Happy Birthday Elise - Fairy Party

Elise had a fairy themed birthday party this year.

Mike stayed up late with me and helped make this giant paper tree.  We taped it up with blue painter's tape, and in the morning the whole thing was on the floor.  Whoops!  So we re-did it with duct tape.  The toadstool seats are the flour and sugar pails from my pantry, with felt and pillow stuffing to make the tops.

The girls decorated paper bag baskets for a scavenger hunt.  They also painted rocks to look like lady bugs.  Elise thought of the rock painting all by herself.

Earlier in the summer, our next door neighbor cut down a tree that had seen better days.  He was so nice to cut these pieces for me to make a cake pedestal, and then Mike assembled it.  Thanks Rob and Mike!  I was nervous about it tipping with the cake on it, so during the party I used it to display a platter of "fairy berries". Elise's grandpa Clint contributed the giant pinecones, aren't they cool?

My talented friend Kristin offered up a custom made cake for a Relief Society service auction.  I was so excited I won!  Kristin made the most amazing cake to fit the party theme.  Elise was delighted, and all the girls at the party crowded around oohing and aahing, and calling dibs on different flowers and mushrooms.  It was so nice to have one less thing to worry about while preparing for the party, plus this is above and beyond anything I could have done.

We had a nature scavenger hunt.  The girls had a hard time with some of the items on the list (live bugs!), but that was part of the fun!

For this relay, the pool was filled with clear flat marbles (dewdrops!) and they had to get them out with their feet.  If I had it to do again, I would have put the marbles in a bigger pool and had all the girls doing it at the same time.  It was so hot outside, it would have been more fun that way.  Plus, I decided that party games are more fun when they're not as competitive.

I made these cookies as party favors, along with the head wreaths and felt wings.

Elise is growing up so much.  Sometimes she acts like a sassy teenager, but most of the time she is thoughtful and helpful.  Now that we have rearranged the bedrooms for the new baby, Elise is glad to have her own room in the basement, but I think she's still likes having Lydia straight across the hall from her.

Elise has many hobbies like reading, art, making jewelry, and collecting all kinds of pretty and interesting things.  She writes the cutest notes, stories, and song lyrics.  She keeps Lydia and Tyler entertained, cooking up elaborate pretend scenarios with them, and she loves putting on little dance shows for our family.  She is starting to have her own sense of fashion, putting together outfits and accessories without any input from me - which is good, because she's way more stylish than I am!

Earlier this year, Elise had 2 teeth pulled at the dentist because the new teeth were growing in behind them.  She was pretty brave about the whole thing, and very excited (though slightly skeptical) about the whole tooth fairy thing.  She left a note under her pillow with the teeth, wanting to know the tooth fairy's name (Pearl!), and also asking her not to take the teeth because she wanted to keep them. :)

If Elise is given a choice out of an assortment of anything, she always chooses the most rare or unique thing.  The one oddball spoon, the only blue pencil, whatever.  She likes things that are special and one-of-a-kind.

Happy 7th birthday, Elise!  We love you and think you are special and one-of-a-kind too!

Happy Birthday Lydia - Wonderland Party

Lydia turned 5 this year! I can hardly believe it. And she will be in Kindergarten in the fall. Crazy!

For her birthday, Lydia got birthday clothes, an mp3 player, and some kid-friendly earphones. She is a music lover, and was so excited about having her very own music player.

Also, for about the last 6 months, she has been asking for gum for her birthday. Mike went to the store and picked out a variety of flavors he thought she would like. She was SO happy about having her very own gum!  It didn't last very many days, but for those few days, she was very generous about sharing it with her friends and Elise.

Lydia wanted to wear her Alice in Wonderland costume for her party, so we made the whole thing Wonderland themed. Her friends got to wear and take home simple white pinafores that I made.  Mike stayed up late with me the night before the party to hang up decorations like "This Way" "That Way" signs, and rosebushes with roses painted red. I originally made them for a Young Women activity last fall, but I was so glad I had saved them.

They played Mad, Mad, Hatter (Duck, Duck, Goose) with a funny felt hat I found at Target for $1.

And a game like a cake walk, using the numbers on a sidewalk-chalked pocketwatch. They won different colored "Alice" headbands.

Elise wore last year's Halloween costume and helped with this game, "Queen of Hearts Says" (like Simon Says).

We also did a relay race using flamingo mallets to hit a ball across the yard and back.

