The Last of the Birthdays

Tis the end of birthday the birthday season over here.  With 4 birthdays from Sept 30 to Oct 30 this part of the year can be wild.  Maybe that's why I feel the urge to simplify.

Cayden always has the hardest time waiting for his birthday because both Seth and Gracie have theirs before him.  It is not fair.  Thankfully he had a little better concept of time this year so he was able to handle the waiting a bit better.

He had a grand list of presents, but we narrowed it down to a few good ones.

We had the gang over...and since Cayden shares a birthday with Adam and his bio sister, Brooklyn, we had to have three cakes.

(I didn't make any of them...shh).

The kiddos are all rosy cheek-ed because I made them play OUTSIDE.  

It's a little nippy on October fall evenings.

I almost made them eat outside too.

"My Birthday"

 Then Brooklyn and Adam got to blow out some candles.

Grandma Martha gave him some great puzzles.

That's her favorite gift to give.

I'll have to show her our stack next time she visits so she gets the hint that maybe we have enough sturdy wooden puzzles;)

Love her.

 After the party went home I let the boys open their presents from me.

Did I do good or what?

They had a blast with those Nerf guns and super heroes.

And they even let Seth in on the fun.

A Sisters Weekend

It all happened kinda of suddenly.

It may have started with a bit of Mom feeling overwhelmed after a long Coverstar summer that hadn't ended yet and the never ending needs of her adorable children getting to her.  There was also a bit of homesickness in there too.  With three new babies in the family(all within the last three months) and her littlest sister playing her last year of volleyball, she was feeling a bit left out.

So she booked a trip to see them.

And she is so glad she did.

And so is her husband.  She came back a lot more cheery.

Thank you Adam for seeing that I needed to go and making it happen.  He got the girls out to school each morning and then drug that lovely 2 year-old we have around to his jobs sites during the day.  He made it home in time to get the girls off the bus and did the whole homework/dinner routine.  And he did splendidly during the weekend too with a trip to a corn maze and everybody dressed for church.

I really do love him.

It was officially a sisters weekend.  All the sisters and sister-in-laws were able to make it to my mom's house.  None of us could get away from all of our kids but we still did pretty well.  I took Cayden as my traveling companion.  He had been asking for months to ride an airplane to Papa's house and since all the other kids had had special trips to AZ(Ellie and Emma this summer and Seth and Gracie a year ago for my brother's graduation) it was his turn. He turned out to be a great little traveler and I really enjoyed our time together. 

First stop: Antelope vs Phoenix Christian

(Shanna is number 8 as the middle hitter)

I loved watching her.

It brought back so many memories.

I used to play that same team in that same gym.

They were a tough team back then too.

(My old camera hates to photograph in gyms)

Now for a girls get away you might be expecting lots of spa pictures or manicures or shopping, but surprise; this basement room of my mom's house is actually where we spent a lot of our time together.  This is my mom's craft room.  It is amazing.  She has anything your little crafty heart could desire.  Even my smallish crafty heart found some projects to do.  I commandeered her sewing machine and serger to sew Ellie and Emma some skirts and a super hero cape for Seth.  Lisa hemmed some shorts, made some cute little doll blankets, and glued up some hair bows.  

Then Mom got out her vinyl cutter and we never let that thing rest.  Everybody got a few iron-on Super Hero insignia's to place on capes and Halloween costumes. Christine made some cute monograms for above her kids' beds and a larger quote about big and little brothers for the boys room.  She had some Christmas ideas too that she worked on.  I was instructed by Ellie to get Grandma to cut her and her friends all the stickers they would need for their Halloween costumes- they are going as American Girls in the doll boxes.

You could tell it was pretty neat to my mom to have all her girls together doing things.  Things that she enjoyed too.  She is so happy to share her talents.

Even with babies napping or being fed by their mommas there were still a few children wandering around that needed looking after.

Here is how Uncle Eric watches children.

Coming from a time zone so far away is a bit of an adjustment(always waking up so early), but at least we got to see Shanna and Mom doing early morning seminary and then take her to catch her bus.

That there is the only "convenience" store within 30 miles.  Little Shan is about to hop on a bus for a 60mile ride to high school.  Shocking huh.  

And there was plenty of wrestling around even without the wrestling brothers here;)

I tried to get Cayden to hop on with me, but he's developed a bit of a fear for those loud noisy things.

And NOW for the babies.

Those handsome men I was just dying to see.

Mark named after his two grandpas is just as chill as could be.  He's a chubster and a happy one.

Dallin, the cutest little screamer ever.

He is a tough one, but if you hold him just right he'll be good for you.

And little Landon, the smallest of the bunch, but he's got the most hair.  He still loves to sleep alot.

Holly and Amy were feeling a bit left out.

(my poor little flash was pooping out on me)

And some Sunday looking cute pics.

Thanks mom and sisters for the weekend.

Sign me up for next year.