What we're up to

Abby watched a show with pirates on it, so she asked me to make her an eye patch and hat.  She loved it.

Ellie hoards toys.

I tried to get some cute pictures of the girls on Mother's Day but Ellie wasn't too into it.

Ellie pretends to be a puppy (or a kitty, I'm not sure which).

I was looking online at projects to do, and Abby saw a picture of a felt mermaid tail and asked me to make her one.  As it so happened, I had a lot of leftover felt from the quiet book I made (including 2 yards of yellow felt, which I accidentally bought instead of two squares.)  Abby liked the final product, but Ellie seems to love it too.  Maybe I'll have to make a second one so they can both be mermaids together.

Abby made a little bed for Mei Mei and did a little photo shoot:

Ellie gets creative trying to reach a snack from the counter (she's standing on an upside down mixing bowl):

For two girls who don't like taking naps, they sure like playing "nap time":

I found these two darling little antique desks on craigslist.  I have been looking for something like these for a long time!  They are a huge hit - the girls just love them.  They even have the little shelf underneath the chairs.

So, I did get a little camera for my birthday in April.  I just discovered last weekend that there is a "beauty" setting on it (??), so I tried it out.  Looks like it just makes the faces a little bit blurry... hmmmm....  I guess people have to be blurred out to look beautiful? ;)

And lastly... this last weekend I finally opened up an Etsy shop online, to sell some baby quilts I've made over the last couple of years.  To be honest, I didn't have much confidence that any would sell.  I would never pay that much for a baby quilt, but I suppose that's because I can make them.  But, I priced them around what other ones were going for (in a similar style and size), and in 4 days I have already sold two of them (pics below of the sold quilts).  Two more are still for sale, so we'll see how those go.  But I am pretty shocked (& flattered) that they sold so quickly.

So yes, I do plan to make & sell more quilts on Etsy.  It's been a fun experience and it's so exciting that people actually buy them!

So, that's what's going on around here.  Garrett started his last rotation of intern year, which is so hard to believe.  Time is winding down.  We've started packing boxes and getting rid of stuff (okay, okay, I'm always getting rid of stuff).  I'm counting down the days I get to go to Utah and spend some quality time with my sisters and my parents.  Molly has one of the prettiest wedding dresses I've ever seen and I'm looking forward to seeing it in person.

Oh!  We also closed on our house in Florida!  We did it all by mail so it was actually very anticlimactic, but it's all done and I'm so happy it's over with.  We actually completely forgot about it the day of the closing, and later that night Garrett asked me, "So.... do we own a house?"  Turned out, we did! The sellers actually will be living in the house until a few days before we get there, so they're now renting from us.  It worked out well and we're excited to get down there and get moved in.

So, that's us right now!  Keeping busy, having fun.  Now I have to get back to my bowl of ice cream & the Biggest Loser on hulu......

A few more D.C. pics

I just loved the Lincoln Memorial.  We spent most of our time here, taking lots of pictures and letting the kids run around on the lawn.  Someday I would love to spend two or three full days in D.C., going to all the museums and history sites as possible.  Probably when all the kids are older.... or when Garrett and I can go by ourselves.

I don't know what Ellie is pointing at but I'm sure it's something cool like a little bug or whatever.

Me & Haley.  Oh man, I am dreading the day when we all move away from each other (in a few weeks).

This girl will be going into gymnastics for sure.

Playing a combination of "chase" and "hide and seek" around the bushes.

More Chinese people taking pictures of our kids.... so weird.

This picture reminds me of last year's very similar shot (right down to the braids and yellow shirt & jeans):

Our girls.  Oh man, they just light up my life.  I can't get enough of them.

Up later this week: what we're up to, and a book review.

Big day in D.C.

We had a great time in Washington D.C. on Saturday.  We left the house early and met up at the D.C. Temple for our ward temple day.  It was nice to be there with almost everyone from our ward, and it was especially nice that the youth were watching the kids, so Garrett and I didn't have to take turns outside.  After the temple, we picked the kids up from the Visitors Center and headed downtown to see some sites.

Seeing the Christus at the Visitors Center.

Abby at the temple.  I just love the D.C. Temple - it's the first temple I ever went inside, and I just love how big and majestic it is.  I took a couple trips here as a youth and it was always so much fun.

This is how Garrett feels about driving in big cities:

At one point he asked me, "How do you find these obscure places to eat??  'Most-awkward-to-get-to dot com'?"  Haha sorry honey!

