emery is ALL two!

we celebrated emery's birthday before spring break. the day started with maple bars with candles a mcmurray tradition after she came downstairs to a new "cooking" kitchen. we ended the day with a small family dinner party. . . thai food and tres leches cake!
daddy put emery's new kitchen together it was quite the project. . . but turned out so cute. emery's has three favorite activities pretend cooking, babies and cuddling. she loves to cook! it has been the perfect gift she plays with it all day.
melodie lives with us and has formed a very special bond with emery. we realized awhile back that emery calls her honey. she loves honey and melodie is so great with emery. so sweet in this picture emery is reading the card melodie got her.
first glance at her new kitchen.
she was a little scared when dad brought her the maple bar with candles or more just really confused why dad was giving her a maple bar on fire.
this is the stinker face we see all of the time. . .this picture was taken the moment she just stole all of keagan's whip cream frosting from his cake.
i can honestly say i never knew the terrible twos until emery. the boys were so sweet at two years old and lucia was a little feisty but fun feisty. emery honestly does the opposite of what you are asking her to do. she runs and hides when you are looking for her or trying to get her dressed and then bursts out laughing. even lucia will say now, "oh man emery is such a little rascal." she can be such a stinker then turn around and be the sweetest little girl on the planet. she says constantly "cuddle one minute." she loves to cuddle and rock in the rocking chair. she has made our life chaotic and very interesting but we can't imagine life without emery pearl!

here is a list of emery's favorite things at two years old: dogs, YMCA, church (she yells yeah church when we drive up) cooking, babies, cuddling, rocking, books, counting, our cat murphy or any cat, buses, wrestling with dad, waking up lulu, harassing her brothers, swimming, playing outside, piggies (pigtails), fancy shoes, all bags and purses, of course milk!

we love you pearlie and can't wait to see what the next year has in store for you! thanks for making us laugh, humbling us as parents, and leading us to believe in miracles . . you will always be our miracle baby.

here's what we have been up to the first week of spring. . .

the boy's spent the first day of spring with their godparents building new book shelves for their room. the finished project was spectacular. i will post pictures after kinkade's shelf is done. pat is so talented and the boys had a blast! patty made us a yummy yummy lunch. everyone needs fabulous godparents to help raise their children!
dr. pepper cupcakes! how else would you welcome spring?
my sweet husband brought me daffodils and they look perfect in my new spring vase from anthro!
of course a second st. paddy's celebration with grammy and grampy. . with full leprechaun costumes and corn beef and potatoes! she just might be the cutest leprechaun on the planet!
and. . . . it would not be the first week of spring without pink eye, ear infections, fevers and a trip to the doctor for antibiotics.
so sad they are so sick. . . . more pink eye and tons of gook! our girls are really sick!

we caught one!

happy st. paddy's day from the mcmurrays! lulu's first leprechaun trap for preschool. . .look at the green footprints that showed up after her nap. she could not believe it.
we found these penny/root beer traps all over the house last night that the boys had made.
"hey mom looks what's in the toilet?"
"that is so rude the leprechaun peed in our toilet." - lucia's exact words:)
what a fun day! next year kinkade informed me we need to plan ahead and have corn beef for dinner.

ps. . emery does not have a side pony tail she just pulled the other pig tail lower.

risk takers

dad and kinkade on the chair lift in front of us. . .we have been talking a lot about taking risks and trying new things with the boys. this last couple months they have had two huge firsts. we went skiing last weekend and had a blast. don't get me wrong there was a couple meltdowns but 95% of the time we had so much fun. it was a beautiful sunny day and there was fresh snow from the week. i have felt so thankful lately for the pacific northwest living 20 minutes from our lake place and 20 minutes from a great ski mountain is pretty awesome. on sunday on the way to church we had to stop for a family of deer which is a common thing around here and emery was squealing with joy - "hi deer, how ya doin?"

i was struck by how blessed we are to live in such a beautiful place! i am a good complainer so i have to document when i am feeling blessed:)
the second big risk was the boys took an acting class that ended with a big greek gods performance. they went every monday and loved it. i was so proud of them for trying something brand new and learning so much. lucia can't wait until it is her turn. she sprinted up on the stage the minute she could!

oh emery or is it ozzie osborne!?

this kid is CRAZY! i did not do any of these hair dos or outfits. i found her looking this way. she cracks us up all day. she is a pistol with more gusto than we ever imagined. she is nuts~ here she is today. . . her hair is out of control but it matches her personality! we have started bunsies they are so stinkin cute and fit her sass!

her favorite things all in one. . she wears this swim cap all the time. . fancy shoes all day even over her jammies and she loves jammies!
her" i will not eat one more bite" look. . . that we see all day.
yep, every time she finds a head band she puts it on backwards and will not put it on the right way. as mentioned many times before is the messiest eater on the planet!
have i mentioned the rats nest that she has 99% of the time. i have never seen a nastier rat's nest in any one's hair. . it is her trademark.
i can't wait to see this kid in high school. half the time i think she looks like ozzie osborne and acts like him too!

cold mornings at home

it has gotten so cold. . here are some snapshots of february cold mornings at home. today was a snow day - no school for all of us. of course some hot tub time in the new snow. last weekend we did a scavenger hunt for the kids to reveal where grammy and grampy are taking us for spring break. aaron wrote riddles all over the house.
new snow. .
our sweet kinkade who loves to be all wrapped up in a blanket. every morning he walks around wrapped in a blanket the first hour he is awake.
we have discovered multi-grain pancakes. blueberry multi-grain pancakes are so delicious. emery loves to stir.
this cracked me up. she loves her babies.
we are trying to make the best of the cold weather. . but i am ready for spring!

valentines love. . .

we had a wonderful busy valentines day! i love that my boys make homemade valentines every year. i thought this would be the year they were to old or cool. . but no they decided to make every kid in their class a special paper airplane and decorate each one with a theme that person loves. . like mario, seahawks, flowers, cats. . . they turned out great! i spent the weekend somewhere sunny with friends it was beyond fabulous. we collected heart rocks on the beach for our valentines at home. . . more to come next post!
i found murphy on the stairs like this. . lucia made her a valentine.
i actually made valentine cookies and they were actually good. . this is a major accomplishment for me!
i love these tulips my sweet valentine got me. . .
hope you felt loved on valentines day! we ended with a special dinner my parents brought over and lots of cute underwear for everyone. . of course!