The best Grandma gift ever....

Last week when Porter brought in the mail (that is his job), there was a Martha Stewart Living magazine. I immediately started freaking out and was yelling at Andy asking him if he got that for me. He kept on saying no, but I didn't believe him. Then I wondered if we got someone else's mail, but the front cover had a sticker with my name on it, just like a real subscription. I thought it was too good to be true, but it wasn't. Later that day I was talking to my mom on the phone and told her how excited I was about my surprise mail and she mentioned that it might be from my grandma Ruth. I was completely shocked and called my gram's right away. Grandma confirmed it was her and she was so calm about it "yeah, I got that for you, I thought it you would like it."

It is the best gift from a Grandma ever. Not that I have not enjoyed other gifts from my grandma's over my 27 years of life, but I don't remember being this excited about any of them. I am so a wanna be Martha. I love to flip through pages of the magazine at all of the cute crafts and delicious looking recipes and imagine making them, soon reality sets in and I am tired, I turn out the light and go to bed. But it sure does set the tone for a good dream.

Thank you Grandma Ruth.

My Grandpa Bufe, Grandma Ruth, and me when Andy and I went for a visit in 2002.

It's P-Man's Birthday!

I cannot believe that Porter is 5 years old today, I feel like I missed him being a baby. Time just passes so quickly, but at the same time I love it. Porter is the most amazing little boy, so strong, tall, happy, helpful, and funny, he truly adds so much joy to my life. It is crazy to look back at pictures of Porter in the NICU to now, with him climbing in trees, carrying Tessa, and drawing amazing pictures. Porter in the NICU, one of my favorite pictures of him and a moment I will never forget, walking into the dark room and the only light was coming from his bed.

Porter with his "rocker" hair that he loves.

The picture that hangs above my bed that Porter drew of our family.

A picture of Porter and Tessa that he drew and then taped it to the wall in her room, knowing that he did that makes my heart melt.

This morning I made him french toast because it is his favorite and when I walked in the living room to tell him I had made it for him he said "but I wanted cereal", I about died. All part of being a mom, but because he has such a tender heart he ate the french toast and cereal (thanks bud for not making me feel bad). He is very confused about today. I asked Porter weeks ago if he wanted a party and he said no, that he just wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese with Andin, so a few nights ago we did that. But this morning he keeps asking me when people are coming over for his birthday and he will say "mom, so today I am five right?" So if anyone reading this thinks they can make it over today, I am sure Porter would appreciate that.

Porter wanted a superman party so my friend and I made these capes for the kids to wear around Chuck E Cheese. As soon as Andy put it around his neck he went into superhero mode (can you see Porter's stance)
Carlee had a Bat Girl cape.

Porter and Andin playing air hockey.

P-man shootn' some hoops, he actually made a few baskets!

There were a few games that Porter was a little too serious about playing.
Of course Carlee is the last one at the table eating 2 pieces of pizza and a cupcake.

Porter opening his presents, more Lego's, he love this Indiana Jones one.

The cupcakes I whipped up right before we left, I had to do something to make it feel more like a real birthday party.

Andin, Porter, Tessa, and Carlee in front of the giant mouse/rat himself.

Going Green....

Saturday we headed to a greenhouse in Cleveland so that my friend Andrea could take pictures of Porter because he is turning 5 and Tessa for her 6 month. Who would have thought of going to a greenhouse to do pictures, but it was the perfect spot, and we got to get out of the cold for a little bit. The lighting was great and the scenery was beautiful. We both got some great shots of the kids and Devin took some great ones of the flowers there. Things like this really inspire me to have more fun with my camera. I love taking pictures and just snapping away, nothing tops capturing lifes everyday moments with my family.

Cleaning House....

Yesterday was a day of cleaning and organizing, I loved it! Andy was home and we both had so much to do, once we started we just could not stop. Something that has been bothering me since we moved into this house is the closet next to our bathroom that we put towels, soap, shampoo, etc in. Everything just seemed so random and every time I went to put something away something else would fall out onto the floor. Then the other night I had a dream about Tessa being big enough to crawl and she went into that closet and got a hold of the cleaning stuff and got sick. So I was quickly inspired to clean. I took everything out of the closet and threw it on the floor. Then I found my fabric scraps and cut out shelf liners for the shelves (I did not want to go and spend money on shelf liner, way too expensive), and put everything back in the closet with the cleaners on the very top shelf! It's great to have that project off of my mind and to have a clean organized closet. I know it's a little weird for me to post about my closet, but maybe I will inspire someone else to do a little house cleaning of their own.

The closet before.

The shelves before the liner, who wants to put a nice, clean, and fluffy towel on that...not me!

The finished product.

Much more organized and now I can see everything.

Grandma Great's Hat....

Today is such a cold day that the kids and I have not gone anywhere. It hasn't been so bad though, if anything it opened up the "opportunity to organize" door. I love to organize, but lately I just have not had the chance or the drive to do it. So today I went into Tessa's room and took everything out of her dresser and her closet and threw it on the floor. One by one I went through each piece of clothing and filled up a huge Costco size 4 diaper box (that is Tessa's current diaper size) of clothes that Tessa cannot wear anymore. She is just so big now, wearing only 12 mo. and up sizes.

After I boxed all of the clothes I looked back through the drawers to make sure I had gotten everything and found a hat that Grandma Great (Andy's grandma Marie) had made for Tessa before we moved. I immediately put it on Tessa who was sitting on the floor playing with all of her toys that Porter and Carlee had so kindly arranged all around her.

It made me miss Grandma Great. I love that old lady. She is so funny, honest, and kind. I had the opportunity of living in the bedroom right next to hers last year when we lived with Andy's parents and it was great. She was always there for me if I needed someone to talk to and she was always there for Porter and Carlee when they needed some candy or some scissors. One of Grandma's greatest qualities is that she loves to watch The Bachelor (I have watched that show for years!!) and it was great to have someone to talk about all of the drama to. I hope that I can be as cool as Grandma Great when I am a great grandma.

This is Tessa in the middle of "talking", I just had to post it.

It really does snow in Cleveland....

I will probably be kicking myself for saying that, but we were beginning to wonder if it ever snowed here. We have had a few skiffs, but nothing worth putting on all of the snow gear for. Yesterday the kids were so excited for the snow and it gave me a chance to reminisce about when I was little and would visit Utah and I would just hope for the snow, it always made things seem magical.

The kids had a great time being outside, running around, Andy pushed them on the swings, and when it was all over, they came inside to warm tomato soup, grilled cheese, and hot chocolate. YUM!

I love when they love on each other like this.

Carlee throwing a snowball at me.

Porter trying to lick the snow off of his jacket.

Sooooo happy!!

Carlee making a road in the snow.

The prize....

What could be more rewarding than a Dairy Queen ice cream cake and some Guitar Hero, well I guess I could think of a few things. But, for now, it works. This was Devin's prize for naming the blog. We got a coupon in the mail from our local Diary Queen for a free ice cream cake, so we cashed it in and paid just a little extra for a larger Butterfinger cake, which totally works out because ice cream cake just happens to be one of Devin's favorite things.

The cake that reads "Thanks Devinator" (he calls me Shayzerbeam so I had to think of something to call him)

The kids going nuts waiting for a piece of the cake (look at Cambria's tongue!)

The kids looking so adorable.

Break me off a piece of that!!


Devin, Dave, and Andy jamming to Guitar Hero, I love Andy's rocker face.

Our chubbo fell asleep while Andy was on drums.

Devin busting up at some of the great singing that was going on.

More jam action, Devin is singing and playing guitar.

Overall we had a great night of laughing, food, music, crafts, and friendship..........perfect.