Sophie Turned 5

I love family birthdays.  It's low key, low stress for me.  Sophie really wanted a party, though.  I opted for a family party where we played games/did crafts like a regular party.  (Isn't compromise great?)  I made simple little invites and taped them to all the bedroom doors. 

This year it was all about the princesses.  We played fairy tale sculptorades which all the kids loved and made our own lip gloss.  Sophie wanted a pink princess cake, so (thank you Tiff!) she got one. 

Sophie and her magic pumpkin



The cake



Sophie got some new clothes (including a couple of shirts that had matching shirts for both her favorite dolls), a new Blythe doll, some books, the Play-doh ice cream maker, a Belle princess dress-up, and a cardboard castle she can color herself.  She was thrilled!

A Little Catch Up

There's been a lot going on around here.  Instead of several posts, we'll just do a little re-cap.

Chloe started baby food!

She also just had her 4 month check up (at almost 5 months. Oops.)  She weighs 13 lb 10 oz (25-50%) and is 26 inches long (90-95%).  She's still a happy smiley baby who makes some of the strangest baby noises.  We are all completely in love still.

Sophie has been begging for quite some time to get her ears pierced.  After learning how to write her last name, she finally got it done.  For the record, she didn't cry one bit. No watery eyes either.  She's also very diligent about keeping them clean and twisted. 

I am embracing another year in my 30s.  Jeff, the kids, and my parents spoiled me once again.  The girls got me a new turtle garden stone, McKay made me a Club Penguin (his new favorite thing) journal all on his own.  Jeff downloaded the Goose Girl for me on his Kindle (which I am liking reading on a kindle). He also got me a new CD, the movie "Young Victoria" and is taking me shopping for running shoes.  My parents gave me jewelry, a dress and a skirt.  My favorite surprise?  Jeff picked up this awesome red velvet cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes.  It was SO good.

Lyndsi had crazy hair day at school and for once gave me enough notice so we could have a little fun with it. She loved her hair and wore it all day, including to dance.

McKay has been dead to the world.  Apparently the flu is going around.  Wash your hands people.  I've only seen my poor boy wake and talking for a few hours over the last 3 1/2 days.  Thankfully he's up and about today showing interest in both food and activity.  Hopefully we'll be back to school tomorrow.

And Jeff? You're guess is as good as mine.  He's currently slaving away for the tax monster.  Less than 2 weeks now!  Can't wait for this tax season to be over. Ugh.

And just because she's cute and I love this new thing she's doing with her finger, a little more Chloe.

Happy Birthday Lyndsi!

My baby turned NINE!  She wanted a birthday party this year and planned the whole thing herself.  Mom got to play assistant and that was fun. She and I spent a lovely Saturday afternoon pouring through Family Fun magazines for games, cutting out felt and paper, and designing the perfect party invitations. 

The actual birthday morning-dad made pancakes!

On the big day we made cupcake necklace charms with permanent markers and shrinky dink paper.  The girls loved watching the magic that is shrinky dinks.  (So fun to introduce a favorite childhood craft to a new generation.)  We played "oink, piggy, oink" and musical dress-ups. That was a hoot.  My friend gave us the idea. We filled a black garbage bag with all sorts of dress-up items.  When the music stopped, the person holding the bag had to put on the first thing they pulled out.  Hilarious.  The girls loved it.  (I can see lots of potential for teenage and even adult fun with this one.)  Afterwards we did a photoshoot of each girl.  Next were presents.  Nine year old girls are fun.  Every single one of the ten gifts piled in the living room and a handwritten (and nearly all homemade) card.  How cute!  Instead of the traditional cake and ice cream, Lyndsi requested an ice cream bar.  Oh. My. Goodness.  Nine-year-olds can pack away the sugar.  Let me tell you...I'm glad I didn't put out all the treats!  It was an awesome party for an incredibly wonderful girl who constantly amazes me with her intelligence and insights, delights me with her giggles and is a complete joy to have in my little family.  Happy birthday Lou!!

Celebrate

Mothers' Day, Birthday, Anniversary, Jeff finally home from a big long week away from us.........This has been a busy weekend!

Today's J's bday.  Happy birthday babe!  This guy has been making my life easier and more fun for the last 10 years (on thursday!-more to come later).

