Hunter's 6th Birthday Party

Hunter will be turning "6" next thursday. However that night I happen to have Enrichment that I am in charge of and Kory's sister and her family is coming to our house for the weekend that night. Hunter has been invited to a few WII party's and that is what he asked to do for this party. Being this coming weekend is going to be crazy we had his party last night. Hunter did his own invitations It says, "Come join Mii and my Wii". Being we have a total of 4 wii remotes he invited 3 friends to his party.

He was in heaven being able to play the wii for 2 hours with his most treasured friends.

For dinner we served pizza, chips and soda.

Hunter wanted me to make him King Boo as his cake. However in the end he decided he wanted to help. He wanted to decorate the crown and he didn't want King Boo to have a mouth so this was the finished product. I don't like that my kids are getting opinionated. I'm trying to let some of my control issues go and let my kids help. Especially with things that I am doing for them. After all it's his birthday cake. Right??? So I put his 6 candles in as his mouth so King Boo doesn't look to silly.

It's cute to see all the kids crowd around when it's time to open presents. And the opinions they share while each gift is ogled over.

The cake and ice cream was a sucess!

Thankyou for those who came and made his party a sucess. This "Wii Party" was definetely the most easiest party we've done. Even though we had 6 kids total, with 4 being 6/7 yr. boys it was a pretty relaxed/quiet party.

A futute Beautician?

The other morning Maddie asked if she could paint her nails. I had just gotten out of the shower, we had an appt. that morning and I still needed to blow dry my hair. I told her she could get everything ready on the table and as soon as I was done I'd help her before we had to leave. I came out to this. Apparently Hunter felt he was old enough to be the supervisor. Not only did he help Maddie but he also painted Emily's fingernails and toenails while I was getting ready. He did a pretty good job. There were no spills, no polish on the floor or table. What mess there was, was kept on the paper towel. Emily *REFUSED* to let me take a pict. of the finished produst so this is all I've got. Unfortunately they were pretty much done when I came out.

St. Patrick's Day!

The kids woke up to green pancakes yesterday, in celebration of St. Patricks Day.

Maddie wasn't too thrilled with the color green but Hunter and Emily didn't seem to care. Last year I turned the milk green and that was a little too much for everyone so I didn't do that again.

Hunter's been seeing commercials for Sorry on tv lately. We were given the game several years ago and have never opened it. So I pulled it out and we played several times througout the day.

For dinner I had the kids help me make green shamrock bread to go with dinner.

Hunter made Mr. St. Patrick himself to go along with the shamrocks.

And for dinner we had leperchaun's treasure (green jello with pineapple and mandarin oranges), chicken, broccoli and rice casserole, shamrock bread and a green leperchaun's drink (green sherbert with sprite). After dinner the kids decorated green cupcakes with green frosting and sprinkles. By bed time they were asking if we could do this again tommorrow! I'm glad they had an enjoyable day.

Girl's new doo's..

I've been taking pictures of the girls hair over the past few days. For some reason I wasn't using the flash so the picts turned out really yellow and grainy and you couln't see very well. This morning I realized what I've been doing all week so all I can give is how we did there hair today. Maddie was so excited for this morning. We did our 2 normal pigtails and then I braided them. I then crossed the braids over her head and tucked the end into the elastics holding the pony tail. Ta Da... She even let me put bows in to hide the elastics. When I picked her up today after preschool the first thing she said was how all girls liked her hair. I'm glad she's having as much fun with this as I am.

Emily is most definetely not photogenic. She likesgetting her hair done and is asking me to do it. She just doesn't like it when I pull the camera out for proof!!

I took Emily with me to Costco this morning and we got so so so many compliments on her hair. I love going to www.shedoeshair.blogspot.com for more ideas. It's still hard to see the back of Emily's hair. I do the little ponytails just to help keep her hair stay in place all day and out of her face. Her hair isn't quite long enough to last all day in pigtails without a little help.

Chicken's...

As most of you are aware several weeks ago we ordered baby chicks from a Hatchery out of California. Three other families and us ordered a total of 85 chicks. They hatched last wed and were immediately shipped to us. We were able to pick them up last friday evening from the post office. My kids are quick to tell you what these little guys will look like when they grow up. The black chicks are called Barred Rock and will be black and white striped and will lay white eggs. The brown chicks are Rhode Island Red's. They will grow up to be red and lay big brown eggs, so we've been told. The yellow chicks are White Leghorns. They will be white and lay white eggs. The White Leghorns were Kory's grandma's favorite so we thought we try them. We wanted to try a few varieties to see which kind lays the most eggs and for the longest.

The chicks will start laying eggs when they are 4-6 months old. So hopefully by August we will start having some fresh eggs.

