Happy Birthday To Me!

Yeah....I'm 34 today! It seems so old, but I still feel like I'm 21 (beside the fact that I have 4 kids, a husband, and house to care for now!) I have been feeling so grateful that I have had this many happy and healthy years on this earth. There are so many who aren't so blessed with good health and a wonderful support system around them.

Last night we went out to celebrate, intending to go to the Cheesecake Factory. Wow - I would have thought it was Christmas Eve with all of the shoppers out. We got to the restaurant just before 6pm, and they told us we could come back in 1 1/2 hours to get a pager! An H&M clothing store just opened at this mall, and I think that had something to do with the crowds. So, we settled for California Pizza Kitchen where the wait was only 40 minutes, and I got to do some shopping at H&M by myself. Well, I was without kids, but I certainly wasn't by myself. I could barely move inside the store! There was a line to to through the isles and look at clothing. I did see a few items I would have liked to try on and probably purchase, but the line for the cash register wound through the entire 1st level. It was NUTS! If you live in Salt Lake, I would suggest only going during the day on a weekday, for the next few months!

It was so much fun to sit in a 1/2 circle booth with James and the kids while they colored and chattered. Blaze thinks he is so big now and had to sit in a booster seat (NOT a high chair), and he insisted on having his own water in a kiddie cup and straw (NOT his sippy cup!). James and I watched "Fast Five", the fifth movie in the "Fast and Furious" series when we got home. We loved it. It's got The Rock and Vin Diesel in it - with an awesome fight scene between the two. I love my little family, and I love how excited the kids have been all day that it's my birthday.

Just a side note - we were late for church this morning and had to stand in the hallway for a few minutes so we didn't interrupt the service going on. An Asian man who we don't know walked past us, and Paul got so excited and said "Hey, it's the Spy Next Door!" I just couldn't stop laughing for a few minutes. The kids just watched "The Spy Next Door" on Netflix, and he thought this guy was Jackie Chan! I think he's still convinced of that even though I explained there is no way that Jackie Chan was at our church today!

Mommy and Son Date!

Jackson's school had a mother and son social one night this week. It was a cowboy theme, and so we sort of dressed up :) The boys got to have an ice cream sundae, and there was a DJ there leading us to do all of the silly dances they usually do! We did the Chicken Dance, the Macarana, the Gerbil, the McDonald's dance, and then dance moves from the 70's and 80's. It was SO entertaining to watch all of the little boys participate. I think they are ready to impress the girls with their moves. I was thinking how the 2nd grade girls would have loved to be there, and would have just laughed and laughed at the boys. Jackson and his friends say that's what the girls do - laugh at everything the boys do! Paul is really excited for his turn to have a "mommy date"!

The Birthday 5 !!!

On my side of the family, five of us have a birthday between November 3rd and December 3rd. We just all celebrate together since it's a busy time with Thanksgiving going on too! As a point of interest, all of the in-laws (3 so far) have a birthday that falls on the 3rd of varying months! We are trying to convice Andrew's girlfriend, Cara, to change her birthday from October 11th to October 3rd. We really like her and want her to be part of the family too! When Andrew is dating a girl we like, we have been waiting to hear that she has a "3rd of the month" birthday also!

My mom threw us a really fun party with several games like shaving your partner with shaving cream and a spoon etc. We had a very tasty angel food cake with layers of sherbet as well as 3 kinds of cupcakes. We were playing "psychiatrist", trying to get my brother Luke to figure out what our "problem" was. James walked in and wanted to play, so Luke asked him a question. Someone said "skip James, he doesn't know what we are doing yet!" James replied "Yes, I do. You are answering the previous person's question whenever Luke asks you a question." He gave away our "problem" to Luke! So, he inadvertently ruined the game! It was pretty funny. Then, in a "like father like son" fashion Paul also took his turn ruining one round of a game. Caleb had the word "fire truck" taped to his head and had to ask us "yes" or "no" questions in order to guess what the paper said. Paul just walked up and said "Caleb, your paper says fire truck!" I was very proud of him for reading the paper though. We all got a good laugh out of Paul and James's cluelessness!

