Happy Birthday Elise

Elise turned 4 this month! She is so excited and feels so big. The other day she told me, "My birthday took a really long time to come, I thought I'd never be 4." A cute thing she does lately is say, "Want to see how big I have growened?" And then she stands still in front of you, as tall as she can, so you can see just exactly how big she has "growened".

Elise got to have 2 parties this year, a family party and a friend party. This is the first year I have done both. She had definite ideas about what her parties would be like. My pictures from the family party didn't turn out great, but it was really fun and it was great to have our families over. I took a lot of pics of the friend party so I will tell you all about it (or you can skip my long-winded descriptions and just see the cute pictures).

Elise is so girly. She loves pretending she is a princess. And since most every princess story ends with a wedding, she always wants to pretend she is getting married. Her concept of "getting married" is a little confused, it's pretty much just dancing with a prince, and maybe holding some flowers. She often laments that she doesn't have a prince to "get married" with. When it came time to plan her birthday party, I tried to steer her away from a Princess theme, because unlike the 2 all-girl princess parties she had attended this summer, she would have boys at her party. This was no problem in her mind, because the boys could be the princes, of course, and everyone would come in costume, and they could all pretend to get married! Doesn't that sound like the ultimate fun for a four-year-old boy? :)

We did end up with a princess themed party, and all the kids had the option of coming dressed like a princess, prince, or knight, if they wanted to. The only boy that dressed up was my nephew, Watson, but he wouldn't stay because all the frilly-dressed girls made him nervous.

Obviously, I vetoed the pretend wedding idea, but included a freeze dance game, which made her just as happy.

In our neighborhood there are a lot of 3-4 year olds, plus Elise has a couple same-aged cousins, so we invited about 12 kids to the party. I planned the party to be 2 hours long, then sent out the invites before I really thought about how I would fill those 2 hours. I had the idea of making a big cardboard castle for them to play in for some of the time. It turned out really cool, but took a bit more time to make than I had hoped. I didn't actually finish it all, but at least it had 4 walls.

Here is Elise in the castle, in her new Cinderella dress and crown that she got for her birthday.

The party turned out great, I thought. My little brother Chris and his girlfriend(?) Luciana came to be extra helping hands. For the first few minutes, while everyone was arriving, the kids got their foam crowns, played in the castle and colored pictures. Here is Elise with her 2 cousins, Watson and McKenna. Too bad Watson wouldn't stay, his knight tunic was so cool.

These are the other 2 princes who came to the party:

After everyone had arrived, we had a little "adventure" to find the hidden crown jewels. It was kinda like an improvised obstacle course that everyone did together. I was trying really hard to make up non-competitive games that would appeal to that age group. We swam across a lake (big oval made with the hose), then we crossed a bridge (wooden window well cover), then each kid had to throw 3 dragon eggs (balls) into a pit (hula hoop on the ground). Then we climbed a mountain (slide) and jumped over a pit of snakes (trampoline with a pile of rope next to it). Finally we found the hidden jewels (stickers and plastic jewels in a little box) to decorate our foam crowns.

After we had decorated our crowns, we played Fairy Godmother Freeze Dance. I was in charge of stopping the music, and I had a little wand. When the music stopped, everyone froze and I chose someone who was holding really still or had a cool pose, and unfroze them with the magic words "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo" of course. Then that person could re-start the music to unfreeze everyone else. This game was the biggest hit, they all asked to play again after the cake. The boys even danced holding hands with the girls, which Elise was thrilled about, lol.

Other games we played were Pass the Poison Apple (like hot potato but when you get caught with the apple you just pretend to sleep), and Pumpkin Pumpkin Coach (Duck Duck Goose).

I made a pinata in the shape of a castle, but I made it a little too strong. That seems to be the trend with all the pinatas I have made. Chris had to break it open for the kids.

