90/365

Darin came home from work today & asked Gavin if he was ready to go fishing! Of course, he was. They took off and were gone until dark!

89/365

Ellie is a really good eater... she has her favorite foods, of course, but if she sees someone else eating something she wants to try, she'll yell, "BITE!... BITE!" until she gets some. The last couple of weeks at church, she's done this during the Sacrament too. After she gets her piece of bread, and the tray starts moving away from her down the row, she yells, "BITE!" She must think it's a pretty mean trick!

88/365

Here's Gavin's best attempt at a tantrum before bedtime. He normally goes to bed pretty well, but sometimes likes to fight it... Once he realized Darin was continuing to snap pictures of him in this state, he started laughing and saying, "Delete those!" We convinced him that one day, he'll agree that even this photo is funny.

87/365

Gavin had been dying to make sugar cookies since, well, Halloween. We finally did it!

We made the cookies last night and frosted them today. When I asked Gavin if he wanted one, he said, "Nah, I don't love frosting."

86/365

This girl is 17 months old today! She went to the full 2 hours of nursery & did great! She now answers some questions with, "Yeah." Like today when I asked her, "Did you have fun in nursery?"

85/365

Gavin was Darin's apprentice today, working on a motorcycle and doing some organizing in the garage. He'd go get the tools, come in for a bag or scissors, etc. He's a good helper!

84/365

Tried some pigtails today! It's not quite long enough in the back, but almost... Another weird weather day--beautifully sunny in the morning, then cloudy, got some hail, more rain for a couple hours, then it got really cold & windy in the evening. Today ran the gamut!

83/365

Getting ready to race... "Ready, set, go!"

82/365

Since the time change, it's nice to have light when Dad comes home from work! Darin barely has time to put down his bag before Gavin wants him to push him on the swing (and it's not that I don't swing him too!) He can't get enough. When it was time to come in, Gavin said, "I wish I could just swing all night!"

81/365

Gavin saw Ring Pops at Walmart last week, and wanted one sooooo bad. He'd already gotten a special treat though, so he was denied (we have to set limits, right?). Today I went to the Dollar Store while Gavin was at preschool, and I happened to see a pack of 4 Ring Pops for $1, so I picked them up. Later, when I revealed the surprise, he couldn't contain his excitement! Goes to show, good things come to those who wait. (Notice his monster truck tattoo from the party last Saturday--no amount of scrubbing or bathing have done much to remove it yet... that was one quality tattoo!)

80/365

We started using a rotating Family Home Evening chart about a month ago, with 4 assignments for the 4 of us: Lesson, Songs, Activity and (of course) Refreshments. Tonight, Ellie had the Activity, and she chose to go to Jump Time! It's normally $3 for kids 1-5 (and parents are free), but when we arrived at about 7:15 (they close at 8:00 during the week), they let us in for FREE! Can't beat that!

79/365

Gavin went to a Monster Truck themed birthday party yesterday for his friend, Jaxon, and all the kids left with their own ramps and monster trucks. Gavin has been playing with it almost non-stop since then!

78/365

Darin hung up Ellie's swing today. She looooooooooves it!

77/365

Yes, we had snow 2 days ago, but today I noticed the first signs of spring in our yard.

The weeping willow has started to sprout its leaves!

76/365

Gavin's preschool class learned an Irish jig today and performed it when we picked them up.
Gavin was wearing a green sweatshirt over his white shirt so he wouldn't get pinched (he was very concerned about that), but he'd taken it off because he was too hot.

75/365

It's been raining every day this week, but today around 2pm, the rain suddenly turned to snow! What?

It came down pretty hard for a couple of hours, but had all melted by the end of the day. I'd talked to Chrissie on the phone, and she said it had gotten up to 93 degrees in Tucson today. Crazy.

74/3365

A Hipstamatic shot captured by Darin during our Family Home Evening. Gavin was giving the lesson.  We had it tonight because we'd made an impromptu trip to the movies last night to see Tangled, which we all enjoyed--Ellie was even into it! (The popcorn & root beer didn't hurt, either).

73/365

Playtime after storytime at the library. This was one of the few times she sat still the whole time we were there! During the stories, she kept trying to escape (and she did a couple of times... into the main part of the library.) She's fast! She's also begun to say, "no" in answer to most any question... as in,
"Ellie, did you have a good nap?" ... "No" (with a little head nod).

72/365

Darin came home this afternoon. Didn't catch a single fish, but had a fun trip anyway!