When we arrived home with all 85 chicks they were quite loud with all the chirping. We immediately gave them warm sugar water and a little chick food while Kory ran to Home Depot to grab a heating lamp for them. Waiting for his return it was quite obvious that the chicks were still cold. They were huddling together pushing each other right up against the warm bottle of water. So I pulled out the blow dryer and Hunter and Emily took turns blowing warm air on them while we waited for daddy.

Maddie was at a birthday party so she missed out on some of the fun. She is however the only one of my children who will hold a chick. She loves them. Hunter is quite scared of the little guys and screams like a girl when they start approaching him. We've got to get him to over come this fear so he'll help collect the eggs when the chicks aren't chicks anymore and can really peck him good. We've gotten Emily to hold one a few times but then she lets go claiming they are tickling her hand. Hince no picture.

Come this May we should also be receiving 15 baby Mascovia Ducks. Besides the eggs they will be laying they will also eat bugs out of a garden without damaging the crop. They also eat MOSQUITO'S. This past fall we had a major infestation of these nasty little flying bugs. Getting the mail would get me another 3-4 bites. We stopped letting the kids go in the garden and play outside becuase they would be covered in bites within just a few minutes. A really good friend was trying to buy a house across the street from us. There were a few problems that needed to be fixed before they could close on the home. When the problems were fixed the Inspector REFUSED to come out and check everything off because of the Mosquito's. Scaredy Cat!!!
So I'm hoping this year having 15 ducks running around the house will help with this upcoming problem we may have a little later on.

www.shedoeshair.blogspot.com.

Generally speaking my girls hair are always done. They usually have their hair pulled back into somesort of pigtail with bows. Maddie my 4 soon to be 5 year old is growing up. She's starting to fight me on wearing bows. She would much perfer one big pony tail or a head band. To keep the peace I haven't fought her on this too much. However her hair is driving me CRAZY! It's seems like it's always in her face, dipping into her food and just out of control. I've come across this blog a few times now called www.shedoeshair.blogspot.com. It's a mom of 3 girls who does some amazing thing with her girls hair. Tonight I had Maddie come look at the pictures she has taken of her girls hair. To my delight Maddie has chosen a few styles she would like to try. Today she chose this style. She was so excited about her new doo. I've been thinking about cutting her hair again lately. But I had so much fun playing with her hair and she had fun too, so I think we'll hold off on the cutting. It helps that this mom's blog has several pictures of Princesses hair do's like, Jasmine, Cinderella, Tinkerbell, etc. Maddie loved her hair so much she didn't let me take it out before bed tonight. We'll see what style she chooses for tommorrow. I got what I wanted tonight by having her hair done, out of her face, and looking nice. Maddie got what she wanted by not having a bow in her hair. I love it we both win!!

Emily watched me do her sisters hair and then she wanted a turn. I was suprised she sat long enough for me to do it. She even let me use the curling iron on her.

Little Miss is 2. It's hard enough to take a picture of her face. It was almost impossible to take a picture of the back of her head when she new I was trying to take a picture of her. For once she was trying to cooperate by letting me get her precious face in the pict.

I love the curls. Daddy thought she looked like a chicken with her hair up and all over. I thought it turned out pretty. I love the curls. Unlike her big sister she loves bows. She insists on having a bow everyday. So we had to throw in a bow on her doo. I'm glad she's only 2 and can't take the chicken comment to heart. If she did it may be a fight for me to do her hair ever again, knowing mom might make her look like a chicken.

For those of you with girls you've got to check this website out. For many of the styles she gives step by step instructions. She has styles for long, medium and short hair. Her baby girl isn't a year old yet and she's got a few styles for that baby fine, very short, not a lot of hair everywhere. Anyways you should try it and hopefully you'll have as much fun trying something new as my girls and I did today. Goodluck!

Around The World In 80 Minutes

Tonight Hunter had his very first school performance. It was called Around The World In 80 Minutes. He's been practicing at school almost every day for a week now. I thought I was being prepared with my crummy camera. I put new batteries in right before we left and turned the camera on to make sure it would work before walking out the door. During his 1st performance I tried taking his pict but he was always standing behind someone a little taller then him. And then of course my camera started beeping and claimed the batteries were dead. So unfortunately I don't have a single picture of him performing tonight. His class sang 7 songs, 1 in Spanish and 1 in French. He did a great job. It's been fun to watch his excitement of being able to perform in front of everyone over the past couple of days. Good job Hunter!!

Strawberry Shortcake Nightgowns

This strawberry shortcake fabric was given to me when Maddie was a baby. I've wanted to make something out of it but just wasn't sure what. Last summer we were going to try to have one of my neices who is the same age of Maddie come stay with us for a few days. I thought it would be fun to make them matching nightgowns. The summer got busy and it just never worked out to get the girls together. So yesterday I saw the fabric and pulled it out. I had forgotten I had even cut the fabric and had it pinned together ready to sew. Being the fabric was cut almost a year ago I had to add a longer ruffle to Maddies so it will fit her for more then just a few weeks. I shortened the other cut fabric hoping it would fit Emily.

