Hannah's Birthday/Easter

I hate to admit it, but... 

I fell for the comercialism of Easter... and succomed to the business of life (it was one CRAZY weekend!)...

and totally dropped the ball on teaching the girls why we really celebrate Easter.

I'm pretty ashamed of myself, really!

It is VERY important to me that my kids understand the true meaning of Christmas!

And I strive to find the appropriate balance between Christ and Santa Claus!

But I didn't even think twice about teaching them about Easter and how special it is.

I truly am grateful for Christ and for all that He did for us.

And next year.... I'm going to let the girls know!

Anyways, so now you know what I DIDN'T do...

Here's what we did!

With Hannah's Birthday and Easter being just one day apart,

I decided to combine the two and celebrate with one big SHA-BANG!

I had ideas about Hannah's party swimming around in my brain for months.

One day while brainstorming with my mom, she threw out the idea of making chocolate suckers. 

She said that Hannah could come and help make chocolate flowers as decorations for the party.

Hannah was IMMEDIATELY hooked on the idea and thrilled to help 

 For, LITERALLY, two months she called my mom atleast 4 times a week to remind her of the plans.

To say she could hardly wait would be a HUGE understatement!

My mom and I decided that Thursday would be the day.

I dropped her off after preschool and she and grandma went to town making sucker flowers.

A few hours later we checked up on them.

Hannah loved EVERY minute and was proud to show us what she had learned about the art of sucker making!

She took the job of air-bubble removal very seriously!

As well as checking the chocolates in the freezer!

Grandma, Hannah, and their creations!

Thanks again Mom!

Easter Morning:

The plan was to have the Easter Bunny bring the girls new (and) matching Easter dresses and Sam a new shirt and tie.

I ordered the dresses off of Zulily the end of March with (what I thought was) plenty of time to spare,

crossed Easter Baskets off my to do list, and gave them no more thought.

Well, friday came and I recieved an e-mail saying that a dress from my order had been cancelled....

Say what!?

They apologized for the inconvenience, refunded my money, and gave me a $10 credit. Yipee!

Had I not been so set (and dang excited) on having the girls and Sam match, it wouldn't have bothered me so much...

But gosh dang it, I was disspointed and maybe a wee bit angry.

Turns out, for whatever reason, they sent Abby's, cancelled Hannah's, and have yet to ship Lucy's.

Anyways, I soon calmed down and came up with plan B for the baskets and thankfully had a day to regroup.

Here's what they ended up getting.

I gave each girl a notebook, some fun pens, post-it notes, and tic-tacs to put in their church bags. 

The shoes were suppose to go with the dresses, but I threw them in anyways

The older girls got their own copies of the Book of Mormon,

and Sam got a new shirt and a tie I made (to match the girls dresses!).

Despite my dissapointment with no dresses,

the girls were thrilled with their treasures, and Sam looked oh so handsome in his tie.

We then went to church!

I'm sure the messages given during Sacrament Meeting were good.

And I'm hoping my point got across during sharing time of how important families are and how grateful I am for Christ, His Atonement and Ressurection, that makes it possible for us to be with our families forever...

but who knows! 

We then came home... and attempted this family picture! 

It gives you a little hint as to how our Sunday went.

(And PS. the dress Abby is wearing is the one ALL the girls should have been wearing!  Stupid Zulily!)

I finally gave up on getting a good one...and sent a few grumpies to bed.

Abby and I then finished our food preparation and set up for the party.  She is such good help.

Most of the family came over for dinner.

We served the traditional feast of Ham, funeral potatoes, green salad, and so forth.

Everything tasted delicious!

I had every intention to dye eggs with the girls BEFORE Easter, but it just didn't happen.

So the after dinner activity was dying eggs.

Sure, we now have 24 hard-boiled eggs to eat up ourselves, but it's all for the experience, right!?

Anyways, at this point Hannah could hardly contain herself... she wanted to open up her presents SO bad!

She was a good sport though and humored me for a picture of her and her cupcake

And just in case your wondering if Hannah has any other shirt, I assure you she does.

Shes just the girl who finds something she loves and wears it EVERY. SINGLE. DAY!

I wasn't going to fight it on her birthday!  Silly girl!

I LOVE this reaction...

The reaction was to this....

It's amazing how much happiness can come from a silly pink scarf.

Hannah pretty much got everything she wanted and then some.

She's as happy as lark with just a pink scarf and some lip gloss.

But she was seriously spoiled rotten by everyone who loves her.

A big thanks to everyone for making Hannah's Birthday so special.

Happy Birthday Sweet Hannah 

We love you to the moon and back!

Sammy!

Mr. Sammy turned 6 months old!

(Ugh, I seriously despise how fast these little ones grow up!)

*Warning: MAJOR Sam overload

(*Totally off the subject of Sam - but definitely one of the reasons behind this post)  I have recently come across a couple of blogs whose authors have experienced some very tragic events in their lives (one's husband was murdered and the other's daughter accidently drowned).  Despite these huge trials they have continued to stay positive in their lives and remained faithful to their beliefs (both are member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints).  Reading their stories has been an inspiration to me in so many ways.  They are both such incredibly strong and amazing women!  Anyways, many times throughout their posts, both have suggested enjoying EVERY moment with your loved ones, because you never know when it will be the last moment with them (a great reminder of the resolution I made this year). Along with that, Ashley (the one whose daughter drowned) has also inspired me to be better at documenting our life, big things AND small ...for memory sake. 

So, long story short, here's me documenting some favorite memories of one of my favoritest people EVER!