Lydia claims that she hates cake, but likes cupcakes. Funny girl! I topped the cupcakes with white buttercream roses, and tried to paint them red using Wilton Color Mist. It wasn't quite the dramatic red I was going for, but they were cute anyway.  The girls drank punch from real teacups, which they loved.  I also made little sugar cookies to send home that said Eat Me in royal icing, but I forgot to take pictures of them!

My mom knows me well enough to offer to come a little early and be an extra pair of hands.  I always seem to bite off more than I can chew and end up scrambling to finish and fit in everything that I planned.  Thanks Mom!

Mike's mom was also able to stop by and wish Lydia a happy birthday!

Lydia is like a ray of sunshine in our home. She has such a positive attitude about things, and shares her delight and amazement about things I would usually overlook. When we do simple activities like going to the playground or flying kites she declares, "This is my best day ever!" She is independent, and likes to do things herself, like make her own sandwiches and breakfasts. She also loves surprising people, and getting everyone laughing. Happy Birthday Lydia!

It's a...

I have a video to share, in case you didn't see it on Facebook:


If you're trying to watch and it's not working, leave a comment and I will try to upload it a different way.

Crazy Hair Days

Here is Elise on her school's crazy hair day. I ratted her ponytail, and she wore fake bangs. She liked the idea of people thinking the bangs were her real hair. I wonder if anyone was fooled. ;)

Lydia's preschool had a crazy hair day about a month later. We put clear plastic cups in her ponytails.

Great news!

This news has been out for a while, but not on our blog, so here it is: I'm pregnant! The baby is due August 16th (Or August 14th, according to my doctor, not that it matters!).

Elise is hoping for a boy. Lydia was originally hoping for a baby sister, until Elise converted her with this logic: If we have 2 little brothers, then we can play princesses and have a prince for each of us! Poor Tyler and his hypothetical brother! Except that I'm pretty sure Ty would LOVE to have a brother, and probably wouldn't mind the princely role either. I'm very wishy-washy about what I would prefer, and I haven't felt any intuition either way. Mike is sure this one's a girl. Want to know how I know? The other day he started a sentence like this: "When we find out what she is..."

I am feeling pretty good lately. For the first couple of months of the pregnancy I felt yucky - stomach churning pretty much all day. That has gone away, and now I am just extra tired. Sometimes I nap in the afternoon, but more often I sit and stare listlessly at blogs and Facebook in lieu of a nap. Stupid!

An awesome side effect of pregnancy: healthy things are SO appealing. Fruit, vegetables, water, regular Cheerios instead of sugar cereal! I eat fresh pineapple until my mouth hurts. Today I ate 3 bowls of pureed butternut squash soup*.

Even weirder: suddenly I have the ability to eat sweets in moderation. Where did that come from? Usually I can't help but eat all the candy and baked goods in sight, and you would think pregnancy would only make it worse, but get this: I had Valentine candy (chocolate!) still sitting on my counter when February ended. I don't think that has ever happened to me.

*How to make Butternut Squash Soup (Andrea, correct me if I'm making it wrong, and thanks for the idea)
Cube up a butternut squash**, and put it in a pot. Add enough chicken broth (or water/bouillon) to cover the squash. Boil until the squash is soft. Pour the contents of the pot into a blender, and puree. Return to the pot, add a little dash of cayenne, and maybe some black pepper. Garnish with Parmesan cheese if desired (I didn't have any and it was still so yummy).

**Out of curiosity I looked up the nutritional information for butternut squash. I found out that a cup of cubed butternut squash has 457% of the recommended daily value of Vitamin A. I probably ate 3x that. Then I found out that excessive Vitamin A causes birth defects. I freaked out. Then I found out that the "Vitamin A" in vegetables is actually beta carotene, which does NOT cause birth defects. I calmed down. The end.

Choo Choo!

Tyler is very into trains lately.  He loves to get out this set and help me "make a circle".  And the best part is that he is so good about putting it away when he's done.

Valentine's Day "Tea" Party

Elise and Lydia invited a few friends over for a fancy "tea" party for Valentine's Day. I took a tip from my sister-in-law Krista and ordered fancy tinted bread to make pink and purple tea sandwiches.

Here is Lydia with Kylie, Eden, and Natalie.

And here is Elise with Abbie and Sydney.

Happy Birthday Mike!

That's right, woodchuck-chuckers, it's GROUNDHOG DAY!

