Betty Crocker Goes Hollywood

Sunglasses on your head make Snickerdoodles even better.

She's my helper. She dumped the ingredients in the mixer and bopped around on her step stool to Mariah Carey's Musicbox CD (it's been a looooong time since I've pulled that one out!).

Mzuri Sana

We had a Kenyan in our home tonight. It did my heart such good! Apparently our decorations reminded him of home, so maybe it did his heart good too. :)

What I'm listening to

Tessa's playing dress up and talking to herself. I get to listen. She just found her Groovy Girls in the bottom of the dress up box. I asked how they got there, and she explained that they must have been playing Hide and Go Seek. As she's playing....

"And it's going to be very dramatic and beautiful! It's going to be like dreaming."

I took the kids to lunch at The Corner Bakery today. We had a lovely time together. And lovely food.

On the way home, she asked me if we could go to a dinosaur museum next year to see the dinosaur bones. Before I could answer, she said, "No. I don't want to go. I might be scared. Let's go to a mineral museum instead!" Then she proceeded to plan out a trip to the "mineral museum" with all her friends and then explained what they would see in a cave.

The "mineral museum"? Sounds like a party to me.

As the dress up playing continues, she's singing her made up song, "And I've got a thing to saaaaaay. Don't mess the shoes. Baby, baby."

I'm getting pulled in. Time to don the crown because apparently, "Today we're going to the magical castle. Shake your pants because it's tiiiime to go."

I'm gone. :)

Good News

Grandma and Grandpa M. opened up the mission call last night. As you can see, they are headed toward the historical mission of Nauvoo, Illinois. We were able to share the big envelope opening with the family last night on the web cam. I'm so thankful for modern technology allowing us to participate. We are thrilled for Jake's awesome parents who embark on their LDS missionary adventures in June.

In other news:

Here are a few ways my kids made me laugh today--

+When Cole is ticked off, he doesn't just say or yell "No!", he does it in this Michael Jackson, "Ow!" kind of scream. "Now!" It's funny. I can't help it. I want him to spin and moonwalk after he does it.

+In happier moments, Cole's inward sucking of air laugh and nose wrinkle is the best. I told him to dance with his stuffed dog. He walked in a circle with it and laughed at himself like he'd just told the best joke on the planet.

+Right now he's happily flying his "pane" (plane) through the air.

+Today our power went off for maybe a minute. Weird. Tessa looked at me and asked, "What's happening to us?"

"We're fine, honey. The power just shut off. It'll come back on soon enough," I replied.

She answered with, "We need to buy a new, helpthy house."

+I got Tessa new socks. She thinks she has won the lottery. (Socks with stars on them ARE awesome, to be fair.) She has been so excited to wear her new socks and jacket for the last couple of days and claims that she's "the best girl on the whole earth!"

Mama Mia

Grandma Lori came to see us! My mom. We ate yummy food, we shopped and wandered, we kicked back, we looked at neighborhood possibilities (for her!), we had a Just Dance 2 dance off, we played, and we talked, talked, talked, and more.

It was so good to have her here. Tessa has such a special relationship with each of her grandparents, which is so fun to see when they come to visit.

Here are the only two pictures I took while Grandma was here!

Tessa's massively forced "smile" and Cole's miserably sad teething self. I think three teeth came through while Mom was here. She was so patient with him. He finally felt much better a couple days before she left, so I'm glad she had some fun time with him too.

Thanks for coming, Mom. :)

Get Outta Town!

I reached a point this last month where I was buzzing on my overload setting. My friend Melissa was starring in a community theater play in Oklahoma and left an open invite to go see her perform. I wanted to, but wasn't sure if I could in good conscience leave everything behind for a couple days, but Jake assured me that I could and I should. He was right. What a relief to be able to step away for a bit-- to visit with wonderfully fun and good friends. It was just what I needed. I came back feeling better equipped to happily move forward. :

Meet Benson:
Benson Blue Eyes.

And this is Mr. Cole showing off his appetite for pizza. (Hooray! An appetite! Eat, Bubs, eat!)
We went to a family fun place for pizza and arcade games. The kids had so much fun and were buzzing in every direction.
Cole wanted nothing to do with me. He ran from game to game to push buttons and see the lights.


Tickets! I love arcades with tickets. I love seeing how much cheap junk you can get from the tickets.

The family on the floor.

I can't believe I was able to hold onto Cole or Tessa long enough to get a picture. :)

Jake and I went to see Melissa in her show that night while Matt stayed back with the kids while they slept. Aaaaaah. A date night. We had, as always, a fantastic and happily laid back time in Lawton. Thank you!