celebrity look-a-likes

my mom curled ali's hair while she was in town.

and it turned out adorable. eventually.

but this is what it looked like when the curlers first came out.


we all thought the same thing. george washington. see the resemblance?




and it got me thinking. who are our celebrity look-a-likes?

ali's was easy, we get told quite a bit that she looks like

cindy lou hoo.

especially when she makes faces like this.

and bats those big beautiful eyes.

or looks hurt and in turn gets exactly what she wants from daddy.

justin gets told all the time that he looks like this guy...you know the guy who is the voice of kronk on emperors new groove.

he has also gotten gaston a few times.

me? well, once I did one of those celebrity look alike sites where you upload your picture and it generates which celeb you most resemble. It came back with fred savage. ya, the wonder years kid. justin and I died laughing. and it's a good thing that he was there to assure me I did not look like good 'ole pre-pubescent kevin or it might have been a major hit to my self image.

I have probably been told the most that I look like hayley mills (the original parent trap girl.)

but cole? he is a mystery. we have never been told who he looks like celebrity wise.

any ideas?

scallywags, land lovers, and a 4 year old.

this showed up on some door steps

with this is in it


because this boy was turning 4!


so these people came over.

and mom made this

(with some help thanks katie!)

and mom and dad made this.

you have no idea how many cake mixes were sacrificed for this cake to come about.

and then he did this.

and we ate some of this.

and he opened these.

thanks to everyone who made this party so much fun! Cole loved having you all here and he loves all of his thoughtful gifts. thanks also to those who donated their help and ovens for just-in-case-back-up-cakes when the pirate ship broke in half at midnight, and we weren't sure if the shipwreck would work or be a disaster. ah, the things you do for a 4 year old you love.

I can't believe he is 4. he is such a good kid and I am so lucky to be his mommy.

like white on rice...

last night was a late night for justin at work so by the time he got home the kids were "in bed" and mama was d.o.n.e.

shortly after justin walked in the door, cole came down for what must have been the 5th time. which is pretty unusual, he goes to bed like a champ normally (unless it's craft night and he knows there is a party happening without him). I am sure his sruggle last night was merely the fact that he wanted his daddy. so as I turned to tell him it was time to go to bed, justin was all over it (...like white on rice!).

he told cole it was time for bed, but that daddy wanted to come upstairs to tuck him in again. a few seconds later I heard giggling and two story tellers going at it. each taking turns adding to their story about dinasaurs and such. it was tender and made me

sit, smile, and listen.

justin is so cute with them. he acts like a kid with them when it's just what they need.

so we have our share of forts, tall tales, and fighting over blocks to build towers.

and I love it.

"strip"ing warriors

this is what happens when you combine gospel teachings with 3 year old (very soon to be 4yr old) speech:

"who is this?" cole asks pointing to his new gospel action figure.

"a stripling warrior" I respond

"a striping warrior!" he replies ever so excited.

I about died laughing... internally of course.

someday he too will know how hilarious it was, but for now he is just having fun being a little boy, chillin' with dad, or playing with his "strip"ing warriors.

hiking and swimming and sliding, oh my.

we are loving all the eye candy that is ever present at our home sweet home.

two weeks ago justin had a thursday off work so we headed out on a hike.


red cliffs is not far at all and it was beautiful. the kids did great on the hike and we were all so excited to play once we reached our destination.


the pools were perfect for playing.


cole loved running though them...


while,


ali loved the mud.

they both found plenty to smile about.

cole especially loved sliding down from pool to pool.

while ali loved...the mud.

she had the smoothest skin after her self inflicted spa-like treatment.

I mean look at cole's face, could he look happier? I think not.

and that makes mommy happy.

and daddy? oh he was in heaven. swimming...under a waterfall...surrounded by all this...with his kids...and his wife actually being outdoorsie...perfection to him.

we can't believe how lucky we are to have all this at our fingertips...

and these cute kiddos in our arms.

we all loved our mini adventure.

and we are sure to be back soon.

a sandy situation

this is justin.

this is justin wrangling 2 kids.


this is what they were doing that required his wrangling expertise.

this is what made wrangling 2 kids worth it.

really worth it.

heather is not pictured because someone had to man the camera to catch the darling memories...

like these...

this is cole discovering the beauty of wet sand.

this is cole teaching ali what to do with it.

this is justin having more fun than the 2 children that required wrangling.

this is cole after justin decided this was easier than wrangling the children.

and this is ali after she climbed in the whole justin had started digging.

and this is all 3 of them having a fabulous day.

and not pictured is heather smiling because she knew her 3 favorite people were enjoying every minute of this day.

Basket 'O Bounty

oh how I love the feeling of driving into the bountiful basket location parking lot and walking up eagerly with my basket, just waiting to see what new suprises await me there. digging through the produce to see what has been placed there for me is like Christmas morning minus the wrapping paper.

this picture is from a few weeks ago. but being there this morning at 7 am gave me the urge to blog about all that bounty!

all that produce = $15

and the 16 lbs of strawberries in the box = $8