Little Rascal !

Blaze has really become something else lately. He is no longer my mellow sweet little baby - not most of the time anyway :) I'm glad he is growing up, but it is happening way too quickly. This week he has been cutting molars, and definitely hasn't been happy about it. I can tell Blaze to go get his socks or shoes, and he understands me and does it - unless he is being a punk and laughs at me and just scoots off! We have taught him many of his body parts and Blaze will point them out on himself or on us when asked. He's also been a brave walker, taking more and more steps every day. He's not at all bothered when he hits the ground, he anxiously resumes his stance and carries on. About the only time I can get him to cuddle with me these days is when he is ready for nap or bed time. He will walk/scoot/crawl over and whine until I pick him up, and then nestle his pillow cheeks in my face and neck. I sing "I Am A Child Of God", in his ear, and my beautiful voice lulls him to sleep. I'm being sarcastic about my beautiful voice - it's anything but that! I actually don't know how he can stand to hear me sing three versus of that song! I'm enjoying it while it lasts though.

Disney On Ice !!!

Our kids anxiously awaited our performance of Disney on Ice for about 6 weeks. I talked James into getting tickets to see it at the Energy Solutions Arena, and I'm so he caved! Everytime I looked at his face during the performance, he was sporting a big cheesy grin!  My favorite performance was from Alice in Wonderland, with the Queen of Hearts and all of her cards. There were so many of them skating and doing intricate pass throughs - it reminded me of drill team from high school!

The Birthday Creaming...

Of course I HAD to make an ice cream cake for James's birthday (he doesn't like anything else). And I ended up with lots of extra whipped cream. So, of course, I just HAD to play a little trick on him. I go a little stir crazy during the winter sometimes. Anyway, when James got home from work we all hid in the dark and put his lit cake on the bar for him to see first thing when he walked through the door. It served as a distraction so I could plant a whipped cream pie in his face! It was hilarious, and James got quite a laugh and ate a good part of it off his face. The rest of the night he kept thinking that Blaze had thrown up on himself and kept smelling  Blaze up and down. He then realized that HE was the smelly one from the cream that got under his neck, in his ears, all over his hair etc.!

We also celebrated by going to Tucano's Brazilian Grill for dinner. I have implemented a life style change during the past 6-7 months, so that we are eating a plant based food diet (semi-vegan). This was a special occasion  so the boys all "pigged out" on the different meats there. Alanna very adamantly declined saying "I do not eat meat!" I couldn't stomach much myself either! I think they have had their fill for the next year or so though :) After dinner we went shoe shopping with James. He always talks about how much he hates shopping etc. etc. I remembered why...he takes FOREVER to make a decision! We finally ended up with the running shoes and soccer shoes he needed, so I think it was a successful birthday. And WOW - my husband is 35! We have been dating since he was 23! Time sure does fly when you are having fun! We love you James!

Halloween 2011 !

 I am the "room mom" for Paul's Kindergarten class. We had a combined party with another class - 44 kids! It was a bit crazy planning, but it all came together, and the kids loved their first school party. They decorated a cookie, played Bingo, made root beer, made a few crafts, and did a bean bag toss. All they really cared about were the candy prizes - go figure!

 This is an awesome house in our neighborhood. They go all out for Halloween, and add new gimmicks every year. You can't tell in this picture, but they have robotic creatures in the yard. That guy coming out of the ground pops out periodically and shakes and moans - very creepy!

 Jackson wanted to be Dracula this year. He insisted that Dracula has red hair and a red cape He was kind of scaring me with all the "blood" dripping down his face. He asked me if the fake blood was eatable. I told him it was, and he said "good, because it tates like strawberry jam!" Gross!

 Our cute little cowgirl with her pirate pumpkin! She enjoyed her 1st preschool party where they made "witches stew". The ingredients were all candies and cereals with spooky names like "witches eyes" (Whoppers), and rat toenails (candy corn).

 My adorable little dragon. He was such a good sport and enjoyed trick-or-treating for about 2 hours with us! He enjoys all of the suckers his siblings keep giving him even more!

Jackson really got into his role as Dracula :)