Beatles Party

I'm planning another birthday party.

This one is for my amazing step-mom, Emma.

It involves this cute little invite I designed.

I took A LOT of inspiration from this site, but had to recreate it from scratch on my end.

I LOVE that the ticket stub is perforated.


I achieved that by using my sewing machine and sewing a line between the invite and the ticket with an unthreaded needle. So easy!







The party is on Sunday. There's still a lot to do, but I'm hoping it all turns out :)

The creative process

I love it when a child tells me a story. I've been noticing that Sanders is starting to have story lines attached to his alone time play. I wanted to see  if he would play one of my favorite games with me.

The following is a story Sanders and I created together this morning.

Me: "Once upon a time there was a boy named......"

Sanders: "Boy!"

M: "...a boy named Boy. Boy liked to...."

S: "Run!"

M: "Run! Boy liked to run really fast! One day boy got a new...."

S: "Car!"

M: " He also got a new...."

S: "Car!"

M: " ....and a new train. One day his friend,....."

S: " Caillou!"

M: "...came over to play and said, 'Boy, do you want to play cars and train with me?' And Boy said,'..."

S: "Yes!"

M: "The End."

See, it even had a twist. I bet no one saw coming that the second new thing that Boy got was going to be  another car :)

Good times. Good times.

Commitment

Yesterday, Tennyson accidentally scraped his arm on his dresser drawer and needed a band aid. Sanders, who is obsessed with band aids and had witnessed the whole scenario, insisted that he also needed one.

When I reminded him that we only get band aids when we are hurt, he promptly got up, walked over to the dresser, and tried to recreate Tennyson's accident.

It was hilarious and odd to watch a two year old purposely try to hurt himself, but not enough that it would actually hurt, all because he wanted a band aid. He would barely touch the dresser on the part of the drawer that hurt his brother, turn to make sure I'd seen the whole thing, and begin fake crying as he gingerly craddled his arm to prove getting a band aid was no longer simply a want. It was a need.

Thankfully, he wasn't any good at mimicking what happened and I was not easily swayed. Deterred, but not defeated, by my laughter he instead turned his efforts to finding an old wound that had scabbed over and convincing me it was still tragic enough to require the medical assitannce of a band aid. After scouring his whole body for five minutes and trying to pass off freckles as wounds, he finally found one, barely there, scab.

At that point I figured he'd earned a band aid just through sheer commitment to the idea and the fact that he was at least using a legit owie in his persuasion now. So I put a band aid on the fading sore.

10 minutes later the temptation was too great and the coveted bands aid was peeled off and reapplied so many times that it lost the ability to stick and was thrown away.

Crazy kid. I'm going to have to watch myself with this one.....me and insurance companies.

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Personality

For our FHE activity yesterday, Karaia chose Hide and Seek. This is an all time favorite for everyone in our house.

Karaia was the seeker and had found all of her siblings, but was still looking for Kevin and I. Her brothers started to help her look.

As Tennyson passed near my hiding spot I heard him curse under his breath, "Where are our STINKIN' parents!?"

Harry Potter birthday cake

The birthday cake.


Beckham asked for a Harry Potter cake this year. For some reason this felt like a near impossible task. I don't do fondant and I was in no mood to learn. I also was not really in the mood to do and cake carving.

Thankfully at the last minute I came up with this.

Super simple. Rectangle chocolate cake, green dyed coconut flakes, floral wire bent into Quiditch goals, a few photoshopped Harry Beckhams and your done!

Beckham loved it....mostly. I believe his exact quote when I showed him Harry Beckham (which, ps, is WAY funnier than Beckham Potter) was, "I like it, but I'm a bit embarrassed because I'm a big head Harry Potter."

Too funny!

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Busy

Tennyson is sick.

I planned and prepared for one party today and yesterday, Beckham's, and I am planning another one.

That's all I have time for.

Beckham turns 7!

As you know, Beckham's birthday was yesterday and he turned 7!

This is the face I get when I ask a newly turned 7 year old to smile.

