Cooper's 2

Cooper Birth-DAY was on Sunday and we made him a few cupcakes and sang Happy BDAY! It was small since the Birthday Blowout was the weekend before!:)

Cooper was thrilled to help make the cupcakes! If he could pick ANYTHING to do, it would be help cook! He loves mixing things together and watching them cook! He is just drawn to the kitchen, completely fascinated with ANYTHING and EVERYTHING we do there! If everything is quiet and Cooper is missing.. NO DOUBT he is in the kitchen or the pantry mixing and messing and LOVING IT! 

He loves to wrestle and rough house with Spencer and Daddy! He is always there ready to give the rescue punch when Spencer needs a little more muscle to defeat Daddy! He loves to be chased and tickled! He likes hide and seek because he loves being FOUND!  He just giggles and giggles, buries his face and hides again, just waiting long enough to peak out and be found again! 

He loves bubble baths with brother, and watching the garage door shut! He is addicted to FRUIT SNACKS and his BINKIE!! He always talks in a LOUD voice, to make sure he is heard over all the ruckus! He gives the best sorry hugs, even if the hug is a little too tight!!!:) 

I LOVE how excited he is to see me after I am gone for a while! Spencer could take you or leave you! BUT COOPER acts like he was holding his breath waiting for you to come back! He makes you feel like the only person in the world to him! He feels his LOVE for people DEEP down! 

It doesn't really seem possible that he has only been a part of the family for 2 years because I cant even remember life with out him! He has always been our cuddly sweet baby boy! 

Bubble Battles

The boys got some cute bubble guns at the birthday party! And this morning they had a large bubble BATTLE!

We had a bath after the battle was over! But that means they had a good time! 

No He is MY Brother

So the boys favorite thing to fight over this week is GRAHAM! 

They fight over who get to kiss him first, who get to give him a blanket or binkie! Who gets to sit next to him! Even if there is room for BOTH of them to sit by him they fight over who is the closest TO him! 

At least they both LOVE him.... Right?

Hair Cuts

It was time to cut the boys hair again...BIG SIGH!! But this time went really well! We did it at the house, they picked out a stool and a story for me to read them as they got their hair cut!

Cooper did really well! Just chilled and listened to his favorite story "okay baby"

Before and after....

Spencer needed a little more convincing! BJ "let" him cut a little bit of Coopers hair! Spencer was also very VERY concerned with the hair ITCHING him!! He needed a lot of insentive!

Spencer before and after...

(sorry I didn't get a good after shot!)

Oh and if you didn't notice, Spencer got a really bad black eye over the weekend! He fell out of the car and hit his eye on the curb! I was sure he would be bleeding but my tough little guy just bruised up and asked me to call Nana right away and tell her!! 

Time to Set Some Goals

I have been thinking lately that I want to set a few goal... 

As I started to think about what I want to work on about 100 things ran through my mind as things I could stand to improve upon! But I know if I set too many goals NONE of them will be achieved! SO I have decided on 3!! for now....

#1

Read my scriptures every day!!

I want to spend time after the kids are in bed and the house is picked up studying my scriptures I am sad and a little embarrassed to admit that I have fallen out of the habit and I feel a lack of spirituality in my day to day life!We have such a great habit set up with the kids each night I have just slacked off in my personal study time!! I know if I put in the effort the Lord will reward me with the spirit and a increased amount of peace! (which I could really use:)

So every night scriptures and hopefully one Conference talk each week!(I get WAY more out of reading them then listening to them!!!:)

#2 

Work out twice a week!

In my new ward there is a group that meets twice a week to exercise together! Seeing as 3 babies has done NOTHING for my waistline and unfortunately I haven't made time to do anything for my waistline either... I decided to start going!

And whew let me tell you it kicks my tush! It starts at 9:30 so I don't have wake up super early, YEA! All the kids run around and play together! Of course my boys like to weave in and out of all of us and throw things in between us while we exercise! OH silly kids! And as most people know I am THE most UNCOORDINATED person ON the PLANET! I am counting on the saying "practice makes perfect" cause when everyone else is kicking right I am kicking left! :)

Anyway it feels SO good to get out there and get my muscles working! Tuesdays and Thursdays are so good, I love getting out and burning some energy and so do the kids!!!

#3 

Get ready EVERY day!

I know this one sounds funny but if I don't have anywhere to go I usually stay in PJ's ALL day! Whenever I DO get ready Spencer always asks where we are going! ouch! So I think it will help me feel better and hopefully help me get more done each day! And I am sure BJ would like to see his wife in more then his old tee shirts and jammie pants:)

We will have to see about the necklace and cookies, right now I'll be doing good to have makeup and clothes on!!!

