Lila's Princess Tea Party

Well it's that magical 3rd year when friend parties occur.  Lila was so excited since her last party was really mostly family and this was the first time she got to make up the invitation list and help plan.  She said she wanted the party to be on her birthday and that she wanted to go some where (I think because she had just gone to a party at one of the trampoline parks), but we decided that a tea party would be fun and sent out the following invitation.

Andrew woke-up early screaming and I don't know if that is what woke Lila up, but when I walked past the stairs I saw her running around and told her to come snuggle with me in bed since Steve went up to Andrew.  When I picked her up by the stairs she said she saw the string and all the presents and was so excited.  We had strung her presents along like Elsa did in Frozen Fever.  As we climbed into bed she said, "Do we have to sleep or can we talk?"  I asked her what she wanted to talk about and she said, "my birthday, presents, party everything."  So we talked for a minute and then we went and woke Ellie up since the boys were still awake and we began the present opening.

The string began at a post on her bed. Then off we went.

First stop toy room.

Second stop card and birthday money from Grandpa & Grandma Moore--this year it came with a special $1 silver certificate.


Andrew and I picked up lunch for the girls from Arctic Circle and met them at the school.  Ellie skipped her lunch recess to enjoy lunch with us.  It was fun and a bit enlightening to see maybe why the girls aren't finishing their lunches--kids start lining up for class as soon as they get in to the lunchroom, it gave me some anxiety as an adult thinking we were almost out of time so I can't imagine how kids feel like they don't have time to eat.

 

Mimi came to help decorate for the party and let Lila open her present and giant coloring book and her new magazine--Frozen.  It helped occupy her while we setup.

 

Finally party time.  Lila would answer the door and happily hug and greet her friends.  We decorated crowns as we waited for everyone to arrive.

Then the tea party began and Lila was not shy--she had been waiting for a very long time and dug right in.

We played kiss the frog.  The girls loved it.  We gave them each their own little lipstick the put it on, we blindfolded them and then they tried to kiss the frog.

Note: Can I be honest--planning parties is tricky.  We passed out little palace pets--it was their party favor and I thought the girls would play for a bit being creative with them, but after about 5 minutes it was clear that was not going to happen. Fortunately they spent more time decorating crowns at the beginning than I anticipated so we moved straight into the kiss the frog game, but because of the little extra time we had some lipstick craziness--lipstick everywhere including lipstick handprints (if I were to do this game again I think I would label the lipstick with their name after they used it and pass it out at the end).  No matter what they had fun and it all cleaned up--thank goodness we were on the tile.

Lila had on a sad face while her friends were being picked-up.  I quickly told her to smile, but didn't have time to ask why at that point.  Later when I did ask why she said, "I was so sad they were leaving Mom. It was like the party happened so fast."  I told her that may be the case, but she needs to smile when telling her guests thank you and good-bye so they know that she was happy they came then if she wanted to say something like I'm a little sad you have to leave then that is fine, but we don't want to frown.

Venessa brought Izzy & Siena down and we had a tea party continuance--as you can see Lila is already busy with the cute notebook they gave her.

I can hardly believe Lila is 6. I kept teasing her that 5+1 was 4, but she told me that was take away not addition and that 5+1 was indeed 6.  Wow, it seems like just a little while ago we were praying so hard for her to come into our lives and now she is teaching me mathematics.  She is a wonderful girl full of life and all about living in the moment which can cause some focus issues when you send her to get socks and she ends up playing with her stuffed animals, but also leads to extreme highs and we often here her say, "this is the best day ever." "I love this!" and her 6th tea party birthday was as she said, "totally awesome!"

Easter Weekend

We decorated eggs with the Durbanos on Wednesday when they came over for Fool's Cafe.

The Easter Bunny visited us as usual on Saturday.  The kids were so excited to see what was left for them.

The girls got much needed Sunday shoes and a new skirt, with a pair of fun socks and chocolate bunny.

Above: Andrew admiring his chocolate bunny and going for a ride in his new push trike--he loves taking the dog for walks with Mom. He also got a pair of much needed Sunday shoes.



Then time for the egg hunt.  The girls wanted to wear their new skirts so we let them.  Andrew found 3 eggs then managed to pop one open and realize there was candy inside--he spent the rest of the time eating. :)

Most of the morning session of General Conference was spent pushing Andrew around the house.

In between sessions we worked outside trying to finish up our mulch project from last year. We're trying to go from bark to rubber mulch and put ground cover down all the way to the edge of the flower beds--trying to keep the grass from creeping in.  During the afternoon session the girls played General Conference bingo with their Easter candy then we worked outside for a bit longer.  Steve then went and got takeout while the girls and I folded and /put away laundry--Saturday's chore.  We quickly showered the girls then put Andrew to bed so Steve could watch the Priesthood session and the girls and I could watch the Women's session while painting our nails of course.

