Alex's 4th Birthday!

The day after vacation began marathon birthday weekend.  Tyler helped me decorate the house on Friday night for Alex's birthday on Saturday.  We may have gone a bit overboard because I figured 3 days of partying justified more decorations than normal.

Alex woke up and walked up stairs to discover a table full of "party animals" and the special cereal she had chosen for the day "lucky charms". How appropriate.

She got green milk in the special birthday glass and before she was done eating she began to open presents from grandma.

In the background you can see the adorable barbie dress Grandma knitted and the much needed underwear.

Heidi seems to have a thing for birthday photo scowls.

Heidi, March 17th 2011. Alex's 3rd birthday.

Friday Alex had "helped" me make the mermaid cake she had requested.  She rolled the fondant into little plant circles and poles and later when she saw I had "dressed" barbie in frosting she asked why. "So she can be modest" I said.  "Oh, she must be a Mommy mermaid" Alex said.  Note to self, be more diligent about toddler modesty.

Alex (and Heidi) loved the old camera I had covered in Sugru to make kid proof.  She promptly took a terrible picture of me and then walked all over snapping pictures of things.

Despite all the time and expense put into her quilt she wasn't over the moon like I had hoped about the new blanket.  In fact she refuses to sleep with it on her bed. grumble grumble grumble.

We all got dressed in our new green St. Patricks/ Alex's birthday shirts and headed back to Salt Lake for the activity of the day.... The Children's Discovery Museum!

Unexpectedly there was also a parade going on at the Gateway mall (where the museum is located) and so we got sucked in and watched bagpipes and dogs and floats for almost an hour before pulling ourselves away.

The museum was FANTASTIC!  If we lived any close I would buy a pass and go once a week. There was a huge ball hive where we spent the first 30 minutes pushing balls into suction tubes and down pipes before we wandered and found the real Gem of the museum.

There was a giant room filled with a tiny kids eye view village.  I have vague memories of going to the Denver kids museum as a child and LOVING the tiny grocery carts and store.

This was also Alex's favorite part and she spent most of her time at the check out counter either paying or doing the ringing up.  There was a huge water play area, a house, farm (complete with horse) gas station, and construction area.  There was a little kids play area that was fenced off and inside that a tiny kids play area also fenced off and next to that a Mom's nursing area hidden away.

After almost an hour we had decided to explore the rest of the museum, but the kids wouldn't have it.  The upstairs looked super cool, but more geared to older kids and so we finished up back at the grocery store.  Michael and Danielle came to join us which was so kind of them, and then took us out to lunch for a Alex, Danielle, Kristen birthday meal.
 We went to the fantastic Market Street Grill and had one of the most delicious/enjoyable eating experiences ever.  The food was sooooo good and I have to say that it was probably the nicest and most delicious meal I've had at a restaurant since my Dad used to take us out to fancy places when he was on business trips in Utah.
  We took the TRAX back to our car which was Alex's favorite part of her birthday she said.  We saw the train coming and ran as fast as we could to the stop (Tyler carrying both kids).  We wouldn't have made it but a nice man walking by saw us running and pushed the door button at the last second.  We slid through the closing doors and sat down laughing and heaving as the train took off.  When they announced the Temple Square stop Alex wanted to get off so badly, but we needed to get home for her party.

The girls were exhausted by the time we got home.  Heidi just lay on the floor.

We had planned on letting Alex open her big present the minute she got home, but she just wanted to sleep on the couch.  Too Much Fun!

We finally got her up and she enjoyed her doll house (made possible by Grandma Asay) for a little while before family arrived the for the party.

Alex has learned how to pose for my pictures, unfortunately this means no more cute and genuine smiles.

Everyone liked the doll house,

and Barbie's hair didn't catch on fire.

Kate had set up a treasure hunt for Alex, with prizes to be found with each clue.  She LOVED it, and every treat on the way.

After eating off Hello Kitty's face, bow and buttons she graciously "shared" with Heidi, who is always more than happy to take Alex's leftovers.

I had games planned, but Alex just wanted to run around with Archie and be wild.

Heidi tried her best to keep up.

Alex loved all the gifts from wonderful Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles and Mommy and Daddy.

Alex had helped me make the big 4 pinata, but we decided there had been enough fun for one day, and to save it for Monday.

