Mommy's Little Helper

We had a bake sale for our MOPS group the other week and little Taeya wanted to help Mommy make sugar cookies. Here, you can see her holding her own little measuring cup. I'll help you Mommy! (um, can I have more cookie dough while you're at it!?)

MMmmmm! Once Taeya had a taste, she kept pulling up on my leg or the cupboard and saying "Mo' (More)". She sure loved the taste of the dough.

What a good little helper I have. I'm sure we'll have lots more baking days together in the future!

Our Little Snow Bunny

Living in Colorado, snow is one of the blessings that we get each winter. I really wanted to take Taeya out to experience snow for the first time this winter. I convinced Phil to join us for our brief adventure outside.

Hanging out with Daddy.

I placed her on the snowbank and she had fun studying the snow and trying to figure out what all this white stuff was.

Enjoying a moment in the snow. (She didn't enjoy much of her first time playing in the snow!)

Walking with Mommy. This was Taeya's favorite part-checking out the evergreen tree.

Look Mom!

Okay, I'm not having fun sledding. Get me out of here!

As you can see, she didn't enjoy sledding very much. This was BEFORE she got tipped out in the snow. Right after this, the sled hit a small bump and dumped her on her side in the snow. Poor kid.

Family shot.

Taking her first taste of snow. She didn't quite know what to think of it.

Again, not super excited to be in the sled. Maybe next year will be more fun.

After we got inside, she told me all about her sledding experience...
...and then she had to call some friends and let them know how it went.

In the Blogging Mood

That's right friends! I've been blogging lately. I've been posting a lot of new, delicious recipes over on my Everyday Meals blog. Check them out when you have time. I have plans to add more of my favorites soon so keep checking back for more or become a follower to be updated when there are new posts. If you like cooking and have some good recipes to share, I would love to have you post recipes to my Everyday Meals blog. Just follow the directions at the top of the side-bar and you will be invited to post.

I'll be doing some posts here later this week as well. I'm almost caught up on posting about our VA trip. Here's a sneak preview of one of the posts I'm planning on posting. Can you tell it's from CO?

A Personal Goal

One of my good friends here in CO asked me last month on January 21st if I'd like to do a 10K run with her. I said, "Sure, what's involved. How far is a 10K?" That was the beginning of our conversation and that night I started running. I've been a member of a gym since August (I joined so that I could teach my swim lessons in their pool). However, I never made use of the actual gym since Taeya isn't big enough for their childcare (has to be over a year AND walking...she qualifies for the first now but is still not walking). Since the gym is a town away from where I live, it made it more challenging to want to go workout.

Anyways, since Kristi asked me to run the 10K and I agreed to do it with her, I HAVE been running and the biggest plus is that I'm finally getting in better shape than I've been in for a very long time. I have a long ways to go but I'm excited about this challenge and glad I have a friend to encourage me along the way.

We'll be running in the Boulder, Boulder on Memorial Day and for those of you who might ask, a 10K is the equivalent to approximately 6.2 miles. I used to do cross country in high school but I don't know if I ever ran 6 miles all at once. I wouldn't consider myself a natural runner. However, I'm motivated and I'm excited about participating.

Three cheers to my first race!

Mischievous Munchkin

I always used to be able to let Taeya play with and chew on my wallet. That is, until she discovered this...

Little stinker!

Now, all she wants to do when she sees my wallet is open it so she can take the money out!

VA Aquarium

One of the days we were in VA, we took Taeya to the aquarium. She really enjoyed looking at all the fish and other animals. It was a fun thing to do on a drizzly winter day.

Here's the seal that Phil had fun playing with through the tank.
He'd move his hand back and forth and the seal would dance, following the movement of his hand.

We enjoyed walking down to the river although it was too cold to stay outside for long. We saw two bald headed eagles in the trees while at the aquarium.

Taeya, pretending to be a little sailor.

Mommy and Taeya got eaten by a shark.

Uh oh, I guess it swallowed Mommy.

Family picture by the fish tank.

Taeya really enjoyed all the fish and turtles swimming around. She tried to touch a lot of them and could have stayed there all day watching them.

Watching the sea turtle come for a visit.