Sunday morning we went to Mt Green where we once again attempted to take family photos.  Unfortunately Dad's camera was not properly set so they ended up really washed out, we got a couple of ok shots from Mimi's phone. 

Just as we were finishing Jake & Nessa showed up with their families and we spent the rest of the day listening to conference, visiting, lounging around eating yummy food.  It was nice.  That evening after Jake & Nessa left we took Mimi & Grandpa for a little walk while Ellie and Lila rode their bikes and Andrew got to try out his new trike on the pavement for the first time. :)  

It was a wonderful weekend.  I'm so grateful for the gospel and the knowledge it provides of the Plan of Salvation--that we have a loving Heavenly Father who sent His Son so that all mankind could be saved.  He Lives - Happy Easter! 

Traditions!

Man I want to sing that like Fiddler on the Roof--TRADITION!  Anyway, we made our annual leprechaun traps.  Lila did hers after school one day and we had to put it up for almost a week so Andrew wouldn't destroy it.  It was a fancy little roller trap that she had taped to the wall and rolled out with some sort of trigger in the box that rolled the paper up on top of the leprechaun.  Ellie went for a milk jug trap this year.  I think the little guys are on to us though because this year they came armed with pocket knives and sliced their way out.  They did manage to turn our bread green before leaving and once again their gold became chocolate coins.

This year for our Fool's Cafe we were able to have Venessa, Izzy, & Siena over so I decided to do a Disney themed menu with pictures to color.  It was fun!

Left: getting their menus.  Right: 1st course ordered.  Aunt Nessa kept ordering carrots on accident.  Lila got a perfect 2nd course w/spaghetti, parmesan cheese, garlic bread, and a fork.

Lila Lost a Tooth

Last week some time Lila told me she had a loose tooth.  I checked it out and said I don't really think it's loose yet.  Then when we were in Provo and I was flossing her teeth I noticed that it was actually loose, but didn't think too much of it because Ellie can have a loose tooth for months.  Today when she came in from school I asked her how her day was and she said, "Totally awesome!  Probably the best day every!"  I asked what happened and she proceeded to tell me that at lunch she took a bite of one of her apples and her tooth popped right out.  I then asked if the lunch lady helped her and she said she came and got one of the lunch packets that has a napkin, fork, spoon in it and put the napkin on the place that was bleeding and then wrapped the tooth up in the plastic.  I took a picture and we sent it to Daddy and Lila called Mimi to tell her she needed a tooth pillow and she requested a butterfly shaped one, Mimi said she'd do her best.  Then as we were putting away her stuff she said, "I cried Mom."  I said that was ok it probably surprised her a bit.  She said, "yeah. Kaiyan (our cute cousin neighbor) came over and asked me what was wrong. I told him my tooth came out and it wasn't supposed to.  He gave me a hug and that helped me feel better."  So wonderful to have such good little people to associate with.  I told her that it was supposed to come out we just didn't realize it would happen so soon (this happened two years earlier than Ellie's first loose tooth).  She was so excited to get ready for bed tonight because it meant that the tooth fairy was coming.

College Recruitment 101

Steve and I enjoy watching BYU Men's volleyball games.  We've wanted to attend a game since we've become, well, addicted.  We finally made plans to go down this past weekend.  Unfortunately it's not quite the same team as it was with Taylor Sanders and Ben Patch and they actually lost which ended a 36 game at home winning streak, but we did have fun and I think we will definitely be doing more weekend trips to Provo.

Our first stop was the BYU Bookstore.  Campus has changed so much since I left 10 years ago--the streets don't go through like they used to and parking . . . well we parked and then walked around campus a bit showing the kids the library and some of the new buildings.  We showed them where you buy your books for classes then looked at t-shirts.  Steve looked for sunglasses and found some awesome pairs that had mustaches attached or that looked like football helmets (should have taken some pictures of that because we didn't buy them).  On the way back to the car we decided to go into the Museum since we had time and the girls wanted to see the origami displays (they are really into origami right now--they get books from the library and are always trying to fold something).

Then we picked up dinner and checked in at the hotel and off to the volleyball game.  Here we are as they warm-up.  Andrew was a champ and just chilled the whole time, he would clap and get excited when we did.  Lila got into the dance breaks at the end.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel then we hiked the Y.  The girls did great!  I thought it would take us 3 hours or more, but they just kept going.  Ellie didn't stop long during our breaks at the turns before we knew it she was hiking again.  On the hike Steve admitted he had never hiked the Y and the girls thought it was awesome that this was his first time too. 

