He's been doing this lately.

Reeve loves to eat and play. Sometimes after he has eaten and played a little too hard this is what happens...


The first picture I was bringing in groceries and in the second one he had just finished his lunch and I was doing the dishes. I remember McKenna doing the same thing when she was his age. They are so cute!

Sledding Salisbury Style

Dave had a random Monday off and it had snowed the night before (almost a foot and a half) so we decided we would go sledding. We bundled up the kids and headed up to the college baseball fields because they have really steep hills. Dave had picked a hill that was much bigger than I thought was safe for Reeve's first sledding trip. Of course being the good dad he is, he went down first to make sure the sled wasn't going to tip over or anything. Reeve, McKenna, and Dave all went down and Reeve loved his first time sledding.

It was so cold so we took turns sitting in the van while McKenna went down the hill over and over again. She got so brave that she would run and jump on the sled head first down the hill. I was really surprised because McKenna is usually pretty cautious. At one point she even convinced Dave to roll down the hill with her while I enjoyed the heated van. We had so much fun and it was just nice spending time with our little family.

Building Forts

McKenna has really been into building forts lately. This particular day she was building a "doghouse". I remember as a kid building them in our basement with my brothers. We would make them into mazes with dead ends and hide in them or we would make houses with our own rooms. I even remember decorating my "room". I have heard it said that, "Childhood is the most beautiful of all life's seasons." I think that is so true. I know that it has been a beautiful season for me watching these two little ones.

Reeve's first haircut.

The day after McKenna's birthday party things had calmed down. We had our friends Heath and Stacey and their two kids come over for dinner. I had asked Stacey to give Reeve a haircut because it was getting so long on top that it was looking like he had a baby comb-over. I was scared that Reeve would cry like most babies do when they are getting their hair cut but he was only interested in eating the clipper attachments. I of course kept some of his hair to put in his baby book. He has had a few haircuts since and everyone seems to love the crew cut look on him (especially since his hair stands straight up). Sometimes we even put a little gel in his hair and give him spikes. He is so fun!

The do's and don't of planning a birthday party for a 5 year old.

I can't believe my little girl is 5 years old. It really seems like yesterday that she was just a little baby. I don't know if it is just me but the same way I am having anxiety about my 30th birthday quickly approaching, I had a really tough time with the fact that McKenna was turning 5. Not to mention the fact that she will be starting Kindergarten in August.

Well, McKenna's birthday is three days after Christmas and I decided that I was going to throw her a big birthday party this year. Up until now she had only had her birthday with family and a friend here and there. I thought I would do it a couple weeks later to give everyone a break after the holidays. My wise mother-in-law told me that that the rule of thumb was, "to invite as many kids as the child is old." Just let me tell you that is very good advice. Of course I didn't take this advice and invited three times that amount (don't number 1). McKenna wanted ALL of the kids from her preschool and all her friends from church plus some. I thought, "yeah, I can do this, how hard could it be?" So we planned the party McKenna wanted, a princess theme, and since there were boys coming we added pirates as well.

The invitation said:

Hear ye, hear ye.....
Come one, come all from across the kingdom.
Her Royal Highness Princess McKenna requests
your presence at her 5th Birthday Party.

Please join us at the Salisbury castle:
Our address, time, date, so on...

Please RSVP the Queen Tia
(phone number) by Thursday, January 8th,
A royal lunch will be served.

The party started and I was still half asleep from staying up late making gift bags for all the kids. When they arrived I had princess crowns and diamond and jem stickers for the girls to decorate and pirate hats with gold and silver pens for the boys.




After they were finished we served pizza for lunch. Did I say that I planned the party to last three hours, yes three hours (don't number two). By this time craziness had set in so I thought it would be a good time to give the kids a bat and some candy. Thank goodness the only thing that was mangled was the pinata.

We came in and had more sugar in the form of cupcakes. I know the parents loved not having their kids for three hours on a Saturday but I'm not sure if they were happy with the condition I sent them home in. She opened her presents and loved all the gifts.


We had just gotten new couches downstairs that came in huge boxes. I decided to save them for the party. We had one box be a princess castle and the other we cut into a pirate ship. I gave the kids crayons to decorate them and they absolutely loved it. I had the pirates invade the the castle and steal a princess and the girls loved going into the pirate ship to save their "sisters".


By this time I was exhausted. I looked at the clock and still had thirty minutes until the party was over. I picked out a gender friendly movie (Aladdin) and had all the kids sit down to watch it until their parents came.

All the parents came and picked up their children unharmed but definitely with a bit of a sugar high. Even though I will never do this again McKenna had the best time and it was worth all the time and energy (do number 1). She is such a little doll and we are so grateful have her in our family.

Sunday Inspiration

I went to Washington in February and while I was there I went to a wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and we had a lot of fun. The thing I will always remember from it was a quote that the pastor said. I don't know if I have the words exactly right but this was basically what it said.
"Be careful of your thoughts because your thoughts become your words. Be careful of your words because your words become your actions. Be careful of your actions because your actions become your character. Be careful of your character because your character becomes your legacy."
It made me think about the big and small things in my life. It really inspired me to be better.

A Very Salisbury Christmas

I have finally come back from my blogging break. I have so much to add since we are starting with Christmas and it is the middle of March.

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. The only sad part is that we didn't go to Washington to spend it with our families. I guess we are getting to the age (and size) that it is just easier to have it at our own home. Dave also had to work on Christmas night so travel would have been a little hectic.

We all woke up (me with just a few hours of sleep). Helping Santa set everything up really is hard work! McKenna went strait to her big present and unwrapped it. She was very excited to see a trampoline underneath.


McKenna opened her stocking and was so happy to find that Santa had brought all the treats she asks for while we are checking out at the store. She also loved helping Reeve open his presents. She was so good at explaining that you are supposed to rip the paper not eat it.




It was a wonderful Christmas. Of course we kept the Salisbury tradition of having Cinnamon Pull-a-parts which were so yummy.