What a great birthday! I wish I could freeze myself at this age with my kids. It is such a great stage in life to be. I woke up to a new shirt and new shoes. I has so much fun with high school friends the night before and my sister-in-laws for lunch. Bryce and I caught a movie and dinner. And it was great. I am so lucky to have so many friends and family who I love so much. Thanks for all the birthday wishes! And the shopping mom!
Halloween was so much fun this year. It was the warmest Halloween in a long time. It always makes it so much more fun when you are not freezing too death. This year my sis and I went to Gardner Village to the witches extravaganza. We met up with sister friends Melissa and Tiffany and all of our cute kiddos. It was so much fun. We went on the hay ride to a witches house and the witches told us all about their magic and potions. We buried a cockroach in their cemetery and learned about what they use in their bath. We then caught the beginning of all the witches coming in for the witches night out, and let me tell you, their were so many witches you could barely walk around. My kids were fascinated with all of them and their elaborate costumes. We also did a friends Halloween party at a park and the kids got to trick-or-treat and decorate pumpkins. And then out Halloween tradition is to meet up at aunt Kristin's for soup and doughnuts and trick-or-treating. The cousins all love to see each other dressed up. We decided to be Wizard Of Oz this year except Bryce never did dress up with us. We wanted him to be the tin man or the scarecrow. Somehow at last minute Bryce grabbed the Nacho Libra costume and put it on again for the family to scream at. It's quite a sight....I couldn't make myself post the picture again. :)
Timpview Cheer Camp. It was so cold this year. The girls did the Orem High cheer camp this year as well but it was much more pleasant. The Orem High camp was in September and the girls loved it. They were totally getting into the cheers and did a great half time. Paige kept kicking her leg in the air and was really moving. Then we did the Timpview camp and because it was so cold they literally just stood there. Sailor at half time didn't do one part of her dance. We will know for next year to make sure we stick to the earlier ones that are warmer.
Paige is in 1st grade and is gone all day. She loves here teacher and her friends. She especially loves to have school lunch. She is so smart and in such great kid. Sailor is in preschool and is doing the reading program and I am so surprised at how well she is reading. It is just clicking with her. She loves her teacher Mrs. Mulliner. Mrs. Mulliner is my very favorite of any teachers my kids have had in any kind of school. She really is the best and is so motivating to my kids. I hope she is still working when Cashy is in preschool.
Since I have been the worst blogger and so much time has passed I thought for my own records I would post some summer shots. They are not in any order which I hate that blogger does that but ohh well it's faster then doing each picture individually. So here are some randoms of us in St George at the Facers house for 4th of July. We swam our hearts out and went and saw Annie at Tuacahn. Jalynn feed us the most amazing food all weekend. Thanks to Mykelle and Riley for having us come with them and A BIG THANKS to the Facers for letting us stay in their beautiful house. What a great family. We just love them! There are also pictures of when my in-laws came home from their mission at the airport. It was so great to see them for a little bit before they had to head back. We miss them so much and my kids are dying to have their sleepover with grandma and have her do manicures, pedicures and read stories. She promised them that when she left again and I am still hearing about it. Their is a picture of Cash dressed as a girl that I found on my camera. I guess when the babysitter was here they thought that would be funny. Such a cute Boy/Girl! Also some pictures of BYU summer camp. The girls had so much fun learning there. Paige studied all summer about butterflies, and Sailor about recycling. They also did a music camp and learned all about composers and instruments. We had such a great summer and I am missing the warm weather and the tan so much!
So a whole year has gone by and I cannot believe it. It seems like just yesterday Cash was born. It was so fun to plan a little birthday party with 7 other babies. It was fun to have all the babies the same age so they were all at the same level. We did a farm themed party at the park. I had my friend Amy bring her little dog Phoebe to play with. Then we played in the pool with the balls. My favorite part was when they all painted with pudding on place mats. Cash was a superstar. He really got into it. It was funny to see the different personalities of the babies. Some were more reserved and didn't get into it as much, but for the most part every baby went to town with their pudding. Since they were all dirty we let them dig into his cake. Again Cash was the star of the show. It's so funny because my girls were both more careful about getting dirty on there first birthdays. Not Cashy! I was a proud mama! Thanks to everyone for coming and spending the day with us.