The day ended with a few new books  to open after Uncle Stephen graciously played Barbies with Alex (THAT is the kind of guy you want to marry).  The kids went to bed fairly easily, and reading, after a LONG and wonderful day.

2012 Spring Family Vacation!

Vacation was a hit.
  We started out with a couple of free birthday meals at IHOP which were gobbled up eagerly and then went straight to the Aquarium for some fun!

It was a LOT better than when Tyler and I went 5 years ago and the kids had a blast.

Heidi loved the otters

And Alex loved the fish.

The Aquarium is divided into about 5 different sections, each with different sorts of marine life.

The favorite of course were the penguins!

The penguin habitat was the perfect height for Heidi and she stood there forever watching the Penguins flash by and jump in and out of the water!

There were all sorts of interactive display boards and of course a gift shop.  We left with a pink turtle and a pink penguin that are still (thank goodness) the girls favorite things ever.

After the Aquarium it was off to the Gilgal sculpture park for a picnic lunch.  It wasn't quite as much of a "park" as I had imagined, and I don't think the girls were suppose to climb over everything, but it was only us and a slightly strange man in pajamas so I looked the other way at their Tom foolery.

Our picnic lunch ended up not happening because Heidi tripped on the sidewalk and got a bloody nose the same moment my sandals broke.  After nursing Heidi back to health I realized that in my hurry to get the girls packed, the picnic packed and all the other little things in order, I hadn't packed an extra pair of shoes.

We drove all over town looking for a store that sold my favorite Reef sandals (I bought a pair 6 years ago and  wore them religiously all year round until they broke. Then bought another etc, and am currently on my 3rd pair).  Well, my lack of footwear ended up being a bigger problem than I had thought.

We rushed from the park to the shoe store because we only had an hour until our candy factory tour at Sweets!  We got there just in time for our tour, the only problem being that closed toe shoes were required.  Tyler graciously let me wear his tennis shoes (yes I looked ridiculous) so I could take Alex on the tour.  And Tyler and Heidi stayed in the car watching airplanes fly overhead.  It was a lot of fun and we got to sample all sorts of delicious treats.

After the tour we hung out outside for a few minutes and enjoyed the warm and windy day while the girls ate a treat.

I will forever love looking at pictures of Heidi.

Because she is simply unable to sit still and smile for the camera.

One of the perks of our "Stay-cation" was that with the money we saved on travel, we were able to buy a few "extras" to make things fun.

Alex and Heidi each picked out their favorite fruit snacks and juice boxes, as well as crackers and jelly beans.

After each stop they each got to choose a snack and when we got to the hotel I dumped everything into a drawer and they had free reign.

After the candy tour we went to Walmart to buy swim diapers for Heidi.  By this point I felt like my entire day had been spent running in and out of stores by myself while Tyler and the kids waited in the car. I also scored an amazing swimming contraption that allowed Alex to swim in the pool with out our help! Best part of the trip! After Walmart we checked into our hotel and went swimming.  Then we took TRAX to the Gateway mall for Tyler's Tucano's birthday dinner and back on TRAX to the hotel. We swam again, and even though everyone was EXHAUSTED, it was still a struggling getting everyone to settle down, stop jumping on the bed and go to sleep.

The next morning was a free breakfast at the hotel restaurant (We stayed at Shilo Inn and loved it! The pool was great and every was very nice.  The rooms were clean and wonderful and Alex adored the "play" microwave and fridge) and then a drive to Temple Square.

Heidi was hard to herd where we wanted, but the girls really enjoyed running around and watching the family movie in the Christus building.  I cried.

Despite my efforts to get a cute picture of really anyone at all on the vacation, the girls eluded me.

Heidi was drawn to anything hight up she could climb and then fall from, or anything wet she could splash in.

We were going to visit the Book of Mormon kids land at the Church History Museum, but we were running out of time and Alex wanted to go to a friends birthday party early in the afternoon.

So we drove home, dropped Alex off at the party, took Heidi to the mall and spent the rest of our vacation energy on lunch, the play area, pocky, the carousel, escalators and photo booth pictures.  We totally looked like the young couple with only one child who bend to it's every whim and desire.

It was a great vacation.  Everyone was well behaved and happy and the best part was that it was full of things we could easily do in a day without dumping a small fortune on a hotel in the future.

