Ginger is 4!

Ginger is so excited to be 4. She has been talking about turning 4 since before summer! She kept on asking: "When am I finally going to be 4? Is it going to be November next week?" (in July). Her 4th birthday was last Saturday, and she has been telling everyone that we see that she is 4! She feels like such a big kid (she IS such a big kid!...to me anyway).

I have tried to take advantage of her excitement of turning 4, and used it to make her more independent by telling her that there are certain things that 4-year-olds do. A couple of months ago we started "practicing" being 4, and I would let her know about 4-year-old responsibilities and have her try them out. If she fought me, I'd say "that's okay, you don't have to do it. You're only 3. But when you turn 4, THEN you'll have to". Four-year-old responsibilities have included buckling her own seat belt, picking out her clothes and getting dressed, and I hesitate to say online--but it's a big one for us--wiping her own #2 ALL BY HERSELF! There are other things that we're still working on, like putting her clothes back away after she's gotten dressed (there are always piles of unwanted shirts, pants, skirts, dresses, you name it, on the floor after she's gotten dressed in the morning), and putting her dishes in the sink when she's done eating. I've been thinking about adding making her bed to the list of responsibilities, but how much can you really expect from a girl who's only been 4 for a week? In general she's loved being 4, despite her new jobs. She feels like she just graduated from some phase of life. She tells everyone we meet that she is 4 now! It really is so cute.

Today she had her birthday party with a bunch of her preschool friends. I found a deal on Living Social for a cooking party, and I took advantage of it! There aren't that many birthday party options in November. So, Chef Cristin from Rutabaga Sweets came and helped the kids make their own pizzas, and cut out and decorate cookies! They had so much fun! I'm sure that when Chef Cristin realized that she was going to be in charge of 10 4-year-olds, she was more than a little nervous. But it turned out to be fantastic! The kids were used to being in class with each other, so they were very attentive and did an amazing job of following instructions. My mom and a couple of the kids' moms stayed to help out (great for when the kids started freaking out about the dough being so sticky!...but once I told them that they had "monster hands" they thought it was really fun). Anyway, the kids all had a great time, and Ginger kept on saying how fun her birthday was. In fact, at dinner tonight she asked, "So, when do I turn 5?"

They started off with some cookie dough that they rolled out and cut into cookies.

There's Chef Cristin, writing the names of the kids on the parchment paper. Brilliant! Something so simple, but I wouldn't have thought of that. I would have just tried to remember where each kids cookie was!

Some of our decorations. I bought this package with 5 signs at Party City for $5, not realizing that 2 of them were 6 feet tall! Then Brandon put the smaller ones in picture frames that we put on the walls.

Once the cookies were in the oven, the kids mixed their own pizza dough. They literally mixed the flour and water/yeast together with their fingers!

Trying to add flour to the dough to make it less sticky...

Showing me her "monster hands".

These kids have getting in line to wash their hands down to a science! Soap, wash, dry, "NEXT"! They washed their hands 3 times during the party, and they always waited so patiently in line for their turn.

Adding the sauce.

I don't know why, but Ginger refuses to look at the camera and smile at the same time. She will do one or the other, but never both!

Adding the cheese.

Once the pizza was in the oven, they mixed up icing to put on their cookies. They even got to pick what color to make their icing!

Some of the kids just dumped the icing all over their cookie. Can't have too much icing, right?

Then they got to decorate the cookies with sprinkles.

Showing off their cookies.

Yummy!

They FINALLY get to eat! Their pizzas were done, but were too hot to eat, so they got dessert first.

We ended up running out of time, so we wrapped up the pizzas for the kids to take home to eat. I still just can't get over how good they were! And they had such a great time, and the parents had a great time. We got to help out a little, but didn't have any huge responsibility. I got to chat with other moms and take some pictures. Win, win. Thank you Chef Cristin! And Happy Birthday Ginger!

Gone by in a blink...

I've just been riding the wave of 2012, and it is still moving... Life just keeps on happening! Taking a breath has not been an option this year.

Just as a quick update (okay, it's a little lengthy, but I had a lot of ground to cover):

March - Edison turned two. We had an amazing day at the aquarium with Grandma, and on the way home (in the very late afternoon) I got a call from the Sister Missionaries to ask me "Is it still okay if we come over for dinner tonight?" How did I forget about that? (And why would I sign up to feed the missionaries on Edison's birthday? Who knows.) We got home, and Edison was so exhausted that he took a nap during his birthday dinner (we couldn't wait for him since we were feeding the missionaries, and they have a schedule). So, he stayed up late that night opening presents with Grandma and Grandpa Arny there, and Grammy on Skype.

Playing with his birthday balloon.

Also in March - Brandon and I took Penny with us on a trip to Mexico City to visit our dear friends, the Chavezes. Grammy and Brandon's sister Aunt Amanda (or "Tanda") came to babysit Ginger and Edison while we were away. Mexico City was amazing!

We had our own personal party on a boat in the Xochimilco canals.

...Listening to the musicians on another boat.

Our "driver" is back there pushing us along. We stopped at a restaurant, and they brought our food out to us on the boat so that we could eat it on the ride.

We went to Teotihuacan, a city of ancient ruins with some cool pyramids. Penny got hungry and needed to take a little break. I never thought I would be nursing a baby in the middle of some ancient ruins.

Brandon in front of a small pyramid.

We took a look at the line on the biggest pyramid, the Pyramid of the Sun, and decided we were going to skip that one.

Lucky pup. He found some shade to relax in.

