Such a Smart and Busy Girl!

Ever since starting preschool, Mckinley has been so eager to learn new things and prove to herself that she can do them. One day, she came home and starting working on a puzzle and didn't stop until she had the whole thing put together by herself. (This did involve some frustration, but she stuck with it until she found which pieces went where.)
She also told us yesterday that she wanted to ride a scooter. We found one for her at the DI and she has been zipping around on it ever since. It's so funny to watch her because pushing herself around requires her tongue to be sticking out. Haha! We love this crazy girl!

My Honeymoon Luggage Revised!

If you know me very well, you should know that I LOVE thrift stores. I think it is so satisfying to find old and make it new again. Well, to celebrate being married for 5 wonderful years with my sweet Husband, we are going on a little weekend getaway.(More about that later.) For this getaway, I have revamped the same luggage that I took on my Honeymoon to Jackson Hole. Although I can't really take credit for this idea because I got it from my amazing sister, I've included some basic instructions for how to recreate your own Valentine getaway luggage, for 10 dollars or less. Really. And if I can do it, I promise you can too!

What you will need:
An old vintage suitcase with a hard cover. I'm convinced that every DI has these for 3 dollars each. When you are buying them, check the inside for the lock key, and to ensure that the inside is in good condition. Stockpile them.
Tacky glue: 3 dollars at the craft store
Fabulous Fabric that you have been wanting to do just the right thing with.

My old suitcase looked like this:

Wash the outside of the suitcase with a washcloth and warm soapy water.
Then measure the face of the suitcase. Cut your fabric to include about a half inch of extra on each side. Remember, we are doing one side at a time.
Starting at the center and working your way out, begin applying glue to the suitcase plastic. Smear the glue into a thin layer with your finger.
Remembering to start in the middle and smooth outward, apply your fabric. Pull it tight across the glue to remove wrinkles.
When you get to the bordering edges, fold the extra fabric under to make a seam and glue down.
That's really all that there is to it. Very easy!
Here is what I will be packing my things in for my 5 year anniversary getaway: A perfect reminder of my Honeymoon, it's even wearing my wedding colors! (I embellished the front of mine with a rose that I made using instructions from my sisters website, Cupcake Goddess.com) I will post some more pictures of some other ones I'm working on for Mckinley, David and Dolce.

3 months old!

I can't believe how fast the time has flown by. Dolce is out of the tiny baby stage already. She is putting on weight and getting chunkier all the time. She is also getting less fussy. She loves to talk and make little sounds. I love watching her experience new things. Her sister is her favorite person to watch and play with. She has been rolling over from her tummy to her back since about 3 weeks old and will absolutely not do tummy time. She loves her baths and will do her baby talk non stop during them, but once you take her out, she cries as loud as she can. She likes to be a part of everything and wants to be held and walked around facing the world, even if we are just doing laundry or cooking. I love this curious time.

Some fun family pictures.

Kristina's Wedding!

My very cute cousin Kristina got married last Friday. She looked so beautiful and she and her new husband, Cole, seem so happy and perfect for each other.










Congratulations Kristina and Cole!

Something I forgot

I was reading a good friends blog where she posted her New Years Resolutions and realized that I forgot to post mine. To review and critique my last years resolutions might be a little on the painful side because, well, I forgot about most of them. Here's the damage:
Flossing my teeth: well, I had a hellacious root canal this year. I had to go to a specialist after my regular dentist tried to get down into the root twice. I did floss my teeth, but I still had to pay the 900 bucks for the root canal. Ouch in two ways.
Preparing a nice Sunday dinner with the table set: As wierd as it sounds, this is actually important to me and I did try to do it.
Treat rationing: I was only going to eat one treat per day...Until I got pregnant and craved treats all day long every day. So I changed this one to eating only one healthy thing per day, and as many treats as I wanted. I was very successful with this adjustment. Haha!
I did have a Baby! All other resolutions became null and void due to this resolution. Yay! One point!
We went to the Temple only 5 out of 12 months. This one needs some work.
I still need to work on daily scripture study.
I wanted keep my house cleaner and felt like I was able to do better than in the past at it.
We did pay off one debt.
We have made it a priority to spend special time with Mckinley. We could always do better, though.
I wanted to read one book per month and I didnt keep track of this goal very well, but I think I did achieve it.

There were a lot of things that we didn't achieve but I still feel really great about 2009 because we did achieve some really important things like getting David back into school. He worked so hard and practically aced his classes this last semester and we also brought our baby Dolce into the world. Not too bad.

Now for 2010:
Spiritual Goals:
1) Visiting teaching...Every month. Do it.
2) Go to the temple every month.
3) Read 3 religious books this year.
4) Family night every week. Keep it simple.
Financial Goals:
1)Pay off my credit card.
2) Modify our home loan if possible.
3) Reduce Davids eye surgery bill by $1000.00.
Personal Goals:
1) Read at least one book per month.
2) Floss Daily...Here we go again.
3) Walk or exercise 3 times a week.
4) Have a planned date night once a month.(David says twice a month, we'll see.)
5) Get Mckinley in Preschool. Done.
Fun Things:
Last year we started writing a bunch of fun things we would like to make the effort to do on little pieces of paper and drawing them out of a cup to pick which ones we would try to do. These are the winners:
1) Go to Disneyland in July with the Holmgrens. David's school schedule may interfere with this one. He doesn't want to take the summer off.
2) Take Mckinley to Fiesta Fun in St. George. Hopefully in the spring.
3) Lava Hot Springs in the fall.
4) Go to Midway in the winter. We didn't dare go this year with the baby being so new.

There's the list! Got a lotta work to do!

First day of the rest of her life

Mckinley started preschool on Wednesday. She has been so excited to take this big step. David and I have been dreading it. It really hurts to let her grow up! But it's a good thing too. She has already started singing these cute little songs that must come from preschool and talking about the letter of the week which was O. Her teacher is Ms. Milee, and it is a little preschool in our neighborhood which makes it really convenient. We will be able to walk to preschool when it gets a bit warmer. We are loving it so far, even if she is growing up too fast.
Here she is, waving good bye to being a baby. She's a big school girl now!