Birthday

I love my children's birthdays. I love to make them feel as special as possible because as a kid, I always felt special on my birthday.

I start to look for cake ideas months before the birthday. For some reason, I look forward to creating the cake most of all! I tend to stress over it more than anything.


I found this super cute cake in a Betty Crocker magazine. It was very easy and very fun to put together. I must say, it is one of my favorite results yet! It was made from two 9 inch round pans. Once you've cooled the cakes, you carve them into the desired shapes. A trick is to freeze the cake for about an hour after it has been shaped. This makes frosting the cake easier. I also use one of those little pampered chef parring knifes (the ones that are like $1.00 or something) for the carving.

Carson had a fun birthday. He got some new toys, clothes, and the all important "jumpoline," as he calls it, (better known as a trampoline!)

He loves being four. Every morning when he wakes up he asks if he is still four. I say "yes, buddy. You will be four for an entire year." To which he replies, "do we still have the jumpoline?" We sometimes have this exact conversation twice a day!

Love This Girl!

Little Miss Kate is 18 months old! Sometimes I don't think it is quite fair how fast time goes! There are moments you want them to stay babies forever. But there are also moments that you count down the day they turn 18 months (this being because they are finally old enough for nursery! Yay!)

Although she is mostly sweet, she is also a lot of sass! Like when you ask her a question and she furrows her eyebrows at you and says "no." Or when her brothers have a toy she wants and she simply squeals at them while yanking it from their hands.

She definitely has a way with her red hair and bright blue eyes, which makes it impossible to stay angry at her for very long!

Here she is enjoying a strawberry (it's written all over her face!)

One of her favorite games is peek-a-boo.

One of my favorite things about Katelyn is that she is always excited to see Daddy. When he walks into the room she can hardly contain herself. She always points at his picture on the wall and announces, "Da Da."

No matter how sassy or how stubborn, Katelyn is our little princess!

Welcome Kelly!

(left to right: Kelly, Sgt. Redline, Freeman)

Today I had the pleasure of welcoming Kelly to the blogoshphere! He decided to create a blog so he could keep track of, as well as share, his adventures in being a cop!

So, if you want to read a little bit of a police man's life, feel free to visit http://zcoplife.blogspot.com/ . It is a work in progress, so be patient with the newcomer!

Carson Turns 4!!

Four years ago today, sweet little Carson was born! It is amazing how fast time goes! We found out I was pregnant with him just days before finding out we were moving to Arizona. Having this much change all at once was a little emotional at first. But, we made it through and here we are 4 years later!

Here are some things to love about Carson!

• He is such a lovable boy. He loves to snuggle and is always willing to give you a great big squeeze!
• He always warms my heart when out of the blue he says, "Mom, I love you so much!"
• He is so adventurous! Sometimes this can be a scary thing. Like when he is 2 and he does a running jump down a water slide. Nevertheless, he is never afraid to try something out.
• He is a big helper. Whether it is helping mommy clean or pull weeds or helping daddy put something together. He loves to get in on the action.
• He loves fruits and vegetables! His favorite part of dinner is the salad.
• He can make friends very easily.
• He is brave. He has been through surgery and lots of dental work and he is the bravest little guy around!

We are so lucky to have a little boy like Carson. Happy Birthday Carson buddy! We love you to pieces!

The "E" word.....URGH!!!

I am in need of some HELP! For those of you who have some kind words of encouragement, please continue reading!

I know how important exercise is. I know all of the benefits. And believe me, I know that I could use some of those benefits right about now! There is just one slight problem....I absolutely have no motivation! Exercise to me, is well, not always fun. I know I need to just get up and do it and make a habit of it. Then maybe it will be fun again.

Here are a few more issues:

• I have tried gym memberships. I don't go often enough and it is painful to see the money wasted.
• I have bought home workout videos. But trying to work out with kids at my feet or tugging on my shirt or wanting something every other minute, only discourages me more! Not only do I turn if off, I am then ornery at my kids for just being kids!
• I don't like to run. This makes going on a morning jog not so desirable!
• Because I love shopping and clothes, I have bought "cute" workout clothes in hopes that I will be excited to wear them and therefore, exercise in them.

I haven't always been this unmotivated to exercise. I just need to get back into action! I have a goal to drop at least ten pounds in the coming months. Oh, and I would like to shed a few inches from the not so loved areas of my body!!

