Belated Birthday Party

Our tradition (ie:  Mom's sanity saver) has been friend birthday parties on even years starting at age 6.  I will probably change that for Henry simply because there won't be extra siblings creating more work.

Anyway, since we don't do parties with friends very often, Lily was very adamant that she get her party this year.  I don't know why I haven't been able to get my act together, although I suspect Spring soccer and gymnastics have both played a significant role, but it was two weeks past Lil's birthday and we still hadn't celebrated with friends.  In desperation one afternoon, I presented an alternative option to Lil:  invite one friend to go to the movies and ice cream on a Friday after school.  By some act of grace from heaven, Lily was totally on board with this idea and got super excited to invite Claudia from school.  It turned out that Claudia was going to be celebrating her brother's birthday on the appointed day, so Lily invited her really good friend Rylee K. to come along.  They have played together quite frequently over the last two school years, so I was happy she and Lil got to celebrate together.

The girls had a ball taking their Saige dolls to the movies and ice cream.  Stanton was done with work early enough to escort them, which was such a help to me, as I was busy preparing for her baptism brunch the next day.

All in all, it was a low-key and inexpensive party (they were even home by 5:00!).  And Lily was thrilled.  I'm so thankful my children are easy to please!

 Lil was so excited to receive Rylee's gift - a diary you write in with invisible ink and a few horses!  Fancy!

Cute little best buddies!

Chloe Turns 9!!

It's just too hard to believe.  Chloe turned 9 in February.  I can't capture time in a bottle, as much as I wish I could.

Chloe is growing up to be such a lovely young lady.  The older she gets, the more control she finds over her emotions and her attitude.  She still has her moments, but darn it, those used to be days and before that, they were weeks.  She is blossoming and becoming just the kind of young lady Heavenly Father needs in his Church in these last days.  I love her so.

It was an odd birthday year, so she didn't have a friend party.  We had a quick little party with Dave & Judy and bonus!  Dave's sister Sharron was in town visiting Grandma Allen, so she came, too.  She's such a sweetheart.

My folks came earlier (right mom?  You did come another day, right?  I can't remember.  Pitfall of blogging months later) in the month to celebrate.

Chloe decorated her own cake this year.  She did a marvelous job!

She had only 2 requests for her birthday - a jump rope and a specific Chemistry set.  Dave & Judy gave her the chem set and we came through with a little more than a jump rope.  :)

I made a fun floor pillow for her and Lily made her an apron.  She loved both.  Cannon and Brigham both gave her candy and maybe something else?  I can't remember!

Pictures!

We are really, truly blessed to have Chloe as our oldest child.  She has put up with a lot of trial and error from her less than ideal parents.  She has handled it gracefully and continues to grow and mature.
We LOVE YOU, Chloe!!!!

Happy 6th Birthday, Brigham!

Brigham had his Big Birthday # 6 in August!  He was very quick to remind me that friend parties in our family start at age 6.  There was no getting out of that one, even if Henry was just 3 weeks old! 

He had an awesome birthday - he got to go to school, where he got to have a spotlight thing in class.  No treats, though.  Our school doesn't allow it.  Poo Poo, I say!  He doesn't know any better, though, so I won't bring it up....

My parents came to visit Brig a bit before his birthday - because they were going to China to visit my brother and his family.  I guess that's a legitimate reason to miss a birthday.  Hehe! 
They gave him a cool new bike helmet.  He was super happy about that one....especially when he saw our gift to him a day or so later!

 Yep, a new big boy bike!!!  He was in dire need of a bike and he has totally loved this one.

He also received a Bumblebee Transformers costume from Grandma Judy & Grandpa David, new church shoes and a LEGO watch from Stanton and I, and a LEGO building set from Chloe, Lily, Cannon, and Henry.  It was a successful birthday haul!  :)

 Here he is with his LEGO cake.  Simple and cute.  And messy.  But yummy.  And exactly what he was hoping for, so success!

