Princess Party

On Monday Rachel went to a Princess Birthday Party. Every little girl was to come dressed up in their pretty princess dresses, so I picked one out that was as princessy as I could find. Then we made her hair super pretty, and when we were done she exclaimed, "I'm so beautiful! I'm a Beautiful Princess!! I'm Princess Presto!" (from the show Super Why)

Here she is putting on her 'lost' shoe like Princess Cinderella.

Her first Pinata. She was so excited about this part that after was done with her turn, she came running over to me saying "I hit it mommy!!"

When the Pinata was broken it was full of candy, wands, & rings. But the only thing that Rachel cared about was the wand. (in fact she didn't get any candy...but I'm totally okay with that!) She was so excited about the wand, in fact, that she came up to me and said "Look mommy it's my Princess Presto Spelling Wand!!"

I pulled it off!!

The SURPRISE Birthday party for Marc that is (his birthday isn't until November 27). And for those of you who know me that is a BIG deal because I get so excited about birthdays, Christmas and surprises that I tend to blow it. But this time, I did it!! I totally surprised him, I had to lie out my teeth to do it but I did it! Can you tell I'm proud of myself?

At 4:40 p.m. I sent Marc and Rachel to Papa Murphy's to pick up 3 pizzas and an order of bread sticks. How did I get him to get all of that without being suspicious? Well I told him that I had invited a couple over for dinner and games, and that I didn't want to make dinner on Sunday so we would just got a lot of pizza. He was like okay, that's cool. After they left I ran around like crazy pulling out all of the decorations. My heart was POUNDING, I was so nervous and excited. Our friends showed up and we all hid when Marc and Rachel came back with the pizza. Marc walked into the room and was like "is this my birthday party?" He thought I had decorated just for the 4 of us until our friends jumped out and said SURPRISE! Marc was excited, Rachel started screaming and crying and poor Benjamin got freaked out too. After calming them down we started the party. Now what I didn't know when I planned the party was that it was the big Utah vs. BYU football game. I know, I know, how could I NOT know? Well I didn't. But it worked out just fine. The boys watched the game downstairs and the girls chatted upstairs. So it kind of turned out to be a surprise birthday party, a football party and girls night all in one. We had super yummy pizza and delicious cake and ice cream. Rachel's favorite part of the entire evening was playing with the balloons. At one point she had gathered them all by there strings and was bouncing them up and down. The strings got SO tangled that it took a few minutes for me to get them apart.

Here is the Birthday cake. I had this great idea to make it like his very 1st birthday cake. It turned out pretty darn good I think. When I brought it out to him with the candles he looked a little confused as to why I was giving an almost 30 year old a dog birthday cake. But afterward I told him why I did that one and his words were "Wow, that was very thoughtful, I wouldn't have thought about doing that." So in the end I think he liked it. Oh and as a side note: When you put coconut on a cake it tends to fly when you blow out the candles!!

Giggles, Toes, and Woes

Today Has been "a day" I'm so ready for bedtime. Only 4 more hours to go...I can make it, I can make it. Rachel has been having "a day" too. She woke up crabby and objectionable to anything. So I scratched my to do list (except for returning the movie) and tried to make it a fun day for all of us. We went on a walk, played in the backyard, had a picnic, did mounds of puzzles and other things. Yet I was still crabbed at, hit and ignored today. I tried for 2 hours to put her down for a nap. Tried and failed. At 3:30 she started into a tantrum. She took all of her stuffed animals, pillows and blankets and threw them around her room. Then it got quite so I went to check on her and found her asleep on top of the huge pile of blankets, pillows and stuffed animals. I should go and get a picture of it but I don't dare wake her. Here it is 4 o'clock and she has finally crashed. 4 o'clock! Mind you this is a child who wakes up at 6 am!!!! Well I'm going to enjoy the silence and peace and let her sleep for an hour. Hopefully that will make her a happy camper until bed time. Lets hope!

On a happier note: Benjamin has discovered his feet. He doesn't really like to chew or suck on them like Rachel did, but that's okay. Feet can be kinda gross anyway...well maybe not baby feet but ya know. Also here is a little clip of him giggling. I think it sound almost like I'm hurting him but it super cute. He is such a happy boy. I hope he stays that way for a l o n g time!!

Tagged by Jacque

• 5 things I did 10 years ago...

1. Went on my first date

2. Bought my first car

3. Got a job in a grocery store deli

4. Joined Concertino Orchestra that practiced at 6 a.m.

5. Grooved to a lot of Oldies

• 5 things on my to do list today...

1. Make it through another 14 hour day without Marc

2. Return 'Kungfu Panda' to the store

3. Call Cub Scouts parents about Pack meting tomorrow

4. Pick up awards from the Scout store

5. Go for a walk & play with my kids

• 5 Snacks I enjoy...

