Happy Birthday, Rachel!

My baby turned four. Yep, it happened. It seems like yesterday that she joined our little family. We certainly have celebrated the event thoroughly. It started with a family birthday party with others who had b-days in August and September. We went to my brother's house in Ogden and celebrated with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Love it.

Rachel and Bailey are the only girls in the slew of grandkids/cousins that live here in Utah. They do pretty well keeping up with all the boys, but are also a bit spoiled with girly stuff.

Rach got some fun gifts, including a new princess hippity hop. She's been hopping on Matt's old one. It's a super groovy one that has two pointy handles (that kinda look like cow teats) and psychadellic swirls all over it. Heaven only knows how old it is - we bought it at the DI when Matt was 3. So, she's now the proud owner of a more sleek, more purple version.

The weekend before her big day, we met Nana and took her to Chuck E. Cheese's. I'm not really a big fan of places like that, because they are usually way overpriced, the food isn't so good, and they are just big hot beds of germs. Maybe it's that I'm going soft in my old age. Maybe it's the raging coupons Steve printed off the computer. Regardless, we went to visit the old mouse. (Not THE mouse. We wish). The C.E.C. that we visited is fairly new, and surprisingly bright and clean. The kids loved it.

The pizza was still a little overpriced, even with the coupon, but not bad. It was a great time, though, for the kids and it was wonderful to celebrate with Nana.


Rachel's actual birthday fell on Saturday the 12th. We had a little fairy party with her cousins and a few little girls from our neighborhood.

We transformed the little cuties into fairies with colored body glitter and wings. They decorated magic wands and went searching for fairy gold. We played games and decorated cupcakes.

The party was lots of fun. Steve had to go to work shortly after, so we spent the next few hours just hanging out and playing with Rachel's new toys. To top the afternoon off, we made a visit to Magical Moon - the toy store here in town. That store is absolute heaven for kids - and a nightmare for parents. It's a ton of super fun (and very expensive) toys in a relatively small area. In fairness, it's a wonderful store and the staff is fantastic. It's just darn near a miracle to get out of the store without someone crying - because they're not done looking at every single one the the kajillion toys in stock, because they didn't get to try the plasma car, because they want another free sample of fudge, because they didn't get to buy a special toy that costs more than a month's worth of electricity...

That night we had a movie night followed by the traditional snuggle where we recount the events of the day the birthday child was born.


Steve had the day off on Sunday so we had Rachel's big birthday dinner that night. The birthday gal or guy gets to choose the meal. Rachey chose Macaroni and Cheese so I made ham and cheese bowtie pasta (told her they were butterflies). I had wanted to make a fairy cake for Rachel, but after a few mishaps - including burned rubber stench that lingered for a day or so - I was feeling a bit frustrated and discouraged. I'm certainly no pro (I really needed Sarah Bailey!), but I can usually pump something decent out. Anyhow, I asked Rachel what she wanted and she told me a pink cake. Nice. That's what I'm talking about. (I threw on some new plastic fairy figures that go with her new Tinkerbell playhouse for good measure. I couldn't fail entirely.)

We had a great time celebrating this crazy gal making it to four years old!

We love this little girl! We waited almost five years for her and then spent the first year of her life walking the floor while she screamed with colic and horrible reflux, but she's worth all of the waiting and screaming. Rachel is intelligent,strong, funny,stubborn, intense, sweet, endearing, and nurturing. She loves to help and is the supreme snuggler. She is 100% her Daddy's princess. She keeps us laughing and constantly suprises us with her wit. Often as I check on her at night and watch her sleeping (pretty much the only time she holds still), I'm still amazed that she's mine. She is a blessing to us and I am so grateful to be her mother. We love her with all of our "hearts and souls." :) Happy Birthday, Rachel!

Fancy Nancy

Yesterday I came home from a PTA meeting and found this:





Quite enjoying the clashing T-shirt and dress combos on the girls, I asked Rachel why they were dressed up. She told me that they had been playing Fancy Nancy restaurant. They apparently began their luncheon upstairs in the girls' room with plastic food and dishes, then moved downstairs so they could eat "real" lunch in their fancy restaurant.

They did make a dish for me which tasted lovely, but I was very pitifully under-dressed.

