An important lesson...Sharing

Cassidy is such an example to her mommy and daddy in many ways. First of all we didn't use to say our prayers at restaurants, but now we do. She is very aware of our feelings and our safety. When we walk on snow she says, "Careful Mama,ice,fall down." Or if I need to grab something in the cupboards and I'm not tall enough, I use a chair (I know where does she get it from)and she will say "Careful Mama, don't hurt." When she can tell her daddy or mommy is sad, she jumps and says "Be Happy, Happy Face." She always finds time for us to get up and dance and live life to it's fullest. She has the best attitude when she's sick, and doesn't let it get her down. Cassie is a big helper around the house, with handing me the dishes in the dishwasher, or taking laundry to my bed from the dryer. I know she would be a great big helper to her baby brother or sister. When we get ready to go somewhere she will automatically bring us our shoes and jackets so we stay warm. I can go on and on...but one of our favorite things that our little girl does is SHARE. If mommy is giving her something to eat, of course the first thing she says is "And Daddy" or the other way around. It could be food, airplane rides, hugs & kisses, toys, whatever. She's always including us and making sure we're taken care of.

On Easter morning while getting ready for early church I gave Cassidy a whole banana for breakfast (she likes to peel it herself and eat it like a big girl). The next thing I know she walks into our bedroom and gives both daddy and I part of her banana. She broke it up into 3 pieces all by herself and with a big smile handed us our piece. What could we do??? But take our piece of banana with gratitude. It really started our Easter Sunday with the right spirit. Even with small and simple things she is such an example to her parents!

No wonder why we're taught to... Be like unto a child (Mosiah 3:19)

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

So we woke up to a cloudy day and snow on Easter Sunday. The outside picture above was taken last year on Easter morning, but it didn't look much different this year.

We had a great Easter! Even though church starts at 8:30 in the morning, it's always nice to go so we could feel uplifted, and learn about all the important lessons in life. When we got home from church, we ate lunch then cuddled up on the couch and listened to a story called He Lives. It's a sing along with music from Hillary Weeks and the pictures in the book are painted by Simon Dewey. It's one of my favorite books. I was impressed because Cassidy sat through most of it and enjoyed the pictures with the music. She would always point out Jesus. Then all 3 of us took a nice nap. After our naps I started cooking our Easter dinner. I was brave and wanted to try some new recipes. We had Pork Tenderloin with Catalina dressing and honey, seasoned red potatoes with bacon, ranch, and cheese, and green beans. For dessert, I made a Chocolate shortcake with strawberries, and chocolate pudding. My family was so impressed! It made me feel pretty good, and they ate it all! I'm digging this cooking thing more and more.

After dinner, Cassidy and I had fun hiding Easter eggs for daddy with one of his favorite candies, Mounds candy bars. Cassidy chose some good hiding places like inside Mr. Potato Head's belly, in her bucket of balls, and in her push-car. I also hid some. Luckily, because when it was time for Derek to come look for his eggs Cassidy quickly helped daddy find the eggs she hid. By the time she brought one to him, she was off to the other eggs. It was hilarious! Both Derek and I couldn't stop laughing. It was so cute! She was so excited, and would say "Here daddy, here's your eggs." So her eggs went pretty quick. The ones I hid were pretty tricky so Cassidy and I would sing louder and louder as Derek would get closer and closer. It was fun. Then it was Cassidy's turn and she had to find her Easter basket full of goodies. It was cute to watch her pick up blankets and toys to look under them, and then say "I dunno" expressing with her arms too. She finally found it and couldn't wait to look at what was in her basket. She got an ABC Book of Mormon book, Little Mermaid magic coloring book, a chocolate Easter bunny (of course), a Nemo bath toy, and some racing cars to race with daddy.

Then it was ni-night time with reading her new ABC book, hugs and kisses and off to sleep.

Easter Egg Hunts

I think Cassidy got her full share of Easter Egg Hunts. She went to 3 this year, and had fun finding eggs as well as watch all the other kids find their eggs.

Barnes and Noble...a Wonderful Place

Thomas the Train
Dora Backpack
1st Good Book
2nd Good Book
What are you reading Daddy?
Big Comfy Chair

This week for our Family Home Evening activity we took a trip to Barnes and Noble. It's like heaven, to Derek and Cassidy. Books, books, and more books. I've never been a big reader but both Derek and Cassidy have helped me become a bookworm little by little. It's fun to sit in comfy chairs, lay on the floor, or sit on a bench to read a good book at this wonderful place.

Our visit starts as soon as we walk through the doors. Cassidy tries to skip her way towards the Children's section and heads straight toward the train set to play with Thomas the train. When she gets her fill with the trains she moves on to the backpacks and picks out Dora from the bunch. She insists mom to help her put it on. When the task is done, she wastes no time into finding a good book.

On this particular night it was nice because as a family we had three comfy chairs for each of us in the same section. Derek read about puzzles, I read the books Cassidy brought me, and Cassidy read Elmo. Then we enjoyed our tradition, whenever we go to Barnes and Noble, we share a slice of Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake from their cafe. If you have never tried this, you should! Delicious!

