Party Time! (again...)

Final friend party...FINALLY! It was a little crazy to have all 3 kid's parties in less than 6 weeks but now I won't be doing it again for three years! Plus I read a friend's blog and she had 5 parties for her kids in ONE week!!

La-La had her turn yesterday to have her friend Birthday party! She has spent a big chunk of time this summer collecting bugs so we decided to have a bug themed party. I tried to convince her to invite boys and girls but she wanted girls only. I guess it starts young!

We sent out invites, bought supplies from Oriental Trading, made a pinata and waited for the day to come.

First on the party agenda was to make lady bug apples. I cut red apples in half and the girls put chocolate chips on with frosting for the spots and black licorice for the antenna. I bought mini chips but we should have used regular size. Oh well, the girls had fun and even ate their apples a little. (:

After the apples, we cleaned up and then made a bigger mess decorating bug catcher kits. Oriental Trading suggested buying their glue dots to complete the craft but I didn't and wished I had of when we realized neither white glue or glue sticks worked very well. Once again, oh well, everyone had fun trying!Care Bear, Camdyn, Daisy, Taylor, Justice, Zoe, La-La, Paige

Then we went on a bug hunt. Jaco had hid a bunch of plastic bugs to find and La-La even found a real spider!

Present time next! La-La got lip gloss, two art kits, Baby-in-my Pocket, Littlest Pet Shop, and some bubbles and other little gadgets. She was very happy about everything!

Time to make another mess! Instead of cake we had Dirt Dessert. Yum Yum! We attempted to make flowers out of taffy and Star-bursts but most of the girls just dug into the chocolate mess with as many gummy worms as they could fit in their cups!

Finally we did the Lady Bug Pinata. La-La really wanted one but I didn't want to spend the money to buy it so a large balloon, glue mixed with water and newspaper strips did the trick! We added some paint and a lady bug was born. I tried to make a handle to hang it from but it ripped with the weight of the goodies so the girls just threw him on the ground to get it to break open. It worked and everyone collected their treats.Bug party was a success as everyone went home happy and full of sugar!

Happy Birthday La-La!

My little girl is getting bigger and bigger and is now officially 7 years old but she would like to think she is closer to 17! The other day she said to me that she thinks she is really older than we say she is because she has a "boyfriend", loves jewelry, and other big girl things so she must be older. La-La is such a funny girl! She reminds me of myself because she LOVES jewelry and getting all dolled up but she is also such a Tom-Boy. If there is a tree she will try to climb it, if there is a puddle she has to jump in it, and if it is alive she wants to hold it; from babies to snakes. I was the same way at her age. In fact when I was a scrawny 11 year old, I went on a 3 day hike through the Sawtooth mountains with my dad and two of my brothers. I even carried my own pack for some of the hike. I also loved to go repelling with the boys.

La-La has been so excited for today. It just kills her to have to wait for everyone else to have their birthday's before her. She could hardly go to sleep last night and woke up as happy as could be today. She opened her gifts this morning before Daddy went to work. Her favorite presents were some Baby Alive accessories and a watch from Granny and Papa. After lunch we went to an Ice-Cream social at church for Relief Society. Then she had a friend over for the afternoon. We met Daddy at Applebee's for dinner where she was so excited to have the waitresses sing to her. Then it was time for cake and ice-cream. It was kind of a quiet day but she had fun and is thrilled to be one year older. Happy Birthday Miss La-La! I love you!


Enjoying her free dessert from Applebee's!

The cake she chose! Simple but sweet.

My big girl looking so grown-up!

Rainie Falls

We went on a family hike yesterday afternoon. Some of the pictures will look familiar as we did the same hike last October!At the end of the hike are some small but fast waterfalls. Around this time of year the Salmon migrate upstream and if you are lucky you can see them attempt to jump UP the falls. Last year we missed the fish but this year we were rewarded for our efforts! The first fish we saw was HUGE and a beautiful pink. Hoping to catch one on camera I sat as still as I could with my camera ready to go. The giant fish never reappeared but several of it's travel companions showed off for us. It was so cool to watch!

This was the first hike we went on that Care Bear did not have the luxury of riding in a carrier on Daddy's shoulders. She did really well until she tripped a few times and landed with her knees on rough rocks. Towards the end she kept complaining that her leg hurt and she was limping. I was afraid she had really bruised her knee but when we got home I realized her socks had slipped down and she had a big blister on her heel from her shoe. Jaco and La-La did their fair share of complaining but I have decided it just wouldn't be a family hike if everyone was happy the whole time! They did have fun especially at the falls where they attempted to build a dam and while playing in the water. Round trip the hike is 4 miles long so for little legs that is quite a distance!


Beautiful crane in flight!
Crane scanning the moving waters hoping for a fishy dinner!

Jaco busy collecting rocks to build his dam.
I know this picture is not in focus but it shows how crazy Miss Care Bear is on a regular basis.

