Madeline's Birthday

She came bounding up the stairs at 7.  It was a good early start since it was a school day.  It was weird for me to have her going to school on her birthday.  Ethan's always been off-track!  

 They got ready fast so we could enjoy Einstein Bagels for breakfast.  YUM!  And she opened a couple Beanie Boos.

 At the end of her school day, I took donuts into her class.  Boy did she ever think that was fun!  We went to Zupas for dinner and then had a little family party.

 She got golf clubs!

 And Nana made her the most beautiful dress to wear after her baptism next month!  And there's another beautiful dress for that day too.  Pictures of that won't come until February though!

 It was crazy and fun.  The day went really fast.  The party a blur.  I can't believe she's 8 now.

 No more booster.  She gets to go to achievement days!  And Women's Conference with me in the Spring.  Wow.  She's growing up fast!

Happy Birthday Madeline!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake!

This cake was really fun to make!  Chocolate cake with strawberry frosting covered in chocolate glaze.  I dipped the strawberries in chocolate too and decorated them and made the swirls with candy melts.  

 It was so delicious!  I think miss Madeline liked it too!

Mmmmmmmmmm!

8 Year Old Madeline!

Happy Birthday Madeline!

Happy Birthday Madeline.  I can't believe you're 8 today.  You have grown up so much!

 You play the piano so beautifully.  You read your scriptures every day.  You care for and love and play with your brothers.  You love when our house is happy and peaceful.  You love doing what is right.  You share.  You are creative.  You design and invent and imagine the most wonderful things.

You work hard.  You always try your best.  You are daring.  You love rollerblading!  I love how you love pink and sparkles and fancy and beautiful things.  You are beautiful.  And the most beautiful thing about you is your heart.

Happy Birthday.  I love you forever.

Jedi Training

Ethan and I had a blast at his school's mother and son activity.  It was Jedi Training!

Ethan's best friend was there with his mom.  She's one of my best friends too so it made the evening even more fun.  Here are the boys in battle.

 I battled Ethan too.

FRIENDS!

The most epic battle though, was when Ethan took on Darth Vader.  He rocked it!

 And yes, we went and got donuts after!

 I really love one-on-one time with Ethan.  It's really good for us.

14 Months Old

 14 months old and the cuteness factor is heading for off the charts.  I love this age.  You finally get to see personality coming through.  And Mr. O has a really cute one.

 He likes standing.  And when I say standing, I mean the act of standing.  He could sit stand sit stand sit stand all day long.  He loves it!  He's starting to cruise along the couch and he loves walking around the house holding on to me.  He's still not in a rush to grow up.  Phew!  He loves hot wheels.  He loves banging things with his wooden hammer.  He pulls cute sniffing faces and says "mama" and "dada" a lot now.

 But I think his favorite pastime is eating.  For real.  This kid can pack it in.  Today for lunch he had a whole pb&j, strawberries, banana, pears, veggie melts, and a whole lot of milk!  More than his three year old brother for sure!  His other favorite pastime is trying to pull out my earrings.

He thinks his siblings are pretty funny.  He's still super content to scoot around on his bum too.  He still hates crinkly sounds, like plastic sacks.  He loves tub time.  Loves sucking and chewing on his sleep sack.  He's pretty good at grinning at people at church.  He loves clapping.  And waves like a champion.

Busy busy busy.

I so love my Oliver.

2016!

I'm excited to start a new year.  I'm excited for the adventures I'll have with my family in 2016.  Our theme this year is:

RELAX.

I think it's easy for all of us to be a little uptight at times.  Things that aren't big deals seem really big and they shouldn't!   If we all can try to relax a bit and take a deep breath, I think we will see that things are pretty darn good.  And we'll see that we are really all on the same team, doing our best together.

My other theme:  Care more about people.  Care less about things.

I have no idea what will be in store for my family this year.  What I'll experience.  How I'll grow.  But I hope I grow closer to my family, closer to the Lord, and become a little better.

And maybe, just maybe, I'll learn how to RELAX.  Now that would be an accomplishment for sure!