Seven!

Seven years ago, something happened that changed our lives forever. After two sweet little girls (and feeling like I had things figured out) I gave birth to a baby boy! I never had brothers, and to be honest, I wasn't sure how this boy thing was going to work. I remember my mom jokingly saying, "Well, I'm not sure if I can help you much. I've only raised girls." Boys are different. They are rough and tumble, non-stop wrestling machines, but nothing can melt my heart more than a hug from my boys. It seems like that morning seven years ago was just seven DAYS ago! I just can't believe how quickly it has gone.

We've gone from this:

... and this:

To THIS!! It's funny that he has about the same amount of teeth now that he did back then (HAHA... we keep teasing him that if he loses any more, he won't even be able to eat! How I love the missing teeth!)

I can NOT imagine life without this sweet boy. He is very tenderhearted (even when he's trying to be tough) and is the most social child I've ever met! He can make friends with everyone, and is kind to all he comes in contact with. (Don't get me wrong... there are sibling fights at times, but usually he is just as sweet as can be!)

He loves to run, jump, climb, and play just about any sport (in fact he can't wait until he can play basketball and football for real), and loves the Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender. So that was the theme of his party this year! First they did a "water bending" activity. They had to get water from one cup to another just using a straw. I think this was their favorite game.

Then they did "air bending." They had to blow through a straw and move a cotton ball across the blanket.

Next was "fire bending." They each made their own fire-ball and had to throw it through the ring of fire.

After a fun and crazy obstacle course, we went back inside for gifts and cake.

Make a wish!!

Sunday was B's REAL birthday, so we had Grandma Cheryl and PapaBob over for dinner, then later on, we had everyone else come for cake and ice cream. We are always so happy to see Grandpa Grace. He's the best!

Bryson sat and read Grandpa's card to him. It was so cute.

This fun shirt came from PapaBob and Grandma Cheryl. Love it!!

And of course, there is always fun, crazy chaos when you get the cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents together in one place. (Somehow I didn't get a picture of Aunt Christina and Timmy, but they were there too!)

Bryson loved all his gifts, but most of all he loved that so many family members were able to come. We always miss those who live too far away!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYSON. WE LOVE YOU!!

Birthday Weekend

And so it begins... the celebration of this handsome guy!

His actual birthday is on Sunday, but we are starting the festivities today with a "friend" party. Tomorrow we'll have the family celebration. I'm sure there will be tons of pictures and fun things to post about. I'll do the "official" birthday post on Monday. For now I'll just say... I LOVE THIS BOY! He makes me smile every. single. day. Happy Birthday B-man!

Thankful Thursday: A Reminder

Oops! I missed last Thursday... as a matter of fact, I missed more than a week! I usually can't go more than just a couple of days without blogging. I've had a lot on my mind lately, though. It just hasn't been typed out yet. Anyway, anyone that knows me well, knows that I'm sometimes kinda hard on myself. I know I'm not the only one. I think we sometimes have a tendency to feel like we need to be perfect. I especially know a lot of moms that fit into that category. We all want to be perfect moms. I often compare myself with others. I don't have as clean or well decorated a house as this person... I'm not as good a cook or entertainer as this person... I haven't scrapbooked since my 10 year old was one... sometimes my disciplining is not consistent (mean mommy one minute, pushover the next)... my birthday cakes are nothing to write home about (unlike my sisters')... I forget that my kid is the star of the week... you get the picture. I'm so thankful for the little reminders I get once in a while that put things back into perspective for me. This post, on a blog I was reading this morning, was just the reminder I needed. I may not have some of the wonderful skills that some moms have, but I do have strengths that I need to embrace. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if my kid's birthday cake didn't look perfect. If it tasted good and brought a smile to that child's face, that's what matters right? I'm just thankful that the Lord has trusted me with four sweet spirits to raise. He obviously didn't expect me to be perfect. And the smiles on their faces, and the sound of their laughter make me feel like I'm doing okay. Maybe imperfect really is perfect. :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day. Our kids were super excited today to not have to wear their uniforms to school. However, scrounging up green to wear wasn't as easy as I thought it would be! Kaitlyn doesn't own a single green item of clothing. Not even something with green ON IT! Good thing Eryn had another green shirt and was nice enough to share! Oh, and ya gotta love the big green jewels on Eryn's cheek. We also braided a green ribbon into her hair (and Kaitlyn has green bows in her pigtails, too).