Elizabeth, me and Penny, Chavez, and sweet Sophia stopping for another break...it was a hike getting to the other Pyramid, the Pyramid of the Moon. Sophia was such a trooper!

We took a tour bus through Mexico City to quickly see the sights. It was also a great excuse to sit down for a bit.

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Also in March - Brandon gave Penny her baby blessing finally (she was almost 5 months old!). It was so wonderful to see all of our good friends and family who came there to participate and support us in that beautiful ordinance.

April - We went to North Carolina to celebrate Easter. That is getting to be such a fun tradition of ours! We love to see the kids playing with their cousins. And Brandon has really enjoyed being the egg hider for the Easter Egg hunt. This year we even had a raw egg hidden in the grass by accident! (haha, very funny Grandma!...She thought it would be fun to decorate raw eggs too, so she got some out for the kids to decorate, but then she didn't stick around to make sure that they were sorted properly.)

Easter baskets (or buckets) do make great hats.

Ginger hunting for eggs with her partner in crime, Joseph.

Micah, just hangin' out. He found an egg with some candy, what more could a guy ask for?

Caidyn, showing off her finds.

Jacob.

Caleb, you missed one (see the orange egg behind him?)

Grandpa and Grandma, and most of the grandkids after a successful Easter Egg Hunt.

Also in April - Brandon turned 37 and started his new job at Ernst and Young. That's practically the last we've seen of him this year!

Brandon's birthday card from Ginger.

May - I attempted to potty train Edison. It was the worst 2 weeks of my life. Mommy did not win that battle. I put him back in diapers and hung my head in shame for about an hour. After that I forgave myself and enjoyed not having to be glued to my toddler and clean up poop and pee all day long.

Also in May - Ginger finished her first year of preschool! She loved her teacher, Ms. Jackie, so much!

Also in May - Edison went to the ER twice for a very bad limp. The doctors didn't see anything on the x-ray to indicate that it was broken, and it was not red or swollen. But it was very clear that it bothered him--he was miserable for about 3 weeks! Unfortunately my mother was taking care of him for 2 of those weeks...

In the ER. We were there for several hours, most of the time just waiting.

But he was a happy kid most of the time. He had a great distractor.

Which leads me to:

June - Brandon and I went to Brazil for a mission reunion, and to witness the dedication of the temple in Manaus, Brazil. My mother watched our kids for us, and we are so grateful to her! It was an amazing experience for us to be part of that event, and to visit with the people that Brandon taught as a missionary. I hope that I can post more about it later.

Brandon, on the boat going to Maues--the first area of his mission.

Arriving in Maues.

Simone and her daughters--great friends from Maues.

Our hotel room. We were a little unsure about how clean the sheets were, so we used our hammocks as a sheet and blanket. Better safe than sorry.

A family that we met on the boat to Maues. They invited us over for lunch the next day--they were just so kind and fun!

This is where the branch meets for church.

Me, in my hammock, on the boat going back to Manaus.

This man was Brandon's landlord for one of his houses as a missionary.

Brandon with Bishop Lucas and his family in, Redencao. We had fun spending time with them!

Brandon's first companion, Andrade, with his family. We stayed with them in Sao Paulo before coming to Manaus. We love them!

Brandon with his Mission President, President Francisconi. So many missionaries came from Brandon's mission--it was an amazing mission reunion! Many of the guys from his mission got to go visit areas of the mission and see the growth of the church and the members in those areas.

On another boat.

Going to see some wildlife.

Manaus.

Simone's family, who now live in Manaus and run a Pizzeria. This family fed Brandon and Andrade every day that they lived in Maues. What an amazing and generous family! I was so happy to meet them.

We attended the cultural celebration the day before the temple dedication. The energy and excitement there was so tangible. I felt so blessed to be a witness to so much joy and faith! These people have sacrificed so much to have the temple in their lives. I am so happy that they can have one so close now.

These women were the first people who Brandon baptized on his mission. He taught them with Andrade.

The Manaus Temple.

This family invited us to dinner after the Temple dedication.

This is another family in Redencao that we really loved.

This is Romao and Sebastiana, and their grandson Sean. They opened their home to us to sleep and eat there. They are such kind-hearted people!

Also in June -  On Friday, June 29th, Brandon was hopefully on his way home from a work trip, and I was relaxing on the couch watching tv after finally getting the kids to bed. I saw some flashes in the window, and then heard some rain outside. I thought, "that's random. But a little rain never hurt anything"... My famous last thoughts just before the power shut off in our house. Not to return for 5 days. Luckily Brandon did get home that night. So, we ran errands and visited with friends to escape the heat during the day. But at night we had to all camp out in our basement where it was somewhat bearable. I brought out the cool kids flashlights from the stash of stuff that I had planned to one day put in an emergency kit. Edison had a Buzz Lightyear one, and Ginger had a princess one. They both thought that the power outage was so awesome because of their cool flashlights! Every now and then Ginger will say to me in excitement, "When the power goes out again, we get to sleep downstairs and use FLASHLIGHTS! It will be so much fun!"

July - Our family (including Rocco and Mia) flew out to Utah to stay with Grammy for a month. At the beginning of that month we spent 4 days at a Carlton Family Reunion with all of Grammy's siblings and their families. Brandon's mom and I have been planning it this year, and it was a very daunting task! But it was so fun, and so worth it to see everybody!
After the reunion, Brandon went back to working, and the rest of us played and enjoyed Utah.

August - We returned home. And then we went to North Carolina for another visit. We went to a lake not too far from my parent's house. We were going to go to the beach, but then we found this secluded waterfall with shallow water where even Penny could sit and splash! It was really fun!