Dear Easter Bunny

I already posted this on my preschool blog, but I just love this letter Carolyn wrote to the Easter Bunny today. It makes me laugh :) “I love Chocolate. I love you.” We all know what Carolyn is hoping the bunny will bring her.

We’ve been keeping busy and happy here. The weather here has been so beautiful and we’ve just been loving it. Last week I also started a new morning schedule that has been going so fantastic for us. Some of us know how much I love making schedules and so this is exciting for my dorky self. Of course with kids schedules aren't really meant to be kept - but it's a great tentative schedule that we sometimes get done/attempt to get done. Part of our new schedule is having preschool time together right when the girls wake up and then doing a whole lot of reading together! It's been a great way to start the day with the girls.

Playing outside:

Fun Facts

Carolyn, Angela, and I are huge Andrew Fans. I was talking to Carolyn the other day and said, “I am the luckiest girl in the world, you know. I just get to hang out with you all day. And what’s better than hanging out with Carolyn all day long?” Carolyn quickly replied with much enthusiasm, “DADDY!” Yes, she wishes she could be with daddy all day long (so do the rest of us). But, he’s off working hard.

Also proof of us being Andrew Fans: At the end of each day during dinner, we talk about our “highs” and “lows” of the day (or, in Carolyn’s terms “happy part of the day and sad part of the day”). Almost every night, Carolyn’s sad part of the day was when Andrew left for work.

We were watching basketball together as a family the other night and talking about what was going on in the game. The opposing team had a player shooting some foul shots and made a basket. I said to Carolyn, "Oh no! The bad guys got another point!" Carolyn studied the TV for awhile and says, "He looks nice to me." I guess I should be careful what I call the opposing team.

I love how Carolyn and Angela are best buds. One of my favorite times to watch them together is during story time and music makers at the library. I don't know what it is - maybe it's just fun to see them being such good buds in public? Anyways, it's cute. During story time, they’ll hug a lot and snuggle and give each other kisses. It always melts my heart to see them. Carolyn is such a good helper for Angela. For instance, a few weeks ago they were marching around the room so Carolyn held Angela’s hand the whole time and tried to teach her how to march and follow the leader. It was adorable.

Carolyn is still belting out her songs. Usually she sings of princesses and her Prince Micah. For example, at the park the other day - she was belting out a song that went something like this, "Micah is my Prince. He's my Prince. I love him." The other day Andrew came home singing "It's too Late to Apologize" (He must have heard it on the radio...not sure who sings it, but I know Chris sang it on American Idol last year). Anyways, Carolyn has put that song in her princess mix of songs. It makes me laugh every time I hear that girl belting out, "It's too late to apologize. It's too late!! It's too late!!"

Often times after Carolyn introduces herself to a new friend at the park or something,she'll introduce Angela by saying something like this, "This is Angela. She loves me."

Angela is getting to be such a big girl. Now whenever I go out, I frequently (usually I get asked at least one time while I'm out), get asked if the girls are twins.

Angela is our little artist. I really think she could spend half of her day coloring and drawing. The other day her hair was up in a crazy pony tail and every time I looked over at her drawing and coloring like crazy it made me laugh...she just looked like a mad artist. What a cutie. Haha

Nana's Visit!

Andrew's mom came to visit Colorado this past week! It was so fun to see her!! Come back soon, Nana! We miss you!

Great Deal = Happy Jannie

I love a great deal and I feel that I hit two big jackpots this week past week! First of all, last week I went to my most favorite Thrift Store. On Saturdays, they have "half days" - so they have amazing deals...cute shoes, shirts, pants, jackets, etc. for all a dollarish! For the girls I got church shoes, princess light-up running shoes, tap shoes (yay! I've been looking for cheap tap shoes in Carolyn's size for a long time now!), a beautiful Easter dress, shorts for this summer, an adorable jean skirt, pants for next winter, princess pjs, a princess jacket, very cute belts, an adorable summer dress, and t-shirts ALL for $27.30! And I think they are cute - I am picky about only choosing the "highest quality" of used clothes/shoes at the store :) They all look pretty new and adorable to me (except the running shoes looked worn - but we just couldn't turn those down - they are pefect for Carolyn)! Anyways, I was excited about it.

And yesterday was wonderful because I bought a treadmill for $25!! It’s nothing fancy – it’s a manual treadmill. I don’t know if I’d really recommend buying a manual treadmill to anyone because it’s not as fun and it’s much harder to run on it. However, there are three great things about it. One, it was 25 bucks. Two, it’s small…which means it can fit in my coat closet and I can pull it out in front of the TV and watch something while I run (that’s my favorite part of it). Last, it’s a great workout because it really is quite difficult to use. Anyways, I may or may not have cried when I got it. I love running and love my new toy.

It's a tight fit in the closet - but I'm so happy it works out in there.

Two Reasons I Smile Everyday

There are many things that make me smile everyday...here are two big reason why :)










Of course, Andrew makes me smile and laugh, too...but I wasn't sure how he'd feel about me taking pictures of him around the house :)

My recipe box!

So, I started a blog with recipes with my sister for two reasons. First, I wanted to copy my friend's (Lisa) idea of having a blog to keep track of some of my recipes. And, second, my sister, Michelle, and I are always wanting to share recipes with each other - so we thought this would be a great way to do so. Michelle has great recipes that I am so excited to get on the blog :) For example, hopefully she'll post her homemade yogurt on it! You make it in a crockpot and it sounds delicious - can't wait to try that one! Anyways, most of the recipes we share are healthy - if you are interested in dropping by our website, here it is:

http://www.theashtonrecipebox.blogspot.com/

Havin' Fun!

