Eli's Last Minute Birthday Party

Last week just flew by. I knew that Eli was having a birthday and then the horror struck on Friday.  Wait!?! Eli's birthday is on Sunday? Like, in two days?  Oh, no. This mama had nothing planned at all. Eli really wanted to have a birthday party. Luckily, I run quite frequently with Lisanne and Darcy and their boys are the same age as Eli. I asked them if Scott and Weston could come to a party the next day and they said yes!  Whew!  I then sent out a frantic text to the rest of Eli's basketball team and in the end, the guest list included 6 boys. It was the perfect size.

Then I went all crazy putting an amazing party together. Well, ok, no I didn't. I had Rinar stick some balloons up on the main floor, bought a cookie cake and fudgesicles, a bunch of junk for gift bags, and then made some pizzas. After thinking of a few games to play, the party was ready. 

The highlight had to be when we had the boys shoot action shots off the back of the truck like we did a couple of years ago when our family went camping.

They seemed to really enjoy it.

They also played some football in the front yard. This was a hit as well.

The important thing is that Eli got to blow out the candles, open a few presents, and feel very special for his day. Happy birthday, Eli.

Crazy Busy Saturday

Saturday was a crazy busy day. In the morning, Rinar and I went to the furniture store to buy a couch. Then we hurried home to get all of the kids and take them to their sporting events. Zach had a wrestling tournament at Brighton High School and Raef had a basketball tournament at Rowland Hall.

Whew, was it eventful. I stayed with Zach and the girls and Rinar took all of the rest of the boys to the basketball game. Luckily, all the little kids had some kind of electronic device to keep them occupied.  The wrestling tournament was bananas. It was packed and chaotic. They run the tournament with computers, so I had to watch carefully for his name to come up for his matches. Matches could go very quickly so I was paranoid about missing it.

Zach's first match ended quickly, and not in Zach's favor. He was pinned in about 30 seconds. He tried really hard but the other kid got the upper-hand on him, darn it.  The next match was a forfeit. But the third match was much better. It went two rounds and he fought hard and in the end, pinned his opponent. I was so darn proud of him! And he got a second place medal. When he saw the medal, his face was priceless.

Raef is on a competitive basketball team called the Alpha Dawgs. We have to go downtown just about every time for practice. It is a commitment, but I am grateful we found a team and that he has such a good coach. Unfortunately, they lost the first game, but did win the second. At this point, Raef is a benchwarmer. But I hope that he will have a desire to work hard so that he can get more playing time. We shall see.

In the evening, both boys had their birthday parties, since they are now 13! I have teenagers now. We decided to have them both do their own thing. Zach went with Caleb S. and Teancum M. to Airborne, a trampoline park. Rinar went with them and then took them to get food at Wendy's. I then dropped off Raef and his friends Matt D., Ethan, Ethan's friend (can't remember his name), and Talon A. and they went to see Night at the Museum 3 at the movie theater. When I got home, Rinar went to the movie a little late and then he took this group of boys to Chick-Fil-A. Both of them seemed pretty happy and they got along splendidly with their guests. 

It was a crazy, fun day.

Party Time - 5 Year-old Style

It is just birthdays, birthdays, birthdays around here.  Julia and Harry turned the big 5 this past week. Since this is a milestone in life, at least I think so, I decided they each needed their own birthday party. Yes, I knew it was going to be painful for me to pull it off, but it just had to be done. You only turn 5 once in your life and I still remember my 5 year-old birthday party. It seems this is the age when you really start to remember stuff.

Julia's party was first. I held it on Tuesday at lunch and it was a princess tea party. Julia decided that she wanted it to be a Belle party. I think this can be attributed to the fact that she has a Belle dress. We invited over all of her friends from the ward, her soccer team, and a few homeschool friends we have met this past little while. I hung lights and chinese lanterns (from Catye's wedding), got out all of my fine china (from the thrift store, of course), and had everyone wear their fanciest party dress. It was perfection.  Eighteen little girls descended on my house and it was a lot of fun. 

