Alaina had another banner birthday year.  I think she's definitely figured out the system.  We let the kids choose whether they want a "real" birthday party (family, friends, activities, favors) and a gift from us, or they can choose to get more presents with no party.  Alaina realized that with a home party, we'd be able to invite more people.  More guests=more presents.  Cha-ching!

Her 7th birthday hit me harder than any so far.  The night before her birthday, she had to make sure to adorn me with a flower that she created out of dots, and it broke my heart to think that in just a little while, she won't want to do things like that anymore.  Here's to soaking it all up while they're young, innocent, sweet, and cute!


Breakfast was 7-shaped donut holes with a "practice" candle.


She has been really trying to jump rope lately, which is impossible with the dollar store variety ropes, so we got her a nice one.  She was elated, but a little subdued when she discovered that a nicer rope does not turn you into an expert jumper right away.


Alaina's birthday fell on the last full day of school, and since field day and the end-of-school party were cancelled due to all of our rain, the whole day was slated for assemblies and movies.  Since she wasn't learning much, I decided to check Alaina and her best friend, McCall out for the rest of the day after I brought in class treats.  I wanted the girls to have some time together before McCall's move the next week, so we hit up McDonald's for lunch, then spent the afternoon at Alaina's favorite park.


We made pizzas for dinner and had Nana and Papa over to open some presents.


Alaina had her eye on a big stuffed bunny since it appeared at King Soopers for Easter.  While we couldn't spend $30 on it, I dutifully went to the store the day after Easter and snagged it for $12!  It hasn't left her side since!


Ever since she was a baby, we've been doing "noses" before bed.  Alaina's really latched onto that and WILL NOT go to bed without a little nose rub.  Now she's got some"one" to do noses with all the time!


Raspberry and orange sherbet cupcakes for dessert!


Thrilled with her new pajamas and pool gear!


Her party was two days later, and man, was I unprepared!  Since it was the last of the month for Lionbridge and I hadn't quite gotten my hours in, I woke up at the crack of dawn to get that in.  The party was scheduled for 1:00, and I was a serious madwoman rushing around cleaning, baking the cake, preparing the food, decorating.  We had decided to throw a tie-dye party, and I hadn't even watched the YouTube tutorial on how to tie-dye yet!   MOST of everything was completed by party time, and I just had to go with the flow and forget the rest!


The kids had fun tie-dying pillowcases.  Unfortunately, they didn't wash very well (that's Pinterest for you), but it was fun anyway!


All of the candy we bought didn't fit into Pinkie Pie's body, so I had to do some surgery behind her eyeball to stuff more in.  It felt kind of wrong to be beating her with a stick, but the kids didn't seem to mind!






The masterpieces!


While the big kids did their thing, Harrison tried to figure out this bubble situation.  I think he ate more than he blew!




This Otter Pop rainbow slush was a hit!


The tie-dye cake was fun to make, too!  I'm going to miss it when she outgrows rainbows, but if she's like me, maybe she never will!


The next birthday on the docket is my big 3-0.  Wow, talk about mindblowing!

May is birthday month around here, and with it comes lots of fun (and maybe some stress for Mommy)!

I can't believe Connor is 8.  I remember a lot about my eighth year, so the pressure is on to get this parenting thing done right!  We started the day with a fun breakfast of donut holes in an "8" shape.


First birthday candle of the day!


Connor spent his morning doing his favorite thing:  Legos with Daddy.


I was pretty happy with this "8" I made with an "O" cookie cutter and some frosting until Alaina said, "Mommy, why does Connor's cake say, "Oooo?" and then when Noah walked in he said, "Look, Mom!  The cake has eyes!"  I thought it was pretty obvious, but I guess not!


Just looking 12, no big deal.


Harrison was none to pleased with this birthday hat situation.


Grandma and Grandpa hit the nail on the head with this shirt!  He couldn't wait to put it on and wore it for the rest of the day.


He was thrilled to have received his first set of golf clubs from Nana and Papa.


I was pretty excited to find these candles that shoot up 12 inches of sparks, then the petals of the flower unfold and reveal lit candles while spinning and playing the birthday song!


Definitely my kids, all fixated on the cake.




No birthday party is complete without Uncle Ryan shoving a huge piece of cake in his mouth.


We spent the rest of the day letting the kids play on the trampoline.  We are so fortunate to have Amanda's kids' ages and personalities fit right in with the rest of the kiddos.  We couldn't have asked for a better situation!


Connor's gift from Anthony and I was a set of awesome Nerf laser tag guns.  They're all the fun of Nerf guns with no reload time and no mess to clean up!




