a few of my favorite things

You know how sometimes you buy things and then they are a dud? It's the worst feeling. But the converse is also true. When you buy something and you just love it...such a great feeling. I've had a few purchases end up in the win column lately, so I'm sharing the joy. Here you go.

• Old Navy Rockstar Jeggings  I am an admitted late adopter. I remember a few years ago when I bought my first pair of skinny jeans I told a friend that I only wore them with boots, because otherwise I felt like a 14 year old hipster girl with black nail polish. She suggested that with time I'd probably change my tune. She was right. I love the Rockstar because they are super comfortable, not too flashy and c-h-e-a-p. $19 in black (the color I have), $32 in other colors. (Today they are 15% off for Leap Day)

• A cordless vacuum. There are so many times I have a little spill and don't want to go upstairs and haul the full vacuum down. This little gem has been fabulous. 

• Along the same lines, this guy has cleaned up more messes than I'd care to remember. So handy. Money well spent.
• And to round out the cleaning supplies,  this dish cloth is amazing. When I went searching for the world's best dish cloth, I found that there was an I Love My Mabu club, which I thought was ridiculous. Come on, who loves a dish cloth? Me. Watch out--you may end up getting one for your birthday.

• I've praised dry shampoo before. It really is handy. While this is the creme de la creme, it is pricey and every time I use it I feel like I should be saving it for a special occasion. I found this one, and really like it. There are some things I like about it even more than the Bumble and bumble. It doesn't turn your fingers brown when you touch your hair. And it costs 10x less. Sold.
• For Valentine's Day/Birthday Ryan got me a fancy new blender. The verdict is still out on whether it is worth it, but we've found a creative way to get Ella to eat her fruits and veggies. I pile whole seeded grapes, strawberries, apples, pears, bananas and spinach into the blender and whip up a smoothie. Ella still wasn't sure, so we made fruit leather with the smoothie and she LOVES it. Healthy little green snack.

• Printables. I'm no whiz in Illustrator, but I'm getting better. Throw this quip (it looks better in person--it's kind of blurry on the blog) in a $1.99 Ikea frame and your nightstand is instantly cheerier. Email me if you want the original to play with. 
• Good-bye zullily, baby steals and all the others. Hello www.myhabit.com. It is Amazon's answer to the daily deal club, and I love it because it has free fast shipping and free returns. I've gotten some great deals, and I've got some not so great deals, but I just put them back in the box, printed the label and dropped it off at the UPS store. Easy peasy. (In truth, it's not a true return. You get Amazon credit instead of a refund. But for me, Amazon $ is as good as cash.)

There you have it. Your commercialism for the week. If you want to be spiritually uplifted, you can read this talk. I'm using it for my Relief Society lesson on Sunday.

Anna

One year old. 

• Busy, busy little bee. 10 fold busier than her sister. But I suppose she had to learn how to occupy herself seeing how there was no one to dote on her every whim.
• "Sweet"is the word that is most often used to describe her. She is just a little sweetheart. 
• She had a few rough patches of early rising, but now she is sleeping great. 7 to 7 with 2 naps.
• Her first word was Ella. Other words include Dad, ba and yah and a whole lot of jabbering.
• She can do patty-cake, peek-a-bo, itsy bitsy spider, blow kisses, give kisses, tell you that she's one, shake her head no, wave, high-five, sign all done and more (although all of these things are subject to whether she's feeling it or not)
• She loves to try and put clothes on. Especially socks and shoes. Yesterday she got half of her sweater on herself.
• If we are walking up the stairs and then Ella starts to come she gets SOOO excited. She shakes her fists and kicks her legs and laughs.
• 4.5 teeth
• She started walking one week before her birthday.
• Her favorite hide out is my shower. She loves to crawl in and hang out. 

"Rain"

Ella made this painting for Avery last week, sans parental involvement. Pretty good for 3, right?

sledding

We have had the mildest winter I can remember in ages. While the skiers aren't loving it, the three-year old sledding crowd thinks it's great. 

mystery solved

I think I've mentioned that when Ella is doing her business she requests that we "don't clap or say anything." I've always thought she was just being modest but today I learned that the real reason was slightly more pragmatic. 

"Mom. I've got to go potty. Don't twap or say anything because then I can't hear and don't know when I'm done."

Right-o. Logical to the nth degree. There's a reason she and Aunt Jamie get along so well...

Happy Valentine's Day

3 years old + hearts + candy + cards for friends and family = 1 great day for Ella

happy birthday

Project Run & Play FINALE

So, Danielle has made it to the finals of Project Run & Play! And she is neck and neck for the win. When I just checked it was dead tied--385 to 385. Every vote counts--take 2 seconds to click over to vote for her.  Thanks!!!

a l o h a

We had a fantastic time in Hawaii with Doug and Janet. Mostly we lounged around, slept, watched movies, ate wonderful food and soaked up the Aloha spirit. But we did get our adventure on once or twice. We went on a zip line tour and whizzed over the canopy and dropped into a waterfall fed swimming hole. It started out a bit weak but ended up spectacular. 

We caught an amazing sunset overlooking the Napali Coast.

We went on a helicopter ride and landed in front of the waterfall that is in Jurassic Park

And after spending an awful lot of money and and an awful lot of time getting scuba certified I got so sick on the boat ride out (despite a double dose of Dramamine) that after the first dive I got back on the boat and "fed the fish" over 20 times. When I thought I was feeling well enough to stand up and walk over to get my towel I had the strange sensation that something was not right. I felt like I was waking up from a dream. I was puking again off the side of the boat and Ryan informed me that I had fallen down and passed out. Lovely.  Ryan didn't have a great time either, but he gave it another go the following day and convinced me that perhaps I can give a shore dive a try someday...maybe in the Caribbean with warm, calm water...

It was a fabulous trip. The weather was perfect and the whales were plentiful. But I never figured out how to appropriately use "aloha" and "mahalo"....hmmm....I guess we'll have to go back.