The Party, the so-called "Cake," and a Dangerous Drive

Even right up to the day of Eryn's 13th birthday party, we weren't totally sure what we were going to do. E and I headed out on the town to do some last minute Christmas shopping and errands, and suddenly she had the best idea! The friends she had invited all had Trafalga passes! SWEET! So at 6:00, three of Eryn's best buddies from school showed up (in their jammies, of course) and we made little pizzas for dinner. Eryn had planned on playing some games and stuff, but they were having such a great time just chatting and giggling that no games were ever even played! Shortly after dinner, however, we piled into the old minivan and headed to Orem to play. It was raining - hard - and visibility kinda stunk. Not to mention the fact that the freeway was covered in potholes, and deep water in some areas. To say that I was a little nervous driving would be an understatement. I kept praying "Please let us get there alive!" I was seriously sitting on the edge of the driver's seat, going 35-40 mph with my heart in my throat! Yeah, it was scary.

But... we made it. We played "Glow-in-the-dark" miniature golf, then watched all the XD movies they had. (They are 4D... the 3D movie, plus the Extra-D - the seats move, wind blows in your face, etc.) It was super fun, and the girls thought it was funny to scream. I was a little bit embarrassed, but they thought it was great. The ride home was every bit as scary as the ride there. The fact that due to the construction going on, you can't tell which white lines are the ones you are supposed to be in, adds a whole other element of scariness. Thankfully we made it home and enjoyed the rest of the party.

First: Presents!

Eryn's cute friends:

Then: Cake!!

Disclaimer - I do not claim to be a cake decorator. I have a vision in my mind, and I'm sure it will be the coolest cake ever, then I actually make it. It's NEVER how I picture it. Never! In fact, I'm usually laughing so hard as I'm squeezing the horrible icing designs on, that it becomes even worse. If you saw Kaitlyn's cake (just a few posts down) you will see that my sister got the cake decorating genes, and they totally skipped right past me!! HEHE. Atleast it tasted good :) And trust me... the pictures don't do it justice. My kids called it the "leaning cake" because it was actually quite lopsided!! LOL!

And just so you know that I'm not the only one that thinks my cakes are lacking... my sweet Kaitlyn told me "Mom. Your paper skills are a little better than your cake skills." True. True.

I still can't believe that she's 13. I don't know where all those years went. I feel like I just blinked and she was all grown up, wearing makeup, going to Jr. High... STOP! Stop growing up! She said that this birthday party was one of the best ever, and I would have to agree. It was easier than any we've ever had, and super duper fun. I'm glad she loved it :)

Christmas posts coming SOON!!

I Have a Teenager!!

I'm still in denial. Seriously, just a couple of days ago she looked like this:

I don't know where those 13 years went. When I held her for the first time, I had no idea how fast the time would go. I sometimes wonder: Did I play with her enough? Have I listened to her when she needed me to? Have I spent enough time with her? Have I missed anything important? Then I have moments like last night. It was 11 o'clock and we were up making brownies. We were reading the last few pages of the final Percy Jackson book together. We were laughing and chatting and having such a great time. I know I haven't been a perfect mom, but I have a wonderful 13-yr-old daughter.

Let me tell you a little bit about Eryn: She was born on December 22, 1997 just a little after 6 am (after a very long night for her expectant parents... seriously we wondered if she was ever gonna get here!) She weighed in at a teeny-tiny 5 lbs. 14 oz. and she was only 2 days early. She came by C-section, and we were home from the hospital on Christmas Eve. I loved holding her and just looking at her. She was such a fun and funny little girl.

She has always been a little too smart for her own good. She walked and talked early, and as soon as she could talk she was singing. All. The. Time! It always made me smile. (She still sings all the time. It still makes me smile.) She has always been a challenge for her teachers: Not because she was naughty, or a class clown, or anything like that, but because they had to find a way to challenge HER. She was reading chapter books in KINDERGARTEN. What the heck do you do with a kid like that? Still to this day, you rarely see her without a book in her hand.

Here she is in all her sweet little Kindergarten glory. Really? I swear this was last week!!

One thing I admire about her, is that she has always just done her own thing. She doesn't care what anyone else thinks, and she'll make sure you know that. There are times when it's frustrating, but she is so strong in her convictions, that nobody can make her do something that goes against what she believes. I certainly hope that she stays that way through her teenage years!

She is a drama queen, but not always in a bad way. She LOVES acting and was in the play "Fiddler on the Roof" last spring. Right now she is studying up to audition for another musical at school.

