I love to read. It is one of my passions. I feel like my life is seriously lacking if I'm not enjoying a great book. But it is not very often that I come across a book that I love as much as this one. I finished yesterday and feel like I'm mourning the loss of great friends. The characters are so endearing, funny, courageous that you can't help but love them. And the story is captivating. Easily one of my all-time favorites!
We are sure enjoying the bounty of my dad's backyard! We were juicing some citrus yesterday and when I saw the innards of this orange I just had to take a picture. It was so perfect it looked magazine-worthy to me. Grace had the honor of eating it and she tells me it tasted as good as it looked.
I asked the girls if they wanted to eat their carrots with the tops on like Bugs Bunny and Jenna said, "Who's Bugs Bunny?" Am I really that old? There's something wrong about my daughter not knowing who Bugs Bunny is. Seems un-American or something.
Thanks for all the beautiful produce Papa!
Devon's parents made a spur-of-the-moment trip to AZ this weekend. It was, as always, fun to have them here. I, as usual, didn't take as many pictures as I should have but I did snap a couple of the girls at dinner.
We miss them already. Can't wait to spend a couple of weeks with them in the summer!
For some reason my girls look forward to this breakfast all year. At our house Valentine's Day begins with pink, heart-shaped pancakes with sprinkles and pink milk. Nothing like a sugar high to start the day. This year, Claire's Valentine's breakfast included pink amoxicillin for her ear infection. :(
Tonight I went into the girls' room to read them a bedtime story. I noticed a little drawing taped onto Grace's headboard. It was a picture of a girl standing next to her bed. I saw some writing next to the girl and leaned in for a closer look. It said, "Enlargened to show details." I started laughing and Grace wondered what I was laughing at. When I told her she said, "Well, look how little her bed is. She's way bigger than her bed and I didn't know what to do so I just wrote that." Then I really started laughing.
On January 22nd my brother, Brett, and his wife, Sarah, welcomed their first baby. They named her Avery Jaye and she is one of the most beautiful babies I've ever seen. My girls think it's very cool that she was born on Claire's half birthday. They think that means they will be best friends. Let's hope so! She has gobs of black hair that we are very jealous of. We think she should have shared some with Claire. Good work Brett and Sarah! 
Jenna is the Star Student in her class this week. We made a poster all about her and today Claire and I went into her classroom to talk all about Jenna. I wanted to record what she wrote on her poster.
Favorite color: turquoise
Favorite animal: monkey
Favorite sport: tumbling
Favorite book: Harry Potter
Favorite thing to do: play with friends or play on the computer
What I want to be when I grow up: hair stylist
I am a star because: I am a cute and fun girl
I show I care for others by: making people smile
Three cool facts about me: I have a six-month-old baby sister, I am going to Samoa in June, I have the same birthday as my cousin
In the classroom today I was supposed to share funny stories about her. I am a terrible mother and couldn't remember any. For some reason I have several I could have shared about Grace but couldn't come up with any about Jenna. (At least none that didn't involve swear words.) Does that happen to any of you? Can you remember so much more about your first child and not the rest or is that just me? What I did end up sharing was the funny way Jenna used to say some of her words. Hoohoos=shoes, complano=computer, and dirt=dessert. That was the best I could do--pitiful. But it was fun to see Jenna talk all about herself. I love this age when they are happy with themselves and life is good. Makes me want to freeze time.
I love Valentine's Day. I'm not really sure why. It certainly isn't because I am married to an ultra-romantic man who makes this day full of wonder. (Love you anyway, honey.) Maybe it's because I have a serious sweet tooth or because I love pink and red? No idea. I do know one thing I really love about Valentine's Day--my mom's sugar cookies. She bakes the most delicious cookies once a year. Yep, we have to wait all year for this one day when she will fill her kitchen with cookies. And this year my mom is half a world away and will not be making cookies for me. I will certainly try to uphold the tradition but no one can make them like she can. The picture at the top of this post looks just like the cookies my mom would make. Yum! But I also found this next picture that made me drool. How I wish my sugar cookies would look like that! I'm guessing that to look that good they certainly can't taste as delicious as mine. At least that's what I'm telling myself! Anyone want some cookies?
