Hair Bows

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but I am having sooo much fun with a little girl in the house! I have made bracelets and headbands for years for friends and family and it is so fun to finally be able to make them for one of my own! I got the hang of making the flower headbands, but could never quite get the bows right, so when we went to Utah a couple of weeks ago, I went to the Quilted Bear and paid $8.00 for the headband above. After looking at it-I thought to myself-these can't be that hard to make. So I gave it a try...

and here they are! I thought they turned out so cute! No longer will I have to pay $8.00 for a headband, when they cost less than half that to make. I did buy the actual strecthy headband stuff online-I haven't been able to find it in the stores-if anyone out there has seen it or knows where you can't get it, let me know.

Happy Birthday Wade!

On Monday we celebrated Wade's 30th birthday! He was able to get the night off from work, so that was a nice treat for both him and myself! We started the day off with opening presents (because the boys couldn't stand to wait), then we went out to Boulder City and had some dinner and finished the evening off at one of our favorite parks! We took the kids to feed the ducks, rides bikes on the ramps and played at the playground. It is such a beautiful park and the weather was so nice (because it was overcast, it was actually tolerable to spend almost 2 hours at the park)! Then we came home and had some yummy Coldstone birthday cake. Wade, we had a fun day celebrating your birthday with you and we want you to know how much we love you and think that you are the world's greatest Dad and Hubby-Happy Birthday from all of us!

Too Big For Her Britches!

Hannah is way too big for her britches and is growing up way too fast-I know I say this alot, but it is true! Last Sunday she turned 5 months old and on Monday as we were eating dinner, she was in her bumbo and kept arching herself to try and reach my cup. So I put the straw up to her mouth thinking she will just try to bite on it, but she sucked the water right up, like she had sucked out of a straw a million times before. I couldn't believe it! I remember with the boys I would sit there with them and make myself look like a goofball trying to teach them how to suck out of a straw. I can't remember exactly how old they were, but definately older than 5 months.

Then about 2 weeks ago I was sitting on the floor with her and had her sitting up playing with toys and she seemed to do pretty well, she tipped over a few times, but I thought for a first-timer she did great. So I kept at it everyday and now she is a little pro and can I just say my world has changed! The girl LOVES to be held, and would cry almost instantly when we put her down, but now that she can sit up, play with toys and see what is going on in our little world, she seems to be cool with not being in our arms all the time. It is so fun to watch her learn and grow, but sometimes I wish I could stop time in it's tracks and keep her little forever.

4th of July Week In Utah!

The week of the 4th we were fortunate enough to spend the week up in the beautiful mountains of Utah with Wade's family. Wade's parents rented a huge cabin (8 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, hot tub, pool table, foosball table, built-in home theatre room, flat screen t.v.'s, the list goes on) for the whole family. Everyone was able to be there at some point during the week and we were able to do lots of fun things with everyone! Wade and I got there Monday evening and just hung out and checked out this emaculate cabin. (I am still in shock that something this nice was out in the middle of nowhere-but I guess that's what happens when you have too much money-we'll never know what thats like!) Then on Tuesday we spent the day in Park City at the outlets with Wade's sister, husband and 4 kids (you can imagine how much fun it was to take 7 kids shopping). Wade and Geoff were nice enough though to let the kids play at the playground there, while Monica and I shopped-Thank You! Then on Wednesday we drove a little further north to spend the day at Lagoon. We went there last summer, but it was much more fun this time around to have cousins to go on rides with! The kids had a blast and Wade and I actually got to ride some rides together-usually we either ride alone or don't ride at all-so that was really nice. On Thursday we woke up and got the kids dressed in their cute 4th of July clothes Grandma bought them and attempted pictures, some of them turned out really cute, I didn't get too many of my kids because Mason decided to be a little stinker and throw a fit through the whole ordeal and then afterwards told me he hates taking pictures-I wonder where he gets that from-maybe his Dad? Then we took the kids to a pool in Park City that had a slide and a little whirlpool, again the kids had sooo much fun together and talked all the way back up the mountain about how they wanted to go back again tomorrow! On the 4th, we kind of all just hung out. The boys went on Rhino rides, the kids got in the hot tub, painted t-shirts, provided by Aunt Gerilyn (thank you, that was fun!), and my sister-in-law, Lara, and I played cards for about 2 hours and when we finally decided to quit, realized that we had been playing the game wrong the whole time-oh well, it was fun anyway! That night Wade's parents barbecued some yummy steaks and then we headed back down the mountain to watch some fireworks in Heber! We all had a good time and as we were packing up Saturday morning to head back to the heat, Jakob asked if we were going to do this every July-he had sooo much fun spending the week with his cousins! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for everything-it was fun!

