Easter & 31 on the 31st

Every so often my birthday happens to fall on Easter.  And this happened to happen this year {I wonder if anyone happens to be tired of me typing happen yet?} And I digress.

  I have been longing for this day for years. My golden birthday where my age and date line up.  Like since I was a kid longing.  Crazy right?  Well, by the time it came, I was much less muted with excitement and instead just looked forward to spending some good quality TLC with the family.  I had already gotten what I really really wanted: a fun girls weekend to NYC that included shopping, dining, entertainment, and lots of laughs.  Oh and my brand new pair of Toms were ordered off Amazon and being shipped to my house!

After another fun girls evening the night before my birthday, I really didn't expect anything on the actual date.  It was a great feeling to not have these impossible expectations that most likely would never be met.  It took the pressure off and I just had a fun day. 

The kids put out Easter baskets the night before that ended up being quite the patch job.  Apparently 99 cent buckets do NOT last more than a year, and so stretching to two years was a little much.  I seriously pulled out the packing tape and reattached half of the plastic on Eli and Robby's buckets.  Yikes.  Needless to say, they will all be ending up in the trash can this week.  No use saving them for a third appearance. 

Easter morning Maddie was the first to awake.  She ran in our room so excited to find out if the Easter bunny came.  We made her wait until 7am and then down she bounded to search for her basket.  Robby followed suit about thirty minutes later.  I have to admit, we were so tired that we didn't even bother climbing out of bed and taking the usual Easter morning pictures.  We were so lazy that finally we got up around 8am and then had to scramble to get ready for church.  Eli was plucked out of bed about 8:15am and barely found his basket before we left for church.  Maddie and Robby searched in vain for the parent Easter basket, but were unable to locate it.  The Easter bunny was really tricky this year and hid our basket in the ceiling of the kitchen (see pic below). Luckily Mom has really good eyes and found it after we got home.

Once again, I meant to take Sunday best Easter pictures.  Somehow we never really got around to it.  The best I got was a quick picture of Eli and Maddie at home right after church.  I think we may try to do a belated photo in a few weeks before church.  Maybe, maybe........

Doesn't he look handsome?  I sure think so.  Every time I look at this picture, I have to pinch myself in disbelief at how old he looks.  Since when did I let him grow up?  I am pretty sure he was instructed to never grow up.

Miss M in her Easter dress.  I am not really loving this picture, it seriously doesn't do this cute dress justice.  Maddie was upset that I didn't get her any frilly socks or new shoes for Easter.  Perhaps in the next few weeks this will happen.

After a fairly relaxing afternoon, we prepped ourselves and our food for a fun Easter dinner with our New Hampshire friend family. We had tons of yummy food that included funeral potatoes, Ham, Strawberry Avocado Salad, veggies, fruit, rolls and of course dessert.  Oh, the desserts we had.  My friend Steph made the most delicious homemade Cheesecake.  I NEED to get that recipe from her.  And my other sweet friend, Candace, made me my very own ice cream cake.  She knows that I'm not really a cake lover and so she specialized it just for me.  It was delicious as well.  I had a plate full of dessert that night and now need to go on a diet for a week straight to make up for it.

Later on that evening we did family presents and Skype sessions with each set of parents/family.  Robby and I had a little self photo session together as well.  I love that kid so much!

Maddie was super excited to show off her new gymnastics skills to the family and spent some time practicing before the skype sessions.  I am truly amazed how much she has improved over the past six months.  She is starting to really devote herself to this sport.  She practices constantly and talks about her goal of making the competitive team this fall. 

Oh the ice cream cake.  It was so amazing that it deserves a picture all by it's lonesome.  I will have to make one like this in the future!

Pre-birthday Ladies Dinner

I don't think enough can be said about how much I love these ladies.  They have made our time in New Hampshire fly right by.  They have built me up when I have needed it, they have listened to me complain and vent without judgement, they have made me laugh so hard I cry, they have shared many memories with our family, they have celebrated holidays with us, they have been on park dates, road trips, movie dates, lake trips, Boston Lot hikes, you name it.  All in all, they have been there for me through thick and thin.  They all know and love my children and I theirs.  We share our struggles and our successes together.  We run together, we walk together, we even do bus duty in pajamas and no make up together.  They have seen me at my very best and at my very worst.  And luckily they still love me.  I felt so privileged to have them take me to dinner for my birthday.  They are what I will miss the absolute most when we finish this adventure called Graduate School.

