A Visit From Auntie Triskin

Auntie Triskin came to our house to visit last night. We haven't seen her in almost 3 years! She has never met Bladen & saw Taya last when she was just a baby. The kids were SO excited to have her here.

She was SO sweet & brought us all dinner from a fabulous Mexican food place. Trek & I don't get out much so it was like heaven to have authentic Mexican. The kids were just itching to climb all over her so as soon as they were done eating, they pretty much mauled her for the rest of the evening.

She had stopped at Toys R Us on her way over & bought the kids some surprises. That poor Toys R Us store got completely cleaned out of their Zhu Zhu Pet products. ha ha ha. She bought EVERYTHING they had! She had the kids sit on the couch & close their eyes while she got it all out of the car. The kids were SO INTO IT!

They didn't want to peek & ruin the surprise at all. Lorien was so funny & kept covering Bladen's eyes too. I had to laugh.

Bladen finally got the hang of covering his eyes although he had no idea WHY he was doing it. He just knew his sisters were doing it, so he thought he better do it too.

The kids were SO excited with their surprises. They each got a kite to fly & some Sponge Bob chocolates. Then they all got about 3 Zhu Zhu Pet things each.

Cadence got a pet with bunny ears, a salon, & a carry around bag for her pet.

Lorien got a pet with bunny ears, a bag, & a cute little buggy to push baby Zhu Zhu Pets.

Taya got a princess pet, an airport, & a carry around bag. And Bladen got a super cute GREEN pet, a race car, a stationwagon, & a surfboard for his pet. It was one HUGE pile of pets.

They LOVED Auntie Triskin for their surprises. They love her no matter what, but I know they'll never forget that BIG surprise from her.

Triskin stayed the night with us. We put the kids to bed & had about 3 hours of grown up talk time which I REALLY loved! I miss having Trek's sisters around all the time. I really could talk to them all day long every day. I grew up with one brother so I really love any sister time I can get. I love them like we've grown up our whole lives together. She had to leave early this morning, but she promised she'd be back soon. I can't wait to see her again.

Thank you Auntie for the SUPER FUN night!

Cupcakes for Lorien's School

Since Lorien's birthday was on a holiday, the next day I took cupcakes to her class. Her class is the class that I teach music for so they were all kind of sad when they saw me & my baby wasn't out yet. I think they're more excited to see my baby than I am. "Mrs. Potter! You're even fatter!!!! When is that baby coming out?" I had to laugh.

I really do love this class though. They are the sweetest bunch of kids. They loved Lorien's funfetti cupcakes with purple sprinkles.

Bladen was so funny too. He wanted to sit at the picnic table with no other kids, but ALL the cupcakes. ha ha ha. Definitely Trek's son!

Lorien's Birthday Breakfast & Family Birthday Party

Lorien's actual birthday was Monday, February 21st, 2011 (President's Day). I love it when her birthday falls on the holiday because everyone gets to stay home from work & school & we can party all day long! We woke her up with our traditional birthday breakfast in bed: chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs with cheese, & a big ding dong with a candle in it. I just love birthday breakfasts.

She was pretty excited to eat breakfast in her bed. It's such a treat!

From the minute we walked into her room, Bladen was SCREAMING "CUPCAKE!" (aka Ding Dong "I WANT ONE NOW!") He couldn't wait to get his hands (& his mouth) on that ding dong.

Bladen also ate EVERYTHING on his plate including 2 pieces of bacon & a HUGE piece of sausage. He's such a boy just like his daddy. I wonder how much he's going to cost us in groceries 10 years from now.

Hooray for Lorien who is SIX YEARS OLD!!!

After breakfast we all ran downstairs still in our jammies & we opened presents from family members. Lorien got all sorts of fun things from art stuff, to clothes, to her favorite toys.

