ten on ten {march}

So I can't believe that March 10th has already come and gone! Sorry it's a few days late, it's been topsy-turvey-crazy around here. While it might be a little depressing that spring is just 10 days away and our city is still covered in snow, we can still embrace all of our wonderful blessings, like spending some time with an adorable little girl, who is almost 2! She certainly has grown from the last time I blogged about her.
Fresh strawberries and starbucks for breakfast, does it get any better?For lunch I enjoyed a black bean, turkey, wrap filled with peppers, salsa, and cucumbers. Found the idea in a magazine and added it to my cookbook, which has been steadily growing.I have been busy creating in the kitchen this week, and Thursday was no different, so this ten on ten has a theme of the foods I've been creating. That we had Chicken Marengo in a red white sauce with....
whole wheat bow tie pasta....
and steamed broccoli.

Not the best shot, but this is Jackson's new hobby: watching the toilet swirl around. I think my sister and I wasted a few gallons of water entertaining him last night.

babies babies everywhere

It seems that every where I look, babies fill my frame of vision. While I have been working quite a few more hours this month at the day care, I am referencing to the plethora of little nudgers being born around me. Just in the past 5 weeks I know of 4 babies being brought into this world and at least 5 other expectant mothers.

With all these thought rushing though my head I couldn't help but do a little searching through the endless amount of cute that so many etsy creators have put together. Just encase you wanted to do a little exploring of your own I put together some of my favorites. Wouldn't these made the cutest gifts?

1. LivvySue Kimono Top Flower Fields
2. Crochet Baby Booties
3. Grey Flower Cluster Baby One Piece
4. Organic Cotton Baby Wrap
5. Guitar Baby Gift Set
6. Changing Set
7. Baby Closet Dividers
8. Diana Camera Retro Toy Girl's Photography Pink Bodysuit
9. Dainty White Triple Flower Headband

meant to be

it's moments like these, where I know I am meant to be a mom

you know fall is here....

:when the weather is starting to cool
:when halloween costumes are starting to arrive in the stores {who am I kidding, they have already filled the stores}
:when I grab my mittens on the way out the door
:when the stores are filling with sweaters and the summer outfits are pushed to the back racks
:when the kids are back in school
:when soup and tea sounds so delightful while watching your favorite movie curled up on the couch
:when apple orchards are ready to be picked and turned into apple pie, jars or apple sauce, cider, apple crisp, and caramel apples

so that's what I did today. I visited the Eau Claire apple orchard and it was delightful mix of familiar fall smells and new fall experiences. I went with a friend and her two adorable kids. here are just a few of the 80+ shots that I snapped.these are the treasures I went home with by the end of the afternoon: a bundle of beautiful mustard colored dried flowers, some homemade pumpkin butter, and 1/2 a peck of apples just waiting to be turned into apple sauce

can't smile without you

so I'm not normally one for posting youtube videos on my blog, but this one made me laugh so hard I just had to show it. it's times like these when kids are the best part of your day. I hope I am blessed enough to have some home videos like these some day!!

cutie little Katy

It's all because of this little girl that over 30 of us gathered yesterday afternoon to celebrate the birthday of miss Katy. It's hard to believe that she's already 1, now crawling, exploring the wide world around her, and inching toward her first steps.

With her infectious smiles and her little kicking legs she celebrated her birthday with style. Mom and Papa presented her with her birthday cake, but seeing as though she doesn't often get to feed herself, preceded very cautiously. While her latest craz is Elmo and Baby Einstein, I can't wait to watch her grow as an amazing little girl.

challenging, but worth it

It's moments like these, when I love my job. Working with little ones may have it's challenging days, like today when I got spit up on about 15 times {all by the same little 3 month old cutie}, or a little 4 year old boy decides to dump 6 different boxes of toys all over the ground. But when you are greeted with the little arms that rap their way around your legs when walking through the door, or I hear "teacher! teacher!" from the other room, I can't help but think how much of a blessing the little ones in our lives are.

the moments that make you smile

Many of you may know that I work with the little boppers at a gym. I've been taking a few snapshots to make a little collage for our walls and I snapped this adorable picture. He's a little cutie with baby rolls galore, and so photogenic. I have to say, I think this is one of my favorites.

game face

Last night we dusted off our bowling skills and put our game faces on. It was a night of laughs spent with friends and family all celebrating my cousin's 29th birthday!! {Still can't believe that my cousin is 29} The group of {10} spent the night bowling and playing pass the baby Katy around in between each role of the bowling ball. Part 2 of the celebration night consisted of a lovely meal and delightful cake....

all it takes

All it takes is a little giggly bouncing girl {Katy} and you have:
-smiles that light up the room
-the attention of my whole family {even the dog and cat}
-squishy dippers that can stink up a room
-a sleepy baby taking a cat-nap on your lap
-the discover of tupperware as so much more than just a container,
but now a play toy
-little hands restyling our hair
-new toys that Heidi was disappointed to discover were not for her
-little eyes that lit up to discover the wonders of our Christmas tree
-a contagious laugh that kept us in a blissful mood all night

A Weekend Filled With....

This past weekend Josh, Randy, and I made a trip to St. Louis. This priceless weekend was filled with many things:

>drinking more caffeine in a few days that I've had in the past few months

>spending time with the Ohlmann family

>hearing the word 'Joshy' being yelled through out the house

>laughing so hard my stomach hurt

>being treated like a 'celebrity' as Mrs. Ohlmann would say

>spending more that 30 priceless hours in the car with Josh and Randy

>watching Josh play football with his lil brothers {Noah and Caleb}

>watching a few soccer games and remembering what it's like to be a kid

>cuddling with 2 cute lil girls {Hannah and Lydia}

>going to the crazy book sale with all it's amazing deals

>seeing Josh in his own element: at home with his family

>having supper with the fam

>watching the boys {big and small} play video games

>than later being beat by the smaller boys {which sadly didn't surprise me}

>having a weekend that I'll never forget

Little feet and little hands

I thought I would start off with who I get to work with. Working with kids has it's many rewards:

Little hands and little feet,
this is what many of my days consist of,
and with that come sticky fingers and wet kisses,
but the best of all are the smile that can brighten any day.