Brandon's Party Day

Well it was a much more eventful day than I had originally thought it was going to be, but more about that later. First, Brandon's Party.

So his party day finally arrived and he was so very excited. It was Mormon Helping Hands in the morning, so Paul jetted off to that with Leah while I stayed home with the other kids (they were painting a fence, not to kid friendly in my opinion), and started prepping for the party. I decided I wanted to make homemade cupcakes. Ended up being very time consuming and the result tasted quite a bit like a box cake. SO I must keep searching for a yummier recipe. We decorated a bit, Paul got home and helped me clean up and at four o'clock all the fun little friends arrived. 

We started with some face painting (by the famous Paul. Haha). Then we had pin the bat symbol on Batman, a treasure hunt, water balloon grenades, sword fighting, rescue Batman and Spiderman from the block of ice "Mr. Freeze" froze them into, and some other fun super hero games. Paul was chief party guy. He did an AMAZING job and even let the kids pommel him with their swords they won from the treasure hunt. The kids had chicken nuggets and french fries with fruit for dinner (Brandon's request of course) and then we sang happy birthday and had cupcakes. I'd say the day was quite a success. Here are some photos (okay, lots of photos. I can't help it. This will be my children's only scrapbooks. I have to document everything.)

Not bad for a first timer! 

Funny story about Brandon's little bud, Timmy. When it was his turn, I blind folded and he totally walked right up and stuck it in the exactly right spot. I was like WOW, way to go Timmy. And he goes, I can totally see! Haha...well, at least he was honest. Must not have done a very good job at getting that blind fold on him.

Paul drew this awesome Batman and had it printed at work....FOR FREE! Gotta love Dreamworks.

The whole group! What a fun bunch of friends.

Looking for the next clue.

Trying to free Batman and Spiderman from Mr. Freeze! This was a total hit. The kids loved it.

Opening some awesome presents!

Blowing out the candles.

Attack on Daddy! I think really the boys could have just done this for two hours. Paul....not so much. Poor guy was beat. He was such a good sport though. The kids were having a blast!

SO.....the rest of the story. After the party....like RIGHT after the party, we loaded up the kids and headed to the church building for a youth Camp fundraiser and talent show. Our wonderful babysitter, Callie, was going to play the piano and we didn't want to miss it. So we left the disaster of a house the way it was and headed out. (Paul commented on how awesome it would be if the "magic fairy" would come and clean while we were gone. Haha.) The talent show was awesome. We have some pretty talented and funny youth. The kids had fun seeing some more friends and we bought a few yummy treats from the youth. That's when the fun ended though. While helping clean up, Ashlyn and Leah were running around in the gym. Ashlyn's shoe got caught and she tripped and fell into the room divider. She must have hit it on a screw that was slightly sticking out at the bottom because when she turned around her mouth was immediately drenched in blood. I ran over to her and grabbed some wipes out of my diaper bag to put on her mouth. I can't believe how much blood there was so fast. Someone grabbed Paul for me and he rushed her off to the bathroom. After getting a bit cleaned up, we decided we needed to take her in to see if she needed stitches. My poor little sweetie was so scared. But she was really brave. We drove home and Paul immediately took Ashlyn to the ER. The wait was long as usual. Paul got his wish (not the way he wanted it though) and the "magic cleaning fairy" cleaned up while he was gone (i.e., I got the kids to bed and then cleaned everything up.) I couldn't sleep anyway and it was good to have something to occupy my mind. Paul kept me in the loop with constant texts and when his phone died, he used my Ipad he had taken with him, to email me. Gotta love technology. A little after midnight she got four stitches put in. Funny story, the doctor that attended to her was talking to Paul about what happened and while Paul was trying to describe the room divider, the Doctor asked him what ward he was in! Turns out he's LDS also and use to be in the Saugus 2nd Ward. He even recognized Paul and asked him if he was still EQ President in CC2nd ward. Crazy small world. Then he gave Paul his card with his personal cell on it and told him to call if we had any questions. LOVE that church family we have! Anyway, once I had heard Ashlyn's stitches were in and she was okay, I realized how exhausted I was and laid down to wait for them to get home. I must have fallen asleep pretty fast because before I knew it, it was one in the morning and Paul was in our room carrying Ashlyn. I helped Ashlyn get her jammies on and let her sleep in our bed. 

The good news is that the doctor said it will heal up really nicely because of the direction it was in and the fact that it was just on her lip. It's swollen pretty bad and she has to be really careful the next few days, but the stitches should dissolve by the end of the week and she'll be good as new. For now, we will be making smoothies and  ice cream shakes and trying not to talk too much so it can heal quickly. 

