A Birthday Boy

Braxton has been asking when he will be 4 since a few days after his 3rd birthday last year.  It’s been a long time comin’ for this kid.

We started his day with his favorite breakfast, hot cereal.  Then he opened one of his presents that he picked out at the thrift store while we were there last week hunting for a big boy bike.  He discovered this funny Crocodile Dentist game while we were visiting Amy and Spencer’s family in San Diego in October.  When he saw it at the store he told us, “THIS is what I want for my birthday!”  For $1.99?  Sure!

Then I let the boys watch Braxton’s new favorite movie, How to Train Your Dragon.  Seriously, I can’t remember the last movie Braxton has ever sat all the way through, until now.  While they watched their movie I put together a birthday poster for Braxton’s first Walk Around the Sun.  Zachary did one each year he was at his Montessori school and I loved the idea.

On the poster are a collection of pictures from each year of Braxton’s life so far.  We put the sun on the floor and Braxton carries the globe as he walks around the sun 1 time while we sing a little song about how long it takes the earth to go around the sun.  He comes up to the poster and I tell him about the pictures from his 1st year on earth.  Then we do singing and walking again for the next year and he comes and listens to me tell him about the next year, and so on until the present year.  I hang the posters up in their room and both boys love looking at all the pictures of themselves growing up and reading the little captions.

This also happened to be the day that one of Quintin’s classes at his Junior High put on a mock preschool for siblings.  Braxton thought he was pretty hot stuff getting to go to Q’s school and Zack was a bit bummed he was too old.  When I picked up Braxton he was so excited to tell us all about the songs and snacks and games.  They even sang Happy Birthday to him.

Dad came home at lunch and gave Braxton his new bike!  (Thank you Great Grandma Guptill, Grandma & Grandpa Ward and the Newby’s for your contribution to the bike fund!!!)  Again, a little envy on Zack’s part even though he has his very own bike.  And again, Braxton already saw this bike when I took him to Walmart to measure what size of a bike he could ride.  Dad went back and bought it, then kept it in his car (with tinted windows) over the weekend so Braxton wouldn’t see it.  Somehow, when Bob drove us home from church in my car and pulled into the garage after church on Sunday, Braxton said, “What’s that bike doing in your car?!”  I don’t know how he noticed it, but we changed the subject really fast.  I guess we’re not so good at surprises.

While Braxton was trying out his new bike, Grandma came by and gave him one more gift for the day, Cars 2!  He was a bit distracted by bike riding to truly appreciate the movie he’s been asking for all month, but he WAS reminded of the fact that he asked me for the Cars bike at Walmart and told me so again.

The next night we celebrated Braxton’s and Aunt Lesa’s birthdays at Trafalga with the Gleeds and Kogers.  Unlimited Laser Tag with our Pass of All Passes and Spider cupcakes (at Braxton’s request).  He even got a Ladybug Farm from the Kogers and a box full of Disney Pixar coloring and activity books from the Gleeds.  We have yet to order the Ladybugs, but luckily the coloring books came with markers which Braxton never gets to use, so since it was his birthday present he got special privileges and he’s been sufficiently distracted from our current lack of ladybugs.

Happy 4th Birthday little man!

Houston…have a Happy Halloween!

This picture is from the night of our Ward Halloween Party.
It was a little crazy rounding everyone up just before heading to the party, thus the blurry picture.