La-La posed for me at the beginning of the hike. I love how beautiful she is with filthy fingers! She is such a girly girl but can and does get dirtier than any boy I have met.
Cody was pretty tuckered out and had a hard time finding a comfortable spot on the hard rocks.
Family shot! Like Cody's rear-end?

My Baby is 4!

I can not believe my youngest child is so old! Where have the last four years gone? Care Bear was born just 2 months after Justin started his medical residency. It was a crazy busy time for all of us but somehow she fit in to our family perfectly. I don't know what I would do without her! She makes us all laugh, has the absolute best smile, and is so full of life that nothing stops her, not even sleep! Her sleeping habits are slowly improving but she still wakes up screaming 3-4 times a week in the middle of the night. That is one part of her I wouldn't mind changing!

Care Bear woke up to the usual decorations provided by the Birthday Fairy. I think she opened her gifts in record time so Daddy could watch before he went to work. Her favorite gifts were a doll seat that hooks to the back of her bike so she can take her babies riding and a Barbie Girls MP3 player. All afternoon she rode her bike while singing out loud with her music player. She screamed and threw a huge fit when I took the music player away so she would go to sleep tonight.

We met several friends from church at the park this morning and at the last minute I decided to take her cake and ice-cream to the park to share with all our friends. The cake required almost 2 full mixes and I really did not want that much cake laying around!

Care Bear chose a cow cake and I think it turned out pretty cute!

We had fun playing at the park and Care Bear loved getting under-doggies on the swing, her favorite park toy.

We met Daddy at DQ for lunch. That is where the birthday girl wanted to eat so we willingly obliged! She decided she never wants to get an Artic Rush again because of the brain freeze head aches she kept getting.

Later this afternoon we went swimming in our neighbor's pool. Care Bear did not want to get in the water because she did not want to stop listening to her new MP3 player. Eventually she got in and had fun splashing and playing with several other kids.

The rest of Care Bear's day was spent eating pizza (her dinner choice) and listening to her music while riding her bike. I think she had a great day! I love my kid's birthday's and doing everything I can to make them feel special and loved. Happy Birthday Care Bear!!

Party Time!

We decided to have Care Bear's birthday party a little early so her cousin Alivia and Aunt Miranda could be there. So on Tuesday August 18 we had Care Bear's first friend party to celebrate her 4th birthday! Since she loves puzzles so much, we decided to have a puzzle party!

I made the invitations into a puzzle the guests had to assemble to find out the party details. We invited 7 friends; 2 boys and 5 girls. All the girls were able to come but both boys couldn't make it.

The party started with a round of duck duck goose and other preschool games.

Then we went on a puzzle piece hunt where the kids had to look for 25 hidden puzzle pieces and then assemble the puzzle together. Our neighbor has an 11 year old grand-daughter who was so sweet and helped at the party. She was so patient with the kids while they put the puzzle together.

By this time, Care Bear was dying to open her gifts. She got two play-dough sets, a High School Musical Barbie, some paints, and a Polly Pocket Doll. She loved everything!

Then it was time for cake and ice-cream. I decided to save my special cake for her actual birthday so for the party I just made a small round cake and cupcakes with puzzle pieces made from fondant. The kids were thrilled with the cupcakes!

While we waited for the parents to arrive, we colored puzzle pictures, ate popsicles because it was over 100 degrees, and played animal memory. Everyone had fun and Care Bear was very happy to have her first friend party! Aunt Miranda was a life saver and helped a ton in keeping a room full of preschoolers happy! Each of the guests got to take home a small backpack with a new puzzle inside, crayons, and a punch ball. Love the Dollar Store for party favors!

All the party animals: Raegen, Angelique, La-La, Cheyenne, Care Bear, Amelia, Anna, Alivia

Happy 33rd!

My favorite hubby is 33 years old today! Happy Birthday Justin! He spent his day doing his favorite outdoor activity, GOLF! He played in our local country club's championship tournament. He didn't win but he had fun and played really well. His biggest problem was he had to play against the 5 year championship winner. Justin was able to spend the day doing what he loves so it was a good birthday!

The girls hung streamers and balloons for Dad and we had a family dinner. My favorite part of the day was making his cake. I got the idea off the internet and I have to say I love the way it turned out! Justin thought it was pretty cool too.

Happy Birthday to a great dad and husband! I love you!!

Then & Now

It is amazing what a little time but more importantly what a patient kind teacher can do for someone. Last summer Jaco would not get in our apartment pool at all. He would just sit on the chairs reading or playing a game by himself. We did swim lessons at the YMCA over Spring Break and he learned he could put his face in the water but that was about it. We have a neighbor and friend from church who teaches swim lessons from her house with her daughter so I signed the kids up. They were both so patient with Jaco and even gave him 2 extra weeks of free lessons because he was doing so good and they did not want him to forget what he learned. I am so proud of him and can't believe the progress he made!

Beautiful!

We had an amazing sunset last night. The air itself seemed orange and the clouds looked like giant puffy marshmellows.