A Little Bookworm's Birthday

Our sweet little bookworm turned 2!! I hate it that she keeps getting older, but I love it at the same time. How does that work?
 

Penelope is obsessed with reading books, so what better way to celebrate than with a bookworm themed party? Nerd glasses were a MUST.

I made books for each child coming to the party and everyone got their own pair of nerd glasses

Some bookworms to snack on. I had Smarties there too!

The party table. I just love a good spread. This time it was just treats. I'm trying to simplify here, people!

I made these cute "apple" lanterns

These caramel apples were a pain in the b-u-t-t but delicious none the less!
And if I do say so myself, soooo cute!

The birthday girl had a cupcake before it was even time because she wanted one "so bad." She kept whining "Happy birthday to me!" over and over and over again until I thought I'd go crazy. She skipped her nap that day which is never a good thing. Good thing she's as cute as she is!

Here are all the Slaugh side cousins donning their glasses. Nerd allert!

Everyone got to write their own story and then share it with us.

Pip got some fun things! A Hello Kitty " pack-pack", baby doll highchair and her Build-A-Bear bunny from Grammy were among her faves. Thank you everyone for spoiling her!

Here are the Buchi side cousins. Not many, but so glad they came to Utah to spend Pippi's
 special day with her!

Happy birthday doll face! We can't believe we're lucky enough to have you!
Some things about Penelope at age 2:

*Extremely independent. Everything is "My do it!"

*Good little eater. Will try almost anything! YAY!!

*Loves treats and chips a little too much. We have a bit of a Cheeto problem on our hands!

*Sneaky sneaky. Tries to get out of her naps with complains like: "I have diah and it's stinging my bum!"When I check and see nothing she said..."I kidding!"

*Has started toilet talk. Seriously? Already? "If you're happy and you know it poop your pants!" is a favorite

*A little too smart if you ask me. Knows how to tease, kid, and fib to boot. She thinks I'll believe her too! She wouldn't eat her chicken the other night because she said it "would give [her] a runny nose."

*Doesn't like to play with toys. Or watch movies. The only think I can get her to do for a little peace and quiet is watch Barney for 15-20 minutes max. Other than that she follows me around the house all day doing whatever I'm doing. Which is cute, but a teensy bit frustrating. She thinks she's a skilled makeup artist, nail tech, laundress, cleaning expert and doctor. 

Which leads me to my next point...

*My biggest trouble maker yet! I've had to call poison control 3 times on her (never once on either boy) and have now scrubbed crayon off numerous surfaces (never once on either boy). I had to retire my brand new bar stools immediately upon their arrival because she drags them around to scale everything. She's faster than lightning and just as dangerous!

*But then she's good as gold when we're out and about. I think I'd rather have it that way anyway. I can take her anywhere and she'll just sit quietly in my lap and people watch. She doesn't need a thing to entertain her. No books, no toys, no electronics. It's smooth sailing!

*Cannot give up the binks. We're down to the only 2 we haven't lost..."green bink" and "blue bink". They are resurrected ones of Oliver's that I didn't have the heart to throw away. They have had more use in the past few months than they did the entire time Ollie had them. She is obsessed, and sometimes crawls in her crib to have them for "a little bit!" to get her fix. I've got to get the guts to get rid of them. But she's soooo hard to say no to! Go on, look at her sweet little face again and tell me you could take them away!

Happy Birthday Miss Penelope Jane!!

On to other events...

 

These were the boys' end of the year gifts for their teachers. Cute, delicious and easy!

On Ollie's last day of Kindergarten I took him to get lunch at a place of his choice for the last time. It's our Friday tradition to somewhere fun and eat in the car on the way to school. I'm going to miss that routine so much!

Here he is lining up on his last day. Yes, I had a lump in my throat watching him stand in line for the last time outside those Kindergarten doors. It seemed like yesterday I was watching Hud with that same lump. Well, it was just last year, so maybe that's why? 

I snuck inside to get some pics of the "Boogie"

and the Pledge. So so cute! He's so ready for first grade that it makes the thought of him growing up a little easier.

This is my favorite summer outfit on her. It's the sweetest romper in the world. I should take a full-body shot of it. The fabric, the style...perfection! I hate when my babies get too old for rompers. It should be illegal to outgrow them!

Ollie lost his first tooth! His second one fell out a few days later. He was so excited. We thought the Tooth Fairy forgot to bring his prize, but turns out she was "sneaky" and left it in his pillow case instead of under it.
That poor Tooth Fairy is getting old and senile. And busy. Okay, and forgetful. But mostly has a lot on her plate.

Huddie was so excited for Oliver. They are such cute boys and good friends. Most of the time.
And why do they have to go through the "rabbit ears" rite of passage?

