Cute as a....

CUPCAKE!!!!!!!!!!
A while back I was looking on my friend, Marci's, blog and saw these super cute pumpkin hats that she had made for her son and her nephew. Marci has this awesome talent of knitting that I wish I also had. (I have never learned, but always wanted to learn... maybe someday...) Anyways I had also seen this cute cupcake hat that she had knitted for another one of our friends and I mentioned to her that I wished I could make one for Lily. Marci, true to her super sweet awesome nature, whipped one up for Lily and sent it to us in a matter of days! SHE IS AMAZING I TELL YOU!! Lily loves the hat and I think she makes a pretty cute little cupcake if I do say so myself!!

Of course when Gabby saw the hat she was instantly envious of it. Lily and her have about the same sized head so Lily let her try it on.

Wouldn't you know it, it fit her too! So now I have two cute little cupcakes in my house, as long as they can remember to share!!!

Thanks again Marci, you are the best!!!

Tea anyone??

Over the last few weeks we have been hit by storm after storm of snow. We have had so much snow and ice that Luke has had a total of 3 days of school in that time. Today was the first full day of school he has had and to celebrate, the girls and I decided to have a Tea Party!! Now that's not to say we don't enjoy having Luke around, we do! We love of Lukey, but he being a boy and the oldest tends to make everyone else do "boy" things. Like, play trains, cars, Transformers, Bakugon, soccer or Star Wars on the WII. So having him in school allows the rest of us our much needed "girl time"!!! Gabby gathered all the needed supplies and set us up in the living room, however knowing my little Lily I insisted we move to the kitchen floor. Sure enough with in the first 30 seconds we had water in our cups Lily had spilled and was yelling "I fix it Mama, I fix it!!" We had a gourmet snack of strawberries, string cheese and of course gold fish crackers!! (We had eaten everything by the time I thought to get the camera out though...)I think this was Lily's first "tea party" and she really got into it! It was really cute, I wish I had thought to get the camera out earlier!! Gabby was so happy to finally have some girl time that she wanted to continue the tea party into a lunch party but I politely declined. Instead we headed to the living room for some dancing!! Yeah, I still have some moves, and the girls think I am awesome ;)!!

It was a really fun morning and I was happy to be able to spend some time with my girls!!

Parkersburg

Last weekend we were able to go up to Parkersburg, WV and see a few of our old friends from Lewisburg. It was SO MUCH FUN!!! We stayed with the Young's and the kids we in heaven!! It had been almost eight months since we had seen them and it was really great to just catch up. Sariah, being the gracious host she is and being 5 weeks from having baby #5 to boot, was kind enough to plan a party with the rest of the Lewisburg group that live up there. We saw Ryan and Marci Spillman, Kim Garrett and kids, and Jacob and Jennifer Harmon. It was fun to meet the new babies that had been born and just visit with each other. As we travelled up on Friday evening it started snowing. It was a good thing we got there when we did because it really started to snow after that! In the morning the kids got up and went outside to play. The only problem was I didn't remember to bring snow stuff, thinking we just needed clothes for church and pj's and such. So Kayla decided she could just loan some clothes to Gabby and this is what the two of them came up with....

Sariah and I had a good laugh at these two!! We had them change and then they went out. Luckily Sariah had stuff to fit the kids well enough that they could enjoy the snow for a little while.

Then they all came in and helped themselves to some Captain Crunch with Crunch Berries!!

We also went to the mall and let the kids play at the indoor play place. Then that evening we had a big get together with everyone. This is Marci holing Kim's baby Max. I fell in LOVE with Marci's little Derek and the other cute little babies too! You can see baby Victoria in the back with her dad, she is a little DOLL!! Cute "little" Max here is such cutie too :). I have to say all these babies just added to my baby hungriness!!!

Here is the group of us, minus Kim's hubby Morgan who was out of town.

We are so glad that we were able to see all these fabulous people and so grateful to the Young's for their kindness and hospitality!! We miss you all already!