A few days after his birthday, we finally got all of his friends together for a short party.  We only had time to squeeze it in between school and gymnastics, but it ended up being the perfect amount of time.  The girls put together and led all the games and I provided sugar cookies for them to decorate.  I get such a kick out of the gobs of candy the kids always put on their creations.  "I'll never see candy EVER again!  Must.  Use.  Every.  Piece!!!"  They opened presents to end the party and after a short hour, the boys all went home.  Low-key and easy and Brigham loved it.  I find if I keep the bar pretty low on these friend parties, my kids are very easily entertained and think their life is pretty great.  I'm all for that! 

Brigham is a great little boy.  He has been going through a bit of a "phase" lately.  One of those air-quotes kind of phases where you just hope to the high heavens that this isn't actually part of their personality.  We've run the gamut of frustrations and tried all kinds of discipline.  What he has really needed, though, is love.  I practice the good things we are trying to establish and then just hug him a ton.  He's doing better and we're getting past the worst of it...I hope.

Brigham is sensitive and silly.  He is athletic, friendly, and spiritually minded.  He's a bit of a know-it-all and loves to tattle on Lily.  But he also loves to include Cannon with whatever friend he's playing with, is mindful of our family in prayer, and really loves his dad.  He is an all-around awesome boy and I sure love him.  I am really thankful that I can be frustrated with him.  I'm thankful he's here and healthy and able to be the stinker that he can sometimes be.  We love our miracle kid and thank Heavenly Father frequently for the blessing that he gave us when he sent us Brigham.

Happy Birthday, Cannon!!

We got home Wednesday afternoon.  Trudy Day had taken the kids all day (Stanton went home and spent Tuesday night with them and then brought them up to the hospital on Wednesday morning before dropping them off at Trudy's).  Angie Chandler, Trudy's daughter and my dear friend, took them for the afternoon so Stanton and I could run home and get prepared for Cannon's birthday.  I was determined that he was going to be able to celebrate his birthday with us at home.   No baby brother was going to take over his day! 
My friend Abbie made cupcakes for us (thank you, Ab!!!!) and we got presents wrapped up quickly.  We enjoyed dinner from Stanton's mom and dad and then Cannon opened his gifts.   He received a dollar from Grandma J, new sneakers, an Optimus Prime Transformers costume, and a new bike for his big birthday.  He was darling and very thankful for everything.
My mom and dad came two days later (my mom had already come down the night Hen was born and then driven all the way back home) to give Cannon his present and spend time with Henry.  They gave him a new bike helmet.

Cannon is such the funnest little boy.  I can't believe how grown up he is all of a sudden now that he's a big brother.  He is funny, snuggly (although he seems as big as a giant now!), smart, and hilarious.  We love our Cannon Baby Baby Cannon!

I love those eyes and those cheeks.

Happy 7th, Lily!!!

Ugh, how do the years seem to be speeding up all of a sudden?!  I can't believe Lily is 7 years old!  When I started this blog, she was only 2!  2 years old, people!  And now she's 7!  It's hard to comprehend. 

Lil has been in a bit of a "phase" lately.  You know what that means, right?!  Yeah, she's been a struggle peppered with a lot of adorableness.  We are really trying to help her overcome her rage issues and learn some coping skills - she has a lot of passion and lives on her emotions, which isn't necessarily a bad thing -- we just have to help her learn how to fine tune it into strength!  Any suggestions?  Ha!

So, we got home from Moab Saturday afternoon and quickly made her birthday cake -- she requested a "Fashion Cake" which, as she explained to me, meant it needed to have lipstick, mascara (and it had to be a green tube - just like my real mascara that she and Chloe love to borrow), and fingernail polish on it.  She helped me make the cake and then I sent her off to play with Chloe and help Stanton while I made the frosting and decorated the cake.  she came in to check on my progress and gave me the stamp of approval - phew!

