Spring Break

Spring break was upon us and we had no plans at all....until our friends the Owens' decided they would pick us up and take us to the 'valley of the sun'.  We had such a great time and are so glad that we have such good friends!  We went to the park....twice, dollar movie, Chick-fil-A...YUM, and the kids just played and played......what else would you do with 6 kids ages 5 and under?! =)

Look whooooo's 4.....

Emma's 4th Birthday.....so much fun!  She is just so cute and was so excited to have all the family come over and celebrate with us.  I found this cute little owl theme and we went with it!  I made her a cute little owl t-shirt with matching skirt and headband with a huge pink flower....so cute!  And of course I needed to do something for the boys, so I made them each an owl beanie.  They totally loved them!  Emma's big gift from us was the little pink kitchen I made for her out of an old side table.  Without much time or planning it turned out really well and she absolutely LOVES it and that's what counts!  All in all, it was a really fun party. =)  Thanks to everyone who came and made Emma's day very special.

Valentine's Day......

It's always so fun to have different holidays come up....the kids have now figured out that I like to give them fun little gifts for each one....and of course, Valentine's Day is no different.  I found this great tutorial for a 'Bullseye' from the movie ToyStory and knew immediately I would have to make it for the boys.  They absolutely LOVE that movie....all 3 of them!  I did change it a little with the legs, making them soft and stuffed instead of with wire.  Yes, they have slept with them every night. =)  The pattern for Emma's sock monkey I found here.  I have never made a sock monkey and turns out, they are made out of socks....who knew.....I didn't.  I also got them the cute little heart notebooks with their own pens, cute character socks & candy...but not too much.....they already have energy to spare. =) 

Valentine's Pictures......

I always like to take pictures of the kids and then make a cute Valentine card to send to everyone.  Well....this year I took the pictures but never got around to doing the card.  The kids weren't being too cooperative the day of our photo shoot, but I did manage to get some cute ones!

Yee Haw!

A 'Cowboy Party' for the best two boys I know!  Parker and Tucker were so excited for their birthday party this year...I wanted to make it really fun and memorable for them.  We decided that a 'Cowboy Party' was the way to go.  Daddy made the fun wanted poster as our invitation and I did the banner, cupcake picks and root beer labels.  All the guests were given a cowboy hat, bandanna and a sheriff's badge to wear.  We ate pizza, root beer floats, and of course the cupcakes.  The boys each got a new hat, cowboy boots, clothes, money, cap gun, and a set of walkie talkies.  It was a huge hit!  Thanks to all our guests for being such good sports and getting into our 'Cowboy' theme. =)

Growing up....

Parker and Tucker are just getting so big!  They are growing like little weeds.  All dressed up for church they look like two little missionaries....makes me want time to slow down so I can take in every moment.

Meet our Newest Sunbeam....

Emma just couldn't wait until she could go to Primary and be a 'Sunbeam'.  Emma said, 'I've learned everything in nursery and I need to go to my new class.'  How cute is that?!

SNOW

Parker and Tucker could not wait to go out and play in the snow!  We had the biggest snow storm ever......something like 18 inches.  It was sooooo cold but boys being boys they  didn't care at all.  They got all bundled up and headed out....making snow angels, throwing snowballs, eating snow, and trying to build a snowman.  Lots of fun for two adventurous little boys!

Christmas Highlights....

They just had to have Santa hats.......and boy did they wear them!

Making Christmas cookies...very messy, but lots of fun!

Making gingerbread houses & meeting Santa at the Ward Christmas Party.

Christmas Eve program and party at Papa & Grandma's house.....a family tradition.

New Christmas pj's from Grandma  Brenda......so cute!

Finally the day has arrived......& smiles all around!

Oh Christmas Tree........

