Makenna's Birthday

Oy. So busy. So so so busy. I have so much to update! I've been meaning to do a post about the rest of Makenna's birthday but wanted to take her 5 year old pictures before I did the post. Well, the pictures have not yet happened (bad lighting for days, a sad facial injury that led to stitches and then spring break). But I've got to get this thing updated so I'll just post those later.

On the morning of Makenna's birthday she requested Krispy Kreme donuts, strawberries and juice. After breakfast we opened up her presents from the family.

With her gifts:
From us she got a pink Leapster 2, the princess and fairy games, a princess cookbook (cutest thing ever and becoming my go-to bday party gift now), a bathrobe and a lipgloss set. From Grandma Frost she got more lipgloss, a book, jewelry and some treats. From G &G Baldwin she got coordinating flip flops, purse, sunglasses and jewelry to go with a dress she already has. Still as girly as ever, as you can see! She absolutely adored all of her gifts!

We spent the rest of the morning getting ready for her Pinkalicious party. As soon as her party was over she was ready to hop in the car to go to the mall to have her ears pierced. She has been begging to have them pierced for about 2 years and we finally got Daddy on board and allowed her to do it for her birthday. She was pretty fearless when we got there and never shed a single tear! I was so proud of her.

Before:

Ready, Set, Go! (I highly recommend having them do both ears at the same time!)

Already finished?
Hmmm... maybe that did hurt a little bit!
Or maybe not! She LOVES her earring After the mall she had a grand time playing with a bunch of her new gifts and watching a movie. That evening she chose to have Chick Fil A for dinner/playplace. Since she had cake earlier in the day she decided to have a shake with her dinner instead.

All in all I think she had a fabulous and fun birthday. She got to do everything she wanted and got all the gifts she wanted (her #1 gift was her bathrobe of all things!). We sure love our sweet girl and love seeing the amazing little girl she is becoming.

A few things about Makenna at age 5:

Makenna is VERY sweet and kind. We are told often what a good little friend she is and how sweet she is. In her recent preschool parent teacher conference her teacher told me how considerate she is of others, how she looks out for the left out children and what a good friend she is. It makes my heart melt to see the nice things she does for other people. She is always mothering Addison and Carter and goes out of her way to help him. Carter had strep throat a couple weeks ago and Makenna was at his beck and call bringing him drinks, medicine, books and anything else he needed. She does this completely on her own. She is also always mothering some doll or stuffed animal and talks about how much she wants to be a mommy when she grows up.

Makenna is also very attached to me. This can be good and bad. We call her our Velcro child as she likes to be glued to my side all day long. She is a REALLY good helper and will work along side of me all day long if I want her to. She helps me in the kitchen a lot, will help fold laundry, clean bathrooms or assist with anything else I am doing, as long as I am working with her.

Makenna is still very, very girly. She loves it all - clothes, shoes, jewelry, nail polish, makeup, purses, etc. I will have to work very hard to keep her grounded in things appropriate for her age. She still loves to change her clothes a few times a day and loves to wear dresses or skirts with leggings. She is very conscious about being modest at all times. She really loves her long hair and is getting particular about how it is styled and her hair accessories (bows are for babies!) She also loves playing babies, her cute little group of girlfriends and playdates, playing outside, taking gymnastics and dance, attending preschool, drawing/coloring, doing workbook pages, reading books, playing board games, doing craft projects, baking with mom, having dance parties every night, playing hide and go seek tag with Daddy, watching the Disney channel, going to Target for popcorn/drink and browsing, talking to her cousins and grandparents on the phone...

Kenna is doing great in school and is becoming a good little reader. She is shy and struggles with her self confidence sometimes. Carter is quick to answer questions and show his knowledge and this sometimes intimidates her. We often have to remind him that she is 2 years younger and still learning. She has plowed through the first two sets of early readers and is doing early addition. She is working really hard on getting her handwriting neat and she is SO excited to start Kindergarten next year.

We all love Makenna so so much. She is such a joy and blessing in our family. I'm not quite sure that I'm ready for her to head off to school full time in a few months but know that she is ready. I really can't imagine my days without her in them and just love that she is so sweet, helpful and wants to be with me all the time!

(sorry about the cruddy formatting- can't seem to get my spacing to work in blogger....grrrr...)

Pinkalicious Party!

Saturday was Makenna's 5th birthday and we were able to have her friend party on the actual day! It was such a FUN party to put together and throw and she had a wonderful time.