I think they turned out pretty well. The girls are very happy with their new springy nightgowns. Maddie has 2 other nightgowns and Emily is always trying to wear them. After about 30min of tripping over it she usually ends up changing into p.j's of her own. She is so excited to have her very own nightgown.

Brayden's 3D Ultrasound

This morning I had my 3D ultrasound. It's still a boy. Yeah!! I love this pict of his mouth open.The bubbles around his mouth going between his head and arm is the umbilical cord.

Seeing him in 3D makes him seem more real. Not that all the kicking, pushing and squirming isn't enough proof that something real is inside.

I'm getting more excited the closer we get. I am in my 29 week or just starting my 7th month. Brayden is too squashed to be able to tell how long he is but he weighs about 3 lbs.

1st Fondant Cake

I love making cakes. 2 of my really good friends had their little boys celebrate their 3rd birthday this past weekend. They knowing my love for making cakes asked me if I wanted to make their cakes. Of course I said yes! Since both little boys love Mickey Mouse I went with this theme.

I used a cream cheese frosting for the sheet cake. I then made my 1st batch of fondant ever. The fondant covers the red playhouse, yellow shoe, white balloon hand, slide and fence. For my 1st fondant cake I think it turned out pretty well. Hunter's birthday is in April. I'm getting excited to have anther chance to make a cake. I'll definetly be using fondant again.

Valentines Pre-School

Last week I taught pre school again. We didn't end up having school that tuesday becuase it turned into a snow day. So thursday the kids did some projects I had planned for that tuesday and their valentine party. Everyone was given a bag to decorate with stickers and crayons. They used this bag to put all their Valentine goods into.

This week we were talking about shapes. So using different shapes they were able to make their own picture.

We also talked about patterns. Using conversation hearts and frosting the kids made patterns. This was Maddies favorite part. I'm so glad she's having fun in preschool this year and she loves it when we have it at our house.

Today Is A Snow Day!

Yesterday morning I had an O.B appointment in Prescott. It snowed during my drive there, my 2 hours I spent waiting for my turn in the office and then all the way home. It continued to snow off and on for the rest of the day. Even though it felt like it was snowing all day it seems the snow didn't start sticking until late afternoon. At 10:00 last night it was still snowing. This is what we woke up to.I took a ruler outside and tried to measure how much snow we got. For the most part I got several 2 1/2 inches, other spots were a little higher and a little lower. This is the perfect amount for me. The snow may or may not last a few days and then it will be gone.

The teeter-toter. I know I didn't spell that right but for the life of me nothing looks right.

The girls had a blast this morning. I didn't get my camera out quick enough to catch Madie making several snow angels.

Emily wasn't interested in making snow angels but she did enjoy brushing the snow off the outside toys and of course eating it.

Hunter did join in the fun for a few minutes until his feet got cold and then he chickened out and went back inside. He's thrilled today turned into a snow day and he doesn't have to go to school. This week is becoming very short for him. Since I had my O.B appt. yesterday daddy stayed home to watch the kids and get Hunter to school. Somehow daddy "forgot" and Hunter was still home by the time I got home. So as long as we don't have another snow day this week Hunter will only go for wed, thur and then fri. is a half day so he's gone for about 1 1/2hrs. He's quite excited about how short this school week in turning out to be for him.

Unfinished Projects...

Now that I can see what I actually have in my closet I have stumbled across a few unfinished projects. So over the past few days I have been trying to complete some of these things. We currently have 11 sisters in our ward that are pregnant, all due between now and Sept. One of my friends gave birth 2 weeks ago and another had her baby the end of Dec. It's crazy to think we still have 11 more to go. So having been to a few baby showers already and several more to come I finished some hand made burp cloths. I was also able to finish this blanket with matching burp cloth. I love this blanket. If I were having a girl I think I'd keep it for myself.

Hunter's magnet board is another project that needed to be completed. Since I wasn't thinking and put the picts up backwards you get to see the finished project first. This isn't my favorite magnet board I've done but it's also my 1st board that had to include my 5yr. little boys opinion. He likes it so thats what counts.

Hunter can say he helped make it too. He was a great help with the modge podge, the painting and the hot glueing.

I let Hunter paint his dinosaurs all by himself. He did a pretty good job.

It's a great feeling to know a few projects have finally been completed. I still need to make a few nursing covers and one more blanket. I am trying to come up with some homemade gifts I can make using supplies I already have for some of the upcoming baby showers. It seems as though there will be quite a few baby girls joining us so yesterday I started making some hair bows. I've done about 10 and now I just need to glue them to a clip. Hopefully tommorrow those will be finished and I can take a pict of those. Theres a few that turned out soo cute. I'm ready to be finished with these projects so I can put everything away and get my house back together. It's such a hassle to put everything away just to pull it out again the next morning so everything gets put into a corner at dinner time.