 He likes a quiet celebration, so tonight we'll bbq, have cake and ice cream and we'll see about getting him something fun for his special day. ;)  Saturday he and I went out to celebrate his birthday.  One of his favorite bands, MuteMath (along with another band) was in town opening for 30 Seconds to Mars.  He got tickets and we went.  We watched both opening acts-Neon Trees played first.  Niether of knew what to expect from them, but ended up being happily surprised.  They were kind of fun.  Then Mutemath which was awesome.  So much better to see the music you love live.  Then we left.  Yes.  We shelled out money for tickets and didn't even stick around to hear the main attraction.  That's ok.  we got our $$ worth. :) 

Mothers' day was perfect.  McKay was disappointed we didn't have time for breakfast in bed.  The kids all sang in Sacrament meeting with the primary. The only thing that kept me from crying was the lady in front of us kept turning around to comment on the kids (nice things of course).  I didn't want her to see me cry. :)  After church, the kids loaded me down with all there hand crafted presents.  (Shout out to all the teachers who come up with and get projects going for moms' day.  I love it!)  Lyndsi painted a flower pot for me along with some notes she wrote at school. Then she gave me another flower pot with some paper cut outs of her hand stuck in like flowers.  Each handprint had a different chore on it that she would do for me.  She was so cute when she gave it to me.  She said, "Mom, you're gonna love this present...but I'm not."  Hehe.  She's right.  I do love it and I'm gonna use it, too. :)  McKay make a cute foam flower in a wooden pot with a clothes pin on the back-perfect for pictures or recipe cards.  Sophie gave me a candy bar with a special mothers day wrapper on it that they put together in Sunbeams.  Jeff surprised me with some fun jewelery he brought back from Hawaii.  He also surprised me (though not specifically for this occasion) with a trip to Home Depot to get these really fun adirondack chairs we'd seen at this fun place in St. George.  We love them and will be going back to get 2 more.

We decided to take dinner over to my mom and dad and Greg and enjoyed the evening hanging out with them.  I got my mom a book (Spare Change by Aubrey Mace) and made her a cake stand (here is the tutorial-super easy) to use when she gets her Cricuit cake machine.  For a combined gift, my parents gave us 2 new, much needed, sleeping bags along with a nice table we can use camping, crafting, etc.  Jeff's mom is gonna have to wait for her gift, though.  But we have it and are excited and I know she'll love it.  :)

It was a nice day.  I love that my kids are old enough now to make their own gifts. I love seeing the thought and excitement put into each one.  It makes all the not fun stuff about mommy-hood worth it.  I'm also so happy to have a great mom myself and a wondeful mother-in-law.  Both have taught us, helped us, inspired us and loved us.  And thanks to you friends and bloggers.  I do look up to you and learn about being a better mother from you as well.  It's nice to have a day to celebrate Motherhood.

Next up-the big 10-yr anniversary!

In Which McKay Turns 6

How did my sweet, chubby 8 lb 3 oz baby go from here:

To here?! 

No matter.  McKay is a very lovable little guy.  He always tells me how pretty I am and smothers we with hugs and kisses.  He's a protector to his sisters and a handyman helper to his dad.  He loves playing games and throwing any ball with his dad.  He is really getting into "boy time" with Dad and looks forward to trips to the cabin where he is ALL boy.  He is doing really well at reading, math and handwriting in school.  Today his teacher stopped and praised him up and down for those things which I thought was very nice of her.  He is a friend to everyone which can get him in trouble when he's supposed to be doing other things.  How can I be mad at him for that, though?  :)  He loves playing the piano and is doing really well.  He is also looking forward to his 2nd season of soccer this fall and trying basketball in the winter. 

The poor kid, however, has a CPA for a dad, which usually isn't a bad thing-unless your bday falls 2 days before the biggest tax deadline of the year.  As a mom I feel I have to put just a bit more effort into making his day extra special so he doesn't feel forgotten.  Yesterday I think we suceeded.  After lunch, I took McKay and his best buddy to see How to Train Your Dragon.  The trip was topped off with their own popcorn, drink and candy.  Perfect movie for little boys who love adventure.  We came home afterwards for some cake, ice cream and playtime.

That night my parents came over for his bday dinner-chicken sandwiches, strawberry jell-o and fries.  We did more presents.  I was really surprised and pleased with how gracious my little boy was.  He was so excited with everything he opened and was sure to thank everyone. 

He is such a great kid and I feel so blessed to have him be in my family.  Love you bud!

Happy Bday to Me......4 Months early

My next birthday I will be turning the big 3-0. It's still a good 4 months away and already people are starting to ask if I have any big plans.

Well, I do. Now that is. The other day I opened my email to a Christmas miracle-an updated tour schedule with new US tour dates for Muse. One of those recently announced dates/locations included Salt Lake! My fellow Muse-nut got online this morning when tickets went on presale and scored a pair for us!! We screamed and jumped up and down like a couple of preteens meeting Rob Pattinson. This is going to be SO awesome!

