Hupcakes and Blessings

So the other night we were walking back from the park and Isabel was in the wagon, when she started laughing really hard at a little inside joke she and Collin had...they do this quite often. Anyway, when Isabel laughs really hard, she starts hiccuping...a lot! She was so cute she started giggling even more and said, mommy my hupcakes won't stop!

Later that night, Isabel and Collin were in their PJs and Isabel was super cinderella, and Collin was superman with the cape and everything. Collin was the superhero saving the princess in distress, and he went to Isabel laying on the ground saying she was hurt. And he started giving her a blessing. It was so sweet, because he's seen daddy giving Gavin and Isabel blessings when they're sick. He asked that Heavenly Father would heal her...very sweet, but of course Jamie had to explain to him that only daddy can give blessings. We had a mini-priesthood lesson with him. Jamie told him that it was good that he believed that Heavenly Father would heal someone who's sick, but we only call on that power when someone's really sick. And that only daddy and other men who have that power can use it. I think Collin was a little confused, but he got the basic idea. I love how well my kids play together (most of the time, when Collin isn't teasing like all brothers do). They really love each other. Collin told Isabel last night that she was the "best stister (that's not a typo, that's how he says it, with an st at the beginning) that I could ever have".

The other night we were at the pool swimming together. When we finished we went to the hot tub to warm up before we got dressed. Of course we had the kids just sit on the edge and we splashed hot water on them. The three kids were sitting in a row on the edge with Jamie and I in front of them splashing them with the hot water. Isabel was in between her brothers. She grabbed both of their hands, then pulled them into a hug on either side of her and said, "we're a happy family", "Daddy, can we sing the family song?" It's the one that goes I love Collin he loves me, we love Isabel yessirree, she loves us and so you see, we are a happy family. That's one of her favorite songs. So in the hot tub at our gym, we sang that song...and I had tears in my eyes. It seems kind of silly now, but it was such a touching moment for me. I am so glad that my kids love me so much despite all my faults, and that they know that we love them, and that we're a happy family, and we will always be a family. I just melt every time my kids tell me and Jamie that they love us. And my Collin who suddenly became a tall lanky smarty pants "big boy" has me wrapped around his baby finger when he says, "Mommy, you are the best mommy in the whole world". I know that's not true, and I certainly try, but he really believes it and he makes me feel so much better when he says those words to me. My kids are so sweet, and they make all the endless laundry and dishes worth it. They make all the sleepless nights easier to bear. I am so grateful for my kids and for their dad who is such a family man and would do absolutely anything for them; for our family. Sorry so longwinded...just feeling very humble and grateful for my countless blessings, at the end of the day, I am the best mommy to my son, and that is worth a million bucks!

CinderellaS and their Prince

Londynn Stout was over at our house playing. She had worn her new Cinderalla costume she got for her birthday. Isabel got one for Halloween and they look almost identical. So, we got some cute pics with Collin shmoozing and loving the camera! You go girls! They have so much fun together!

Our Baby G is 1 year old!

We just had a nice small mellow party for G and it worked out great. He got a few toys and some clothes, but of course he played with the bags, paper and boxes too! He loved his cake and wasted absolutely no time tearing it apart. He even tried to dive in it while the candle was still lit. Here's some pics of his big day: Gavin dove in and got really messy, not the least bit surprising! The other kids decided to join him and eat the cake with their hands too. Lots of fun!

Big Scout Party

So we actually had Gavin's birthday party on Saturday, just a small party with Grandmas and Grandpa. However, I have been so busy since then, I haven't had time to post the pictures of his cute party. Jamie is Cubmaster, and I'm Cub Scout Committee Chair, and we threw the big Blue and Gold Banquet to celebrate scouts. We did a huge dutch oven dinner (we had food in 12 different dutch ovens: funeral potatoes, BBQ chicken, green beans with bacon, cornbread, peach cobbler, apple crisp, and cherry chocolate cake) which was SO yummy and had a great turnout. Here are some pics of the "big scout party" as my kids call it, then next will be pics of Gavin's b-day.

Big Bro Little Bro

Gavin sure loves his big bro and follows him everywhere. They play chase and sword fight and tickle wars. Gavin just giggles and grins. They have so much fun together. In this picture, he's wearing Collin's spiderman slippers that he stole from him and ran away giggling.

Our Little Night Owl...Who? Who?

It's Isabel! She won't go to sleep these days. If I delay her nap at all, she is up forever at night. If I wake her up from her nap before she's ready, she's way cranky. She won't sleep in her own bed. I either have to lay on the floor by her toddler bed, or sometimes we compromise for me laying next to Collin in their room. Or she lays in our bed. The other night Jamie and I got desperate. We really wanted to watch a show together, but she wouldn't go to sleep and she was crawling all over us and asking a million questions like kids do. So finally we pulled out the secret weapon...dun dun dun The IPOD! She watched "My friends Tigger and Pooh" on Jamie's ipod with his huge headphones while we watched our show. So cute...really cute when you're not getting any sleep because a beautiful princess is the one waking you up instead of the one snoozing :) Any ideas how to get her to sleep in her own bed? I have used her sticker chart, other bribes, slept by her...she is crazy! She just wants to talk and laugh and needs a drink or to go potty a hundred times. I need ideas people!

3 Little Bakers!

We had my niece Ragan Julander for 8 days while her parents were at Lake Powell livin it up. She was so much fun! These kids really played well together and they especially loved making cookies with me. They ate far too much cookie dough. I told them they were gonna turn into cookies, and Isabel kept telling Ragan that several times. Ragan looked at Isabel and said, "No, you don't call me a cookie anymore!" So cute and fun!