A cute lady in our ward has little craft days, where we pay her to provide the materials for a craft, and she hosts whoever is participating at her house, and we put together the cuteness!

I really liked these little Valentine's blocks, and it was fun to go hang out with some of the women in our ward to do it.  Valentine's is coming quickly, as well as the craziness that is mid February around here! 

Mimi got her preschool evaluation today, and this is what her teachers had to say about her.  "Mimi has great enthusiasm for learning.  She always comes in with a big smile on her face.  Her knowledge of the alphabet and numbers comes quite naturally to her.  She has really excelled and progressed throughout this year already!  Mimi loves playing with her friends, especially 'racing' on the bikes!  We enjoy having her great imagination in our class."  I'm so glad she's doing well!

Girls Night Out with these fine ladies!  It was fun to get dressed up and hit a nice restaurant, then hit Nordstrom, where we found these crazy sunglasses.

Also fun to stop at the MAC counter, and pick up some new lipstick.  Nothing like new expensive makeup to boost a girl's spirits! 

Speaking of which, I am feeling a little bit better about my changed life plans.  Things are still hard, but my heart is catching up with my head.  A few things have happened that have helped that process along, which I am grateful for.  It's frustrating to find myself reevaluating my entire life...AGAIN.  But here we are, with a new, fresh slate in which I get to go figure out what I want to fill it with.  I've learned so many good things this last year, and for that I am grateful.  Many things I can go forward with in new relationships and opportunities.  Life does go on after heartache...even during heartache, and you find it easing just a little.

She came!  Mac was so excited to wake up and find what the tooth fairy brought her.  She's rich!

 FINALLY!  The tooth came out!  In fact it came out at Leiden's violin lesson!  No blood and no tears.  Out it came, and she couldn't be happier!

Tonight we did art for family home evening, with our feet on a paper, showing how we walk in the example of Christ when we love one another.  The girls were happy to make messes.

Mac wrote a little note to the tooth fairy to put under her pillow with her tooth.  She's very excited to go to sleep tonight! 

My friend Tracey came over today so our kids could play.  She has this darling little baby!  I haven't held a baby for a while, and so I soaked it up!

Later this evening we were up at Grandmere's house for dinner and Mad and Joni were there.  Little Mac has a tooth that seems SO loose.  We finally convinced her to let Uncle Mad try and pull it out.  I thought for sure it would come right out, but it hung on, and even Uncle Mad didn't dare pull any harder to get it out!  I suppose it will come out when it is ready and not before!

Rainbow

Seriously, this makes me so happy!  I love the rainbow order they've used to organize the bathroom linens.  We took home a turquoise bath mat for the girls' bathroom.  I'd take home one of everything if I could!

For Sale

Mimi was thrilled to join me in a car wash today.  We need to get this Tahoe sold!!  So it's time to put it up on KSL.  Pretty exciting!

After the wash, we brought it home and dried it off.  We are about ready!  Afterwards I took a bajillion pictures of it, and loaded it up on KSL.  We are live! 

Mac wanted to help in the kitchen tonight, so she donned her apron, and was a sweet little helper!

Mac had her cavity repaired and filled, today.  She spent a good while before we went to the dentist's office trying to determine the best choice for flavor of laughing gas.  Funny girl decided on watermelon.  Cavity was filled without problem.  Now the goal is to see if we can stop getting them!  I sure hope they don't have my teeth!

I'm not taking as many pictures as normal.  Things are not feeling normal...really for any of us.  I think it's important for the girls to know that moms can be sad, too, and so they are aware both of the changes and that I am not happy, but I'm trying to keep things as normal as possible.  They are so sweet, praying at night for me to be happy at night, and being good little girls.

Waffle Burgers

*I* had the extreme good fortune to receive a waffle maker from my parents for Christmas.  One of the nice ones, that flip, and do two waffles at once.  I was super excited to use it, and they gave me two cook books, as well.  One of which had hamburgers cooked in the waffle iron.  I thought to myself, that will be fun!  It was...

Until I realized I would have to clean hamburger grease from each little crook and cranny of 4 different waffle plates.  Holy smokes.  We are never cooking meat in it again!  A fun novelty, but a PAIN to clean up!  I'm looking forward to more of the recipes in the cook books, but not that one!

Monster Bubbles

THIS.  This stuff is AWESOME!  This was the girls' Christmas from my parents, and they were so excited to get out and use it today.  Monster bubbles!  You mix a pack of solution with a bunch of water, and use the giant rope wands to make enormous bubbles like the ones we saw at Gardner Village at Halloween time.  That's actually when my parents bought the girls' Christmas!

And just like there, they worked SO well! 

This little mischief maker likes popping them much more than she likes making them! 

If at full speed, all the better! 

This kept them occupied for a good while this afternoon. 

Mac had some run-ins with a few bubbles and her head, as well! 

But that was really more Mimi's MO. 

Sticky wet bubbles on her head! 

I tried a couple as well.  It's really a super fun activity, that I will definitely recommend to friends for their kids! 

Thank you so much for such an awesome gift, Grandmere and Bapa! 

Haircuts!

Put gas in the car, today, and I know this is kind of a false lull in gas prices, but man!  Definitely the good news for the day!

I'm trying to stay busy, so off we went to get haircuts!  Leiden refused to get hers cut, but Mac and Mimi were excited.

Mac before. 

Mac after! 

I forgot a before of Mimi, but here are some afters.  Somehow the person doing her hair never stacks it up as much as Mac's gets stacked, and even when I tell them to go higher, they just don't.  By the time I notice it's not even an a-line, we aren't at the salon, anymore! 

Still super cute, though! 

Fresh Start

Oh, dear.  I got the girls last night, late, after flying in from Vegas.  This is **clearly** a little overwhelming.  I have always rather NOT enjoyed taking Christmas down, and now it's up to me to do it all.  Ugh.  Add to it the mess after not being home for a week, and it's crazy!

But I forged ahead, and definitely worked hard to get that enormous fake tree put back in it's box and secured in the garage! 

Done and Done! 

This year's taking down was particularly difficult, as Vegas didn't go so well, and frankly things haven't been going well for some time now.  Derek and I will not be getting married this year, and very likely not at all.  I am sad, and humbled, and broken hearted, but this is the decision that we have made.  There are a lot of things I don't understand about this turn of events, but I'm hopeful with some time and some perspective and some praying the long view will become clear.  There are other things in store for me, and only time will tell what those things are.  I have learned A LOT about me and relationships.  And that in itself is a positive outcome.  The rest will follow, I am confident.  Again, I find myself in a place I have never been, and so we go back to square one.  The sadness and the bewilderment are very real, but I look forward to them easing with my focus on the girls, my family, and Heavenly Father.  I suppose the end of an old year, and the beginning of a new one is an appropriate time to rearrange one's life!  2015 looks bleak right now, but I am strong and I have faith that it will brighten, and not only will all be well, but amazing soon enough!

2015

I'm in Vegas, have been for the last few days.  I leave tomorrow, but managed to get down to the temple today for a session.  It's a beautiful place!  I've never been to the Las Vegas temple, so this was a great experience.

We celebrated the New Year with Derek's children, with dinner and playing games, making a ruckus at midnight, and generally having fun.  2015 has arrived!