The After Party and 4 Year Checkup

It's still 4 year old central at our house. And since it's been spring break and we've been home every day we've had plenty of time to play. We still have a table full of pirate attire that's get used daily and are talking about being 4. If you ask Zaric if he's 4 he will tell you, "yes I blew out the candle". It cracks us up. They are also having fun playing with their new toys and with big brother and of course big brother is also having fun. Here's a few pics of the last few days at our house.

Each of the boys got some new headphones to keep the noise from their games and music. Caleb was so nice to share his music and his tech decks with his baby sister.

This picture makes me proud. It's my "just like Daddy" picture. All 3 boys at the counter with their games and headphones on.

The twins love boots of any kind. Papa Ringo and Grandma Judi hooked them up with some new cowboy boots.

Zaric is especially fond of his and has had to wear them out a couple times. Once to dinner and once to the store with Mom.

And Zaden broke out Caleb's old stick horse last night to play cowboy with his boots on.

We had their well-child visits this week as well. Zaden is taller than Zaric by half an inch but Zaric outweighs Zaden by nearly 2 lbs! We don't know where he puts it. The Dr. was a little concerned with Zaden's weight since he's off the charts in the low category for his age, but since we know he eats like crazy, we aren't too worried about it right now. Zaden also has a little bit of an ear infection but the Dr. didn't want to treat it yet. So he's been a little sick and sleeping a ton this week.

The mail this week has continued to bring them cards and gifts from far away family members and some "dollars" as they call money for a fun shopping trip soon. I can't believe my little boys are already 4 years old! It has been a crazy and trying ride to have twins and there are days that we aren't even sure how we survived. But we did and couldn't imagine our lives any other way. We love these boys and are so happy to have them in our lives. Here's to the next 4 years and 4 after that and another 4 and another.

Pirate Paaaaaaarty

The twins will be 4 this Wednesday! We kicked off the celebration by throwing them a pirate-themed party yesterday here at the house. They are super into dressing up and into pirates these days so it was perfect. They were most excited for Pirate Cake though and have been asking for it for weeks.
We started off by having the kids do a little treasure hunt with clues I made up. At each checkpoint, they got one piece of their pirate attire.
Step 1 : Eye patches and earrings
Step 2: Hats
Step 3: Flags
Step 4: Hooks
Step 5: Swords
and the last step led them into the garage where I had our antique steamer trunk set up as a pirate chest inside were their loot bags. In the loot bags they each got a couple of necklaces, a toy telescope, chocolate coins, toy coins, a toy pirate and a pirate eraser.

After the hunt we did present time where they each got leap pads and games, some pirate dress up costumes, some movies, Ninjago lego's, some water canteens for camping, some toy instruments, headphones and some spiffy new cowboy boots from Papa.

Then it was finally time for cake. They both took turns blowing out their candles which was nice and we had cake and ice cream.

It was such a beautiful day that we just then unleashed the kids and let them run outside and play on the trampoline and swingset and the twins pirate play tent we had set up out there as one of the checkpoints for the hunt.

It was a short, but nice little party. Thanks to everyone that came to help us celebrate. They loved it and are still playing pirates this morning and playing with all their new goodies. Below is a slideshow of some of the fun pics.

Pirate party small - slideshow dvd

St. Patrick's Parade

This year we decided to accept the invitation and walk in the St. Patrick's Day parade at the Gateway with the Salt Lake Mother's of Twins, so we got up early and got the kids ready and headed downtown to find parking and beat the traffic. We got there pretty early and took a bit to walk to the starting line and find the group. Once we did though we were set and had fun just hanging out and waiting. Then once it was our turn off we went walking and waving to people. They wouldn't let us throw candy...booo! Mike pulled the wagon with the twins, I pushed Faith in her stroller and Caleb rode his scooter. Zaric had a bit of a rough time in the middle and had to be carried for a ways but overall I think they enjoyed it.

After the parade when we finally got back to our cars, we decided to use up a groupon I had and went to NYPD pizza for lunch. Then it was back home for a while to relax before we headed out to take the kids to see The Lorax. Then it was back home again for some Green Eggs and Ham for dinner and the kids all wanted green milk with it. It's wasn't a perfect day for sure and we had many fits along the way but it was pretty darn good.

Spring Park Trip

After I left work today, I couldn't help but notice what a beautiful day it was outside so after I picked up all the kids we came home and called Daddy and asked him to come home and play with us. It was time to knock on of those items off the seasonal bucket list: Play at the Park. As you can see from the many pics, it was a huge success and just what we needed. The kids all loved it and Faith discovered sand and sticks. She was pretty excited and curious about both of those. It was a nice outing and I hope we can do it again soon.

