Parker Turns 7

Parker turned 7 on the 1st of November! How did that happen. I can't believe that I became a mother 7 years ago. It really has flown by quickly (I think I say that after every birthday, anniversary, year!) Parker took brownie cupcakes to school for his birthday treat. I tried to convince him to take cheese and crackers or something like that, since Halloween is the day before and kids have had so much sweet stuff. But that is what he wanted. For his birthday dinner we went to the China Buffet here in town and had Grandpa and Grandma Christiansen with us as well as Grandpa and Grandma Yancey. We all ate until we were stuffed with good chinese food and then went home to open gifts and have cake and ice cream. When we got home from dinner we had the neighbors, the Billings, over for cake and ice cream as well. Parker wanted an Angry Birds cake this year. I decided to make it easy on myself and I bought an Angry Birds game and used it as decoration on the cake. It turned out pretty good. I only had to fix it once when all the blocks tipped over. Parker loved it and that it what counts! He was spoiled as usual and received a lot of great gifts. He got some nerf bullets, angry bird shirts, a remote control car, cowboy guns, a slingshot sort of toy, star wars books, lego set, money, wallet, and three angry birds games. He loved everything he got and felt very special. We had cake and ice cream and then called it a night, since it was a school night! I hope Parker had a great birthday and knows how much we love him and how glad we were that he is part of our family. We are looking forward to next year when he will turn 8 and be baptized!! 

Paxten's Party

 

What to do with the third child for a birthday!!! Honestly I was a little disorganized this year, his birthday snuck right up on me. I did happen to order decorations and supplies in advance enough that I wasn’t running around last minute trying to decide what to do. We went with a dinosaur theme for Paxten and the invitations said “Rooaarr Invited….to my 1st birthday party.” I thought it was pretty cute! We had the party on the Saturday following his birthday. While Paige was at her princess party, Parker and I decorated and I made the cake. I made an orange dino cake, and it turned out pretty cute. We had pizza, tossed salad, fruit, and pop for dinner. We had grandparents there from both sides and Charyn, Mike, Jackson, and Zander were also able to make it.

Paxten didn’t really know what was going on, although I kept calling him birthday boy all day long. He did seem to enjoy the extra attention. When it came time for presents, he just wanted to play with a ball he found. I kept having to pull him back to my lap to open the next gift. He got some money to put in his piggy bank, several outfits, a camping chair, a toy golf set, a few books, a mini pillow pet, and a few toys. He did manage to get spoiled and seemed to love his new toys, so did the other kids.

Paxten has been my only kid to really eat his birthday cake. He was a little hesitant at first, but after giving him a fork and a taste, he dug right in and ate the entire piece he was given. That’s my boy!! We had a fun night and appreciate and love all our family and friends that made it special for Paxten.

Birthday Dinner

 

When Paxten turned 1, and since we weren't having his birthday party until Saturday, Matt and I decided to take the kids to dinner to celebrate. Of course Paxten didn't really understand why, but Parker and Paige sure loved the idea. We took them to McDonald's, every kids favorite, and ours are no exception. Paxten enjoyed some french fries and a bit or two of a chicken nugget. He wasn't really in a very good mood and seemed ready for a nap, but oh well. Any chance Parker and Paige have to eat at McDonalds, they will take it. They usually eat pretty good and I am usually suprised at how quickly their food is eaten. I am sure as Paxten gets bigger, he too will eat all his chicken nuggets!

