When does the mess end?

Messy, messy, messy. When does the mess end? How is it that whenever you get your kids all cleaned up and ready to go, or you just finish picking up the last toy in the living room is when they decide to get their messiest? Why is that? I sometimes feel like Mr. Incredible when he said, "I feel like the maid, I just cleaned up this mess. Can we keep it clean for 10 minutes?!" I love my children and I love being a mom. I wouldn't trade it for anything else but I would like to have a day where my hard work remains noticeable for at least 12 hours. I would like a day where I could check everything off my list and step back and sigh with a sense of completeness. A day when I could truly say all the chores are done and the rest of the day I'm free to play. Oh well, I guess I just have to continue to laugh about it and instead of getting upset ,take a picture so I can remember these messy moments. They won't be around forever and maybe one day I will start to miss the mess.

Sky High FHE

Today was a busy day! It was full of phone calls to lenders, visiting teaching, runs to the bank, more phone calls to lenders, making copies, printing home offer paperwork, laundry, dishes etc. It was good to be busy but at the same time it was really tiring. My favorite part of the day was when we all settled down and had Family Home Evening. It was so relaxing to sit around the table together and spend some quality time.
Tonight for family night we did a little craft project. I love crafts and I will do anything in my power to help my children learn the joys of being artistic and crafty. The great thing though was that it was all Dan's idea!
While Dan was away on business he happened to pick up some airplane model kits for the kids at an aerospace museum in Portland. He is such a good daddy and he lets us know that he thinks about us while he is away from home. Anyway, he decided to give one of the kits a try for a Family Home Evening activity. Kiera had the privilege of wearing mommy's beloved Red Sox t-shirt from her college days as a painting smock and went to town! She absolutely loved painting the larger pieces of Balsa wood, while mommy painted the smaller ones in a different color. Kiera chose her color herself. What better color than PINK! Dan held the pieces while Kiera painted away. I think more paint got on Kiera than the wood but she actually did a really good job!
Ethan was a little small for the activity but he kept busy in his high chair playing with some odd kitchen tools. Over all the activity was a success and the plane turned out really cute!

Gifts Revealed

So I am now unveiling my first 3 giveaways. The recipients have all received them so the secret is now out. The lucky winners were my dear friends Jenny, Kim H., and Kim L. Check out their blogs too! They each got a cute little box zipper pouch. I found the tutorial online and decided to give it a try. It was so fun that I had to keep going. Each was a little different and I used different fabric for another. They were way fun to make! Congratulations you three and I hope you enjoy them.

#2 and #3 pay it forward gifts completed!

I have finished two more of my pay it forward gifts. It feels so good to get things accomplished. Just two more to go! I have delivered one of those 3 gifts already so not too long and you all can see what was made. I just don't want to ruin the surprise for the others. Aren't you excited?

Pay It Forward gift #1 complete!

This will be a very short post but just wanted to say that today I finished my first pay it forward gift!
I won't reveal it quite yet since I don't know who is going to get it. But 4 more to go!
I love spring time!

May Day!

May is officially here! And the weather is just how it should be! Sunny Sunny Sunny. After breakfast the kids started out their day by going outside and doing what they do best. Getting dirty! The dirt seems to scream their names or maybe it is just screaming because Ethan is making a second breakfast out of it. Kiera's new love are the little creatures that she finds crawling around the yard. She is definitely her mother's daughter. Either way, the mess made for some fun pictures.