First off Sam's Measurements

Weight - 17 lbs 12 oz.  (53%) - 2nd heaviest compared with the girls - Lucy was #1

Height - 26.5 in. (51%) - Dead last compared to the girls!

In conclusion, I've got a SHORT and SQUISHY baby boy!

And then a little bit about Sammer Jammer that I want to remember... FOREVER!!!

Sam is such a GOOD baby!  Super easy going and content!  I love it!

He has three big sisters who ADORE him, and for the most part he tolerates their constant need to cuddle.

HOWEVER, sometimes a man just needs his space... and at that point... he does a pretty good job at letting them know.

I seriously smother him in about a MILLION kisses a day.  His cheeks are simply irresistible!

He LOVES bathtime, although he doesn't get it as much as he would like.  Its the fourth kid thing, I think!

He's rolling ALL over the place.  Both ways. (It took him a while to roll over to the left)

And he has recently learned to twist his way around and scoot backwards... the total opposite way he would like to go!

But the day he starts moving forward is coming real soon.... and then I think we will be in a bit of trouble.

Sammer is such a wiggle worm!  Sitting still on my lap is a rare occasion.

He's just always loved to stand up!

So his best friends are the jumper and the excersaucer.

Sam is constantly chewing on anything and EVERYTHING he can get his chubby little hands on.

He will seriously eat your face off if you get it close enough.

But his toes are his FAVORITE chew toys.

I haven't started Sam on solid foods yet.

I'm excited to start and yet dreading it all at the same time.  (is that even possible?)

He seems content and can go quite awhile between feedings (wakes up only once during the night!)

so I haven't been in any hurry, but we will have to start soon....ish!

This is a typical sight for Sammy.  Spit up stains and drool are his trademark!

He is definitely more vocal than the girls (at least that I can remember).

He loves to sing and screech and spit and smile.

We go back and forth calling him Smiley Sam and Screecher Sam.

I ABSOLUTELY love to listen to him talk and coo!  Even at 2am!

It is so easy to make Sammer giggle (he's ticklish in all the squishy places) and his laugh is SUPER DUPER contagious!

Although, the poor guy always ends up with some painful sounding hiccups.  Sorry Buddy!

All in all, he's adorable and I LOVE him!

The End!!



Dear Sammer,

        I'll be the first to admit that I was really, REALLY nervous and a tad bid disappointed when I found out I was having a boy.  It was nothing personal buddy, I just hadn't met you yet.  I was comfortable having all girls and I just kept thinking how much easier it would be.  I can honestly say now THANK GOODNESS Heavenly Father is in charge and not me!  HE knew that once I did meet you I would understand how much I needed you, and that I truly could love you the way I was suppose to.  I am so grateful that he trusted me enough to send your sweet spirit to our family.  All the worries and doubts about having a boy vanished the second the doctor's let me hold you.  And at that point I knew I was in LOVE.  Sam, you immediately brought so much joy and happiness into my world and our family.  Happiness, that I didn't even know was missing.  And you've been bringing it ever since, kiddo. 
        Sammy you definitely have this momma wrapped around your chubby little finger and I hope and pray that we will stay best buds FOREVER!  Thanks for being such a happy and sweet little boy.  I LOVE you more than words could describe.  Happy 6 months sweet boy!

Love, Momma

Feel Great in 8 Challenge

I start this today!

More info HERE

Here's to a happier, healthier (and hopefully a little lighter) ME!

Wish me luck!

Feeding the Ducks

We had a fairly warm day and a bunch of leftover waffles and dry bread, so we decided to go feed the ducks!

The girls have been dying to get out of the house!

It must have been a LONG winter for all us.  These ducks wouldn't even move!

We wondered if they were sitting on some eggs?

And this guy was just LAZY!!!

We were nearly frozen by the end of our little outing, the good old spring wind cuts right through you!

but it was great to see the sun shining and get a bit of fresh air!

Dear Spring, if you just come a little quicker and STAY, we sure would LOVE it!

Sincerely, A couped up momma and her four little kidlets

Grandpa Broc's Graduation!

My dad, after 40 years of being self-employed and his own boss, got a job!

A real, set schedule, consistent paycheck, full-benefits kind of JOB.

(Random, I know, but insurance costs were killing my parents pocketbook.)

He will be working at the St. Anthony Work Camp, guarding prisoners as they do various jobs around the area.

I know he'll do great! 

(His beard has always had that distinguished yet dont mess kind of look, am I right?!)

Anyways, "the job" required some pretty instense police training at the Idaho State Police Academy in Boise.

After four grueling weeks of studying, training, testing and even getting beat up and pepper sprayed, he "graduated".

We were so proud of him and his accomplishment that we decided to attend his graduation.

We headed over a few days early to do some shopping!  I forget how deprived we are over here!
We met up with my dad each night for dinner!

 After dinner the girls and I would then head over to Tyler and Rachel house to play.

Abby and Emma

Jack and Sam

All the cute little kiddos!

Friday was the big graduation day!

We met up with dad at the Idaho State Police Training Academy.

 It was a short and sweet graduation ceremony.  Would you expect anything else?

My favorite part was when they told them that they were never too good to be gentleman and ladies!

The graduates were then "sworn in", promising to... in a nutshell...

 Afterwards they received their diplomas (is that what you would call it?) and badges!

 And then presented to the audience!

  His (and hers) #1 Fan!!!

 We are so proud of Grandpa and for all of his hard work!

 After the graduation we took to the car and headed home!

Such a fun little get-a-way!