She draws like you can't believe. I've always loved looking at her drawings. You could always tell how her characters felt, because she could draw their expressions so well. I'm still amazed at her drawing ability. I should have scanned some in. They are seriously awesome. And she has written several "books." She's a fantastic writer!

We are so proud of our beautiful 13 year old. Sometimes I still expect to see her still looking like that Kindergarten picture above, but then she walks into the room, looking straight into my eyes (she's only about 2 inches shorter than me), wearing almost the same size shoe, and I'm forced to remember how old she really is. She's a wonderful and very important part of our family, and I cannot imagine a world without her in it. 13 years ago, I felt like I was holding an angel. All these years later (and even when she comes and sits on my lap at the computer and nearly crushes me) I still feel the same way :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERYN! WE LOVE YOU!!

Party time!

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Kaitlyn is really 11! I can not imagine life without her. She is such a fun kid. We decided to do a "luau" for her birthday party. She invited a few friends from school... and wished she could have invited a few other friends, but holy cow, she has way too many!!

My amazing sister (who just gave birth a few days before) made this cake! I felt so guilty that she was doing it, but she acted like it was no biggie. If you have ever seen my usual cakes, you will understand why I would want her to do it. AWESOME!! The girls thought the flip-flop cakes were AMAZING, and I completely agree.

And with the "leftover" piece of cake, she did this: Not flip-flops, but still dang cute!

They had a hula-hooping contest. It was their idea to do it blindfolded...

The birthday girl:

Then of course, it was present time!

All the girls

I have to say... I hated to cut those cute cakes. But they sure tasted good!

So, we had grilled hot dogs for dinner (which represented "roast pig" at a luau... HEHE), did the hula contest, limbo (which was pretty entertaining), and then at the end, the girls watched a movie: Ramona and Beezus. They loved it.

A Renaissance Christmas Feast

Eryn is our singer. She has been singing ever since she could make sound! We used to laugh when she was tiny and we would hear opera-like singing coming from wherever she was playing. So it's no surprised that she is in choir!

This is the 2nd year that her choir has done a Renaissance Christmas Feast. I remember doing something similar in High School choir. Last year, Eryn and the kids her age had to be the peasants. They got to sing, but they also had to serve dinner to the audience. This year, she got to be part of the royalty. And the best part? She had a solo!

They put it on for two nights... she and her good friend (who was also in Fiddler with her last Spring) both got the solo - and a main speaking part. So they took turns. Monday night, Eryn did the speaking part (which we missed!) Then Tuesday night, she got to sing. I'm so glad we were there to hear her sing. It was awesome!!

She had a friend who loaned her a dress (which took a lot of stress off of me... I couldn't even figure out when I could LOOK for anything for her). And it fit her perfectly. We just blinged it up a little with some silver beads and silver ribbon (thank goodness for Christmas decor in stores!!) While it didn't look quite as "medeival" as some of the others, she still looked royal. It was close enough!

Eryn is in the 7th grade choir, and I have to say... they are really good! I was playing the piano for them while they looked for someone to hire full time, and I was very impressed. They have an AMAZING director!! She has them doing things and singing harmonies that I've NEVER heard a choir this age do! They are going to perform at the Dickens Festival on Thursday! The 6th grade choir acted as the peasants this year (again) and the 7th grade choir, as well as the 8th/9th grade choir were royalty (including the King and Queen). This is just Eryn's little choir!

Here's Eryn all ready to sing her solo. It was "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day." Seriously, I was so mad at myself for forgetting the video camera. I would have LOVED to have her performance forever saved on DVD. She did an amazing job. I loved it! I was surprised when she and her friend also ended up singing a duet of "The First Noel." They found out just before the performance that they would sing while two other girls played flute, so they were just as surprised as we were! They did a beautiful job :)

E and her cute friends after the performance. The food was awesome, the dessert was even better, but hearing these cute kids sing (especially Eryn) was THE BEST! :)

e11even!

Eleven years ago today, I was holding a brand new baby girl. She was THE ONLY ONE of my four that I got to hold right after being born. The other three were whisked away for various reasons, but Kaitlyn? I got to hold her! It is still one of the best memories of that day! I remember how sweet and little she was. She had these HUGE eyes and really long eyelashes, and just blinked and looked around. It was love at first sight!

I thought that after already having one little girl, I'd be an expert, but I soon learned how different kids from the same set of parents can be. She and Eryn were total opposites. Not in a bad way, of course, but definitely different.

