Andi's 4th Birthday

Andi's birthday was one full day! She was so excited for her birthday and to turn 4 and finally be old enough to start preschool. We started the day opening presents. It was hilarious, the only thing she asked for was this little pack of Strawberry Shortcake lips and nail polish ($4 from Walmart). That was it. I could not get one other thing out of her that she wanted. So when she woke up and saw the gift that looked like the lips, she kept asking to open it. I made her wait and open it last, even after her "main" gift of her Barbie scooter. She was excited about that too, but not as much as the lips. Take a look.Andi in her new ballet outfit. She wants to wear it all day every day. It is pretty cute.
Then we had a Pampered Princess Party with a couple of her little girlfriends. There were only four of them and it was absolutely perfect. We did all things girly: painted nails, put on make-up, put spray glitter in their hair, made princess candy necklaces, ate pink and purple cupcakes...They also played musical chairs.
After presents and "pinkalicious" cupcakes (according to Andi because I made them pink inside and out) the girls played princess dress up for the last little bit and I think they all left feeling pretty girly and pampered.

Andi's 4 year interview

How old are you? 4
What's your favorite color? Pink... and purple.
What's your favorite food? Macaroni and cheese
What's your favorite thing to drink? Milk (though I would say ice water)
What's your favorite toy? Barbies and princesses and dolls and babies
What's your favorite song? Follow the Prophet
What's your favorite game? Tennis (I have no idea where that came from... I don't think she's ever played it)
What do you want to be when you grow up? A nurser (nurse)
What's your favorite movie? Little Mermaid
What's your favorite thing to do? Play dress-ups
Who are some of your favorite friends? Rakaya, Bostyn, Bailey, Jordyn, and Abbey and Halle and Aiden
What's your favorite animal? I like elephants.
How old is Dad? 15... is he?
What does Dad do? Works
What does Dad do at work? Get patients.
How old is Mom? 7? Are you?
What does Mom do? You're a nurse. You go on dates with dad.

Father's Day

Wow I love this man! It is obvious that he is such a great dad in the way that our kids get so excited to see him at the end of the day and how they love to play with him and how, let's be honest, dad is the favorite. I think Jefferson had a great Father's Day this year. The kids and I had a really fun time planning it. It's so great having our kids at an age where they can help plan and execute fun things. We decorated little tie cards with the reasons why our kids love their dad. We made him waffles with strawberries and whip cream for breakfast in bed.

Then we enjoyed church. After church the kids could not wait to give him the presents they picked out. When I asked what each of the kids wanted to get him, they knew immediately. Andi wanted to get him gum (surprise, surprise) and candy and Carter wanted to get him a shirt and he picked out the shirt all by himself. Taytum got him seasons 1 & 2 of Parks and Rec (with the help of mom). Bentley got him a framed picture of herself for his office. And I got him new pillows and bath towels. For dinner we did Ree Drummond's beef brisket and for dessert, maple bacon cupcakes. Yum!!Happy Father's Day Jefferson! We hope you feel loved and appreciated! We love you and are so glad you are the head of our home!

Mommy Daughter Date

Jefferson and I have decided to take our kids on special dates every once in a while. We love the one on one time with them and we want to make sure our kids are getting some individual attention. I can already tell it's going to prove to be beneficial to all of us. It's so fun to sit and talk to my kids by themselves and have an uninterrupted conversation with them when they have my undivided attention.
Well, last Saturday it was my turn to take Moo out. We decided to take her to a kids hair salon just down the street. Andi loved it! First she got her hair washed, my favorite part of a hair cut. Andi liked it too, she said it kind of tickled.
But, her favorite part was wearing the towel on her head. Can you tell by her smile?
Then you get to choose which chair you'd like to sit in, a normal salon chair, cars, or these animals...After her cut they dried her hair, put a braid and some curls in it, and then sprayed some sparkles in. And when your hair is done, you get your nails done too! Andi picked purple with silver sparkles over it.The salon was a hit! Nothing I probably couldn't have done on my own, but so special to go and have it done and she was the only one in the salon at the time so the ladies all doted on her and gave her treats to eat while she was getting her hair done.After the salon we went and got "special drinks" (Sonic sodas) and then did a little shopping for her birthday party next Saturday. She was all smiles all day and kept asking if I could still see the glitter in her hair and if her hair was still curly.
Gosh I love this girl. It was so much fun to have a date with her and gave me a glimpse of what our relationship can be when she's a little bit older. We're gonna have a lot of fun!

