And now, another epicly long post, in which I try to cram a month's worth of activity! I'm still in a bit of a photography rut. Sometimes I want my camera on me, and sometimes it just feels like a big albatross, especially when my flash is on it. I've not been wanting to take many pictures this month, but I know the memory is important and worthwhile. So, forgive my overly high ISO's (grainy photos), my unmeditated compositions, my uninspired light. On some of these photos, I did take creative license with silhouetting and framing, but overall, just know that I'll get my groove back someday soon.

Star Wars mania has spilled into other avenues. Anthony has Star Wars action figures that he played with as a child, and it's as if he put that chapter of his life simply on hold. These boys are very serious about their action figures.


Alaina prefers to paint.


While we were swimming at the rec center one day, Alaina spotted a poster with a mom and daughter ice skating together. "We should do that!" led to an interesting afternoon with lots of falling. Alaina actually took to it quickly and could walk in her skates immediately, while Connor fumbled around a bit more.




Connor whole-heartedly believes that he is a "powaful Jedi", and uses the Force often in our "lightsaver fights".




I am trying to instill more autonomy in the kids, because they often say they are incapable of simple tasks that I KNOW they can do. They both lay on the drama when I say, "I KNOW you can do it. I wouldn't ask you to do anything that I thought you could not do!" Case in point - getting jammies on:


One of these things is not like the other.


My settings were way off when taking this picture at Dad's 62nd birthday celebration, but I feel like it totally describes the feeling when most of the grandkids are in the house (miss you, Carliles!). A little hectic and a lot cute!


Dad always lets Connor put the candles on the cake, and I think he actually blew them out, too. :)


Over Anthony's spring break last week, we went to Colorado to visit his family. It was sunny the whole week, with temperatures in the late sixties, so we spent most of our time there hanging out on the driveway.

Connor and Anthony's first came of ping pong together. <3


This picture is symbolic for me, like I'm looking forward into the future. Alaina barely fits on her trike now...they are growing so fast.




Papa was away on business until our second day there, and the kids were very excited to see him!




Soon after Papa got home, Daynarae was able to come and spend some time with us! This picture cracks me up...both of the girls' cheese faces! They were happy to discover that they both owned what was essentially the same doll. They are most definitely girly girls and the first thing Daynarae said was, "Cute boots, Laina!"




The most energetic time of the day: ice cream in Papa's bed! He was brave and let them each have little cups of chocolate ice cream this time. That sheet ended up looking like something out of CSI.


Popsicles! My kids are charmers here! :)


Nana won Alaina over by sneaking marshmallows with her. It was so cute to see Alaina thinking that she really had gotten away with something!


Anthony's friend Kevin and his family celebrated his 30th birthday in Colorado. We haven't hung out with them in almost two years, and Connor was quick to notice a little girl that wasn't a sister or a cousin. Consider his stake claimed. :)




While we were eating dinner one night, Connor came up to me and said, "Mommy, my tooth is really loose!"


We tried to finish dinner, but my appetite was killed when he asked me to pull it out for him! Luckily, my weak stomach was able to pass that one on to Daddy. We didn't have any cash on us, so Uncle Ray and Uncle Ryan started throwing in some dollars to help the tooth fairy out. Connor got more for his first tooth than I ever would have imagined as a child! I think I started at a quarter!


Daddy popped the little tooth right out, without any tears.






More driveway fun.


I discovered that I can zoom around in the Barbie Jeep (that thing hauls, even with me in it!), and Anthony and I always make fun of the Facebook duck-face/peace sign pose. I told Alaina to "stick [her] lips out and show me two!", and she caught right on. Must be a girl thing. :)


Daynarae found Alaina's lip gloss and spent the better part of the evening applying even coats. :)


Cousins having popcorn and watching Star Wars in the theater.


I'm not going to lie and say that pulling in to this, after a week's worth of sunbathing and tan lines, wasn't disappointing. Only a few more weeks until spring, right?!


Soon we won't have to wear parkas to go to the park!


Lightsaber fights aren't confined to our four walls!


We've got lots to look forward to in the coming weeks. The Cheesecake Factory at City Creek Center opens on Thursday, and after seeing the restaurant last weekend, I am excited for the change! The building is absolutely gorgeous; probably the most beautiful restaurant I've ever seen. Even though there are scary aspects of working downtown, I've always loved city energy, and I think it's going to be so fun going into the summer there. Easter egg hunts, flowers, blossoming trees, and Mary Ann coming! Hooray for spring!

