Happy Birthday Halle

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HALLE!!!!!

I can't believe that my baby girl is 7 today. Where has the time gone? I'm amazed that 7 years ago today she was placed in my arms. This beautiful baby girl. I remember being terrified that this little person was dependent totally and completely on me and on Kyle. Wow what a responsibility. We are so lucky to have Halle. She is the most amazing special little girl. She brings us so much happiness and joy it is wonderful. I love that little girl more today than I ever thought possible. Here are some things about Halle that I love:
1. Halle is so kind. She truly loves those around her. She is always looking for ways to help other people. She wants to help anyone who looks like they need it.
2. Halle is so artistic. She loves to create pictures and drawings. She is always making me something new and so creative.
3. Halle loves music. She practices her piano diligently everyday and loves learning new songs and concepts.
4. Halle is so smart. This has been a big year for school and boy has she learned a lot. My favorite thing is hearing her read. She reads every chance that she gets. She now is hoping to find a flashlight so that she can read in bed after I turn out the lights.
5. Halle has a beautiful smile that lights up a room.
6. Halle is such a girly girl. She would wear a dress everyday if she could even when it is 30 below and blizzarding outside.
7. Halle loves gardening. She is always planning what we will grow and is constantly reading books about how to grow vegetables and flowers and anything else that she can think of.

Those are just a few of the things that I love about Halle. What a special day.

In honor of Halle's birthday we had a party today. I was so stressed out about a party for a bunch of girls but it actually worked out really well. The girls had an absolute blast and were hilarious to watch and listen to. Halle wanted to have a flower party so we did a bunch of flower related things. She really wanted a flower cake so here is my attempt at a sunflower cake. Someday I am going to take some cake decorating classes so that they turn out better but regardless of the amateur attempt she loved it.

My sunflower cake. The funniest part was the girls couldn't understand that I had made it. One of the girls kept saying " YOU made it. I thought cakes come out of the Safeway book" they were so cute.


The girls painted terracotta flower pots. They kind of got a little crazy with the paint but they really made some pretty pots. Here they are painting away.


They also made gardening visors. Here they all are wearing their newly decorated visors. they were so proud of the way they decorated them. They kept telling me how much they liked art. One of the girls told me that art is her favorite thing because it only has one rule. When I asked what the rule is she said ( with the hugest grin on her face) You just have to have fun!! What a smart kid. They had so much fun.


Here they all are while Halle was opening her gifts. Have you all heard of Web...ki..nz( Sorry I don't want that to be picked up on google or anything)? They are all the rage with Halle and her friends. She got 4 from her friends and 1 from Grannie and one from us. She was over the moon. I'll post another picture later of all of the WEbKi...NZ. They are such a funny group.



One last picture of them after blowing out the candles. All in all I think it was a success. Lots of dancing and fun had by all. I am exhausted and ready for bed but it was worth all the work to see our little girl so happy and feeling so special. talk to you soon.

Ponderings

Spring break is just about over and between you and me it's been a really long week. I think that I have been having a confidence crisis in my parenting abilities. I've been really feeling like I am not up to the challenge of raising these kids in a way that they deserve. Has that ever happened to any of you. I'm not sure what has brought it on but it's been tough. I've decided that a lot of it is my own fault. I think that I put way too much pressure on myself to be perfect. if my house isn't always tidy I feel like I have failes. If my kids fight I feel like I have failed. If I don't get through my daily To-Do list I feel like I have failed and on and on it goes. So here's what I've decided.... I'm not perfect and I don't think that I'm going to attain perfection in the near future. WOW what an awakening, I know you are all laughing out there because anyone who knows me knows that I am probably farther from being perfect than everyone else you know. I never thought of myself as close to perfect but the EXPECTATION I put on myself are killing me. So here's the plan. I am not going to aim low but I am going to try to be more realistic. No one is going to die if I can't keep everything tidy every minute of every day. However I think my kids will appreciate the extra time I can devote to them if I stop striving for always being perfect because in reality are they going to remember how clean their house always was or are they going to remember that their mom played with them, taught them and had fun with them. I don't want them to think back and remember me as always being grouchy and too busy cleaning or having a nervous breakdown to spend quality time with them. I think I need to make a sign for my door that says. If you enter this house between the hours of 8am and 8pm please ignore the mess I'm busy trying to be a better mom, or something to that effect. I'm sorry you all had to wade through my weird rantings but I just had to get this out of my brain. I don't want to always be stressed out. I definitely want to be perfect but I'm willing to work at it for the rest of this lifetime. Thanks for the listening ear. Enjoy your day. Talk to you soon

