Carlee's 2nd Birthday at the Park

Carlee wanted to go to the park with her cousins on her birthday, so that is what we did.  Originally she wanted to go to Aunt Cindy's house, but once she found out that Aunt Cindy was coming to the park, she was okay.   (I played around with the lighting on these photos just for fun)

 I was planning to make a really cute cake, maybe with Toy Story Characters on it, but Carlee just wanted pink and purple cupcakes.  She also wanted frozen yogurt, but ice cream cups were easier so we did that instead.

Carlee loves all of the attention she gets from her cousins. I had wanted to order a hat for her from Cindy, but she decided to make one for Carlee as a gift.  It turned out super cute and Carlee loves it.  What a great day. 

She's Two

I can hardly believe that my cute little baby is two years old.  She woke up this morning around 6:45 am (which is sleeping in for her) and I came in singing, "Happy Birthday to you."  She grinned from ear to ear.  So I sang to her again, and then Chad sang to her, and then Joey sang to her.  Together we went around the house waking everyone up so Carlee could go downstairs and open her presents. 

She was super excited when she saw ALL of the presents from Grandma and Grandpa.  I think grandma wrapped each item for her baby individually, so Carlee got to open a bottle, then a diaper, then a sippy cup, then a pacifier, you get the idea.  She loved it and her older siblings loved watching her.  

 

 After she got through everything from Grandma, she got to open her presents from mom and dad.  Talk about spoiled.  She got her very own kitchen with fruits, veges, and a tea set to play with.  The kitchen even had it's own phone so when she's not using the pretend cell phone grandma gave her she can go for the one in the kitchen. 

After all the present opening, we went into the real kitchen and had french toast and eggs.  Carlee got through her breakfast quickly and then said, "Mom, I go play house."  I don't know how they learn that term so quickly, but I said, "Yes you may," and off she ran back to her kitchen and dollys. This afternoon we will be going to the park to have cupcakes with cousins, but not a bad start to the day. 

Joey's Baptism

There have been a lot of neat, humerus and inspirational moments leading up to and throughout Joey's Baptism and so I thought I would share some of those experiences. 

We have been blessed through the years to have our own special baptism day for each of our kids.  Some friend's of ours had asked if we could combine with them and have a joint baptism with their son Hyrum.  We agreed and Joey began to plan his special day. 

 Joey has come a long way since January when he wasn't sure he was ready to get baptized, but there were still some things he was unsure about.  When we asked him who he wanted to baptize him, he said, "Mom."  We explained that mom didn't have the priesthood and so he chose dad and asked me to give the talk on baptism. 

As we were getting closer to Joey's baptism, Carlee started talking about her brother Josh.  When we would ask her where Josh was, she would say, "At church." 

 On the day of Joey's baptism, I went into a small room to go over my talk.  I had written it a few days before the baptism and had been so busy with company that I hadn't had a chance to read through it out loud.  As I sat alone in the room, I could feel and hear a voice that said, "Mom, I'm here.  I just wanted you to know that."  I thanked him for coming and the feeling faded.  I know that Josh was at church for Joey's baptism. 

 As the baptism began, I realized for the first time that we were baptizing, Joseph and Hyrum and their names suddenly brought an added portion of the spirit.  I thought of Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum.  I thought of all those two boys had been through together and I wondered about the road that lay ahead for these two little 8 year olds. 

 The cute older lady in the back is Ms. Anna Heald.  She is 82 years old and a convert to the church of about two years.  She visits with us, usually once a week, and so when we were passing out invitations, Joey wanted to invite her.  She hadn't been feeling well, but because Joey gave her an invitation, she came. 

 With changes being made to the scripture format, they no longer offer the blue sets that Joey had always wanted.  Watching how my older kids used their ipods, ipads and kindles to read scriptures I thought it might be a good idea to ask Joey if he wanted a Kindle with the scriptures on it, or the actual book form in a different color.  He chose the kindle and so we got him the paper white version so that he wouldn't be tempted with games, movies or the internet.  We even got a blue cover and so he officially has his scriptures with the blue cover. 

