Belated

Last Sunday was Jeff's birthday, and somehow I didn't get one photograph of the birthday boy or our festivities. I kept meaning too, but Sundays are such hectic days at our house. He barely made it home for dinner, and almost ended up going to a fireside, but ended up opting out. We of course had chocolate cake and ice-cream for dessert. The kids and I were able to surprise him at one of his after church meetings with cupcakes for everyone. And we enjoyed visits from great friends stopping by to eat cake and wish Jeff a happy birthday. Happy Birthday to a wonderful husband, father, and friend, you are loved much.

First Attempts

Today was our first attempt at potty training.

After three accidents, the diaper went back on.
I'm not sure she's ready.
And I'm pretty sure I'm not ready for all the laundry.


Here's to a better tomorrow.

Full House

Yesterday morning at breakfast, Callie asked, "When can we get a dog mom?"

"If you really want one, then we can get one today" I said.

And this is what we had by evening time.

Not a permanent addition, just temporary. But the timing of Callie's question couldn't have been better! The excitement on the kids' faces was priceless.

We have a few other visitors for a few days too.

The kids are loving our full house.

I Don't Recommend....

.....making whole wheat pancakes in the blender. Have you seen the recipes where you make whole wheat pancakes from whole wheat kernels, in the blender? I have been reassured by numerous recipes/blogs/testimonials that it really works and doesn't do a thing to your blender!

My blender didn't get that memo.

My Cuisnart blender.

Which wasn't a cheap blender to begin with.

I hit the ON button, and within a minute I had smoke and blender parts shooting through the kitchen. I stood in the kitchen, staring at the smoking mess for a good five minutes, contemplating my reaction options (cry, shout, scream, laugh). In the end, I took a deep breath, threw it in the trash, started rationalizing the money I would spend on a Blendtec, and got out my trusty Krusteaz Pancake Mix.

We're Back

We're back from the happiest place on earth. We love Disneyland. We had such a wonderful time with family last week. Here are some of my favorite photos.

Seeing and hugging all of the characters was Isabella's favorite thing to do. As soon as she would see a character, she would scream and say "big hug". Callie & Hayden are starting to get less enthusiastic about pictures taken with a person in a costume :)

We loved hanging out with cousins. Going to Disneyland is so much fun with family!

Callie & Hayden enjoyed picking things out with their spending money.

Waiting in lines sometimes made us happy,

and sometimes made us grumpy. Disneyland was on the crowded side.

If you having started pin trading, you are missing out! Our kids love to trade pins with the Disney employees.

Eating breakfast with the characters is so much fun. A little on the pricey side, but the food is fantastic, and the kids get so much attention from the characters.

Splash Mountain was one of Callie & Hayden's favorite rides this year. They LOVED it.

We went on the new 3-D Woody ride, which is now a family favorite. I won't show the picture of how many points we all got, because mommy kicked some serious behind. Jeff couldn't figure out how I kept beating him. haha

We are so proud of Hayden this trip. He is not a rollercoaster lover, but still tried everything he could, despite the fact that he just about hated all of them! I tried SO hard to talk him out of Tower of Terror, because I knew he would hate it, but he was determined to try it once.

Callie on the other hand, was born to go fast. It was her first time going on California Screaming. With it's fast speeds and upside down turn, she had her hands up the entire time, and was screaming, "this is so awesome".

Thanks Mum & Dad for a wonderful trip. We are ready to go back!

A New Look

This little guy now has glasses.

They will help him see the white board a little better in the classroom. He has been showered with compliments and attention, which makes him blush every time. His older sister cried for 2 hours after the appointment because she desperately wanted glasses, and didn't need them. We tried to convince her it's better to not need them, but she wasn't buying it.

Our Week

A little of what we were up to this week:

1

Hayden lost his first tooth, and the tooth fairy did come!

He was worried the tooth fairy wouldn't know where to find his tooth, but she came through. We were amazed that for such a small tooth, he got $1.25 from the tooth fairy! (We've totally stolen my sister Lisa's idea about the tooth fairy- it varies each and every time the amount you get because it depends on how many children lost their tooth that night. Sometimes it's more, sometimes it's less. It's brilliant - we simply grab whatever change we can find)

(ps- I needed to write this down before I forgot. We didn't have dessert last night, and Hayden was really disappointed. I guess it just felt like a dessert night to him :) So, during his evening prayers, he asked Heavenly Father if he could please make mommy make dessert the next night. I got a good chuckle out of it.)

2

Bells is now pacifier free! It only took one night of screaming for 4 hours (maddening & saddening at the same time), as well as the loss of naps, but she did it. About every 3rd day exhaustion takes over and she falls asleep on someone during the afternoon.

3

We had a birthday party for my dad. My dad and mum proved to be some serious gamers as we played Guitar Hero and Mario Kart. Watch out for the senior citizens :)

4

I redid our master bedroom. I grew tired of the dark brown walls and our old white washed furniture, as seen in the picture Bells is modeling (danger - super messy room in picture below).

So, I painted the room and the furniture. It's a big improvement.