Ellie doesn't seem to mind:

And Abby doesn't mind either, as long as she's watching a movie (we have a little portable tv on the back of my head rest):

We had a late lunch/early dinner at Seventh Hill Pizza.  I just love fire baked pizza.  We sat outside and the weather was just perfect.

Then we went to the Lincoln Memorial, where we let the kids run around on the lawn for a while.  Oh, and Asian people kept coming up to our kids and blatantly taking pictures of them.

Abby got ahold of my camera and it was all over from there:

Yup, gas was over $5!  Thankfully we never had to buy gas in the city.

On our way out we stopped at Baked & Wired for some gourmet cupcakes/desserts.  They were really good and just the right amount of sugar to get us home around 11pm.

It was a full day but so much fun to spend time together and with Rob & Haley.  It was also one of the first times for us to be in D.C. without major crowds, which is always nice (although, you just really can't escape the crowds in a place like D.C.).  But we got to go to the Temple, see fun things downtown, and eat at fun, new places (i.e., non chain restaurants), so it was a huge success in my book.  Garrett took some better pics with his camera so I'll share some of those tomorrow.

D.C.

We went to Washington D.C. yesterday - one last time before we move!  More pics to come.

Lately

Here's what we've been up to lately:

Another picture from Pennsylvania... this is one of Ellie's new favorite things to do.

Mom reading to the kids:

We made Cafe Rio for my birthday:

Now back home... Ellie loves to exercise with me. (Notice the ladder in the picture?? I can't wait to have a garage!):

Abby had to get in on the action:

The girls helping Garrett wash the car:

Ellie:

The Easter Bunny brought Garrett a chocolate fish this year:

 More ab work, with Ellie again:

Abby still loves taking pictures of herself:

....and of her shoes:

Playing "baby" with Ellie:

Other happenings:

*I can't believe we're moving in less than 6 weeks!  I am dreading the whole process of packing up, loading a truck, driving long distance, unloading, unpacking, etc.  Ugh... just the thought of it all makes me exhausted. And, I'm getting anxious too, just about leaving our comfort zone and starting over again in a new place.

*The house drama is still going on... oh man I can't wait to have everything behind us!  It's a long, drawn out story and I don't want to bore you with, but wow it's stressful.  And expensive.

*I finally bought my ticket to go to my sister's wedding in June!  And.... I am going alone!  I am sad that the whole family won't be there (sorry, Molly!), but I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with my parents and sisters.  And I'm excited to meet my new brother-in-law-to-be!

*Garrett worked nights all last week... poor guy.  He doesn't like working nights but someone's gotta do it!  Tomorrow he starts back on the day shift for the next couple of days, so that'll be nice.  Now if he could only get over this nasty cold he has.

*One major decision we had to make over the last few months was whether or not to send Abby to preschool this fall.  I would love to find a free 2-day-a-week or even 3-day-a-week program (for a few hours each day), but the only public preschool they have is Monday-Friday, and you have to commit that your child will attend every day (you can't just bring them whenever you want).  I have a huge problem with that.  I am not usually a go-against-the-grain type person, and I like rules and everything, but... I don't like someone telling me that a preschooler has to attend 5 days a week, so that really rubbed me the wrong way.  I realize that this is because the school only gets their government funding based on attendance, so I understand the rule, but I think we're going to opt out this year.  The only reason I would send her would be to make friends, and I am confident that we can do that outside of the classroom (a dance class, or gymnastics, or maybe a sport).  If Abby was an only child, or needed to learn the skills that would be taught in preschool, I would definitely consider it more, but I'm just not ready for her to be gone so much.  She'll have the next 18 years to be in school. (Plus, I'll admit: I'm really not used to the whole idea of preschool!  The first time I ever attended school was first grade... I didn't even know preschool or kindergarten existed.  And I turned out okay. Hopefully Abby will, too. :)  It's been a really hard decision, to be honest.  I used to think that I would be the kind of mother who would be excited to send her kids off to school, and I would never be the kind of mother who cries when her child grows up (I especially believed this when Ellie was first born, and I was in the throes of taking care of a child who never ate, never slept, always cried, etc.).  But, now I realize that I am definitely that mom.  I dread the day Abby will put on a backpack and leave for hours at a time.

*The weather is warm and we've been going to the playground nearly every day!  I can't wait to have our own private backyard again soon so that we can enjoy the outdoors more easily (once the heat becomes bearable, of course.  So, maybe..... October? Haha).