Let the games begin

I learned a lesson this week about planning a vacation and 3 birthday parties in the same week.  It's better not to try.
  A few weeks ago Tyler and I decided that we NEEDED a vacation.  We spent all of 10 minutes figuring out that with time restraints, money restraints and kids, our options were severely limited. We settled on a "Stay-cation" and I got to work googling every possible activity to do in or around Salt Lake City.

Heidi frequently accessorizes herself on a whim.  She is a funny kid, preferring cars and blocks to dolls, but loves to wear jewelry and hair clips 10x more than her princess crazed sister. 

   Simultaneously I was in the midst of planning Danielle's birthday party, finishing Alex's gifts and planning her birthday activities and party.  Danielle ended up needing a gallbladder removed and so her party was a bit of a bust (poor girl!) but we still had a fun evening of family, games and ice cream cake.

   Sunday I shifted into stressed out vacation mode, trying to organize and plan for a hotel night away, followed directly by Alex's birthday.  Turns out I plan too much!  Tyler convinced me to take a deep breath and leave something up to chance and relax.  So I have.  Tomorrow we head up to SLC for 2 days of family fun! Can't wait!

My first successful icecream cake! It looked pretty good, now I just need to learn how to make it taste like the coldstone ones!

   I am excited to say that with the help of a bunch of wonderful ladies I was able to finish Alex's quilt! I decided to try and hand quilt it instead of tying, which took a LOT longer than I thought it would.  Quilting on a deadline isn't super fun, but I love the finished product.

 
   I won't have time to post for the next few days but next week there will be an overload!  Alex is helping me put together her birthday party and I think she has enjoyed making invitations and planning cupcakes just as much as she will like the party!  I can't wait for the next 3 days of non stop fun and I'm pretty sure we will needs a vacation from our vacation by the time we are done!

Birthday Eve

With Tyler's help I finally got the pictures on the wall!

 Forgive the blinding yellow, it's a bit more mellow in person.

 The girls love them and today Alex told me a story about how Heidi was going to fall in the water and the Hippos would try to eat her.  But Alex couldn't do anything about it because she didn't know how to swim. It was part humorous, part tragic.

 Next week we are planning a "stay-cation" for the last few days of Tyler's spring break.  I'm trying to plan our vacation, get all the ducks in a row for Danielle's party this weekend, and figure things out for Alex's birthday the day after our vacation ends.  Thursday through Sunday is going to be nonstop vacation/party and I hope it turns out as amazing as I think it will.

I can't wait for Alex to see the dollhouse we put together for her.  We bought a dollhouse bookshelf and made some personal touches (wallpaper!).  If Tyler has time he is going to make a kitchen table and bunk bed, and I'm trying to throw together a few more homemade accessories.  It's been fun and addicting and I must remember to take a deep breath and relax before all the fun starts! The next 4 weekends are birthday fun as Tyler, Alex, Danielle and I all celebrate our birthdays. Yay for March!

Being a good parent is like sledding with small kids.

I came to a realization yesterday as I was driving down the mountain from a "sledding" trip.  Sledding is is in quotations because out of the 3 of us that went, there were only 2 rides down the hill.
We geared up in record time, 2 toddlers and a Mom in full snowsuit regalia in under 20 minutes, then hopped in the car and made it up the canyon in time for it to start snowing.  Even though I had to reattach Heidi's boots to her feet 3 times before getting out of the car- the day looked promising.

But sledding was not to be, the snow was powdery and deep and mittens and boots would not stay on fingers and toes.  The company was great, we had hot coco and doughnuts, chairs to sit on and lots of sleds.  Not to mention my dear brother Michael took full responsibility for one of the kids at all times so my hands wouldn't be overflowing with children.  Heidi had a fast run down the hill and then decided she didn't like sledding after all.  Alex was happy to be pulled around or pushed down the hill, but with so many bigger kids zooming past- she got a bit scared and was content to just sit.  Once Heidi's toes got painfully cold I called it a day and packed everyone into the car with candy canes to lift their spirits.
  As I drove down the hill, admiring the snowy trees and mountains and happy to have been able to leave the house at least, I realized that I hadn't even sat on a sled, let alone zoomed down the hill.  I wasn't disappointed at all, I had enjoyed watching the others and playing with the kids, and it hadn't even crossed my mind to sled down the hill once.  I started to think about this.  I should revise the title of the post to "Being a good MOM......" because I'm not really sure what it is like to be a Dad.