There's my cute boy

Full of personality

Meghan, Annie, Dad....is this not the very face of Calvin?

Awww we love our kitty1

Wahoo! Mom's done with the outside pictures!

Here's the birthday boy waiting for presents

He got a remote control Helicopter from Kevin and me and Lego Helicopter and Lego people from his siblings

Flying the 'copter

The Lego people. I seriously love these things.

Excited to build his helicopter before school

Beckham is an amazing kid. Most days I feel like I just haven't given him enough. Not that he is demanding more...I just feel like his life would fill more fulfilled if I had given him enough.  Enough love, enough one on one time, enough discipline, enough opportunities.


He has so many strong emotions that I often find I can't keep up with his needs. I want him to feel as special as he is, but not feel entitled. I want him to feel the full range of emotions his surroundings and and the people around him invoke with out feeling, or being, out of control. I want him to feel just how much I love him and never doubt it.

Beckham loves school. He loves to learn anything and everything he can. Mrs. Pickett has him doing 2nd grade math and he just tested as reading at a 4th grade level. He is a good friend to everyone and is quickly making a name for himself as a class clown....after seeing those pictures above, does that even surprise anyone?

He is very fun to have a conversation with and still surprises me with what captures his attention. He is super loving and drinks up all the hugs we can possibly offer. He's found some new found sense of adventure and I've loved seeing him explore his new wings. It's also so lovely to have a child who enjoys the piano so much, the practicing is second nature.

Every day Sanders asks when Beckham will be coming home from school.

I cannot imagine living without him in our life.

I love you Beckham! Happy Birthday, Buddy!!!!!

The post before the post in which Beckham turns 7

Today is Beckham's 7th birthday. I literally cannot believe he is that old!

However, the post tonight will not be about his birthday or about him much because Kevin took the older two boys on the ward Father and Sons camp out this afternoon and Karaia, Sanders, Candace and I had a Girls Night plus a Toddler.

We are just getting home from all our fun and I still have at least one kiddo to put to bed. I don't want to rush Beckham's birthday post and so I shall save it for tomorrow so I can also include part of his camping adventures.


I would leave you with a picture, but for some reason I can't get the external hard drive to pull up. Aaaand it's late. At some point I have give in to my imperfections and do better tomorrow. 

Thank you Captain Obvious

So, I bought this incredible roll top desk on KSL for $60! It's really amazing and is already a computer roll top so it will fit my new computer perfectly. Now she just needs a home.

I've been toying with a few places upstairs, pretty much asking anyone who enters my home what they think. Sabina came over today (YAY!) and she helped me brain storm and move stuff around. Then we both had to leave mid project.

When I came back I decided I wanted to follow through with the rest of the plans. That involved moving the piano from one side of the room to the other.

Now, I consider myself to be fairly strong and was SURE I'd be able to move a little piano all by myself. Turns out, pianos are REALLY heavy. Even the small ones......


......alright now.....get it out....

.......you done laughing? OK. Let's move on.

Thankfully, Lyndi came over after 20 minutes of me trying to move this heavier-than-it-looks object and we got it done.

Thank you, Lyndi!

I still need to move the desk in the living room where the piano used to be. But after trying to move something everyone else probably realized was WAY to heavy for one person to move I decided it would be best to wait for some help.

Party Planning

Today was rather busy. Crazy busy. But so fun!

I am waiting for someone to send me pictures and then I'll go into more detail (you love that right?)

I helped with the Young Men/ Young Women etiquette dinner tonight. I did the place settings, center pieces, and the teaching. It was a lot of work carting the china and dinner ware to the church. But you can't teach etiquette off of paper products! The kids did fantastic and seemed eager to learn and practice what was being taught.

More to come!

Mary Poppins

Tonight I got to go with Mom, Meghan, and Karaia to Mary Poppins at the Capital Theater.

It was an amazing show full of magic, flying through the air, Burt walking on walls and the ceiling, and an overall wonderful experience.

I may or may not have cried....who am I kidding? I totally cried.

