Insta Joys: end of January

hello???

anyone out there??

i've missed you.

how you've been? 

what's new?

i can't believe it's been a month since i've posted!

yikes!

life's been a little busy

it's been about that long since i sat down at the computer 

there are pictures to edit

stories to share

but life gets in the way

we've had saturdays filled with gymnastics and basketball

days filled with school, errands, and life

little time in between to process

time is a flying

i can't believe that February will be gone next week

aah!

i am splitting up my iPhone pictures between two posts

then hopefully getting caught up with other posts sometime soon

i have some from back in early fall to share... yikes!

oh well, it will get done when it gets done

the drafts will sit there until i find the time to get them finished

fasten your seat belts.

here we go with a bunch of pics

january photo challenge: what's in your purse

not much

wallet, small zip pouch for lip gloss/gum/pens, large zip pouch for coupons/groupons

i am not a fan of clutter

my purse in generally clutter free

this girl was messing with my phone

posted her self portrait on instagram

typical pose for my tween

january photo challenge: what you are reading

here is one of my book shelves

i also read with a kindle app and nook app

i am a little ADD with my reading

so many books so little time

i am usually reading 3 or 4 books at the same time

i read whatever i am in the mood for that day

my valentines day mantle

i am in love with it

i really don't want to take it down. ever.

this little lady did her own pigtails for the first time

i asked asked her if i could take her picture

she said "just a minute"

reached in her purse, pulled out lip gloss, put it on, then looks at me and says "i am ready"

she is so not my child

she makes me smile every day

a typical monday morning {our busiest day of the week by far};

workout

get ready and everyone up

pack lunches

start laundry

head to co op {i teach 2 classes}

we leave from co op to take morgan to gym

its our afternoon to run errands - we hit up costco/winco/target

home to unload, start dinner, clean house

pick up morgan

fall into bed in a comatose state thankful we made it through monday

this boy likes the magic tree house books

he was stalling starting school by reading

i let him

because he was reading

he is not a fan of reading or school

you know school takes away from playing

the nerve of school

my favorite water cup

fill, drink, repeat 4x a day

i had a date with my princess loving lady to see beauty and the beast in 3D

she loved it

especially the popcorn

there were only 2 other people in the theater with us

a man and his daughter

he stopped as the movie was over to talk with us

he had taken his daughter to see beauty and the beast for the first time when she was 3

it was his birthday and they were on a date to see it in 3D

so sweet!

it also made me all teary eyed... time just goes by far too quickly

i am going to miss 5 year old mauryn

i want to freeze her and keep her little

instead i need to freeze my memories

we've had no snow

lots of rain but no snow

the day it decides to snow is that day we need to head to boise for a field trip

landon was sweet enough to shovel the driveway for us

the snow was flying as we headed to bigelow tea

it was beautiful

free tea samples

please and thank you

the mint medley is my favorite

my friend rachel sent me a text one day that said i needed to get the game scramble with friends

ok twist my arm

i am hooked

it is my favorite favorite game right now

i can't get enough of her

once a month i host some other homeschool moms for a MNO

i made cookie dough dip {make it now. so so good}

i couldn't have it 

lance and i were doing a no junk food challenge for 21 days

i made this on day 19

i just looked at it dreamed of its yumminess

pretty fabric for spring

i have some plans for this pile

my brother get engaged at christmas time {yeah!}

the date is set and on the calendar

i love looking ahead to fall and seeing this date

can't wait!

my big girl ready for her first meet of the season

glitter covered and ready to compete

of course the day of morgan's first meet is the same day as landon's first basketball game

i watched almost all of landon's game

then headed off for morgan's meet

this is what our saturdays look like during the winter

it's that time of the year... girl scout cookie time

my family loves thin mints

i am not a huge fan... of thin mints or girl scout cookies

i know, sort of un american huh?

a typical sunday night:

lesson plans for our week and for my co op classes

flat stanley came from my niece in mn to visit

my very favorite slippers 

my family got me these new slippers for christmas

they are warm and comfy

they are a staple in the winter

landon got to go rock climbing for his PE class

he loved it

he has asked every day to go back and do it again

we need to do that.... soon.

we celebrated our 100th day of school

 a highlight of the day... 100th day snack

mauryn thought it was funny to dress up harley

poor boy and his girly headband

doesn't he look so thrilled with it?

early this winter we made some bags to hand out to homeless people

we filled them with socks, snacks, hats, mittens, gift cards

mauryn was always our look out when we were driving

one day while we were doing school she was collecting things

i asked her what she was doing

she told me kanani {her AG doll} was making homeless bags to hand out

she has such a tender little heart

this box of colors makes me happy

we babysat for some friends one night

mauryn was my biggest helper

entertaining baby taylor and giving her her bottle

she is such a little mother

little miss was tired of waiting for the awards ceremony at morgan's meet

she had a little photo session on my phone

love the pouty lips

one saturday after landon's early morning game, we headed up to the mountains

there is a town that has a winter carnival

in all our years here, we've never gone

it was chilly but the sun was shining and it was gorgeous

the kids loved seeing all the ice sculptures

we saw the most amazing sky on the way home

totally worth the drive and the winding mountain roads

when we paid for food at a food stand, our change came back in $2 bills

it was so fun

it had been years since i had come across a $2 bill

for the first three years that morgan competed, i was lucky to get to see her routines. 

mauryn and landon were little and needed to be entertained and corralled during the meets

in the last year, it has gotten much easier to be at her meets

i was finally able to watch and get scores

then i got my iPhone and of course there was an app for tracking meet scores

i love it!

i can track morgan's scores from meet to meet as well as her team mates

it is fun to see how they do over the course of the season and see how the team improves

yes, i am THAT mom