Scrapping Weekend

I am so excited that I get to go on a girls weekend this weekend to go scrap booking with my mom and sister. We will be gone for the entire weekend and Matt is watching the kids. It will be the first time he has been with all the kids by himself for the long. I sure hope it goes alright. I am sure the house will be a wreck when I get home, but that will be okay, as long as he survives. This is something that I look forward to and enjoy doing so much. It is like a little break from being a referee, chauffer, cook, maid, and mom for a few days. It also makes Matt appreciate me a little more that he usually does. I have been preparing for the last month to go, getting all my supplies together and putting together ideas for pictures and layouts, hoping that I will be able to get a lot done. I have over 300 pictues that I need to scrapbook into something and I would love to get a big chunk of that done. I am not sure I will ever be caught up, but I sure enjoy trying. The kids always love to spend time with their dad and to have him spoil them even more than usual. They also love it when I return home and they get to see the new pages I have done of them and they get to add them to their books. My scrap books are my most prized possesions, besides my kids. They hold so many wonderful, and pricelss memories. I am so glad that I have the time and ablility to make these books for my family. Wish me luck and great success, I will let you know how much I get done!!

I am packed and ready to go. I have about 9 totes with all my scrabook supplies and I wil have one small suitcase. Matt rolls his eye when he sees all that I take with me. I have to be prepared. You should see the sububan when it is full to the brim with all the supplies of three or four of us. It is packed so full, we usually have to take out the back seats to have enough room!!

Matt's 30th

Matt turned the big 3-0 on the 17th!! Can you believe it?? I can't! That makes me sad because I know I am only a few months behind him then we will both be out of our 20's. It is a sad time!! But we sure don't feel old! I remember being small, like 8 or 10, and thinking that the ladies that were in the Primary as leaders were old. Well now I am one of them and I sure don't feel old. For Matt's birthday per his request, my dad smoked us his "Damn fine burgers" and we had all the toppingd to go along, lettuce, tomato, cheese, bacon, avacado, ketchup, mustard, and chipotle mayo. We also had potato salad and chips. It was even nice enough outside that we had our first outdoor BBQ! It was wonderful. For his gifts he got golf balls, tees, 2 pair of jeans, an itunes gift card and a new ladder from my parents. He was extremely excited about the ladder and can't wait to use it. Of course he like the golf stuff from the kids, we call that "the usual" the gifts that he always gets when you don't know exactly what to get him. Matt's usuals include: itunes gift card, anything golf, socks, gift cards to the movies, 5 Guys Burgers & Fries, Famous Footwear, Cal-Ranch, & El Vaquero. At least we know he will use that stuff. We had planned on going bowling as a family to celebrate, but both bowling alleys were packed full of people so we weren't able to go. The kids were very sad about that and are still bugging us to go. We had Rupe's ice cream for dessert on the way home. It was great!! Happy birthday to the best husband ever. I am sure glad we get to spend forever together! Love ya!

Easy Bake Oven

Paige got this Easy Bake Oven for Christmas and we have tried it out a few times. It is a little time consuming for such a small amount of product, but she loves it. The other day while Parker was at school and Paxten was napping we decided to make chocolate chip cookies. Paige mixed the dough and then formed them into balls. She them put them on the cooking tray and pressed them flat. After letting the oven warm for 20 minutes, we baked the cookies for 9 minutes, cooled for 10 and then she was able to enjoy her treat. I think she shared 1 with Paxten and gave me one to try, and she ate the rest. The cookies were so small that I think all 12 were equal to the size of 1 chocolate chip cookie I normally bake. It was a fun time that we were able to spend together one on one. She loves to bake just like me and love to help me in the kitchen whenever she can.
 

La La Loopsey Paige

Paige loves the dolls known as Lalaloopsey's. She has received several of them for gifts. For her birthday my mom got her this costume and Paige was so excited to dress up like a Lalaloopsey. The only thing she doesn't like is she says it is "itchy" so this will be a dress up outfit that is worn for s short amount of time. But she does look darn cute!

