Tickling the Ivories

We got a piano about a month ago. 

{thank you craigslist!}

We've been wanting one so I can brush up on my playing, so Ty can learn more than the first 3 bars of the only song he knows how to play, and so Mckinlay (and eventually Eliza) could take lessons.

Mckinlay started lessons 2 weeks ago:

Impressed?  

We think she's pretty cool.

And funny about the whole matching-striped-shirt-thing, it really does happen a lot.  Not intentionally either.  Like the other day when all 3 us of show up at the doctor's office in slip on shoes, the same type of jeans, a t-shirt, a zip up hooded sweatshirt (in varying shades of purple), and a pony-tail.  It was actually kind of embarrassing.  Apparently it shows who buys my girls clothes and dresses them in the mornings.

"Like mother like daughter."
But, like, for reals.

Walk this way!

Liza is 16 months old and she is definitely a girl who likes to do things on her own time table.

Things like, oh I don't know -- walking.

For the past few months this is how she's moved around the house:

Pretty adorable right?  But she's worn holes in all her jeans.  Even her new pair.  And that is not so adorable.  So we've been pretty anxious for her to start walking on her feet.

{What is it about turning on the camera and my voice 

raising about 3 octaves?}

Looks like we're {finally} on our way to 

hole-less jeans!  

Yippie!

{sorry about the awesome video quality}

Peek-A-Boo

 Look what I found peeking out in the front yard!!

Keep it up Spring!

And since we're talking about peek-a-boo...

Looks like Liza's found her new fave hideout.

St. Patricks Day

If you haven't noticed, we like a good celebration around here.  Holidays and parties are getting even more fun now that I have a little helper who wants in on the action.

Yesterday was spent prepping for St. Patrick's Day.  

We made matching shirts for the girls,a hanging rainbow, rainbow cupcakes

and someone spent a good half hour mixing:

 I told her after we all went to bed little leprechauns would sneak in to our house and leave us a pot of gold under our rainbow.  She was pretty interested in them and decided if she left wet paint and a piece of paper by the pot, we'd get to see their foot prints. Genius right?  

{She was so excited about all this.  She called my mom and said "Happy Jo, let me tell you about this leprechaun business."}

 We left the paint and paper out and lo and behold, they left a little leprechaun trail!  

They also left a rainbow trail from Mckinlay's door to the treasure -- A My Little Pony for each girl and a bucket full of gold {Rolos anyone?  We have them coming out of our ears!}

For breakfast we had green pancakes,

 which were a BIG hit!

Then the girls got to put on their new shirts.

And really, today IS a lucky day.  The sun is shining and it's 60 degrees!

Best St. Patrick's Day ever!

{I'm attempting a traditional corn beef and cabbage dinner tonight.  I'm not a big fan, but Ty is.  If anything I can fill up on rainbow cupcakes for dessert.  Or there are always Rolos.} 

Yum.

I made this for dinner a couple nights ago.
The whole fam liked it.

Coconut Chicken with Apricot Sauce

Yield: 4 servings

1 egg

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

4 boneless chicken breasts

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup apricot preserves

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Preheat the oven to 400˚F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

*Next time I make this I'll dip the chicken in plain yogurt instead of egg.  It came out a teensy bit dry, and i think yogurt will do the trick.*

Photo & Recipe found here via Pinterest.

Don't know what Pinterest is?

Click here.

You're welcome.  

But warning -- not only is it genius, but v.v. addicting.

Baby Girl's growing up

We gave Mckinlay a piggy bank, along with a job chart, for her birthday at the beginning of the year.  We figured she's old enough to start getting a little allowance.  Also we thought it would be the best way to teach her about tithing.  

{On a side note, the first week she paid her tithing, I've never seen a little girl so excited to go to church and see the Bishop.  She grinned the entire time she walked up to the stand to hand him the envelope.  Then she sat down and said "I just gave the Bishop my money for Jesus." Yes.  My heart did melt.}

She really wanted "Barbie as the Island Princess."  Every Target trip we'd check the movie section to make sure it was still there.  There was only one copy left. 

Once she had the money saved up we --

It was a proud Mommy moment.

even if I can't get "Here on my Island the sea's say hello, dolphins are waiting where ever I go..." out of my head

Swimming in a Storm.

Back in the beginning of February Ty randomly had two days off in the middle of the week.  Those two days happened to be during the BIG snow storm that hit most of the country {did it get you too?}.

We decided to try and out run the storm and head to Kalahari {a local indoor water park/resort hotel}.  

We're so glad we did.  

There is nothing like doing this:

When it looks like this:

{Come visit us and we'll all go together!  

It was fun!  

Like, really really fun!}