Gagey-poo is 2!

It's hard to believe that it's been two years since my baby was born. We've all heard and said it a million times, time goes by too fast in terms of our kids growing up. I'm trying to be better at putting house work aside and spending more time making fun and lasting memories with my kids. I don't want them to look back on their childhood and think, "Wow, our kitchen floor was always so clean we could eat off it"! That might give me good credit as a house keeper, but not as a mother. As a grandma I want to hear them share stories with their kids about camping with their dad, having water hose fights with their mom, and about the time we both surprise attacked them in the kitchen with their nerf air strike guns. (Sigh...) that time is still far into the future, but it will sneak up on me before I know it.

I'm a bit emotional knowing that we won't be celebrating any more 1st or 2nd birthdays for our kids. Luckily Gage loves to snuggle and is very affectionate, otherwise it would be a lot harder. The other kids all adore him and he loves to run around giving them hugs, he looks like an airplane coming in for a landing. Gage isn't the most talkative kid, but he does love to imitate animal sounds. His favorite is "bibbit" for a frog, so that was my inspiration for the frog theme. We decorated with frog balloons, played games with frog beach balls and lily pads, and ate frog cupcakes.

Gage is thinking, "Keep that thing away from me or I'll mess my pants!" 

Watch the video below to find out why.

Celebrating The New Year

This year our family celebrated the New Year rather than New Year's Eve, so we could enjoy a good night's rest and make it to church at it's new time, 9am.

Elizabeth came over to join the festivities, which consisted of eating yummy snacks and treats, playing a few card games, building a tower with Hayden (using the new blocks that Gabe made them), and playing Twister.

This is the first time that Gage has ever seen anyone play Twister, but he was eager to join the action.

Mason: Our Own Little Houdini

The other night after we had (supposedly) gotten all the boys in bed, Gabe and I realized that we didn't know where Mason was. I had assumed that Gabe had read to him until he fell asleep in the guest bed, and he assumed I had done the same but in our bed. We walked through the house calling for him, walking in and out of our room many times. We were positive he hadn't escaped outside because it was 25 degrees, but we were stumped because he didn't seem to be anywhere...

...finally on closer inspection Gabe spotted him.

Ahhh, there's no place like home for the holidays...

Last year we did a Nativity slide show. This year I was lucky to get everyone in front of the camera for two seconds!

(The first song on my Christmas playlist is set to go along with this slideshow)

Thanks to the "wink detection timer" I'm in the picture

Gage in front of the "Kid tree"

Mommy's Tree

Happy Birthday "Ant" Elizabeth

We had a fun time celebrating Elizabeth's birthday last Sunday.

                                     Ant = Aunt

Christmas toilet paper roll crafts

       I know toilet paper rolls aren't the fanciest of all craft supplies, but with the amount of traffic our bathrooms get, they pile up pretty quick. I found this website that has templates for almost any character you can think of, so you just go the website and click on "snowman" for example, then you can print out the template and make your craft.

http://www.dltk-kids.com/type/tp_roll.htm

       As a side note, when I made this, I actually just copied the template, then pasted it into a drawing document, then I cropped it down to just the snowman image. I was able to fit 6 snowmen on one page so I didn't have to use a lot of paper.
       When I have the kids in my preschool playgroup do this activity, I am going to use craft foam instead of construction paper. The paper circles are small and difficult to pick up, so for little fingers, the bulkier the better.

San Francisco

This last weekend Gabe and I flew into Oakland to attend his cousin Dustin's wedding. We were able to stay for three days and enjoy a much needed "get away". We stayed at the Waterfront Hotel, which like it's name implies, is right on the waterfront.  The ferry dock was conveniently just yards from our hotel and we were able to take a ferry to San Francisco. The ferry went right under the bay bridge, which is very impressive. We drove across it on Sunday before we flew home, but that ended up being a painful test of our patience. It is a toll bridge and it literally took us 1 hour to cross it because of the traffic. And it was a Sunday! I can't imagine trying to cross it during the work week.