Tiffany, Candace, Catherine, Ashley, Michelle, Maren, Andrea, Stephanie, Laura

Winter Break: Friday

This morning I started to panic when I realized that my fun, relaxing week home with the kids was almost up. As weird as I may sound, I actually love having my children home with me.  There are definitely times when it is really convenient to have two of three gone to school full time.  Times that I can lay around and do nothing or read a book if I feel like it.  I can also be super productive and organize entire rooms without breaking up sibling arguments.  But I also miss them like crazy.  I hate how our life is busy and chaotic the moment they walk in the door after school.  I hate trying to cram in extra curricular activities, playdates and errands in the few precious hours between school and bedtime.  I hate trying to be a drill seargant at bedtime and get them down at a reasonable time so that we can get up early for school the next morning. The only thing that got me through this panic was realizing that in less than a month they have a half day/no school day combo and then in April, they have Spring break.

Friday was a busy, lots to do sort of day.  Maddie went to a birthday party for her friend Leah and immensely enjoyed the cowgirl theme.  So that the boys wouldn't be sad about Maddie having such a fun activity, I took them to the movie theater.  We saw the newest cartoon movie out complete with old popcorn, treats, 3D glasses, and a filthy theater. 

After both of those activities we went bowling with the Monteleone's. The kids played "Candle-Pin bowling" that features smaller bowling balls, bumpers and tall skinny pins.  Maddie and Robby really enjoyed this; Mr R was so serious when it came his turn to go.  Eli on the other hand could care less about the game.  He was busy wandering around, laughing, jumping on chairs, trying to escape to play arcade games, running halfway down the lane to bowl, and in general create mischief.  I finally buckled and handed a kindle fire to him and he played games in between turns.  As always, bowling was fun but crazy.  JJ and Eli enjoyed clowning around in the car together....I think Mr E brings out the super sillies in nearly every child he's friends with.

We ended the night with a date for Jesse and I.  We went and ate at this cute Chinese restaurant in Lebanon and finished our date at the grocery store.  It was really nice to clear our heads and take some time for just the two of us.  Thankfully we have a fabulous babysitter that our kids all love!

Some other smaller activities we did during the week included:

*Reading our "Book of Mormon Stories" kid manual every single morning at breakfast. This is yet another reason why I love having no school for the kids.  I love being able to have a lazy morning complete with yummy breakfasts together where we have time to read our scriptures as a family.  I was excited to be able to make Buttermilk pancakes, waffles, french toast, german pancakes, scrambled eggs, muffins, etc. Breakfast is basically my favorite meal of the day. I love cooking breakfast and I love eating it as well.  Too bad most days I don't have time to do this.

*Playing board games together.  One of Rob's favorite things to do besides electronics would have to be board games.  He particularly loves ones involving mathematics.  We went through all of our games this week and realized we had never opened up several of them.  The favored game this week was Quirkle. We also played Monopoly Jr, Rummikub, Parking Lot, and Memory together.  I have full on embraced my inner nerdiness and I am loving becoming a board game family.  Our favorite time to play these games are between Eli's and the biggies bedtimes. 

*Reading/Quiet Time every day.  Whenever I have all three children at home, I feel like I need a little breather some time in the middle of the day.  I need a period of time when there is a calm relaxing atmosphere around my home.  One of the ways I achieve that is holding a mandatory 30 minutes where all the kids pick out there favorite books and we bring pillows and blankets into the family room.  We all sit and "read" our books.  I always love a good book and am typically immersed in one, therefore it is heaven to be able to stop my motherly duties for a period and just read. It's been fun to see Maddie loving to read as well.  I am looking forward to the time that my other two are also reading.

*Playing gymnastics ALL OVER THE HOUSE. I think Maddie probably spent at least an hour each day doing gymnastics all over my house.  She is really trying to improve her handstand hold and does them on walls, into people, against the fridge, next to me, on the couch, you get the idea.  The brothers have also been doing lots of their "tricks" and they love showing me forward/backward rolls, headstands and spinning dancing manuevers.  We have this routine going where we set up our gymnastics mat and they stand in line and take turns doing their tricks. 

*Obviously watching some television.  Because I hate mornings so badly my children have this bad habit of getting up and turning Netflix on the TV on non-school days.  I love this because it buys me an extra 30 minutes to an hour more of sleep, but also hate how they easily become dependant on getting their fix of TV time.  Luckily we have been involved in many different activities this week which has helped to cut back prolonged time in front of the television.

Maddie has been quite obsessed with making sure that she's reading the book of Mormon every day.  She even fell asleep while reading in her scriptures one day at the table.  These particular pictures were snapped one evening while I was making dinner.  I love how dedicated she is becoming with her studies.  She loves bringing her scriptures to church now and really enjoys reading through them during sacrement meeting.  It is really neat to see your child starting to develop the beginning stages of a testimony, but sad at the same time to see their early childhood leaving.