Birthday Boy

I can't believe it is here, my baby is 1! I know all parents say this, but this last year has flown by so fast, it seems like yesterday I was lying in a hospital bed holding my new baby boy! And now here he is one year old! Wow! Paxten is such a fun little boy and we all love him so much, we can't even imagine life without him, he fits into our family so well and we just love having him in our home and in our family. Here are some fun things about him at 1 year old:
1. He is still a momma's boy, and loves to be held by me anytime he can.
2. His fifth tooth just broke through the other day. Next to his top right tooth.
3. He is walking all over the place and is pretty quiet, sometimes I will turn around and there he is!
4. He love to eat solid food, anything that we are eating. Although sometimes after he tries it he decided he doesn't like it.
5. His favorite things to eat are bananas, macaroni & cheese, go-gurts, cereal, popcorn, and chocolate (he is definitely my kid!)
6. He can say "Bye (while waving)," "Boom," "Bang," and "Hi" (sometimes he says other things, but then doesn't say them again)
7. He loves to play in the bath tub, but hates getting his hair washed.
8. He likes to play with Paige and Parker and often follows them around.
9. He only occasionally sleeps through the night, we are still working on this one!
10. We thing he is our cutest baby so far...the other two were cute at this age too, but Paxten seems to be cuter than they were.
11. He love to get into anything he can, any cupboard, drawer, garbage, or closet he can. He loves to stand in the fridge and look what is in there as well.

Those are just a few of the things that he is currently doing. We are celebrating his birthday on Saturday (because I have a R.S. meeting tonight) We are having a Dino Party and I am excited to see him dig into his cake. Happy Birthday Paxten!!!

David Archuleta

For my birthday, my mom got me tickets to go see David Archuleta at the Performing Atrs Center while he is on his My Kind Of Christmas Tour. Matt said that he didn't want to go, that wasn't his type of music. So I asked my mom to go with me and Matt got to watch the kids. It was fun to go to a concert and to get a way for a few hours. I didn't really watch David when he was on American Idol, but I do know who he is and think he has a great voice. There have been a few articles in various magazines that I have read about him and his journey to becoming a singer. It is really pretty interesting. The concert was packed, not an empyt seat and a lot of which were high school teenage girls who were going crazy over seeing him, even from a distance. It was pretty entertaining just watching the girls be all crazy about the fact that they were seeing him. He does have a great voice and it is amazing how much sound can come from that little person! I had a great time and enjoyed the concert with my mom, I told Matt he missed out on a great date night with me...too bad for him!

Parker's 6th Birthday

 

Parker turned 6 on the 1st and how did he get to celebrate?....In bed with a bucket by his side! Poor KID! The night before his birthday he was up most of the night throwing up and not feeling good at all. I felt really bad for him and the fact that he had to stay home from school and wouldn't be able to celebrate his birthday with his friends at school. I pretty much confined him to his room all day long watching movies. I wanted to keep the nasty flu bug away from everyone else. By about 3:00 he seemed to be feeling better, but still not quite himself. We had already invited some grandparents over for pizza, cake and ice cream and I didn't want to change it to the next day because then Matt wouldn't be there, so we went ahead with the birthday plans. I kept with my tradition of making the cake and attempted to do a Spider Man cake for the special occasion. I was getting frustrated with it and at one point took some of the icing off and started over. But for the most part it turned out fine and Parker loved it. That is all that really matters anyway.

We had pizza, pepperoni of course, and salad and then opened presents. Parker got a Star Wars lego set, new pajamas, new hat and gloves, and a lego figure from Grandma and Grandpa C. He got the Cars 2 movie and some ninja stars from Grandpa Yancey, a remote control car that transforms into a robot and a sweat suit outfit from Grandma Yancey. Paige got him 3 new cars 2 cars that he was so excited about. Then Matt and I got him the Transformers 3 movie, a Sonic video game and another video game called Shoot. He was pretty excited and perked right up after opening his gifts. He seemed to feel more like himself and was eager to play with all his new toys. Even though the day started out rough, it ended on a good note and he had a great birthday! I can't believe he is 6!!

Matt's Birthday

Matt turned the big 29 yesterday! Whenever he has a birthday it helps me get mentally prepared for mine in the fall. We are getting closer to 30 and that scares me a little bit. Anyways, Matt is a wonderful husband and father and we all love him so much an appreciate all that he does for our family. We hope he had a wonderful days and that he knows how much we all love him.

His parents had us over for dinner last night and we enjoyed ribs and cheesy potatoes and strawberry shortcake. It was so good, one of Matt's favorites. Tonight we are celbrating with my parents and having Steak and baked potatoes and cheesecake. (Matt's choice dinner) Happy Birthday Honey!!

