Family pictures

 While we were in Apple Valley over Christmas we had some family pictures taken:

The grandchildren

 My sister Laura and her family

My wonderful parents

 Me and my sisters

 Love this picture

 Little J

 Our little family

 My brothers

 All the Self siblings.

The whole family.

Birthday bash

Livia was thrilled to have her good friends Emerson and Waverly over to play on the morning of her birthday. We were also both very excited that Chase flew home that morning from North Carolina! He's been traveling a lot for work, so we were glad he could be there for that special day.

 Livia dove for her presents the second he came home, and she and Jane got some matching dress-up clothes from their grandmother.

 The next day we threw a very chill, low-key party for the two of them. Jane's birthday is 10 days after Livia, and they share most of the same friends, so we made it a joint celebration.

 A lady in our ward is in the running for the Mrs. International pageant, and obliged us by making an appearance at the party. Little girls sure do love sparkly crowns!

And so my baby is 5 years old. I'd say I can't believe it, except she's been claiming "almost 5" as her age for so long that I'm pretty well used to it. Livia loves to read and create...and get into mischief. I swear she's worse now than she was at age 2, and I can't for the life of me figure out why she enjoys it so much! Kindergarten will be good for the both of us, I think!

Easter

I hadn't realized how much Livia was putting her fingers in the egg dye until we were done. That stuff takes a while to wash off.

 Just after church on Easter Sunday.

 This is a terrible picture of Livia. But I don't take many pictures, so you get what you get. We had dinner with Chase's brother's family, and the girls did a little egg hunt outside.

Recent happenings

One of Livia's very best friends, Haven, moved away last month. They lived right across the street from us and the girls went to joy school together, and we've missed them very much!

Before they left we threw a surprise going away party for them after joy school one day. The kids were playing dress-up. I love the kids in our joy school!

 My family came for a visit during their spring break. I didn't tell Livia they were coming...she was a wee bit excited. Ü

 The girl's cousin Ella came to play one afternoon. Jane had been laying on the ground coloring with chalk. I'd say she didn't always look like such a ragamuffin...except she kind of does. She has the most stick-straight fly-away hair, and if I can't manage to tackle her down to put it in a ponytail, it looks like this all day long. Also her inability to eat without making a gigantic mess generally leaves her appearance with much to be desired. But I think she's cute anyway.

 This was one of those "it's a little too quiet in there" moments.

I took the girls out to Hidden Villa farm. It is so incredibly beautiful and peaceful there.

 Unless you're afraid of sheep, which Jane apparently is. She heard one bleat and that was the end of our nice little visit.

Resolutions update

I've truly been working on my goal to find an exercise program or schedule that works for me. I think I'll dedicate the majority of this year to experimenting. I've discovered I like variety though, so perhaps I'll spend my whole life experimenting.

So far I've found that gyms do not work for me, even those with child care. I just do not get down there often enough to make it worth my money.

I've discovered dailyburn.com. I did a 30-day free trial and liked it so much I'm paying the $10 per month fee. It's much cheaper than a gym, and I use it more often since I don't have to leave my house! They have a variety of workouts, with various time commitments and levels of difficulty. My favorites so far have been the Move! series which focuses on world dance, and yoga. But I still have lots more that I'd like to try.

I've also been trying out Zumba, and I'd like to try a few other dance classes. I like to dance, and can workout much longer when I'm dancing than when I'm jogging or doing other exercises.

My goal to get organized and prepared is still a work in progress. Meaning I haven't done much yet. But I will!

Goals update

18. Make homemade rolls

For Easter I attempted Lion House rolls. Mine did not look quite like this picture, but they tasted good! I think I need to work on my rolling technique...


32. Read "Gone with the Wind"

Somehow I made it this far in life without reading the book, seeing the movie, or even knowing the general plot line. And oh my heavens. I loved about 95% of the book and despised the ending with all the energy of my soul. The tragedy of it all left me literally physically ill, and took over all my thought processes for the next 2 days. Weeks later I still find myself thinking about it. I'm glad I read it, because like I said, the majority of the book was amazing--I could hardly put it down!--but now I'm a little nervous for one of my other goals, which was to watch the movie.

As a side note, if you ever need inspiration to get moving on your food storage or provident living, this book will give you a good kick in the pants.

65. Finish a New York Times crossword puzzle without any assistance

I love doing crossword puzzles. I find them incredibly relaxing yet mentally stimulating. I have a book of NYT puzzles, and I've been consistently frustrated by my inability to finish an entire puzzle. I would get SO close, and then an athlete, movie, or foreign word would leave me stumped and I'd have to ask Chase (in the case of sports related clues) or do a quick google search. ONE time before I had managed to do it alone, and just last week I picked up the book and just like that, before I even realized it, I completed an entire puzzle. Huh.

92. Read "Charlotte's Web" to Livia

I enjoy reading chapter books to Livia, and thought this would be a fun childhood classic to share with her. I'd forgotten much of the story myself, so I daresay I enjoyed it as much, if not more than she did.


4 down, 97 more to go...