3.25.2015

Dru is 12!

Dru is 12!  
We had a surprise party for her to celebrate. 
I was so worried she would find out but it turns out she was totally shocked!

The invite

While the girls waited I had them write words that described Dru and 
fun messages on a big piece of paper.



Then I got the text that said Dru was on her way.  The girls giggled and squealed.  
It was hilarious to watch.

Taunya was sweet to take her shopping and bring back Dru at the perfect time.

The girls ate dinner and chatted up a storm.  

They were nice enough to let me take a lot of pictures.


They loved coming up with different poses.

We played a fun candy bar and dice game.  
They girls loved it.


 We also played Pictionary.


Cupcakes and ice cream cones for dessert!


Present time

A little party favor for her cute friends.
  


Dru-

Today you are 12. 

 It feels like just yesterday I was rocking you in the glider and singing I am a Child of God in your ear.   You were the best baby-such a good sleeper.  I bathed and dressed you everyday in beautiful clothes from Aunt Rayne.  You let me do your hair anyway I wanted.  You wore a bow or ribbon daily.  You were a joy to watch play by yourself and with others.  You loved all your siblings as they came one by one.  You were and still are a favorite.  Obedience came naturally along with good manners.  You loved to draw and be read to.  I cried the first day of Kindergarten.  I didn’t think I would but I did.  I missed you.  You always loved learning and going to school.  You excelled every year.


I just want you to know how much I truly love you.  I know it can be tough to be the oldest but I am SO glad you are.  Your example SHINES.   You are a peacemaker.  Everyone loves you!  You are a nurturer.  I am so grateful that I can trust you with your sisters and brother.  You make my life so much easier as my non-complaining babysitter.  I love that you baby-sit others too…and for free sometimes.  You are a wonderful and thoughtful note writer.  You have made others so happy by your genuine thoughtfulness and service
You have a passion for good books and that makes my heart happy.  You put others before yourself and look to serve.  You are a clever one.  You are always creating something.  I sometimes have to take the trash out before you see it.  You definitely have your own style.  I love that!  You are unique and don’t care what others think.  My favorite part is that you know who you are, where you came from and where you are headed.  You know that you are a daughter of God and that He loves you no matter what.  NEVER FORGET THAT!  I love your courage to do what’s right and be the best you.

I love you Druby with all my heart.

I love being your mom.

I just adore you.

Love, Mom

2.16.2015

iphone catch up

More and more I find myself using my ipone for pictures instead of my real camera.
This post is just pictures from my iphone that I think are blog worthy.

Liv and her friends planned a surprise party for their cute friend Phoebe.


Dru's was honored at the Cottonwood Heights celebration.






Owen and I went to the Zoo with our good friends.






Rylie got a much needed haircut that actually made her hair appear longer.


Rylie and I picked up Owen & his friends from a birthday party.

Grandma and Dru made a cute little fabric doll.

Owen "helped" me make cupcakes for activity days.

Owen lost his 1st tooth!!!

The tooth fairy left some loot.

Monkey George comes almost everywhere with us.

Grandma Martin took all the girls out for manicures and I even got a pedicure!
THANK YOU!!!
Owen wanted in on the pic. :)

1.22.2015

Owen turns 5!

 Owen celebrated his 5th birthday with a dinosaur party!  
Nine cute friends followed the dinosaur tracks inside....

They colored dinosaur pictures until everyone arrived.

My darling mom came and honestly, I could not have done it without her. 
She read dinosaur books to the kids while I was prepping lunch.

We ate dinosaur chicken nuggets, chips, pretzels, strawberries and raspberry lemonade.

The kids ran outside in the back yard to hunt for dinosaur eggs.  I hid 30 plastic eggs so 
they each could find 3.  It took about 10 seconds.  

They then came in and "hatched" their own dinosaurs.
I made eggs out of baking soda, water and food coloring.
They slowly uncovered their eggs with a spray bottle filled with vinegar and a little paint brush.



Owen is super sensitive to smells.  :)


Next the kids made fossils with their dinosaurs using homemade play dough.


Present time!
Owen sat in a chair and closed his eyes.  I then pointed to a child and they had to ROAR and Owen had to guess who it was.  They then could give Owen their gift. 
  He guessed correctly 9/10 times.  It was hilarious!


We needed a 10 minute filler at the end so my mom came up with the idea 
of dinosaur exercises, of course! 
The kids loved this and were so cute. 

I also showed them a 2 minute dinosaur video on my iphone.  
They were silent and didn't move a muscle.

We finally finished off with dinosaur cupcakes.
Owen loved being sung to and blowing out his 5 candles.

Owen has such awesome friends!

Owen has been asking for weeks when his birthday is.  He kept asking if he was 5 yet.
I am glad he is finally 5.
Owen is a silly & super sweet boy.
He loves Mr. Potato Head and Wall-E.
Owen is a SUPER picky eater but won't say no to any kind of cereal.
No one can be talking when he is talking and he still HATES haircuts.
He loves to be read to and he ADORES his sisters.  All of them.
Owen loves to climb on my back and tell me he loves me.
I hope he never grows out of that one.  
I am so grateful for Owen and love him like crazy.



1.12.2015

Dru won

Dru entered an art contest hosted by our city Cottonwood Heights.  For its 10 year anniversary they held a contest inviting children to create a drawing without words that represents the city.
Dru won for her age category and will be honored at the celebration this weekend.  Her drawing is on display by our local elementary.  She was so excited and we were thrilled.
Way to go, Dru!


1.04.2015

Happy New Year!

We invited the Brookshire family to celebrate new years eve with us.
We feel pretty lucky to have met them this past year.
They are amazing friends.  We love them!


I made the mistake of handing the horns out too early. 
We eventually had to hide them.

We decorated party hats.  Dru loved helping Finley.

We all fought over Archer.

We played some fun games, ate pizza and soaked in our sweet friend Charis.