Signing our life away...

We just signed the papers and got the keys to our new house today!
As we left the mortgage office I couldn't help but squeal with excitement.
I feel like a 5 year old on Christmas eve. :)
We've been "visiting" our house since we started building it in December. I can't believe it's officially ours now! Here are a few pictures I have taken along the way.









We are planning to move next weekend.
YAHOO!!!!

"My Daddy........Mr. Incredible"

One of Emily's favorite movies right now is "The Incredibles." Whenever Mr. Incredible appears on screen she says, "Mommy look! It's Daddy!"
I have to say I agree with her. To us he is.... "Mr. Incredible!"

Today Joe participated in the Washington D.C. Half Marathon. I, for one, am totally impressed! Not just because he finished but also because he ran 13.1 miles in only 2 hours.

Joe has had a lot on his plate lately with work, church stuff, and trying to find a spare minute here or there to spend with us. I have to say as I think of all the things he does for us...he never ceases to amaze me! Joe is one of those people who is always working toward a goal. But not only that, he doesn't stop until he achieves that goal. He is the one who came up with "RAISE THE BAR" as our family motto. He was really inspired by the conference talk L. Tom Perry gave on this subject and Joe lives by this motto daily. He is not afraid to face difficult obstacles and actually is at his best when he is being challenged and likes to find new ways to challenge himself. He works hard at everything he does whether it's work, church callings, sports, study, or just being a wonderful husband and father.
We feel really lucky to have him as our dad.
We love you Daddy!
Way to go!

Snow Day! :).......and a sick day :(

Yesterday we had another snow day. If I had to guess--probably one of the last. Virginia is known for having pretty mild spring weather. The kids were excited to have a day off of school. They all had a blast playing in the snow. We actually got a pretty good amount too!

Unfortunately Julianne has to take a few extra days off of school due to a bought of strep. She's being a tough little patient though. We all hope she feels better soon.

The End of an Era...

After 15 years of teaching piano lessons I have decided to take a break. Last night after I finished teaching my last lesson it was definitely a bitter sweet experience. Making this decision was not easy, and it probably isn't even permanent. But, recently it has felt like the right decision for our family.
I have always loved teaching. Music is something I am very passionate about and teaching in itself is such a rewarding experience. It has blessed our family in countless ways and I will truly miss it.
I will miss all 14 of my awesome students too!
However, I have to admit I am looking forward to having my afternoons free up a little bit. :o)

It's a bird...It's a plane...no...it's SUPER MOM!

Emily is kind of going through a Tom-boy phase right now. All her favorite movies are: Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Cars, and Monsters Inc. Also, her her favorite thing to do is play "superheros." She runs from room to room getting rid of all the pretend "bad guys" in our house.
Well, the other day we were reading a princess book (for a change) and when we were finished our conversation went something like this:

ME: "Princess Emily, will you go put your book away?"
EMMY: "Mom! I'm not Princess Emily, I'm Super Emily!"
ME: "Oh...Well then, can I be Princess Mommy?"
EMMY: "No. You are Super Mommy.
ME: "How come?"
EMMY: "Because you are the BEST!"

Now I realize I can't put much stock into what a 2 year old says. And I would never in a million years claim to be a "super mom." As a matter of fact, most of the time I feel lucky to just make it through the day with all my kids alive. :) However, whenever I think back on that little conversation we had I can't help but smile.
It's just that sometimes it seems like, in my efforts to be a good wife and mom, I somehow end up being the "bad guy." Whether it's having disappointed kids because I make them do homework and piano practicing before they can play with friends after school, or having a frustrated husband because the house just didn't get clean that day and I forgot the dry cleaning...again. (Like I said, I have a lot to work on.)
But just the same, it's nice to be called "super mom" every once in a while. Even if it's just in my two-year-old's imagination.

"Happy" Valentines Day!....Finally

As long as I've known Joe we've sort of always had bad luck on Valentines day. Well...more than sort of. Honestly....for us....Valentines Day is always a disaster! Our first Valentines Day as a married couple we got in a huge fight. Then there was the year I woke up Valentines morning with a HUGE cold sore. (I'm not kidding when I say huge. My top lip swelled up so big it touched my nose.) There were a couple of years where I was sick. Then the year of "Jakes." We thought we'd try a little restaurant in the area called "Jakes." Hands down the worst place I've ever eaten. And It was not cheap either. It just seems like Cupid has something against us!
Well, this year I was determined to overcome our "bad valentine mojo." Joe made reservations at a great little local place, we got a baby sitter, it seemed like we had everything taken care of. I was a little nervous when Emily and Dallin decided to keep me up all night the two nights before Valentines day, but with the help of a little Dr. Pepper we made it through the evening with no disasters! As a matter of fact we had a great time!
Do I dare say our bad luck streak is over? I guess we'll wait until next year to be sure.

HAPPY "LOVE" DAY TO ALL MY FAVORITE VALENTINES!

My little performer

Emily has had a "larger than life " personality from day one. She is definitely the most outgoing of all my children and that combined with her perfect comedic timing makes her the biggest "Ham" of us all. A recent "Emmy-ism" is:

The other day we were at the hospital for a Dr. visit and as we were waiting for the elevator to take us up to the right floor an older woman with her daughter walked up behind us and Emily immediately addressed the woman and said in her all-too-confident, two-year-old voice, "Hi! My name is Emily. This is my brother Dallin. He is a boy. I am a girl. My Mom is a girl. My Dad is a boy. Becky and JJ are girls and I have pretty shoes!"
The woman was nice enough to actually act interested in Emily's description of her pretty shoes, her toys at home, and anything else Emmy wanted to talk about while we waited for the elevator.
Then once we were in the office waiting area Emily walked straight up to another woman in the room and went through the whole monologue again, "My name is Emily. This is my bother Dallin. I have pretty shoes. etc......" After she felt like she'd covered all points of interest, she announced that she was going to sing the woman a song. So at the top of her lungs (in the middle of the Office waiting room) she sang "Twinkle Twinkle little star."
Thankfully at this point it was time to go so I took her hand and started to lead her out into the hall, to which she responded with, "But Mom I don't want to go! I want to sing Abc's!"
So as I was now dragging her out of the office she was singing the Abc's even louder while waving goodbye to the woman who so kindly put up with her show for the last 10 min.

...Wow...

I've said it before, Emily is one of a kind :)