I had a few surprises for them. They colored crowns, ate a fancy lunch, twirled, and painted fingernails by the wonderful Heather E. They also ate cupcakes and ice cream and Julia opened presents. Then, with 30 minutes to spare, the girls saw the princess make her grand entrance! Belle came to the party...the REAL Belle, according to Julia. 18 little girls were mesmerized. They sat down as she talked to them. Belle had a coronation ceremony for Julia and crowned her the official princess of Draper, Utah. She read them a story and sang them a bunch of songs. And then we took pictures. All of the girls were asking her if she could come to their party. It was most definitely a special day for my special girl.

That party was a ton of work. And then it was time for Harry's party on Thursday. Boy, what a difference boys make. Soooooo easy! I invited all of the boys from his Primary class. They are all adorable and they play well together.

I also did this party at lunch time. It was a LEGO party. I fed them pizza, sang a few songs to them, put LEGOS together, of course, and did an obstacle course in the backyard. They just loved the obstacle course. There was a balance beam, soccer kick, up the ramp to the trampoline, swerving through the stools, and then a crawl through the 'tunnel of death'. This occupied them for about 30 minutes or so.

Then they just played together and continued to make LEGO creations. I gave them all a little LEGO set, a few lollipops, and sent them on their way. It was fun and laid back.

And hallelujah, party season is over...until next year.

Happy Birthday Noelle

My precious, gentle, squishy, rambunctious baby girl is one today. Has it really been one year? It has been a blur. Time moves so quickly. I was so anxious to be done being pregnant and I was thrilled when the doctor announced that it was a girl! Rinar and I were ecstatic. 

Noelle, you have been a blessing for our family in so many ways. We love you so much. In the beginning, you were a darling spectator as the daily circus passed before your eyes. You soaked it all in. I would just hold you in my arms for hours and hours.

But then, the spectating was done and you were ready to take the world head on. You have come so far. You walk and explore and destroy with perfect innocence. You give so much love to all of us: Dad, Raef, Zach, Eli, Harry, Julia, and me. You make us laugh and bring smiles to us all.

You are a pro at climbing up and down stairs, up and down the stroller, and love, love, love the toilet and all of its possibilities. You are now starting to talk and the words are forming and sorting themselves out. Today, you loved to say football. Maybe that is because you play in the front yard and watch your brothers practice their punting skills. You also love the wiggle board and have an obsession with my yellow iPhone, at least almost as much as I do.

You love it when I sing you to sleep and tuck you in and we always play a good game of peek-a-boo. You are a master peek-a-booer. Sometimes, you let me cradle you and sing to you and you will just stare at me, perfectly still. It is heavenly.

It is a privilege to be your mother. Thank you for choosing our family. You are my heart.

Birthday

September is my birthday month. It was a nice way to celebrate 38. Rinar was home and able to help me and do stuff to give me some free time. He even installed a bunch of motion-sensor light switches for the lights that always seem to be on, like the basement stairwell and the pantry. There is also one in the kids bathroom and the half bath. 

I was able to go to lunch with Melanie. She treated me to Blue Lemon, which opened on my birthday. There were some ladies walking around giving out presents and I came home with a t-shirt and a hat. I am a walking billboard!

Melanie and I had a wonderful lunch together and were able to catch up after a busy month of doing mom stuff.

And once again, not a word from my parents. Nothing. Crickets. It kind of bothered me for a bit, and even more so when they called me a week later. I just really didn't want to talk about it. I just didn't. It brought back memories of my 8th birthday when they completely forgot because they got into a big fight. It was pretty miserable, I am not going to lie. And every time this happens, it just takes me back there.  I have thought about what I want to do about it because it bothers me with how much it bothers me.

So now I have a plan. Next year, I am going to call them on my birthday. They never remember, so I will remember for them. I will call them and have a nice conversation and remind them that it is my birthday and then the problem will be solved. I really like this plan. I don't like all of the attention anyway. But it is nice for my parents to remember me.

