Happy Birthday Alexia!

What a fun weekend! Lexi was so excited to turn 6! She desperately wanted to have a Tinkerbell birthday party, but we convinced her that we would have to wait until the Saturday after her birthday because we just had too much going on. Ha, ha, the joke is on Lexi! She was so surprised when Dirk brought her home on Saturday to a house full of friends in fairy wings!

Lexi was so disappointed a couple of weeks ago that her friend wasn't having a surprise birthday party that I decided to go ahead and make hers a surprise. It was a lot harder to plan than I thought it would be! Have you ever tried to plan a party when the birthday girl is at school? She is a very vigilant child and I was hard pressed to keep it a secret! We were able to pull it off though and she was very surprised!

I have to thank my sister, Liesl, for this gorgeous cake. Lexi found a picture of a Tinkerbell cake like this a few weeks ago and I knew there was no way I could pull something like this off! My sister is awesome at doing cakes so I enlisted her help. I did bake the cake and make the rice krispie treat for the top layer but I can't take credit for any of the decorating. Oh, wait I drew the crooked lines on the leaves! We got the cake all done on Friday afternoon. That night I took Liesl's kids to our house for a sleepover so her and Travis could celebrate their anniversary. I guess they went home to find that the dog had gotten on the counter and licked the bottom layer of cake so Liesl spent some time remaking the whole thing! We'll just chalk that up to another birthday cake disaster for Lexi! I really love how this cake turned out!

For the party we did all sorts of fairy things. We made our own fairy wands and had fairy makeovers with lots of glitter and pixie dust! (Trust me my house is still sparkling everywhere I turn!) We did a fairy puzzle and got to watch some of the Tinkerbell movie while we waited for parents! The girls really enjoyed eating the fondant flowers and leaves on the cake too! I am sure they all went home on great sugar highs! Yes, even I dressed up as Tinkerbell to the delight of many a mom!

I can't believe that my little girl is soooo grown up! She's my first baby and the one that took us the longest to get, but has been a complete joy since she entered this world! Lexi is such a positive little girl. She always can find the bright side to everything. She loves to help me take care of her brothers and takes her roll as the big sister very seriously. The other day I found her bossing Rayden around and I asked her to let me be the mom. I will never forget her reply, "But Mom, someday I will be a mom!" She is trying to learn everything she can about this important role in life and I hope I can live up to being the best example for her I can. I love seeing her every morning getting excited to go to school. I hope that excitement never wears off and that she will continue to love to learn! She is such a little smarty pants!

My Silly Angel Girl,

I love you so much and I can't imagine not having you around. Your brothers look up to you and love you so much. They always are following you around and I love how you try to include them! You have Daddy wrapped around your finger and he seriously loves your puppy dog look. You've got it down! You are my shopping buddy and my reminder when I get off track. I am glad you are there to look out for me, sweetie. You bring such a joy and radiance to our home everyday. Thank you so much for being my little girl and one of my best friends!

Love,

Mama

6th Post Picture

Ha! I should have done this post yesterday! It would have made a great April Fool's joke! Ashley tagged me to post a picture from my 6th post. Here it is! The first ultrasound picture I got with Simon. This was the appointment that they decided I wasn't as far along as we thought and moved my due date three weeks further out. What a tiny little stink!

Question For Hayley

Seriously girl, where did you get the balloons for Enrichment from? I can't get this one down! It has been over two weeks now! Anyone else seen a latex balloon stay up this long?

1. Crockpot-I am not the best about getting dinner on the table in a timely manner. I get distracted pretty darn easy. I am so glad that I have a million recipes that I can throw into my crockpot in the morning and forget about. It is nice to have dinner ready when it finally dawns on me at 6:00 in the evening that it is time to eat!

2. Humble Pie-This one is weird I know but still.... Whenever I find that I feel I am getting really good at something I get overly confident. Then the Lord steps in and throws someone who is much better at that task at me. It reminds me that confidence is a good thing and that arrogance is not a nice quality. I am thankful for all the 'humble pie' I have had to eat throughout the years to keep me grounded and on the right track.