The cake was made with a castle pan I borrowed from my neighbor. We didn't want to cut it up until the family party that night, so I made cupcakes for the kids party.Overall it was a good party. A lot of kids couldn't come who were invited, and I don't know how it would have gone if there actually had been a dozen kids, but it turned out great and will be a fun memory for Elise.

Happy Birthday Lydia

Lydia turned 2 this month, and she's such a cute 2 year old. She has just started making great sentences with her words - "It's mine!" "I want juice please, Mommy!" "I don't want to!" "Watch me, Mommy!" "I want that" "I'll do it... self!" "I did it!". It's so cute to hear these thoughts come out of her mouth.

She is also becoming a great peacemaker. If anybody is grumpy she walks over to give a hug or try to distract them. She is never reluctant to say "sorry" and give the requisite hug if she hurts Elise or breaks a rule ("Only color on paper" is our biggest rule lately).

She seems very naturally resilient. When she gets hurt, falling down or bumping into walls mostly, she is very good at just brushing it off and moving on. If she's coughing or crying or anything like that and we ask "Are you okay?" the answer is always a nodded "Yes" even if she's clearly not ok. She almost never specifies the site of an owie or how it happened, she just wants to be comforted for a minute and forget about it.

Lydia's favorite things to do are read books, color, dance, and sing songs. She loves stuffed animals, baby dolls, and blankies. Most mornings when she wakes up, she gathers up every blanket and stuffed animal in her bed and, with her arms full, tries to come climb up into my bed. It's so cute.

Anyway, for her second birthday party we had a ducky theme (because she just loves her duck!).

The invitation (inspired by one I saw online):

Here is the cake I made (again, not my original design):

Duck cupcakes (say that 10x fast):

Getting ready to blow out the candles:

Roaaar, I'm the frosting monster!

Swimming Party at Great Grandma's

In her Christmas card to all the grandkids, Mike's grandma included an invitation to a swimming party planned for July 5th - yes, half a year away - and the day finally came! Her condo complex has a nice pool, so we swam and had a great hamburger/hotdog dinner. It was fun to see a couple of Mike's cousins that I have only met once or twice before.

On the way home, we stopped by a gelateria where our sister-in-law Ashley has been working lately. We had some awesome gelato (I recommend the peach-mango)! Unfortunately, Elise spilled the last bit of hers, so Ashley kindly got her a nice big scoop on a sample spoon, which Elise then gulped down all at once. Her first ice cream headache, poor thing! Other than that, it was a great day.

Mike and Lydia

Elise kicking water in Chris's eyes

Lydia and Grandma (Mike's mom)

Elise and McKenna

Ashley and Doug right after I dared Ash to dunk him, and she did!

Independence Day

We had a really fun July 4th! We started the festivities with a bike parade and pancake breakfast in my Mom and Dad's neighborhood. On the way there, Mike and Elise had this funny conversation:

Mike: Elise, do you know what today is?
Elise: The Fourth of July
Mike: That's right, and what's special about the Fourth of July?
Elise: We have a parade!
Mike: And why do we have a parade?
Elise: Because it's the Fourth of July!

Um, apparently we neglected to explain the significance of the holiday. The best we could come up with in 3-year-old terms is that it's like a birthday for our country and we celebrate because we love to live here. I'm still not sure she understands what a country is, but oh well!


Elise and her scooter all decked out.


Lydia with a pinwheel that we made at the craft table.

Elise and Lydia eating a pancake/waffle breakfast. My parents were in charge of the waffles - their famous homemade whole wheat recipe.

Later that day we went to Mike's dad's for his famous BBQ ribs. We have a lot of famous cooks in our families!

In the evening we met at Eric and Marianne's to set off some fireworks.

The girls stomping on Pop-its, or whatever they're called.

Thinking back, giving them these popsicles in their white outfits was one of my less brilliant ideas (see Lydia's outfit in the next picture). But it was so fun and the popsicles were perfect for the occasion.