The invitation:

(courtesy of my friend Becky)

The decorations/table/food:

(also served bagels with pink cream cheese, pink lemonade, pink applesauce)

The activities:

The girls decorated pink, glittery crowns and made pink beaded bracelets.

The CUTE Party goers:

The Birthday cake:

The favors:

(Pink gumball machines, candy bracelet and cupcake charm necklace, plus the girls got to fill up a bag of treats from the jars on the table)

A closeup of the cupcake charms I made for the party. Turned out so cute and I made them into necklaces for the girls.

We also read the book Pinkalicious and opened gifts. Makenna has such a cute little group of girls her age in our ward and neighborhood and they all had a great time together. This party was much more laid back than Carter's bday party last month and the girls were so cute and ladylike.

More birthday fun to come!

Spring Fever!

I've come to a conclusion - I am a weather-whiner!! Remember when I moved to Arizona and I cried because I missed seasons SO bad? I also thought I would die of heat the first fall when the rest of the country was cooling down and we were still into the 100s - until November. So now I'm back in a climate with seasons and, I pretty much hate it. I've decided that seasons are overrated. Friday it was in the 60s and and I was so HAPPY, but today it is cold and snowing again and I kind of want to cry. I pledge that if/when we move back to AZ (please,please,please) that I will appreciate it for what it is!! I have had spring fever since December 26th and it's getting worse every day.

What's a girl to do? How about shop for some fun springy clothes. Here's a few things that have made it onto my wish list recently:

Old Navy
Old Navy

Target

White House Black Market

Anthropologie

Boden

Aaahhh... I feel better already. Clearly my budget cannot handle all of this at once but a few things *might* already be on their way to me!

Come on spring!!

Valentines 2010

Here's a quick recap of our Valentine festivities this year.

I borrowed this idea off many a craft blog for the kids' Valentines this year. I wish I could give proper credit to the originator of the idea but I saw it all over the internet so I have no idea who came up with the idea.

Carter's:

Kenna's:

Teacher gifts (towels I got for 75% off last year at Target):

The Valentines were a HUGE hit and so easy to make. Not very original if you're a crafter but very unique to everyone else.

I made these chocolate glazed heart brownies for Carter's class party:

Makenna with Valentines after her party:

On Saturday Allen and I scored a babysitter and went to lunch and errands for our Valentines date. It was relaxing, uncrowded and fun. I love being with my husband now even more than I did when we were young and just dating. He is my best friend!

Sunday morning we had a quick breakfast and opening of gifts before church. Since we meet at 9:00 a.m. I kept it simple and got some really cute heart shaped donuts for the kids. Before bfast and gifts:

We always get the kids a little something for Valentines day. Carter got a spy gear toy, Kenna got the Fancy Nancy Vtine book, a headband and ring and Addie got a giant ball and a book. The kids gave us some really sweet and cute handmade cards and gifts (the best kind!) Al and I spoiled each other this year:

I made him a little carrying case with all his favorite treats/snacks in it to take to work. I shocked him by getting him an iPod Nano that he has been wanting so he can use it while running since his other iPod is big and bulky.

He got me potted tulips that have been blooming beautifully the last few days and a heart monitor/calorie counter/watch that I've been dying for. It might not seem so romantic but it is exactly what I wanted!


(eek pjs, no makeup and crazy bedhead!)

For dinner we had our traditional cheese and chocolate fondue party. We tried a couple new recipes from a fondue cookbook I got Allen for Christmas and did not love either one but it is always fun to branch out and try something new. The kids had no problem gobbling it down:

We finished the evening with some board games and Olympic coverage and had a wonderful, relaxing time together.
I am so blessed to have the 4 sweetest Valentines ever!

Addison's 2nd Birthday!

I know it's cliche but I can hardly believe that my baby is two years old!! What an absolute joy she is in our family and all of our lives have been blessed these last two years since she arrived. Yesterday was quite a low key day for us as far as birthdays go around here. After we dropped the big kids off she and I had some play time and then I took a bunch of pictures of her. I am so thrilled that she is suddenly cooperating and even playing it up with the camera. Woohoo! I hope this means we are out of the awkward photographing stage with her. I adore how these turned out. We were both having so much fun! I whipped up this outfit for her the day before and love how it turned out and it was very quick and easy!

When Allen got home we had dinner and cake. I made one of those huge cupcakes and Addie was so funny all afternoon chanting "cake, cake, cake." It was pure torture for her to see it on the counter all day long and have to wait for it.