We were waiting for my parents to arrive for her party (they'd been branding in Park Valley - well, my dad had...oh, long story....nevermind). So, they arrived at 6:30ish with Morgan and Kaleb, too!  Yay!  We called Dave and Judy, who came over with little Rebecca (Ann and Don's little girl -- Ann just had a new baby boy!).  We opened presents and had cake and ice cream (Oh brother, I forgot to buy ice cream, so we were reaching in the dark corners of the freezer for whatever we could find!  Yikes!). 

It was a really fun night and we were really grateful to grandparents for making the effort to be there with her!  Lily is such a great little gal.  We have so much love for her and are SO thankful she's part of our family!  She has a really bright future ahead of her!

 Lily and her Fashion Cake.  It turned out alright!  She and Chloe were playing some game where they needed their (way too small!) gymnastics clothes.  :)

 Lil makes such great faces.  :)  My mom and dad gave her a watch and some little accessory type things.  That's her looking at the sticker earring pack they gave her. 
I usually buy Dave and Judy's presents for the kids.  Well, if I forgot the ice cream, you can guess what else I forgot, too, right?  Yeah, thankfully I had as much cash as their check was written for, so she got that for a gift.  :)  I'll have to take her shopping soon. 
Chloe gave her a big pack of chapsticks, a multi-color pen, and um, something else.  The boys gave her a fuzzy coloring poster.  The Teicherts gave her a placemat with her picture on it.  We gave her some American Girl and Klutz craft kits (spin art and a doodle book) and a few new clothes, which she was really hoping for.  She was excited and really gracious.

Happy birthday, sweet Lily.  We LOVE you with every ounce of our hearts!!!

Birthday Celebrations!

Since it was an 'even' birthday year for Chloe, there was no getting out of throwing her a friend birthday party.  She helped plan some of the activities and we ended up having a great time, in spite of my anxiety about entertaining a gaggle of 2nd grade girls. 

The girls all walked home from school to our house together.  It was darn cute to see those giggly girls all walking together!

 

We had a snack and then played a fun game that Chloe made up --"Pin the Tie on the Prophet."  It was a really fun game that the girls all loved.

 Our next activity was decorating aprons with puffy paint.  Oh, I was so clever (HA!) and laid out tablecloths on the floor so we could contain the mess.  I'm sure you can guess how that went.  :)  There is paint on walls on rooms we never used.  And I'm sure a few mothers cursed my name when their daughters came home with aprons so thick with paint they would take days to dry and jeans covered in the non-washable stuff.  But hey, the girls had a blast with it.  They loved it, in fact!

Chloe got spoiled with super thoughtful gifts from friends (and siblings!).  This is such a cute and sweet group of girls -- they had zero drama the whole 2 hours.  Love that.

Our last activity was an ice cream bar.  I just scooped each of them a huge bowl of ice cream and set out several bowls of candy toppings -- then let the girls loose.  They were on sugar overload and I don't think a single one of them finished their treat!  Instead, they went outside and ran around the backyard in the beautiful weather.  Success!  

It was a really fun friend party -- 7-8 year olds are pretty darn fun to host.  Especially this group of them.  What great kids.

After we got all the girls home, I threw together Chloe's birthday dinner (Chloe will ALWAYS choose spaghetti for dinner).  We had a salad and breadsticks to go with the spaghetti and enjoyed the yummy meal as a family.

After dinner, we cleaned up and had Dave & Judy over for cake and ice cream.  She also opened her birthday presents during that party.

 She received her own set of scriptures from us and a messenger bag-style tote from Dave & Judy.  We also gave her a nightstand (the ONLY thing she asked for for her birthday -- I found it at the DI and spray painted it-- on her birthday---late much?!).  Cindy and family gave her a placemat with her picture on it and sweet compliments on the back.  It was a good birthday. 

 Sweet Mary and Shelbi came with Dave and Judy.  It was a lot of fun to have them over!

Chloe liked her cake a lot.  I liked how easy it was to put together.  :)

The next day, my folks came down to celebrate with Chloe.  We had a really fun day with them.