So so far so good! I think working on some things to improve ME a little will help ME in my relationships with others too! I'll keep my progress posted!!!

Sunglasses Make the Man

Yesterday Spencer was playing with my Sunglasses, I was worried and trying to think of a nice way to get them AWAY from what I was sure was the DESTROYER!  And then I remembered we had 2 pair of kid sunglasses from previous summers! I RAN and got them but I NEVER expected the play time we would get out of some old shades!!!

The boys turned into someone else as soon as they put those racing shades on! They wrestled and giggled and had SO much fun! 

I am SO glad I thought a sec before pulling my sunglasses away, what a fun time we all had together! It only takes a sec and a potential temper tantrum can be turned into a silly play time! I hope I can start slowing things down and taking that extra second.....

Ahoy Matey...Ready for Some Birthday FUN?

Here we go a Picture Tour of the boys Pirate Birthday Party. 

This year because we moved in February we decided to do Spencer's 4th Bday and Coopers 2nd Bday Party together! We decided on a PIRATE theme because Spenc thought it would be fun to have a sword fight with all of his friends!

SO I'll walk you through the party... a picture tour....

Spencer helped me pass out our Treasure Map Invitations

I decorated the outside with some drift wood signs (cardboard and paint...) And we made my favorite little decoration our friendly Pirate out of Milk Jugs and yarn! 

Amber and I went all out with the crate paper and a few more drift wood signs! We were going for Pirate Swanky... Seaweed walkway and lots of drapey red, black and yellow crate paper!

I tried to do all the food around our swashbuckling theme...

We had ships and different salsas that were our "Pirate Booty" For the adults I made little sandwiches with Pirate flags and called them "Staked Ships" I made Celery boats with Cheese or Peanut Butter and Apple Boats AKA "Ship Wreck Island"  We had 2 different pastas Mac and Cheese also known as "Golden Nuggets" and Linguine pesto pasta our very own "Seaweed Salad" Bj's Mom made a salad with lots of goodies in it that we called "Treasure Salad" For the kids I had "Catch of the Day" Fish sticks and a yummy ocean jello with Swedish fish! And last but not least "Shark Blood" to drink, a special mix of Sprite and red kol-aid ice cubes!! WHEW!!!!!

We started the party making Pirate hats with lots of different pirate pictures to customize each individual hat and glitter glue... cause we all need a glitter, RIGHT? 

Once all the kids arrived we went out back to WALK THE PLANK

Everyone who dared to walk and jump (and the few that didn't) received a pirate eye patch and was ready to battle it out in the cannon ball fight...

I was most excited about this game the kids had their very own cannon ball fight inside our homemade pirate ships!!!!

Once the fight was won it was time to hunt for treasure. I made a few maps with pictures of places around the house and outside! All the kids ran from map to map until the went outside to find the treasure chest (a box I painted to look like a chest) filled with Pirate SWORDS! The immediately began their PIRATE FIGHT! 

After a little jello snack we had our last game...the Pirate Pinata! I just need to comment that I was bummed out by the way it turned out! I really really tried to make it cute! In the end I was just happy the kids each got to hit it before it broke open!!! They all loved whacking it and grabbing the candy afterwards so all in all it was a great game! (even thought the pinata looked TERRIBLY GHETTO!)

After games the kids sat down for lunch outside! They all wanted to sit in the playhouse and were able to cram 6 or 7 in there until drinks were spilled and we decided to eat on the plank:)!

After all the kids were done with their fish sticks and shark blood we went inside and sang Happy Birthday and had cake! If you know me you know I LOVE LOVE LOVE making the Birthday Cake! Thanks to my Mom who always made the coolest cakes! So here is this  years mini masterpiece....

I did have to REMAKE the Pirate ship because of the way the cake sits! It was SO sad when the first one died but the 2nd one lasted JUST long enough to blow out the candles and sing! I think I should leave a comment for Family Fun and let them know this cake is temperamental!!!

The kids opened their gifts and thanked everyone for coming! We had a GREAT time and are really glad everyone was able to come! Another successful party in the bag! And I am already excited for next year!!!!

For all you Graham Fans Out There....

Check out my big boy... I know I am bragging but he is just getting so big so fast!

He takes EVERY opportunity to smile at you when you talk him! For SOME reason I have started to call him ... its a little funny... Grahamy Pants! I don't know why? And of course I say it in the funniest voice possible! Well he things its GREAT cause he just lights up each time! Maybe he is really thinking "oh pleeease Mom....." 

Anyway our little babe is starting to roll over (maybe on accident but its happened a few times SO I am counting it:) and he is always cooing and ooing at me!!!Hope you all got your fix of my little Grahamers!!!

