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First Day of School

Alexa started playschool on September 11! I can't believe that she is going to playschool already. How exciting! She absolutely loved it. She really needed to be in an activity that was away from home and me. Something that was totally hers, if that makes any sense.


She goes twice a week for 2 hours at a time. They play, do crafts, sing songs, read books, have snack. All the usual stuff.

The first picture of the first day of school. I know that it's only playschool but it's still school to me, her Mommy. I almost wonder if I'm not more excited about it than Alexa.

My Jeanie Beanie!

Here are some picture of Alexa over the last little while.

We bought this hat at Walmart, she just looked too cute not to buy it. She actually wore it around town. Boy were we getting some looks, but in general they were good ones.

What can I say? My 3 year old is a style icon! She's rock'n it.

Love the attitude. I think that she could use that hat for Halloween to be a gangster. Mind you she kind of looks like one already!

I found this shirt at H & M. Alexa loves StarWars and she really loves Yoda. You should have seen her face when she got this shirt. Looked kind of like this picture.

In the army!

Enjoying a snack, while Daddy and Mommy build the swing set.

Goofy girl. Loves to make faces.

My Sweet Little Harper

So here are a some pictures of my youngest, Harper, over the last few months. It has been a long time since I blogged. I should do this more often so that I am caught up. Hope you enjoy!

Lov'in the hat. She usually just pulls it off.

Harper loves the swings.

Look at that grin. I think that she might be a troublemaker, that one. Even when I tell her no, she smiles at me and then I can't help myself but smile back. God help me because I know that I'll have a hard time disciplining her.

Where's Harper? There she is!

I just want to kiss this face everyday and I do!

Eyes like saucers. All the time.

Two teeth and that grin.

My sweet baby girl.

Loves the Arrowroots.



Well there she is. I can't believe that she turns 1 on the 25th of July. Where did a year go?

Organizing

When I was young I use to be so organized and sometimes I still can be. But I feel that I am starting to slack off in this department recently. I have this fear that I will be overrun by all of our stuff. Maybe I can blame Oprah for this one because I have seen way too many shows where people are hoarders and then Peter Walsh comes in and "saves" them. Now I don't mind Peter Walsh and I think that he was some good tips. And I know that we're not hoarders, just a little bit disorganized and could stand to get rid of some stuff.
Now one of Peter's tips is that if you haven't used it in a year then the chances that your ever going to use it are slim. I think that this is usually true but it still doesn't make it any easier. I like the thought of not having so much stuff (it makes life simpler and neater) and then you can actually enjoy the stuff you do have.
I find it hard to balance the demands of raising kids and trying to keep a somewhat clean house. There are things that you have to do everyday (like dishes) and things you should hopefully do every week (like clean the bathrooms) but that doesn't make it very easy to keep up with the clutter.
So here is my plan! I'm going to try organizing one room at a time. Getting rid of stuff that we don't need and hopefully creating a more peaceful place. I'll document my progress with pictures! And here's hoping that I have some nice before and after pictures and a cleaner house. Wish me luck!

Easter and way too much candy!

Easter this year was not too bad. We had a pretty active day with going to the park, cleaning in the garage, egg hunt and supper. This year it was just the four of us, which is a little bit different then last year when we were at my parent's place. For supper we had ham, sweet potatoes (which I had never made before but man are good) and manicotti. Interesting menu to say the least, but it all turned out really well. No pictures of the food though!

Here are the Mastaler Easter Eggs this year. We sure like blue. Brad says that they always turn out that color no matter what you do. I think if we just stuck to one color instead of mixing we might have different results. But what fun would that be?!


First thing right in the morning. Lexie had just opened her eyes. How did that Easter bunny get into her room to put eggs on the book shelf?

Eggs in the "Car" slippers put into the creepy Diego head Easter basket. Sorry Mom but that thing is just weird.

Lots and lots of candy. Easter bunny may have went a little bit overboard with the mini eggs. The whole Diego head was full.

Tricky Easter Bunny put those eggs everywhere!

Harper with her Easter gift.

Daddy being silly.

Me and my girls. Still in our pj's.



Hope everyone's Easter was really great and that you got to spend quality time with loved ones.

Spring, finally Spring!

I am so thankful that it is Spring. I don't know if I could have managed anymore snow right now. The only bad thing is that the whole family has a spring cold and Harper has it the worse. Poor little baby, she's also teething right now too. So double suck!
Well with Spring gladly on it's way, I turn to looking around my house and to Spring cleaning. I don't know how many people actually do this but it's something that I really want to do and wished that I had enough time to do it properly. I wonder if I made a list (scary!) and tried to tackle something every day, would it get done? It might be next Spring before I actually get it done!
And on another note: Alexa is being so sassy the last couple of weeks. She's making me crazy. She was so good there for awhile and then bam! she's having fits and not listening and talking back, etc, etc. Alexa seems to develop in this sort of way though. She's really good and then really troublesome and then back to being good. Brad always says that it is her brain changing. To get to the next stage it's almost like she has to regress for a time. Boy, can it be frustrating!
Need to start making lunch. I can feel the grumbles coming on.

Alexa's Birthday

Alexa turned 3 years old on March 1 and lucky for us, her birthday landed on a Sunday so she could actually have her birthday party on her birthday.

Alexa decided that she wanted to have a "Cars" party. Cars is one of her favorite movies besides Wall-e.

Breanna, Hayden and Lexie in her room playing.

Lots of balloons for this party!

Jacob eating some treats.

Dale and Darby

Lexie checking out her gifts from Mom and Dad.

Unwraping the supermarket from the Reids.

What little girl doesn't have a Lite Brite.

Telling some story to Breanna. Waiting for the cake to arrive.

Blowing out the candle.

I can't believe that Alexa is 3 years old already. It's so funny because before that, it seemed like she was still so little and now it's like once they turn 3 they're so old. Soon to be off to school and all that fun stuff. I think that I may be a little sentimental because we found some video of Alexa when she was just learning to walk and I couldn't believe how little she was and how big she is now. She's not a little baby anymore! Also this week, I managed to get her into the 3 year old program at the local playschool. When I went to check out the classroom I had a "moment"when I realized that this is the beginning of Alexa going to school. I was so excited for the possibilities and the adventures that I know she'll have.