Chloe was thrilled with the easel they gave her and enjoyed putting it together with Grandpa Rose.  The kids absolutely LOVE any time they get to spend with their grandparents.  They definitely lucked out in that department!

It was a great weekend of celebrating!

Happy 5th, Dear Brigham!!

Sunday morning, I was woken up bright and early by a little 5 year old man reminding me it was HIS BIRTHDAY!!!!  I'm sure glad he reminded me because it really had slipped my mind, what with preparing for our Yellowstone trip, first days of school, etc, etc, etc.  Luckily, I had shopped online for all his presents, so I was at least prepared on that front.  :)

We have 1:00 church, so Brigham got to choose his birthday breakfast (French Toast?  Maybe?) and I got to work on his cake for that evening.  He requested an Angry Birds cake because he is a little addict to that particular iPhone game.  It was fun to create such a fun cake.  The older 3 kids all chose really fun, unique cakes this year -- it was fun to bring them to life!

Brigham asked if he could stay home from church for his birthday....he is not our biggest fan of church services, that's for sure.  :)  He does like his primary teachers a lot, though, so that definitely helps.  He didn't get that particular birthday wish...We had a quick lunch and then spent the next 3 hours at church.

After church, he requested spaghetti for his birthday dinner.  Thank heavens for that home canned spaghetti sauce we're still working our way through from 3 years ago (or was it two?...anyway, I'm sure grateful for it).  I happened to have half a loaf of garlic bread in the freezer, too, so we heated that up and had a great little birthday dinner. After dinner, I had to finish up his cake.  I had made it before church and now it was time to decorate!  I used an entire bag of powdered sugar to make the buttercream frosting and can I just say that it was the best frosting I have EVER made.  Holy cow, it was delicious.  Kinda made my head spin with delirious goodness...especially when on top of the white cake I made...it had this slightly lemony aftertaste that was a result of the freshly squeezed lemons I used to make sour milk for the batter.  I know this is about Brigham's birthday, but for a girl who doesn't really love cake...this was knock your socks off good.  Still dreaming about it a week later....

Aaaannnnyyyywwwwaaaaayyyyyy.....on to the celebration.  I convinced my mom and dad not to make a special trip down since we would be seeing them just a couple of days later for our Yellowstone trip, so Dave & Judy were the grandparents in attendance.  We had fun with presents, cake & ice cream, then got the kids to bed and visited with Dave & Judy for a little while longer.

 The Angry Birds cake.  It was done in haste and is very far from perfect, but I am no perfectionist (duh!), so it was good enough for me.  And Brigham loved it, so I can't help but be happy.  Isn't he a cute little guy?!

Opening his presents.  We added significantly to our Cars collection (for the second birthday in a month).  Brigham got a few new character cars, a Mack truck that doubles as a carrying case for the cars, and some new clothes (from Dave and Judy, but I picked them out so was ready to take the heat if he wasn't thrilled about clothes for his birthday - he really was excited about them, though -- phew!)  My parents gave him the same bear chair and sleeping bag they gave Cannon earlier this month.  He loved them all. 

Brigham is our little miracle boy and we are so thankful he is a member of our family.  He is so naturally sweet and good-natured.  He has definitely been spreading his wings a bit on the defiance and provoking others front, but he is, overall, about the sweetest little guy you could ever ask for.  He loves superheroes, building forts, robots, Cars, laughing, playing with his sisters and brother, and the color black.  He's learning a lot, is excited for Kindergarten, and fills our hearts with so much joy we are nearly ready to burst.  How we love him!

Happy birthday, Dear Brigham!

Happy Birthday, Dear Cannon!!!

I know we all say it, but HOW ON EARTH DID MY BABY GET TO BE 3?????!!!!!!

Cannon brings so much joy and laughter to our family.

We had a fun day celebrating this little man.  Because I'm so on top of things, he got to spend an hour or two with Grandma Judy while I took the other 3 kids shopping for him.  Not just for their presents to him, but for ours and Dave & Judy's too!  Yeah, I'm prepared like that.  Ha!
After our present shopping, we picked Cannon back up, grabbed a bucket of KFC, and headed to the splash pad here in town.