The ferry docked right at the famous Pier 39 (Pier 41). I felt like I was in Disney land with the ambiance of the shops, the smells and night lights. Gabe and I ate at "Luigi's" right on Pier 39. I texted Tucker a picture of the restaurant and he thought it was pretty cool and remarked that he wanted to eat there tomorrow.

Street performers filled the sidewalks of Fisherman's Wharf. My favorite was a family act of acrobats, "The Sardine Family Circus". It was two brothers, their sister and a friend. The siblings are originally from England and come from a family of 8 kids. If you ever get the chance to go to Fisherman's Wharf, they are an act you don't want to miss.

Of course all good things must come to an end, but we were both ready to go home and see the kiddos. This is the longest we've ever been away from our kids, but we left them with a family friend whom they all adore, so they didn't have any trouble with our absence. Having someone you can trust with your kids makes all the difference, so we know we can definitely get away again in the future and not have to wait until retirement : )

You Can Do Hard Things

"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is increased."  -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"You can do hard things", is a phrase I heard from my mom quite often growing up. Usually my first thought was, "but I don't want to do hard things"! Yet despite the reluctance, I did feel more empowered. As a mother I have begun using this phrase with my kids too, some more than others. Brianna is often begrudging of her daily duties that deplete her "play time" and often grumbles about having to do her jobs. To be fair she probably does have more daily responsibilities than the average eleven year old with piano practice, eye exercises and visions therapy, top rack dishwasher duty and reading to the boys before bedtime. But she is capable of doing these things and is still able to play with her best friend 3-4 hours a day. I admit that after having four boys it's harder for me to remember that girls need more time to "get over things" and usually dedicate more energy and drama in dealing with their issues. I am reluctant to admit that I am not very patient with this process and need to find a way to tap into the empathetic Mommy that I know exists somewhere inside of this "cut to the chase, just get it done, and don't whine about it" robot of a parent I feel I am most of the time. Not that it's fun being this type of parent, but often am out of sheer necessity of maintaining my sanity.

"I can do hard things!" ...Hmm, I don't quite feel empowered yet, but I have faith that I will get there. I should probably take my own advice that I give to Tucker when he's playing Wii and is frustrated 95% of the time. "Take a deep breath...now another. Remember, this is suppose to be fun".

Thanksgiving JibJab video

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Spiders, Skeletons and Mummies, Oh My!

It's hard for me to believe that Hayden is 9 yrs old now!  He was only 4 when we first moved to Spanish Fork and he has really grown and matured a lot. I guess we all have but for Hayden the obstacles haven't been as ordinary. I'm really proud of him and what a wonderful person he is and continues to become. The sappiness aside, everyone had a lot of fun celebrating Hayden's birthday. We invited one of his best friend's and his family to come celebrate with us. The party didn't end until after 9pm, mostly because it's hard to tell eight kids that a party is over and it's time for friends to leave and go to bed. But all good things end at some point : )

I was really excited about the cupcakes I chose to make for his birthday this year. I can't give myself all the credit though, I got my inspiration from "Better Homes and Gardens". The peanut butter fudge fingers were my own creation though, although it did take awhile for everyone to try them because they were a little too realistic.

Last year we did a haunted house for Hayden's friend party, which was fun but it consumed my life for a week. Hayden wanted to do it again this year, so I pointed him towards the garage, gave him a box of decorations and props and said "Go at it". Lately I've been trying to be more realistic about what I can do and how much time I have to do it because I often get in over my head and end up overwhelmed and drowning in projects that aren't top priority. Ah, but they are usually a lot more fun : )

Hayden overjoyed to receive a "red" razor scooter!

                                  Mommy tickling Gage            Gabe sporting the gun he gave Hayden as a present

                                                                                 "Preparation for the Zombie Apocalypse"