Paige Turns 3!

Yesterday my little girl turned 3! I can't believe it, where has the time gone? It is amazing to me that she is already three years old, I so remember the day she was born and it feels like a few days ago. Now we have another baby and Paige is growing up into a beautiful little girl. Matt and I convinced Paige that she didn't need any toys for her birthday (our kids have WAY too many toys!!) and so she said that all she wanted was REAL makeup and a big girl bike. She told my parents that she wanted a bike, so that left Matt and I to handle the makeup part. She is all girl and loves to watch me get ready and always asks me to put makeup on her too. I am going to be in trouble when she is a teenager if she is already that into makeup!

Paige wanted a Dora cake for her birthday party and I was able to find a Dora pan so I thought that decorating would be a breeze. Well I was wrong. It wouldn't have been too bad if I didn't have a whiny baby that thinks he always needs to be held and 2 other kids that seem to always need something as well. I was about to have a breakdown when one of the piping bags sprung a "leak" and almost messed up all of my previous work. But somehow I managed and 5 hours later we had a pretty darn cute cake. Amidst all of the work I kept wondering why I was doing this, and what I had started with making my kids homemade decorated cakes for their birthdays. Now that I have started this tradition, they look forward to it and love to watch the progress of the cake. I guess it is something special and will be something they remember as they grow up..I hope!

We just had my sister and parents over for a quick little celebration. I semi-homemade pizza and salad for dinner. I say semi-homemade because after all the work on the cake from the day before I was tired of a messy kitchen and doing dishes so I bought the pizza dough from Papa Murphy's and did our own topping. What a lifesaver! It worked out great and was half the mess! We had pepperoni pizza, Hawaiian, and tomato basil pizza. All of which were so yummy. I even made homemade croutons for the salad, just for Matt! We had cake and Neapolitan ice cream for dessert. Paige only wanted the chocolate ice cream.

We opened presents in between pizza and ice cream and Paige was outfitted with a whole new summer wardrobe. She got a cute brown zebra print dress, 2 pair of shorts, 2 shirts, 1 pair of pants, and a cute pink velour sweat suit from Matt and I. Along with the clothes we got her 24 mini nail polishes, lip gloss, chap stick, and some eye shadows. She also got a Dora swim suit (which is too small) and Dora flip flops and beach towel that is also a bag. From Aunt Charyn and Uncle Mike she got a Purple flowered rain jacket and goulash's. My parents got her a cute new pink and orange outfit and a NEW BIKE and helmet!! It is adorable with a pink frame and polka dots all over. It even has a seat for her baby to ride in. She loves it, but it will take her a few weeks to figure out how to ride it. She was spoiled and didn't even miss the fact that she didn't really get any new toys for inside. I am so glad that I don't have one more thing to pick up!

Here are some fun facts about our little Paige:
1. She loves all things girly. Makeup, purses, shoes, dresses. She doesn't like hair bows or having elastics in her hair.
2. She love to watch Dora the Explorer and Max & Ruby
3. She loves the colors pink and purple
4. She love to have her clothes match. If she is wearing black pants, the shirt must be black as well.
5. She is feisty and can hold her own against her big brother.
6. She is a great big sister and love Baby Paxten Wayne...when referring to him she always uses his full name.
7. Her favorite food is a hot dog and cheese
8. She loves the movies Cinderella, Tinkerbell, and Tangled
9. She loves to sing Intsy Winsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and The Wise Man and The Foolish Man.
10. She loves to give hugs and kisses, but at her own discretion, you can't force this girl to do anything.

We love her so much and can't even remember what it was like in our family without her. Happy Birthday Paige!!

Batman Party

All His Loot
Opening presents
Blowing out the candles
Bowling
Our friends the Thornley's
Grandpa and Grandma "C"
Paige having her turn bowling
Parker was a pro by the end of the night!
The cake

We had a "Batman" Party for Parker last Monday. We had a few friends and family along to celebrate with us at the Bowling Alley. It was a lot of fun and Parker was spoiled. I think he had a fun time bowling and playing with all his friends. I made the cake and cupcakes and after I had finished decorating them he came into the kitchen to look and said "wow". I think that meant he liked it. The best part of the party was I didn't have to clean my house twice and the kids had something to do the entire time to keep them occupied. It was a great idea.