The kids were so excited to put the Christmas tree up....we didn't even make it to December and it was up!  That's a first for me.  I have never even thought about putting the Christmas decorations up before the actual month of December.  But when you have 3 adorable little kids so ready for all the festivities to begin, it's hard to resist their excitement!  As you can see by the pictures, they did a great job decorating the bottom half of the tree.  I just let them do their thing and then after they went to bed I adjusted the ornaments so the top of the tree wouldn't be bare.....so cute!  And now that it's all done it feels pretty good to have everything decorated.....now we can sit back and enjoy the Holiday Season......(well--kind of--there is still so much to be done, but you know what I mean =D )

Halloween

The kids had a great time Halloween.  They even talked me into dressing up!  How could I refuse those sweet little faces =)  We went trick-or-treating and the kids collected quite a bit of candy.  They were so excited to get home and dump it all out and see what they had.  

Leaves

Who doesn't like jumping into a pile of leaves?

Pumpkins

This year was our first year to carve pumpkins.  In the past few years it just seem too much to even think about carving pumpkins with 3 young children.  The kids were really excited and weren't really sure what to expect.  At first they didn't like the smell of the pumpkins and the slimy stringy stuff inside.  Eventually they got use to it and were really great about cleaning them out.  I then had them tell me what kind of face they wanted on their pumpkins and did my best to give them what they wanted.  They were just very simple faces but the kids were happy with them and thats all that counts.

Hats

Found this great tutorial on one of my favorite blogs and knew I had to make them for the kids.  They were so much fun to make and I think they turned out super cute.  Would you believe they were made from old t-shirts?  I just love the idea of re-purposing old clothes!  

Not feeling so well.....

Well, it finally happened.......the kids were all sick at one time!  We have been pretty lucky that they usually will be sick one or even two at a time and that is something that we can deal with, but this time they were all sick with the stomach flu.  Needless to say, they were all in their beds with wet cloths on their foreheads and a trashcan right next to the bed.....just in case the unthinkable happened.....the dreaded throwing up!  And boy did it happen....a lot!  The next day they all seem to be better, but then I came down with the dreaded thing!  It was a good thing I didn't get sick when the kids were.  I don't even want to think about how horrible that would have been!

It's raining, it's pouring........

Doesn't every child want their own umbrella?  Well my kids certainly did.  It was a very happy day when they finally received one of their very own.  On the way home from the store, they each had their umbrellas up and open in the van.  I'm sure we must have been quite a sight!

New Set of Wheels!

Before Daddy went on his business trip he surprised the kids with new bikes.  They were so excited and it didn't take them long at all to just take off.  Our front porch is just the right size for them to ride down and turn around. I was kind of afraid that someone would actually ride right off of the porch down the steps.....the boys never even came close to that.  But Emma on the other hand, somehow managed to do it not once, but twice!  Poor little thing!  I think it scared me more then it did her....she's quite fearless when it comes to most things.  Needless to say, they love their new set of wheels!

Cupcakes

Grandma gave us a cake mix for Halloween cupcakes and the kids couldn't wait to make and decorate them.  Unfortunately, the day we did the cupcakes Parker was really sick and couldn't participate with us.  So we saved all the stuff for him to decorate his cupcakes when he felt better, which ended up being the next day.  I wasn't able to get pictures of them all together, but at least they all got to have fun making their own cupcakes!

Emma's creations

Tucker's creations

Parker's creations

Soccer Ends

Our last soccer game was bittersweet.  The boys had improved so much since that very first game and they really look forward to each practice and game.  It has become part of our routine and now it is over, which is kind of hard for them to understand.  I'm kind of glad that the end is now here, just because it has started to get pretty cold at the games.  The thing which helped ease the pain of their last game was that they each received a trophy.  They were super excited about that!(and of course have been carrying them around for days)

Dressing Up

Emma

Parker

Tucker

Parker

Emma

Tucker

These 3 kids just LOVE to play dress up!  It doesn't really matter what the theme is, they love to dress up.  Since it is the Halloween season there are all kinds of costumes to be had.  I came across the pirate accessories at the Dollar Store and just couldn't pass them up.  Next I found all the Spiderman outfits at Walmart and thought we might actually use those for Halloween, but then I changed my mind.  (I decided to make their Halloween costumes and you will just have to wait and see those in a later post.)  Needless to say, the kids have had a great time playing with their new costumes.  Never a dull moment in the land of imagination!