3. Sign Language-Lexi has been taking sign language classes the last couple of months. She got really interested in it when I started doing some simple signs with Simon. Now her classes have sparked the interest in me more and I really want to learn this fascinating language. I have done lots of browsing on the internet to find out more and hopefully someday I will get to take some classes. I really love how the sign language has helped Simon. He is really starting to talk and he is learning new signs all the time now. Getting to learn more and share it with my kids makes me feel like I haven't totally given up on my own education.

From Baby to Toddler

So after I shot this video Simon HAD to see it! He walked around with the camera watching it and saying, "Si-Si!" I guess he knows his name! Everyday he is surprising us with new words!

Thankful Thursday

1. Baby Steps-My baby is starting to walk! He prefers to crawl still though. I love to sit and watch him as he stands there and decides if he is going to move forward or sit down. When he decides to make that first step I love the pure joy in his face that overflows and he starts to giggle. It is the sweetest sound of my days! Simon taking this next step in life reminds me of how all of our lives our. We get to decide whether we move forward or sit down. When we move forward we then get to decide whether or not we will find joy in our decision. As I was once taught in a Preach My Gospel lesson we cannot sit on the fence. We are either progressing or regressing and I am thankful that my sweet boy's growing up reminds me of what I want to be doing.

2. Spring Colors-They bring such a vibrancy to life! Now that the weather is finally warming up I see lots of spring colors coming out. I can't see them without my spirits lifting and my worries melt to the background for a little while. It is such a wonderful feeling.

3. Dirt between my Fingers-Oooohh I can feel it now as I am typing. There is just something about being outside and digging in the dirt! I love being able to plant something and tend it and watch it grow. I wish I could do more often. I am really looking forward to this year and doing lots of gardening.

Thankful Thursday

1. Alter Egos-I am no superhero but I do have an alterego! A couple of weeks ago for singing time in Primary I dressed myself up as Sister Singer. I wore this huge afro wig with a headband and coke bottle glasses. I had a big apron on and inside the pockets were objects that represented the different songs we were singing. The kids loved it. Even though almost all of them knew it was me I felt more confident to do some silly and fun things. I love how when I 'hide' behind something I am more willing to do things than I am as myself. My kids keep asking when I am going to dress up again. They will just have to wait and see!

2. Breastfeeding-I absolutely LOVE to nurse my babies. I am in a minority around here, but I can't help it. Simon is almost to the weaning point and it makes me soooo sad. There is just something about spending 15 minutes at a time with just me and my baby. Nursing time is so different for me than any either one-on-one time. Usually I recite nursery rhymes or sing to my baby, but sometimes we just sit together and stare into each others' eyes. There is a look that I get from my baby that I never see any other time. I can just feel myself connecting with him on a whole new level. I just want to cry when I think about losing this time with him. It is a time I cherished dearly with Lexi and Ray and I will store all my memories of it with Simon too.

3. Sound of Birds-So Monday we had about a foot of snow fall on us. It was way depressing. I am really looking forward to Spring and getting outside and digging in the dirt! (I know I'm weird but I love yard work.) My spirits were lifted though as I was getting ready this morning. I could hear the birds singing outside. I was reminded that Spring has to come and it is almost here! The weather WILL get warmer. I am so grateful to those birds for singing. I can now keep going with a glad heart!

Wow!

She did this all on her own! My little girl is getting all responsible and doing chores without being asked. This one isn't even her chore!

Thankful Thursday

1. Life-I have had a hymn stuck in my head for the last week. It is 'Each Life That Touches Ours For Good.' I have thought a lot about life and why we are here lately. I am so thankful that I have gotten to have so many lives touch my own. Each new realtionship with someone changes me in an irreversible way. So to all of you thank you so much for being apart of my life and helping me to reach my full potential!

2. Geek Squad-I spent a good deal of time today with these guys. Dirk's computer was attacked by a couple of nasty virus' and wouldn't start up at all. They help diagnos the problem then they didn't get upset when Dirk decided to have my brother-in-law fix it instead. I am so glad there are people out there who are smarter than me with computers!

3. Dinnertime-We always have dinner as a family but we have really been concentrating lately on cutting out the tv and actually eating at the dinner table instead of the bar. It has been a lot of fun to talk to the kids and hear about their day. It is really true that dinner around the table can bring a family closer together.

Our Very Own Liberace!

This is Simon's favorite passtime. He loves to sit and play the piano. Sometimes he really gets into it and sings and dances too!