Over a month since my last post? Terrible. As you all know, we've had a February for the record books. The car accident at the end of January filled our days with worry and doctor's appointments. We're making do with one car. We've all been sick for the entirety of the month, with Alaina and I being diagnosed with pink eye. I got selected to transfer to the Cheesecake Factory opening at City Creek Center (and while that's a good thing, it does fill me with quite a bit of anxiety.) All of that, in addition to my constant whining about the weather, has made some days feel long and bleak. Reflecting on the last thirty days, though, I realize that the silver linings to these challenges have almost, if not completely, outweighed the challenges.

I photographed the birth of my neighbor's baby this month, and editing those images has kept most of my spare time full. If I wait to perfect the pictures I'm posting in this entry, it will never happen. Don't judge.

In late January, we went down to see the Whites' beautiful new home. Those views! The kids all had fun playing together, and my kids absolutely love to see Tori. When the adults got down to see the basement portion of the house tour, we interrupted the kids putting on a show, all in costumes.


Little man following in daddy's footsteps...


We did our taxes and went out for our annual "tax return" dinner. This year we went to Red Rock Brewery, and I was greatly impressed! Sorry for the picture quality, but I felt kind of weird standing up and away from the table to get the correct composition, scanning the ceiling for bounce-flash platforms, and making noises so my kids would look. Point and shoot, it is!


This bruschetta will change your life. I'm not even joking.


Now, before we get into this next part, I need to make it loud and clear that I am not biased to taking pictures of Alaina. I've mentioned it before, but Alaina looooves to be in front of the camera, and Connor pulls faces or puts his hand in front of my lens. Case in point:

Even though his face is silly, I want to always remember him this way. Breakfast is his favorite meal of the day. He prefers to sit in the sunbeam at the table. He will eat almost anything if you put blueberries in it.

A couple of weeks ago, we took the kids to see The Phantom Menace. Lately, whenever we "go out", Alaina is insistent on looking nice. Her definition of that is a bit different than mine, and I found it hilarious that she wanted to wear her "high heels". Don't worry, we didn't let her go out with her hair like that. :) This awkward pose is what I got when I said, "Look nice for the camera!"


Connor HAD to bring his lightsaber to the movie.


The lightsaber fights still happen every day. I'm usually a pretty good sport until I get whacked in the head, but Daddy's always up for a round. Connor is usually Grievous or Darth Maul, and Alaina runs around the room pretending she's R2-D2 and rolls bombs at Daddy.






"A dutty-doo!" (R2-D2)


I don't go overboard on Valentine's Day. A heart-shaped mylar balloon and pink milk for the kids was plenty, I think. Alaina wanted to wear her new tutu swimsuit for brunch while Connor was at his school party. I got Anthony a lap desk so he can do his homework (or more accurately, so I can peruse Pinterest) on the sofa. He wrote me a cute valentine poem, complete with sperm balloons (he's going to be upset that I just insulted his drawing talent).




This, I think, takes the award for the best valentine I've ever received:


Connor wouldn't participate in the annual heart-glasses. :( Here's a trip down memory lane:







Stop growing so fast, please.

Being homebound while Anthony's at school has forced me to be more creative with my ideas on how to keep the kids busy. Alaina loves to "do recipes", and what used to be a once-a-month brownie mix has morphed into banana bread with cinnamon streusel and blueberry oatmeal pancakes with strawberry compote. I'm loving how willing they are to try new foods if they've helped me prepare it (something I've read dozens of times but have been too lazy to really implement). Tonight they tried basil, fresh mozzarella, goat cheese, honey-baked ham, and cucumbers. Being my little domestic helper, Alaina even likes to take over the clean-up! Unfortunately, the mess is usually bigger when she's done. She's still got those little edamame fingers...


Tonight we went on a scooter ride as a family. We're trying to grow out Alaina's bangs, so we've got some interesting styles going on.


Connor's personality is stronger with each passing day, and the traits that I admire about him (strong-willed, passionate, questioning) are also those that are patience-building opportunities for me. I believe this tantrum was because he didn't want to "use all his endergy" by riding his scooter and he would be too tired.


I love this photo, because Anthony had lagged behind to get Connor's coat and gloves, and as he rolled around the corner on the scooter, he saw the all-too-familiar scene. That head tilt says it all..."Oh, no. What is he upset about? What distraction am I going to come up with on the fly to get him back on his scooter?"


Connor decided we wanted to go back home where he and Daddy played Operation, and Alaina and I stayed out and watched the sunset color the snow-capped mountains pink and purple. It was a good day.