I love themed costumes for Halloween – I think it’s fun.
And it seems a little bit easier to convince Bob to dress up.
This year Braxton fit into Zachary’s old Astronaut costume, so we built the rest of our costume theme around him.  I asked Zack if he wanted to be a rocket or spaceship and when I found a picture of a space shuttle costume he was sold – but it took a little longer to make than I had hoped.  Since I’m 7 months pregnant I figured I should take advantage of my current shape and embrace the fact that I feel the size of a planet anyway – hello Saturn.  It was my mom that had the brilliant idea to check out the floral section of the craft store for possible wreath forms that might possibly fit around my middle and I lucked out, although I think it started shrinking as time went on…hmmmm.  After I told Bob my idea for his costume this year I was pleasantly surprised that he was a such a sweetheart and put it together on his own – tracking down a headset and making himself some official looking Mission Control badges.  Although I did suggest thick, black-framed glasses for a finishing touch and he turned me down only to try someone else’s on at the ward party – little stinker.  We only had that very day to come up with suitable costumes for Quintin and Brynnly, so here we have Space and the Milky Way.
Houston…we have candy!
And for a little live-action entertainment, here’s a clip of Braxton trying out Zack’s space shuttle:

Update:
Found another picture from our ward party photographer

Summer Vacation 2011

 

We had 1 week this summer to have an official vacation and we spent it in California.  We’re so lucky that California has so much to offer for us.  The tricky part is narrowing down our options.  So we whittled it down to Lake Arrowhead, Lakewood and San Diego.  Not a bad lineup, if you ask me.

Lake Arrowhead is such a beautiful little spot high up in the San Bernardino mountains.  I’d say it seems like a nice little secret, but they’ve managed to cram a crazy amount of cabins on the cliff side down to the lake.  Still, for the amount of traffic on the smallish lake, there’s impressive boating etiquette and it always surprises me how UN-crowded it feels out there.

This year I wasn’t a big participant in the boating activities, but I couldn’t have been happier to stay on the dock and get a little sun(burn) while enjoying the fabulous temperature and watching my family thoroughly enjoy themselves.

 

I’ve never actually seen Bob waterski, although he claims he has done it.  I think, but I could be wrong, it’s because he’s a typical male driver and prefers to do the driving himself.  Luckily he was a good sport this year and somehow someone got him out on the kneeboard.  This is the first time I’ve ever seen him behind the boat!

 

Bob helped the little boys try kneeboarding this year too.  Once they found the little hook at the tip of the board for the rope they thought it was pretty easy-peasy stuff and even attempted their cousin Sammy’s no-hands trick several times.

 

 

Quintin picked up wakeboarding this year and really improved in the 2 days we were at the lake.  Luckily he didn’t have much competition for time in the water besides his Aunt Sara, who also happened to be a fantastic example and was loads of encouragement to him out there.

 

We headed down the mountain to visit Grandma and Grandpa Ward for 2 days while Bob offered computer support and we tried really hard not to get Grandma sick.  Turns out Grandma broke all the doctor’s rules anyway and came outside to visit us AND give us all hugs and kisses.  She even let us feel her perfect, bald head.  Seriously, it was so cute I wanted to kiss it! (which I did, but I probably should have asked her permission first)  Thankfully NONE of us had any cooties that made her sick!  Even still, we did try hard to stay outside of the house and play in the backyard and the pool with Grandpa.  Plus, the kids thought it was pretty cool to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner outside on the patio.

 

 

 

For the last leg of our journey we drove down to San Diego and met up with Amy and her girls at Sea World.  (Note to self: Amy is a fabulous tour guide!)  Thanks to Amy’s planning and familiarity with the park we were able to hit everything in record time and have an amazing experience in just half a day!

 

Somewhere in here are Brynnly and cousins Lindsay June and Kensington:

A little classic Shamu action:

This is a sorry attempt at documenting that Brynnly really was with us during this trip, but I can’t blame her for wanting to hang out with her awesome cousins most of the time.

We spent the night at Amy and Spencer’s new house (but I’m lame and have NO pictures) and got to hang out for a leisurely morning before heading back to Utah.  Brynnly and Kensington played waitresses (and restaurant) and served us all waffles for Brunch, but not before taking individual orders including toppings and drinks – such service!

We weren’t back a week before I was ready to go right back.  I’m not the only one though, Braxton told me today he wanted to go back to the cabin and California AND Washington.  It could happen…

It’s a girl!

