Lily Bug

Lily really wanted to have a party like Luke for her birthday, but I just couldn't get it together for her. There is always next year... But we did have a fun day none the less. She woke up to her first present, a play kitchen! (A friend in the ward GAVE it to us since they were done with it. Score!! I love free things!) Then she had school. Nate had the day off so we picked her up and took her to Chick-fil-a, the only place in town with a play place. (It was of course raining again so we couldn't go to the park.) After the kids got home from school we opened presents from grandparents. Then after dinner we had cupcakes. (She didn't want a cake, she wanted cupcake. Which she didn't even eat. But they were lemon with cream cheese frosting so the rest of us enjoyed them!) All in all I think it was a fun day for her and I still can't believe she is FOUR!!! Yay for birthdays!!

Cookies?! Yes, please!!

I love the fall season! I love the smells, the crisp air, the food, the traditions, all of it! One thing that we have made a tradition in our family is to make sugar cookies and decorate them for Halloween and Christmas. It is something the kids love and look forward to. I had been meaning to do it for a while, but Nate has been working a lot. He hasn't been home when the kids are awake much this whole month, so the other night when I knew he would be home around 7, I decided it was one of those times that they could go to bed late. We had everything ready so that when he walked in the door at almost 8 we could get started. Lily didn't like the mess and anytime frosting got on her she would have to go wash her hands. (Or lick them and then go wash them)

 Luke was very serious about his decorating, he wanted them to look perfect.

 My surgeon hard at work.

 Lily eventually had some help then took a bite out of each cookie and said she was done. She is such a funny kid! (She isn't really a cookie, cake, brownie, etc kind of kid. But give her candy and she is happy as can be.)

 Gabby was very proud of her cookies and didn't want to eat them because that would mess them up.

 Luke would have eaten all his cookies in one night if I would have let him. Good thing he has a mom!

 That's my love! (He is just a big kid still :).)

 And here are my cookies so that I am represented on here too.

I have to say it was one of the best nights we've had as a family in a while! I guess I should learn to ease up on my schedules a little more often!

Julie!!

I don't know if I have mentioned this or not, but we LOVE visitors!! We were lucky enough to have Julie come and stay with us for five whole days!! It was soooo much fun and so nice to have a friend here! She got in on Thursday and Nate was on call. We just chilled and of course she spoiled the kids with some neat Owls paraphernalia, she works for them after all! The next day Nate was post call, running on a few hours of sleep, but we managed to convince him to come with us to the Rock'n Roll Hall of Fame. It was fun, but we were all a little disappointed. I think I expected more, but it was neat to do once. Surprise, it was raining. (For those of you who don't know much about Cleveland, it rains a lot here. I mean a lot.)

 Of course Nate had to work Saturday and Sunday, but we still went out without him. Saturday we ran over to Kirtland. Since it was conference weekend we didn't get to do the whole tour, they needed to watch conference after all, so we did what we could then headed over to the temple. It was of course raining again, but we still had a great time. It is so beautiful there! (We did watch conference too, just delayed on the computer once we got home.)

 The kids had so much fun with her, Lily discovered her I-Pad and now thinks that Angry Birds is the coolest thing ever. (And then we heard that talk about wasting time "shooting birds at cement walls" in conference and I had to laugh...)

 We had so much fun and were able to do a lot, thank you soooo much for coming Julie! I don't think the kids will forget all the fun we had for a long time! (Nor will I, it's been a long time since we played games late into the night and laughed as hard as we did!! )

Happy Birthday Lily

My baby is 4!! Time really does fly sometimes! I can't imagine my life without this sweet little face! She has so much personality contained in that small little body of hers! I have no idea how I got so lucky to have her as my own! Not that she is a perfect angel, but she is my angel. She has added so much to our family and I love my Lily Bug to pieces! She has such a loving personality, but that is not shown or given freely. You have to earn her affection. For the first few month that we lived here, her primary teachers would tell me that she would sit off to the side, listening but not really participating. They asked if she wanted to join in and she said, no I want to sit by the wall and not have anyone talk to me thank you. I had to laugh because that is soooo Lily. As soon as she felt comfortable with them and the other kids she warmed right up and involved herself, but not a minute before. She is so inquisitive. My other kids ask questions, but not like Lily. She really thinks about things, things I never knew a 4 year old could even be concerned about. She is so full of spunk! Never a dull moment with her around. I wondered sometimes if we would ever make it to 4, thank goodness those 2's and 3's are behind us! She is so independent, when it is convenient for her! She wants to do things by herself until I need her to do it and then she all of the sudden can't. But most of the time she can't wait to grow up like her sister and brother. She is so excited to have another sister. She grabs my belly all the time and talks to her sister, hugs her sister, sings to her sister, tells her she loves her, etc. She is going to be a great big sister! I thank the Lord everyday for my sweet Lily. Happy Birthday big girl, I love you!!

