Leiden's Little Love Notes

I wandered into Leiden's room the other day, and found this abandoned on the bed. (It's her doodle pad.)


Loves from Leiden, everybody!

Awesome Photography Blog

A friend from Leiden's preschool gave me this link while we were talking about photography and my fledgling skills. It's called Mom*tog, the lady's name is DrewB, and the site is all about moms taking better pictures of their kids, straight out of the camera. I've been reading all the back posts and learning things! Her style of photography is exactly the kind I want to emulate.

I've been thinking a lot about photography these days. Time and time again, you read in the Etsy forums that good photographs are paramount--read: good photography gets people to click. There are no horrible pictures in my shop, but there is absolutely room for improvement. And then there are my kids, who I love to catch at just the right moment--but often fail to catch them in the right light, with the correct shutter speed, correct ISO, and correct aperture. This is what is leading me to try to take all my pictures in Manual mode. Whew! I'm just glad there are people out there like DrewB who are willing to share some tips and tricks for free!

Go check her out, and join with me in pining for one of her private sessions! If I had the money, I'd fork it out!

Easter Dresses

Here they are, in all their glory. I had such high hopes for the jackets, and they just didn't turn out how I wanted them. Not to mention that both girls try to take them off as quickly as possible. I had envisioned Pirates-of-the-Caribbean-type sleeves, and I got poofy. Oh, well. they're still cute.

The Girls

Okay, okay, I know I haven't posted the Easter dresses yet, although the pictures have been taken. I'll do that later this afternoon. Here are some pictures I took using the MANUAL setting on my camera. This means I had to set the ISO, aperture, and shutter speed all by myself. (Although they are a bit edited.) These were really the only two that turned out, but I LOVE the picture of Leiden. I will learn how to use this camera, yet.

Academics

Leiden really loves to read and write--when it's her idea. We try to engage her all the time, and if she's not in the mood, it doesn't happen. This was a writing spree. The greatest part, was that we didn't tell her how to spell these words! We just said, "Can you write _____ ?" And she sounded them out and wrote them. She had trouble with the 'G', but all in all, she's doing GREAT!

FROG


Her triumph--I think we told her there was an 'E' on the end.


Check out that little 'e'!

What a smart sweetie!

Funny Videos

Mac loves music, and she dances sometimes even when we sing, let alone have music playing. She's a hoot.

This isn't a funny video, just showing the kitchen in progress. The counters will be measured for later this week, and then hopefully it's just a few days after that until installation. Then we're almost done! Brad bought a hood the other night, brought it home, spent about 25 minutes getting it out of the box, only to find that it was not the stainless hood advertised at the store, but a weird white glassy color. Great. So there's that, and then something with the walls between the counters and cupboards. Brad thinks he wants to do tile. Please excuse the mess on the temporary counters.

The other day Leiden was playing, and this was the result. A little pot never hurt anybody.

Easter Festivities Part 5--Easter Evening (Last installment!)

On Easter evening, we went to a friend's house for dinner and an egg hunt. Leiden got quite a few eggs, although she was the last kid out the door, and kind of just wandered around for a few minutes, not even picking up eggs. She has a very underdeveloped sense of competition--which isn't necessarily a bad thing--it just doesn't earn you eggs in egg hunts!


I think this is my favorite shot of the night. I managed to snag this shot right before Mac grabbed it off the ledge. She kept calling them 'balls' and she spent the egg hunt wandering around on the deck.

Another favorite shot. Mac is still candid. Leiden gives you these funny baring-of-teeth smiles when she is willing to be photographed, and when she's not, she sabotages the operation.

Mac found 3 eggs on the deck. She kept picking up two (one for each hand), and wander until she came back and saw the third egg again, so she'd drop one of the eggs in her hands and pick up the third. Around and around.

To the victor go the spoils.

It was a wonderful evening, and many more pictures were taken. Find them here.

Tomorrow I've got some great video to share. By the way, I didn't get any pictures of the girls in their Easter dresses, which I made, but we'll do that soon.

Easter Festivities Part 4--Brad's Easter

Over the years, Easter has always been the 'optional' holiday for us. Sometimes we do something for each other, and sometimes we don't. I decided to do a riddle scavenger hunt for Brad, entitled, "Where My Peeps At?" (If you say it like a hoodlum would say it, it's funnier.) Brad loves those ghastly sugary peeps. Yuck. Anyway, I led him all over the house, with his quick little mind getting the answers to the riddles way too quick, and he found his Peeps!

Every once in a while Brad eyes me with a certain look, and I know I've surprised him in an amusing, funny, good way. Usually it's in response to something I've said (often unprintable), sometimes I get it when I can recite 90's rap music lyrics, and occasionally it will be in response to something I've done. I was rewarded this night with that look. Yes!

Easter Festivities Part 3--Traditional Easter Morning

This year, Brad and I decided to do the 'Easter Morning' thing on Saturday morning, instead of Easter itself. As the kids get older, perhaps they will be able to separate the eggs and bunnies from the Savior. So this was actually Saturday morning. Leiden, for weeks, now, has been telling us she wishes the Easter bunny would bring her a chocolate bunny. Well, of course the Easter Bunny couldn't disappoint!


Mac caught on pretty quickly--pick up the eggs and put them in your mouth. Then one popped open.


Holy smokes, what is this delight? I am totally fine with jelly beans for breakfast!


For some reason, when she eats them, it dribbles down her chin and neck.


Yummy bunny! At least the Easter bunny had the sense to bring her a hollow bunny. (Do you know how hard it was to find one!?)