1. Chips and dip

2. Chocolate covered raisins and popcorn together

3. Apples and Carmel dip

4. Vegis and dip

5. Licorice

• 5 things I would do if I were a Millionaire...

1. Pay tithing

2. Pay off all of our debt

3. Give the kiddos college funds a good deposit

4. Buy a brand spankin new Van and car

5. Vacation!!

• 5 places I've lived...

1. Minnesota

2. Minnesota

3. Idaho

4. Utah

5. Utah

• 5 jobs I've had...

1. Waitress

2. Deli worker

3. Dorm Resident Assistant

4. Library Worker

5. Secretary for a Defense Law Firm

• 5 people I tag...

1. Chelsey

2. Kalynne

3. Amy (David)

4. Amy (Joseph)

5. Anyone who feels they need something to do :)

I hope they call me on a mission

On Friday I had a conversation with Rachel while we were driving in the car. It went like this:

Rachel: "There's those missionaries."
Mom: As I look around "You're right."
Rachel: "They teach about Jesus."
Mom: "You remembered! Do you want to go on a mission and teach people about Jesus?" (note: we had the missionaries over for dinner on Sunday and talked about what they do)
Rachel: "Um...ya sure!! And Daddy can go on a mission, and mommy can go on a mission and brother Benjamin can go on a mission, all together!"

Now isn't that just cute? "Um....ya sure!"

The pipe that 'broke' our 'back'

So lately things are happening left and right to us. IE: the fence, a pay cut, forgetting to register for a class, paying a late fee for school and doing all that is required to get into the class, electrical problems in the kitchen, doctor bills and more doctor bills, hospital bills, being sick, and now a pipe in the furnace rooms sprung a leak. Thank goodness Marc was home today to put a bucket under it before we had a flood too. So the plumber came and said we can put a clamp on it, which would be the best option right now. But he also said if we have one rusted out spot there is a good chance that we have others that are just waiting to break through and in the end we would probably need to replace all the pipes in the furnace room. Well we don't have $2000 bucks so guess what we did?! Yep just a patch job. We will cross our fingers that it will last while we still live here and then someone else can worry about that problem. Is that mean? When will it end? I know we all go through times of trials but I'm ready to have a rest for a while.

Our Forever Family

We went to Salt Lake today so Marc could take care of some school stuff at the U on his day off of work. (Thanks Veterans!!) While he was taking care of business I took the kiddos to the Church History Museum to play in the children's part. Rachel loves it there and played for 2hours. After Marc was finished he met us at the museum then we headed out for a walk around Temple Square and took some great pictures. They were putting the lights on the trees while we were down there and it looks like it's going to be awesome this year. I can't wait to see it when they are done! Can you envision Rachel in like 18 years having a similar picture taken?

We also went on top of the Church Office Building to see the view. The 26 floor elevator ride did a number on my stomach and head so when we got to the top I was a little dizzy and it took a minute to regain my balance. But when I did the view was AMAZING! You could see so far across the valley. We went to each side to take a peek. This is my favorite picture of Rachel we took.

Just for size

Benjamin is getting super strong. He can lift his head up really high when he is on his tummy and has even rolled over a few times. Isn't he just so cute?! Don't you just want to squeeze him? Those P.J.'s by the way are size 6 months. They are a little long in the legs but fit perfect in the torso.

To prove just how tall he is getting we thought we would get a side by side of the kiddos. If we were able to get them closer together and not leaning away from each other you would be able see that he comes to her shoulder. Marc asked me after we took this picture, "So when do you think he will pass her up in height?" I'm not sure when that will happen, but at the rate he is growing it could be sooner than we think...maybe.

Stickers, stickers and more stickers

I gave Rachel some stickers to keep her busy while I was on the phone with my mom this morning After a few minutes of talking with my mom I looked over at Rachel to see what she was doing; this is what I found... After she was finished putting 2 things of stickers on him, she proceeded to tell me "I need more stickers mommy!"

Clarabella!!

Here is a good bedtime story for you all.

This is a little long, but it's super cute.

4 month Checkup

Today was Benjamin's 4 month check up and shots. Here are his new stats:

Height: 24 1/2 inches (only 10 inches shorter than Rachel)

Weight: 12 lbs. 8 oz. (again only 10 lbs less than Rachel-a big boy to me but still low on the percentile)

He is right on track for his developmental abilities and is growing well. When we went in I knew that he had a cold (which he got from Rachel...just waiting for my turn) but what I didn't know is that he also has 2 eye infections (I thought they were just goopy from the cold) and he also has an ear infection. All of that would explain why he hasn't been sleeping or eating well the past couple days. Poor kiddo!! On top of all of that he got his 4 month shots, he's just got to be feeling miserable. Now he is all drugged up and asleep in his swing. May you get better soon my boy!