Friday, November 15, 2013

10- The Final Celebration

We had so much fun celebrating Caleb turning the big 10! For the actual day he wanted to do 3 things:
1. Take treats to his class
2. Go shopping for his gifts from Mom and Dad
3. Go to dinner at Applebees
Seemed like a pretty reasonable list to me so that's exactly what we did. He chose to take candy bars to everyone in his class and after picking him up from school we headed to Toys R Us for his first gift request: A new bike. This was also one of his "needs" as his current one was getting far to small and hard for him to ride, so as an added bonus Mom also let him pick out a new helmet. Time to shed that little boy Hot Wheels one he's been sporting, I mean he is 10 now!  Here's a pic with him and his new bike after we got home and Dad put it together for him. 
Then it was off for gift request #2. A trip to the new Lego store at the mall. He loved it and chose to fill a cup with random pieces he might need, a Lego Star Wars magnet and a new Lego Star Wars advent calendar to last him all the way up until Christmas.  And as an added bonus, when the Lego workers heard it was his Birthday, they all each wished him a happy birthday and one of them went in the back and let him choose a free character from his grab bag. He got Marty McFly from Back to the Future and was one happy kid. Here's some pics of him and his helpers filling his cup.



Then it was time for dinner. He chose the nearby Applebee's because he loves it when they sing to people on their birthday. So we made sure to let the waitress know and at the end of our yummy meal, they brought him out a strawberry sundae and the whole crew did their birthday song. He was so excited and a little embarrassed at the same time. It was too funny.
Then it was back home to put together the bike and do our nightly routines. What a great day and on the way home I got a big hug and a  "Thanks Mom, this has been the best Birthday ever!"  Made it all worth it.



Sunday, November 10, 2013

Game Time!

So after a night of slumber-partying and a morning at the zoo, we got to hang out with my friend Wes and his wife at the Utes game Saturday afternoon. It was so nice of them to invite us again this year. We so enjoy going to the games. We ended up losing by 1 lousy point, but it was still a great time. Here's some pics of the fun.









Zoo Morning!

The twins have been working hard at school and at home to earn a reward. Because our school year got off to a rough start, we started them a sticker chart and they've been earning small rewards as they go. But it was finally time for a big reward! They decided as a reward they wanted to go to the zoo. So after all the boys left from Caleb's slumber party, we set off for a morning at the zoo. The weather was so beautiful, it could not have been a more perfect day to go. We saw the animals, ate a picnic lunch and rode the carousel. Then it was a quick stop in the gift shop for a little souvenir. What a fun, fun morning.










P vs Z- A birthday/slumber Party.

Caleb's Birthday is coming up this week. This year we let him have his first ever friends only party. He chose to have a Plants vs. Zombies party so of course Mike and I went to work making the goods. Mike used his handy-work to make the invites, a banner, thank you notes for the candies and table tents and 2 liter wraps for the snacks.










 
So cute and even better that he saved us a ton of money by doing them ourselves.
 
Once it was party time, we had about 10 kids show up along with our 4. Some friends, some from school and a few from his football team. It was quite the crowd.  They played Plants vs. Zombies on the Xbox, ate pizza, opened presents an enjoyed some cupcakes then a few of the boys got to stay over night for Caleb's first slumber party.







He was so excited for all of his friends to come. Thanks to all the parents for bringing them. He had a blast and is excited to turn 10!   

Vegas Baby!

I got to do something I've never done before this last weekend. I got to go on a little road trip with just the girls ( my friends Amy and Beth) and hit Vegas. No kids, no boyfriends and no husbands. Just the girls out having fun and letting loose a little. It was seriously SO, SO, SO much fun. We went to see Thunder Down Under and of course the Shania Twain's concert. The we walked around and saw some sites, met a few new people, had some drinks and just enjoyed each other's company. We had such a good time and so many laughs. I already can't wait to do it again some time. Here's some pics of us together being silly and having fun.











I have loved Shania Twain since I was a teenager and was so excited to go see her again. I was really hoping she would come home with me and be my new BFF. But no, apparently she's happy where she is. I did buy her autobiography she wrote though to bring home with me and cherish forever. Can't wait to read it.

I'm thinking these trips need to come more often!

Thanks to Mike for letting me go and encouraging me to have fun and get a little wild while I was gone. You are the best husband ever. And thanks to my Dad and Step Mom for taking the kids for the weekend so Mike got a little break too. He got to spend his days watching movies and hanging with some buddies.....and relaxing in a nice, quiet house. His kind of weekend. Awesomeness all around.




Tuesday, November 05, 2013

~Our Halloween 2013~

Happy belated Halloween from the Village People. This year we were able to pull off another themed costume event. The kids were good sports (even if I had to talk the twins out of their superhero dreams). But here we are in all our glory.



I took the day off to help at the twins Halloween classroom party so I was able to dress Faith in her last Halloween outfit of the year (she had 4,I know I have a shopping problem and I'm ok with it).


After dropping her off at the babysitter's I went to the school and met Mike. We stayed and watched the costume parade. Here's a couple pics. One of the twins in line and one of C coming through the Kindergarten class.
 




 
I was in charge of the snack. I brought apple slices with caramel dip and mini brownies. The kids loved it. The party was fun then we ran home for a quick lunch and to get Faith and I into our costumes.
Once we were costumed up we ran back to the school to pick up C. This is what happened on the way.....


So after a Caleb pick up and a quick siesta we were ready for Halloween phase 2. We went to Dad's office and handed out some candy. Then we all went to Westminster to see some old co-workers (by request) and then on a whim we stopped to see a friend of mine at another SLCC campus.
Once we were back home, we made some mummy dogs and fries for dinner and set out trick or treating in the neighborhood. What a great day!

Carvin' Time

The night before Halloween we took the time to carve those pumpkins we picked out at the patch. We started off with a pumpkin shaped pizza of course and then went straight to work after dinner. The boys all loved it though Mike and I ended up doing most of the work. Caleb designed his own evil fish, the twins each wanted to do simple jackolaterns and told us what shapes to do, Faith wanted a "pincess" of course and I did a minion. In usual fashion, Mike's transformer outshined us all.