Birthday Rewind

Sweet E with her Tinkerbell cake Mommy made for her.
Don't look too closely...remember I have only taken one class and it looked better in person

Uncle M wishing Sweet E a happy birthday...via web cam
I tried to give her a "Tinkerbell" hair do but it got all messed up by party time....here is what was left

Opening presents....cute clothes, cute hair bows, books, a crying baby doll

Her new bike.....but look at the fancy shoes!! Uncle J gave Sweet E a set of fancy dress up shoes....she has been in HEAVEN!! She wears them all around the house! She is ALL girl!!

Here is Sweet E with Nonny. Nonny bought her a cute Hawaiian dress and book from her recent trip to the islands.


Sweet E's B-day was last Monday, and I am glad it is over. June was a busy month for us. We had Mr.C's birthday, then I had my "BIG" farewell/service enrichment that I was in charge of for our old ward, then it was Poppy's B-day (Big B's dad), then it was Father's Day which also happened to be Aunt C's B-day, then it was Sweet E's B-day, then it was cousin O's B-day.....and to top it off we had 2 baby showers to attend, a birthday party, and my new wards enrichment!!! June was a CrAzY BuSy month!!

Sweet E's birthday was low key....but she did not seem to mind or notice. It was "Tinkerbell" themed. She really wanted to have a dancing party....but I was pretty sure my family would not appreciate that....so we went with the original idea of a Tinkerbell party. Maybe Sweet E will have enough friends that next year she can have a dancing party with all of her little friends and spare the adults the humiliation. We just had dinner and cake and presents at Nonny and Poppy's house. We served fairy wands (aka. shish kabobs with little yellow bell pepper hearts on the top), rolls that were meant to look like flowers, and pixie fruit salad (fluffy whip cream/fruit salad). We had pixie cup cakes (mini cupcake ball cupcakes from the Bakerella blog), and cake and ice cream. Sweet E was as happy as could be....so it went well.

I made her cake....and every year I swear I will never do it again. This year was more stressful than most...the strawberry cake was not cooperating....the first time it REFUSED to come out of the pan.....thus the "pixie cakes" (I just could not throw it away...and you use cake all crumbed up to make the mini cup cakes so I decided to make them, my mom wanted to learn how to make them anyway so it was not a total waste). The second time I attempted to bake the cakes it again stuck in the pan....but Big B refused to let me give up and some how managed to piece the cake all together again. It was a nightmare....I used WAY more frosting than usual to try to keep the stinking thing together....anyway it ended up staying together. I learned a lot of lessons...but most of all I learned that I am SICK of CAKE and FROSTING!!! After Mr.C's cake and Sweet E's cake.....I am on frosting boycott!! Big B will be lucky if the strike is over by his b-day in September!! He may just luck out and get a ice cream cake!!

We appreciate all of the love and support that we get from our families. We could not do it without you!!! My kiddos are so blessed and loved to have such a great extended family!!

It's A Bird, It's A Plane!

It's Sweet E!! SERIOUSLY!?!

Collin: "Sweet E you want how to learn how to fly with my new wing??"

Collin: "All you have to do is hold on to this wing....NO I said with ONE HAND!!"

Sweet E: " Ready Mr. C....one, two, free..eighteen, nineteen....GO!"
Mr. C- "NO!! You dropped the wing Sweet E....you have to do it AGAIN!"

This is why I can't leave these two yahoos alone for any time....let alone take a shower!! This is what I found after I got out of the shower today! Mr. C looks at me and says, "Look Mommy I am teaching Sweet E to fly with my new wing!" His new wing being a piece of Styrofoam packing from a new shelf unit we got. Yesterday, he was crumbling it and calling it his "snowflake machine"....see the corner missing?When does their daddy get home??? Enrichment tonight is looking more and more appealing!! :-)

Send In The Reinforcements!

