what do march flowers bring?

spring hit our yard this past week and we have been enjoying the first daffodils on the block. we have one spot right under our front window that is prime for these flowers because they are at least a month ahead of all the other daffodils in the yard or neighborhood for that matter.the crocus are out too--hip hip hooray! warm weather right around the corner. i love when spring starts to peek out from its winter hiding spots.

spring also means pruning. oh boy and does our yard get quite the haircut. with the 7 fruit trees plus grapes and raspberries, we have the beginnings for quite a bonfire in the back right now. it's days like these we wish we had a truck--but for now, we'll be filling our garbage cans a little bit at a time for the next few months to get rid of last years growth.

the warm weather gets the kids out of their winter hiding spots too, (ie: the computer) and yesterday with the temp close to the 70's, the whole street was out soaking it in. rollerblades, ripsticks, scooters, bikes, croquet, soccer balls, baseball gloves, sidewalk chalk. this week we've seen it all...and it's only wednesday. yea for spring.

utes

in learning his colors, eli has mistaken the color red for the color "utes". he points out when someone is wearing a "utes" shirt. he'll tell you he likes the "utes" skittles. Strawberries are
"utes" and he likes "utes" apples better than green ones. when we play the colored bear game, he always wants to be "utes".

we start 'em early over here.

She's 5!!

So our little mal is finally old enough to start kindergarten in the fall--we'll count july as fall for all you year rounders--and couldn't be more excited. she goes around telling us that she can do things now..."because she's 5". as in, "i can get dressed by myself now, because i'm 5" or "i can set the table now, because i'm 5" or my personal favorite, "i'm good now, because i'm 5". she could do all these things before, but now that she's hit this milestone she has more incentive to do them without being asked over and over and over and over...(you see where i'm going). This year was family party year for mal and she chose to go to jumpin' jacks over chuck e cheese (with subtle prodding from matt) and she wanted a tinkerbell cake. those of you who know about my cake fiascoes in the past know i cringe when my kids want any sort of cake that isn't just plain frosted. since i try (at times) to be a devoted mom i whipped up this piece of love for mal.

(the green cupcake tinkerbell is sitting on is a "moss covered rock emerging from the blue mermaid lagoon" (i know you couldn't tell). it's the best i could do especially since my cake decorating bags and tips have been "misplaced" (by whom is still a mystery).

this year she scored with rollerblades AND a scooter--anything to keep up with her siblings who take off down the street.

(don't mind the mess:) we were making a cake all day)

Things about mallory that i don't want to forget:

She's in gymnastics and LOVES it. she has figured out how to cartwheel (megan is still trying to learn that skill which completely irks her), do arch ups and is working on her donkey kicks.

her favorite food is POPCORN! a bag a day--it's a ritual--

she loves playing with her friends and her favorite thing to do with them is play "SHOPBUY", where she SHOPS for clothes by taking them out of her closet and takes them to (insert friend name here) at the fake register to BUY them all and put them in grocery bags. so after "shopbuy", i have grocery bags full of clothes scattered all around the house.

she's way into MAKEUP. oh boy, she started early on this one.

she grew 5 inches last year!!

she wants to wear skirts or dresses every day.

she spent her first talk in this ward last sunday at home throwing up while isaac gave it for her.

if i can't find her i know she's watching a movie on the ceiling of isaac's closet with the projector.

she likes copying megs and isaac by "practicing" the piano and calls me in to sing while she plays.

eli still knows which buttons to press to drive her up the wall and does so frequently.

she's finally turned into a wonderful sleeper.

she has the cutest, softest cheeks in the world and i am constantly accosting them.

buddies

the past little bit has been all about playing with friends. we were off track for all of january and playing with friends became a daily occurrence -- now that school's back on, it's been hard to break the habit. oh well--anything to keep 'em entertained right

the "fab four". where one is, you will find them all. we've been really impressed with meg's friends and their families. it's fun to think that these girls will probably end up going to stake dances and double dates together. it's just around the corner

(forgive the picture of the office, my most hated of all rooms in the house) isaac and his brother buddies. you'll notice isaac's display of U red and his friend's counter display of BYU blue. the battle rages between these guys--but they can put their college loves aside when there is lego star wars to be played.mall needs friends daily or i hear about it!! she is way too social to be stuck at home all day with eli and i. not a neighborhood friend, but eli's newest buddy all the same. he talks constantly of superman since he and his brothers were over last week. it's almost a bromance! just recently eli has matured so that he can interact with other kids where isn't protecting his turf. he's learning that friends can play with your stuff and it's still your stuff after they go home. finally!! being the fourth, he's had to fight for everything and we're slowly moving on from that! friends are finally fun! p.s. a huge good luck and best wishes to this little guy who gets to be a big brother this week!

i love to see the temple

this past weekend we had tickets to go through draper temple open house. we've been prepping the kids for weeks and getting them all hyped up about their first time getting to see the inside. we can see this temple from our house all the way across the valley and we're getting excited for our own to open up here at the end of the summer.

everyone had their own favorites:

megs--the brides dressing room

imac--the font

mal--seeing herself in the mirrors in the sealing rooms.

eli--the cookies and mini water bottles at the end

me--that you will move through the ordinance rooms--just like in salt lake--very cool paintings in the "telestial rooms"

matt--the size (width) of the doors (i'm not sure if it was his fav. but he's mentioned it tons since)

what a priceless experience to be all together and to have the chance to point out fun things and answer questions. to see the looks on my girls faces as they walked through the brides room and to watch isaac be enthralled with the font and baptism--his just a few months away.

definitely recommend this family outing--just bring a kelty for the youngest. if he wasn't being held (the tour was 2 hours mind you) he was trying to take off. not the best place to lose a 2 year old who snuck gum in past the "NO GUM PAST THIS POINT" sign. (we realized it when we found gum in mallory's hair in the celestial room;)

Happy Birthday Grandma Ardes!

Matt's Grandma turned 98 this December. every year we have a big mcqueen party to celebrate--we've usually had these at her home, but the past few years (because she is finally getting too old!) we've gone up to rog and jill's. mary and her family always come after christmas as well, so we get plenty of playing with the mcqueen's.
Here's our kids with grandma and their 2..count them 2!... mcqueen cousins. (quite a difference between matt's family parties and mine with 24 crazy cousins running around.) grandma, at 98, is still all there. she know all of her 15 or so grandchildren and her 25 or so great-grandchildren and loves to have them around. she dotes on them all and is genuinely interested and concerned with each one. she truly amazes me at the number of lives she's touched in 98 years. another wonderful plus about being home is getting to be around ardes in the twilight of her life. watching my children love her and interact with her is a priceless memory for both them and me. of all of ardes' great-grandkids, these 5 stick together. they only see each other 2x a year so when they do get together they are inseparable. they can spend weeks at a time together without getting sick of each other and needing a break. it's really fun to watch them enjoy the time they have together so much.

just thought i'd throw in the new darker me. a little darker than planned...but, we're going to go with it for a while.

Christmas Morning Faves

isaac and his bakugans

eli and his "cars" undies

megs in her ute track jacket, hat, and new boots

mall and her "mallory doll" (notice she is in her gymnastics leotard--she drives me nuts!!!)

you already know my fave and matt's was a Ripstick to share with isaac. he is tired of borrowing the kid's down the street.

my parents braved the blizzard and joined us with jared and dana and taylor and laney (home from NY) for christmas dinner. it was the first year in a long while we didn't have to split the day between our families. we lounged all day watching movies and the snow pile up before heading the block or two over to jared's. just what christmas should be. no craziness, no hustle and bustle, just being together.