They found a little treat from a leprechaun on the living room sofa this morning. They thought that was pretty fun. Sometimes that little leprechaun goes all out, with some sort of little toy, and usually there is a box of Lucky Charms for breakfast, but this year he was a bit more low key. A bag of Skittles for everyone!

After the older kids left for school, we found Hayden something green to wear, and decided that cute little cousin Harlie needed to get in a picture with him since she's hanging out with us today!

Hope you have a LUCKY day and DON'T GET PINCHED!!

Thankful Thursday: Hair and Health

I admit it, I'm a blog stalker. I love reading blogs. I especially love reading friends' and family members' blogs, but I have also come across a few others that I love to read. A few of those "others" are ones that I found out about from various sources, and often came about because of some sort of tragedy, illness, or other challenge. I've been inspired by them. On one, they were recently dealing with the near drowning of their one-and-a-half year old. He came out okay, miraculously. But the way it brought them closer together, strengthened their testimonies, renewed their faith... it was really inspiring. It really made me realize how blessed I am in my life. I have four, beautiful, healthy children. I love being their mother. I realize that tragic things can happen in an instant, and I should never take them for granted. Thankfully right now, at this moment, they are all strong, healthy, and happy. I am so thankful for that. Hayden had his official Kindergarten Dr. Visit yesterday. It's so great to hear the Dr. say that he's doing great. His eyesight is perfect, his blood looks perfect, his height and weight are perfect, and he's developing perfectly. I'm so thankful for healthy kids!

And we are also thankful that hair grows back. Tuesday night, we decided to cut the boys' hair. I've never given them a bad haircut before, but this time (as much as I kept trying to tell myself that it would look better when we combed it) it was bad. When daddy starts saying he looks like Lloyd from "Dumb and Dumber" you know it's bad. We headed back upstairs to fix it, which actually meant buzzing it all off. Poor Hayden. He took one look in the mirror and started crying. We kept telling him it would grow back, and Bryson even said he actually wanted his own hair to look like that, but he was sad. Before we left for the Dr., he put on his hood and said "I don't want Dr. Johnson to see my hair. I don't like it." I felt so bad! :( But, thankfully it WILL grow back. We still think he is as handsome as can be :) And I can't believe he will be in Kindergarten this fall. My baby is getting all grown up! (And obviously was THRILLED about getting yet another picture taken.)

All Dressed Up!

Eryn got invited to a birthday party... but not just ANY birthday party, a murder mystery party. Her invitation said she needed to wear a formal dress. Hmmmm... what in the world would she wear!? It was supposedly set in the '40's, so we decided to take a peak into my grandma's cedar chest. We found all kinds of treasures. Old pictures of my mom, my great-grandma's BYU Diploma signed by David O. McKay, her certificate saying she had been promoted from Grammar School to High School (dated 1917), a Shirley Temple doll, one of my Grandma's dance cards from a High School dance, along with pictures of her. There were quite a few dresses, but THIS one was the one!

It had a small tear in the side that I had to stich up, but Eryn thought it was perfect! Of course I was stressing the whole time hoping that nobody would step on it and rip it, or spill anything on it. Thankfully it came back looking just like it did before! And of course, we had to do a fancy, formal hair-do. Eryn has very straight hair, so we had to quickly take pictures before it decided to un-curl! The pretty silver brooch in her hair was a treasure found in the cedar chest, too!

They had a light "English" buffet (which Eryn referred to as girlie food), and apparently solved the mystery! More pictures HERE.