Memory Monday

I know that I am once again late for memory Monday but here goes. This weeks question is:

WHAT MOVIES CAN YOU WATCH OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN?
This one I have to think about. I really love musicals. I could watch the Sound of Music again and again. I also love Pride and Prejudice ( both the BBC version and the new Kiera Knightley version). Hmmmmmm...embarrasingly enough I love High School Musical. Sometimes I make Halle watch it just because I want to ( who knew I was such a geek). I also really love the original 3 Star Wars movies. I'm a sucker for romance and a happy ending. I think that Enchanted may also become a favorite. You just can't go wrong when a fairy tale comes to life. Oh yeah I really love Mary Poppins too. I think I am stuck mentally at age 9

It's funny doing these Memory Monday's has really shown me how much of a sappy romantic I really am. Kyle if you're reading this take the hint. I need more romnace in my life!!! I love you. Tlak to you soon.

Fun Stuff

Here are just some fun pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Halle and Brady are passionate about Uno it's great that they are able to play together if I have to get something done. It's so fun to play with them. They get vicious with all the plus 2's and 4's. It's hilarions to watch them try to gang up on Kyle and myself when we play together.


Adam has always loved his bathtime in the tub so the other day when Kyle was doing the dishes we thought we would let Adam play in the water in the sink. He was in heaven. He splashed and played for so long. Now anytime he sees the sink he figures he should play in the water.


One day last week I took the kids to Mcdonald's (my least favorite place on the planet). In the kids meals they were givng dressup stuff. Brady got this pirate bandanna but it fit Adam better. He looked hilarious as our little pirate.


One last picture, Adam looked so funny in these silly foam glasses that I had to include. Hope you enjoy the pictures. Talk to you soon.

Candle

This is my new favorite thing. When Kyle and I went to the home and garden trade show I had to stop at the Salt City Candle booth. I had to buy a new pomegranate candle but I also decided to try a new one. This is a rootbeer scented candle and let me just tell you. It is the best thing I've smelled in a long time. I love the way it makes my house smell. If you ever get the chance you've got to try it. Talk to you soon

Adam's Easter

Adam enjoyed his first Easter. It was quite comical. Kyle was in the living room with Adam while he was playing on the floor. I walked in to see my sweet 8.5 month old son eating a mini chocolate bar through the wrapper looking like he was foaming chocolate from the mouth. It was hilarious. He was so mad at us when we took it away. these pictures are priceless.


Adam definitely enjoyed he first taste of Easter chocolate. Hopefully he doesn't become a chocoholic like his brother.

Adam also has discovered a favorite new toy. While the kids decorated their buckets he sat on the floor and had a blast banging on a metal bowl with my wooden spoon. I think I've created a monster and quite possibly lose my sanity from the incessant banging. Why can't he just play with baby toys like normal babies? He loves the remote control, the phone, and now spoons and bowls. Who knew?

I know that I've posted pictures of Adam in his swing but I had to post another one because he loves it so much. This is what he did while the kids hunted their Easter eggs in the backyard. Talk to you later.

Easter Fun

Easter has come and gone and boy did we have fun. It was a great weekend with, amazingly enough, no fighting. The kids had a blast doing all sorts of fun Easter stuff.We made easter cookies( Thank-you Pillsbury). Brady saw the package when we were grocery shopping and had to have the special easter chocolate chip cookies. They weren't as good as homemade but they worked for the kids.

Halle thought she should pose with the cookies.

This year instead of Easter baskets we decided to help the big bunny out by decorating our own buckets (thank-you for the great idea Tonya). I can't believe how much the kids loved it. They took the idea and ran with it. Halle decided that hers should look like a bunny so of course Brady's also had to look like a bunny as well.


Halle with her bunny bucket.



Brady and his bunny bucket with it's millions of stickers eating one of his special easter cookies. He loves any cookie.




The kids decorating their buckets. They must have sat doing that for almost an hour. It was amazing that it held their attention for so long with no fighting. They are going to have to decorate things more often.



We also hunted eggs on the backyard. The kids thought life couldn't get much better. Brady ate so much chocolate I thought that he would be stuck on those steps forever. What cute kids we have. It was quiet to be home by ourselves for Easter this year but in a way it was relaxing. We missed seeing family and enjoying a traditional Easter dinner but Kyle loved BBQing steaks after church on Sunday instead. Hope you all enjoyed your Easter. Talk to you soon