Our little fireworks show was one of the most entertaining in my recent memory, thanks to my little brother Alan. He set up tank battles, lit the small fireworks in quick succession to make a more impressive show, and announced each fountain as he lit it, reading the names printed on them - "Jade Flower", "Peach Flowers in Spring", "Mother Nature", etc. Elise and Lydia were the only small children there, so the adults had to make up for it with extra oohing and aahing - "Wow, that really does look like, uh, Peach Flowers in Spring!!"

I think Elise and Lydia's favorite part of the night was when I broke out the glow bracelets. I got a canister of 50 of them for $3! Talk about awesome cheap thrills!

Here, Lydia is trying to make a "happy face" like she had seen Mike and I doing. She's such a cute little copycat these days!

This is the Place Heritage Village

This past year we have had a membership at This is the Place Heritage Village. It just expired on July 2nd, so we went for one last visit on July 1st.
Elise's favorite house in the village is the one where they let kids try pioneer chores. She said "Mom, look, I'm being a pioneer children!" She always wants to wash the clothes and hang them on the line. They also let kids beat the rugs with a metal beater, water the vegetable garden, and "iron" the dry clothes.

Here she is ironing.

Here is Elise doing the pony ride. She was so excited that they put her on the "baby" horse. It was the littlest one and I believe she is named "Misty".

Lydia rides the ponies all by herself and has no fear whatsoever. She is a big fan of the horsies.

Hugging sheep at the petting corral, how sweet!

Lydia liked this baby goat. It was so cute.

These ladies convinced Elise to come up on the stage in the meetinghouse (which was also a school and a theater for the pioneers) and sing the Sunbeam song. She convinced them to jump whenever she sang Sun-BEAM!

This is Elise and Lydia "square dancing", an activity they could have done all day. Seriously, all day. They have a CD player that just keeps looping the same fiddle music over and over. I think if I was the lady who worked there I would go crazy!

In the bootmaker's shop, the bootmaker himself outfitted Lydia in his own handmade boots and a real "coonskin" hat. If you look closely you can see the little animal face, and Elise wouldn't dare try it on because she was scared of it.

Elise preferred the Millinery shop where they make fancy hats with ruffles and flowers.

The most interesting part of the day was when they gathered everybody together in the schoolhouse to try the blacksmith for "attempted murder". In the middle of the theatrical and funny "trial", a crazy man burst in and confessed to the crime, ripping off his straitjacket right in the middle of the aisle where we were sitting. Then he ran out the door followed by the sheriff, and we heard some shots fired, and a woman dropped to the ground. I so wish I had thought to warn Elise that it was all acting! I've never seen her more frightened and wide-eyed, and then she started crying, as I tried to reassure her that everything was pretend. Poor thing!

Other fun things we did:

There is a little observatory named after my ancestor Orson Pratt, which I'd never been able to see inside. That day they had a guide in there showing all the old fashioned scientific instruments and a working telescope. It was fun to talk to him and hear his admiration of Orson, about whom he knew tons more than I did!

We also visited the Tithing Office, which I didn't know you could go inside! I wished we had known about it sooner. They let the kids count out the right amount of "tithing" from a big bushel of carrots, and then they let them make Prairie Diamond rings (out of horseshoe nails) to take home.

We got to do was go inside the gristmill and see the water wheel up close from the balcony.

We saw a puppet show about a cowboy named Gingerfella, who goes to the rodeo wearing glass boots, but then has to leave the rodeo and be back in the stable by high noon before his buckin' bronco turns back into a mouse, etc. Elise was so funny when she finally recognized the connection to her favorite princess story.

I'm so glad we decided to do this one last time and spend the whole day. We were so tired at the end of the day but it was totally worth it.