The hike was mostly in the shade on the way up which was nice, but it was a little breezy when we actually made it to the top of the Y.  Andrew started taking his binkie out for pictures--it was pretty funny as soon as he realized we were taking pictures he'd pull his binkie out and smile (seriously how do they get so smart).  I held both of the girls hands on the way down because it was steep and they did slide a couple of times, but mostly because I wanted too.  Ellie decided she wanted to go to high school there--I said this is college and she said oh yeah--college.  Below are some pictures to prove I was on the hike too. 

We had to take one by the gate because as we were heading in Lila said, "whew we made it to the Y".  We all laughed and said not that Y. ;)  Lila got a little tired coming down, but the rest of the day as we were driving around town we would look up at the mountain and say, "look, look how high you climbed. you can do hard things."  They were amazed and how far up the Y is.  We then stopped at subway to get lunch (part of the genius of this trip is that we have all of these coupons for free kids meals the kids get from school that we don't use up and this was a perfect time to use them).  The girls redeemed their free subway kids meal that came with a puzzle and a cool Minnie Mouse bag.  Then back to the hotel for swimming.  After 45 minutes of swimming I took Andrew to the room for a nap and the girls swam for 3 more hours.  We cleaned up and went to visit Jakey, Marcee, and Anson.  We then went to the mall to try Melty Way which was pretty yummy.  Then we walked the mall for a bit of shopping.  We had debated going to the Saturday volleyball game, but the kids were too tired so we went back to the hotel and turned the game on with the sound muted and watched as the kids one-by-one dozed off.

Sunday we got up, had breakfast and hit the road home.  We were back around 10 am and we put Lila and Andrew down for naps before church while Ellie read.  Every time I think about going anywhere I think of all the work of packing, traveling with kids, etc., but I'm really glad we did this trip even though it was just a weekend, we had a blast.  It was fun to show the kids where we lived when we were first married and enjoy activities together without the pressures of things to be done around the house.  We'll be doing this again . . . eventually Andrew will figure out how to sleep in a hotel right . . . practice makes perfect . . .

Moore Little Firsts

Andrew had his first sleepover by himself.  Mimi decided she would stay and watch Andrew so I could go on Lila's field trip today.  She came down last night to see the girls and decided to take Andrew home with her instead of coming down again early in the morning.  Andrew was so excited he never fussed, waved good-bye to us from Mimi's car and off they went.  Mimi said he chatted the whole way to her place.

Lila loved the field trip and riding the bus for the first time.  She looked over at me after a few minutes on the bus and said, "this is so so so so fun."  I said I'm glad you're having fun. "No Mom, SO SO SO SO fun!"

Other things I want to remember: whenever I hold Andrew on my hip, he takes his back arm and wraps it around my arm in a kind of death hold that makes it impossible to pass him off to anyone--he started that in his stranger danger phase, but continues to do it.  also he does not walk any where he runs--you can hear the little pitter patter of his feet as he trots around the house. :)

Finishing the Break

The kids and I enjoyed a quick trip to Idaho--the girls loved visiting the great grandparents and were so sad that we did not see them again before we left on Wed, but I was ready to get home.  We came home to find Steve sick so we spent a couple of days taking care of him.  Then Friday we went to the Natural History Museum to see the new exhibit 'Extreme Mammals' before our membership expired the next day.  The kids loved going with the cousins and Andrew loved exploring on his own feet and when we needed to contain him he didn't mind being put back in the stroller.

We gave the kids coins to put in the dinosaur at the beginning he makes a "ROAR" when the coin goes down.  Andrew didn't really want to do it and Siena kept her coin and tipped the ticket guy--it was hilarious.

Venessa and I made a quick stop at Trader Joe's to buy a few things.  I always get some of their yummy pizza dough so we made pizzas that night for dinner.

Then we had Monday the 2nd off still which I thought was kind of weird, but I really enjoyed it.  I bribed the girls to help me clean the whole house then I took all the kids to lunch at the Olive Garden.  It went well and we had a great time.  The girls then watched the new Tinker Bell movie--the NeverBeast.  Then Tuesday brought the school routine back into play and of course it snowed--I wish it had when we were on break so we could have taken the kids skiing in some fresh powder, but no such luck.

But we did decide to take the kids skiing on Saturday and try out Snow Basin since we had not been there yet.  It was super busy there and we had a good time, but it was not our greatest skiing experience of the year.  That evening we got to watch Anson while Jake & Marcee went to dinner at Corbins.  He was so adorable we tried to talk them into leaving him with us for longer, but no such luck--it's like they love him or something. ;)

So cute! Do you see Andrew in the background--he was so excited that our attention was diverted so he could play with the tv remote and all the other things he never gets to do.