Man, the weather here has just been amazing! We've been loving it! I feel sooo blessed to live in a house...it's so nice being able to go play outside in the yard whenever we want, be able to ride bikes in a neighborhood, be able to walk to the park whenever we want, etc. (I could go on forever!) Obviously, we were happy living in an apt., but I definitely have been feeling so blessed for where we live. In addition to many visits to the park, riding bikes a ton, going for lots of walks and runs, and just having fun in the yard - here are some more things we've been having fun doing!

Inspired by President Monson’s recent talk in General Conference, every night after dinner, we try to remember to ask each other, “What did you do for someone today?” We share what we did that day with each other and for each act of service, we put a “warm fuzzy” in a glass jar. When we fill up the jar up with warm fuzzies (each representing an act of service), we have a fun family activity/party. We filled up our jar to the top this week so on Saturday we went to The Princess and the Frog (it was at the cheap theater). We can't wait to fill up our jar again so we can go have some fun! Carolyn with the jar of fuzzies :) Can you tell she's excited?
Angela is IN LOVE with hippos! That and babies is mostly what she has been talking about lately :) Needless to say, she loves seeing her hippos at the zoo :)
Here is some of the backyard fun we've been having.....writing with chalkBlowing Bubbles!! My sister introduced me into MAKING your own bubble solution for blowing bubbles!! Thank you, Michelle! I always love a frugal way to have so much fun!! For my bubble solution, I just mixed water, Ajax dishsoap, and corn syrup. There are so many bubble recipes out there, though! Just google it and you will find a ton of different options and then you can just use the one that has stuff you already have at home. We will be going through a lot of my bubble solution this spring/summer/fall!!!


Just havin' fun...
Painting with water outside with a paintbrush......and shaving cream is always fun...

Today is gorgeous - so we are crossing our fingers that all this outdoor fun we've been having can continue!

No Time for a lot of Blogging...

The weather here has been incredible.....

...and we've just been eating it all up!

Podium Fun

Carolyn gave her first talk in Primary a few weeks ago (I posted about it). Well, ever since then she has just been in love with giving "talks." She just loves when I pull out church pictures and she gives a "talk" to Angela and me (usually I whisper in her ear what to say and she then says it aloud - just like she would at church). It's been a fun way to talk about the gospel with my girls and a fun way to talk about stories in the scriptures. Well, I thought it would be great to make a podium where we could have an "official" place to give "talks" to each other (Angela also likes giving "talks"). The girls and I had so much fun making a podium together and it has been getting A TON of use! The girls love standing at the "microphone" and sharing stories and gospel principles with each other. The girls also use it for singing songs to each other and I'm sure their creative brains will come up with lots more uses. It's been so fun and the biggest hit at our house right now :)

Carolyn singing a song about Princesses to Angela and me:
Carolyn giving a talk:
Look at Angela sitting down and listening :) Haha, it reminds me of when I was little when I would play "church" with my sister, Michelle.
Angela giving her talk. What a cutie :)

This Weekend

This weekend started out with a big Kim Puzzle Party Friday night. Lots of puzzles and lots of fun !

Saturday morning Andrew and I attended a funeral (A huge thanks to my sweet sister-in-law, Janeil, for watching the girls for hours on Saturday morning! Thank you so much! What a life-safer!) The funeral was for one of Andrew’s best friend’s dad (Jeff Young’s dad). He partly grew up at the Young’s household as I understand it and loves that family. I have personally really grown to love the Young family - all of them (parents, siblings, and sibling-in-laws) are amazing people and such incredible examples. It was a beautiful service and the spirit was so strong – I don’t think that there was a dry eye in the congregation; I am so thankful for Brother Young and his amazing example.

After the beautiful funeral, we went to Chris and Janeil’s house for the BYU basketball game (thanks, once again, Janeil!). As soon as we got home from the game, Andrew surprised me and took me out for my birthday! Chantal and her boyfriend, David, came over and watched the girls for us. Man, it was just a weekend where everyone served me! Thanks so much, Chantal and Dave! Andrew took me to a movie that I was really wanting to see – Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I read the book last year and was really wanting to see the movie. It was a good movie, but completely different from the book – but I really liked it. I'm good at separating book from movie and enjoying both versions of a story.

Sunday was my birthday and my sweet family was so good to me. They let me sleep in (well, early morning church so sleeping in was 7:15- but that felt so good!), they decorated the house, made me a delicious dinner, gave me some great gifts (some wonderful home-made birthday cards, a rose, a box of my favorite cereal (Life), and a zoo membership pass! I love this traditional birthday gift because we the pass a ton!) Carolyn also gave me a bag full of marbles. Andrew had brought her to the Dollar Store and let her pick something out that she thought I’d like…without any hesitation, Carolyn picked out a bag of blue marbles and said that I would love them because they were pretty! What a sweetheart! They are pretty and we’ve been having so much fun playing with them! It was a great birthday where I mostly just got to be lazy! Thank you so much everyone for the phone calls, emails, facebook messages, etc. I felt so loved!

Pictures from our Friday Night Puzzle Party (we love having Puzzle Parties with Dad):



CHANTAL MADE ME A CAKE! What a sweety! Not only did she watch our 2 kids on Saturday night, she also made me a birthday cake that night!!! Wow! Carolyn told Chantal that I would love a Belle cake because Belle is my favorite princess :) The girls just loved the cake and loved helping Chantal out a little with it before heading to bed! Thank you, Chantal!! I felt so special having such a fancy cake on my birthday!