It's A Jungle In There!!!

Mason and his imagination have gone to the wild! A couple of months ago we had a bear living in the closet of the boys room. Every night, for about a month, Mason didn't want to go to bed because of this bear. So Wade and I would have to make sure and tell the bear every night to go back to his home in the forest and then make sure that the closet doors where shut all the way. Sometimes that bear just didn't want to listen and would wake Mason up in the night and make him cry-he would get so scared he wouldn't even get out of his bed and come in our room. So finally, Wade had to get mean with the bear and tell him if he didn't go back to the forest he was going have to get his rifle out and that was enough to scare the bear away and we haven't heard from him since!

Then earlier this week, I woke up in the middle of the night to Mason tugging at my arm. I asked him what was wrong and he told me there was a mouse in his bed! At first this alarmed me and caused me to sit straight up and think, "What am I going to do-Wade is at work and I am TERRIFIED of rodents?" Then I remembered quickly who I was talking to-Mason and his imagination. So I said it's okay, just get in bed with me. When Wade got home from work that morning he carried Mason back to his own bed and as Wade was going to lay him down, he woke up out of a dead sleep and told Wade there is a mouse in here. Wade quickly came to the rescue again and told Mason that he squished the mouse and put him in the garbage. That satisfied Mason enough and he fell back asleep and later that morning after he woke up and we where having breakfast and talking about this darn mouse that kept everyone awake in the night, he went as far as to tell me that the mouse bit him on the tummy and even showed me where (there was really nothing there) and told me that he also bit Jakob on the back of his knee (there was nothing there either). So to get back at that mouse, he told me that he squeezed him really hard (while telling me, he was also showing me with his hands how he did it) and told the mouse to go to sleep. Mason told me he was a nice mouse, but was glad that Daddy put him in the garbage! Little does he know-Mommy was glad too! Who knows what is going to be next in our secret jungle, but whatever it may be, lets hope it's like the mouse, a one night only occurrance, because that bear hung around for way too many nights!

Jakob loves, loves, loves gum! The other day at the store he asked if he could get some Hubba Bubba and I was feeling nice, so I said sure. He couldn't wait to pop a piece in his mouth and of course Mason had to have some too, so I shared a piece with him. When you chew Hubba Bubba, you can't help but blow bubbles, right? Jakob just keep staring at me and trying to pop my bubbles, so I told him to try to blow his own bubble and tried my best to show him how to do it. To my surpise and even more to his, he got it! He was so excited and for the next 3 or 4 days, (until the gum was gone) he would wake up and want to hurry and eat breakfast (very unlike him) so he could have a piece of gum! The simple joys of childhood!

Blogging Around The World

Most of you know that my mom is from Germany and most of her siblings and their kids still live there. I have been keeping in touch with my cousin, Bettina, through e-mail and she has my blog address, as well as my sister-in-laws, and keeps in touch with all of us that way and loves to see pictures of our families. Last week I thought to myself, I would love to see more pictures of her family and keep in touch with her on a more regular basis and what better way than blogging! So I sent her an e-mail and gave her the blogger website and asked her to try setting up a blog-I wasn't sure how it would work. So she gave it a try and it worked! It's really cool because everything is in German. If you would like to check it out, go to www.bettinafamily.blogspot.com. I am so excited to be able to keep in touch with my family who is halfway around the world-isn't technology a wonderful thing? Thanks again Bettina!