A trip to Dallas

This little baby boy and I got to take off for Dallas to spend the weekend with my best friend, Janelle Willis and her cute family. She just had her third baby and turned 30, so for her birthday gift her husband flew me out for a girls' weekend.

I must say it was so nice to only be in charge of one child! I tried to earn my keep by cleaning and helping out as much as possible, but is sure was wonderful to sleep in while Edison played in his pack-n-play and take time to do my hair, slowly. I enjoyed every day of this trip!

It's amazing how you can pick up where you left off with your dearest friends. Even though we are both now thirty, and have SEVEN kids between the two of us, some things are just the same...

This new toothbrush was Edison's favorite toy the entire trip.

 We also had the chance to meet up with Angela who was one of our sophomore roommates. It was so nice to be together again and catch up. AND we got manicures and pedicures.

I enjoyed Janelle's littles while I was there--Jack, Lily, and this brand new one, Elle.

I must say that after four days away, I was excited to come home. This lovely note was waiting for me from my sweet Hazel.

Thanks to Janelle and Keith for a fantastic trip!

My Sweet Valentines

 

For our SEVENTH anniversary, we spent a fun weekend with some of our very best friends, the DeGraff's at the Zermott in Midway.  This was our first time without Edison and we got to sleep in! What a luxury. We enjoyed the hot tub outside until literally twenty 16 year old boys jumped in with us. Then we played games and sipped on four-years expired sparkling cider that had the most negative effect on poor Lisa. My favorite quote from her that night:

"You know, it smells really bad but it actually tastes really good."

 The next day David and I went to the shops along Main St. in Park City and just enjoyed being together, kid-free. Didn't spend a dime except on some fabulous fudge and a caramel apple at this yummy sweet shoppe. It was a wonderful (and cold) day.

 We've started teaching about family history since our goal is to have a family name ready for the temple by mid-March. This is a matching game that Vicki made for us for Christmas that has short stories about members of the Phipps' family.

 This sweet baby wasn't put to bed on time obviously and crashed right here on the kitchen floor while holding on to a toothbrush (his favorite thing).

 Lottie brought butterfly Valentines to Joy School. Cutie Tootie. Hazel said that her classmates loved her stellar constellation tubes.

 We love celebrating holidays in our home. We had some simple decorations, heart-shaped french toast and a small surprise for everyone. 

 We have this great tradition of surprising Gram on Valentine's Day. Because Charlotte had thrown up the night before and we were getting on the road that afternoon, Vicki came to us this year. We surprised her with all three girls under a sheet saying, "Booooo!" with a sign that said, "Life would be SCARY without Gram."

  And then we abandoned David, who had just broken his foot on Tuesday night at church basketball, to head down to my mom's for a nice little getaway.

 Got our hair cut....

 Went swimming at a nice indoor pool.

 Oh my goodness, we are so blessed.

 Fed the cows...

 Summer and Daniel came down from Provo and visited with us.

 

 This girl. She found a pink cowboy hat, a prairie dog that Bradley had bought for target practice and an empty jelly belly jar, and she was good to go.

Happy Valentines!

February....still winter.

Winter is in full swing here in Ogden. I think February might be one of the hardest months for moms. Thank goodness for Valentines.

 Activity time with PlayDoh.

 And thank goodness for the Treehouse museum. Even though I have SO many pictures of these girls on these horses (and the bull), I still can't help myself.

 I pulled out the girls' Valentine's mailboxes so they could leave notes for one another. Here's one that Hazel left in Charlotte's mailbox.

(These are my fancy new heels my mom gave me for Christmas. They happen to be Mary Janes. She found them!)

As a REALLY nice surprise to me, my husband got a babysitter for literally half the day and took me out to a play called The 39 Steps. After the play, we stopped by City Creek since I still have never been! I really love shopping with David, even though we didn't spend a dime. We love the exact same things and it's so nice to be married to a man with a good eye.

 My sweet girls have been working really hard on doing their morning order routine every morning, for which they get paid one "chore coin" that equals a dollar. They also have been doing their zones on Saturday and so they had acquired a nice little savings. After setting aside their tithing and savings, I took them to Walmart to put their spending money to good use.

Charlotte bought a small gumball machine and a Valentine's bear for Eloise. Hazel bought a little doll.

 I really enjoyed making our Valentines for Hazel's kindergarten class this year. I wanted to do something that she could mostly do on her own with my help. I saw these constellation tubes online and decided that we could make tiny versions that said "You are STELLAR."

 Is this girl used to posing for the camera or what?

 This sweet boy has started waving, he'll start singing along with you if you sing, he dances every time I press the lion's nose, and he's a little bit of a drama queen when he doesn't get his way. He signs "all done" when he's finished eating and tries to say, "all done!" He follows me everywhere and prefers me over his dad :). He is tough. He loves hairbrushes, toothbrushes, and anything silky. I even had to tie Hazel's pink silk cape into a knot so that he could carry it along with him and not get it caught under his legs. I love him.

 Valentine's Day letter bugs! We did this sorting activity with colors, size, and uppercase/lowercase letters.

 Eloise is such a wonderful two year old. I mean she does the typical two year old things like write on my couch with a hot pink permanent marker she found in my desk and write on the walls with crayon. But she loves to pick up, place things carefully in a neat row, help me unload the dishwasher, and communicate as clearly as possible with you. She is turning into a lovely little lady.

 We love activity time. I know I'll miss these mornings.

Yep, I got attacked by the V-day bugs too.

Phippsite Nite

On Monday night, we started a new tradition that is part of our family goal of being "obedient." On the last Monday of every month, we will act out the Book of Mormon story that we read together throughout the month. We've been stuck on the story of King Noah and Abinadi for a few months now, so our kids knew it quite well!

Wicked King Noah

A wickedly cute priest in King Noah's court. She was in charge of bringing Abinadi in to the king, which she did dutifully.

Abinadi, with attitude.

Alma, the repentant priest.

King Noah and his priest Alma drinking and being merry.

 King Noah's priest escorting Abinadi into the court (with a curious onlooker in the background).

And the whole clan together!

We thought we'd try a new idea to inspire our girls to be kind, obedient, and brave (our motto). I found these trophies online and had them engraved to match the values we're trying to instill in these little ones...

 Charlotte wasn't happy with the eagle tonight.

 After two weeks, our idea is working well with this little one. She is being extra good to her sisters and I believe it's because she's had our eye on this Obedient trophy.