May 2013

Happy Mother's Day to me!

I really wanted a picture of me and my kiddieloos, but nobody would cooperate all at the same time...

 

I sure am lucky to be their mom!

Does anyone else feel that they don't really want to be a mom on Mother's Day? Personally I just want to be left alone and have a Personal Day. My one request was to have an uninterrupted nap for as long as I wanted. When I got home from church I swiftly jumped into my jammies and settled down for a delicious afternoon.
 I was interrupted, but boy was it ok! Steve had fixed me the most delicious brunch I have ever had in my entire life. No joke: Perfectly poached eggs, English muffins, homemade hollandaise sauce and ranch roasted breakfast potatoes with bacon that were THE BEST things I have ever tasted.
You can interrupt my nap anytime if it's going to be for something like that! 

Then I got to snuggle back down in my bed for a couple of hours. Bliss! 

Oliver celebrated his 6th birthday! I kept begging him to stay 5. I even told him we could still have a party with presents and everything if he would just stay 5. He said he couldn't--that he would just wake up and be 6 and not be able to help it.
Why do they have to grow?

He wanted a Beyblade party, of course. I found this awesome cake topper on Etsy and was super excited to get it so his cake wasn't so...you know, ugly. When I showed it to him (all excited about it) he turned me down. He wanted something a little more like this one. I said "But Ollie, look how cute this one is!" And he said "But Mom, I don't want it to be cute, I want it to be cool!"
He had a point, and it is was birthday, so I conceded and ended up with this.
He thought it was pretty great, but didn't even eat more than a bite, because it had bakery frosting (which he hates, and I know it, and I was trying to avoid it by making the cake myself and buying the "cute" topper).
Oh the drama!

First we had a "design your own Beyblade" station

Ollie and Beck--best buddies

Then they battled it out til their hearts content

pleased as punch with his new "Bey"

On his actual birthday he woke up to a pile of presents before school. He got a new bat and his own helmet.

He's super tough!

He's so thrilled with Hud's gift (Slushy Magic!)

Mimi gave him this awesome Razor 360 bike that spins, sparks, drifts, and even goes backwards. Coolest!

Here's a little about Ollie at age 6:

*still loves his ciz-wants it for lunch every day before kindergarten

*can't get enough of his Beyblades. I mean morning, noon and night (he sleeps with a pile under his pillow)

*loves to be outside doing anything, but especially riding his bike or playing baseball

*still the most easy going child alive

*always says "can I ask you a question?"

*asks tons of questions

*an awesome reader

*straight A student

*loves getting Hi-Chews at the snack shack for his treat after games

*a special drink is still the way to his heart (just like his dad)

*always wants at least 2 stories before bed, an ice cold drink of water and then to snuggle. I'm the only one that gets to actually snuggle him. Steve has to "snuggle" him on the floor by his bed. 

We love you Oliver Finn!

March 2013

Happy Easter!

Having a girl to dress for Easter is much more fun than dressing boys. Just a side note.

 I think Hudson's getting the hang of this posing thing!

The Easter Bunny hid Oliver's basket in the dryer for the third year in a row apparently. Come on, Bunny...can't you remember from one year to the next, or be more creative?

All Penelope cared about was that she got two fresh binks in her basket. She ripped them out of the package and ran away from everyone to snuggle on this pillow and suck them in peace.

And now for some random pictures from the rest of the month:

I caught her trying to sneak my phone, and then snapped this picture of her looking guilty. It cracks me up every time I look at that face!

This one's pretty special too. 

Olf likes to wear goggles in the tub so he can see under water and Pip needed some too.

This is Hud's face of choice lately.

Has anyone noticed this or is it just me? I was walking down the aisle at the grocery store and stopped dead in my tracks.The Quaker has had some work done!!!
Here is the before

And here is the after!
Check out how they've thinned out his face and given him more of a defined chin. He's lost 15 lbs and 20 years! He's gone from pudgy to dare I say a little handsome? For some reason every morning when I'm making my breakfast I swear I see Christopher Plummer (link!) in him somewhere. Eyes? Lips? I can't quite pinpoint it.
Quaker oats, Quaker oats, every morning you greeeeet meeeee...
Hahahahahaha!

St. Patrick's Day! The leprechaun paid us a visit. There was a long scavenger hunt with literally a "pot" of gold at the end. Hud looks like King Keebler himself in this picture.

Pip's got those cheeks stuffed full of chocolate

We had green pancakes for dinner with a rainbow fruit tray. The kids were thrilled!

 

Penelope traipses around in Hudson's boots most days.

 

Over Spring break, all the kids wanted to do was make cookies and eat them in the family room with glasses of milk like in one of their favorite books. I made their wildest dreams come true with browned butter snickerdoodles. Yum.

Happy Spring!