Massive Picture Dump part 1

So I went through the pictures on my mother-in-law's computer from last year. Evidently, she is a much better rememberer-to-take-photos. Here are my favorites from last year:
May

Weston's birthday was in May. He got a trampoline - it was a big hit!

Kaity's Spring dance recital. She has so much fun with dance!

Mid-performance. Also, I made all 30ish pairs of those pants!

Me and the monkey.

Miss Becky, our excellent dance teacher.

At some point we had family pictures. The big one of everybody wasn't so great, so I didn't even think to see what the individual ones looked like. Ours turned out super cute, though!

Silliness!

 

A great pic of Nana and Kaitybug!

July
More cute pictures of the Toomer reunion in Heber. Also, Thomas had a birthday party!

Duck pond at the carnival.

Catching bubbles. I look at this picture and see my cute baby. Then I turn around and see my big girl. So sad how fast she is growing!

Handsome husband manning the prize table.

They had face painting by some awesome artists!

Kaity got a rainbow butterfly with glitter! By the end of the day she had rubbed most of the butterfly off but the head remained as a black dot for the rest of the week!

Three cousins listening to bedtime stories.

 

Running through the sprinklers at Nana's house for Thomas' 5th birthday.

More cheesy smiles.

Super cute!

Thomas, Kaity and Weston. Excited for cake!

 

The little artist

Here are some of my favorite pieces of art from the past year:

I drew the cat, but Kaity glued on the gems. One fell off the other ear, but I thought her placement was rather artistic. Nov 2013

Painting in August. There were many birthday cakes, but this one of our guinea pigs was so cute!

This is a side view of the guinea pigs, from June.

Last March, almost a year ago. These are the Disney Princesses. Left to right are Belle, Aurora, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Snow White. The smiley faces at the top are how she feels about each princess.

After her cousin Weston got a trampoline for his birthday last May, Kaity drew a picture of him jumping on it. I especially like the detail of the netting on the sides.

And finally, her Santa letter. We printed pictures of the things she wanted online, then I told her she could pick only 4.

February crafting fun!

Kaity is always wanting to do crafts! Add to this the excitement she has for Valentine's day (it's a holiday about pink and hearts) and we have a kid who is asking for Valentine's crafts daily. (Since, like December). So I've searched the internet and put together a fun set of ideas to do as we get ready for Valentine's Day at our house.

Feb 1: Groundhog dot-to-dot. Switch out snow books for Valentine's books.
 - We have books that coincide with each holiday in a basket in our living room. It helps Kaity to not get bored with our reading selection and it also helps us get in the mood for the holidays.
 - Groundhog sheet found here: Preschool Alphabet
 - Also, I'll be putting up this cute subway art for the holiday: Cathy Zielske's Blog And this Bright Idea from our church's children's magazine: The Friend. And then I will find some cute subway art for Valentine's, too.
 - I got little mail boxes from the Target dollar spot and we'll be using these valentines from Our Best Bites throughout the next few weeks to send notes and treats to each other.

Feb 2: Groundhog Treasure Hunt also from: Preschool Alphabet, we will definitely have a groundhog treat bag at the end.  I think I'll make some clues for an outdoor hunt, though. But in case of bad weather, we'll have the indoor ones on standby.

Feb 3: Make a Handprint/Heart tree. We'll be tracing our hands on paper and cutting them out. Then we'll use heart stamps and different colored ink to make the leaves.

Feb 4: Valentine's worksheets from Over the Big Moon

Feb 5: Heart attack the kitchen! Write things we love on hearts and then tape them all over the kitchen. I'll be using these pre-printed hearts from Over the Big Moon.

Feb 6: Using paint chips from the store (the free card in the paint section), we'll make these heart mosaics from Putti's World.

Feb 7: Make heart shaped suncatchers with melted crayons from Crayola.

Feb 8: Heart shaped chandelier (or dangle-y things) from Hands on as We Grow.

Feb 9: Rice Crispy Hearts. Make rice crispy treats shaped like hearts. If we're extra adventurous that day, we'll dip them in white chocolate and then pipe sayings onto them. Like these ones found at Visiting Teaching.net (Don't eat all of them, you're going to be using them later in the week!)

Feb 10: Make and mail Valentines to Grandparents. I loved the mad lib and the template for a baby one found at Over the Big Moon. (Can you tell I really like these guys?)

Feb 11: We're going to read My Heart is Like a Zoo and then pick a few of our favorite animals to make at home.

Feb 12: We'll be making valentines at home (with craft paper, those paper lace doilies, and stickers) to take to preschool for our class tomorrow!

Feb 13: Today we'll have a Valentine's party at preschool, and likely dance class. So after that, we'll go shopping for any last minute needs for tomorrow's big dinner.