My mom started a tradition years ago with Rebecca.  For each of the grand children's baptisms she gives them a comforter with pictures of them from birth until their 8th birthdays.  She does this to remind them that the Holy Ghost is a comforter and will not only teach us truth, but will comfort us.  Then about two years ago she also started giving the kids a compass that they could attach to their backpacks, symbolic of the Holy Ghost's ability to lead us and give us direction throughout our lives.  I love grandma's traditions. 

Joey's baptism was a beautiful day.  I am so grateful to watch my children grow and better understand the gospel.   I hope that Joey will always remember the way that he felt when he was baptized and the spirit that was there. 

Awareness

My husband has spent a lot of years studying and training to be the person he is today.  Feeling the need to lessen his load somewhat, there are a lot of family details he has not had to worry about.  The other night he was taking a series of tests as part of his ACLS re-certification process for the hospital.  At about 11:30pm he came out of our room and the following conversation occurred.

Chad:  Is it really 11:30 at night?
Diana:  Yes.

Chad then starts to look around the house

Chad: Is this what you are doing every night after I go to bed?
Diana: You mean, when you wake up and the kitchen's clean, the floors are vacuumed, the laundry is folded and put away, and the toys are picked up?
Chad:  Yah.
Diana:  Yes.  It's the only time I can get things done without someone immediately making another mess.  It's a lot faster this way. 
Chad: Wow! Your amazing. 

I love the days when you realize that things don't magically just happen.  Sometimes I like to think that if I don't do something, it won't really matter.  That somehow God will make up the difference in areas that I lack or fail to find time for.  Imagine if my husband decided not to go to work each day and money didn't just magically appear in my checking account every other week, or I just stopped taking care of the house, buying food or picking up the kids from school.  I am learning more and more that even though life goes on and God does indeed take care of needs we fail to acknowledge, we are the ones who emerge less aware and less the person we could have been had we acted with more diligence. 

When I listen, follow and strive to act upon moments of insight, I start to see all of the ways with which the Lord is blessing me, my family, and others around me.  I also begin to see how in doing he is helping me to not only be better then who I currently was, but to also feel better about myself, and the people I have served in my community.  I can honestly say (like the three little aliens in Toy Story) that I am eternally grateful for God's goodness, his blessings, and his grace that has so often fallen upon me.

Halloween 2013

Trunk or Treat:

Halloween snuck up on us this year.  Only half of the kids were getting new costumes and so the week of Halloween I am quickly running around town trying to find last minute items I forgot to order in advance. 

Carlee wanted to be a kitty cat, but after I brought home a cat costume, she changed her mind and refused to even try the costume on.  (Sounds like another little girl in our house. Hmmm) So we went to the Disney Store and found only 4 costumes left in her size.  I picked out the costume she ended up wearing because Carlee was distracted by all the Toy Story toys and Cars figurines to have an opinion about anything.  When the new movie Frozen comes out I might know a little more about the character she dressed up as, but she was willing to put it on, so we were good.  

Sara didn't want to dress up but I convinced her to at least put on a witches hat for the Trunk or Treat.  I figured that she should at least wear something festive while helping with the games. 

Jake has really gotten into the Ranger's Apprentice series.   He wanted to dress up like Will, one of the main characters.  I didn't get everything quite right, but he felt like his costume was close enough to the description in the book, so he was happy.

 We didn't know until the night of the Trunk or Treat that Blaine planned to dress up as Ash, Pikachu's Pokemon trainer.  When Joey and Blaine found each other, they spent the rest of the night as a pair. 

Matt and Nate always make me smile.  I loved seeing them running around the church playing games.  They are so cute.  

 Carlee didn't really want to trick or treat so I'm glad we got a picture of her early on.  I don't think she really understood that people were giving out candy.  She got a few pieces and was more interested in eating what she had then getting any more. 

Alayna is one of Rebecca's good friends from school.  She comes to just about every activity with Rebecca and so the trunk or treat was no exception.  When the older kids finished cleaning up the games, they went around to collect a few treats before everyone ran out.  They may be teenagers but really they are just cute grown up kiddos who enjoy trick or treating as much as the little ones do. 