KK (as she nicknamed herself because she couldn't say her name when she was tiny) has always been our little comedian. She definitely takes after her dad! She loves to tease, which sometimes gets her in trouble, but she has such a hilarious sense of humor and always makes us laugh. She really has THE BEST one liners!

She is such a sweet girl, and has a huge heart. She does have a little temper, but it doesn't get her in trouble as much as it used to. She is definitely growing up! She LOVES LOVES LOVES soccer, and is an excellent soccer player. She has been playing on a competition team this year, and is looking forward to starting indoor soccer in January. Her big dream is to play on the Olympic team someday.

K loves to listen to music, and I even catch her singing sometimes (even though she says she doesn't like singing). She wants to learn to play the trumpet, which I think will be fun!  Her laugh is contagious, and is one of my favorite sounds. She is learning to cook, and is always wanting to make brownies or cookies (fine with me!). I just can't believe how quickly these last 11 years have gone. She is getting so grown up, and is such a beautiful girl. We sure do love her!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KK!

Family Pictures 2010

Here we are. Our family. Jared and the kids are so good to humor me when it's "family picture" time. They stand where I tell them, look at the blinking light on the camera and try not to laugh as I run back to my spot before the timer ends and the shutter clicks. I only had to do a few photos with the "set-the-timer-and-run" method this year, because my awesome sister came to push the button for us. I'd set up the shot, and she would click. It definitely made things a little easier ;)

Insane... Crazy... Busy...

That would be me! I don't know why I do it, but every. single. year. I seem to book myself  SOLID. Seriously, to the point that I actually have a little break down at some point, and my poor husband has to tell me "You can't do everything."

It all begins shortly after Halloween, and November lasts about as long as a blink:

We have my birthday (which was actually really low key this year... whew!), then Jared's birthday...

ADD:

Choir - I was volunteering to play the piano for Eryn's choir at school until they could hire someone. The songs were HARD, and although I love to have something new and challenging to play, I actually had to find time to practice! Thankfully (3 rehearsals before they perform at their Renaissance Feast) they've hired someone. Now, I just gotta come up with some sort of period costume for E. Any suggestions? HEHE... the dinner/concert is on Monday! She has a solo and a main speaking part. I can't wait to go watch (and not have to play!)

Pictures - I've been way busier this year than before taking people's family pics. I love it, it's fun, but it's a lot of work... and some things around the house were getting SADLY neglected.

Thanksgiving - we had Jared's sister and her husband with us from Wednesday until Sunday. It was fun (a little too fun, because I fell way behind in the laundry department LOL), and we had Thanksgiving at our church building with my parents, my sisters and their cute families, and two of Jared's sisters and their hubbies... and my Grandpa Grace! YAY! It was super fun :)

Black Friday - Yes. We are those crazy people. We started out at Walmart before midnight, and managed to get all we went for, plus we hit Kohls right when it opened, got our stuff and got out, made it to Target before they opened, got our stuff and got out, and even hit Big Lots for my sister to get a video camera! We were home just after 7!! Seriously, we are insane! (And tired!)

Piano lessons - Not only am I teaching piano, but I decided that we really needed to do a recital. That happened last night. I cleaned ALL DAY, and baked treats, decorated for Christmas so it would be festive, and set up all my parents' folding chairs (thanks Mom and Dad!)... and my students did GREAT. I only have 5 (I don't know how I could handle any more than that... you saw the rest of my post, right?) and I was so proud of them. It was short and sweet, but fun :) I'm so glad it's over.

Book Fair - I volunteered for THREE shifts this time. I enjoy it, but it's two hours cut out of my already busy day... three different days!

I don't know why I have such a knack for overbooking (and over-stressing) myself, but I'm just trudging along in survival mode. I haven't take a single picture (other than for other people) for a couple of weeks now. Not even on Thanksgiving! Therefore, nothing to show on this post, but I'm going to post our family pics next, so stay tuned. That is if I survive the next couple of busy, crazy days I have ahead of me. Eryn has some Ballroom things, dress rehearsal for the Renaissance Feast, etc. Atleast my turn for Sharing Time isn't for a couple of weeks! Now... on to planning KK's birthday party! Boy, it sure comes fast. She's going to be 11 in less than a week!!

WISH ME LUCK - I'M GONNA NEED IT!

Thankful

I'm so thankful to be spending this awesome Thanksgiving weekend with THESE PEOPLE:

I sure do love them :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

A Feast Fit for a Pilgrim!