And therefore she will have no name…unless by some miracle Bob and I can agree on one before she’s born and people just start calling her something else anyway.  Hmmm…Something Else…I wonder…

“You come here right now Something Else Ward!”

Maybe not.  No pressure, just pick a name that I (and she) won’t despise the rest of her life.  Why were my boys so easy?

Speaking of boys, I have some pictures to post from WAY back of some of things my little guys have been up to, and the rest of us as well for that matter.  I even have pictures from not so way back.  I’m not sicker than sick anymore so there’s a pretty good chance I WILL post them…some day ;-)

Happy Mother’s Day!

 

That would be positive, folks!

ETA: January

Proud Mom Moment

 

Because in 2008, when Zack was 3 years old he showed me this:

 

And now in 2011 it’s Braxton who’s 3 years old, showing me this:

 

I’m feeling special.

Ski Season

The ever-generous Kogers let us borrow their kids’ skis this season, so for Zachary’s birthday he got ski lessons!

Well, technically he got a little coupon that said “Ski Lessons.”  But if you know anything about our family then you know we love home-made coupons.

I opted for Night-skiing Lessons because they were cheaper, but the best part is that we nearly got a 2 for 1 deal AND Private Lessons.  The 1st night it started raining and there was lightning so they had to close the ski lift after an hour into Zack’s lesson.  So we got a rain check and came back the next week for another full 2-hour lesson!  Zack was the only one in his “group” because it’s the end of the season and most people don’t take lessons just before the snow melts.  Go figure!

Day 1:

Here’s Zack waiting in line the 1st night with his instructor Kasey, thrilled about getting on the lift…but then it closed before they got on.  But before that he did get to go down the bunny hill for an hour.

 

Getting some pointers…

 

And a wedgy…

 

 

Day 2:

Zack was pretty pumped and happy to pose with his instructor the 2nd night, Scott, who reminded me very much of my little brother David for some reason.

 

 

I’d say it was a huge success.  Zack can hardly wait for next season and I’m excited to have a ski-buddy.

Now We Are Six

(The “Happy Birthday” sign has become a tradition at our house.  I can’t believe I paid 6 bucks at the party store for a sign with a spelling error.  But instead of taking it back, we choose to be very happyy.)

I’m really looking forward to year 6.  Mostly because 5 was a pretty sassy year and that wasn’t very fun for me.  I’m hoping this year will be better.  But all that aside, it does make me a little sad to see the baby fat melt away over the years and realize how big my boy is getting.

Every year Zachary has been at Montessori Learning Center he does the Walk Around the Sun for his birthday.  We make a birthday poster for him to take to school and show all his friends.  I write down some highlights from each year of his life for his teacher to read aloud to the class.

This is actually the first year I’ve been able to sneak into his class and watch the little celebration (and by little I really mean an eternal 10 minutes in video).

In the bag!

There’s always a party or craft or something to plan for at school, so I’ve always got to be ready for the next holiday/season around the corner.  Sometimes I wonder if I should just flip my calendar over a month early so I’ll be way ahead of the game.  I haven’t done that yet, but I’m so on top of Valentine’s day this year that I couldn’t help but boast.  And then share some of the super duper cute ideas out there that I didn’t think of myself but am totally using:

My girl Amy already has a helpful list with several links:

Love her owls!

 

I used these in 2009 (but she made more for 2010):

 

Then I came across a few more ideas I showed my boys:

Cute treat bag toppers (good for non-edible treats too)

 

Love this “wheelie” cute idea!

 

And you KNOW I’m giving every one of my sniffly students one of these gems for germs!

I showed these to Zack and said, “Aren’t these funny?  Wouldn’t these be fun to give to your friends?”
He gave me an incredulous look and said, “No.”

(That was a no-it’s-not-funny-&-no-I’m-not-giving-those-to-my-friends, no)

The next day I heard him telling Braxton the knock-knock joke and saying, “Isn’t that funny?!”

Traitor.  He better like his wheelie valentines!