Love Day

This year I feel extremely loved on Valentines Day.  I have three amazing children who are constantly giving me hugs and kisses, and tell me how much they love me, and love to make me homemade presents.  I am constantly reminded at work how precious life is, and come home more grateful than before for healthy, happy children.  They are my light and joy in life.  They make the hard days worth it and they great days even more fantastic.  It's amazing how much life changes when you have children.  You become so much more selfless when it comes to them.  I feel like I was pretty self absorbed until I became a mother.  Instantly the good of your child comes before all else.  My wants are nearly always surpassed by what my children need.  Yet in providing for my children, I am happy.  

I am also grateful for a hardworking, confident, loving husband.  I am so proud of how much effort and determination he puts into his schoolwork.  He is also such a giving man.  This winter he decided to be the volunteer 8th grade Hanover Basketball coach and has put in hours and hours of time with these young men teaching them how to be better athletes.  He truly dedicated his heart to that position and you can tell all of the boys really look up to him.

This year for V-Day I had most of the day to spend with Mr E, now that M and R both attend school all day.  We put together Valentines Day cards and went to the "Tiny Tuckie" Valentines Day feast/party.  We had a great time visiting our friends and exchanging treats.  My older kids had a great time making their own Valentines this year as well.  Because their school essentially banned candy at school, we substituted "take apart erasers" that Miss M has been obsessed with all year to give to each of their classmates, for candy.  I know their Valentines didn't look quite as fancy as some of the store bought ones, but I love that each year my kids put their own personal stamp on their Valentines. 

 Eli is such a goof ball, and it took probably 30 pictures to get one smiling picture of him and he's not even looking at the camera. Oh well, I love to remember him this way.  I love looking at his goofy poses and big cheesy grins.  He is such a happy, spirited little boy and we are thankful for the enthusiasm he brings into our house.  He seems to know what to do or say to bring a smile to our faces.

Love this little Valentine of mine <3 p="">

And just because I am a total rebel, I had to give my kids PLENTY of candy since they weren't allowed to really have any at school. 

TOTALLY LAME

Here is my Facebook post take on the lame Fruit Salad Party Maddie's class had instead of a traditional Party with treats and candy: 

Dear Miss xxxxxx,

Really? A "Fruit Salad Party"? I mean, I'm all about healthy choices when it comes to food and all. But don't you think that Valentines Day is a special circumstance. I'm not sure banning candy from school for the Holiday is going to reinforce a lifelong of healthy eating. Teaching moderation in all things is a much healthier approach to life in general, rather than teaching a no tolerance for such things.

Sincerely,
Unimpressed Parent

Maddie was pretty frustrated when she first heard the news of her fruit salad party and came home and told me about it.  At first I didn't believe and without thinking said "Maddie of course you're not going to do that....that would be just plain weird".  I am so glad I have a child with a great memory; of course she went to school the next day and announced that to her teacher.

When I questioned the whole non-candy thing, this is what I was told: "in the interest in promoting healthy eating at our school, we just feel like having the kids bring candy wouldn't serve that purpose."

Double Lame.
This is one thing I will definitely NOT miss about this quaint little town.

NYE Layton Style

We {I } was so excited to have New Years Eve off of work for the first time in four years.  And then before that I have only been off on New Years Eve two other years in the 9 years I have been a nurse.  So needless to say, there was some fist pumping going on when I checked my schedule a few months back and found out that I had the night off.  Lucky for us we all live so close together that there was just the matter of getting all the children in bed and then it was party time!  We played games, ate lots of yummy food and rang in the New Year in style thanks to Maren's party goods.

**disclaimer: all these photos were "stolen" from my dear friends blog**

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HAPPY NEW YEARS!

I am not really a New Years resolution type of girl, but I have been reflecting upon some changes I would like to see this year. 

 Some of my goals for the year include: 

*More scripture study personally and with family:  We didn't quite accomplish a goal I had to finish the Book of Mormon children's version with the kids in 2012, but we have now picked it back up and are reading again at night time.  As soon as we have finish the Book of Mormon picture book, we will move onto another one of the standard works.

*Work Out:  I did a great job last year running and staying in fairly good shape until November when the workouts ceased and the goodies began.  Let's just say that November and December were a little rough on my body.  I am now ready to run and work out a little better.  I am looking at some races to do this Spring as some extra motivation. I will be running the St Patty's race in Lebanon in March, but would love to do another Half-Marathon or Ragnar-Relay around April/May.