We met some friends, but ended up being there by ourselves most of the time since we were running so late after doing our shopping.  It was still a lot of fun, though, and Cannon got his fill of playgrounds and water for the day.

We grabbed Gnomeo & Juliet on Redbox and the kids watched that all together at home while I got busy on Cannon's birthday cake.  He asked for a Lightning McQueen & Finn McMissile cake, so that's what he got!  I was proud of myself for getting it done in the afternoon.  :)  I can't remember what he asked for for his birthday dinner and that makes me sad!

Grandma and Grandpa Rose weren't able to make it down (which I know was KILLING my mom), but Grandma Judy & Grandpa David joined us for presents and cake & ice cream.  Cannon got a giant coloring book  and candy from Brigham, Cars Memory from Lily (which got destroyed two days later...ggrrrrrrr), and an Elmo Jack in the Box from Chloe.  They each spent their own money on the gifts and were really generous!  It was fun to see them so sweet and thoughtful toward their little brother.  Dave & Judy got him the jet from Cars 2 (Siddely is his name, I think?) and some Cars guys.  We got him a Lego Duplo set that's Cars themed.  He was in Lightning McQueen heaven!
(We saw my mom a week later and she and Grandpa Rose got him a really cute bear chair and sleeping bag - he loves them!).

We ended the night with cake and ice cream, which was yummy.  I love those puffy cheeks blowing out his candles!!!

Cannon's birthday present from G&G Rose

Cannon really does bring so much joy to our home.  He is 100% confident in who he is and his standing as everyone's favorite.  That confidence makes him funny, frustrating, and full of life.  We love this guy!

A few favorites off the top of my head.
Favorite Color:  Green
Favorite Movie:  Cars 2, anything the kids are watching, Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger, and all the Disney channel shows.
Favorite Food:  He eats everything.
Favorite Song:  Go Go Go Joseph


Cannon, you fill my heart with joy.  We love you so much!

Vegas with the Westfalls!

Stanton and I love to travel...have you noticed that yet? haha.  We're lucky that we can do it and are glad to have a few friends who love it as much as we do.  Enter:  Brian and Linda Westfall.  Can I tell you how much I love these two people?  A lot.  They've become some of our dearest friends over the last few years and we count ourselves very lucky to know them so well and have the friendship we do.

Anyway, we took a quick weekend trip to Vegas with them in July.  It was a blast.  I know not everyone loves Vegas, but it is so dang fun for a weekend.  Beautiful hotels, great food, amazing shows, close by.  I love it.

 We flew in on Thursday afternoon, picked up our rental car, and drove out to Hoover Dam. 

It was INCREDIBLE!  We took the short tour and then walked over the new bypass bridge.  It provided an amazing view -- strangely, though, in a car, you have NO idea that you're passing over Hoover Dam....you can't see it at all.  The foot bridge, though, was spectacular.

We stayed at Mandalay Bay and enjoyed the pool Friday morning.  It was SO HOT, though, that the sand at the beach part of the pool was literally burning the bottoms of our feet.  We didn't last too long.
Walking around was a lot of fun.  I always enjoy seeing the hotels -- the lobbies are incredibly beautiful.  And there isn't a funner place to watch people than Las Vegas.  Ha!

We ate great food (our favorite that the Westfalls introduced us to on our last trip is La Salsa, for fish tacos and tortilla chips).  We went to 2 shows - O by Cirque de Soleil and David Copperfield the following day.  O was O-mazing.  I want to go back and see it again.  It boggles my mind that there are people who have dedicated that much of their life (and body) to their craft.  The acrobatics and stunts were unbelievable.  The stage was completely mind-blowing.  It was amazing.  Seriously.
Magic isn't really my thing, so David Copperfield was just 'eh' for me.  He did do some pretty incredible illusions, though, I have to admit.

