Shopping Spree

I took Kaleb shopping a few days later with his birthday money and he stocked up on some media entertainment.

 

  He got the entire Septimus Heap book series,

Three new Wii games,

 

A new Imagine Dragons CD (since his old one got scratched) and a new game- Eleminis,

 

And some more books- how to make potholders (His fingers are always busy.  I often tell him he should become a surgeon, he has the brains and dexterity for it.), a mixed puzzle book, and a new journal to record his dreams in.

 

When he was finished shopping he had $0.15 left.  He gave me the nickel and he took the dime and we made wishes in the mall fountain.  Afterwards I treated him to a Cinnabon too.  It's always fun to go shopping!

Fashion Show

Usually, the kids like to spend their birthday money on family outings- to the movies, out to dinner, etc.  However, this year I have big 12 year-olds who wanted to go shopping for themselves.  I couldn't blame them, shopping is fun!  I took Noé out and she got a whole new wardrobe.  She needed new LONG skirts and dresses for church and she got a few really cute ones. 

This long black skirt is perfect for year-round wear.

(Target)

 

This pink and blue striped one is lovely.

(Target)

This rainbow dress is probably my favorite.

(The Children's Place)

I also adore these floral jeggings.

(The Children's Place)

She has several shirts from Justice (thanks to the hand-me-downs of our awesome neighbors), but I could never bring myself to buy her any.  I mean $27 for a t-shirt, are you kidding me?  Luckily, they were having a 40% off, with an additional 20% off sale (basically 52% off the original price), so she got this cute monkey shirt for just under $13.

(Justice)

A new swimsuit with little shorts.  The two came together and the shorts were marked as a 10/12, the suit as a 14/16- ugh!  I would take them back to exchange, but all the other suits in this style were 7/8s.  She will probably fit into it properly in 4 years, which is how long it's going to take for all of our snow to melt anyway.

(Target)

The pajamas are also hand-me-downs (so cute), but she bought this cute little sleep mask and wears it every night.

(Dollarama)

 

I think she made some great purchases (including rubber band refills for her rainbow loom bracelet maker) and afterwards I treated her to a Cinnabon.  I like this new era of shopping with my girl!

Men at Work

Leonard is a great cook and makes dinner at least half of the time (yes I know I am a LUCKY lady!).  Kaleb also enjoys cooking and has become our Saturday morning palachinkas (aka crepes) maker.  It looks like we now have a new man joining our cooking team- Teague.

Before he started school he was my assistant cupcake maker.  But last night was the first time he asked to help with dinner.  Leonard was thrilled with his desire and hoped it would help him eat dinner better (he is our pickiest eater, ugh!).  They made a delicious hot beef and pasta on Caesar salad.  Teague ate some of the salad, lots of the pasta, but alas he wouldn't try the beef, sigh.  Maybe if he keeps on cooking, he'll start eating better!

Patty's Pies



We celebrated Pi Day (3/14) and St. Patrick's Day (3/17) a little belated and together this year.  Here we all are sporting our green!  Outside it still looks like we're living inside a snow globe.  I really can NOT wait for spring to come!

 

I can't wait for next year to get a pic of Baby Girl in this little hat!

In honor of our green holiday I made a Pistachio Pudding Pie.  I made up the recipe myself.  It probably should have had a graham cracker crust, but I love pasty crust so that's what I did.  I just whipped up a box of pistachio pudding using half of the milk and substituting the other half with sour cream.  I topped it off with coconut cream (like I made for Noé's birthday party) and sprinkled crushed pistachio's on top.  It was pretty tasty.

We did eat dinner first, two chicken pot pies.

We may have had an extra dessert.  I love me some peach pie!  I only wish I had put an extra crust on top of the chicken pot pies and this peach pie.  Like I said, I LOVE pastry crust!

I think vanilla ice cream is my new favorite flavor of ice cream.  It's because I serve it with other yummy desserts- pie, cake, brownies, cookies, etc!

The first time ever I saw your face

From the outside, my tummy is getting rather large.

On the inside this little baby is about 15 inches long

and weighs about 2.5 pounds.

I just want to kiss those little lips!

Now that we've had a second witness that she is a girl, I feel much more confident about things.  One of my favorite sounds is hearing my baby's little heartbeat.

I learned of 3-D ultrasounds about a week after Kaleb and Noé were born and was so bummed we didn't have one with them.  I always wanted one with Gavin, Teague, and Hiram, but it just never happened.  Since this will be my last pregnancy, I figured it was now or never.  I am so glad we did it!  Look at that little face!  Isn't it amazing?  I want to kiss that little chubby cheek so bad!  She slept through the whole thing, even though the ultrasound tech kept jiggling my tummy trying to get her to move her arm down.  I think it's cute resting on her forehead.  In the bottom left you can see some of her heart chambers.

Oh little one, it is nice having you safe inside, but...

I just can't wait to hold you in my arms!

Rub-a-dub-dub

3 men in the ...

...shower!  The boys looked so cute wrapped up in their towels after their shower that I just had to grab my camera!

Snuggle Bug

We put our children to sleep awake, as we feel it is important for them to learn how to fall asleep on their own.  This evening though, Hiram climbed up in my lap and just crashed.

I have to admit that one of my favorite things is holding a sleeping baby.  Even though I look terrible in this picture, I feel so lucky that I am the one holding him.

A Birthday (part 4)

For Noé's birthday party we rocked the rainbow!

 

We asked each girl to wear their favorite color to the party- of course, Noé chose pink.

 

We decorated the house with rainbow balloons,

 

set the table, and I made a rainbow out of my candle sticks and paper rose balls.

 

After all the girls arrived, they visited the Rainbow Spa.  They each got to choose their own color combo for their hair chalk highlights.

 

I think they turned out so well!  (Except, Noé didn't want the chalk to transfer to her shirt, so she pulled her hair back in a pony and you can't even see hers!).

 
 
 
 



Next came a rainbow of polish for...

 ...manis and...

 

...pedis.  Some girls just wanted their fingernails, some girls just wanted their toenails, but most wanted both painted.  It took a while, since there's only one of me, and ten of them.  They were very patient and had fun visiting while they waited. 

 

Afterwards, they feasted on a rainbow of fruit (topped with coconut cream instead of whipped cream, you can find the recipe here). 

 

We were going to make necklaces out of gumballs, but we ran out of time.  So on to the cake!

 

This time my 6-layers didn't collapse.

(However, I made the layers out of 2 batches of cake instead of 3, didn't put pudding in the batter, and I waited until right before the party started to frost it.)

 

The cake is almost as big as Noé!

 

I have to admit, I was SO happy with how it turned out!

I didn't go with the traditional rainbow color order though, I paired up the complimentary colors instead.

 

We served it with Noé's favorite ice cream- strawberry (not sure if it's her favorite for the flavor or color, ha!).

 

The girls clapped when they received their cake.  Leonard asked if it made my day.  It did!

 

It was time to open the gifts, but it was also time for the party to end and most of the moms arrived before Noé had a chance to open them.  Her friends spoiled her!

 

We gave simple goody bags...

 

...with funky sunglasses, gumballs (that weren't made into necklaces), rainbow suckers, and a bracelet Noé made on her rainbow loom for each girl.

 

I wanted to get  a pic with all the girls in their funky glasses, but as I said- we just ran out of time.  Lucy and Alesa got to stay longer while their mom and I went to our Stake Relief Society event, so I was able to catch a cute shot of these 3.

 

Happy Birthday Noé!  We love you Rainbow Brite girl!