new website

I finally have a stampin' up! website! Any feedback would be appreciated! check it out..amandahayes.stampinup.net

Annie's First cake!

Annie decided to make Cody's cake- he is a backyardy lover! She did such a great job, I had to post it!

tea party hat

Parker went to a birthday party after school on Friday. It was a dress up party- like fancy dress party.. Daddy bought her a new dress- will double as easter dress.. The girls all hat hats like this, feather boas , and elbow length gloves. She is IN LOVE with this hat... Those are her jammies.. She tried to wear to the Grocery store... It is a beauty...

abe

Abe at the zoo...

This is waht happens when Parker dresses herself.. Fashion.. She did have an enormous headband on that hasa scarf on the end, that ties underneath and hangs down.. Not a single color in the headband was on the body- She decided to take it off, before I could snap it..

the zoo today

Parker at the zoo playground

two teeth

I have been trying to get a shot of Violets two teeth.. Success!

Violet's new hat

I finally found a hat! I found it on etsy- so cute and hand made in Portland. We went to the zoo this afternoon- the sun was out- light was great! Hooray!

Violet

Violet is 9 months old..

Gratitude..

I am teaching a class on Gratitude journal in March.. It is going to be a composition notebook covered with pretty paper-stamped image on front..etc. i will post a pic.. anyhoo- four years ago, i was able to do a fabulous Beth Moore Bible study called Believing God. If you ever get the chance to do it, i highly recommend it- it was LIFE CHANGING for me- - at the end of each day you had to write down 3 things you were thankful for/or where God was faithful to you- At first, I hated, really hated this part of the assignments- gradually, i had a change of heart- and really came to enjoy it.. in fact, i then started my gratitude journal.. I have four years worth of these.. It is AMAZING to look back on these. There are many times, I am afraid, lonely, fearful, plain angry, jealous- you get it.. but I look back on my journals and I can see it- all of my gratitude, thankful and the Faithfulness! and when i think I cannot not survive another temper tantrum, holiday without my husband it really redirects me..
so all you wise readers out there- I need you to give me a thought, verse, whatever, about gratitude for my class. I NEED YOOU HELP!:)

Luke

Luke was just chilling out- waiting for everyone to get ready to go on our snow day adventure..

not so much...

some of us were happier than others...

It seems some of us were happier than others to be bundled up on a walk during our snow day...

The green Marker incident

Abe and the boys got a gree n marker.. this is Abe after daddy tried to get it off.. I think the look says it all...

green marker incident

So the boys were upstairs playing.. quietly.. dead giveaway, I might add.. Parker reports that the boys have drawn all over themselves- and then she says- even their bellies and privates! OK Great.. So I run upstairs to see what is happening and this is what I see..

Making the wish

the cake

I seriously almost had a heart attack when Abe decided he wanted a Spiderman cake for his birthday! I thought it would be too hard for me to do.. It turned out nicely- James actually did more than half of the decorating this time- he did all of the red! Abe LOVED it, so it was worth the stress- it always is - once he saw the cake!

so excited !

Abe was extremely excited to sit in the birthday seat!

The gang..

Abe's group at the party- He invited his class at preschool, some MOMS Club friends and friends from PWOC. I am not sure why, but Abe's party went much smoother than Parkers party- he had about 10 less kids there- I think, is this possible, that four year olds are easier than 6 year olds???

Sliding down...

climbing the slide

Here are some of the kids climbing the big slide at Pump it up!

Here it is!

Abe insisted on getting it out of the box himself- " he is very strong now that he is four"

Thank you!

Thank you Papa and Grams! The scooter is perfect for Abe. It looks big boy and has trucks on the bottom - Abe pointed this out to me - he says he is part "skater boy" when he rides it! It seems like Skater boy is his life goal at this point... Wearing a skater boy jacket.. skater boy shoes- all on the skater boy scooter- the whole skater boy package if you will..

YES!!

Did we actually have to ride it in the house? the answer is YES! It is actually quite heavy- I could hear Abe grunting- and trying to do something- I walked around the corner to see what on earth he was doing (this time! ) He was trying to take uptwo flights of stairs! Why? That is a great question.. he wanted to sleep with it! I ended up carrying it upstairs and putting right next to him so he could sleep with it! Abe LOVES the scooter- he is not fast- painfully slow, in fact, but he is getting better at it each day- he even rides across the street to his friends' house- seriously, I think he could get there quicker just walking...

the shuffle

Shuffling at the barre.

little dancers

This is part of the class getting ready to do their tap exercises.. Ohh the tap records we used to listen to. shuffle step, shuffle step shuffle step, ball change turn :) The newer lessons are equally as boring and are on cd. Not that guy mr. Monotome),but a very cheerful lady. Parker doesn't seem to mind the CD though- they are getting to learn something new- a cramproll :)

leaps

Parkers dance teacher Miss Linda is very smart- she has been teaching dance lessons for many years- she is sooo creative and I am always amazed when we are able to watch class. I don't remember learning my leaps, I remeber learning many many things, but not leaps- she has them jump over the carpet "islands" as they are learning their leaps.. They havea blast!