This day never fails to remind me of the scariest thing that ever happened to me. It wasn't Groundhog Day, but one chilly day I was leaving work, and my car wouldn't start. I went back inside and borrowed a portable jump-starter, and went back outside all alone to see if it would help.

The next few seconds are fixed in my memory forever. I opened the hood, and an enormous rodent (R.O.U.S.) jumped out toward me. I screamed and shut the hood before it could get me, and ran inside screaming and shaking. My co-workers and my dad (it's a family business) finally calmed me down and got the story: "There's... something... under... my... hood!!"

My dad and some others came out to see what I was freaking out about. When they opened the hood, I stayed well back, expecting the same jack-in-the-box action, but the thing was just huddled down where they could hardly see it. Nothing they did could get it to leave on its own, so they devised a plan and, um, dispatched it. (I didn't watch that part).

Anyway, some image searches helped me figure out that it was probably a groundhog/woodchuck. At work I got teased for days about being so afraid of a furry little animal. My sister even made up some fake "LOST" fliers about a kindergarten class who was missing their pet ferret, haha!

A long time later, I walked into a room at the Museum of Natural History. In the middle of the room was a glass case holding a taxidermied animal just like the one that had jumped out at me. Just seeing it sent my heart racing, and my stomach churning. Emotionally, I was right back in that scary moment. A totally unreasonable reaction to a stuffed groundhog!

I still get a little bit of that feeling just seeing pictures on the news and television on Groundhog Day. I hope I never ever meet another groundhog in person, even if it is predicting an early spring!

Cruising the California Coast

For Christmas last year, my parents decided to simplify and do one big present for their kids.  They took us on a 4-day cruise in January, sans kids, and it was SO fun.  We missed Dave and Krista, but luckily everyone else was able to come.  We left out of Los Angeles, and stopped in Catalina and Ensenada.

Some of my memories of the cruise:

• Packing a little too lightly (we carried on all our luggage to save time at the airport).  The weather was actually quite nice compared to Utah in January, but I probably should have brought more long pants and an actual coat.
• Playing lots of funny rounds of Telestrations on the no-kids-allowed "Serenity" deck - we were probably not the most serene crowd, haha!  My favorite round: George Washington -> Shirley Temple -> sparkling cider.
• Free sushi every night at 5:00 p.m.
• Renting crappy bikes to explore Catalina.  Looking back it was fun, but my chain came unhooked every time I tried to switch gears, so I had to do the whole thing in the lowest gear, and I was in pretty wimpy shape!  Mike would have gladly traded bikes with me, except we couldn't get the seat on his bike to adjust lower.
• Shaunda sneakily putting cute signs on our stateroom doors.
• Ordering FREE room service!
• Every night at dinner I struggled with "morning" sickness, but the pregnancy was still a secret at that point, so I couldn't admit it.  Luckily seasickness was a good cover.  Our waiter was so nice to offer to bring me bland things like baked potatoes if my entree didn't agree with me.  
• Finding folded towel animals in our stateroom.
• We went to see a Newlywed-type game in the ship's theater, and my parents got picked to come up on stage as the longest-married couple in the room.  It was hilarious (and slightly embarrassing) to hear my parents answer some of those questions!  Before they started, the host took my dad aside and told him that some of his answers would be changed for the sake of comedy.  The very last question was something like "You haven't seen ugly until you've seen my wife's _________" and the host read out my dad's answer as "I haven't stayed married for 35 years by being stupid!"
• Conga line in the dining room.
• The BEST do-it-yourself excursion we could have hoped for in Ensenada.  The excursions offered through the ship were overpriced and didn't sound very cool.  Shaunda found out about a campground with a network of ziplines, Las Cañadas, several miles from the port, and we decided to try getting there and back ourselves.  I was worried about not making it back to the ship, or being taken advantage of by a shuttle driver, or finding the zip-lines to be rickety and dangerous, but everything turned out wonderful.  Our prayers were answered.  We found Manuel, a shuttle bus driver willing to drive us all there and back for a reasonable price.  He was so friendly and ended up spending the day joining us in our zip-line activity.  The zip lines were SO fun and thrilling, but I felt completely safe and in good hands with the instructors.
• Eating authentic fish tacos in Ensenada, and dragging Mike up and down the streets looking for the perfect souvenirs at a bargain price I could live with.  He should thank me for all the great opportunities I give him to work on patience. ;)

It was such a fun time, and we made great memories!  Thanks Mom & Dad!