Gavin had started eating this giant chocolate bar today (from Christmas). He had taken a few bites, and left it on the table. Tonight, we were all in the living room watching America's Funniest Home Videos, when I heard Ellie saying, "mmmmmmm... mmmmmmmm... mmmmmmmmm..." I turned around to behold this sight. She went at it for a few minutes more, before we finally cut her off & washed up.

71/365

Beautiful day - we went to our ward service project, raking leaves & other yard work at some members' homes, then Gavin's "Get Ready for Kindergarten" class at the library, then a trip to Walmart... raked some of our own leaves while Ellie took a nap, pushed Gavin on the swing... an updo for Ellie in the bath, and the kids were in bed by 8:00. Daylight Savings Time starts tomorrow, and I have an 8:30 meeting in the morning. Planning to turn in early myself!

70/365

Today we went to a storytime for 1-2 year olds at the library. It was fun, and Ellie got to show off some of her newly acquired vocabulary, "Hi!" and "Bye bye!" She repeated them several times at the beginning and end, and also pointed out, "nana!" (a banana in one of the books) and "bubble!" (when they blew bubbles at the end). On the way home, we stopped at Krispy Kreme and used our free doughnut Valentines from Tessa which were going to expire 3/15. Gavin chose a chocolate frosted with green & white sprinkles, and Ellie (I) chose a maple frosted. Just as we were finishing up, they started making a new batch, so we watched them go through the conveyors. Fun!

69/365

Our new ride (until Sunday). This afternoon, Darin and his friend David from work went on a Steelhead fishing trip in Northern Idaho. They needed to bring the Suburban for the cargo space and comfort, so we got to trade for David's Mazda M3 for a few days. When I picked Gavin up from preschool, he looked around and said, "Hey, where's our car?" It sure is different, being so close to the ground!

68/365

  Ellie's trying to pick up some tips from Gavin on Wii Lego Star Wars... the other day, Gavin said, "I wish Brady was here... he knows how to get past this level." Poor Ellie's had a runny nose for a couple of days, which has caused her to be extra drooly too... so she's been wearing a bib all day long (a new one every couple hours).

67/365

Only picture taken today...

Ellie had climbed up to the computer desk, found Gavin's CTR ring and put it on her thumb.

66/365

Gavin wanted to build a fort today... so here it is! They took some toys in and a flashlight, and had a great time for a couple of hours! They weren't finished with it at dinnertime, so we just ate dinner on the blankets.

65/365

Ready for church! Gavin bore his testimony today in Sacrament Meeting for the first time. He's been practicing it in FHE for the past several weeks. His testimony was, "I'd like to bear my testimony, I know this church is true, I love my family, I'm thankful for my primary teacher, and I know President Monson is the prophet. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." He did so well! We are proud of him.

64/365

The bounty of our first Bountiful Basket! I'd just heard of Bountiful Baskets right before we moved from Las Vegas. I'd checked their website and found NO locations in Boise... so that was the last I'd thought about it--until last week, when one of my counselors mentioned it--they are in Boise now! Anyway, we were anxious to try it. You sign up in advance, and it's $15 a pop (really $16.50 because there's a $1.50 handling fee), and you get a random assortment of fruit & vegetables. Pretty cool! The teddy bear puppet was made by Gavin today in his "Get Ready for Kindergarten" class at the library.

63/365

Ellie's discovered that she can now climb up onto our dining room chairs (and then stand up and climb onto the table... yikes!). I grabbed the camera to capture this moment. Here I had a group of birthday cards laid out on the table, waiting for Darin to sign them when he got home, and Ellie thought she should sign them too! Luckily, the cap was on the pen, or she really would have left her mark!

62/365

It's here! The just-released Spring/Summer Scentsy catalog is the first one

to feature several of Darin's new warmer designs... including the one on the cover!

61/365

We had an ultrasound today & everything looks good! Right on schedule--measuring 21 weeks, 4 days and just over 1 pound. The only thing different/unusual is that the placenta is anterior (in front rather than in back), which means I will probably feel the baby's movements less. :( That was one of my favorite parts of being pregnant... I am now feeling some movement everyday though--just not a ton. We chose not to find out yet if it's a girl or a boy--saving that for d-day! Crazy to know that we COULD know!

60/365

Another nice day--nearly 60 degrees. Hope it lasts! We went to the park after Gavin's preschool,
then raked some leaves in the backyard during Ellie's nap.