Back to School

Last week. It happened. The inevitable. Matt went back to school. :) We love school, don't get me wrong. It's just a bitter-sweet time of year. We are sad that summer is over, but excited for the new adventures and friends that come with a new school year.
Matthew is in fifth grade this year. I'm not really sure how that happened, because it seems like it was just yesterday that he was four and dying to have his big birthday so he could go to school. (He turned 5 in January and was sorely disappointed that he didn't get to go to Kindergarten the next day.) But 5th grade it is. He's excited about his teacher and, overall, happy to be back. He's a great student and I'm certain it will be a super year!

Kitchen Sink

Does it get any better than this?

Family Home Evening at Angie's. Yum! I tell folks that I am an emotional eater...Well, the Kitchen Sink is pure happiness -- especially when there are four other spoons and my four favorite people in the world are using them!

Mr. T

We have a goldfish. His name is Mr. T. Mr. T is a pretty important part of our family. He's been with us now for about two and a half years.

Let's step back in time: Matthew's just turned 8 and we are attending our very first Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet. It's a Hawaiin theme and the ward gym is decorated for a Luau -- floweredy Hawaiin shirts, pineapples, etc. So great! On each table is a centerpiece...look a little closer... they are glass bowls with little goldfish swimming in them. I think, "Oh, please don't send those home with the boys. I don't want a goldfish." Skip ahead about and hour and a half. We are leaving the banquet (that was wonderful) with Matthew happily clutching a plastic bag full of water -- and goldfish.

After spending a night in a Tupperware, Matt's new fish was moved into the newly purchased fish bowl - complete with blue marbley rocks. Thanks to some careful deliberation and a book from the library, the little fishy also received a name: Sushi. I sure love happy endings, but sadly, this portion of our story isn't so happy. A week later, Sushi entered her watery porcelain grave. There is always a silver lining, however. Our silver lining was called Grandma. She was here visiting when we found Sushi floating and quickly eased Matt's grief by giving him five bucks to go buy a new fish. :) Off to PetsMart. Matthew picked a cute little guy and was a happy camper with his new fish and the $4.65 change in his pocket. This new fish had a black stripe on his head which looked a lot like a mohawk, so Matt named fish #2 Mr. T.
Mr. T has now, as I said before, been a part of our family for over two and a half years. We've had a few scares: a big red mark that has mysteriously appeared on his nose a few times and then goes away. (The worker at the pet store - yes, I actually called the pet store over a fish- said the medicine to correct the problem costs $10. For a $.35 fish... Nope, didn't buy it.) His black stripe faded and is now gone. (I swear it's the same fish). The biggie happened on the day we brought Bailey home from the hospital, though. We got home and mohawkless Mr. T was floating...on his side...not moving at all. Being emotional and hugely hormonal, I started crying (can't believe I'm admitting this) and told Steve to get it over with and flush him. He was dead. I kind of have a phobia of dead things and just wanted him gone. Steve kept staring at him and then told me that he thought we should try changing his water. There was no way I was going to touch a dead fish and change his dead germ water! But, c'mon, it's Mr. T!! So, sobbing, I cleaned his bowl and changed the water. As I scooped his lifeless body up with the little fishy net and dropped him back in the bowl, the darnedest thing on earth happend - he started swimming! I swear it on all the Diet Coke in North America. The dad blamed thing was alive and swimming rather animatedly around his sparkly clean bowl. That was 16 months ago. Who says miracles have ceased? :)



So, Mr. T has been through an awful lot and is still quite a spunky little character.

A few weeks ago I was walking into the kitchen and was nearly knocked over by Rachel running the other direction. She booked it into the living room, dove into the couch, and hid her head in the couch cushion. That's a sure fire sign that she's done something naughty. I went into the kitchen to find this:

Poor Mr. T. Look at his little face! Steve and I choked back our hysterical laughing long enough to scold Rachel and remind her we "only draw on paper." Later when I asked her why on earth she colored all over Mr. T's fishbowl she said, "I thought you would think it was pretty and that you might want to take a picture." Nice.

Swimming

Last month the kids were able to take swimming lessons at the aquatic center. Matthew has taken lessons before, but it was Rachel's first time. We were a little unsure what her reaction would be as she's going through a "mama's girl" phase... which she's been in since about birth, but that's another discussion for another day. At any rate, we were curious as to what she'd do. After all folks, it's now August and the child still won't go to Primary alone. Okay, okay - another discussion for yet another day. The great thing we had going for us was that she and her cousin were in the same class, so we figured that they'd probably be more comfortable together. We knew, at the very least, that it would be entertaining to watch.