My Birthday

I turned 28 this month, closer to 30 than 20!! We celebrated my birthday early because I was going to be gone 2 weekends and it just worked out better for all of my family to do it a little early. Who was I to complain, it was like celebrating a few times!! We got together on Sunday the 3rd and had a nice dinner. My mom surprised me and made deep fried pickles. They were so yummy. We also had bacon wrapped, jalapeno stuffed chicken and baked potatoes. It was yummy! Then I opened gifts. I got some cash from my dad, a necklace, a new shirt, and an awesome pin cushion from my mom. I got 2 book and a movie gift card from Mike and Charyn and Matt and the kids surprised me with a new Amazon Kindle!! I was way excited!! I had told Matt that I wanted one, but wasn't getting my hopes up, so I was really surprised when he got one for me. I have finished reading the two books Charyn got me so now I can start downloading and reading on the new Kindle!! I can tell it is going to be so nice, I am already in love with it!! The weekend right before my birthday I went with my mom and Charyn scrapbooking and we had a lot of fun. So I considered that part of my birthday as well, a getaway without the kids. It was a nice break. The day of my birthday we just hung out at the house and had Pizza Hut for dinner. (Who wants to cook on their birthday?!) So it was a great birthday celebration and I am lucky to have such wonderful family!!

Surprise Mom

This year marked my wonderful mother's 50th birthday. Do you think I could let that day just slip by like any other birthday?? NO WAY!! My sister and I have been thinking about what we were going to do for about a year. We kind of kept it in the back of our mind and then all of the sudden it was getting closer. We narrowed down what we wanted to do and the date, time, and place. I got the invitations made and in the mail and we decided what we were going to eat. I put Charyn in charge of dessert and I handled the main dish. We decided to do a baked potato bar with all the toppings, that way I could do a lot ahead of time and have it ready to go in the crockpot. Mom's favorit dessert is Lemon Meringue pie, and no matter how many time I try to make it, something doesn't quite taste right. So we decided to order from a bakery so we wouldn't be disappointed. The hardest part of the whole party was keeping it a secret!! I see my mom almost every day and talk to her about that often too. It was so hard not to mention what I was working on like I uaually so with every other project I am working on. It was also hard to work around her schedule to plan that party without telling her why she couldn't do this, or got to that. Our good friend Sheri was in on it with us and arranged to go to "dinner" with mom. She was going to pick her up and then mention she left something behind and would have to go back to her house, where the party was going to be. Well the day finally arrived last Thursday (the 23rd), her birthday is the 26th, but the week was really chaotic and that day seemed to work the best, even more of a surprise when it isn't on the actual day. I counted down the hours and was really not stressing out too much. Until about 2 hours before, then it seemed like everything needed to be done and time was running out. We all pulled together and guest started arriving and before we knew it, it was time yell surprise!!! It turned out great!! She had NO IDEA!! We managed to pull it off and it was a great success. Good food, good friends, good times!!!

I just want to mention how much I love my mom and how wonderful I think she is. This was just a small opportunity I had to do something special for her in appreciation for all that she has done for me over the years. I am so lucky that we live so close to each other and that we have a great relationship. She is one of my best friends and such a wonderful example to me and my kids. They are truly lucky to live close to their grandparents. I hope that we can always be close by them. I love my mom and I wish her the best in the years to come. Happy 50th Mom!!!

Paige's Birthday Celebration

My sister stopped by the day before Paige's birthday to drop off a gift because she wasn't going to be able to make it. She got her a little girls set of nail polish, lip gloss, and lip stick with a bag to put it in. She also got a cute little pink, orange and yellow dress with a yellow jacket. And a blue short romper (we both wore these when we were younger and it brought back memories) Paige loves the makeup and has been busy polishing her nails lately. Thanks Charyn!

