Landon Turns 9

I figured that I should blog about Landon's birthday before it came time to blog about Reagan's birthday.  This year Landon got to have a party with his friends.  This party was on a Saturday and was the day before his birthday.  We decided to do an Art party since Landon is a good artist.  He loves to draw pictures.  Anyway, for his party he suggested making sock puppets.  That sounded like a really fun idea.  And it was really easy.  I just bought a couple packages of sock, some yarn, felt, and pom poms.  We made the hair and the kids did everything else.  They were pretty cool.

For his friend party we also ate a lunch of Little Ceasars Pizza.  We ordered 2 pizzas and probably could have ordered 3 pizzas.  Those growing boys sure do eat a lot!!  Landon opened his presents and then they played outside for a little bit.  After they were done playing they were ready for cupcakes and ice cream.  Then the party was over and it was clean up time.

The following Monday (the day after his birthday), we had a family party.  For this party we served dinner and had one of Landon's favorite foods Hawaiian Haystacks.  After dinner we once again made sock puppets.

After the kids made their sock puppets it was time to for Landon to open his presents.  He got some good things, a lot of new clothes.  

For dessert we had another of Landon's favorite foods--Cheesecake!!  Instead of a big cheesecake I made little mini cheesecakes with a recipe found in Our Best Bites cookbook.  They were delicious!!

It was a fun couple of parties and in a couple of weeks I get to do it again with Reagan.  At least after that I will have a 6 month break until I have to plan the next party.  

Payson's 2nd Birthday

This blog post should have been written a few weeks ago.  I am a little behind.  My son Payson, my baby, turned 2 years old on June 23rd.  I can't believe he is 2 already!  Time sure does fly fast!  For his party we did a monster theme.  You can see the invitations that I made for his party at my other blog.  The party started out with all the kids making there own monster masks.  We used plastic plates and craft foam to make the masks.  The kids really enjoyed making the masks.

For dinner everyone made their own monster pizzas.  We used English Muffins and then had toppings of pepperoni, pineapple, canadian bacon, and olives.  The kids especially had fun making their own monster pizzas and every kid except for the two youngest ate the whole thing.

After dinner it was time to open presents.  Payson got some much needed clothes.  He also got some new toys.  

For dessert we had monster cake pops and monster cupcakes.  My mom and my kids decorated the cupcakes while I went to take Payson to get a much needed hair cut just in time for his party.  Funny story about that.  We got to the salon and walked in.  I told the stylist that we were there to get his hair cut.  We started walking back to the chair and when Payson realized what was happening he turned around and started walking toward the door.  I had to go and get him and carry him back.  The whole time he was crying and twisting and swatting her hand away.  I don't know how the stylist can cut hair with a kid moving around that much and have the hair cut look good.  I have a new respect for them.   Anyway, here are the cupcakes.  I think they turned out great!

The party was pretty low key.  My parents left the next day to visit my brother and sister-in-law in Missouri.  It was a fun party and I think that people enjoyed it.

New Blog

I have started a new blog dedicated to cards, cooking, and crafts. I will still post family updates on this blog but I am hoping to post on my other blog twice a week. I did my first post the other day and will do another one either today or tomorrow. I would like followers and I would love you to check it out. You can do that here.

