Cousin Party

In my family, we have "Cousin Parties." The Richardson's are a little crazy. When we get together it's tons of noise, food and laughter. This weekend with my girls and their cousin, Kennedy was no different. Since we were going to be down in the Valley over Thanksgiving weekend anyway, I offered to keep my sister's little girl while she went hunting with her husband. It was non-stop fun the whole time! They had a ball!

I couldn't believe Kennedy and Addie. They were playing Dr. and once I caught on to what exactly was going on I had to take a picture. They were taking turns having babies! One of them would lay across the recliner with their feel hanging over the side. Then they would put a doll in their shirt, cover up and get their heart rate taken. Thankfully, that is as far as it went.

(Can you see the baby in her shirt?)

The new moms.These chairs were set up for the people that were coming to see the new baby. Where do they get this stuff? Girls, I tell ya. Their first visitor.They had a great time playing in the bath together. There was tons of splashing and high pitched screaming going on, but I was able to somehow drown it out.
And after the bath they got to lay on the bed and watch a show for a few minutes before getting dressed.

My sister's house is ALWAYS spotless. Thankfully she has a playroom where they could go and totally destroy it and it was all contained in a small space, rather than all over the whole house. After looking at this picture more closely, I realized this was nothing compared to what I cleaned up before they went to bed that night. They can destroy in no time!

Kennedy had a victory on Friday night, (I won't go into it, but believe me, persistence pays off!) so as a reward they all got to have their toes painted. (Heather, I forgot to let you know that Kimber stepped on Addie's freshly painted toes and then stepped on the rug. That's where the nice little pink nail polish spot on the rug came from. I guess the paper towels under their feel just wasn't enough. Sorry!!!)
They also had a great time playing with the Play-Doh out back. I would rather smell cow manure all week then have to take one whiff of Play-Doh so I was thrilled to let them do it outside, away from me.

These are just a few of the things that we did. I can't possibly name, let alone remember everything. We had a great time! Thanks for letting us help, Heather!

Cousin Party

In my family, we have "Cousin Parties." The Richardson's are a little crazy. When we get together it's tons of noise, food and laughter. This weekend with my girls and their cousin, Kennedy was no different. Since we were going to be down in the Valley over Thanksgiving weekend anyway, I offered to keep my sister's little girl while she went hunting with her husband. It was non-stop fun the whole time! They had a ball!

I couldn't believe Kennedy and Addie. They were playing Dr. and once I caught on to what exactly was going on I had to take a picture. They were taking turns having babies! One of them would lay across the recliner with their feel hanging over the side. Then they would put a doll in their shirt, cover up and get their heart rate taken. Thankfully, that is as far as it went.

(Can you see the baby in her shirt?)

The new moms.These chairs were set up for the people that were coming to see the new baby. Where do they get this stuff? Girls, I tell ya. Their first visitor.They had a great time playing in the bath together. There was tons of splashing and high pitched screaming going on, but I was able to somehow drown it out.
And after the bath they got to lay on the bed and watch a show for a few minutes before getting dressed.

My sister's house is ALWAYS spotless. Thankfully she has a playroom where they could go and totally destroy it and it was all contained in a small space, rather than all over the whole house. After looking at this picture more closely, I realized this was nothing compared to what I cleaned up before they went to bed that night. They can destroy in no time!

Kennedy had a victory on Friday night, (I won't go into it, but believe me, persistence pays off!) so as a reward they all got to have their toes painted. (Heather, I forgot to let you know that Kimber stepped on Addie's freshly painted toes and then stepped on the rug. That's where the nice little pink nail polish spot on the rug came from. I guess the paper towels under their feel just wasn't enough. Sorry!!!)
They also had a great time playing with the Play-Doh out back. I would rather smell cow manure all week then have to take one whiff of Play-Doh so I was thrilled to let them do it outside, away from me.

These are just a few of the things that we did. I can't possibly name, let alone remember everything. We had a great time! Thanks for letting us help, Heather!

A better view

I really don't like the other picture of the the after. It's not flattering at all and if you look closely you will notice a tear on her cheek. She was a tad bit reluctant to get her picture taken.
She is lovin' her hair and so am I! Besides blow drying it, it took all three seconds to comb it out and put a bow in it. Yeah!