She loved all the attention all day long and kept saying "happy bwiwthday" to everyone. She was even a pro at blowing out her candles! {It really is amazing how much they grow up between 1 and 2!}

She was thrilled to open up her presents and had lots of help from her siblings. She was totally spoiled and has been loving her new toys. Her favorite toy of all this stuffed dog Violet:

It ironically did not make it into the present picture. It is darling though and says her name and interacts with her. It's really cute!

At two Addie is adorable. She loves music and dancing. She is always busting a move in the car when the radio is on and always at home, even when the piano is being practiced. She is talking a ton and gets funnier every single day. The kids love making her repeat things and then we all die laughing. The other day Makenna said to her, "We will, we will rock you." She repeated, "we wi, we wi, wock you." She thinks it's the funniest thing ever now. A few days ago at the park I was pushing her on the swing and kept saying "I love you" to her over and over. She got really frustrated at me and said, "no say love you mama." I laughed so hard so she kept saying it over and over. She absolutely loves talking on the phone and she begs for the phone all day long.

She is still a really picky eater and food is generally hit or miss with her. She'll eat like a horse one day and the next acts like she wouldn't touch that particular food with a ten foot pole. It can definitely be frustrating. She consistently likes cheese, milk, popcorn, eggs, diet Coke {bad parents}, cold cereal, pancakes and treats. You never know with anything else. She also LOVES gum and is always always begging for it. She is really good about it and never swallows it.

Addie is a lover of books, way more than my other kids. She will bring me books to read to her all day long. It is not uncommon for me to read 10 or more books for her before her nap and bedtime. She is particularly fond of touchy feely books and books with large pictures that she can point and say the words of the pictures. She also loves babies, Little People and Play Doh. And she loves stealing anything that her siblings are playing with. She is a total tease.

She also loves family time and is particular to our walks and playing at the park. She loves the swings and going down the slide. She also loves being outside and jumping on the trampoline. She is a great sleeper and will usually tells us when she is ready for a nap and bed. She loves to snuggle with her blanket, which she calls Spotty and sucks her thumb but only when she's falling asleep. She doesn't watch much TV but likes to snuggle with the big kids if they are watching. She does recognize Elmo though since I have been letting her watch a bit of SS if we are home in the morning. She can count to five and is learning the ABC song. She also loves the lullaby I sing to her before bed (passed down from my mom, grandma and great-grandma that all my kids know) and she sings along most nights. She loves saying family prayers and can now say part of it alone.

Like her sister {and mom}, Addie really appreciates a great pair of shoes, accessories and a pretty dress. After she gets dressed she will twirl in front of us until we tell her she looks pretty. She loves to be in on the action with whatever we are doing. She is also VERY attached to us and hates when we are out of her sight. She really likes to snuggle in bed in the morning and give out kisses and hugs. It is difficult to explain her personality but it is so fun, vibrant and magnetic. It seems like people are drawn to her and she has a quick grin and funny face for everyone. She is definitely our most social child at this age and is a total tease and usual has a twinkle in her eye. We are all so in love with her and are grateful to all that she brings to our family.

Happy Birthday Addie!

LEGO Birthday Party

Saturday we had Carter's party here at home. He asked for a Lego party months ago and even though I tried to convince him to have a party at a destination (less work for me) he REALLY wanted this party so we obliged. I'm so glad we did it. It turned out to be really fun and easy. He invited all of the boys from his primary class at church and all of the boys from his class at school. ALL of the church boys came and only 1 class friend. It was a wild bunch with the 8 boys we had so it turned out to be a perfect number.

We played a bunch of LEGO related games and building challenges - picking up Legos with chopsticks, spell out your name with Legos, build the tallest tower, build the biggest space ship, etc. We also had some relay races and a Lego matching game. The boys had a lot of fun and were very competitive.


After games we fed them pizza for lunch. I ordered three large pizzas thinking we would have lots of leftovers but the boys pretty much devoured all the pizza - so funny. We moved on to the cake. Carter really wanted a Lego cake and this is what I came up with:

The boys loved the individual blocks and thought it was really cool. If I could do it again I would probably use fondant instead of frosting for a more smooth look but Carter LOVED it so that's what is most important.

After eating Carter opened his presents and then we let the boys play for awhile before it was time to go home.

For goodie bags we gave out bags of misc. Legos (ordered in bulk off of ebay), Lego block candy and Lego keychains (made by Allen). The boys thought it was great.Overall it was a fun and easy party to put together and Carter and his friends loved it!