The trip was a blast.  A fun short weekend with great friends.  We got back on Sunday morning just about a half hour before church.  The kids had prepared a surprise party (with lots of help from Deyette!) for Stanton (he had his 36th birthday the Saturday we were there), so we sang and looked at their gifts and drawings, changed and got to church on time!  My kind of vacation!

Thanks, Deyette, for taking such great care of the kiddos!  And thanks, Brian and Linda, for being such great friends!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I had a wonderful Sweet 16 x 2 today.  (Thanks, Shauntae, for the fun title!).  Along with a generous helping of Facebook messages, emails, phone calls, and cards, this was my birthday celebration rundown.... 

Stanton and I went to dinner with our friends, the Westfalls, at Elements last night.  It was so great, as always.  We also drove around to see the flooding on the West side of the Valley.  I took a bunch of pictures of it with my phone....I will do a separate post about it, but WOW.  It was eye opening.


The morning was spent with my beautiful kiddos and with a great 3.78 mile run with a faster time than I think I've ever had.  I did it in 34 minutes.  I was stoked!  It felt awesome to start off my birthday with such a cool accomplishment.

We worked on housework, etc. and then the kids and I hopped in the van and drove to Tremonton for a wedding shower for my cousin Nate's fiancee.  That was about the best way I could have spent my birthday ----with all my Rose aunts and cousins.  It was SO great.  And yay for Nate and Shelby!

So, we came home and I got to serious work cleaning up the house.  I cleaned the bathrooms, swept and mopped the kitchen, and vacuumed (yep, that's serious housecleaning for me.).  The kids FINALLY put their laundry away after me telling them, nay, GUILTING them into giving it to me for a birthday present.
Stanton had been working like crazy in the yard all day and went to get a few more things he needed.  In the meantime, Janet & Kiki came over with a super fun flat iron (black and white polka dots with pink plates!) and happy birthday wishes.  Stanton drove up while we were on the porch with....not yard stuff!!  He had flowers, a gift from Deseret Book, angel food cake, whipped cream, and strawberries.  I was so surprised and thrilled!

We enjoyed a quick dinner, cake, and some family time and then Stanton went over to his parents' house to take care of his grandma while his parents were out to dinner.  We are so lucky to have our grandmas close by and that we can help take care of them.

I got Cannon to bed at his request and then let the older 3 play outside till about 8:30.  I got a little more housework done and then got them to bed.  They had so much fun outside and I loved watching them.  I am so blessed to be mother to these beautiful children and wife to such a good man.

I got my wish and have been able to update the blog tonight.

Such a great birthday!

And, seriously, is Brigham not adorable in his glasses??!!!

Friend Birthday Party

 We've established the tradition of every other year birthday parties in our family -- on the even years starting at age 6.  That meant that Lily got to have her first friend party this year.  It turned out to be a lot of fun!
Once again, Kiki came and helped me with the festivities.  The 10 girls walked home from school together and we started with a snack of peanut butter and honey sandwiches, teddy grahams, and juice boxes. 

After their snack, we started our glam party. The gals all lined up for manicures then makeup (eye shadow, blush, and lip gloss) from Kiki and I.

Isn't Kiki beautiful??!

After makeovers, we opened presents.  Lily got some fun things -- from Barbies to ZhuZhu pets, to a princess video game, to dress-ups and pjs.  Really cute, fun gifts.

We finished up by decorating cupcakes.  It was fun to have her birthday around Easter because there was a lot of fun candy to choose from.

Here's a picture of all the cuties at the party:

Hallie T., Brooklyn C., Rachel G., Lily, Lexie B., Chloe, Olivia K., London L., Avi O., and Avery A.  Little models in the making.  Or goof-offs.....but all cute!!!

This was a really fun party -- we kept it to 1 1/2 hours and it seemed to be perfect.  Kiki was amazingly helpful -- she even helped me clean up.  She's just a gem...honestly.  I will miss that girl when she graduates and moves on...thankfully we've got a few years till then.  Oh, how we love Kiki.

Happy Birthday, Lil!!!!