Emma's 7th Birthday

My daughter Emma turned 7 years old on April 2nd. Every year I have to decide when to have her party because her birthday usually falls on General Conference weekend. This year I decided to have her birthday party the weekend after. That is a long wait for a 7 year old so we had a cupcake decorating party with the cousins on her birthday during the priesthood session. I set up a decorating station by putting different sprinkles in cupcakes liners placed in a tin. I also filled pastry bags with frosting. The kids all had fun decorating their cupcakes and Trent had a little too much fun when the adults weren't watching anymore. The following weekend we had two different parties for Emma. The first one was on Friday afternoon and was with her friends from school. She invited nine girls from her class and then one of her friends from the neighborhood. It was crazy!! One of the girls mom's stayed and helped out. It was nice to have another adult. For this party the girls colored cupcakes on shrinky dinks, played pin the candle on the cupcake, and decorated their own cupcakes. I was very bad at taking pictures at this party! Here are a couple though.Her final party was on Saturday Afternoon. This was the family party. We went with the cupcake them. We started out the party by having the kids color shrinky dinks. Then they also got to decorate aprons and chef hats.For dinner we had Papa John's Pizza and tossed salad. It was good. After dinner the kids played Pin the Candle on the Cupcake and then Emma opened some presents. She got some good things including some DS games, clothes, and some toys.After presents it was time for cake and ice cream. I made a giant cupcake cake and also some cupcake cake pops. Dave had so much fun helping me with the cake pops that it is now his dream to open a bakery. In reality, I thought for sure he was going to overturn the table and cupcake pops were going to go flying everywhere. Notice that Emma changed her clothes in between opening her presents and eating cake. She wanted to wear some of her new clothes.Here are some other pictures of decorations. I made both of the cupcake banners the morning of her party. One party down, 3 more to go!

Reagan's 4th Birthday

I have been quite the slacker when it comes to blogging lately. Here it is almost April and time to start another round of birthday parties and I have not yet blogged about Reagan's 4th birthday yet. What's even worse is that I didn't blog at all about her 3rd birthday. I guess she suffers from MCS (Middle Child Syndrome). Reagan's party was pretty low key. We just had cupcakes and ice cream and she opened her presents. She wanted a Dora Party so I attempted to make these cupcakes that I found on www.nickjr.com. I can't figure out how to post in on here. Anyway, they didn't quite turn out how I expected but they were still good.
Reagan was excited to open her presents and she got some good stuff including a Rapunzel barbie, Clothes, princess shoes, and many other things. Hopefully when she turns 5 I won't be this bad at blogging about it!!

Landon's Special Day!

Saturday August 7th was a special day for Landon X 2. First, it was his birthday and he turned 8 years old. Second, he was baptized. He was so excited that he got to get baptized on his birthday. His baptism was at 9:00 a.m. They had a short program with a couple of talks and then they dismissed individual wards to go to the baptismal font. Dave was able to baptize Landon and confirm him. It was a special experience seeing my oldest son baptized.After the baptism we had some light refreshments at the playground behind our house. Landon also opened his gifts for his baptism. We bought him some scriptures. He also got a book, a scripture case, some ties, some scripture stickers, and a baptism coloring book.After the baptism I had to go and get things ready for his birthday party that night. I bought food and balloons. Then went home wrapped presents and finished the goodie bags. Then we went to my mom's house to set things up and get the food ready. The theme for Landon's party was SpongeBob Squarepants. For dinner we had Krabby Patties A.K.A Hamburgers. Everyone got to build their own with a variety of toppings including bacon. I thought of a couple other ideas later that would have been good to include.

After dinner we played a game. The kids were divided into 2 teams. At each end were buckets, one with water and one without. The kids had to dip a sponge into the bucket of water and then run to the other in and squeeze the water out into the other bucket. They had a lot of fun but I think it was a little confusing. Some of the kids were squeezing the water into the other teams bucket.Then we played hot potato. My mom bought it at the store. It is a little stuffed potato and when you squeeze it it makes music. When the music stops whoever is holding it is out. They had fun with it but we made it so no one was outwhen the music stopped.After that Landon opened his presents. Once again he got some good stuff. He got clothes, games, a hooded bath towel, a Nintendo DS and some games.

After the opening of the presents we had cheesecake for dessert and then the party was pretty much over. Landon passed out the goodie bags to those who came. I am so proud of Landon. He is such a good kid! His birthday was a busy but fun day!!

Back to School

About 2 weeks ago Landon and Emma went back to School. Landon started 3rd grade on July 26th and Emma started 1st grade on July 27th. It sure is different having 2 kids gone for the majority of the day but I am getting somewhat used to it. I drove Landon to school on his first day while my mom came over to be with the other kids. He hadn't met his teacher yet because he was in Missouri with grandmom and grandpa when they had Back to School night. Here he is on his first day.The next day my mom came over again and this time I took both Emma and Landon to school on Emma's first day. Here she is.And here's to a GREAT school Year!!