Thank Goodness Its Friday

Also, I am thankful for:

1. Really great quotes. (see previous post.)
2. Kijiji, Kijiji, Kijiji. (see post before last.)
3. The world that is getting greener every day.
4. Olivia learning to army crawl. A little frustration is alleviated anyway...
5. A really good, grilled, chicken.

Another Really Great Quote

I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk's lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someones garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."-Marjorie Hinckley

A Cute Find

I found this adorable lamp on Kijiji:

Only $10! I plan to paint it to match one of the girls' rooms, and add a ribbon to match the paint. I love Kijiji! We have bought, sold, and rented so many things through Kijiji.

Heckedy Peg

The girls love to read and love to be read to. Lately their favourite book is one titled, "Heckedy Peg." It is a cute story and the book has fantastic illustrations. Here are 2 photos of the girls getting read to. 2 of many, many times....

It's That Watermelon Time Of Year Again

The whole time I was pregnant with Olivia, I craved watermelon like there was no tomorrow. I love watermelon! There's nothing like sinking your teeth into juicy, tasty watermelon. You can imagine my joy, when at the grocery store last night, I saw huge bins full of watermelon for sale. Summer is on its way!

7 Birthdays For Isabelle!

1st birthday





2nd Birthday






3rd Birthday






4th Birthday






5th birthday





6th Birthday




7th Birthday


We love our seven year old! These are some things about her right now, that we want to remember:

• her favourite colour of all time is YELLOW.
• she loves to drink cold milk.
• she is a strong reader, the best in her class. We often find her behind the couch or in her room just reading.
• she loves Spanish and always yearns to know more.
• she loves to bear her testimony on fast Sunday and does it fearlessly every month in sacrament meeting. What an example to us!
• she loves to wear her hair down and "plain" as she calls it.
• she makes up songs, writes music, and stories.
• her favourite game on the computer is Webkinz.
• she has no cavities as of February 2010
• she loves to make up jokes.
• she loves holidays and what they mean and following traditions.
• she can ride a 2 wheeler.
• she can pick up and carry Olivia without me worrying.
• she is responsible, especially for only being 7!
• she is a great helper.
• she loves painting, drawing, and making crafts.
• she will only eat cheese if she can "wash it down with milk."
• she loves to swim.
• she loves to wear necklaces and dresses.
• she loves to help me cook and even clean!
• she loves soccer.
• she likes to watch "Handy Manny."
• she is a great friend to everyone.
• she loves Alfredo sauce or "white sauce" as she calls it.

Izzy's 7th Birthday

Izzy's party fell on her actual birthday this year! Everyone had a great time, and Isabelle was so happy. We can not believe she is 7 years old! It is hard to believe she'll be getting baptized next year.

She wanted a flower/garden party this year. We painted little birdhouses, had a scavenger hunt, made candy kabobs, had relay and silly races, played "Upset The Fruit Basket", and had so much fun! Here are some photos.

Here are the invitations we handed out. There was a lollipop in between two paper flowers. All the info was on the back.

Here's the cake. A chocolate "mud" cake, with chocolate whip cream as the topping and Oreo cookie crumbs to look like dirt. There were also gummy worms. The flowers are biscuits dyed pink, cut out with a cookie cutter. It was so good! Just looking at it makes you gain 5 pounds....

The birdhouses all the kids painted and took home....

Our wonderful seven year old...

Olivia loves sucking on her soother upside down. It is so funny.

Chloe with a heart shaped balloon. They were so hard to blow up! They usually would pop in your face before you were done. It actually really hurt! This is the one and only we got to stay intact...

Candy kabobs...

Relay race...

One of the silly races, balloon in between your knees....

Upset The Fruit Basket...

Cake time...

Present time...

The gift from Ben and I, she was so happy...

Pinata...

A cute moment of Olivia with a ball Isabelle got...

It was a great party. Izzy had fun! She also gets to give a talk in church tomorrow. She is so excited. She keeps talking about how lucky she is this week because of all of the fun things she gets to do. She is a lucky girl. We love her so much!

Helium Balloon Surprise

For our girls' birthdays, we got them a balloon filled with helium and tied it to their bed so when they woke up in the morning, they would have a balloon to surprise them.

Here is Izzy having a "sleepover" with her sisters in their big bed the night before her birthday. There was nothing to tie the balloon to, so I tied it to her ankle. She was so happy and surprised the next morning.

Thank Goodness Its Friday

I am also thankful

1. That children's birthdays are so fun and magical to them.
2. That birthdays only come once a year, even if they are fun.
3. For the idea that came to me in my sleep last night that not only solved a little problem with Izzy's party tomorrow, but also saves us $17.50. (not a lot, but still!)
4. That my husband loves me :)
5. For nail polish and how it makes your feet look so much prettier.

Happy Birthday Lily Bean!

Today we had Lily's b-day party. I can't believe she's already 5!!!! She was so happy her birthday had come. She picked out her dress last night, and when she woke up this morning at 7:00 she quickly put it on and was all ready for her party. She was so excited!

We had a bunny/Easter themed party with a bunny cake. All the kids wore bunny ears as their birthday hat, and had their faces painted. They did an egg hunt, played cotton football, musical eggs, had a cake walk, played pin the cotton tail on the bunny, had a bunny head pinata, and played outside in the beautiful sunshine!

It looks like the ears from the pin-the-tail game are on Lily's head. I love it!




Here were the invitations Lily handed out. Inside the eggs were chocolate eggs, and the info for the party.

Lily with her bunny cake as requested:

A quick picture of the girls and their cousins before everyone else arrived:

Dividing up the eggs from the egg hunt:

Playing cotton football:

Cake time!

Opening the gifts:

This was Lily's reaction to the gift Ben and I got her, a kid video camera. She loved it!

The pinata. Brayden was the last one to hit it, and he was the one to break it open.

She had a good day, all in all.

Lily and I on my 24th birthday:

And here we are again, 5 years later...

Lily has grown and changed so much over the last 5 years! Here are some photos of her life:

1st birthday

2nd birthday

3rd birthday

4th Birthday

and today, her 5th birthday

Here are some things about Lily at age 5 that I want to remember:

• she loves monkeys
• she loves to play games , her favourites are Connect 4, Guess What I Am, What Time Is It Mr. Wolf, and charades
• she loves babies and especially Olivia, and loves to dote on them
• she has no cavities as of January 2010!!!
• her favourite shows are Calliou and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
• she makes friends easily and her best one right now is Zoe from gymnastics
• she loves to draw pictures and give them away. She always writes TO____ FROM LILY
• her favourite baby doll is Pink Baby
• her favourite colour is pink
• she loves that her eyes are green and match mine
• she hates bugs but likes butterflies and ladybugs
• she loves Primary
• her favourite songs are "Tell Me The Stories Of Jesus" and "As I Have Loved You"
• she can spell every one's names in our family
• her favourite book is "Mimi's Book of Opposites"
• she loves the swings the best
• she loves to play make believe, such as store, dentist, house
• she loves exercise, especially sit ups and jumping jacks
• she loves to come Visiting Teaching with me
• her favourite food is spaghetti with "red sauce" and Froot Loops
• she loves to bake