Mommy and Taeya pet sting rays. Taeya's little arms weren't long enough to reach them but she enjoyed splashing in the water and watching them swim beneath her fingertips.

A Fun Post

A friend of mine has this on her blog and I thought it sounded like fun. So this is how it works: The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a handmade gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise. There's a small catch...You knew there would be didn't you? Post this on your blog then come back and leave a comment, telling me you're in. Fun, huh? Remember, only the first 3 comments receive a gift.

Hmm...we'll see if I can get at least 3 comments. Lately, I've been getting almost none. :(

A Bit of Fun in Virginia

When I was in VA, one of the places we visited is the land of the large mouse. Yup, Chuck-E-Cheese. Phil's sister, brother, Taeya and I went for lunch one afternoon and it was fun to see Taeya's reaction to everything around her. This was her first visit to Chuck-E-Cheese and knowing her father, I'm sure it won't be her last.
Taeya was a little nervous about meeting Chuck-E (how do you spell that? Chucky, Chuckee?) but she gave him a little pat and didn't mind the introduction too much.
This is Taeya's face as she watched the Make-Believe-Band play onstage.

This is a fun little game we taught to Taeya. Look Mom, I can do it myself!

She enjoyed watching Aunt Sarah catch the bumblebees.

And she especially liked driving the fire truck. Possible future fire(wo)man?

Okay, this isn't Chuck-E-Cheese. Uncle Timmy likes to hang out in his room. Taeya had fun going in to visit him. He was a little indifferent to her but she enjoyed visiting him and stealing borrowing his favorite toys if she could get her hands on them. He tried valiently to keep them away from her grabby sweet little hands.

Taeya's Favorite Non-Edible Food

I was prepping dinner and Taeya was being very quiet in the living room. I went to see what she was doing and this is what I found.

This kid LOVES to eat tissues. She will pull them out of the trash (gross!) and eat them if I'm not fast enough to head her off. She enjoys eating paper too but that takes a bit more work than the tissues. Thankfully, these were clean ones. She's so funny because she knows when she's eating (or has) something she's not supposed to. She typically jumps a little when she sees me and then she hands it up to me with this innocent look on her face as if to say, "Look what I found for you mom."

Our Virginia Trip

Here are a few random pictures of our time in Virginia. I have more from our time there but here's a start. They're in no particular order.


Late Christmas Eve I received a call from my Great Uncle Dan & Aunt Rita. They were calling to wish us a Merry Christmas and they were in Williamsburg just 45 minutes away from where I was staying! After Christmas, they were planning on staying in a hotel just 20 minutes away on the beach. We made plans to get together and a few days after Christmas, we ended up going out to the beach where they took us all out to dinner and then we walked along the boardwalk and saw the beautiful Christmas light show. It was so fun to get to spend some time with them and for them to meet Taeya and Phil's family for the first time.

Taeya was having lots of fun playing.

Aunt Rita really enjoyed holding Taeya and Taeya took a liking to her.

Since Phil and I missed celebrating our 4th anniversary together since I was in CA, we celebrated while we were in VA and Grandma and Grandpa babysat. We went to The Melting Pot and it was absolutely amazing! It was a special treat for both of us and we had such a sweet time together reminiscing over the years that we've been married and dating.

Aunt Sarah was sick one day and sleeping on the couch. Taeya went over to visit and started patting her. It was so sweet.

We played a lot of Settlers on this glass Table. Taeya enjoyed walking underneath it and trying to grab things through it. She found that it was tougher than she thought it would be.

We played LOTS of Settlers. So much fun!

Phil watched Taeya at the chapel Grandpa works at while I went to get some errands done on base. He taught her how to play the drums which she really enjoyed. The sweetest thing though was that he said he walked with her down the aisle of the church and it almost made him cry thinking of when he'll have to walk her down the aisle someday if she gets married. Isn't that so sweet?

While we were at the Navy base, I found a New Year's hat for Taeya to play with on New Year's Eve.

Where am I going? Ta-da!

She's so stylish

After church one day, Grandma, Taeya and I took a few pictures so I had pictures of her in her pretty dress. She was interested in a chime hanging nearby.

I think Taeya's face is so cute here