DOVE FAMILY

Check your bust!

Really!  Between the weight gain, the weight loss, babies, surgeries...a woman must get sized.  A few weeks ago, Julia and I went on a date day where we went shopping, had lunch at the swanky Noodles & Company (her favorite place) and we went to get fitted for a bra.  FOR ME SILLY...not Julia!  She is only 4 years old!

Anyway- I have been wearing the wrong size.  I guess I just assumed that I wore a certain size since the bras fit me OK I guess and every now and again I would have some spillage or the straps would come down or leave a mark under my chest.  I just thought that my body was weird!

What a concept...getting fitted for a bra! It's a miracle and I feel great!  Do you have any idea how long I have been wearing the WRONG size? 

I heard that you should get sized once a year because if your weight fluctuates and things shift...  I know, I know...you hate to spend money on new bras...but you gotta take care of the girls and trust me...you will feel better in your clothes when you are wearing the RIGHT size!

You can get sized at the following places....no purchase necessary!

Victoria's Secret
Nordstroms
Lord & Taylor
Trousseau -- in Virginia

At the last minute--- serioulsy last minute, Matthew asked for a volcano cake that would have smoke coming out of it for his birthday!  What happened to the ice cream cake he requested??? 

So I went to work with the baking, sculpting, frosting and here is the final product.  I think it turned OK and I was happy that it held up!  For those who know me...know that I am not a baker.  Baking takes a lot of patience which I dont have.  With the help of Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines and a wonderful hubby I was able to make it work!

I used Duncan Hines Yellow Cake and baked it in an Angel Food Cake Pan. I then used a toilet paper holder and a dixie cup for the dry ice and water.

I baked another yellow cake but this time I used the budnt cake pan.  Inverted it ontop of the other cake and I started shaping it into a cone.  The cup was still in the middle of the cake!

I also make cupcakes and added white frosting and kept a few plain just in case there were some picky eaters.  I made chocolate cupcakes so we would have both chocolate and yellow cake.  For the Volcano cake, I put mini semi-sweet chocolate morsels around the bottom and added candles to the top!



Right before we sang to Matthew, Eric Energy filled the cup up with Dry Ice and warm water1  TADA!!  Smoke and Candles!

It was such a fun and busy weekend- along with Matthew's science party, we celebrated 3 birthdays and also a SUPER BOWL party & WIN at my sister's house. Matthew & Abe share February 3rd for thier birthday and my nephew Dylan's birthday is February 6th! Let's just say that this celerbation/super bowl party was a HOOT!

We recently had a few trees chopped down and Dave took on the task to chop the wood so we can have some firewood!  As you can tell from our recent post Jetpack, New Shelf...Dave is pretty handy!  I have A LOT of faith in him that he can do all these wonderful things---especially build things!

Projects coming up...Dave is building me a bench!  Then the tough one......teaching me how to cut the grass!  Good luck to me, the grass and our neighbors who have to stare at our chopped up lawn once I do it and listen to me scream as the lawn mower drags me around!  Who cares as long as the lawn is done--- I'm certainly not out for perfection here!  The fact that I will be doing the lawn should be ENOUGH!

Matthew loves science.  I know all boys love to see explosions and slime- but seriously...he loves science.  He enjoys doing experiements at home and understanding how "things work" and "how things happen".

For his party this year, he wanted to do a science theme party.  Well, I don't trust myself enough to actually perform real science experiments at home without supervision so we called in the expert- ERIC ENERGY.  We have seen him at schools, local places such as Weber's Farm and Homestead. 

Eric Energy performed some crazy science experiments and the kids loved it becuase they were also able to participate!  There was smoke, checmical reactions, crazy bubbles, sound machine, loud music and more! 

After Eric Energy's performance the kids ate pizza and we feasted on the volcano cake & cupcakes! The finale was the best because it was hosted by my very own hubby the scientist.   Unfortunaltey I didn't get any pictures but just imagine 3 -2 Liter Diet Cokes + mentos= EXPLOSION!

February 3rd Matthew turned 7 years old. Can you believe it?  It wasn't long ago that Dave and I didn't think we could have children.  With lots of prayer and God's guidance, we were given a miracle and here he is now...7 years old.  I still can't believe it.  Although he likes to play football with Dave, wrestle, play video games and baseball- he is my baby.

