recent obsession

Lately I've rediscovered my love of typography.  I love how fonts are artworks in themselves, creating beauty out of names, dates, places, and text.  One of my favorite classes from BYU was typography (even though it was one of my most difficult, seeing that I had to learn Photoshop, Illustrator, and Quark all in one semester). 

I created a few of my Pinterest boards dedicated to this craft.  Keeping track of fonts and other artful ways of expressing text was refilling my crafty bucket.  I finally put this practice into use a few days ago.  My girls had a couple of birthdays to attend last Saturday, so I wrapped the presents in plain pink paper so I could have fun with the names.  Here's what I came up with:

I also addressed our niece's graduation card in a similar fashion.  But in the interest of privacy of addresses, I won't post that.  But it was pretty cool!  I may have found yet another hobby...

Ava is 8!

I cannot believe I have an 8-year-old.  When did that happen?  In the blink of an eye, all my girls are growing by leaps and bounds.  Today Ava turns 8 - already I'm thinking that in a few short years she'll be driving and college bound.  Ack!

But for now, she's our sweet 8-year-old, full of life, creativity, and love.  When she doesn't have her nose stuck in a book (right now she has started on the Harry Potter series, and is almost finished with Book 2), Ava is busy drawing and making up her own little story books.  She also loves to entertain us from time to time in the evenings with her own plays and songs (Norah is usually her unwilling accomplice, lol).  

She is also very inquisitive.  Ava loves learning about animals - their habitats, what they eat, and how they live.  She has also discovered that age-old delight of finally understanding what adults are talking about - and we have discovered her "lurking" to listen in on our conversations.  

But most imporatant of all, she has decided to get baptized.  I am so thankful for her willingness to follow the Lord and to know of His love for her.  She loves reading her scriptures, going to Primary, and getting The Friend every month.  We do our best to teach her the gospel, but in many ways our children teach us about what is important.  I'm so thankful for Ava and the joy she is in our life.

Happy Birthday Ava!

fluttershy's garden party

This year Ava and Norah wanted to have a combined birthday party.  The theme?

FLUTTERSHY!!

Needless to say I was a bit happy (and totally stoked) they picked MLP for the theme.  Since Fluttershy loves all things animals and the outdoors, I thought a garden party would be perfect.  Except we didn't have tea.  But we did have cupcakes and decorated cookies outside, so I think that counted!  We had about 20 friends - so while it was by far the largest birthday party we've hosted, it was a blast all around.

Some decor from the party.

 

Norah is 6!

Today is Norah's sixth birthday.  I can hardly believe it.  The days may be long, but the years are definitely short.  Our Noo-Noo is now in kindergarten.  And she loves it!  She is always saying hello to her friends and explaining her projects from class to us.  Norah is still our cuddle-bug - she never misses and opportunity to snuggle up with one of us on the sofa.  She also is very tender-hearted towards Serena.  Whenever all the girls are outside playing, it's Norah who makes sure she doesn't run into the street or tries to hold her hand while taking a walk.

Animals are still among Norah's favorite things!  Whether is drawing them, pretending to be them, or playing with her plushies, LPS, or MLP, Norah just loves animals.  And coloring.

She is also becoming quite the reader.  I'm sure in no time she will be moving along in her own chapter books just like Ava.

We love our Norah!

Norah on her way to school on her birthday

 Being silly at the Tech Museum

BFFs with her sister Ava

Taking a break at Target with Keira

just a little something to tide you until valentine's day

 Happy early Valentine's Day everyone!  

Hope you enjoy.

Straight No Chaser feat. Sara Bareilles, 'I Want You Back': Exclusive Song Premiere | Billboard

making valentines

Today the girls had the day off school (teacher work day), so it was the perfect time for them to make their valentines.  I found bubble sticks at Target (what kid doesn't like bubbles???), and since Ava, Norah, and Keira would be making valentines, it was a bargain to boot.

I had tons of cardstock along with valentine stamps, and recently bought baker's twine - so the idea of making the cards and tie them to the sticks was born!

It was a fun project for the girls to do, and super cute when it was all finished.


Ava and Norah stamping it up!

Front and back of the cards (the classmates' names will go over the heart)

Finished valentine!

sickies

This year started with a bang with all of us getting a 24-hour stomach bug.  Fun fun.  At least it was fast moving.

And Keira's favorite line when she couldn't see me:

"MOM!  I was finding you."

So sweet.

happy new year!

It's a new year - time to set goals and reflect on all the good things from the past year.  This year I've go - GOT to get my website up and running!  My other goals include to get more sleep and learn to keep from getting stressed out so easily.

Last year was exciting - Norah started kindergarten, Ava really picked up reading (and is turning into quite the bookworm), Keira's personality shines through more each day and Serena FINALLY started walking.  

Mason was laid off, but there are quite a few exciting job prospects on the horizon, so stay tuned!

I think 2013 will have lots of good things in store!