Feb 14: The Day! We'll be delivering valentine's to anybody who wasn't in our preschool class (including the ladies I visit teach and some great neighbors - this is where the extra Rice Crispies come in from the 9th). The rest of the day we'll be making a romantic dinner to share with the family. The following will be included:
 - Love Potion (probably with Jones Soda)
 - Bacon Bouquet (yes, Jared will think I'm crazy, but that's what this holiday is about, right? Being crazy in love)
 - Heart-Shaped Roasted Potatoes (I found the cutest mini cookie-cutters from Fred Meyer)
 - I'll also probably use the cookie cutters for other things, like cheese in a salad, and cucumbers.
 - This Minute to Win It idea for a placemat.

Rockin Tunes

So, my iPod touch died. Since I have 20+ GB of music alone and I'm now down to my 4GB shuffle, I've finally made a list of my absolute favorite songs. A few of my roommates had one in college called "Songs I actually want to listen to when I hit 'random.'" It made me think of them when I put this together. Kaity, however, named the list:

• A*Teens - Can't Help Falling in Love
• ABBA - Dancing Queen; S.O.S. (Although I love the movie Mamma Mia, Pierce Brosnan should not sing).
• ADELE - Skyfall
• Alanis Morissette - Ironic
• Alison Krauss - When You Say Nothing At All
• All-American Rejects - Gives You Hell
• Mamma Mia Cast - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
• Anna Nalick - Breathe
• Barbara Streisand & Barry Gibb - Guilty
• Barbara Streisand & Vince Gill - If You Ever Leave Me
• The Beach Boys - Don't Worry Baby; Wouldn't it Be Nice
• The Bee Gees - One; For Whom the Bell Tolls; This is Where I Came In; Wedding Day; Man in the Middle; Deja Vu; Embrace
• Blackhawk - That's Just About Right
• Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart
• Boston - More Than a Feeling
• Bryan White - Love is the Right Place
• Buddy Holly - Peggy Sue
• Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth
• Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe
• Carly Simon - Nobody Does It Better; Coming Around Again
• Carole King - So Far Away; Where You Lead; Now and Forever
• The Carpenters - Goodbye to Love
• Carrie Underwood & Rascal Flatts - God Blessed the Broken Road
• Cassey Golie - Living Out Loud
• Muppets - Scrooge
• Celine Dion & the Bee Gees - Immortality
• Chairlift - Bruises
• Clint Black - When I Said I Do; Like the Rain
• Colbie Caillat - Fallin' For You; Bubbly
• Coldplay - Fix You; Viva la Vida
• Collin Raye - I Can Still Feel You
• Corinne Bailey Rae - Put Your Records On
• The Corrs - Breathless; Radio; Irresistible; So Young
• The Cranberries - Dreams
• Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time; Girls Just Want to Have Fun
• Dan Seals - Bop
• Dave Brubeck - Take Five
• Dave Loggins - Please Come to Boston
• David Cassidy - I Think I Love You
• Newsies - Seize the Day
• Dean Martin - Return to Me
• Deana Carter - We Danced Anyway; How Do I Get There?
• Debra Fothering Band - I Need Thee Every Hour
• Scrubs Cast - Guy Love
• Elton John - Love Builds a Garden; Your Song; I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blue; Something About the Way You Look Tonight
• Emerson Hart - My Generation
• Etta James - At Last
• Faith Hill - It Matters to Me
• Feist - 1 2 3 4
• Five for Fighting - 100 Years; If God Made You; Superman; Disneyland
• The King & I Soundtrack - March of the Siamese Children; Shall We Dance
• The Fray - She Is; Over My Head; How to Save a Life
• Garth Brooks - Callin' Baton Rouge (my namesong); Shameless; I Don't Have to Wonder; When There's No One Around
• Gary Allan - It Would Be You
• George Strait - Lead On
• Glee Cast - Barely Breathing; Bye Bye Bye; Chasing Pavements; Constant Craving; Cough Syrup; Cry; Dog Days Are Over; Don't Speak; Edge of Glory; Flashdance; Forget You; Get It Right; Give Your Heart a Break; Borderline; Like a Virgin; Like a Prayer; Take a Bow; No Air; Don't Rain on My Parade; I Dreamed a Dream; Poker Face; The Only Exception; One of Us; Teenage Dream; Firework; Sing; Rolling in the Deep; Pretending; Here'st to Us; Hit Me With Your Best Shot; I Feel Pretty; It's All Coming Back to Me Now; Jar of Hearts; La Isla Bonita; Loser Like Me; Mean; Mine; Never Say Never; Next To Me; Old Time Rock & Roll; Perfect; Say; Shake It Out; Singing in the Rain; Somebody That I Used to Know; Take Care of Yourself; This Is the New Year; A Thousand Years; Torn; Wannabe; We are Young; We Found Love; We Got the Beat; What Doesn't Kill You; Without You; Wrecking Ball (some of these I prefer the Glee versions and some not - but I don't have the originals)
