, because she was kind, she would have just smiled and said "thank you".

Compassionate Eliza

We are watching Conference and to keep me awake during this musical number I will tell you what Eliza just did.
I let the girls bring down all the hair paraphernalia and comb my hair and decorate their hair and etc. So Eliza started tickling Ben's back after combing his hair (and trying to put a bow in it) and apparently it felt good so he got some shivers.
Eliza's reaction: "Oh!" walks around him, picks up a quilt and puts it on him. I explained that she thought his shiver was him saying he was cold - just how she would have done -  so she covered him with a blanket. (He already had a big warm quilt covering him)

Have I mentioned she is adorable?
Seriously, a lot of people don't know that because she's ridiculously shy around the general public. She is simultaneously hilarious and adorable.

EasterFest2013

Easter is so FUN! Here we are dying eggs Friday afternoon. I had a lot of extra energy that day, and it's a good thing. I boiled 10 eggs and none of them broke, until Eliza dropped one. But that beats our record.

Eliza, clearly, has a future in modeling.

You cannot beat that smile.

Anna did a great job decorating her eggs.

Saturday morning I hid eggs in the yard for the girls.

And Calvin played cheerleader while they searched

Happy Easter! Always Be Awesome!

Calvin: 7 months

These pictures are about 3 weeks old, but this was Calvin at 7 months. 

 He liked getting up on his toes while learning to crawl. He is now crawling with good form 3 weeks later.

 Eliza loves to play with Calvin and they spend time in his crib once in a while. These are classics.