I have to say I was cynical. The other night my children and I went to the Family Fitness night at the elementary school. We had a great time. There were many "fitness" activities for the children. A passport to have stamped when each station was completed. Goodie bags for all who did the activities. Low cost subway sandwiches and smoothies, and a cool rock wall. We had and awesome time! Then it wast time to go and the little girl that we brought with us was missing her money filled wallet. We searched and searched and searched... but the wallet wasn't found. The little girl was devastated. When I spoke with the principal she said... "It will turn up, because Character Counts at Peachland!" As I said before, I was doubtful. There were a lot of people there. Well, we all said our prayers and waited. The next day I received a call and sure enough the wallet and all of the money were returned by a very honest little girl. It made every one's day. Like I said... I am glad Character Counts at Peachland Elementary!!
Sarah is having a smallbirthday gathering tomorrow with four of her friends. I always want to make a cake for the kids that either reflects them in some way, or is a design of their choice. I asked Sarah what she wanted on her cake and she promptly gave me her design. Here is a photo of her drawing... a picture of her and her four friends (the crowned one is her of course!) If you would like to see how the cake turned out please see my cake blog... I think Sarah will be pleasantly surprised when I bring it out tomorrow!
This is my "Baby Sarah" (as she was affectionately known for the first few years of her life!) This picture is how I usually picture her in my mind, but as you can see from the other photos in this post... she is growing up very fast. In fact, today she turns SIX!
Sarah, or princess, is only four in this picture.
She was very specific about what she wanted for breakfast. Pancake pizzas- a pancaked with chocolate chips (to look like peperoni), sliced like a pizza with syrup drizzled on top. Oh, and chocolate milk to wash it down with!!! Let me tell you, this girl knows what she wants and isn't afraid to ask!!
This was taken this morning just before school. She got the outfit from Deric and Me and she was so excited to wear it.
Of course I took cupcakes to her class. These are from the "Hello Cupcake"book. They were a big hit!
I thought I'd add these photos of Sarah. They were taken after school days dedicated to different events... can you guess what they were? Sarah is very much enjoying school and friends these days. She is a happy girl with lots of love and occasionalstubbornness. We love her so much and hope she has a very happy day!!
While my Mom was here she said that Wally really needed an exersaucer. Trying to be frugal I had looked on Craigs list earlier and had found nothing. I decided to check one more time and we found this one at a house just over a mile away for only $10. We were so excited... it has springs too which is a plus because he love s to bounce! In this picture he is sticking out his tongue because he got his first tooth and is playing with it. Lastly notice his shirt. My sister found this and couldn't resist buying it for him... gee I wonder why!?
While my mom was here we had a fun and rare treat. We got to got to the show "The Price Is Right." This is rare because we had to leave the house at 4 in the morning and wait in line after line to actually see the show...we didn't get home until almost three in the afternoon. Why is this rare you ask? Rare because my wonderful husband had all of the kids this entire time. It was wonderful Mom and Daughter time... and even cooler was the fact that the show was for the mother's day special and will air in May!!! We had an awesome time and really enjoyed the entire process (the lines really weren't that bad). Drew Carey is really quite funny and very entertaining during the commercial break points in the filming. There was a lot of cheering and clapping....again lots of fun. I am so glad I could share this experience with my mom!
Growing up there were some things that I remember having every year at each holiday. For some reason the silly plastic bubbles that you blow up with a straw were always in my Easter basket. Seems fitting that my children would also find them in the Easter eggs that Meme hides for them!! Here are a few pictures of the girls playing with the bubbles. We did this while Nelson was asleep (actually Wally was too). These can be a little messy if you aren't careful.
Can you see Carrie's cute grin through her bubble?
Sammy, still wearing ears, is proud of this one... she did have a bigger bubble later. I love this shot of Sarah! I am pretty sure that this was the biggest one blown... good job Jess. And thanks for the fun Meme!!
Wally had his first food the other day (4/4/10). We waited so that my mom could be here for one of his firsts. All he had was rice cereal with mommy milk. He liked it OK but wasn't overly excited about it. Since then I have given him peas... same reaction, he really doesn't care about it one way or the other. It is fun to watch him try new things. What he really wants though is to play with the spoon as you can see in the last picture!
A magical place indeed. I am not sure who was more excited when we earned the Disney passes (through Disney's give a day get a day program)- me or the kids. I have wanted to take them since we moved to CA... but the cost is so high. Luckily we were able to earn tickets for most of the family, my mom included, and we had one return voucher. So in the end we walked nine people into Disneyland on Monday and all it cost us was the $14 parking fee. If we hadn't earned the tickets it would have been $478! Honestly it was a miracle to me that we made it.
Our day was magical as well! It was pouring when we got there but as weather.com predicted the sun was out by noon and it was a beautiful day. This first picture we actually took later in the afternoon because it was raining so hard when we went by it the first time.