But her big special present from the entire family was her very own iPod Touch. (Disclaimer: we bought a USED one so no, we don't spoil our children with $200 gifts. This one had scratches & was definitely pre-owned, but we got it for cheaper than Cadence's bike, so it was the perfect gift for her.) She loves playing on my iPhone & so now she has her own to play games on. There are SO MANY wonderful educational games out there. She's come SO far on her spelling, match, & other skills just from playing on my iPhone. She LOVES it!!

My kids are such "APPLE" kids. Just like their daddy, they love anything made by Apple! I especially love watching Bladen get involved with apple "toys." I'm so glad Lorien liked her gift.

Happy Birthday sweetheart. You make mommy & daddy SO proud!

Lorien's 6th Birthday Party

Our little Lorien is our last February birthday (unless Craiger decides to come early) & since she is our little princess girl, it wasn't a surprise she wanted yet another princess party for her 6th birthday party. This year she is in love with Disney's new movie: Tangled. It's an adorable movie (I loved it) & she wanted everything Rapunzel to match the theme. Even though I'm super close to delivery #5, I was still able to crank out a cute little Tangled cake for her with Rapunzel & all her golden long hair twisted around the entire cake. Lorien loved it.

The table was set with pink, purple, & yellow balloons & Rapunzel dishes & silverware.

And Cadence gave Lorien the best gift of all. . . . she shared her Tangled Rapunzel dress up outfit with Lorien so Lorien could be Rapunzel for the party.

In the movie, Rapunzel beats up an intruder to her tower (Flynn Rider whom she later marries of course) with a frying pan. Lorien BEGGED me to take a picture of her with a frying pan. She is SO SO SO funny.

We had about 10 kids from Lorien's class come to the party. They all know me as Mrs. Potter since I teach music in their class on Thursdays. They were SO excited to see where Mrs. Potter lived. ha ha ha. Kids. We started the party out by making homemade crowns since we were all princesses. All the girls came dressed up like their favorite princess.

Second we made little flower photo holders. Rapunzel loves to put flowers in her hair so we thought this would make a cute craft. We were all sticky with glue afterward, but we had a blast!

And last we made homemade lanterns. Rapunzel was kidnapped as a baby & put into a tall tower. Every year on her birthday, the king & queen would light lanterns to float in the sky. The entire kingdom lit lanterns & that is what eventually gets Rapunzel to run away from the tower. She becomes curious (sounds like Lorien). The kids loved the lanterns.

After we were all crafted out, we sat down for cake & ice cream.

We opened presents while we ate because we were short on time & the kids wanted to eat & eat & eat. It actually worked out perfectly. Lorien loved everything she got.

It was a very special birthday for her. I love you my little bug. You're getting SO BIG SO FAST! I order you to stop growing. I love you!

Cadence's Baptism

Shortly after Cadence got back from getting her ears pierced, it was time to get all ready for the actual baptism. Everybody got into their church clothes & Cadence got her baptism jumpsuit on & ready to go.

Once we all got to the church, Opa & Oma surprised Cadence with her own set of "REAL" scriptures. She was thrilled because they had HER name on them.

There were 3 little girls getting baptized so Cadence was excited for the family to meet her 2 friends from church. It was also great to get some pictures of Cadence with her Daddy together in their white baptism clothes. They looked so clean & pure.

Cadence got baptized along with 2 of her friends. . . Jenny (blond hair) & Raine (dark hair).

The baptism was great. Daddy did a great job & Uncle Justin was one of the witnesses. I ran into the dressing room to help Cadence get into her beautiful princess dress.

Baba gave the talk on the Holy Ghost & then Cadence received the gift of the Holy Ghost from her daddy. It was a beautiful & spiritual moment. I hope she remembers it forever & ever.

Cadence's best friend Csepke came to support her too. I love my kids' friends. They are wonderful people.

Raine, Jenny, & Cadence all did very well & looked beautiful as the newest members of the church. We were proud of all 3 of them.

After the baptism, we ran home & changed into comfortable clothes & then went out to dinner at the Black Bear Diner... Cadence's favorite restaurant. The food was GREAT & we had a ton of fun.

Congratulations my dear little girl. I love you & am SO proud of the young lady you are becoming.