Dairy Days '11

We had such a great time with our friends, the Taylors, at the Dairy Day parade. The weather was absolutely perfect, the parade was a little long, but fun, and the kids got tons of fun goodies; chocolate milk, string cheese, t-shirts, and candy! It was a great family date night.

Grrrr... every time I try to post on blogger it has problems uploading my pictures so I end up having to upload them one at a time, sometimes multiple times for a single picture, so I have been deterred from keeping up this past week on our happenings. But alas, I am going to try again....

Last Saturday was our ward carnival. They really do a cute job with it; this is our second summer attending. There was a great turn out. Jefferson helped set up and man one of the booths while I took the kiddos around to do some games and get their faces painted and eat popcorn and ice cream sandwiches and such. It was a lovely morning and the kids had a great time.Andi won a cake in the cake walk! Our odds were pretty good when we occupied three of the ten spaces.

Saturday @ Home

One of the biggest difference between Jefferson and I that we are constantly trying to rectify is that I love to go out and do things. Even if it's just going on a walk or to the park. Jefferson, however, just wants to be at home, probably because he's gone all day every day. Our kids do better when they have things to do, or if we get out of the house for a little bit. Luckily on Saturday we had some nice weather, finally. We were able to keep our day decently busy while staying at home. The kids spent a lot of time on the trampoline, of course, and then we set up our new sprinkler. It was a hit.Then we made cookies.
And Jefferson said he wanted to be in charge of dinner. This is literally a first. He chose a recipe, went and bought all the ingredients and made some of the yummiest ribs ever! I was super impressed and so thankful that I didn't have to decide what we were having (probably the hardest part) or shop, prep, or cook dinner. Aaaaah. So nice. Thank you dear hubby of mine.

Inspired.

I had a really neat experience yesterday involving inspiration. I had been thinking about one of the ladies I visit teach for a few weeks. I had left her numerous messages on her answering machine without hearing back from her. This is completely normal. We're lucky if we schedule a visit about every other month. She's just a very private, somewhat guarded, individual. So, I didn't really think anything of it when she didn't return my calls. Well, I kept thinking about her and couldn't get her off my mind and wanted to take something over, whether it was just a card, or letter or something. I had been having this feeling for about a week and had included this sister in my prayers, but just hadn't gotten around to doing anything. Then on Monday night I was reading a conference talk and it was about visiting teaching and what a blessing it is. That's it, I knew I needed to stop by and see this sister. So yesterday I wrote up a little card and attached it to a little goody and walked it over. When this sister opened her door I just told her I was thinking about her and wanted to stop by and see how she was doing. Then she opened up like she never has before and told me she had been having a hard month with a death in the family and some serious illnesses that had been going on with two other close family members. We stood on her doorstep and cried together and hugged and shared some personal experiences. It was definitely an inspired visit and I am so glad that I followed the promptings of the spirit. I don't say this to give kudos to myself or anything because I usually don't have really strong promptings or blatantly obvious inspiration or anything, but rather I share to encourage anybody who has promptings or feels inspired to do something to do it. Do I sound like a Nike commercial? Just do it! It was a spiritual experience and strengthened and reaffirmed my testimony of visiting teaching and also that Heavenly Father is aware of all of His children and that we can be tools in His hand.

Clarification

Thank you for the advice on Taytum's diapers, however, I should clarify, she doesn't take her diapers off. This is the end result of a blow out diaper! I know you all wanted to know that. :)

In other news...

The kids went to outer space. All made sure they had their space helmets on.
We got a trampoline from one of Jefferson's patients. The kids LOVE it. They will go out their rain or shine, windy or not, for hours every day. It's wonderful. Unfortunately Taytum had a near death experience just a few days ago, so she's only allowed on by herself for now.Two of Jefferson's cousins and their families came to stay for a weekend. We had lots of yummy food, let the kids stay up way too late playing, and had some good grown-up chats and laughs.
Andi had her end of year Joyschool party. It was a fun year, kind of crazy and sporadic at times, but I was so glad Andi had Joyschool to look forward to every week.
Carter had this weird red mole on the back of his leg that turned into a huge purple ring, that then got agitated and raised and scabbed over, and then fell of and left a dark gray ring. After his pediatrician looked at it we were referred to a dermatologist who then cut it out and biopsied it. Carter did amazingly well, especially since I didn't know they were going to biopsy that day so I didn't prepare him at all. He was super tough. Biopsy came back and it was just a benign random group of nerves. Here are his two stitches that he got.
Taytum has left us this on more than one morning. I am so done washing sheets, stuffed animals, bumper pad, pajamas, etc, etc...
Trevor was in town for a bit and our kids harassed and annoyed him to no end I am sure.