When I walk in the house, I look at his face and I can tell immediately if he had a good or bad day.  He hugs me so tight and kisses me at the bus stop infront of all the big kids.
He still twist his hair with his fingers when we watch a movie or when he is tired.
He loves his sister.
He is so sweet
He is very sensitive
He is a perfectionist
He wants to understand how things work- really work.  Way too analytical
He always wants to know WHY
He doesn't know when to drop a topic
He is adorable
He has one dimple...sometimes two if you look close enough
He is almost as tall as me
He has some great dance moves
He is silly & quircky

...I can go on and on.
 I love this little boy and so proud to be his mommy.

So you know how we have enrolled Julia in a few things such as Rolly Pollies, Ballet and Soccer and she went to the first class and well... she cried the whole time.  We actually MADE her go to soccer for each game and practice and she sat on the sidelines CRYING the whole time.  YUP.  It was useless.  Finally, a friend of hers asked her to join Gymnastics with her.  I had my doubts and I was prepared to have her sit in my lap during the whole class and cry just as she did in Rolly Pollies, Ballet and Soccer.

This time- she did cry for a minute when she realized I couldn't do gymnastics with her.  Could you see me on the rings?  Hmmm...not a good sight at all!

Then I went to the parent room to watch her and she continued with the teacher and her new friends1  Yes!  Yes!  Yes!  She did the balance beam, rolls, trampoline, and the RINGS!  She loves it and we are off to look for a new sparkly leotard for her next class!

Even in January- we still have leaves to clean up.  It's a never ending task that I think will be around each month with this wonderful new house for us.  Although we do have to get some trees chopped down so that may help us out in the leaf cleaning department!

Anyhoo--- hubby got a new toy for Christmas and he loves it. We call it a Jetpack but others call it a leaf blower. It takes oil and gas and boy does this thing BLOW! Seriously! New toy- lots of fun but we still have to bag the leaves! The kids love it because Dave can now make a leaf pile much faster than the ol' rake could do! Fun times at the Dove household...always!

I have been scouring antique shops all over town to find a primitive shelf for our breakfast area.  There were a few that I thought looked interesting wasn't "right" or the size wasn't too small or too big.  As I was cleaning out the garage one afternoon, I saw a pile of wood our previous owners left.  Hmmm..... I started thinking.... "How hard is it to build a shelf?"  Not hard at all right?  Nah---so I brought my idea to Dave.  Before I let him say NO, I drew out what I wanted and showed him the wood.  I also showed him some shelves that others built on Etsy and I just knew that he could do it.

Here is the wood I found in the garage....

:

Let the project begin!

Working in the cold garage....

Here it is...all put together!

Here it is...painted black and we usedsand paper to give it that "primitive/antique" look!

New Breakfast Room Furniture!

We LOVE the settee with the green pillow to brighten it up!  (Spray SCOTCH GUARD on this baby!)

Shelf on the wall!

We love this!  We eat breakfast and dinner here.  The kids do homework here.  On a lazy Saturday morning when we have no errands to run Dave and I sit and drink coffee here and look out in the backyard.  PERFECT

Oh yes- I still call ymom..."mommy"!  Why not, right? Sometimes I call her "mama" or "Mammasita" which she loves!  I think it makes her giggle!

So, she is yet another year older, wiser and just so beautiful!  I love my mom and I know it may sound corny I truly want to be like her.  She is strong willed, has an awesome personality, fun, loves to shop and most of all has the biggest heart to fit each one of her kids, their spouses, the grandchildren and all of the animals from fish, dogs and cats! 

I think sometimes we forget how much our parents do for us because their are "moms" and "dads" and we expect it.  Most of all we forget just how much love they have for us.  Although we may think that they are nagging, or constantly reminding us about how to save money, or how to dress when it's cold outside or how to cook a certain dish properly- its all out of love and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I want to spend as much time as I can with my mom, I want her to see my kids and I want them to know and feel that love that is always pouring from her heart.  Her love never ending and always unconditional.

Love you Mammasita....you are the best!

Matthew is trying out a new sport this winter and its BASKETBALL! How fun! He loves it and we are with a new rec group called i9 Sports. They practice for 30 minutes and the kids play a real game after practice. Same day which is awesome so we dont have to go to practice 2 nights a week and then also game day. They teach the kids the fundamentals of basketball and provide immediate praise when the kids do something correct. It's a great recreation team and we are so glad that he started with basketball!