A Big Little House

This year my parents went in on a BIG gift for the boys....

A LITTLE TIKES PLAYHOUSE! 

I was SO SO SO excited!! I knew the kids would have so much fun playing in the new yard and now with this we would never be able to get them inside! 

I took a few pics of us settting it up, the kids were running and jumping all over the place! They wanted to help SO badly....

After we got it all together the first thing they wanted to do was play...and since it was lunch time we christened the new table with a few chicken nuggets and pretzels! 

The boys have played outside inside and on top of their little house since we got it! THANKS Mom and Dad! 

A Little of the Party Prep

So I really tried to keep the cost super low for the boys Pirate party! So instead of buying things I made them... here are a few of the examples....

I made 2 pirate ships out of large appliance boxes Home Depot gave me! OF COURSE the kids helped to paint them(with oops paint I got for 5 dollars:)! So we found a few old "Daddy shirts" that became " Paint shirts!" Spencer saw the idea on Caillou and was so excited to have his own "daddy paint shirt!"

The aftermath....

The ships turned out great and the kids had tons of fun with their cannon ball fight!!

One of the many other things I attempted was a Pinata....

Amber and I really worked on it all week long trying to figure out ways to make it look GREAT! I really wanted to save that 25 dollars I would have spent buying one....

The pinata started out as a pirate ship but it didn't look like a ship so then we thought it would make a good pirate hat...NOPE that didn't work out either! So we decided on a skull and cross bones! 

It was extremely GHETTO looking but the kids had fun hitting it and it was free! So I achieved my goal!

I made a bunch of other fun games and decorations but you'll see the finished product in the BDAY party post!! STAY TUNED... its gonna be a big one

Movin on Over

The move was messy! But I think it was our best move ever! My favorite part was NOT being pregnant and trying to move! Every time we've moved over the last 4 years I have either been sick pregnant or HUGE pregnant! So this time was a breeze in comparison!

ALL of the Holm family showed up and helped SO much! Then men moved everything and all the girls helped me put away SO much before we even finished moving everything over! 

The best part of moving is being DONE moving! And I truly LOVE our new place! I haven't gotten pics of everything yet but here is a preview....

The front with our snazzy garage... I LOVE the extra space! We finally get to set out our Chinese Lions in front of the door! YEA Oh and thats our Milk Jug Pirate from the party the boys wanted to leave him up for a while :)

The front room

The dinning room

The kitchen! SO SO SO much bigger then the last place! THANK HEAVENS! It makes me really appreciate the extra counter space and cabinets! (and please notice my sweet curtains I found for a dollar at a yard sale! My first ever curtains, cause they are so expensive! I kinda love them! Dark espresso brown paisley!!)

I just had to take a close up pic so you could see how cool they are!

Oh and this is the day after we moved in the kids out in the TOTALLY enclosed back yard! It is by far the best part of the new house! (did I mention that the morning we moved there was a snow storm?! Yea it was funny, we got stuck in the road a few times and then ran to WallyWorld to buy a shovel so we could scoop the driveway and get into the house:)

More house pics will come later as I get the kids rooms organized and clean enough for pics...it may take a while:)

I'm BACK

 WHEW.... it has taken SO long to get the Internet hooked up in our new place! BUT its hooked up now and I am starting to feel the void fill up! I have REALLY REALLY missed blogging and blog stalking everyone! Now that I'm back online I cant get enough, I feel like I've been let loose inside my favorite consignment store with a blank check! 

I am working on my catch up post all about the move and the new place! (WHICH I LOVE, By the way!) I am in up to my eyeballs with BIRTHDAY PARTY prep! Our Pirate Party sets sail on Saturday....

ANYWAY I am SO glad to be back, I CANT wait to read everyones latest news and get  caught up with all of ours! 

Just Another Wonderful Day Together

Saturday was a wonderful day! 

We meant to pack and didn't! 

We meant to clean and didn't!

We spent the day enjoying each other!

Trust me there was plenty to worry about:

bills, moving expenses, school, homework, FA 100 events, packing, almost 0 dollars in the bank, 

BUT instead of worrying and stressing we went to the park!

I packed a lunch for the boys used a coupon for free sandwiches for BJ and I 

we took a dump truck and a blanket and headed to the park! 

The boys played OH SO NICELY,

BJ and I ate our decliously FREE sandwiches and TALKED AND TALKED!  

Cooper waved and smiled and said HI every few minutes!

The boys went down the slide over and over TOGETHER, giggling and laughing...

Graham slept and slept, blissfully content

The day was perfect! I love how every now and then even when life is complicated a perfect day sneaks up and surprises you! 

ahhh

THANK YOU SATURDAY we all needed you!