Children's Museum

During Spring Break we went to the Children's Museum in Santa Fe with some friends.  It was awesome!  SO perfect for our kids' ages.  There were so many fun things to do.  We will definitely be going back!

 The climbing unit

 The girls were in heaven at the face-painting station!  They could have stayed there all day!

 She's a cat- see the ears above her eyebrows?!  Yes she wore this look the whole time we were there!  She's playing with the bubbles here...

 Jace spent a lot of time at the Lego station

 Dress-ups and a stage!

A giant impression needle table

sweet kiddos

 story of Cami's life!

favorite!

Cousins!

The Johansons came to town last weekend to hang out and go to the temple.  On Saturday we took our kids to have a tour of the temple grounds.  It was really nice but realllly cold!  It was so beautiful though and I loved that my kids could learn more about our temple and the special spirit that is there.

Ashlee, Makenna, Heather

On Saturday night we had a BIG sleepover at our house complete with 12 children!  Boys were in one room, girls in the other!  The adults got to stay up late and play games.  

nakee

Looks like Cami wins in the pudge department.  :)

2012 Snapshot

I have been too busy this year to sit down and do a 2012 snapshot of our family.  This will be short and sweet... relatively...  :)

Scott
-Still working for Glidden but looking for a new job opportunity.  He uploaded his resume on careerbuilder and has had a lot of interest.  Hopefully he will be able to find a job that he really loves and that will be a step up from his current one.  After being promised a promotion for too long, we're thinking switching companies will be a better idea... wish us luck!
-On his 3rd year of teaching seminary and still enjoying it!
-Comes home after seminary now to help me and sometimes take Makenna to school- what a man!
-Does the laundry more than me
-Takes me on dates a couple times a month
-Took Jace on a Father/Son date.  They went fishing, miniature golfing, and to Rudy's BBQ.  Jace LOVED it!
-Plays basketball every Tuesday night

Kristie
-I was released from Young Womens after 3 years and now serve as a Relief Society teacher!  I have dreaded this calling for a long time, but happy to say it has been good so far!  I am loving that I only have to teach once a month!

-Just bought a new table for the kitchen that will be here in a couple weeks.  UGGHHH!  Let me just say I do not like shopping for furniture!  I have to find a balance in getting something I really love, and something that I think I will love 10 years down the road.  I wish there was more to choose from here in Albuquerque.  We finally decided on the table above.  Did I make the right choice?!  I don't know- I keep second guessing myself because I don't LOVE it, but it is nice and Scott loves it.  Advice??
-I've been working out 3 days/week with Stefanie doing insanity, and 2 days/week weight-lifting with Scott.  I haven't noticed much difference in the way I look, but I do feel stronger!
-I LOOOVE learning about nutrition.  I have learned so much lately and have noticed such a difference in the way I feel when I eat healthy.  I still have such a hard time with sweets though.  I can't help myself!
-My thyroid and blood glucose have regulated so I'm glad I don't have to worry about those things anymore!
-I've been enjoying card club, book club, flower club, craft nights, busy bag groups, and GNO's as much as possible.  Scott's not so much a fan!

Makenna
-Reads really well and is one of the best readers in her class
-Has such a fun personality and continues to make friends so easily.  It's fun to see her interact with her friends at school because they all seem to love her so much!  She continues to mostly hang out with boys at school and church which is so funny to me
-She is very thoughtful and will often make things to give people.
-She LOVES art and works on her art all the time.  It's so hard to choose what we should keep or throw away.  She is so good at drawing things from her head.  She can draw many animals better than I could!

-She is SO observant.  She can remember lots of tiny details which amazes me!
-She's starting up soccer again and really excited about it
-She is such an adventurous eater.  She will eat pretty much everything I serve.  She's also very conscious  about eating healthy and will often turn down something because it's not healthy- silly girl.  When we go out she always orders a salad!

Jace
-see recent birthday post!

Camryn
-see 5 month post!

Lee family
-Our Family Home Evenings consist of: song, prayer, tricks, and a 5-minute lesson.  It's hard to come up with a trick every week, so we have some repeats!
-We are loving that the weather has been nice so we try to get outside as much as possible.  This has been the best winter we have had here in Albuquerque!
-We enjoy hanging out with cousins, the Burns, as much as we can!  The kids cannot get enough of them.  We also have many good friends here that we enjoy getting together with.  Life is good.

5 months!

Yes I just did her 4 month update!  But she really has changed a lot in the last week!

-super smiley all the time

-laughs uncontrollably at things

-says "blah blah blah," "dadada," and "mamama."  The girl is a talker!

-LOVES her exersaucer and really plays with all the toys

-sleeping a little better.  I put her down at 7, she wakes up at 12 and 5... I'll take it!

-I gave her some rice cereal.  She didn't eat much but seemed to like it!

This is how she goes down to sleep.  I wrap her up, stick the paci in, and stick that "lovey" by her face and she's out.  It really is lovely that she goes down so easily

Valentine's Day 2012

This year for Valentine's, we had already had a few dates in the last couple weeks, so we decided to have a little family Valentine date.  I made a fancy dinner, we all dressed up (even Jace, although he changed back right before this picture!), lit some candles, and had a really nice dinner together!  Makenna was so sweet about using her best manners!  It was really fun!  

For dessert we had some chocolate-covered strawberries!  YUM!!

I am extra romantic and got Scott the sweet trash can he's been wanting- it's automatic!  hahaha

He got me this sweet willow tree statue of a mom rocking a baby... so sweet

Makenna is sooo thoughtful and made everyone the sweetest Valentines.  Here is the one for Jace.  Melt my heart!

I LOVE THIS!  I seriously want to frame it!