Mike's Bum Knee

Mike hurt his knee recently playing church ball. He was actually on crutches for a couple days, and still has a limp. He found out last week that his ACL is torn and ligaments don't heal themselves. He's having surgery to fix it on August 29th, and will be on crutches for at least two weeks. Who wants to come mow our lawn? ;)

We're having...

a BOY! We found out yesterday at my 16 week appointment. This is the earliest we have found out with any of my pregnancies. Apparently my OB's office will do an ultrasound this early just to check for gender. It costs $25, and I debated all month whether I would cancel the appointment and keep our money, but I finally talked myself into keeping the appointment.

We were both kinda surprised. Mike was sure it would be a girl, and I've been thinking this pregnancy has been so similar to the last two, I was leaning that direction too. We're both excited but actually a little nervous, if that's the right word. I feel like I know what to do with girls, but a boy is totally new territory! But it's going to be awesome, and I'm excited to see what he will be like! Plus I get to shop for boy things, and redecorate the nursery!

Elise is excited. She has been saying for a while that we need a brother, because Dad is the only boy in our family. In that respect, Mike is really excited to not be so outnumbered anymore! Mike's so cute with our daughters, I can't wait to see him interacting with a son.

So anyway, here are some ultrasound pictures of our tiny little boy (profile of his head, and the "it's a boy" pic):

Please tell me that's not poop!

Last Sunday morning after breakfast we're hanging out downstairs, and Lydia smells stinky. We send her upstairs to bring back a new diaper and a couple wipes (a job she is happy to do). After a few minutes she hasn't come back, and I go up to check on her. I find her calmly sitting at the table eating the breakfast she hadn't finished, so I decide not to bother her for a few more minutes. Well a little while later she comes downstairs and walks up to Mike looking like this: Mike and I look at each other both thinking the same thing and I say "Is it poop? PLEASE tell me that's not poop!" He quickly determines that it is, in fact, chocolate milk powder.
Phew! It was such a relief, that all of a sudden the mess was the funniest thing ever and we both burst out laughing. I couldn't resist taking this pic.

Mini "Pioneer Trek"

Our Primary had a great activity today to teach the children about the Pioneers crossing the plains. The children were invited to come dressed in pioneer clothing and bring wagons decorated like covered wagons.Here is Elise with Lydia in our wagon. I stuck pool noodles in the cup holders and made a little tarp with ropes sewn into two ends to cover our "covered wagon." Pure genius, right? Just kidding but sometimes I remind myself of my dad, making cool stuff like this. We started from a house in the neighborhood, "Nauvoo", and made a "trek" about a mile long, stopping at different points along the way to learn about different church history sites. They had "Winter Quarters," "Martin's Cove," "Emigration Canyon," and the "Salt Lake Valley." It was a really cool idea for an activity, and the girls had tons of fun.

Luau!

In my family we have begun a tradition where each married child takes a less-celebrated holiday (or invents one), and invites both sides of their family for a yearly party.

My sister Shaunda and her husband Dave have Pie Night. Not an official holiday, but an awesome invention. A few days before Thanksgiving we each bring a pie and sample what everyone else brought. It's great, because you actually have room for pie.

My brother Dave and his wife Krista have St. Patrick's Day. Krista always makes really good corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes, and the rest of us bring something green to share.

My brother Eric and his wife Marianne have a Halloween costume party. Marianne always does such a good job re-naming ordinary foods to sound like something from a witch's pantry.

Mike and I used to do Cinco de Mayo, and have Mexican food. It was great but Mike's sister could never make it because her in-laws had the same idea. So, last year we initiated Lei Day (May 1st, because "May Day is Lei Day in Hawai'i - although this year we did it a month late so everyone could come).

We have a luau and cook Kalua Pork in the oven. It tastes just like we buried a pig in a pit full of hot rocks, but without all the digging.


Here's our family in our Aloha attire:

My parents with Lydia and Elise:

Marianne and Elise making fish faces:Eric trying to give me a heart attack (just kidding, he's always in complete control. He'd make a great male cheerleader!):