*Make bread with my new Kitchenaid: I would love to overcome my fear of baking bread this year.  I now have the tools to help me accomplish this.

*Pull out my sewing machine and practice:  I was so excited to get my very first sewing machine from my Mom last year for Christmas.  Unfortunately I just don't have anywhere to store the machine other than the case it came in.  It's a lot of work to pull it out and set it up so I tend to not do it.  I did pull it out in August when my Mother-In-Law came and we worked together on some projects.  Now I just need to try on my own.

*Quilt with some friends:  I was just invited to be a part of a group of women who are each making their very own quilt from the same pattern.  I still have to go to the meeting and search for fabrics but I am excited to try something new!

And before I completely overwhelm myself, I will stop right there.

I have a feeling that 2013 is going to be great year for us!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECKY!!

It seems like we have been friends forever yet also like we just met. Becky transferred from Mesa to Highland part way through high school. Although we didn't officially become friends until the end of our Junior year of high school, we have shared so many fun and unforgettable times together that it seems like she will forever be my friend from childhood. She has always been someone that I can count on, whether it was to make me laugh after a bad break up, listen while I vent about my arguments with parents, or to simply go and splurge on ice cream with, she has been there for me. She is the one who has helped get me through some of the toughest times of my life. I seriously don't know what I would have done without her. We stuck together as we maneuvered from high school friends to college friends. We even seemed to date only guys that were good friends for several years as well!

When we were younger we even jokingly made a promise that we would live next door to each other and raise our kids together. I am still trying to convince her of the fabulous qualities of Cortina--the neighborhood that we live in! We have indeed shared many laughs together and at one point had bundles of inside jokes between the two of us. (With each pregnancy I seem to get dumber, so now I seem to have forgotten a lot of those inside jokes :) I can remember our fun games of "perdittle" in the car, our counting game at graduation, going to breakfast instead of seminary and how we will always laugh when it comes to breakfast burritos. Thanks for all the fun times in the past Becky and I am excited to see our boys get to be friends and share their own memories as well! Also thanks for all the late night talks, crying sessions, as well as happy moments!

Several years after high school, we both got married and began our lives with our wonderful husbands. Although we saw much less of each other, we still remained close friends. Then three years ago, Becky and Jeff moved to Midlothian, Texas to begin Chiropractic school. I was so sad to see her leave Arizona. We still have talked on the phone and gotten together as time permits when she came into town. But it almost seemed as though I had lost my friend due to the distance between us. I am so excited to say that she is BACK! They just moved back home a few weeks ago and I am so happy to have her back close to home. Even though we are both busy with kids and families it is nice to start planning outings together!

I hope you have a killer 26 birthday Becky and these pictures are to remember some of the fun memories from our younger years! (there are quite a few: I had so many to choose from and had a difficult time narrowing them down)

Tiffany, Becky, Jamie, Taya, Jen, and April all soaking wet!
The lunch crew our senior year of high school (Steph can you see yourself in the back?!)
We were seriously so HOT with no makeup right?
Becky, Steph, Kelli and Tiff
The Senior girls TP job on the school the end of our senior year!
We almost fell over right after this picture because we were laughing so hard!

Right before a dance!
Graduation here we come: we stayed up SOOO late the night before graduation and my little bro even let us all take a turn shaving part of his head that night. I think he just loved having all these high school girls giving him the attention!!

Calling from the cabin: Shhhh.....I will never tell the reason behind this picture :)
Charlie's Angels: Becky, Carli, Tiffany at the cabin
Ohhh the memories! Kelli, Becky, Tiffany, Steph, Angelee, Lori, and Katie

This was seriously our favorite pose in our pictures. We have so many of these together, I just picked one!

She's Back!

It has been a LONG three years as I have anxiously awaited the time when my BFF Becky would move back to Arizona. We have missed the births of my two kids and her little boy, and have only seen them sporadically when they have come into town. But the day has come! She is back from good ol' Texas FOR GOOD! Her hubbie just finished chiropractic school and I couldn't be happier to have her back. The other day we went to lunch together and then walked around the San Tan Village shopping mall SWEATING to death! Cute little Brody chilling in the shade by the splash park
Brody and I
Madison LOVES anything to do with swim suits and water. Her and Robby had a wonderful time running around and sticking their faces in the water that would spray up at them. Too bad Becky and I were MELTING in the heat while we watched them play.
Isn't she the most adorable Mommy to Brody?! Seriously I am always so jealous of her fabulous looks, long legs, and KILLER body!!