An Amazing Cake

Thank goodness for sisters!  I have been so busy doing stuff and getting ready for our trip to Legoland that I really forgot about Eli's birthday. I mean, I am not that heartless. The trip is for his birthday, but I really didn't think about a cake for him or anything.  Never fear. Catye just whipped this beauty up for our Sunday dinner.

Isn't that amazing?  She made the entire thing herself, by hand: fondant, cake, everything. I am super impressed. And Eli was absolutely ecstatic about his cake.

He doesn't turn 6 until the end of the week. But it is going to be a birthday week celebration for this sweetheart.  We just love Eli.

Proud Moments

Saturday was a lot of fun. Rinar took Raef and Zach to the Klondike scouting event on Friday night. I was surprised to see Rinar come back home at about 9 a.m. on Saturday. I was getting ready to go to a birthday party. Rinar was with Zach. Apparently, it was so cold up there that when Zach had to go to the bathroom he was unable to unzip his pants. Poor kid. He was pretty devastated, but I am happy to report that by the time he was home and giving me his report of the unfortunate event, the tears were soon tears of laughter. I am sure that when he looks back on this embarrassing moment, he will get a good laugh from it! Rinar decided to help ease the pain by taking him to IHOP. IHOP makes everything better, right?

So I was on my own with the four little ones. But we made the best of it and headed over to the birthday party for Hutch. He is Harry and Julia's friend. The party was at a cheer gym. There were lots of things to jump and climb on and my kids had a blast.

Hutch's mom gave me the nicest compliment about my kids. She told me that whenever a kid needs help with something, they are always right there to lend a hand. Ahhh. That is sweet. I do have incredibly kind and loving children. They teach me every day how to be better.

Okay, I always post smiling, happy pictures of Noelle, but she has her moments too. She is human after all. Even if she is a 'super' baby.

And these two are close to being professional posers.

Once the party was over, we headed out to Eli's very first basketball game. It was a riot. I enjoyed it immensely. It is pretty much his soccer team with a few extra kids. They did great. They ended up winning by about 30 points! And I couldn't believe it, but Eli scored a basket and got two assists. He was really the only kid out there willing to pass the ball.

I am one proud mama.

12 Years Old

I don't think I ever really saw it coming. Pow, wham, zap!  These boys are now 12!!!

Whaaaaa?!??!

When did that happen? It was just minutes ago that I was looking at the in their incubators, tubes everywhere, monitors, so tiny and fragile.  And now, they are twelve. I get a little bit weepy-eyed just thinking about it.

And 12 is such a milestone year for them.  On Sunday, they are going to receive the priesthood and will be passing the sacrament this month. They can go to the temple now. They won't be in Primary anymore. And they are becoming more and more independent on a daily basis. I marvel at all of the things they are able to do.

On Monday, we took the kids out for an early birthday celebration because Rinar was heading out of town this week for work. We let them all get shakes at Iceberg. It was a hit. And for the record, Zach got a banana shake and Raef opted for Butterfinger. 

Combining their birthdays with Eli's, we are going to take the family to Legoland in California in February. Rinar made a paperchain and they unwrapped that for their present.  The paperchain helps us count down to our fun trip and gives everyone something to look forward to. It helps to make the trip a tangible thing. 

Yesterday was a regular school day. I did do a history lesson on Lewis and Clark and then I had the boys make red face paint as a relevant activity. Lewis and Clark to paint to be able to trade it with the Indians on their journey. After we took this picture, we realized the red paint didn't come off so easily. So I took everyone to the pool at the Treehouse and after an hour of swimming, all traces of red were gone.

For their birthday today, I let them do minimal schoolwork and then play electronics. It was a big treat for a school day. Electronics are usually a no-no. Then I took Zach to lunch, just him and me. I let him pick any restaurant.  Hence, we ended up at Chick-Fil-A. He spent the whole time talking to me about video games.  It is all over my head. It is almost like he is speaking a foreign language.