I know many of my readers are avid exercisers. So to you, am I a lost cause? I need some suggestions. Have any of you had similar experiences? How do you exercise with kids and not get frustrated and just quit? Please send me your words of wisdom.

All I need is a gentle nudge.......okay maybe a hefty shove! Nontheless, I am ready to do this!

We Love Visitors!!!

One thing is for certain, we love to have visitors! It is always fun to have company in town! This time was no exception. Last week my mom, grandparents, and aunt were able to come visit. We had a great time. Here are some photos of our time together!

We went to Mesa to visit my grandma's sister. My Aunt and her husband served a mission in Martin's Cove where you can experience a handcart trek. She now has her own handcart which the kids love to play in.

This is Kelly giving just one of many rides in the handcart. I think he treked around the neighborhood a dozen times.

This is our 4 generation picture!

We had some freshly picked oranges and Katelyn enjoyed the peel and all!

The kids had fun playing hide and seek. Here is Carson under an orange tree.

All that treking and hide and seeking, wore the kids all out! I thought this was cute of Connor snuggling on Grandma!

My mom loves In-n-Out Burger. A visit to Phoenix wouldn't be complete without a meal here. Pretty soon she will have her very own In-n-Out in the Salt Lake area and won't have any need for us!

On Monday we went to a Spring Training game. We had a lot of fun. My mom and her parents love to go to baseball games, so it was a fun little treat for them.

This is a brand new stadium very near to our house. It was very nice. They had some activities for the kids which made it nice for when they got antsy (which was quite a few times!)

Here are the folks enjoying a fun game and the great Phoenix sunshine!

After the game we enjoyed the evening at one of our favorite parks.

We are lucky to have a lot of really nice parks close by and lucky enough to have many days with good weather to enjoy the park. In 5 days we managed to go to 7 different parks! Free entertainment, eh?

It was so great to see my family. We always have a great time. The kids love having them around! Thanks for the great visit!

Just a Little Shout Out!

I just wanted to give little publicity to my good friend Bridgette. She is one very talented chickie and one of her great abilities is creating very adorable hair bows.

Not so long ago, she taught me how to make bows for Katelyn. I had a fun time with this new hobby. Recently she has started selling her great product! I decided her bows turn out cuter than mine, so I would just rather buy them from her! She certainly has a knack for bow making!

Anyway, I just wanted to share her creations with all of you! Go to http://ohsogirly.blogspot.com/ to take a look at her very cute, very affordable hair bows!

Happenings

Well, a week has come and gone and it is time for a new post! Here are some recent pictures of what we have been up to lately.

This week at Connor's school, they have been celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday. One of the activities they have had was a family picnic and read-a-thon. Last night we took picnic (okay, not a real picnic, we cheated and splurged on the Wendy's value menu) and took some books and hung out in the courtyard at school. They had some little activities like face painting, story tellers, a book exchange, and even a visit from The Cat in the Hat. My battery died so I wasn't able to snap a picture of him, but the kids thought it was neat to see The Cat in the Hat.




For every book you read as a family, you got a stripe to add to The Cat in the Hat. By the end of the night, he had a pretty tall hat!

They had a free book exchange. If you left one of your books you could take one from the pile. I came across this book. I had this exact book when I was a little girl and I loved it! So, this was my pick. I enjoyed looking through it and remembering my younger years!

I am not sure but I think winter is officially over in Phoenix. Earlier this week it was nearly 90 degrees! Today was very nice, although not as warm. The kids managed to dig out their suits to run through the sprinklers. The boys loved it and Kate didn't even want to give it a try!

After about 20 minutes, they were cold and done! It was fun to watch them have a good time and it reminded me of when I was young. We couldn't wait for the first warm day so we could play in the water.

Connor seems so big to me in this picture. I can't believe he is nearing the age of 6! He has grown a lot this year and has learned so much. There are things he is already learning that I don't recall learning in Kindergarten. The other day he said "Mom, Stephen is so weird." I answered "why?" He said "because he thinks 10 plus 9 is 20 and it is really 19." I just got me thinking, all I remember about kindergarten is colors and shapes and simple things like that. Not writing sentences and adding. Right now they are learning about money and is now able to count change. Seems so crazy!

I can't believe it is time again for sunscreen and bathing suits. Winter here seems to be getting shorter and shorter! I will certainly enjoy these nice days while they are here!