I think my two kiddos are out to get me today!! They are driving me CrAZy!!! This morning they got up just as happy as could be, things were going well until I got an important phone call. I was on the phone....a little frustrated....but trying to understand what the person was trying to say and what I needed to do to fix the given situation. The whole time Mr. C is standing right next to me yelling, "mommy, mommy, mommy....." I try to get him to go away but to no avail. I get off the phone a little defeated and ask him "what do you want?" He replies, "nofing"! Err....so I go off to search for the cell phone so I can call Big B at work and tell him about the earlier phone call. (I have to call Big B on the cell since his work number is long distance). Anyway, I am talking to Big B and the kiddos are squealing in the other room....heaven knows the chaos they are causing. So before I go and check on them I try quickly to scan and e-mail some paperwork that Big B needs. As I was hitting the send button the doorbell rings! It is 9:00am....if I was a good mommy I would be dressed and ready to go....but I'm not....needless to say I am the last one who gets to take a shower. Mr. C spends at least an hour in the tub on days that we have no where to go. And lets face it I let him stay in as long as he wants because he causes less destruction that way! Anyway, back to the doorbell....I am in my pj's.....I live in the ghetto.....my hubby is not home....I am NOT going to open the door. The kiddos know the routine.....go quickly and quietly to mommy's room while she sneaks a peak out the peep hole. Anyway, Mr. C was good...a little extreme....but good he covered himself up with a blanket and crawled to the back. However, Sweet E starts screaming "Mimi, Mimi!" Which was not good....because since we have a swamp cooler we have our windows open so the inside of our house does not become a swamp! So I knew whoever was outside could hear her. She usually follows her brother...but since Mimi had visited the day before she naturally thought that it was her again. So before I could reach her she started to pull up the blinds to make contact with our visitor. Before she had them all the way up I grabbed her and ran her to the back. Then I hear a voice from outside, "It's UPS." I quickly think if there are any packages we should be expecting...and there aren't. I was about to tell him through the door to just leave it, when the UPS man realized he was at the wrong house! Uhh....so I go get the kids and tell Sweet E it is her turn in the bath. We spend a good amount of time picking out her clothes....she insists on picking out her own clothes. I hand them to her and tell her to go put them in the bathroom. In the mean time the phone rings...I answer it....it is my mom....I say "hi" then I hear Mr. C yell...."Sweet E put her clothes in the TOILET!!!" I quickly hang up.....and sure enough she had!!! ERRR....she has NEVER done anything like that before! So I go get her some new clothes.....she is MAD I won't let her wear the sopping toilet water clothes....and plop her in the bath. I get her all scrubbed down and the phone rings again....the person from the early morning phone call again.....more hoops to jump through. I break down and start crying, I say a quick prayer.....call Big B.....he says he will take care of it. I go get Sweet E out of the tub and Big B calls back and tells me I need to do something else and scan and e-mail it to him. So I start to do that when the kiddos come in and ask if they could eat a left over cupcake from Sweet E's b-day. I say, "no, I will come help you in a minute." Then I finish up what I was doing and go into the room where the kids were only to find an empty cupcake container! There had been 4 left! My first thought was....one of them is going to be sick! However, after talking to them I discover that they did not eat them all....but hid them to save for later! I have only found one so far....it was stuck up in the basketball hoop of one of the baby toys I have put off to the side to put in storage. So now I need to hunt for the last 3! Seriously, it is not even noon!! The possibilities are endless!! I think it is time to pack up and head to Mimi's house....I need some reinforcements!

Bittersweet

So we went to our "BIG" stake conference on Sunday and like we were told they made a new stake here in town. It was exciting to be part of the meeting, you could really feel the spirit. I know that the changes are the right changes, I have felt that. I am excited the church is growing here in town, hopefully soon we will have a temple, but I still think it will be a while.

Elder Anderson from the quorum of the 12 apostles was at the meeting. It was neat to be so close to an apostle. He talked a lot about how he has felt in the last few months since being called to be an apostle. He also talked about forming different wards and stakes in different areas of the world. It was neat to hear his testimony. We left feeling a desire to serve more, and try harder to be faithful members of the church.

While I know in my heart that the changes are right....it still is a little bittersweet. If you know me at all you know that I am not one to seek change. I am pretty shy and have a hard time feeling comfortable, and confident around people I do not know. I was finally feeling like I knew most of the people in my ward and that they knew me....even if they did not know how to say my name :-) . Now I am thrown into a new situation and my stomach hurts!! I am scared....even though I know it will be fine. There is an enrichment meeting for my new ward this week, and I have promised myself that I am going to try to be positive and outgoing. Heck I was the enrichment leader in my old ward....so I know how important it is to go and support those who have put in so much work and effort to make a nice evening. But I'm still scared....anyone want to come with me??? Wish me luck....I will need it!

Happy Birthday Sweet E

Sweet E's 1st Birthday....boy has she grown!

Brush those "teefers" brush them clean....here is Sweet E bringing her cuteness to her Poppy's dental office ad

Oh how cute...here is Sweet E and Mr.C in Oceanside, CA enjoying the beach (September 2008)

"Arizona, Go Cats!!" (this is what she says when you ask her to say Arizona....she even pumps her fist!) Sweet E knows how to make her Pop's proud!

Chilling in the shade after a HOT day looking for the perfect pumpkin!

Aunt Jill using her SUPER POWERS to get a good picture of these two yahoos! (Nov. 2008)

"Here Comes Santa Clause" ...Look at those happy faces, doesn't get any better!

Aunt Jill works her photo magic again!! Here is one of my current favorites of Sweet E!


HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY SWEET E!!!

Her name says it all....she is our sweetie!! She has grown so much in a year! She can talk up a storm, she can count nearly to 10, she knows her ABC's, and how to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She LOVES her brother, and LOVES to copy everything he does! (which is often scary) She is 110% girl! She loves babies, dress up, getting her hair pretty, she loves dresses, and dress up clothes and shoes, she wants to play with my makeup (UGH!!) and loves to go shopping....but her FAVORITE thing of all is she LOVES to DANCE!! And boy does that little girl know how to MOVE!! She has brought a new dynamic into our home, she has helped us see the world a little differently. Our family just would NOT be complete without her! So on this day we wish a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our VERY SPECIAL and LOVED 2 Year Old...Sweet E!!

We Love You Pumpkin!!
Mommy, Daddy, and Mr.C