Afterward, we went to Walmart so that he could spend his allowance.  It was fun to hang out and talk. He told me that he wants to ride the top 6 scariest rides in the world for his bucket list.  What a crazy kid. I told him I would take pictures, but there was no way I was riding with him.

Raef and I have a lunch date tomorrow. I look forward to it. I think he wants to go to Arby's. He has some coupons. These kids have expensive taste.

Special People

One of the reasons we went to St. George this past weekend was to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday.  Linda is now 70 years old. I can't believe it. She does not seem 70 to me at all. Rinar and his siblings decided to throw a surprise party at the Golden Corral.  I was not really paying attention to the details of this shindig, so I was almost as surprised as she was.  

Rinar and I went over to their house. I fed Noelle and then we made our way to the restaurant. I thought that it was going to be just Rinar's immediate family.  When I went into the back room I was surprised by all of the people in there.  Linda's brother and many close friends came for the occasion. 

The tables were the farthest possible location from the front door.  Lynn did not want to walk all the way back there.  Luckily, because I can be kind of pushy and insisted they come to the back, they acquiesced. They didn't want to be disagreeable. I guess some times a strong personality pays off.  Linda did not suspect a thing and was really surprised.  It was a memorable moment. I am glad that I could be a part of it.

A couple of Linda's Hawaiian friends were there. One of them even brought a ukulele. When the lunch was wrapping up, the two of them sang a bunch of Hawaiian songs. It was quite nice.

Before we hit the road, we went to my grandmother's ward.  It was a blessing to be able to see her once again.  She is getting old. It must be hard. Grandma has a hard time talking and holding things because of her tremors. Her arthritis is really debilitating. It is hard to walk, stand, sit, and just move in general. She puts on a brave face and does her best, but I know it is exhausting for her.  But I really do cherish the little moments we get to have with her.

Like this one...

During sacrament, Grandma put Julia on her lap and admired the dolls Julia showed her.  What a lovely moment in time I never want to forget.

Grandma loves to be at everything and to be a part of our lives. I am so grateful that I have been able to have so much time with her.  We love Grandma!

And then it was a surprise to see Matt Holland and his family sitting in the back of the chapel. I caught his eye as I watched Julia go out to get some water.  Matt served with my dad in the bishopbric in Durham, North Carolina. He is the young one on the right.

I talked to them after church, Matt and his wife Paige. Matt is now the president of Utah Valley University.  Back in Durham, he was a PhD student at Duke. When my parents moved back west to Wyoming, we all went to lunch together at the Training Table in Salt Lake City. They are such a nice family and it was a highlight to reconnect with someone from long ago. I always love that. I really enjoy meeting people, making friends, and reconnecting with old ones. I think that people are what this life is all about.

Look Who Turned 40

This was a big week for Rinar. He is now 40!  Whoa, how did that happen? He actually had his birthday in the middle of the week and was out of town working. Therefore, we didn't get to celebrate until Saturday.  I made sure all of the kids made him a card and Harry, Eli, and Julia worked really hard to make something special. They were so excited to give it to him when he got home Friday. It was precious.

After soccer and football games on Saturday, Justin and Lindsay brought their family down from Heber so that he could take some awesome photos of Noelle.  I cannot wait to see them. She was really good for the majority of the time.

Then Bart and Monica came over and the six of us went on a dinner date to Rodizio Grill, a Brazilian steakhouse. It is the American man's dream. Endless streams of tender, juicy meat brought right to your table. The men folk were pretty darn happy and feasted mightily.

The wait staff then came over at the end of dinner and sang a happy birthday tune to Rinar, Brazilian style.  None of us knew the words to join in except for Rinar. He lustily sang along. It was fun.

It is a joy to be able to celebrate the things in life with good friends. We are very blessed.