Our trip through Disneyland started with a walk down main street. Then we went through the castle and into fantasy land. Here we all are on the Dumbo ride... everyone enjoyed it very much and it was one of Carrie's favorite rides. Here the kids are trying to remove the sword from the stone. Do you see Deric in the background? He is coming with water and snacks. We found that the lines didn't seem quite as long if you were munching while you waited. We ate cheese, jellybeans, popcorn, carrots, celery, cookies.... and whatever else we could to make the waiting not so hard. I have to admit though that the lines were not bad. We waited an average of only 15 minutes per ride. I know I have seen the park so busy that some lines are 3 hours long. We did take full advantage of the fast passes and infants switch passes though. After some fun in Fantasy land we traveled to the silly land of Toon town. There were many fun things to do and see there. Here the kids are trying to pick up a very very heavy weight!
Here we all are in jail!
There were many door bells, buzzers, phones, and other things to touch in Toon town. This door made the lights flicker and electric noises when you opened it. I love the look on Nelson's face in this picture... he wasn't sure about the noises. He did eventually open the door too!
Speaking of Nelson, we made the decision early that he would have to be on a leash at Disneyland. He has been a runner lately and has gotten away from me a couple of times. We decided that we would rather not loose him... hence the fun red leash! Posing at the Toon town gas station! Goofy was outside his house while we were there. We took a few pictures because he was very silly but this one is my favorite. Here you can see that both Carrie and Nelson were terrified. They are hiding behind me not wanting to let go of my leg!! They didn't really like Mickey Mouse either but both times they were coaxed out for a group photo (I am so glad that they were accommodating this way!) We were able to go on many rides and everyone had their favorites. Sammy, who is the most conservative, liked the little kids roller coaster in Toon town the best. Sarah like EVERYTHING the best. And Jess and Carrie both agreed that Splash Mountain took the cake! Jess, Sarah, and Carrie both went on it twice. Here you can see them at the big drop. Jess is in the middle, then Sarah, then Carrie with my Mom-Meme. The princesses pose for an evening shot in front of the castle. Later we got to see Tinker Bell fly over the castle during the fireworks... it was really cool! You would never know that it is almost 9:30 pm in this photo. This is Nelson on his favorite ride, Autopia. He was the driver twice, and loved every minute of it! This picture shows just how tired he was. We had a really packed day of fun and didn't leave the park until about 10:30. We watched the fireworks to end our day and a tired little boy fell asleep on his daddy's shoulders... it was so cute. *Sigh* I am not sure when we will be able to go back to Disney. Hopefully it won't be another five years (Sarah was a baby in a pack the last time we went!) Carrie agrees... Tuesday she climbed into Deric's lap and said "Daddy can we go back to Disneyland right now please!" Don't we wish Carrie!
First an foremost, Happy Easter! What a wonderful day, a day we celebrate the atonement and our Savior Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for him and all that he did for me, for us. I have tried to reflect upon all that I have because of Him and I am moved beyond words. Today was extra special in our house because my Mom is here visiting. We had a wonderful Easter day. I want to show you a little of our day (and a few things that preceded today!)
This was our Easter Card this year. Sorry it is the wrong way, I couldn't get it to fix and I am too tired to try any longer, and I am determined to get this posted before midnight!!
On Monday I let all of the girls have a friend over. I went and picked them all up just because I could with our big van!! While they were here we made Easter/Springtime treats.... rice crispy treat nests will jellybean eggs. It was fun and the kids enjoyed eating them!! You can find the recipe here, it was really easy.
Thursday we cleaned the house and decorated. Just before bed we colored a few eggs! This morning we woke up and looked for baskets hidden by the Easter Bunny. Then I made breakfast. The kids really liked their apple cinnamon bunny pancakes! After chores my Mom and I filled and hid eggs all over the house. The kids took turns finding 17 eggs each. It was super fun and we of course couldn't find one egg... it is in the kitchen somewhere, who knows when we will find it. ( I plan on a post dedicated to just the egg hunt). This is a picture of everyone ready to look! After relaxing (I admit I had a nap, thanks to my Mom who is the one who really should have had one) we made a fun dinner. Jessica found this recipe for "April fools cupcakes" the other day. We decided to have them tonight and have a big Ham dinner later in the week when Deric is home. I modified the recipe due to the fact that I didn't have all of the ingredients, but they were a big hit. Everyone ate two! With dinner we also had resurrection rolls. I saw a recipe earlier in the week and decided to try them. You roll a marshmallow in butter and then in cinnamon and sugar (similar to the oil and spices that were used during the time of Christ) then you wrap it in a crescent roll and bake. When they are done you open the roll and the marshmallow is gone just like Jesus was. I thought this was a fun lesson and a great reminder of what the day was really about. After dinner we got our our eggs filled with reminders of the Atonement and the kids told Meme (my mom) about how Jesus died for us and how he was resurrected. I was proud of all that they remembered. Over all it was a wonderful day. I hope you all had a very Happy Easter as well.
Jess (on left) and Sammy (right) on the wall.
Jess (on left) and Sammy (right) on the wall.