Birthday Girl Jammies

I found these "Birthday Girls" jammies about the same time I found the ones for Paxten on his birthday. I couldn't resist getting them for her. I think she thought it was fun that she got special jammies just for her birthday. She is quite the poser and loves to have her picture taken. She is so happy that she is finally 4!! She has been counting down to her birthday since Parker turned 6, so a very long time!!! She could hardly wait until it was her day and loved every minute of the day when it finally arrived!

Paige's 4th Birthday

Paige turned 4 on the 12th and I just barely getting around to writing about it. At least it is still the same month! Our sweet little princess was just that on her birthday. She put in the order that she wanted a "Tangled" cake. She loves that new movie and wants to be just like Rapunzel. I did not know how I would make a castle cake, but I happened to come across an edible image that you put on top of a cake and I bought it. It was perfect and one of the easiest cakes I have done. Paige loved it!! She took chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting to preschool for her birthday treat. The evening of her birthday we had grandparents over for pizza and salad (suprise suprise, all our kids pick pizza for their birthday dinner) Grandpa & Grandma C were there along with Grandpa & Grandma Yancey. Paige of course was spoiled and got a lot of fun things. She got a few new outfits, several jammies, tennis shoes (which she calls her new Sketchers, although they are not Sketcher brand!), nail polish, a barbie, squinkies, money for our Disneyland trip, a jewelry box, lots of bracelets and necklaces to put in the jewelry box, a barbie hand held game, a LaLaLoopsey outfit to dress up in, a little lalaloopsey, and a cute gardening set with miniature tools. She got quite a variety of things and very happy with most things she got. She had told me, along with everyone that she wanted a jewelry box. I looked all over and could only find a red or silver on. I bought the silver one for her thinking she would like it because it was kind of sparkly. As soon as she opened it and realized what it was she exclaimed "but I wanted a pink one!" So she was a little disappointed at first about the color, but since has realized that she does indeed like it. She is quite the spit fire and sure says what is one her mind!



Some of miss Paige's favorite things right now are:
Pepperoni pizza,
frozen go-gurts,
Cheddar cheese slices,
strawberries
the color pink
anything chocolate, especially Hershey Kisses
green (lime) sherbet
she loves to play barbies
cooking with mom
watching cartoons, especially Max & Ruby, Peppa Pig, and Olivia
She loves to have her nails polished, then she picks the polish off after it dries
She is such a fun little girl to have in our family and we all love her so very much. She often makes the funniest comments and usually is the comic relief in our family. We hope you had a fabulous birthday Paige!!
 

New Calling

I have been in relief society for about 1 1/2 years and have really been enjoying it. I have been serving as the relief society committee member (over enrichment nights) and I have loved it. About 3 weeks ago, the Bishop came over and when at first I thought he was going to call me to be the Primary Chorister, because they haven't had one for over 6 months!!! I was ready to say yes to that calling. But when he asked me to serve as the Primary PRESIDENT, my mouth fell open and I was in shock. I felt inadequate and I still felt too young to be serving as the PRESIDENT... after getting my emotions in check I realized that I am old enough, I have been married for 8 years, I will be 30 (ouch) this year, and I have 3 kids. So I guess I am old enough. I have been in the primary presidency prior to being in relief society this last time and I served for 5 years, so I guess I do know how to be the president, after having a good example to follow. So this last Sunday they sustained and set me apart. I am excited, and nervous at the same time. It will be fun to be in there with my kids and to be with the kids of the ward again. I know there will be hard and stressful times, but I know the Lord with help me and strengthen my weaknesses. Wish me luck!

Easter Morning

Easter Morning!! The kids woke up to see that the Easter bunny found them. They got some outside toys including a frisbee, chalk, and bubbles. Parker also got a Finn McMissile from Cars2 and Paige got sunglasses and a small toy baby. Paxten got some new sandals and a bucket and shovel. Along with the new toys they got Peeps (can't have Easter without Peeps!!), fruit roll ups, cadbury eggs, and some other chocolates. The excitement of being a kid!!