For those of you unfamiliar with Muse, let me educate you...


And This:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

Mothers Day and More

First off-I'm a slacker who's now playing catch up. Lots of blog fodder. Gobble it all up at once or savor it for a few days, but enjoy it. :)

Mothers day was nice and laid back. I got to share my special day with my most special man. Jeff's birthday happened to fall on moms day this year. We did cake and presents Saturday night. I fooled him into thinking I'd just gotten him some candy and a (rather boring looking) Frisbee-until he turned it over and got tickets he's been wanting. hehe.

(Don't you love how McKay's picking his nose? Such a boy!)

Sunday morning I tried to help Jeff and McKay make breakfast. I'm all for not helping with breakfast this one day a year, but I don't think you should have to do the cooking on your birthday either. McKay, however, had a different idea and told me I had to go back to bed. I went (to my bed) and started working on my mom's gift. McKay wandered in and said, "Hey! You are supposed to be laying down with the lights off, Mom!!" He then brought me his present he made at preschool, some hearts he colored and cut out at home, and some seashells.

After church we visited with my grandparents and then had a BBQ at my moms with my family after.

Also that weekend, we were able to get our garden started. Thanks in a HUGE way to my best-ever dad. He brought his tiller over, fertilizer, all the nutrients for the soil and some black plastic ground cover. He tilled and tilled some more, mixed the stuff in and then kept tilling. Then I raked it smooth. The ground was sooooo soft when he was done. He laid the plastic down and told us how to cut it for the different veggies. (Minimal weeds. I am SOOO excited!) Last night we got most of our veggies in: tomatoes, tomatillos, cilantro, onions, beans, peas, carrots, zucchini, and cucumber. Next week we'll do more cilantro, peppers, and pumpkins. Yummy!

Late pics

My friend asked me the other day when I was going to post some pictures from Lyndsi's birthday party. Whoops. Guess I never got around to it. Well, I'm doing it now-3 months late.

Playing charades:

Balloon games:

My Little Man

turned 5!! To celebrate, he wanted a pool party. How does a mother of 3 pull that off in April? That's just what I was thinking. Lucky for me, I realized we'd be in St. George with a handful of cousins right before his birthday. He got his pool party and I got to have all the parents there to watch their own kids in the water. McKay loved it. (In fact, I think he was one of the last ones out of the pool.) We spent his actual birthday driving home from St. George, so we didn't do much. A few nights later we did his "family party" with mom and dad and his sisters. Jeff brought pizza home and while we munched we watched Madagascar 2 (gift from Grandma A.) We haven't seen the first one, but Jeff and I got several good laughs in on this one. None of us are huge cake fans, but what's a birthday without cake? I finally tried that chocolate cake in a mug recipe for his bday cake. For a microwavable dessert, it was pretty good. Then the best part: Presents!!! I've got one word for you: Legos. That's what it's all about this year. He got a few sets from cousins at his party and a few more from mom and dad. He's also into sharks lately, so I picked up a little National Geographic kids book about them. (Other gifts: outfit and Playhouse Disney cd-G&G A.; bumblebee transformers-sisters; Lightening McQueen art set-G&G M.) He had a great birthday and I think he secretly enjoyed it being strung out like it was.

Best. Gifts. Ever.

Photoshop Elements.


And Travis.


Jeff gave me Photoshop for my birthday. Wahoo!! I'm so excited to learn all about it and do amazing things with it.

Cami and I have birthdays at opposite ends of the same month. Our gift to each other-a girls' night out to see Travis at the Depot downtown. SUCH a good concert!! They were amazing on stage. Their lyrics are full of all kinds of wonderful meanings. The venue was small and quite personable which I love. Here's a little tastes of what we heard last night:




and some more if you liked the above:





(I could only find the video. All I can say is they're British band.)

Through the Years

No, I am not going to start singing some sentimental old song by Kenny Rogers (?), but I am going to get sentimental for a minute. My baby girl turns 7 today!! Wasn't she the most beautiful baby? She has grown up so much and is my little "mother" helper. She's thoughtful, independent (in a good way), helpful, loving and friendly. If I had to give her one label, I would say she is a rock. She's consistent and is strong. She is going to be a huge asset on the side of righteousness the older she gets. I'm so grateful to be her mother. I'm especially excited today because Jeff and I will be taking her to the Draper temple (along with the other 2 yay-hoos). She cannot wait and is thrilled that she gets to do that on her birthday. Lyndsi-lu, I love you!! Happy Birthday!!