Monday, August 30, 2010

London's 6th birthday!

This just happened to be London's first friends birthday party and it was a huge success! The kids even complimented me on how much fun they had. I wanted it as stress free as possible, so I didn't plan everything out before hand (weird that that would make things easier for me). I just had a few game ideas and a big box full of big prizes and a box full of smaller prizes.

To start things off, I had the kids decorate gift bags to put all of their goodies/prizes in.



Then we played games and earned the prizes. The kids LOVED it!

I don't even know what this game is called. It wasn't successful though, too windy. Suck an M&M at the end of a straw and carry it to a cup and drop it. They still won a prize though, which made it fun for them.

Cake Walk. I was able to distribute several goodies during this game!

My two helpers for the day...K and her friend Alexis. They were manning the radio at the time and Jeff was teasing them by trying to take their pictures.

Van with his Aunt Melanie

Birthday Bingo

I let the kids decorate their own cupcakes...wow, not sure that was a good idea. They literally piled the frosting up as high as they could, then put multiple sprinkles on top of that. Most of the kids just licked the top of the cupcake and didn't bother with the rest.


Then all of a sudden, the kids started screaming and laughing happily and very loudly. I didn't really put two and two together till my sis-in-law whispered "sugar rush" in my ear...oops. Sorry to all the mom's for sugaring up your kids and then sending them home!


It was quite windy, so we had to have London blow out the candles right by the door.
Bummer, I wanted a better picture!


Opening presents!

Hopefully Jeff doesn't get upset about me posting this picture. He's just such a fun Dad! London got this huge lipstick shaped piggy bank full of fun stuff. The second she opened it, Jeff proceeded to steal it away and apply it on his lips. The kids cracked up.


We had a few minutes to spare, so Jeff took the kids out and played tag but it ended up more like all the kids trying to catch him and tackle him. They LOVED it!

London showing her friends her new jewelry box.


The party was a success. London had so much fun and felt so important and loved that it was worth the huge mess and extra stress that I dealt with. Happy Birthday to my favorite 6 year old!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Junior Lifeguards

The girls had 2 sets of swim lessons this summer. London is definitely gaining more confidence in the water. Kamryn is an amazing swimmer, especially her back stroke! I'm hoping she'll want to do swim team one of these years.





Pierced Ears

Yep, I did it!! London has been bugging me non-stop since she learned how to speak (practically)for me to let her get her ears pierced. When I was little, my Mom made me wait till I was 12 (though she said I was 14 yrs old). I was grateful for that though. Jeff and I had a huge discussion about this and the reasons I have reservations about this is that I'm afraid of what people will think/say about it. Ear piercing seems to be right up there with "should I let my 8 year old daughter watch High School Musical." It does seem silly, but honestly I want to own the title "World's Best Mama" and something this trivial could ruin that title, in my mind.

So...in my attempts to be "who cares what people'll think of me" and took both my girls (of course K wanted them because her "younger" sister was getting them) to the nearest ear piercing place and ruined the 3 generations streak of women in our family not having pierced ears.

As you can see in the photos, London smiled through the pain (she wanted them that badly). And Kamryn, not wanting to be upstaged by her "younger" sister winced, but didn't cry either. My tough chicks!!! I did have a twinge of regret (especially after paying for them...$80, seriously?), but that has passed and I have been having so much fun shopping for cute earings to match new cute back to school clothing.





Bye Bye Binky!


The girls obviously love to do girly things with Sullivan, hence the dress. But, I post this picture just because it was the last photo taken with his binky in his mouth. We've finally cut the binky out and only a few tears have been shed (by me, of course).


The girls were in our home town parade during fair week. This is the 3rd year in a row that they've done it. They love it! Jeff and I were able to sit and watch this year. Sullivan was such a crack up. They have a rule now that the people who participate in the parade can't throw candy from the floats (er, trucks mostly), but they can hand the candy to the kids. After getting candy, he'd always try to give it back. It seems like I always had to intervene with our goodie bag. He soon got the hang of things and would often go into other kids territories to sneak their candy. Though, I think he liked collecting and placing the candy in the bag more than anything because I'd often have him go give other kids the candy that he'd pick up in their territory and he did it happily. We ended up with a load of candy, most of which will be saved to give out at Halloween. ;)

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Casserole Blog Post

So, I made cookies today. I found some semi-old Hershey kisses, Reece's pieces and mini candy bars from an after Easter sale, so I chopped them all up and 1 cup macadamia nuts and made some interesting cookies. I also ran out of vanilla, so I used almond extract instead. They ended up tasting pretty good, a little "cherry cordial" though because of the extract. Anyway, I dropped some off at Jeff's office and told him what I'd done and he stated that they were "casserole cookies." So TRUE! So, that is the background to my blog title today.

As I was cleaning today, not only did I find the bags of chocolate, but I also found some disposable camera prints that I haven't posted about, so here ya go...