The fifth graders at my kids' school always have a HUGE Thanksgiving feast... complete with turkey, potatoes and gravy, stuffing, corn, rolls, sweet potatoes, and even salmon and venison! I always volunteer to send venison, since we usually have some on hand, and it's always a hit! This year, I also volunteered to go in and help with their pre-feast activities. They made cute placemats, home-made butter, candles, and had their silouhettes made. They were supposed to dress up, so of course the night before I was sewing. I didn't do anything elaborate, but K looked like a pilgrim. We already had a black skirt and shirt, but I found a white sheet that we didn't need and cut it up to make a hat, collar and apron. I think it took me about 45 minutes to throw it together. (I didn't really finish the edges much... just a zig-zag edge so it wouldn't fray. It was nice to have some already-hemmed parts of the sheet for some edges too). We thought she looked pretty darn cute. The best part, was I got to eat with them. The smell alone was enough to get me excited for Thanksgiving!

"B" Ball

B finally got to play basketball this year. He has been WAITING and WAITING... ever since he first watched the girls play. Every year he would ask "When can I play basketball?" I would remind him that he could play when he was in second grade. Of course, just when he finally gets into 2nd grade, the Rec. decides to let 1st graders play! (I didn't mention that to B though!) He wanted Jared to be his coach, and it came at just the right time when soccer was over, and nothing else was going on! I love that Jared is always so willing to coach (however, I think he's looking forward to a little bit of a break before Spring soccer).

B has LOVED playing. And I have LOVED watching him. He tries SO HARD. He has a lot of determination (and I think a little bit of natural ability... I'm not saying he's a future NBA player or anything, but he has NEVER played before, and we don't have a court for him to even TRY anything on at home, but he can dribble really quite well!)

The first time he scored, I missed it! I was talking to Hayds or something, and when that ball swished through the hoop, B's eyes went immediately to me - and got nothing in return. He was SO disappointed. I felt TERRIBLE. I promised him that I would never miss seeing him score ever again. That was a tall order, but I did succeed. Atleast this season. He made several baskets over the course of his little 8 game season, and I saw all the rest of them. The ball would go through, and his eyes would shoot over toward me. I loved seeing the huge grin on his face when I gave him the thumbs up.

And of course, Coach "J." He tries so hard to make sure that the kids he coaches are learning... and having fun.

I can't wait to see what next year brings.

What's More Embarrassing than Driving a "Grasshopper?"

Driving a "Grasshopper" that someone (or many someones) decorate for your birthday! Let me introduce you to "The GEO." I bought this cute little green Geo Metro, brand new off the lot, in 1993... about a month after my high school graduation! I loved that little car. It got KILLER gas mileage, and was just the right size for a single, college student. Fast forward 17 years... it's not quite as cute. It's been rear-ended, hit by an ambulance, hit and pushed out into the street by my dad's truck, hit on the side by my mom's car, pummeled with golf-ball-sized hail in Indiana. It's been the "rear-ender" in one accident (my first). The hood has flown off on the freeway, skidding across the street, then put in the back hatchback to bring home (ask Jared about THAT story). It's even been in a high-speed chase (no, Jared was NOT the one being chased... and I supposed that technically it was not high-speed, but we like to embellish the story a bit - another "ask Jared" story. He had the police convinced that their fleet should be made up of all Geos after he successfully followed a hit-and-run suspect while on the phone with 911. HEHE!!) It's been through a lot. And my poor, sweet husband is the one that has to drive it! Luckily he's only forced to drive it to the park-n-ride so he can get on a bus to SLC every day, and occasionally to mutual or the grocery store. It's "loved" by all... or should I say "made-fun-of" by all! Our kids have lovingly nicknamed it "the Grasshopper." So what do our sweet friends decide to do for Jared's birthday? Well, unfortunately a new car was not involved... but they did THIS:

Gotta love the sweet decals they added to the door:

Then my sweet sis-in-law went to the park and ride and added some streamers, and some balloons to the inside... Hayden and I had to drive over to check it out!

Needless to say, Jared was a little bit embarrassed. Our friends had come at 10pm the night before, so when Jared left at 5:30 am on his birthday he about DIED! He didn't have time to remove any of the decor (except the sweet hood ornament - a matchbox car), so he had to drive to the bus stop all decked out. He honked it's measly little horn as he drove past the home of the "decorators." He was surprised to find more from his sister when he arrived BACK at the park and ride later, and was dying when he had to drive it home in the light of day where EVERYONE could see him dragging milk jugs and rootbeer cans behind him. The road construction workers got quite a kick out of it ;)

Atleast he came home to his favorite cake: German Chocolate, and a sweet birthday sign. Welcome to the "even-closer-to-40" club, honey. Happy Birthday! We sure do love ya!!