 

Easter Get Together

For about the last 4-5 years Marilyn has started a little tradition of hosting a get together right before Easter. We usually have a nice lunch, an egg hunt for the kids, and the last few years she has done a race for the kids and a 5k walk/run for the adults. Parker and Paige both did the kids run and they did awesome. Every kids got a medal! The kids were very excited about that part. Paige said, "I'm so excited, I never had a medal before!!!" she was thrilled to wear it the rest of the day. The kids also got to participate in their 3rd egg hunt of the season. This time if they found an egg with a number on it or an egg with the word "prize" inside they got an extra prize. Parker picked a yard game that you throw a dart into a circle. Paige picked a little girls play cell phone and she was soooooo excited about it!! Paxten got a little baby toy. They were all thrilled about their new toys and candy. We all had a fun time enjoying the weather and spending time with family that we don't get to see very often. We can't wait until the reunion at Heise this year, when we get to spend the whole weekend together!!
 

Peep Cake

I saw and adorable idea on Pinterest for a Peep Cake and I knew I had to make one. It just so happened that we were going to Marilyn's on the Saturday before Easter for her annual get together and I was assigned to bring dessert. It was meant to be!! I ran to the store and gathered all the supplies I needed and the kids helped me create this cute cake. I even swirled the cake inside with the same colors that the peeps were. I didn't get a picture of the inside though. I made a cream cheese citrus frosting for the top. It was very sweet and definitely not sugar free, but hey it looked cute and Easter only comes 1 time a year. It was a big hit and everyone loved it! Thank you Pinterest, I love all the ideas on there!!

 

Dying Eggs

We had out friends the Mauger's over to dye eggs with us before Easter. My kids were so excited to get started coloring eggs, that I let them do 1 before their friends got there. Well they got carried away and before I knew it my kids had dyed 18 eggs before their friends had arrived. Good thing Valeigha brought another 36 eggs for the kids to dye. And yes, they colored them all. We are going to be eating egg salad, deviled, egg, and potato salad for the next 2 weeks!! They had a fun time and some of the eggs turned out reall fun. My kids look forward to this tradition each year. Afterward we had another egg hunt, so #2 for the season. It was very windy and cold out this particular day, so the kids found the eggs and then came inside where it was warm to play. We sure love having good friends to do fun things with. Thank you Mauger's for coming over and having fun with us!!!
 

Egg Hunt #1

This was the first "real" egg hunt of the season. When I got out the Easter decoration this year, the kids saw all the plastic eggs and wanted to have an egg hint right then. After we got all the decorations up, I went outside and hid all the eggs, then the kids found them. We did this 4 times!! Which ended up being good practice for them. By the time Easter really rolled around, they were professional egg hunters. This day we were at Grandpa and Grandma C's with the Keller gang for our Easter get together which was on the 1st of April. Even Paxten figured out what he was supposed to do and was able to fill his basket pretty full. Parker filled his basket so full that it was overflowing and he had to have Curtis hold some of his eggs for him! We had a great time and can't wait for the rest of the Easter festivities!!
 

Dinosaur Museum

Parker's kindergarten went to visit Sue the Dinosaur back in March on the 29th. It worked out that Matt would be home that day, so I was able to go as a volunteer/helper. I rode the bus to the museum with my three boys that I was in charge of. They seemed to enjoy it, but weren't really interested in all the facts that were written about each display. They just wanted to move from exhibit to exhibit. It only took us about 40 minutes to look at everything in the museum. I was glad that I was able to go and spend some time with just Parker. I think he liked having me go as well. I am sure this is the first of many field trips I will be going on with him. On the way home three boys behind me on the bus fell asleep! It was pretty funny that they were asleep together. We had to wake them up when we got back to the school.