Luke's Birthday

This year I wanted to make sure Luke had a great birthday. Not that I haven't cared in years past, but this year needed to be special. He really helped me out and stepped up in a big way. How do you repay a child that at 8 1/2 takes on the roll of an adult? Well, I decided to make his birthday the best one yet! We started off by celebrating as a family on the actual day of his birth with his special dinner, Toastadas, and the cake of his choice, a chocolate candy cake. Anyone who knows Luke knows his favorite treat in the whole world is a plain old Hershey's Bar. So this cake was chocolate deliciousness with a little Reece's in there too.

 And of course there were presents! Luke is really into Harry Potter, since he read the entire series this summer, and of course Lego's as well. We couldn't afford to get him what he really wanted, but I think he was just as happy with the substitute!

 Grandma and Grandpa sent his a cool slider toy and Nana and Pa sent him a gift card, which of course he used to get more Lego's, SURPRISE!

 His sisters got him some more books, because you have NO idea how much this kid reads! (This summer he read over 5000 pages!)

 And Julie got him an awesome Lego Star Wars shirt. (He is into Star Wars almost as much as Harry Potter)

 For his party we invited a few friends over for a Harry Potter party. Now I have some friends that are WAY more talented than me and pulled off way more amazing parties than me, but I think we did pretty good considering our circumstances. But I did steal some of their ideas to incorporate into our version of the ultimate Harry Potter birthday. First Luke carved a wand for each on of his friends, all by himself with the knife he got last year for his b-day. I forgot to take pictures though. We set up the dinning room to look like Diagon Alley. We stopped at Gringotts to get money, then to Olivanders to buy wands and then went to school. We were on the hunt for the Sorcerer's Stone and started in Astronomy Class. We went over several constellations then decorated our own star with glow in the dark paint. Then when we turned off the lights to see them glow there was a message written in glow in the dark ink that led them to the dungeon for Potion's class with Professor Snape. (Nate was lucky enough to be home and of course I roped him into my roll play idea, he loved it :)) Snape led them in an experiment with pop rocks and coke. They used their wands, cast a spell and their balloons started to expand! They loved it. Then they got their next clue. It took them back to Diagon Alley to Flourish and Blotts.

 They had to buy the first Harry Potter book and look up words on a bunch of different pages to find their last clue. It took them outside in the back where they found a mirror hanging up.

 They looked into the mirror and found the stone hanging behind them! They loved it!

 Here is the group holding their stones. They each got one. Then we went in to Honeydukes and bought candy. We had pizza then opened presents and had cupcakes. It was great and they ALL loved it! I was glad they had fun.

So all in all I think the party was a hit and I think Luke was in heaven! Happy Birthday Luke!

Halloween costume

One costume almost 100% done. Two more to go. At least I have a few weeks! I am pretty excited about the way Gabby's turned out! Yay, it feels so good to get the sewing machine out again! Wish me luck on the rest!!

Birthday Boy

 Nine years ago today I became a mom. But I didn't just become a mom, I became a mom the the absolute best little boy ever! Today you are nine Luke, NINE!! I can hardly believe it! As I think about all the things that have gone on in your short little nine years of life I am overwhelmed by what a good kid you have been and continue to be. You strive everyday to do what is right. You push yourself to do the best you can, you are ALWAYS there to help me and your sisters.

I would NOT have made it through the past 4 months of vomiting ever hour everyday for almost 15 weeks without you. Without being asked you got the girls breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner. You brought me barf buckets, rags, water and anything you could think of to make my life easier. You cleaned, as best you could, the house when I couldn't get out of bed. You filled your dad's shoes while he was working and I don't think I could ever repay you. So today on your birthday, I hope you know how much you are loved and appreciated by your family! You are a shining example of goodness, obedience and charity. From the time you were little you have impressed those around you. Thank you for being you and for making me a better person through your example. I love you Luke, Happy Birthday!!