What a birthday we had! My little monkey is four now, and we had quite the celebration for her. I told her that she could pick any birthday she wanted (theme) and originally it was Hello Kitty. For months she talked about it. Then the week before we got one of those "Birthday Celebration" magazines and she saw a Hawaiian themed party in there and she was sold. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to do it, but it seemed to all come together. We rented a big jump house and had little swimming pools. Everything was set up and looked so great. The party started at 4:00 and by 4:40 the rain started to fall. Seriously, of all days? The whole week was beautiful weather and of course so was Saturday. But Friday, her birthday, it's the one day that it rains. So my luck! So we all huddled in under the tent and were able to eat and sing Happy Birthday. It was kinda cozy and fun. The kids ate under the picnic tables and the adults stayed under the tent (thank-you Claudia). It seemed to be clearing a little so I went in to make the pina coladas, and of course my mom comes in ten minutes later and says that it is raining hard and the wind is blowing. So they started taking all the decorations down and moved the party in the garage to open presents. Oh well, it will be a party to remember. I think the kids had a blast. Luckily they didn't care about the rain. P.S. I have a great source for cakes. Sailors cake was so cute, yummy and cheap ($28)!
All I want for Christmas is.....my two front teeth. It finally happened. They are both gone. I was getting so worried that the one tooth would come in before she lost the other tooth. I am loving the way she is talking with her lisp. I keep trying to get her to say funny things with lost of S's. It is so cute, but sometimes it makes me sad to see her continue to get so big. I swear the clock never slows down.
Bryce turned the big 34. He is getting so old. We had such a quiet birthday this year. We saw Angels and Demons and went to dinner with some of his family. The best part of his birthday I would say was the presents the girls picked out for him. I took the girls to Honks (a dollar store) and gave them each three dollars. Paige picked out a skull key chain, some cologne (awesome!), and a padded navy blue diploma holder. She thought he could put a picture in where the diploma should go. I have to say her gifts were much more thought out then Sailors. So Say-Say ran around wanting everything, but finally decided on, here goes....black scissors, yellow plates, and green napkins. I so wish I could have been in her mind as she thought these were the best picks of all. She is such funny kid. The best part is when she saw the items she said "This is what daddy would LOVE". So probably not the best birthday, but still super fun!
So my little 5-year-old twin brothers came to stay for a few days. I think I totally exhausted them. We went everywhere. I packed in Thanksgiving Point (twice), Jumping Jacks, a carnival, and Temple Square all in three days. We had so much fun. But the best part is the looks everyone gives me when I am hauling 5 kids ages 6 and under. The people think I am crazy! I just smile and keep on walking. My girls were in heaven having them here for so long. It was the first time they had ever stayed at my house. It was a little hard trying to please all 5 of them. I think Crew was mad at Bryce and I because we tried to get him to eat the dinner we had prepared and he thought it was gross. I just told my mom that I wasn't making 5 different meals to please them all. I guess Crew will learn that real soon when he has to eat school lunch. I have total sympathy for my sis-in-law Kristin and all her young kids. It can be exhausting, but so much fun. I love my little brothers. They both have such different personalities, but are both so sweet. They have such huge hearts and are going to be great men, I'm sure of it.
In the middle of May we took the kids and my little brothers to see my Grandma play at the Joseph Smith Building. My Grandmother plays the piano there on Wednesday nights. It was so much fun to see her and listen to the beautiful music. She has a friend that plays the violin along with her and everyone that comes in just stops to listen because it is so amazing. I love my grandma so much and it feels so great to be able to support her finally in some small way. She has always been a constant in my life. I don't think she has ever missed a birthday party, piano/dance recital, or anything that was important to me. She is always there for everything. I love her with all my heart!
So last year my sister-in-law (Mykelle) and I were on the "Ellen Degeneres Mother's Day Baby Shower Show". IT WAS INCREDIBLE! We had so much fun. Ellen gave her audience tons of free baby stuff (stroller/car seat, crib, bedding, bouncy chair, diapers, meals, TV, baby monitor, diaper bag...etc). We couldn't have been more thrilled for all the free stuff. So yesterday was her 2009 baby shower show and I sent in a couple pictures of my cute little Cash to see if they would show him as a baby that was born from the year before. SURE ENOUGH, he was on there. They had three different segments were they showed the babies from the year before and he was on the 2nd and 3rd segment. If you go to www.ellen.warnerbros.com and go to Ellen in a minute with Ryan Seacrest you see him by Ryans head a lot. Then there is another segment with "An expectant mother wins a car" and you see him by Ellens head a lot. He had great positioning I might say. So much fun to watch!!! I would cut and paste all of the video clips except I don't know how to use this dumb Mac.
So my Paigey Girl lost her top front tooth and learned how to ride a bike all in one day. I've got to say, it's a little too much growing up for me in just one day. As much as I am excited to see her getting older, it kinda breaks my heart. I beg my girls every night before bed to "stop growing up". Of course they just laugh, but I sincerely mean it. I can't tell you how many pictures we have of Paige with her "horsey teeth" as Bryce calls them. She sucked on a binkie until she was four and as a result we got these awesome choppers. Then the sad part is when you get one child that is big the other one wants to be as big, so they grow up even faster. I guess that is why you keep having babies, so there is always someone that is little. Boy, I sure love my girls.