Easter Festivities Part 2--Easter Flowers

Brad sent me Easter flowers this year--a vase full of stargazer lilies.

And, because I'm posting this so much after the fact, I can show you what they look like all bloomed out!

Easter Festivities Part 1--Easter Eggs!

We started early this year--on the Tuesday before Easter. Leiden was thrilled to do it, and for days afterwards kept wanting me to get the eggs out of the refrigerator so she could put more stickers on them. Myself? I enjoyed egg salad sandwiches for several days thereafter. Leiden was less than impressed with that plan.

Classic Brad

Like Father, Like Daughter

Playing Catch Up

These were actually taken a week or so ago. Leiden was caught doing something she didn't expect to be caught at.

Mac loves her 'keekee' (blankie), and she wanders around the house with it on her head like a little ghost. This was in her crib after a nap.

She also loves to look out the window for a bit.

So happy and well rested!

I honestly just kind of laugh at her all day. She has such a lively personality. She is much more overt than Leiden was at this age. Although I certainly thought Leiden was a card, herself.

Easter run to come tomorrow. I have some great pictures of the girls.

Happy Easter!

Hello, everyone! I hope your Easter Day has been full of the joy of our Savior.

I have a bunch of 'traditional' Easter pictures, etc. to share, but we'll do that tomorrow.

I was sitting in church today thinking about last year, and the marked difference in my outlook from then to now. Last year, I was struggling with postpartum depression at Easter, and I remember sitting in our chapel during Sacrament Meeting struggling not to cry--and not in a good way. There was no earthly reason for me to feel no joy, yet I didn't. I kept saying to myself, "I am not supposed to be feeling like this!" The whole meeting was a battle.

This year, though, was different. Obviously, the depression has long since (blessedly) left me, and I could focus on the beauty of the day. Our meeting today was actually a Regional Broadcast live from Salt Lake, and so we got to hear our Prophet, President Monson, again. I have new resolve to help others and try to make lives easier. What a blessing to be there this day with my beautiful children, and be able to feel the joy!

There have been many little things the past week or two that have stuck out to me, but last Sunday evening, Leiden asked what day the next day was, and I replied that it was Monday. Without hesitation, she said, "We'll have Family Home Evening!" And of course, my guilt was strong, as we are not always as diligent as we should be, but at least she is learning. So, the next night, we made a special effort to have FHE. We talked about Easter, and what it really means, and how Jesus Christ has given us a wonderful gift. I don't know how much a 3 year old understands about the powers of life and death, but I understand. And it is yet another gift we are given to be able to teach our children and have our own testimonies strengthened. As we talked about the Resurrection, my heart was full, and Brad and I talked to her about all the people she will meet someday because of Christ's gift to us. There are many people who have gone before who would have delighted in our little girls here. I think about my grandmother, in particular, a lot. I know how much she loved me, and I know she would have rejoiced at the wonder that is Leiden and Mac. We are so blessed.

Our ward has had the opportunity to have Sister Missionaries for a couple months, now, and so we women in the ward have had to step up our involvement in the day to day missionary effort. Usually the men in a ward do this, as there are usually male missionaries, but I have had the opportunity to go teach two different investigators with our missionaries, and it has reaffirmed my faith, and my knowledge of the gospel.

Christ lives. He lives now. He loves us. We will see our loved ones beyond this life. We are meant to feel joy!

Have a wonderful Easter, and rejoice in the springtime.

Growing

Leiden is growing. By the time her birthday rolls around in May, here in the great arctic north we're just starting to wear shorts. This means short pants!


Today we tried to go to the zoo and it was a nightmare. We only lasted 15 minutes in the line of HUNDREDS of people to get in, and I finally talked Leiden into not going. Bye bye baby pigs. I had to bribe her with ice cream. I'm totally fine with that.

After she got her ice cream cone from McDonald's, (and it was a big one!) she said,
"McDonald's grows BIG ice creams on the cones!" If only ice cream grew!

Brad's New Job

So, last week Brad started his new job with Carlson Hotels last week. On Monday, the first day, Leiden and I decided to celebrate with a surprise dinner and dessert--Brad's favorites. His favorite meal is Lime Chicken Tacos, eaten on the hard taco shells. He can eat 6-8 at a sitting. And of course, chocolate cake.

This cake, by the way, was, as Brad put it, "temptation straight from the devil himself". Pretty heady praise from a chocolate cake lover! If you want the recipe, let me know. It was pretty awesome. And it made a giant 3 layer cake.

This was also the day after Mac burned her arm. I debated even putting this on, but here it is. It happened the night before, but by Monday, it was blistering and looked pretty bad. What I didn't know was that it would look far worse before it looked better!

She just took it all in stride, not even picking at the bandage the doctor showed me how to put on, and not even acting like anything hurt after the initial screaming. What a trooper, and what a sad thing! Hot pans and dishes go WAY further onto the table than they used to. Mac is definitely the one we have to watch in our house. She is into everything. Even hot dishes straight from the oven. Sigh.

Digital Scrapbooking Latest

Here are some pages I've had on my external hard drive that need to be posted. We're almost halfway there on the baby book!

Wheeler Farm

While we were in SLC, a girl from my old ward got married, so we all got our duds on and went to the reception, which was at Wheeler Farm. The girls looked so cute in their matching outfits!

Leiden even got to feed the sheep that were grazing in their pen. They 'baaa-ed' at Mac, and she 'baa-ed' right back.

I thought this was a great one of my dad.