• Goo Goo Dolls - Slide; Iris
• Greg Simpson - Come As You Are
• Grey's Anatomy Cast - Chasing Cars; The Story
• Huey Lewis - Once Upon a Time in New York City; Power of Love
• Idina Menzel - Let it Go; Brave; Defying Gravity; For Good
• Ingrid Michaelson - Be OK
• Jackson Browne - The Pretender; You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
• Jason Mraz - I'm Yours; Lucky
• Jewel - Standing Still
• Jimmy Buffett - Little Miss Magic
• Johnny Cash - Hurt
• John Schmidt - Love Story Meets Viva la Vida; Jessica's Theme; Peanuts Medly
• A Walk to Remember Soundtrack - Someday We'll Know
• Keane - Everybody's Changing
• Keith Urban - Days Go By; Making Memories Of Us; Tonight I Wanna Cry; What About Me; Blue Jeans; Jeans On; You Look Good in My Shirt; Raining on Sunday; Romeo's Tune; Once in a Lifetime; You'll Think of Me (live)
• Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway; Since U Been Gone; My Life Would Suck Without You
• Kenny Loggins - Footloose
• Frozen Soundtrack - For the First Time in Forever; Love Is an Open Door; Do You Want to Build a Snowman
• Lady Antebellum - Need You Know
• Phineas & Ferb Soundtrack - Disco Miniature Golfing Queen; You Snuck Your Way Right Into My Heart; Rubber Bands, Rubber Balls
• Lazlo Bane - Superman
• LeAnn Rimes - Probably Wouldn't Be This Way
• Letters to Cleo - I Want You to Want Me
• Lifehouse - Hanging By a Moment
• Lila McCann - With You
• Linda Davis & Randy Travis - Make it Through
• Linkin Park - Shadow of the Day
• The Lumineers - Ho Hey
• Mandy Moore - Cry; Only Hope; It's Gonna Be Love
• Martina McBride - Valentine; I Love You; My Baby Loves Me
• Marty Stuart - Hillbilly Rock
• Matchbox20 - I'm Not Crazy
• Matthew Morrison - A Boy Can Dream
• Meryl Streep - Mamma Mia; The Winner Takes it All
• Michael Buble - Haven't Met You Yet
• Miley Cyrus - Party in the USA
• Minnie Driver - Home
• The Monkees - Listen to the Band
• Natalie Cole - When I Fall in Love
• Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten
• Neil Diamond - If You Know What I Mean; I Am...I Said
• Hairspray Cast - You Can't Stop the Beat
• Norah Jones - Come Away With Me
• Olivia Newton-John - Xanadu
• Owl City - Fireflies; When Can I See You AGain?
• P!nk - Blow Me
• Pam Tillis - Maybe It Was Memphis; Let That Pony Run; Mi Vida Loca; I Said a Prayer
• The Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be
• Ray Charles - Georgia On My Mind
• Reba McEntire - If I Were a Boy; One Honest Heart; Forever Love; When You're Not Trying To; Because of You (with Kelly Clarkson); The Heart Won't Lie (With Vince Gill)
• The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody; You've lost That Loving Feeling
• Robbie Williams & Brad Paisley - Collision of Worlds
• Robin Gibb - Oh! Darling
• Rolling Stones - You Can't Always Get What You Want
• Roxette - It Must Have Been Love
• Roy Orbison - Pretty Woman
• Ryan Shupe - Baldy; Dream Big; All I Need
• Sara Evans & Vince Gill - No Place That Far
• Scott Bakula - Somewhere in the Night; Medley from Man of La Mancha
• Semisonic - Closing Time; FNT
• Shania Twain - Forever And For Always; From This Moment On (with Bryan White)
• Sherrie Austin - One Solitary Tear
• Sheryl Crow - Real Gone
• Smashmouth - I'm a Believer
• Soul Asylum - Stand Up and Be Strong
• Stuart Damon & Lesley Ann Warren - Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful
• Susan Ashton & Gary Chapman - In My Life
• Hercules Soundtrack - I Won't Say I'm In Love
• Terri Clark - Now that I Found You
• Third Eye Blind - Jumper
• Train - Drops of Jupiter; Hey, Soul Sister
• Danny Kaye - Lullaby In Ragtime
• Vertical Horizon - Best I Ever Had
• Weezer - Islands in the Sun
• The Wonders - I Need You
• Zooey Deschanel - So Long
• 3 Doors Down - Kryptonite
• The 5 Browns - Rhapsody in Blue
• Some Artist that I Never Did Figure Out But it's my favorite version - Hallelujah

There you go, it's fairly random, but Kaity and I love it.