A better view

I really don't like the other picture of the the after. It's not flattering at all and if you look closely you will notice a tear on her cheek. She was a tad bit reluctant to get her picture taken.
She is lovin' her hair and so am I! Besides blow drying it, it took all three seconds to comb it out and put a bow in it. Yeah!

Addie's new do

Before:

(She isn't normally this ratty, but we purposely didn't do her hair today because she was getting it cut.)

After:


Kimber got a trim too, but hers was mostly to control the mullet she had going on. Thankfully it's all one length now.

Addie's new do

Before:

(She isn't normally this ratty, but we purposely didn't do her hair today because she was getting it cut.)

After:


Kimber got a trim too, but hers was mostly to control the mullet she had going on. Thankfully it's all one length now.

Caps to Cap

I love projects! I think it runs in the family, I know my sisters are the same way. I have to thank my friend Raygon for the latest project. It seems like she is always doing something fun and gives so much of her time to others. When I read that she would be doing this I knew right away that I could do it too. I rummaged through Jared's shirts (but he doesn't know that!), my shirts and asked my friends to do the same. I've got quite the pile to go through but I am so excited! Thanks everyone!

While I was sewing it (which took about 1/2 a second, such a small sacrifice) I thought about the mom who will put it on her little newborn. It made me feel all warm inside thinking about it. I truly take it for granted that when I have a baby I have it so easy. I get to the point where I feel like it's "just another appointment" and it's so routine. I never think about the women whose lives could be saved by having the same good, quality care. I take it for granted that when it's time to have the baby, I jump in the car and head to the hospital only to be catered to by nurses that are assigned just to me. I'm sure they would give anything to have the same treatment.

Then I thought about that little newborn. I am so blessed! As soon as my babies are delivered, a nurse soon takes over and puts them under the warmer, making sure they are healthy. My babies recieve follow up care, they have too many newborn items to name and they are taken home to a warm and comfortable home. It's been a real eye opener.

Thanks for the idea, Raygon!

Caps to Cap

I love projects! I think it runs in the family, I know my sisters are the same way. I have to thank my friend Raygon for the latest project. It seems like she is always doing something fun and gives so much of her time to others. When I read that she would be doing this I knew right away that I could do it too. I rummaged through Jared's shirts (but he doesn't know that!), my shirts and asked my friends to do the same. I've got quite the pile to go through but I am so excited! Thanks everyone!

While I was sewing it (which took about 1/2 a second, such a small sacrifice) I thought about the mom who will put it on her little newborn. It made me feel all warm inside thinking about it. I truly take it for granted that when I have a baby I have it so easy. I get to the point where I feel like it's "just another appointment" and it's so routine. I never think about the women whose lives could be saved by having the same good, quality care. I take it for granted that when it's time to have the baby, I jump in the car and head to the hospital only to be catered to by nurses that are assigned just to me. I'm sure they would give anything to have the same treatment.

Then I thought about that little newborn. I am so blessed! As soon as my babies are delivered, a nurse soon takes over and puts them under the warmer, making sure they are healthy. My babies recieve follow up care, they have too many newborn items to name and they are taken home to a warm and comfortable home. It's been a real eye opener.

Thanks for the idea, Raygon!

Busy Week

Last week was so busy but so fun! My sister moved nearby (I consider 30 minutes nearby) so we went over there for dinner last Sunday. Addie and Kimber had a great time playing with her kids, dinner was delicious, we had fun chats, played with baby Ivy and got the first snow of the season. I was totally unprepared for it, it seriously came out of no where. I was wearing my skirt from church, which was knee length, a jean jacket and slippers. My girls were just as bad so when we realized had to walk outside in it and still head over to Jared's grandparent's house, I was feeling like a total idiot!

Monday was a whole lotta house cleaning and laundry that I needed to catch up on. Thankfully I was able to stay on top of it for the rest of the week.

Tuesday we had my sister over for the day and once again the kids had a great time. I think that my favorite part of the day was this:

I took about 3 trillion pictures of Ivy for Bethany. We both agree that she doesn't even look like herself in pictures. She looks way older and way bigger in the pictures but st.

You've already heard about Wednesday- all the roll making and noodles.

