Easter Babies

St. Patrick's Day Festivities

Now that it is days away from Easter, I will finally post our St. Patrick's Day festivities from two weeks ago! I got the girls dressed up in their new white dresses (go Old Navy) and took pictures of the cuties in Claire's bedroom (thank goodness it is painted green). Hallie and I had traced and cute out shamrocks earlier in the week so they made an appearance in the photo shoot and on the dinner table. That night, we had missionaries over for dinner. Although corned beef and cabbage is a traditional St. Patrick's day dish, not everyone is a fan. So, I made Irish Beef Stew. It's just good old stew but isn't tomato-based. To round out our green meal we had broccoli, herb dinner rolls, lime jell-o fluff salad, and limeade. For dessert we had chocolate-mint brownies. The following day our family had corned beef and cabbage (since they were on a great sale) the corned beef was gross. I'll stick to Irish Stew in the future.

Classy Birthday to you, Grandma

Happy Birthday to the classiest woman I know.

It seems like today women in the world are striving to be overtly sexy, vulgar, and loud. There isn't anything wrong with letting our voices be heard. But why can't we do it in a proper, eloquent, planned way instead of with a crass, careless, aggressive and flippant attitude? Whoever tries to be classy anymore?

My Grandma is the epitome of class and I want to be just like her. My Grandma is loving and patient. She listens. She is positive and uplifiting. She is warm and inviting. She stands up for what is right. She has high standards of personal behavior that are reflected in the children she raised, the home she created, and the radiant brightness she eminates. She is skillful without a trace of manipulation. She is graceful.

Too many women are satisfied with mediocrity. The "this is who I am-- take it or leave it" mentality is, to me, an excuse to be lazy. I have my lazy days but I want more of myself. I want to be hard-working. I want to be positive. I want to be exceptional.

I want to be classy. And thank goodness I have the ultimate model I can try to follow.

Happy Birthday, Nelly Elsy! I want to be you when I grow up.

Spam

Here are the ultimate funniest five baby photos of my little brother that turns 25 today!

I chose the theme of funny pictures because nobody can make me laugh like my brother, Dan. I love him and am so glad that I only had to wait three years to have him in my life. He has absolutely made my life one hundred times brighter since he entered it (those were dark days of toddlerdom without him). This is the boy who played Ninja Turtles with me while I played Barbies. He was the co-host of our imaginary television show "Fluffy Time Station." He sang weird random songs with me and made up clubs with me. Now, he leaves awesome messages on my answering machine that make me laugh out really loud when I listen to them. Happy Birthday, Spam! I love you!

St. Patrick's Day

Hal Gal

• Hallie says her prayers with such sweet enthusiasm and inflection. She sounds like she is onstage delivering a gracious thank you speech.
• She always blesses her food this way: "Thank you for the BEAUTIFUL yogurt and cheerios."
• Several months ago she always prayed for the Liong King and the Holy Ghost. These days she always says "Please bless Halloween and Christmas" (and sometimes Valentine's Day).
• Every day she asks me "Oh Mommy, do you miss your Mommy and Daddy?" Thanks for pointing that out, Hallie . . . again.
• She is getting better and better about catching herself in a tantrum. Sometimes she will stop mid-scream and say "I want to start over!" And she will hug me and apologize (and cry very dramatically like a Disney princess who can't go to the ball).
• She has the best, heartiest giggle.
• She is the apple of her Daddy's eye. Sometimes at night he just misses her too much so he has to go check on her.
• When people leave our home, she panics and says "Wait! I need a hig and kiss!"
• Hal has a HUGE appetite for breakfast. She normally has two yogurts and two bowls of cereal. Then she just plays with lunch and dinner.
• When I ask her what she wants for lunch she normally replies "um, just lunch." Although sometimes she says "I'm hungry Momma, make me breakfast" at 4 in the afternoon.
• The other morning, she opened her bedroom door and ran up to my bed as I was reading scriptures. She pointed directly to the page and said "It says: Hallie Laine Hinkson needs breakfast!"
• Hallie is great about spontaneous, heart-felt "I love you's."
• Her favorite Bible story is totally Daniel and the Lion's Den.
• After hugs and kisses at night she has to (in this order) do "I love you" in sign language and then say "I love you. Good night! Sleep tight!" Then after we close the door she normally yells "Good night, Daddy!" again for good measure.
• I wish I could capture all the things she does and record them forever! I know I miss so much and sweet things will be forgotten. But know this, Hallie. I really feel like I am living in the moment and enjoying you here and now. It is what I strive for everyday. I don't want any regrets that I wasted my time while you were young. I waited my whole life to have you and I'm so glad you're finally here.
• The End.

Cinderella Bear

We were given a Build-a-Bear about a year ago. Last Saturday, we gave Hallie the opportunity to pick out an outfit for her special bear. She was very excited. She selected a Cinderella dress. Hallie gave her bear a "bath" and then stood in line with Mommy to pay for it. When we finished, Hallie ran outside to show Daddy and Claire her new "Cinderella Bear."

Mine

Hallie: "Jesus is my Savior!"

Mommy: "Isn't that wonderful? He is my Savior too."

Hallie: "No, just my Savior."

Mommy: "He's the Savior of the whole world."

Hallie: "Just my world."

snow shoveling

When Chris and I were first married I day dreamed a lot (I'm a dreamer). But I didn't day dream about nice cars or fancy vacations. I dreamt about hanging out with our future children . . . I fantasized about making pankcakes together, popping popcorn for a family movie night, picking vegetables together in our garden. Last Saturday Chris took Hallie out with him to shovel snow. Some would think this was cruel punishment but for Hallie it was heaven. And what a great small moment Chris took to teach our daughter about the value of work. As I watched them I felt a little grab at my heart. This was totally something I would have day dreamed about when we were newlyweds. And now here we are! And then I ran back inside, slammed the garage door and left them in the cold.

Car Wash

Our Honda was in desperate need of a wash. Chris and I thought it would be fun to take the girls through. Hallie had been through before and loved it. And although it would be new for Claire, we hoped it would be exciting. Here are their reactions:



At least they had each other to cling to!