100

In honor of my 100th post, which was the one on Gabby, and Luke's 100th day of school, it was suggested that I do a post on 100 things about me. Most of my posts are about the kids and so it has been a little harder then I thought to come up with 100 things just about me but here it goes...
1. I am a mother
2. I have always wanted to be a mother
3. Even when I had to baby sit my younger siblings I still wanted to be a mother
4. I studied Geology at BYU
5. I got a scholarship in Geology
6. I really love Geology
7. I hate it when people say, "Oh so you like rocks" and think that is all Geology is
8. I LOVE my kids
9. I LOVE my husband
10. Sometimes I wonder why he married me because he is THAT awesome!
11. Sometimes I don't think that I am that awesome
12. I am living 2000 miles away from my family
13. That is really hard for me
14. My family is really important to me
15. I set my sister up with her now husband
16. I think they owe me their first born child ;)
17. I love to sew
18. I make my girls Easter, Christmas and a lot of their Sunday dresses
19. I wish I knew how to make boy clothes
20. I also wish I knew how to knit and crochet
21. I like to make bows and make all my girls bows
22. I NEVER used to like crafts until a few years ago
23. I don't consider myself crafty
24. Sometimes I am not very girlie
25. I LOVE to hike and camp
26. I used to dance on the Folk Dance team at BYU
27. I loved dancing in Christmas Around the World
28. I had to quit the team when I got pregnant with Luke
29. Having Luke was better then being on the team
30. I think I have the best kids
31. I didn't really date a lot until I got to college
32. I dated a lot in college
33. I broke up with Nate after he told me he loved me the first time
34. Kristen Steele Duncan is the one who convinced me that I was being a retard about the whole thing
35. I am ETERNALLY grateful to Kristen for that!!
36. I had a missionary before Nate and I got engaged
37. I did dear john him
38. When I was in YW I swore I would NEVER marry someone who wanted to be a doctor, too much schooling and stress
39. My husband is in Medical School
40. I really like living in West Virginia
41. I think the Lord knows exactly where to send us and why
42. I really value my friends
43. Sometimes I care too much what people think of me
44. I don't like for people to not like me
45. I would do just about anything for my friends
46. I used to wish I had been born in medieval times
47. I am a neat FREAK
48. I color coordinate my clothes
49. In the drawer as well as hanging up
50. I like things in certain orders and will change it if someone else puts it out of order, sometimes without even realizing I am doing it
51. Nate likes to mess up the order on purpose, he says its good for my "OCD" ;)
52. I hate to waste anything
53. I will use a tissue until it is in shreds as to not waste it
54. My grandfather is Mexican
55. His wife is Swiss
56. I obviously didn't get the Mexican blood
57. I want more kids
58. I like to cook
59. I hate doing dished
60. When I get upset, I clean
61. I hate to disappoint
62. I love to read
63. I don't mind when Nate has to be gone at night because then I can read
64. But I don't like to sleep alone
65. Sometimes after the kids are asleep, when Nate is gone for the night, I sneak into their room and sleep with them.
66. Loud chewing really annoys me
67. My kids are loud chewers when they have chips
68. I never buy chips
69. I love getting packages in the mail, even if it is for my kids
70. I love getting new fabric, it makes me very happy
71. I love getting visitors
72. I cry at commercials, even the cheesy ones
73. I actually like action movies
74. I HATE scary movies
75. I have always wanted to go to Africa
76. I also want to go to the rain forest
77. The most exotic place I have ever been in Mexico City
78. While in Mexico city I was most excited to see the volcano
79. I secretly hoped it would erupt while we were there
80. I also want to go to Ireland and Iceland and a lot of other places too
81. I miss school and still have nightmares about it
82. I didn't love high school
83. I wish I could go back and do a lot of things differently
84. I really loved college
85. I enjoy playing games
86. I am allergic to cats and dogs
87. I am not sad that I can't ever have indoor animals
88. I am very squeamish around blood
89. I get grossed out even by Luke's loose teeth
90. I really don't like to talk on the phone
91. I usually don't call people, I wait for them to call me
92. I get really ornery when I am tired or hungry
93. I have a pretty good memory
94. I lived in Massachusetts, Texas, Utah and West Virginia
95. I have 3 sister, 4 brothers, 3 brothers in law, 6 sisters in law, 6 step brothers in law and 6 step sisters in law
96. I love each one of them so much (as well as my parents and in laws and grandparents)
97. I have friends that I consider family and love them just as much
98. I sometimes feel awkward saying I love you, even though I mean it
99. I hope that I do a good enough job raising my kids and that they know I love them
100. I think I have a very blessed life

Soccer Mom

It is official, I am a soccer mom. I wondered if and when this day would ever come and now that it has arrived I feel just a little ting of pride. (But not the bad kind ;)!) To look at Luke all dressed up and ready to go to practice I just got so excited! He has been asking for a few years now if he could start soccer and I always said we didn't have enough money. I was talking to a good friend of mine one day about this predicament. She gave me some pretty sound advice. She said, well how much is it for soccer? About $60? Well if you just skip a few times eating out you have it and then Luke has lifetime memories. You know what? She was right. Not that we eat out a lot, or even a little, but the point was you can probably find a way to make it work and in the long run that $60 wont make or break us, but having this opportunity really can have an impact on my sons life. So we signed him up and I am so excited! He was praying every night for 2 weeks that he would have a good practice and that he wouldn't be nervous. I tell you what, my heart just soared when they put him as goalie and he caught half of the balls kicked in! Granted this is a beginners league, but hey a mom can have her pride! He loved every minute of it and I am just so glad that I could give my son this opportunity! He just made a goal!

I LOVE the look on his face, it is excitement and embarrassment all at one!!

He caught this one!! Yeah for Luke!

I really am so excited to see him grow through this season and see if we want to continue down this path, who knows I may have the next David Beckham on my hands!! ;)

Gabby's Birthday

I know that I have blogged (complained) about being so far away from family before. It is what it is. But it is a little harder for me on my kids birthdays. I am used to having big family parties on ones birthdays and seeing everyone. It is all about family. But being far away really changes things. And for Gabby I think it is especially hard, her birthday being so close after Christmas, and it tends to get forgotten a little. She is a trouper though and never complains, but I can tell it gets her a little down. However we are fortunate enough to have good friends close by and they really help make up for the lack of family. We were able to have the Israelsens and our neighbors Steve and Angie over for cake and ice cream; it was great! DeNae made Gabby this amazing tutu and Steve and Angie got her a little Polly Pocket speed boat! She got clothes from Mom and Dad because the poor girl had grown out of almost all she had! I know that isn't exciting, but she needed them! Also her Nana sent her a beautiful new dress.
Gabs and I spent the morning making her super special crown cake. She was such a great helper! I think she was almost as proud of the cake as I was! I have to admit I was a little intimidated when she chose this cake, but I am satisfied with the way it came out. Dad got to come home early from work and Nana, Grandpa Allen, Aunt Cassie, Tori and Oriana all called during the day to wish her a happy birthday! I think all in all she had a great day, even if she did wish that she could have had all her family there to celebrate with her.

She was so excited to wear her new tutu to dance class! She looked great and all the other girls loved it too. Thanks again DeNae! And thanks for all who left comments wishing her a happy birthday, she loved hearing what you all had to say!