6 Months!

It happened and much too fast! Miss Faith is 6 months old. That's half a year old! How can that be? She's so much fun and most of the time a very happy and active baby. She loves to grab things and sitting on her own. She also thinks her brothers hung the moon and loves watching them run around and play but loves it most of all when their attention is on her.
She weighed in at her appt today at 15 lbs 5 oz and was 25.5 inches long. She was super good at the appt and thought the paper on the exam table was the best new toy ever and played and played with it until she ripped it to shreds. She was only mad for a short time after her shots and we don't have to go back until 9 months now! So no more shots for at least 3 months. Whew!

Most of you have seen these pics on Facebook recently. But I love them so much I just had to share them here too.

We can't get enough of this baby girl, even on the crabbiest of days, which yes she does have .......occasionally.

New Nephew Shower

My sister Tracey is having a baby! In about a month I will have a new nephew to love and spoil. We spent this weekend giving her a shower in Price. But first of course, we planned and created. She loves frogs so we went with a frog theme and Mike helped me make these cute invites.

And water-bottle wraps

And I made a couple of these topiaries

We had a cousin of ours make cupcakes and I made cupcake pics to put in them.

At the shower we munch on a yummy lunch of soup and salad. Then played one game. It was a stumper.

Then it was time to see all the tiny goodies for this baby boy.

I think she made quite the haul and this is going to be one stylish little dude.

This is Why!

When I tell people that my child can speak Chinese and that half of his everyday curriculum is taught in it, I often get weird looks. On numerous occasions, I have been asked, "why?" They don't seem to get this little blond haired, white kid that speaks Chinese because he doesn't fit some sort of mold. I am so glad he's a part of this program and I highly recommend it to other families.The video is kinda lengthy and although Caleb isn't in this one, we did spot his current teacher and some of his class mates.

If you are interested to see what Utah is doing with this program (did I mention they are on the forefront of a National movement?) take a look.

Twins- Then and Now

THEN

NOW

I started the daunting task of going through dressers and closets this weekend to start getting rid of the clothes the kids have grown out of and making a list of what they need when we came across these hats from 2009 when they were mushrooms for Mike's 30th Bday party. They were so thrilled and have been wearing them almost constantly the last 2 days. I was so glad I decided to take a pic of them together tonight. My how they've grown!

Bucket O' Seasons

This year we want to make sure to get in lots of family activities so on one of my crafting weekends, we did a variation of the "bucket list" ideas ala Pinterest and made us a seasonal bucket list of all of the stuff we want to get done in each season. Some of the stuff are things we do every year so they'll be able to be reused over and over and some are some new additions. Since it's March now, we are starting with the Spring list. I think this is a fun way for the kids to keep track of what we have done by taking the clothespin off when we complete something and dropping it in the bucket. It's also a good way for them to stay excited about the things we still want to get done. And since these activities are pre-thought out we won't be sitting around wondering what to do. Ideas will be right there in front of us. So here's what we have on our Spring bucket list.

• Go to the Zoo



• Go to the Tulip Festival



• Plant flowers



• Family game night



• Ice cream date



• Play at the park



• Fly a kite



• Make a craft



• Go to a movie

Can't wait to get started. maybe we'll even try to knock one of them off of there this weekend.

Crafty Weekend

It's been a busy but productive weekend here. On Friday Mike was in Vegas for work so I got to take my boyz out to dinner at McD's and let them run off energy in the play place then settle in at home for some movie watching time where we watched Mr. Poppers Penguins until Dad got home in time to tuck us in. Then Saturday started the real fun. I had an appointment to get my hair dyed and cut in Lehi so decided to stop at a place called The Wood Connection in Murray that I had been hearing lots about on the way. The place was packed with people so we didn't stay as long as I would have liked too but I did come out with a few projects and after getting my hair done and going out to dinner with some friends I started the first one. This fun St. Patty's sign.

This morning after the craft store opened I went and picked up what I needed to finish the St. Patty's one and start 1 of the 2 Easter projects I picked up. Mike helped with this one while I went to my monthly craft-date with my friend Becca Y. He had it all painted and ready for me to add the sparkle when I got home.

At Becca's house we made a couple tutu's. Here's the one I made for Miss Faith. I still need to do some finishing work on it but I've been wanting one in these colors for her so I am super excited about it.

And we made a few bows. Here's the 4 I got done today.

Amongst all of that we dealt with sick kids (off and on) and laundry and the normal household stuff that drags us down. It's always so much fun to put some of that off once in a while though and just have some creative goodness.