Family Fun Weekend

So, this ended up being a long post, but I narrowed it down from 135 pictures!! We had a fun weekend with my side of the family this past weekend. My brothers and sisters came into town and we spent most of the weekend at my parent's house just enjoying each other's company. My oldest sister and her kids stayed with us. Lilly and Hayden were so excited on Friday waiting for their cousins to get here. They must have run to and from the front door 100 times to see if the cousins were here yet. Of course, it didn't take Lilly long to warm up to Ben and was immediately cuddling with him!

Kim showed me the trick of graham crackers to keep Caleb entertained while we made dinner. He LOVED them! And even tried to fit all of them in his mouth!

1st night eating tacos in front of Kung Fu Panda

Bed time story from Auntie Kim

Attempting to sleep with the older boys! This only lasted about 15 minutes, then Hayden decided it would be best to sleep on his own :) Maybe next time!

Ready for Lilly's b-day breakfast the next morning

On Saturday, we went to my parents house and had family pictures taken. Here are a few of just our family and little ones.
Excited to see AND "mother" baby Aspen!

Sweet Aspen

The magic bouncy ball worked to put her to sleep

VERY excited to open up Momo and Papa's b-day surprise

A new kitchen!! Enjoyed by all the little kids! Lilly and Hayden have loved playing with this. Hayden organizes and puts everything away and Lilly makes and prepares the food!!

Tired out from playing....this was his daily resting spot

After napping, ready for more fun!

My niece, Anna put together some "minute to win it" games for all of us to play (I dominated!!) Here was where you had to move an Oreo from your forehead to your mouth without using hands :)

Hayden and Robin did great moving the pop cans with a straw and their mouths! Look at that concentration!

I think Papa and Ben got the best time moving the cans with the spaghetti noodle :)

Hayden really got into these games and watched the big kids EVERY move! He did a great job getting the noodle in the hole

Then, came our talent show....here is Aspen rocking out to her music routine!

Ben doing a great job with the baritone

Anna and Ryan and their great moves doing the "evolution of dance"

(We didn't get a picture of our talent, which was Hayden and Lilly singing and Caleb shaking a rattle to the beat :) )

Aspen and Caleb had fun getting to know each other

Looking lovingly had her Daddy

Sweet baby hands

Having fun hanging out with Auntie Dawn

My mom and dad spoiled the little ones! They got pony rides up at their house on Sunday morning....a great way to celebrate Lilly's b-day....she LOVED the ponies, especially "baby blue" and loved to give it a hug and kiss every time she got off. Here are the kids ready to be "cowboys"

Hayden had fun pretending he was Woody. Too bad he couldn't ride more, but after 2 rides, his eyes were swollen and red from allergies :(

Cowgirl Lilly

Even Caleb got a turn!

Getting washed off in the hot tub

Getting ready to open up b-day presents and lining up all the toys to watch

Ready for winter with new ski goggles!!

Happy 3rd birthday Lilly! Make a wish!!

MMMM!!!!

Caleb had fun relaxing in the swing!

It was a great weekend!!!

Happenings at our house

I haven't posted for awhile, so just thought I would share the various happenings at our house. We only have 1 more day left of preschool and then we are FREE for summer! I'm looking forward to mornings where we aren't rushing around.

A couple of weeks ago, the kids went to my sister's house. Their cousin decided to have a b-day party for one of her dolls, so my sister made a cake and they played fun games. After that, Hayden came home and decided that his turtle, Tortuga needed to have a b-day party as well! It took me about a week to get around to it, but we finally made cupcakes and had a fun day pretending it was Tortuga's birthday! I love this picture because after thinking long and hard, Hayden was so excited that he came up with the idea of holding Tortuga on his lap and being behind him to blow out the candles "so it looks like Tortuga is blowing them out!" Look at the concentration on his face!

I don't think Caleb minded chocolate frosting either!
Hayden found some gift bags and wrapped up presents for Tortuga. Here they are helping Tortuga open the present

This weekend we became Godparents to our friend's baby, Emily. The kids loved having another little one to play with....she was a little more mobile than Caleb!

After the baptism. She was such a good baby and squealed happily during the baptism.

Caleb and Emily getting to know each other. Caleb is 2 months younger.

Today, I wanted to get a pedicure (get ready for this weekend and for the upcoming wedding in Utah). There usually isn't time to go after Mark gets home from work, so I decided to take Lilly and Caleb along with me while Hayden was at school and make it a special time for Lilly and I (since she's turning 3 soon!!) Caleb slept the whole time in the stroller and Lilly had a great time getting her own special chair and watching a DVD. Her favorite part was seeing the blue water and soaking her feet just like mommy!

Pretty flower toes!

And flower fingers!! She did a good job holding still.

And last, but not least....she is REALLY growing up. Just like every milestone, Lilly does it in her own time. She decided last week to start telling me when she has to go to the bathroom! AND today, she told me she had to go poop...and she actually did....on the toilet!!! I have been trying so hard since before Christmas to work on potty training with her and was getting nowhere!! It was a daily battle trying to get her to tell me, or to form some sort of routine to get her to go....and now she is doing it as if she always has been!!! Silly girl. We are pretty proud of our 3 year old! Even Hayden was doing a happy dance in the bathroom today. Hopefully this continues....I've had enough of cleaning out stinky underwear!!!!

Preschool Mom's Day

Today, I got to go to Hayden's class for Mother's Day. We got to see the preschool sing songs and then we went back to Hayden's room where he had prepared a snack for me. We had butter and cheese sandwiches cut into butterfly shapes and little cups of M&M's and mints. He was so excited to show me how he had made his snack and that it was on a pink place mat rather than his usual Buzz Lightyear place mat. Each mom got a nice card made by their child with a story about their mom. If you remember the story Hayden wrote for Mark during his Dad's day, this one was similar. Hayden got to fill in the blanks. Here is what he thinks about his mom:

My mommy is the most beautiful person I know. the prettiest thing about her is her bow - a ribbon on the back of her hair. It's soft. My mommy is about 3 feet tall and weighs around 9 pounds. Her eyes are blue and her hair is brown. Her favorite food is Mommy sandwiches and her favorite color is pink. The thing I like to do most with my mommy is play buzz lightyear with her. It's big and it talks. There are a lot of reasons to love her, but most of all I love my mommy because I kiss her and hug her a lot. Love, Hayden

Cousin b-day party

Last weekend, my niece Robin had her 4th b-day party. It was a unicorn party so the kids had a fun time wearing their pink and blue ears and tails, playing fun unicorn games and earning their horns by the end of the party! :) Here are the kids galloping to music around the table.

Cute ears!
Caleb having fun getting to know his Papa

Hitting the unicorn pinata hard!! It wouldn't break!

Our new little niece, Aspen came from Seattle so it was fun ooohing-and ahhing over her. She was so alert and loved observing everyone!

Look how much they grow in 6 months!!!!

Hayden and Lilly had fun the rest of the weekend wearing their unicorn ears, tail and horn!