Halloween Parade:

 I love that the kid's school still has a Halloween Parade.  The middle school didn't get to participate this year, but the younger kids all looked so cute as they marched around the field showing off their costumes.  Almost every kid dressed up along with most of the faculty.  What a fun way to kick off Halloween.

 Halloween Night:

The big night finally arrived. 

With a house full of cute Trick or Treaters, we loaded up the car and drove over to our friends the Withams.   For the past few years we have gathered with friends on Halloween, had dinner, and then let the kids go out trick or treating.  The problem with going to the Withams is that Carlee has so much fun in their backyard playhouse that she just can't leave.  So, when all of the other kids left to get candy, Chad and I stayed behind with Carlee and a few other little ones who were just having to much fun to leave.  Carlee doesn't play with a lot of other girls her age and so seeing her act girly with the other two year old princesses was a fun treat for me.  Happy Halloween

Soccer, Dance, Birthdays, Visiting with Old Friends and Getting Older

Soccer
Joey has wanted to play Soccer for as long as he can remember.  When Jake played, Joey was too young.  When Joey was finally old enough to play, AYSO raised the age bracket.  Then when we started looking into soccer programs, we were so busy doing other things that soccer didn't happen.  This year we finally decided to make soccer a priority and put Joey on a team.  He LOVES it! 

 The plus side of learning to play soccer at 8 yrs old is that you are better at remembering which way to kick the ball, and lots of other kids know what they're doing so you can learn from them. We haven't won a game yet, but the kids play fairly well as a team, so you never know. 

Dance:

 I have 3 kids that love Ballroom Dance and One that loves Hip Hop! 

Watching the kids perform is a lot of fun for me.  They may not enjoy all of the same styles of dance that I did, but they do really well at what they are learning.  Becca, Sara and Jake recently performed at Anamax Park.  They had 60-90 seconds to demonstrate a style of dance.  The kids performed Cha Cha, Samba, and Jive.   

Joey takes class from my sister (His Aunt Cindy) who teaches 8 week sessions at the local clubhouse.  His class performed, "Calling all the Monsters" for the parents last week as an end to the first session.  Joey is having a blast and picks up choreography really well. 

Joey's Birthday:

 We started a tradition about 4 years ago, that I may one day regret.  At one of the kid's book fairs I bought a cupcake book with lots of fun ideas.  I decided to let the kids pick something they wanted me to do, and I would do it for their birthdays.  The tradition continues, but the kid's requests are becoming more complicated.  So far I have been able to keep up, but I have been forced to say no to a few requests that were beyond my abilities.  This year Joey wanted me to make penguin cupcakes. 

I think they turned out really cute.  (Chad helped)

Joey couldn't wait to open his presents on his birthday.  He decided that instead of having a birthday party, he wanted to get a motor scooter.  He was super excited to wake up and see his new toy in the garage.  There are three other little boys on the street that have the same scooter, so Joey is looking forward to joining his new buddies and scooting around the neighborhood. 

Visiting with Old Friends: 
 On Saturday I had a surprise visit from one of my best friends in High School, Spencer Bramwell.  I hadn't seen him since his wedding, 15 years ago and so it was truly an unexpected surprise.  We met up for frozen yogurt after his daughter's soccer game on Saturday evening.  I had to laugh when he showed up in a huge black van with flames painted down the sides of it.   We may be getting older, but he's still the same Spencer.

  

We both have 5 kids and so between the two of us, I think the frozen yogurt store was happy when we finally ventured outside.  Carlee had emptied an entire napkin dispenser, some of his kids were playing in the trash cans, and the boys were engaged in some serious mine craft conversations. We may have scared away the usual crowd, but it was fun getting reacquainted.   

 

 Getting Older:
I was looking at a few pictures I had taken of Carlee recently and started to realize just how big she was getting.  Carlee is my baby and so I like to forget that she is getting older.  She talks like crazy,  is in a big girl bed, and the other day Rebecca asked her what kind of car she wanted to drive when she got older and she said, "A Hummer!"  I didn't even know that she knew what a Hummer was.  

I love this crazy ball of fire.  She's spunky, cuddly, and an incredible blessing.  At times I wish that she could stay small forever, but since I know that's impossible, I'm just going to do the best I can to enjoy every minute of my time with her, and each of my cute kiddos.