We have good days and we have bad days. It's happy times like this together that help me through the days that seem to fall apart.

Christmas all over again

So a friend of mine was moving and decided she didn't want to take a lot of things with her. One of those many things was this little doll house. I surprised Cassidy with this gift, and it was like celebrating Christmas all over again! Her excitment was so huge she couldn't stop smiling and giggling. The little doll house was also perfect for all her princess figures that she got from her friend Matteah, for her birthday.

Every night before she goes to bed we have to make sure to put her princess friends in their house and say goodnight. Then as soon as she wakes up in the morning, she peeks in the windows and says "Good mornin...Aril, Seepin Booty, Cinrella, ... It's amazing how she knows them all. I can only picture her excitment when someday we go to Disneyland.

Be Our Guest...

So lately, Cassidy has been inviting guests to breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She doesn't even give her parents any warning, but we seem to always have enough food thank goodness.

We have had Snow White, Ballerina Bear, and of course Dolly (her closest friend), who knows who she will be inviting next. It's so cute to watch her show her friends to their place at the table sitting in their very own chair. Then of course asking for an extra plate and fork for our special guests too. She has even assisted them in eating cheerios, and given them bibs so they don't make a mess. We're so grateful for our little girls imagination and can't wait to see what she comes up with next. She has asked a couple of times if they can have a bath too.

What a good friend and hostess she is already! Just hope we don't lose our seats at the kitchen table.

Tag I'm it...Thanks Merilee this was fun...

What is your husband's name?

Derek Steven

How long have you been together?

Married 8 years, 9 years in June

How long did you date?

Hmmmm, depends on who you ask. Technically, 3 months but had known each other for 3 years

Who eats more?

The man of the house

Who said "I love you" first?

Derek but I said it right back, on New Year's Eve

Who is taller?

Of course Derek, since everyone is taller than me

Who has more speeding tickets?

Derek but I speed more and haven't ever gotten a ticket.

Who is smarter?

My engineer and Computer Stud

Who is more sensitive?

Me by far! I need to lighten up.

When there is a fight, who usually wins?

Depends on what the fight is about

Who does the laundry?

I do, and I like it

Who does the dishes?

Me again, but Derek will clean the bathrooms ( I have the better end of the deal)

Who sleeps on the right?

Me

Who pays the bills?

We both do, we have budget date nights

Who mows the lawn?

Derek, but would like to at least one time this summer

Who cooks dinner?

Mostly me, but Derek will cook whenever I ask him to

Who drives when you are together?

Derek, he doesn't like my driving

Who is more stubborn?

We take our turns

Who kissed whom first?

Derek bet me a quarter he could kiss me without touching my lips, well the next time I saw him he gave me a quarter. Pretty good move huh.

Who proposed?

Derek, and it was very romantic and fun. He sent me on a treasure hunt all around town then we had a candlelight dinner.

Who has more siblings?

Me, my family is the brady bunch, 3 brothers and 2 sisters. Derek has 3 brothers.

...I tag Jillian

Girls will be girls

So Cassidy was watching mommy paint her toenails and decided she wanted her toes painted as well. It was so cute to watch her excitement and she sat so still through the whole ordeal. I blew on her cute little toes to help them dry and she would copy me. It was sweet!

Since that day, she keeps admiring her toes with a big smile and says, "painted toes pretty toes."

She'll never see her toes the same way again!

A night of Country...

We went out with some other couples this weekend for date night. We went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse for some steak and ribs. It was nice to have some adult conversation. After dinner we put on our dancing feet and went to Cowboys (a dance club). It was so much fun to get on the dance floor and country swing. Right away Derek and I realized we were so out of shape! We decided to keep dancing and pay for it later. :)

It was fun to watch other people dance and even see older couples like in their 60's and 70's dancing. Hopefully when we get older we can continue to put on our dancing feet and dance as good as them.

I love dancing with Derek! Dancing is one of our favorite things to do together, as some of you know. On Valentine's day we unfortunately missed the Sweethearts Ball at church, because of being sick, but was so happy we were able to still go dancing the following weekend. It's also nice not to worry about coming home smelling like smoke head to toe. We are definitely planning on going again.

We also had the chance to enjoy some karaoke. Derek and our friend Stephanie each took a turn to sing. Derek sang "I like it, I love it..." by Tim McGraw. I thought he rocked it and I enjoyed his good lookin charm. Stephanie sang "Material Girl" just to change things up a bit. All of us girls enjoyed singing along. We had an entertaining night of fun!

Blurfing

I must admit that I am really enjoying this new blog trend. I like the ability to share pictures and stories with family and friends almost instantaneously. I love the comments that family and friends leave. I also love that so many other friends have started up blogs of their own, as this gives me a chance to keep up with what's going on with their families even though they sometimes live far away.

Derek has made up a word for this blog-surfing = "Blurfing". And he has informed me that I am indeed a blog-surfer = "Blurfer". Well, he's right and I am not ashamed. I love that we can use computers and technology for good. And I encourage any who haven't yet tried the blogging craze yet to give it a shot. It's free and it's a lot like scrapbooking and journaling put together. So keep it up fellow blurfers and bloggers.