After completing the cake I went to work getting everything else ready for Paige's party. We invited just grandparents this year. I don't think my kids need a big party every year. When they do have a party on birthdays 1, 8, and 16 I want them to be special so we won't be doing big parties every year at our house. I hadn't really thought about decorations since we weren't doing a big party, but decided at the last minute that she needed some balloons to celebrate with. I ran to the store and picked up some balloons and a few other things, and hurried back to finish last minute things. I decorated the table with the balloons and her gifts and put out a special place setting for her to eat at. She also had a little tiara to wear that said "Birthday Girl." She had fallen asleep on the way home from the store so all the decorations and balloons were a surprise when she woke up. My parents and Matt's parents made it over for dinner which consisted of Italian Chicken in the crock pot, with Strawberry Toss Salad and Fruit and Yogurt Salad as well. Paige usually devours Italian Chicken when I make it, but as she was sitting at the table she noticed some play jewelry and makeup and had to open that up and try it out. Then she wanted to open more gifts. So we all ate dinner while Paige entertained us by opening gifts. She was quite the character and made faces and noised after every gift. She even had to try on ever outfit she got as she opened them. As she would put them on she would say "ta da" and hold out her arms to show what she was wearing. She was spoiled rotten and got a bunch of fun new stuff. Grandpa and Grandma C. got her a cute little stuffed puppy, pink sand box toys,a wooden doll with interchangeable felt outfits, and a new outfit with cupcakes on it and it says "one of a kind." Grandpa and Grandma Yancey got her and new bedspread (for when she is in a big girl bed) with curtains, a strawberry shortcake doll, strawberry shortcake coloring book, 3 strawberry shortcake reading books, a strawberry shortcake book with magnets, and a crayola stamp set. Matt and I kind of went over board and got more than we were going to. I couldn't help myself in the store and kept adding to my cart. I found this cute little cat the meows when you pet it and I knew she would love that. We also got her a ZhuZhu pet, some princess dolls that you can change their clothes, new jammies, new socks, a dress, a swimsuit, 2 summer outfits, a Princess and the frog purse, the movie The Princess and the Frog, lip gloss, a play phone, new flip flops, and some pretend makeup. Ya I know it got carried away!! She had a ton of fun opening gifts and playing with each one as she opened. I don't think she really ate much of anything, even her cake, she was busy playing with her new stuff. She did love blowing out the candles and dancing in her chair as we sang Happy Birthday to her. A little while late Matt's Mom came and brought Paige a darling little pink and white dress with a pink jacket and a stuffed bunny rabbit. Little Sister had to model the dress for us! Thank you so much to all that came and spoiled our little girl. It is obvious how much she is loved!!
"Ta Da"

With Aunt Charyn

With Uncle Mike

Birthday Table

Opening Princess and the Frog

Princess and the Frog purse

Princess Dolls!
The Meowing Kitty Kat...She was really excited!
Her new Beadspread is in the big box.

Blowing out the candles!
All the stuff she got!

Her new Pink Polka Dot Dress

Grandma Linda and Little Sister

Paige's Birthday Cake

We celebrated Paige's Birthday on Monday with Grandparents. Since Paige has been interested in cats lately I decided to make her a cat cake. I looked all over online and didn't really find anything that I loved. Then about a week before her birthday I got a magazine in the mail and it had ideas for different birthday parties. In those ideas was a picture and directions for a kitty cat cake. I loved it!! I knew it was meant to be. I decided to alter it a little bit because the picture was a blue cat and I wanted to make a pink one for her. After I got baking and assembling the cake I realized that the directions were not very good. The directions said to bake the cake in an oven proof bowl. But it did not say what size of bowl. I didn't think much about this until after I had baked the cake and was about to put the snowballs on for the cheeks and realized that the snowballs were huge compared to the rest of the cake. I didn't know what to do because I needed to finish the cake, but I was afraid it wouldn't work out. Well I went ahead and finished and it turned out alright. It ended up looking a little more animated than the original picture, but she loved it. Next time, if there is a next time, I would bake the cake in a bigger bowl so the face is more proportioned! Paige was excited about it and kept saying "meow, meow". I think it was a success!