Before school ended, I was able to go on a field trip with both girls. London's class went to a greenhouse. It was fun, but London was more interested in her friends than her own Mom, so I was like the 3rd wheel through the day. I went with Kamryn on the same field trip when she was in Kindergarten and the same thing happened, must be the age.


Kamryn's trip to the Boise zoo was fun. I was worried that since I had to cart around my oxygen, that Kammi may be teased or questioned endlessly about what/why is your Mom wearing that. It is a good thing I have such a confident daughter. I asked her if she would be embarrassed by this and she said "no way." Kids did end up asking us a lot of questions, but they were satisfied with the answers and treated me normally. I was in charge of the group below and they were such cool kids! They all wrote me a thank you note afterwards which included drawings (which happen to include my oxygen tank;) and what their favorite part of the field trip was.

PJ day at school.

Garden starts.

I found this gem of a photo from his first birthday. Not the greatest photo as it was taken on a disposable camera (after leaving my good camera at a hotel and I was waiting for it to be shipped back to me). He got the sweetest package from Kylee, Joe and Sharon (birth family)and in it was the most snuggly soft dog. My girls wanted to steal it from Van, but he held tight.

Saying good-bye to my family after K's baptism.

I can't believe this is the only photo I have from this week, but tis true. After K's baptism, I suggested that I keep Halle and Landin since I'd be going to visit my family in the next week and could drop them back off. Jeff was gone for 2 weeks right after K's baptism and this would give me something to do while he was gone. Then, as we were saying good bye to Jeff's side of the family, Kimberley started crying as she was hugging London...broke my heart. I then invited Kimberley to stay too and I'd drop her off on the way to my family's house. I had just enough seats in my van! My home was fun of kids and we had a blast! We went to Hop 2 It, the park, t-ball and baseball games, McDonald's and rented a ton of movies. It was a busy, but fun week. My only complaints were...they ate EVERYTHING and they wouldn't go to bed earlier than 11 PM. I was so exhausted. Next time we do this, Jeff needs to be home to help me out and give me breaks and I need to do a big Costco grocery shopping run before. I did get to know my nieces and nephew a lot better though and I love them, very sweet kids!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Kamryn's 8th Birthday!

Since we had a lot of family come for Kammi's baptism and birthday, we had a little birthday party waiting for her at our local rec center. It was actually the easiest birthday party I've ever thrown. Usually I get stressed so easily and like perfection when it comes to the things I do, but this time I was able to leave it in someone else's hand (paid them, of course) and they took care of everything. It turned out so well and I've heard several compliments about it. The rec center sent all the kids on a scavenger hunt from places like in the trees at the park to find rubber bands, to the track to find hidden toy bugs, to the front desk to draw pictures for the birthday girl and the gym to complete a huge obstacle course. Since Kamryn has cousins that ranged from 3months old-8 years old, a lot of the cousins could participate and have fun so we didn't leave anyone out. After the scavenger hunt, we had cupcakes and ice cream and K opened her gifts.


A set of nice scriptures, an 8th birthday present must!

Friday, August 6, 2010

"Cold on the outside, warm on the inside."

What a special day this was! At the beginning of the year, I knew that Kamryn's baptism was looming closer and closer and that I really needed to crack down with certain FHE's to teach her as much as possible before she could make such a big decision. Luckily though, Kamryn is one smart cookie and everything that we taught her she had already known and she had already made the decision to be baptized at age 8 a long, long time ago. We worked on each Article of Faith and she even quoted the
4th one to Bishop Hope during her interview. We taught of fasting, prayer, reading scriptures, obedience etc.,. Life gets a little tougher after your baptism and we wanted to make sure she had the knowledge/strength going into this.

The Spanish branch was in charge for the month and they gave some great talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost. Kamryn was one of seven children baptized on June 5. I've been to these stake baptisms many times, and it has literally felt like herding cattle, but today was different. I guess no matter how they do it, the spirit is felt! My little girl was surrounded by family and friends as she wore a white jumper and slowly descended down the steps into the luke warm water of the baptismal font where her Dad was waiting. She knew exactly where to place her hands because I witnessed several practices with her Daddy through out the weeks previously. Grandpa Pope and Grandpa Stoker stood to the side as witnesses to make sure that every part of Kamryn was submerged and that Jeff said everything correctly. All the little cousins/friends kneeled in front so that they could get a better view. Jeff then asked Kamryn "Are you ready?" In my heart, I answered for her...had we done everything possible as her earthly parents to help her prepare for this day. YES! She was definitely ready! She was then baptized, simple as that. She hugged Jeff and climbed the stairs where I was waiting with a towel to scoop up my sweetheart and congratulate and love her. She then tells me in the dressing room after I asked her how she felt, she said "Cold on the outside, warm on the inside." I hope she will always remember this special day!