Some serious laser battling going on here...


Connor had a great birthday and we are looking forward to all of the growth and change that this year will bring!

Thankfully, we have finally kicked whatever cold bug that knocked us out for the entirety of April!  We have moved on to May, one of our biggest months of the year between birthdays, Mother's Day, and the end of school!

We've officially started on the chore train recently and the kids are absolutely loving their newfound cash.  It sure burns a hole in their pockets, though, and I can almost see them get the shakes until they get to a store.  Next lesson is saving, though it's one I'm currently trying to master myself!  $3 doesn't buy much, but it did cover the cost of these awesome markers which crystallize in the sun.  Markers sure have come a long way since I was a kid!


Harrison has recently begun to be interested in Thomas the Tank Engine.  It gives Anthony and I such poignant nostalgia.  We have spent countless hours building train tracks and it is so sweet to be able to relive it with a toddler again!  Choo choo!


This little guy is so speedy, we have to have everything on lockdown, including clothing.  If there are no pants on, it must mean that he doesn't have to wear a diaper, right?  At least the view is delectable!


We got a short stint of nice weather a few weeks ago, and we made sure to make the most of it by hooking up some water for the trampoline!  I know we're on borrowed time when it comes to injuries on this thing...we are overdue!


We took the kids to a school family fun night.  They had a blast, but Harrison was soooo put out that he couldn't be involved in anything fun.


Harrison loves the ducky Alaina got for Easter.


When he thinks something is cute, he makes this face and a high pitched whimper before giving it a love.


Going in for the real thing!  I wish he was this sweet with me!


Speaking of being not-so-sweet, these little boys raked me over the coals one day a few weeks ago. We were playing with sidewalk chalk when I got a text message that I had to respond to an email.  Since they were right by the back door, I left the door open, and ran inside for about 45 seconds to send the email off.  When I came back outside, I discovered that not only had they been snacking on the chalk, but that they had drawn all over Anthony's tan grill cover.  Yeah, I see that chalk, buddy.


So then I bring the boys inside and give them their sippy cups so they can have a drink while I fold some laundry at the table (with loud music on in hopes that they'd dance).  They were standing under the table
when I hear them giggle, so I looked underneath it and they were having a ball spitting their milk in each other's faces.  Harrison was pretty upset they had to go to time out.




After that, they got a soda out of a cabinet and threw it so it busted all over the kitchen floor.  At that point, it wasn't cute anymore, so no pics of that.  Then, that evening, Harrison opened the box of unfrozen Otter Pops in the pantry, and shook a row of them, splashing all of the cupboards with sticky popsicle juice.  I don't have any more room in my high-up cupboards.  Send help!

In mid-April, the rain set it.  I've always known that I would totally get depressed living somewhere dreary and rainy, but it's always been a question just how long it would take.  Well, we've found out.  The rain was pretty the first week, appreciated for the precipitation in week two, and life-sucking in week 3.  I am so ready to feel some sunshine on my shoulders!

The beauty of the internet is that it's really easy to rewrite history.  Like, for example, how I'm going to put these Easter Egg dying photos first, indicating that I am put-together enough to get them done before Easter.  The reality is that things just kept popping up and we didn't actually get around to dying them until the day after Easter and Connor's in pajamas because he was home sick, but we'll just forget about those minor details.


Easter is Alaina's favorite holiday next to Christmas.  There's just the right combination of crafts, cute cuddly things, sunshine, and fun colors that makes her look forward to it year-round.


We enjoyed our second-annual Easter Egg hunt with the Jones' and Ryan's family.




I love babies doing Easter Egg hunts.  There's nothing cuter than having them discover what's in the eggs, and then all that matters is eating its contents NOW.










Of  course, Harrison had to open every egg as he found it.


After the hunt, we let the kids play and had some lunch.  Harrison dined on the finest of sand.




Anthony brought home a cold from his most recent trip, and I could tell I was feeling run down by Saturday night.  The kids are lucky that the Easter Bunny was still brave enough to come into our den of illness.  I woke up Sunday feeling like I'd been hit by a truck, and may have broken down into sobs after I had laundered, pressed, and dressed the kids for Easter, argued with Connor for the tenth time about nothing, asked Alaina to hurry up a few dozen times, candy the nuts that I had forgotten about for the salad I was making, then someone left the trash unlocked and Harrison covered himself in blueberry juice just minutes before we had to leave (I had kept him in his pajamas all morning to avoid him staining his new outfit).  But there's no pictures of that.  Because I like to rewrite history so it's just a little bit prettier.