Last day of school

I was glad that I thought to capture a quick picture of the kids today on their way to their last day of school. Time passes so quickly, i forget how fast they grow!

I love nesting

There is really only one thing I enjoy about pregnancy...nesting. Ok and the whole I get a cute new baby out of nine months of pure torture I guess is also a bonus. On Friday I cleaned my entire fridge with a new weapon added to my cleaning regimen...the toothpick. it was a truly satisfying experience. I'd offer my services but I just noticed my baseboards are looking a little dingy and I'm dying to see what a tooth brush can do on those....

Another birthday post

Lauren turned nine on her birthday this year. NINE! Where has time gone? I have a nine year old?! Since her birthday fell on a Sunday this year, we did her friend birthday party on Saturday morning. We had a glamour party where the girls decorated mirrors, made barrettes and had their hair done by a professional stylist (my sister!). We had a brunch theme with fresh fruit and cinnamon rolls. It was really fun and the girls hair all turned out amazing. Thank goodness for sisters! I cut my hair off when I was 15 and really haven't been able to "fix" hair since. That evening we celebrated as a family by going to dinner at Cafe Rio (Lauren's choice) and going to Disney on Ice. it was a great show. There are too many things about Lauren that I adore to list but here are a few....she is the most helpful nine year old on the planet! When I was first pregnant and incredibly sick, she got up and made the kids breakfast every morning before school. Oftentimes her breakfast would end up soggy by the time she got her brothers taken care of. She has this funny goofy side about her. She loves to dance, sing and just be silly. Luckily for me she has developed a love of scrapbooking. We have so much fun doing this together and recently had a "creative room" outfitted for us in the basement. She is sensitive. She is smart, hard working and a perfectionist. She is always willing to try new things. This year she has played soccer, basketball, taken ice skating and will soon start softball. She loves to shop! Did we luck out with this girl or what?!

Birthday Mania!

February and March are a little birthday crazy around here. Jason and I were able to celebrate his birthday by taking a night away from the kids at the Homestead Resort in Midway, Utah. We went out to dinner in Park City, slept in, ate a huge breakfast and spent the day shopping. It was the best! I felt a little spoiled myself and it wasn't even my birthday! The kids gave Jason the Bourne DVD trilogy. It amazes me that after seeing those movies so many times, he will still rent them. I still like to tease him about watching Shawshank Redemption EVERY time it came on TNT when we were first married. This guy just keeps getting better and better with age!



Nate was excited to have a friend party this year for his 7th birthday. We took five of his friends bowling and it turned out to be a pretty low key afternoon. We had cupcakes before we left and at the last minute I decided to grab a bunch of chips and box drinks. They devoured them! Jason said to me "they never stop eating!" Welcome to world of 7 year old boys. Even though I'm pretty sure its not going to change when he turns 8.



For Nate's actual birthday we decided this year that we wanted to create a family memory rather than spend a lot of money of gifts. We surprised the kids and took them to a tubing park in Park City. Luckily Luke was just old enough to go on a tube by himself, so being 6 months pregnant I got to be the designated photographer. Too bad they are not open still in a couple months or I would consider getting on one of those tubes to induce labor! The kids managed several runs down the large hill. The best part of the tube park is that it has a tow line that pulls you back up the mountain to slide down again. They all had a blast. After Nate's first run he told me 'this is the best birthday ever!' That's what we were going for! I had so much fun watching them. Afterwards Nate chose Arby's for dinner before we headed home for cake and ice cream. I made a peanut butter cup chocolate cake which was good but really rich. Nate got a new watch, Batman game for the PS3, and an ocean life book. He also got a lot of money from very generous grandparents. A few things I want to remember about Nate at this age are...he is sensitive, loving and extremely caring of others. He loves the Wii, PS3, computer, etc. He recently discovered how to read really well and surprised all of us finishing his first chapter book. He loves playing with friends and playing any type of sport. He is constantly losing stuff! Now before he leaves for school I tell him to make sure he comes home with his head, arms, legs, etc. (its that bad!). Nate is always good for a hug. You never have to ask for any type of affection from him. He comes in from school and hugs me, he won't go to sleep at night without a hug and he hugs me first thing in the morning when he gets up. And he also likes to remind me how big my belly is. But I'll forgive him for that since its right at his eye level and it is a little overwhelming. (And p.s. I don't want to hear any comments about Luke's helmet. He likes it and he is yet to sustain any type of head injury.)






And let us not forget Dr. Seuss's birthday! Ok, so we don't usually celebrate his birthday at our house but this year Lauren wanted to enter the cake contest at school for his birthday celebration. She worked really hard on her cake and it turned out super cute. She was a little disappointed when she didn't win but I told her for sure she was the cutest one who entered. Unfortunately they can't judge on that...something about favoritism and self esteem.

Valentines

I love homemade valentines. Probably because it reminds me of when I was younger and got to make my valentine's box and valentines for my class party. Luckily, Lauren shares my enthusiasm for homemade valentines and we starting working on hers about a month ago. We got the original idea from Family Fun and then tweaked it a bit. They turned out super cute and we had fun making them together. I found these adorable magnetic bookmarks here and made these for Nathan to hand out in his class. I'm not sure who had more fun....me or the kids!

Obsessed

For Christmas Jason got me the perfect gift (or gifts I guess I should say.) He did his research and got me a handful of best selling novels to fuel my latest obsession with reading. I have always loved to read but since I got pregnant this obsession has intensified a little more. I read to motivate myself on the elliptical in the morning. I read while we are waiting for Lauren at her weekly piano lesson, I read when the kids are taking their weekly ice skating lesson and finally I love to read when I finally crawl into bed at night and can't stand to watch another basketball game on television. Jason got me six new books for Christmas, convinced I'm sure, that he wouldn't have to buy me another book until my birthday in June. But last night as I closed to cover to book number 5 he looked at me and said "you're obsessed." I figured that was a compliment because there are a lot of other things I could easily be obsessed with that could be far more annoying and detrimental. And to his credit, I loved every book he got me. So if you are looking for something to read to get through the next few drab weeks of winter here are a few suggestions...

Dear John (This is only the second Nicholas Sparks book I have read, but Jason knows I love reading books that are being made into movies. This was a quick read and actually enjoyable. And at least they made the actors in the movie relatively attractive unlike the casting of Twilight. Don't get me started on that.)

Molokai

The Lovely Bones

Catching Fire

The Help

Last fall when I was first pregnant and really sick, reading was the only thing I found enjoyable (besides constantly eating cold cereal) and I read a few of my now favorites..


Sarah's Key

Hunger Games

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

The Glass Castle

So now, I have decided that it really is time for me to read this book again....



but it will be sitting really close to Shanghai Girls on my night stand.

Family Movie Night

We started a tradition a couple years ago to watch a movie with the kids on Friday night. We have popcorn, candy and pick an appropriate flick to watch together. We came up with this idea because our kids were being pressured about watching movies we didn't feel were appropriate for their age. We had no idea that this tradition would stick or that our kids would have a dying duck fit if anything gets in the way of family movie night! Over the last couple years we have seen some really great movies and some real "low" budget family films that had Jason and I trying to hide our extreme boredom and gag reflex. This past Friday we were scrambling to find something to rent (never a good idea on a Friday night) and without really reading any reviews I checked out Penelope from RedBox because basically it was the only thing with a PG rating left to rent. We were all pleasantly surprised. It was a cute movie with a great message and a surprising cast of characters. I always think it is worthy to pass along a decent movie that everyone can enjoy...they are hard to come by these days.