On Thursday I let my cousin host Bunco here at my house. She did a favorite gadget theme and asked everyone to bring their favorite treat. After I made sure my house was spotless I started working on cinnamon rolls. We had a great time and I got two great prizes. Mindy had door prizes and I got a great little kitchen kit (apron, rolling pin, cookie sheet, whisk, etc...) for Addie, but I'm keeping that for Christmas. I also got an electric chopper. I had wanted one for years but I just never spent the 10 bucks. I was the second to choose and I went for that right away!

Friday was one of the only days in the past few weeks that we didn't have something scheduled. I decided to make it a fun day and to do lots of fun things with the girls. We made a quick trip to the grocery store that morning and came home and played the rest of the day.

We did all the normal things that you don't normally photograph and then spent the rest of the day in the kitchen. Everytime I got one mess cleaned up it was time to make another one, so the rest of the day until almost 6 o'clock was litterally spent in the kitchen.

We started off with goo. (It's that weirdo stuff you make with cornstarch and water.)

Then we went on to banana bread. I found a healthy recipe online and decided to give it a try since I needed to use up some of our bananas anyway. It turned out great!

We topped it all off by making dinner for a friend who just had a baby. We made her rolls, Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti and salad. And for dessert- a yummy thing of ice cream. Not very creative, but I have a thing with dessert. I always feel like you should give people something they can save for later or that is light. I never like a heavy dessert after dinner and I don't want to give someone something that will go bad if they don't eat it right away. (So Alyssa, hence the reason for the ice cream!)

Okay, now that that is all written out, it really doesn't sound like it was very busy. I guess you just can't possibly list every second of every day.

Busy Week

Last week was so busy but so fun! My sister moved nearby (I consider 30 minutes nearby) so we went over there for dinner last Sunday. Addie and Kimber had a great time playing with her kids, dinner was delicious, we had fun chats, played with baby Ivy and got the first snow of the season. I was totally unprepared for it, it seriously came out of no where. I was wearing my skirt from church, which was knee length, a jean jacket and slippers. My girls were just as bad so when we realized had to walk outside in it and still head over to Jared's grandparent's house, I was feeling like a total idiot!

Monday was a whole lotta house cleaning and laundry that I needed to catch up on. Thankfully I was able to stay on top of it for the rest of the week.

Tuesday we had my sister over for the day and once again the kids had a great time. I think that my favorite part of the day was this:

I took about 3 trillion pictures of Ivy for Bethany. We both agree that she doesn't even look like herself in pictures. She looks way older and way bigger in the pictures but st.

You've already heard about Wednesday- all the roll making and noodles.

On Thursday I let my cousin host Bunco here at my house. She did a favorite gadget theme and asked everyone to bring their favorite treat. After I made sure my house was spotless I started working on cinnamon rolls. We had a great time and I got two great prizes. Mindy had door prizes and I got a great little kitchen kit (apron, rolling pin, cookie sheet, whisk, etc...) for Addie, but I'm keeping that for Christmas. I also got an electric chopper. I had wanted one for years but I just never spent the 10 bucks. I was the second to choose and I went for that right away!

Friday was one of the only days in the past few weeks that we didn't have something scheduled. I decided to make it a fun day and to do lots of fun things with the girls. We made a quick trip to the grocery store that morning and came home and played the rest of the day.

We did all the normal things that you don't normally photograph and then spent the rest of the day in the kitchen. Everytime I got one mess cleaned up it was time to make another one, so the rest of the day until almost 6 o'clock was litterally spent in the kitchen.

We started off with goo. (It's that weirdo stuff you make with cornstarch and water.)

Then we went on to banana bread. I found a healthy recipe online and decided to give it a try since I needed to use up some of our bananas anyway. It turned out great!

We topped it all off by making dinner for a friend who just had a baby. We made her rolls, Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti and salad. And for dessert- a yummy thing of ice cream. Not very creative, but I have a thing with dessert. I always feel like you should give people something they can save for later or that is light. I never like a heavy dessert after dinner and I don't want to give someone something that will go bad if they don't eat it right away. (So Alyssa, hence the reason for the ice cream!)

Okay, now that that is all written out, it really doesn't sound like it was very busy. I guess you just can't possibly list every second of every day.