Snapshots

These are some precious shots from the last two weeks.

Can you believe this little girl and all that hair? Amazing.

Harry and Julia turned 4 the day after I was discharged from the hospital. I really was not in any condition to celebrate properly.  But Rinar and Leah took over.  Rinar took the oldest three to the Lego store to pick out a Lego set for the birthday boy. They had a lot of fun finding the perfect one for this little guy.  I had already found Julia's present months ago, a set of four Disney princess Barbies.  Needless to say, the two were very happy.

Then Leah volunteered to make them a birthday cake and Raef and Zach made the two of them some sweet party hats.

Birthday number 4 was a success.

And they are just too precious with their new sister...

I love this little picture. Here is Noelle with her baby bling.  She has been doing really well.  For the past two nights she has slept all the way through the night, about 7 hours each time. I hope she keeps it up, but regardless, a few nights of uninterrupted sleep are absolute heaven.

My Birthday Stuff

First of all, I must mention my darling five year-old again. He built these Lego dragons all by himself, from his own imagination. And let me tell you, the kid is pretty darn proud of himself. I took this picture on my phone, and he makes me get it out all the time so he can show people his awesome creations.

"Am I so awesome?"

Yes, Eli. You are. Pretty darn awesome kid.

This past weekend was my birthday and my husband had lots of surprises up his sleeve. First, he gave me a beautiful necklace and earring set. Then he took me to a fancy schmancy dinner at La Caille. It is in Cottonwood Heights and is quite the place. It is a fancier version of the Gable House. I enjoyed every bite of it. And since my steak was too big, I was able to have a fancy schmancy lunch after church the next day. Sweetness.

Then he took me to the Conference Center for a special concert. James Taylor sang with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Utah Symphony. The concert was fantastic. I just love James Taylor. His first number was "Carolina on My Mind" and I got a little misty-eyed thinking about North Carolina and the things there are to love about that place. I am excited to go back next year to visit.

James Taylor did three encore numbers and people shined their phones brightly in the air and waved to the music. It was a Mormon rock concert!

Okay, now my birthday is over and I am settling in to 37. Next on the agenda is to have this darn baby!

Eli is 5

I think it would be very safe to say that this may have been the most anticipated 5 year-old birthday party in the history of the world. Eli has been talking about his birthday party for the past 8 months or so. It was almost to the point of an obsession. This is what happens when you are the younger child in the family and a guest at a brother's party. You know that it is totally awesome and you want one of your own.

Finally the day arrived. The big party.  We actually held his party on Wednesday February 20, because of another birthday party being held on his actual birthday. I don't think he minded that small technicality.

It was a great day for Eli. He had lots of friends come to his party, just the way he envisioned it. We played many games and colored and ate cake and enjoyed treats.

Ira had a mouth full of marshmallow in this fun game.

Here is Eli mastering the bean bag toss. Look at the concentration in his eyes. Masterful. Carter is standing behind him, then Kaislee, Ira, Jason, Harry, and Lincoln. 

It is wonderful to have to very enthusiastic 11 year-old boys. They were so helpful with the games and activities. Plus, it was a day off of school, a double bonus for them! Ira shoots, while Kaislee, Lincoln, and Jason wait their turn.

Eli is an avid colorer and he was joined by Alyssa, Abby, and Kaislee. 

Alyssa is getting ready to pin the Lego on the Lego board. 

 Harry nailed it! Good job kid.

And finally, the birthday cake. I took Eli to Costco to pick it out. I would have liked to have made the cake but I had to be practical considering the fact that it was a day after we came back from our house hunting trip in Utah. I put a Skylanders toy on the top and the kid was pretty darn happy.

I have to say that I have been very blessed to have this boy in my life. It was not an easy journey to get him here, but it was worth every poke, punch, prod and appointment I had to endure. He is a joy beyond measure. He is so sweet and kind, thoughtful, full of love and joy. I love watching him grow up. This kid is going places.  I love this little boy.