My favorite line in the show was, "If you reach for the stars, all you get is the stars. If you reach for the heavens you get the stars thrown in."

It was incredible to watch it through Karaia's eyes.

Magic. Pure magic.

Time of year

The grapes are on! I love the juice from our grapes. The picking is not my favorite, but it always goes much, much faster with a little help and someone to talk to.

Thanks for keeping me company picking grapes this morning, Danica!

All of the grapes on our side are picked. Our neighbors don't want theirs so I'll get their side all picked tomorrow.

Can't wait for that yummy juice!

We also took Beckham out for his birthday dinner tonight because there is a Father and Sons campout this weekend. Since this is going to be an odd number birthday for him, he won't be having a friend party, but he did get to chose one friend to bring to dinner. He chose Bradley R. and to go to Chuck O' Rama. Those two were a bunch of goof balls. It was fun to see Beckham laughing SO hard!

I can't believe he is turning 7 on Friday!

Quiet

Today was relatively quiet. The kids played really well and really quietly this Sunday morning. Which allowed for two things. A lovely Spirit in our home and a lot more patience from mom and dad.

I was able to go to Relief Society today. I haven't been in a few weeks because I have been subbing for other teachers, mainly in the nursery. I don't mind that one bit. It was nice to be back to lessons that involve you to think beyond what snack is going to be after they stop talking.

When we got home there was not the usual meltdown because everyone is so tired and hungry. They all ran out to play with Ferb while we got some lunch put together. Yet another reason we love that cat!

After lunch Sanders took a nap without too much protesting and the other kids played nicely.

Kevin cooked a great dinner of steaks, butternut squash, pears, and crescent rolls.

This was followed by a family walk around the neighborhood, coming home and getting pajamas on, reading books, and lights out.

I need more Sundays just like today.

Date night

A year ago we were coming home from Europe. Tonight, on our date, we went to Ikea...so that's kind of European.

I guess there's a theme.

Too much of a stretch?

Yes. I think so too.

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Kind of in love

So I'm kinda in love with our cat.

And I'm also really tired do that's all you get.

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Unusual

Two unusual things happened around here today.

One is that there is a fire on the mountain to the north of us. It's far enough away that we won't lose any sleep today, but it's close enough that we're keeping an eye on it.

Two is that we had an appraiser come to our house because we are refinancing SO I had to clean my house. And by clean, I mean I was practically dragging people in off the street to come show them every. last. room. because who knows when they are going to be clean enough to show them again.

Seriously.

I took pictures to document it.

That's how rare it is around here. Oh well. At least I can say it happened once!

Cleaning

I finally got all the wallpaper paste off our master bathroom wall. I pulled the wallpaper off more than a year ago.

The bathroom is tiny but the paste was more like industrial. It took me two and a half hours to wash the walls.

The irony of it all is we now realize we will just have to pull all the dry wall down anyway because there is mold that won't scrub off.

Sigh.

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He did it!!!

Kevin made it through the primary election!!!! I am so proud of him. He worked so hard and earned every vote he received. Thank you to everyone who voted and helped with the campaign.

He came in fourth, but is very, very close to third place. I have no doubt that he'll be able to make up those votes before November.

Congratulations, Kevin!!!!!!!

You never know

Just when you think you are headed one direction Heavenly Father opens another door and offers you more options.

I'm sorry I'm so vauge on this blog. I have started another, private, blog to record all the moments I feel are best kept closer to home, i.e. only for me and my kids and husband. But I did want "some" kind of documentation here.

It was an amazing day. I feel so blessed. So taken care of.

I'm happy to share the events on a personal level just not on the internet ;)

In news that can be sharred more freely, I went up to Cache Valley to visit Sabina and her new home. Oh my, but I love that girl! Her yard is to die for and her house had amazing potential! It did my soul so much good to get my Sabina fix.

It must happen again sooner rather than later.

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T minus two days

In two days the Primary Election will be held on Sept. 13, 2011.

In two days eight candidates, competing for three seats, will be condensed to six. 