   As a girl who grew up to be a mom, I realized that the first 18 years of my life were very self serving.
  As a child I did what my parents told me to do and as I grew I was able to make more choices for myself and do what I thought best.

As a teenager I was self involved and as High school came to a end I had to think about what I was going to do, where I would go, and what was best for ME.

College was about the same, planning MY future, looking for a husband, living My dreams, etc.

                                                                  Then I got married.

   When you first get married you think that your life is SO different from when you were single.  It's hard associating with single friends because it seems you suddenly have nothing to talk about.  You have this other person with you all the time and you need to learn how to compromise and work together.  Then you have kids.

   When you finally have kids you realize how completely different your life is from when you didn't have kids.  You realize that the 'singles' and the 'marrieds without kids' have more in common with each other than you will ever have with both of them combined and you REALLY have nothing to talk about.  You realize that even though you were married and learning compromise, you COULD still do things for your SELF.  There was money to be spent on things YOU liked, freedom to see and do whatever YOU wanted, and if you were lucky enough to have married your best friend, life was a fun game and worst case scenario you and your best friend would go live in a tent in the woods and hunt for food.

   Children are the game changer for a women.  There is no longer a YOU.  YOU exist solely to take care of, teach, and SERVE your child.  Your first name disappears and you become X's Mom.  Your free time disappears and you find yourself choosing between sweet mind numbing TV or a shower during the children's nap time.

You plan your days, your meals, your clothes, and your fun, around the children.  The minute you wake up, until the minute the children are asleep (and lots of times even after that) you are constantly thinking of, interacting with, and loving your children.

When there is some money to spare, you spend it on them, because as a MOM, your joy is suddenly dependent on THEM.  You become this completely selfless creature, and what makes you happy isn't really what makes YOU happy anymore.  It's actually wonderful.
   I don't think anyone can ever understand or become completely selfless until they are a parent and I dare say that the highest level of selfless love attainable comes from being a Mom (after Jesus that is).

   So back to sledding.  Sledding with kids is a completely selfless affair.  You can try to sled by yourself, and may even get a run or two in without the kids, but if you really want to have fun, and if you want anyone else in your family to have fun, you are going to have to sit on the sidelines.  Putting gloves on time and time again,  adjusting boots and grabbing blankets, warming hands with your breath and pouring hot coco.  Dragging sleds up the hill and wiping away tears.  And at the end of the day everyone will be exhausted and happy and so will you.

   So that's my analogy for the day.  Sometimes it's so hard to sit on the sidelines and watch your youth slip away while you are changing bums and playing barbies.  To see friends becoming "Something", travel and do great things.  But someday the kids will be grown and I will have a lifetime of joy in one large pocket as I start to fill my other pocket with world travel, education and my notebook of  "someday' s....".  Because being a Mom is really fun, and looking back, I wouldn't trade where I am now with anyone.  Life is made for moving forward I've got two fantastic teachers that keep me busy ALL DAY LONG.  There is no way I would trade a career or world travel for the little giggles, and finger paint messes I enjoy.  The simple joys of cooking with Mom, and making forts won't last forever and I want my kids to look back on their childhood the way that I look back on mine.... Years of laughter, adventures, and fun.

Now that I'm a mother I realize that my own Mom isn't in most of the pictures, she didn't go on the hunting trips or a lot of the hikes.  She was the puppet master, hidden behind the curtains waiting with hugs and smiles, hot meals and consistency.  She was the one who packed for the trips and stayed back with the little kids while we ran off with Dad.  She stayed up late teaching fractions, or worrying about kids past curfew.  She did all the invisible jobs of keeping the drawers stocked with clean clothes and making our lunches for school.

Now that I'm finally in her shoes I can see how hard that must have been and I can also see that it's going to be 20 or so years before I get any thanks from my own kids.  So thank you Mom, for making sure I had a great childhood.  For staying home to raise me and putting your "life" on hold to play with us, teach us and raise us right.  And I'm sorry it took 27 years for me to realize that you are the unsung Hero. I know not everyone has a choice, but I'm glad that I wasn't raised by daycare and I'll gladly put everything I desire on hold for 20 years so that my kids can get the best start I can give them.  Because I love them that much and a whole lot more.