When in Des Moines...

..you go to the sultan's palace...er.. I mean the State Capitol building :) When we first drove through Des Moines, I remember seeing this gold topped building and wondering what in the world it was. It doesn't really look like a capitol building to me. Kinda. But not really. With the spires and gold it reminded me of the movie, Aladdin. Anyways, its definitely different! We decided to spend one beautiful Saturday with the kids exploring the capitol building and grounds. Lots of cool stuff, winding staircases, artwork, etc. It was a really nice day that we also ended with lunch downtown at the Spaghetti Works. It was really yummy! Our first walk through downtown. I love checking out new places with the family. Its one of my favorite things to do. It makes me want to live all over the country, just so we can explore everything our country has to offer. I love being in a new place and having all of these new experiences.

Yoda one for me

This year I decided to "up" my game a little in the breakfast department for Valentine's Day. I always make something yummy and "hearty." Whip cream and strawberries are always involved. But this year I found these adorable little milk bottles at Target and decided to go to town ;) I filled em up with candy and then also used those large sweethearts as part of the meal to decorate the Nutella stuffed french toast. It was the cutest! And everything was delicious. Sugar coma all the way. Sometimes I do cute stuff for my kids, sometimes...

This was a Valentine Ammon made that made me laugh. He brought it home from school and said, "I didn't know cats could hold flowers and candy like that mom!" LOL

 I even did Cali's hair in a heart.

 And Joey and I went on a HOT date!(I think this was the night before Valentines? On actual Valentine's I made a fancy meal at home that we had with the kiddos, with music and everything;) We tried a new restaurant and loved it. We also decided to do a photo shoot before we went out-thanks Aub! There were many an eye roll though...I don't know why...

 My gift for Joey this year was a giant Yoda. Taller than Luke seated below. Hahaha. Luke was being trained in this picture...a master jedi, someday he will be. The force is already strong with this one. Joey spoiled me with way better stuff ;) 

Wesley's first day of preschool

Wesley started speech classes a month or so ago since he isn't quite talking as much as he should be. And when he does try, he doesn't try too hard(because its frustrating and tough for him!)  He has done really well and is finally warming up to his speech teacher, Ms. Emily. She is so sweet and so good with him. Anyways, she recommended(as well as another speech therapist I talked to) that he go to preschool at least a couple of days a week so he has more exposure to other kids his age. This might motivate him to try speaking more. He might get away with being more lazy about it with me(as I can understand him better than others and probably, without realizing it, I may speak for him sometimes) Anyways, I have never sent a kid to school so early so I was feeling a little torn about it. I talked to Joey about it, prayed about it, and felt good about it. So, here we go! Wesley started at Ammon's preschool last week! He just goes twice a week for 2 1/2 hours. He loves it. Just loves it. I think he really needed this. And maybe me too..lol. He has been quite the handful lately and maybe we needed a little "break" from each other ;) He feels so big! He loves to wear his backpack and feels like one of the older kids now. I was sad saying goodbye the first morning and was anxious about how he would do, but his teacher, Mrs. Mack, said he did wonderful. She is an amazing teacher and so good with him. I'm confident this was the right choice for him already. I usually like to get a picture in front of the school but it was snowy and cold so we just did a couple of indoor shots. Enjoy pics of our handsome man on his first day at school...Joey was there too(He comes to see the kids off on their special days- always! But I don't have any pics of him darnit!)

11 months old

Just one more month until this little cutie is the big ONE! I can't believe it. His biggest milestone in the past couple of weeks is that he has pulled up to standing. He looks so big! He loves our little entertainer table that we have in the living room that has lights and sounds. He will also pull up next to the couches and at the baby gates that we have installed at both stairs. He is also now waving and its the cutest thing ever. And he is starting to love music even more. He will try and do claps and get his hands going when we sing, "Popcorn Popping." Its so cute when we start FHE sometimes. He will be playing with toys in his own world but once we do the opening song, he always stops, and joins in, whether its humming to I am a Child of God..or getting into the motions of Popcorn Popping :) Another thing he loves is the dog toys...and the dogs food. Ew. I have found him in the dog food more than once I hate to admit. People keep leaving the door open to the mud room which is where we have it. And you would think he wouldn't like the taste of it? Wrong. I guess he loves it! I have had to pry many a kibble from this kid's clenched little jaws ;) I've almost lost a finger. Its so gross. It really is.Yet, hilarious. And sometimes he crawls around and has a toy in his mouth like a puppy would(and okay, sometimes it might even be a dog toy). So we've called him our little puppy sometimes. The other day I was talking to Joey about what we were going to do for a theme for his 1st birthday and his idea was a puppy dog cake. I think its a good idea. Happy 11 months to our little puppy! :) We love you! He wasn't feeling the greatest for the photo shoot(little pink nose from a cold!) but I did the best I could to get some smiles...

 I started singing Popcorn..:)

 Enough already lady!

Miranda Sings

It was celebrity day at school..and Aubrey was Miranda Sings. I didn't even know who this chick was until Aubrey showed me her videos. She is cuh-razy. And hilarious. And weird. Yet funny. And Aubrey looks a lot like her! I wish I could post a video of her imitating her because not only does she have the look down, she can act just like her too. Aubrey is bold thats for sure. She wore this get up to school and even taped a "haters back off" sign on her tush. Thats my girl! Aubrey always makes me laugh. She has a sense of humor that I "get" :) I'm glad I've passed down some of my crazy...