Before

I have zero time for blogging since we got the house. I up loaded these pictures a few days ago and haven't even had time to publish them.

There are many more before shots to come.....

here are the outside shots for now.

The house even comes with it's own shopping cart!!

We did it!

We finally found our dream home! Well.... by dream home I mean we have big dreams for the place! We found a 4 bedroom 3 bath ranch style home in a very cute little neighborhood! It is the ugly one on the block but we don't mind, we got a great deal because of it! We really were looking for a fixer. There is something so satisfying about turning the undesirable into something attractive. Our camera is at the house with Nick right now so I can't post any pictures but get ready for some lengthy posts!! We got the keys yesterday and already have made about a 200% improvement! That is, with the help of some very loyal and loving family members who aren't afraid of some hard work and unknown filth! (seriously....there is some gross stuff in there)

Pictures to follow soon.

loving spring

I've been wanting to take advantage of all of the blooming trees for a while. Last week the blossoms were still on the tree, but I kind of like the petals on the ground. It reminds me of a wedding.
Ali and I both took shots. Here are my favorites.

Lila has caught her first cold and could have used a tissue

I can't decide if I like this one better in color or not.

Which do you prefer?

Milk for me please

I had no intentions of giving Lila any table food until she was 6 months old but she was watching me eat my lunch so intently one day that I thought she might be interested.

She wasn't very interested

In fact she hated it!

Fine with me!

I'd much rather continue to nurse her than make even more messes for myself to clean up!

My Artist

Clovis Unified celebrates Art in the month of March. Two pieces of artwork are selected per grade, per school and Aaron was one of the lucky ones!

He was very proud and wanted to look just like an artist.....so he tucked in his shirt and put on a belt. "So that I can look like an Art-Man!"


Here is his master piece, I especially love his hair.
I was helping in his classroom the day they painted these faces and I thought that maybe Art wasn't his strength....some of the other ones were really good.....but I guess I was wrong, maybe I just don't have an eye for good art!

He was so scared to talk into the microphone (he has yet to give a prayer at church, much less a talk) but he actually did it!!! He said "Aaron Cabiness, Kindergarten" and then took a huge sigh of relief when he was done. i was so proud of him that I made him a huge delicious Carrot cake that was better than I could have imagined. Seriously this cake was amazing. It just became our new favorite.

The Wall of Art.

If you want to see it in Person it will be hanging in the Clovis Unified building all year.

(I wonder if we will get it back?)

How to....

keep your sisters out of your room!

no more messing up my Lego's!

The Dilemma

This morning while I was making pancakes I sent the kids off to get dressed for school. Charlotte came out dressed in this and asked if breakfast was ready......she didn't even mention her interesting choice of clothing......

......as if tucking your pants into your knee highs was a perfectly normal thing to do.

I played it off well, but I was racking my brain for a completely unoffensive way to tell her that she might want to reconsider her outfit.

It's a touchy subject with her. A few months ago I told her her clothes didn't match two days in a row. Then she started wanting me to pick out all her clothes (including pajamas). Sounds nice, but I was worried about her self esteem. I thought I had ruined it by telling her that her opinion of what does and does not match was off. Just VERY recently I convinced her to pick out her own outfits again.

But this one.......

Should I just let her wear it? What if she gets made fun of? What if she yells of me when she is older for letting her wear that in public? What if she puts together ensembles like this one everyday?

What would you do?

I miss my babies!!

My Aunt Tree offered to let my three older kids spend the night last night. Nick and I enjoyed the night alone (almost). We really lived it up...... Subway for Dinner....Home Depot.....then the grocery store!!!

After our wild night on the town we went home where Nick made a beautiful fire while I made popcorn and chocolate milkshakes!

Then at 10:30 I started missing my kids.

I couldn't help myself and I had to send Tree an email letting her know that if Elsie woke up at any hour and wanted me I would gladly come and pick her up!

She didn't call.

This morning I woke up and found this in my inbox.

I went and made pancakes for Nick an I (I have tons of leftover batter) and then Nick left for LA to buy a new engine for Maggie. I just laid Lila down for a nap and now I am ALL ALONE!!

Quite often during the day I wish I could be alone for just a couple of hours so that I could get something done with out Elsie tearing the house apart. But now that I have it, I miss them all.

They will be home in a couple of hours so I guess I should get up and clean this house so I can enjoy it before Elsie trashes it once again with play food and baby dolls.

Prayers for Eli

Our friends Tanya and Jason Wedehase are living every parents worst nightmare. Their son was just born with some severe heart problems. They were aware of the situation before he was born, which helps, but this poor little guy has already has one surgery and will need more. Please keep Eli in your prayers as well as the whole Wedehase family. You can read their story on their blog here.

A Day full of Sweets

Happy Valentines Day!