Let me also say from the start that I was a little challenged when it came to taking pictures of the lessons. Our camera is a simple one intended for not very technologically savvy folks - perfect for me, but I found that it was so blasted bright out by the pool that I couldn't really see the display screen. This little beauty (see below) is one of my favorite pictures. (I didn't realize that I had even taken such a nice picture of cement until I had gotten home.) Sheesh, it's amazing I got any pictures at all. :)









Bailey was my spectating companion. She was not always happy to stay in the stroller through the whole lesson, but overall, she was a super little gal.

Rachel's teacher was darling. Both Rachel and her cousin really took to her immediately. In the picture below they are playing the "chop, chop" game. The kids all lined up along the side of the pool and they got to choose what kind of tree they were going to be. Then the teacher would go to each one and "chop, chop" them down -- and the kids would jump into the pool. Cute idea. The funny part was how gosh darn creative our kids were in choosing what type of trees they were. Generally the type of tree they chose was very curiously related to what print was on the swimsuits they were wearing that day. :) If Rachel wore her Dora swimsuit, she was a Dora tree. If she wore her rainbow suit, she was a rainbow tree. Her cousin fluctuated between being an orange & blue tree and a shark tree. Funny kids.

Matthew is proving to be quite a good little swimmer and really enjoyed lessons. For the record (and for anyone who may be feeling anxious or concerned at this point), his teacher does have a head. I just cut it off in this photo. I'm not sure if it is to be blamed on the sun and inabilitly to see the display (as with the lovely cement shot), or if it was merely that I was focusing on the looker in the black swimsuit.

Here's the whole swimming crew having a little "raid the diaper bag of all snacks" break.

I'm very happy to report that swimming lessons were a huge success. Both of my kiddos and all of their cousins loved the lessons and did a super job. I was very proud of all of them! We'll definitely be back next year!

Cousins!

July was a fun month, after all, we Utahns get two big ol' holidays. It was especially fun for us this year because we got to spend time with lots of family and the kids adore hanging out with their cousins. The day after Steve's b-day, his brother and his family came to Logan as a surprise to see the old man. :) It was so much fun! Because life is so busy and schedules are so hectic, we, unfortunately, don't get to see them very often. (I realized too late that I didn't get a shot of the kids all together. Bummer.) We went to dinner together (buffet - YUM!), and then headed to the park. Logan did their 4th of July fireworks that night so the kids ran off some steam at the park, then we all went and watched the fireworks together.



Bailey warmed up to the girls really quickly and loved all the attention. I decided that they should move in with me so I always have someone to carry and entertain my baby.




The Cutie in this picture with Matthew is just a month older than he is.

We had a great time and are grateful for a fun surprise visit!


On the 24th of July, we met up with our Logan cousins and watched the parade. My kids love, love, love the Pioneer Day parade here in Logan. Truth be known, I do too! I love that we can show up 10 or 15 minutes before the parade and still find a super spot. I love that a good number of the participants in the parade are in trucks with butcher paper banners hanging on the sides. I love that every single year The Waver hops on his bike and joins the parade!

Here are some of the kiddos eagerly awaiting the parade -- and mentally preparing for the oodles of candy that they will soon be dashing off the curb to retrieve.

(Not really sure what little jig Steve is doing in the back... but it sure is nice...)

Rachel firmly believes that an event is not truly an event until there are princesses involved. So, we naturally do what any good and honest parents would do - we tell her that the royalty from all the little cities are princesses. Our boy cousins weren't quite as impressed with the "princesses" as Rachel, but they were good sports and helped Rachey wave at them. (Like the big green bags on their shoulders? It was all I could rummage from the trunk of the car to hold their loot. I usually remember little lunch bags or something. Oh well.)

To finish off our month of fun cousin visits, my oldest brother and his family came from California. We get to see them so seldom, that it's always very eagerly anticipated, and we love spending time with them. We got to spend some time with them in Ogden at my other brother's house - hiking, swimming, eating, and just hanging out. The last day of their stay in Utah, they came to Logan. We took them to the school park where, serendipitously, the sprinklers turned on to save them from the heat of the day. They played hard, got sopping wet, and then ate like horses. Good times.

We absolutely loved being with family this month. The only bad thing is that it makes us remember how much we miss those who are far away and those who we don't see enough. Thanks to everyone for making the trek up north to see us! We love you!