Here's a picture taken in the bathroom before heading to the hospital. I was going to text it to my friends mom, who is a nurse, to get her opinion, but then we decided it was just best to take her in anyway. I'm glad we did.

My Earth Day Birthday Boy

Brandon is FOUR today! Hip Hip Hooray!

He actually woke up cheerfully (which is rare for him. He's not exactly a morning person). He let me hold him and sing Happy Birthday to him multiple times (and even enjoyed it). He requested waffles (with syrup) and bacon for his Birthday Breakfast. Poor boy had to eat half of it in the car on the way to church since I had to be there by 8:15 to set up for Primary. He was a good sport about it. 

They tried to sing to him in Primary, but he wouldn't have anything to do with it and hid under his chair. Probably grunted at everyone ( I had stepped out with Carter so I actually missed it. Poor boy, he might not have had a hard time if I was there). Speaking of Primary, he's had a tough go with it. Hasn't wanted to go to class, has to stick right by me all the time whether I'm setting up, conducting, or doing sharing time. I guess you can say it's been tough on both of us. He just got a WONDERFUL new teacher though and for the first time since January, he was actually excited to go to Sunbeams and went without needing me or Paul to sit with him the whole time. It's heavenly! I'm so grateful for loving teachers who go the extra mile (or ten in this case. It was no small feat getting him in there). 

Anyway, back to my birthday boy. We had a low key day today since his party is this coming Saturday. He requested chicken nuggets for dinner and Orange Julius for dessert. The girls were hoping for a more dessert time dessert, but I thought the Orange Julius's were great!

And I know he's not smiling in this picture, but he was happy. 

Brandon is sweet and loving and difficult and crazy all in one. He's a true BOY! He has a really hard time with transitions (but my suspicion is that he's really just shy and doesn't know how to deal with it.) He loves action figures, making swords and guns with his trio blocks, shooting his nerf gun, playing light sabers (only with Daddy though. Apparently I do it wrong.) He likes to take showers and stand under the warm water. He loves to play outside and chase his siblings. When he was born, I would swear he was wrapping his arm around me to give me a hug. He's stayed true to that. He loves to cuddle and will often come up to me and ask me if "I" need him to snuggle with me (of course I always do). And even though he's rough and tough, he has a really kind heart. I can't wait to continue to watch him grow. 

Birthday interview:

How old are you today? FOUR
What's your favorite food? chicken nuggets
What's your favorite color? green and black
What's your favorite tv show? The Avengers
Who's your best bud (buddies)? Elijah
What do you want to be when you grow up? Dad
Where is your favorite place to go? The pretzel shop
What's your favorite game? Captain America Game (of which we don't have and I'm not even sure it exists, but he said he would like to have that game when he grows up. Haha)
What's your favorite book? "Should I share my Ice Cream"
Who is your favorite action figure? Batman and IronMan
Who's your favorite stuffed animal? Monkey

Happy Birthday to my big boy! We love you so much. Thanks for coming to be in our family. You're gonna do great things. I know it!

The first of many

A bunch of my friends got passes to Magic Mountain this year, so I jumped on the band wagon and got them too. You can't beat $62.00 a person for the whole year for entrance to Magic Mountain AND Hurricane Harbor (per person that is). I'm hoping we get to use them to their full extent. And having the park just 15 minutes from us is pretty awesome too!

So, last Saturday we found ourselves with a completely FREE day! Seriously, I was shocked. Like when does that even happen? Almost never! So we loaded up the kids and headed to Magic Mountain for the day. It was a great day to go because Paul was with me and it was nice to have him with me the first time I went. We had to stand in a bit of a line to get our actual passes, but other than that, most lines were no more than a few minutes (in the kiddie area that is). We didn't make it on any adult rides. I'm gonna have to come back with my girl friends one day to do that. 

The kids all had a ton of fun. We have discovered that BRANDON is our big thrill seeker. I took him and the girls on a kid sized roller coaster. The girls looked a bit nervous and then flat out scared during the ride, but Brandon was laughing and yelling and ready to go again. I loved it. He wanted to tackle a BIG roller coaster, but I'm seriously not sure he's tall enough to get on any. 

First ride of the day! Doesn't Paul look excited?

Here's our "big" roller coaster ride! 

Paul and Brandon on the train. 

Seriously the cutest face ever!  Love this kid. He did well with his monkey backpack. And I must say it will be a life saver when I take the kids by myself. It allowed him to get out of the stroller and walk around without risk of me losing him. We all know he's quite the runner, and with three other kids to keep an eye on, I'm not taking any chances. 