Easter was kind of low-key this year. We usually party it up with my in-laws, but the are on the forever mission (can't complain they are halfway already). So we celebrated Easter with the bunny this year on Saturday and left Sunday to be about Christ. That worked out really well for us. I think I'm going to try to do that from now on. I had to do sharing time on Sunday in Primary and I learned so much about what Christ went through before he was killed. I can't believe the whole story (knowing he is going to die, being betrayed, freeing Barrabas, apostles falling asleep, being denied..etc). Can you believe it? Maybe everyone already knows all this but me. Anyway, it was a great Easter getting to know Christ a little better. I'm just so thankful! PS. Thanks to Summer Whalen for putting on the most amazing Easter Egg Hunt!! We had so much fun. I think it doubled in size from last year. I promise I'll contribute next year:)
Bryce has been begging me to give Cash a summer buzz. So I finally gave in. As ugly as the strip of hair is on the bottom of his head and the leftover long wispy hairs at the top of his head, I was so sad. Even though his hair was somewhat hideous, it was the most adorable thing to me. Why is it so hard to make the change? I think those few hairs were reminders of him as a newborn. Babies just grow up way too fast. I hate it, but I love it.
So Cashy Coozie is now 7 1/2 months. I can't believe how time flies. He is the cutest baby in the world. I am just in love! He is always smiling and laughing and sticking out his tongue. He has totally stopped taking bottles and is only nursing. Needless to say, I am his favorite. I call him "my little Edward". If you have read the vampire books, you will know what I mean. He never takes his eyes off of me, he's always attacking me with his mouth, and I know he can smell me. It's why I have said he is like a possessive boyfriend. But I'm loving every minute of it. I know it won't be long before he discovers that his daddy is the fun and cool parent.
So much fun!! We had a blast! Last night Becky, Beth, Mindy and I went to the Dodo for dinner and then headed over to the concert. It was so much fun to have a girls night out without kids, although there were some kids their at the concert. What were these parents thinking. I loved having the small intimate environment. Anywhere you went you could see her really well. Paige asked me this morning if Ariel was at the kiss the girl concert. Isn't that so hilarious. She must have heard me on the phone telling someone about one of her songs. I told her that Ariel was there and it was so much fun. P.S. I stole these pictures off Becky's blog and I don't know how to make them smaller.
So I took Paige to Texas to see her best friend Aurora. They live in Spring, Texas. We had so much fun in the warm weather. I had to take Cash with me since he is attached to me at all times. I didn't have the heart to live him with anyone in fear they would never talk to me again. Kelly, Aurora's mom, is also one of my best friends. While the girls played we sat on the couch with our babies and gabbed. I've never met anyone who can talk like Kelly. There is never a boring/silent minute. I love that we can talk about the dumbest things and be totally entertained. We had fun watching the girls take off on there riding lesson. They were gone for over an hour on an adventure. The girls both thought that was the most fun of the time they had together. It was fun watching them bust up while the horses were peeing. Kids think that is so funny. We took them to Walmart to get their nails and toes painted. Paige kept telling Aurora that we were going to the "salon". We also went to dinner to celebrate her birthday and the whole restaurant sang to her and we ended up getting our whole meal for free. It was great! Thanks Kelly and family for letting us come stay and play. We love you so much and miss you everyday! 
We met up with my parents to celebrate Paige and my twin brothers, Cage and Crew birthdays. We played at my Grandma's house and then took them to McDonald's play land for some fun. My brothers just turned 5. They are getting so big and cute. I love their personalities. They are so different from each other but so much fun to be around. My parents gave Paige for her birthday my sister Courtney's American Doll, Kirsten. It is so special to have this doll and her clothes to remind me of her. Courtney would be so excited to know that Paige has them. Paige hasn't been able to let her out of her sight. Bryce and I gave her Kit for her birthday, so now she has two of them. We took her to Kiddie Kandids to get her 6 year-old picture taken and she insisted that the dolls be in the picture with her. It was adorable. I love Paige so much. She is the best little girl. She is so obedient and smart. I feel so lucky to be her mom!
Paige's birthday was filled with lots of family and friends. She was able to invite a few friends, Halle, Abbie, and Addie to Dear Lizzie for lunch. Her friend Halle has her same birthday so it is always fun bringing her with us. We had a great time talking about their favorite princesses and the funny names their dad's call them. Paige told them how her dad calls her "beef chimichangas with double extra cheese", "stinky dog" and "doggie-ria". The girls were laughing so hard I thought they were going to pee their pants. We then met up with all of her aunts, uncles and cousins for bowling. They had lots of fun all together. She had a Tinkerbell cake and got lots a presents. Thanks to everyone for making Paige's birthday so special!