In two days we will know if we will be continuing on to the next phase of the City Council campaign or taking a brake.

In two days Kevin will get to relax from working so hard walking the street for hours after work and meeting the people (at least for a few days).

In two days we will have answers and information.

In two days, if you live in Centerville, PLEASE take some time to get out and vote!

Slow day

I could not shift gears today. I swear I could have napped all the live long day....

Which makes for a seriously boring blog post AND guilt for not getting more accomplished.

Four year old truths

Kevin and I were doing errands with the two little guys this afternoon as we passed the restaurant Applebees. Tennyson pointed out the restaurant and named it, to which Kevin said, "How do you know it's not Apple Qs?"

Without a single hesitation, and a slight tone of disbelief in his dad's lack of knowledge on the matter,  Tennyson answered, "Because I'm smart."

Blog smog

Too tired to blog about our awesome cat and how he lets Sanders pick him up and cart him around without getting upset. And how it makes Sanders feel SO big.

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Another first day

Tennyson officially started preschool for the year! Oh this little boy has been so, so, SO excited for today to come.

He finally got to wear his preschool shoes and couldn't wait to see Mrs. Karen again.

He goes to afternoon class with nearly everyone his age from our ward. That makes it a blast!

Sanders, on the other hand, was devastated that he was the only one who didn't get to go to school. And by devastated, I mean completely ticked off at me.

I'm just grateful Tennyson had such a wonderful time.

Crossing the threshold

Tennyson finally did it. He scored his very first goal tonight! Which, if you take into account the number of times he ran down the field watching his shadow instead of the ball, is pretty amazing.

Go Tennyson!

Ferb

We have an announcement!

We have added to our family!

Meet Ferb!!!

He is the newest addition to the living, eating, needing to be cleaned up after, beings that I have agreed to keep track of.

The kids are in love.

And so am I.

I told the kids we would get a cat when Sanders started walking. Well.....one year after that started, I've finally made good on my word. They had to earn him by being obedient and that took some doing.

He was born around mother's day to a neighbor of ours and is already accustomed to living outdoors. I just could not even entertain the idea of having one more mess making thing living inside. We are all happy with this arrangement.

It was very hard to name our new little friend. In the end we put three names on paper, Ferb, Phineas, and Baljeet, folded them up and had Beckham close his eyes and choose one. I was rooting for Baljeet, but Kevin says that Ferb is short for Furball.

Either way, we are very excited!!!

Difference between the two

We were watching Star Wars IV A New Hope. It was the intense battle scene when Luke and Han are trying to destroy the attacking ships as they are making their escape from the Death Star. Our boys, even the smallest one, were TOTALLY into the action of it all.

Amidst all the gun fire and explosion Karaia was seeing something completely different, we learned, as she turned to me and asked, "Mom, how did they do Leia's hair? It's really cool!"

And that's how you know there is a girl watching Star Wars with you.

What to say

Some days feel like a bunch of little days.

The morning was spent sleeping in (Thank you Kevin!) and then going to Sabina's daughter's (Talia) baptism with Karaia. It was a wonderful morning followed by a luncheon that most of my favorite friends attended.

Then we came home and I was so tired I needed another nap. Who knows why. Kevin got a ticket to the Real Salt Lake game and we figured a nap for getting to put the kids to bed by myself was a good trade.

After dinner Kevin left for the game and I took the kids to a few stores to make a care package for Nate and Brianna. They need all the love they can possibly get right now.

The kids went to bed well and I sat down and watch a weird 60s movie.

And now the day is gone and I feel restless and unproductive and as if I didn't spend enough time loving my children.

I'm going to have to send him down there more often

Sanders was displaying a rather cute smile in anticipation of a treat I had just offered him.

I commented," That's a cute smile!" And then teasing said, "Where did you get that smile?"

He looked me right in the eye and in all seriousness informed me, "Downstairs."

More soccer

Beckham started soccer tonight. He was in heaven. He scored 4 goals and told me he felt like that was the shortest game of his life.

Games are a lot more fun to watch when your kid is excited.