Then it was Carter's turn with Daddy.

The kids couldn't stop laughing on this ride. 

Big girls driving the truck.

The Ball Room was a total fave. We spent quite a while in here.

Can I get a real one of these for my house? Haha...just kidding my lovely children! Mommy loves you!

We ended the day with a Looney Tunes Show, where Paul got to go on stage and shake his booty to get the balls out of the container strapped to him. He was a super good sport about it and only lost by a fraction of a second. 

They took a group shot for us....but as you can tell Brandon wasn't feeling it and wouldn't get in the picture. I just can't figure that kid out sometimes.

On the way home we stopped at Chili's for a family dinner. We were all starving from being at Magic Mountain and inhaled two plates of chips and queso. It was delicious!  Can't wait for our next trip out there. Hope it goes as smoothly without Paul to help. Otherwise, it will be a weekend outing for sure. This momma knows her limits!

A REAL Thunderstorm

I grew up in FL with hurricanes and storms on a regular basis. So while today's storm we had (in typically Sunny SoCal) wasn't the worst I've seen, it was still a pretty bad one. And probably the worst I've seen in quite a while. So it was kind of fun! Carter, on the other hand, didn't think it was so great. I was upstairs in my room with him trying to get my craft supplies a bit organized when I saw a flash of lightening out my window. I must admit, it really shocked me.  We hardly EVER get lightening. Then a few seconds later......some pretty loud thunder. Carter looked up at me and immediately broke out in that "what the heck was that" kind of cry (well scream). It was so sad, but at the same time, it was kind of fun for ME to be able to just sit together with him for the next little while and just snuggle. He's usually too on the move to sit with me for long. Especially to sit still. So we went into Brandon's room where we could sit on his bed to look out the window and watch the rain. He just buried himself into me and almost fell asleep. Well until another round of thunder came and he cried (ok screamed) once again. Funny thing is that I was suppose to be in the girls classroom's this morning volunteering. But me and my sitter had a miscommunication (okay she didn't show up. And once I finally got a hold of her, she told me she sent a text yesterday that she "thought" probably didn't go through, which makes me wonder why she didn't try harder to get a hold of me, but whatever.  Haha....gotta hand it to a teenager. No I didn't get the text.) Anyway, so there I was at home when I wasn't suppose to be. But it turned out being a good thing because poor little Carter needed his momma this morning and I was glad to be with him. 

Another reason it was nice to just stay home today (besides the fact that I REALLY didn't want to have to walk out in that nasty weather) was that I got bit by the organizing bug. And that doesn't happen all too often. Definitely not often enough. So I cleaned out and organized all the papers on our computer desk and also cleaned out my notorious clutter pile. Ya know...the one where EVERYTHING gets dumped off at. Ugh. It took a while, but it's spick and span now. We'll see how long it lasts.

Now I just wish the rest of my house was clutter free. 

The Egg Hunt

Easter Sunday was really nice. Church was good...well except for the crazy Sunbeam class I taught (my son included). Maybe it wouldn't have been so crazy if Paul hadn't had to drop Carter off half way through class with a dirty diaper(which I ended up changing in the classroom while still trying to teach).....but then again, maybe it still would have. Brandon has been having such a difficult time in sunbeams. I'm not sure why, but it made it hard for me to teach the class.  My friend Lisa sang a BEAUTIFUL song in Sacrament though. I really could have sat and listened to her sing the entire hour. The talks were nice though and a great reminder of our Savior and the priceless gift He gave us. I just love Easter. 

After Church, we had a nice dinner at home of Ham, deviled eggs, rolls, salad, etc. You know...the traditional Easter Dinner. Ty and Heather were suppose to come over, but with Carter still having a runny nose, they opted out. They are flying to FL on Tuesday and don't want sick kids. I guess I can't blame them. We still had a really nice day. The kids had an egg hunt after our early dinner and then some friends invited us over for dessert. Their kids have the same cold, so we decided it wouldn't be a bad thing to share germs. Haha.. apparently, we already had. But seriously, that is just life with kids. I can't live in a bubble, right?

Right as we were about to let the kids run out for the egg hunt, Carter woke up. So I made them stand with their back to the yard while Paul ran up to get Carter. Haha.... They weren't too happy. 

They all gathered tons of eggs and I think had a great time. Brandon gave all his candy to the girls and kept his dollars and coins. I guess the Easter Bunny did a bad job at finding candy that Brandon likes. Unfortunately, lollipops don't fit in eggs. 

It was such a beautiful day!