Scott wrote me the sweetest e-mail while he was at work, so I'm putting it here for posterity and so you can all see how incredibly sweet my husband is!  (Of course none of this is true!!)

Why I Love Kristie Lee:

1. She is prettier today than the day I met her

2. She is the best cook this side of the Rio Grande

3. She is a great mother to my favorite 3 people on the planet

4. She thinks I am hot stuff

5. She makes me laugh

6. She has unbelievable taste and style

7. She is my best friend

8. She puts up with me

9. She makes me want to be better

10. She is mine for all eternity

XOXO

Scott Lee

This year I made some cute Valentine decorations with some friends...  (not the glittery Be Mine, that is Target!)

I LOOOOVE Valentine's day!  I love my cute little family and especially my awesome husband!  Valentine's day is much more fun when you have some people to love on!  This day is also special because it marks an anniversary of sorts for us because our first real date was on Valentine's day- so it's been 9 years now since we started dating.  Crazy!

Jace turned 4!

On Jace's birthday, his Aunts Michelle, Christa, and Tammy were still here in the morning so that was really fun for him.  After we drove them to the airport, Jace went to joy school.  Then we went to chick-fil-a for lunch- yum!  When Kenna got home I let Jace open his presents since Scott was out of town for the day.  The kids played all afternoon so nicely with his new toys!  For dinner we went to McDonald's (Jace's choice) and Stacy and I picked up some Dions!  We came home and had cupcakes and skyped grandma.  Jace had a great day!  A few days later Stacy took him to the mall to spoil him.  Here's a funny story for ya... Stacy and her friend Amber wanted to go in the Yankee candle store with Jace.  After a few minutes Jace says, "I have to go to the bathroom REALLY bad!!"  So Stacy leaves quickly to take him and once they were out of the store, he says "I don't really need to go."  The little stinker!  He was making an excuse to get out of there!  Funny boy.

new fun toys:

toy story legos 

spiderman helicopter

spiderman web shooter

book

Spiderman figure

Remote controlled Hummer

We love our little Jace so much.  He's such a sweet little guy.  Here are some random facts about him:

*he loves to snuggle with mom (love!)

*he often says "that is so great!"

*he LOVES his baby sister and tries to play with her all the time.  He especially loves if she laughs at him

*he loves wrestling

*he LOVES friends

(side note- the other day he asks me "I want lot's of friends!  mom, how do you make new friends?")

*He is excellent at figuring out how things work

*he is constantly building things around the house.  Pretty much every day I find things he has tied together.  He likes to tie his toys to things and has figured out how to make knots.  If there is a rope around Jace will find it and tie it to something.

*he tells me often "mom you are so cute!"

*he's still my little shopping buddy- I do most of my shopping with him while Kenna is at school and he is always SO well behaved and helps me pick things out.

*He's still a little fashionista- he is very picky about his clothes (all t-shirts and jeans!) and LOVES when I buy him new ones

*He always says "that's cool!"

*He loves to play outside- mostly riding his bike, skateboarding, playing on the tramp, or playing with a ball in some way

*he is very sensitive and gets very upset whenever I'm mad at him.  I call him my sensitive tough guy cause that's what he is.  He acts tough a lot of the time, but deep down is a sensitive little dude!

*whenever he gets hurt he is so tough about it.  If tears start to flow he tries to wipe them away as fast as he can and moves on with life.

nicknames:

Jace face

Jacey

Donavan (middle name)

Donny (Scott hates when I call him that!)

I just don't know what I would do without my Jace.  I love his little personality so much- it brings me so much joy every day.  I'm so lucky to be his mama!

Cami- 4 month stats

I took Cami in for her 4 month check up a couple weeks ago and she is 15 lbs 6 oz. (75%) and 25 inches long. (50-75%) and her head is 41.3 cm (50)%.

Cami is now:

making lots of cute noises including a new gurgling sound

sucks on her bottom lip

drools a lot

has rubbed off the back of her hair

laughs at things the kids do

inconsistent sleeper- some nights she'll go 9 hours, other nights she's up every 3!

in 6-9 month clothes, size 3 diapers

very ticklish on her belly

has hints of strawberry in her hair

has had a cough for like 2 weeks- sad

likes to sleep swaddled with a paci and something touching her face

Plays with toys and likes to eat them

Nicknames:

Cammers

lovey dovey (Jace calls her this most!)

Cams

St. Johns, AZ

My 7 sister-in-laws and I took a trip to Arizona last week to see Grandma Lee.  She is 92 and my sister-in-law Michelle was anxious to do some family history work there, so we all decided to go!

When we first got there we went to eat lunch at the senior center!  It was pretty fun!  Then we hung out at Aunt Cheryl's house for the rest of the day just hanging out and talking.

cousins meeting for the first time!  They are about a month apart, but technically only 1 1/2 weeks difference.  

The first night we made molasses taffy with grandma.  YUM!  We also had some aunts and uncles and cousins over and played some games and talked till late!  Then of course all the sisters stayed up even later talking- till 2:30!  So fun!

The next day we hung out with more cousins and aunts and uncles and had a good time chatting at Uncle Howard's house.  That night we went out to eat and then played games with grandma.  She is so good at playing games and gave us all a run for our money!

my cute sisters

the next day grandma took us around St. Johns and showed us where she grew up and went to school- stuff like that.  Then we went to the cemetery to see her family member's graves.

grandpa's headstone

grandma in front of her cute house

I'm so glad we got to go see grandma.  She is so amazing at 92.  She is so sharp for her age!  She has a great memory and always remembers me and knows all about our family and what we are up to.  I hope I'm that amazing when I'm older!  I'm so glad we got to take that trip.  It was such a fun experience for me to see grandma and spend some quality time with the sisters!  I love my in-laws!