A Hat?

He learned to say hat and ended up with a head full of cottage cheese! He is so messy!

Valentines Day and random thoughts....

I can't manage to keep a blog and a journal right now so this is going to have to be both I've decided. I was asked this week to speak at a baptism for a little girl that I taught in Primary last year. Pretty much speaking in front of people is my worst nightmare! A part of me wanted to say no, of course. But I could never do that to this special little girl who wanted me to do it over everyone else she could have chosen. I found a really cool traffic light analogy (that I'd never heard before) to explain the Holy Ghost and it turned out to be a real blessing to spend the time preparing the talk and to spend my Saturday at a baptism. And I didn't faint while giving the talk, which was totally all I was hoping for! John was really great to help me with all of it because he knows how stressful this kind of thing is for me.

We celebrated a fun Valentines Day. We had been filling our Valentine mailboxes with notes for each other all week. The kids loved it and I cherish all the notes that were written, even the ones from Carter. His notes to his sisters all started out, "I love you even when you won't let me play with you." His note to me was, "I love you even when you hold Matson." He's funny, at least it came from the heart!

I helped at Emily's class party with a cake walk type game with Valentine prizes. The only problem was I forgot the prizes at home! Ya--it was super awesome. I finished preschool and rushed my boys to the school and got there with 10 minutes to spare and I was feeling so on top of everything. It wasn't until her teacher split the class and sent the kids to me that it occurred to me that I left the prizes home and without the prizes it was a REALLY lame game. SO I ran home and missed the start of the party and left my 4 year old to be watched by some room mom I'd never met who probably thinks I'm the mosty flaky parent on earth. And she just happens to be the mother of the boy that Emily has a huge crush on! Thank goodness she's only 7 but I'm thinking that would have been a lot more detrimental to her social life if she was 16. I'll try to pull myself together by then! Hopefully.

The kids helped me make dinner and clean the whole house and then hid to surprise John for Valentines Day. The kids loved it (probably a bit more than John but that's okay :) I can hardly wait for the next holiday I can use that trick on. I've never seen my kids clean that much, that quick! Worked like a charm. :)

Matson is officially 18 months which blows my mind. I really don't like to send my kids to nursery right at 18 months for lots of reasons but mainly because I don't think it's developmentally appropriate for kids to be in a classroom setting at that age (and my pediatrician totally agrees which is another reason I love him). But, our Primary is super duper excited about every new child and has gone out of their way to make sure he makes it to nursery. If I was in charge of a Primary with 200 kids I think I'd just be happy to have on less kid in the nursery, but these guys are going after the one, very literally. They are taking their calling very seriously and it is impressive. They seem a bit offended that we aren't as excited as them about nursery. But, I'd still prefer to keep my baby with me until he's older. And I'm still calling him a baby....maybe forever!

Carter Turns Four and the Bike Saga

Carter turned 4 on Feb. 4th. His golden birthday! He had a construction themed birthday with a digger cake! He was delighted when he saw it! It was perfect for him since he likes to tell me that he is going to be a fireman and a worker man (construction worker). Then he can build himself a firestation and a UP House for Emily! He's got his future all planned out!

My big four year old blowing out the candles on his digger cake. Thanks to Kandace for finding the perfect cake for him on Pinterest.

On the morning of his birthday we sent him on a scavenger to find his present: a brand new big boy bike! He looks really excited and happy about it, but don't let it fool you! He is not happy at all about his new bike. A couple of months ago I took him to Walmart to look at big boy bikes and had him sit on a few and he made it very clear that he didn't want a bike. He already had a bike (a tricycle) and that's the only bike he EVER wanted to ride! I thought he'd forget. I should've known my boy better. SO he pulls the blanket off the bike and looks excited for a half a second and then turns to me with a really perturbed look and says, "I told you I didn't want a bike for my birthday. I already have a bike." It was SO funny! None of us knew what to do. It wasn't the reaction we were looking for, that's for sure! :)

We took him out to ride his new big boy bike and try to convince him how cool it was! Didn't work. He rode it for a minute but then got scared and pulled out his old bike--a cars trike. After that, he was all smiles, zooming up and down the sidewalk! Later, at his family party he made sure everyone knew that his mom and dad got him a bike and he didn't want one. He was a hoot. He wasn't saying it snotty--just very matter of fact. I mean, come on. The kid already has a bike! He doesn't need another one! Ever since he was little he'd get mad if we got him new pajamas or a new ball or anything because if he has ONE, he doesn't need another! I could learn a lot from that attitude. Guess he might be riding a trike still when he's 7. He still won't even get near his new bike. Hopefully this summer he'll come around. :)

That evening we celebrated his birthday at Kandace's gym. It was perfect for our rambunctious Carter. He got to run all over with his two cousins who are his same age and his best friends! We did an obstacle course, a building a house and knocking it down relay, and parachute fun. The kids loved playing on all the gym equipment.

A happy, birthday boy! This picture is SO Carter. I love it.

He loved all his presents from his grandparents, cousins, and aunts. He thought this bulldozer was the greatest thing ever! Thanks to grandma and grandpa for saving his birthday since his parents got him a bike!

We always celebrate Ethan's birthday with Carter's since his is the next day. My sister's and I pooled our money and got him a new bike that he really needed. He was completely shocked and so happy when he saw it. The picture doesn't do it justice but his mouth was hanging open in shock! It was so awesome. At least I got the reaction I was looking for from my cute nephew. When Carter saw it he sighed a big sigh and said, "Another bike". He was just so annoyed. We sure love our funny boy named Carter. Happy Birthday big 4 year old!

Our Week

John got a new suit! He hasn't had a suit since his mission and has been really wanting one for the last 5 or so years (he always feels really underdressed at baby blessings and baptisms without one). Last Saturday he went to Costco for a few things and came home with a suit. I really wasn't expecting that! He found this suit there for less than $100 dollars for both pieces. He looked really sharp at church the next day. He couldn't be happier with his new purchase.

We started taking our kids to the Lowes Build and Grow workshops. They are really enjoying them. The kids get a little kit with pre-drilled holes and they learn to hammer and build the kit. And it's all free!
Here are a few updates from the last week on our funny little baby...

The HUGGER: This little guy loves to give hugs and kisses. Last week at church he kept going up to this one man (a complete stranger) and giving him big bear hugs around his leg. I'm not sure why he chose this particular guy but he must have felt REALLY loved! It's almost a little embarrasing because he's so comfortable with others and wants to hug everyone, we're just not used to it. But, he's SO sweet and everyone loves him!!!

The SICK boy: Matson got sick this week and on Fri. his lips started turning purple and his breathing was labored. We thought he wasn't getting enough oxygen so we rushed him to the dr. Turns out all of that was because his fever was so HIGH (it was 104.2). His body was trying to combat the fever and pulling blood from his lips (which made them purple) . Turns out he just had a cold and he got a high fever with it. I learned a few new things and we stopped on our way home to buy a new thermometer because ours had quite working and we had no idea his temp. was that high! Poor kid!

The HOODIE stage: During the days of fever he decided that he is in love with his soccer ball hoodie from Grandma Durrant. He wouldn't let us take it off of him. We would change him into jammies and he would insist that we put his hoodie over top of his fleece footy pajamas. If we tried to get it off he would scream and hold onto it and say "my ball". He is one funny boy!

Kelsie's Creations

Kelsie made this outfit for her American Girl doll. This was before she had a sewing machine so she handstitched all the ruffles on the skirt and made a scarf to match! It turned out super cute. I'm all for her making clothes for her doll because they are way overpriced in the stores!