The 2011-2012 School Year Has Begun...

Today was the boys' first day of school. Jaron is now a big 5th grader and has Mr. Games for his teacher and Jantzen has moved on up to 1st grade and has Ms. Straw-Guse. Jaron has been a little nervous about his teacher this year because he's kind of hard, but I told Jaron he'd do fine. Jantzen has been excited all summer to start 1st grade because he wants to eat lunch at school like his "big" brother does. Last night they picked out their "1st day of school outfit", they were so excited to wear their new shoes.

They both got up really good this morning (I know that won't last long), got dressed in their new clothes, had scrambled eggs for breakfast, brushed their teeth, and were ready to head off to school. It was a little weird having to make two lunches, but I'll get used to it as the year goes on.

Before we left for our walk to school I had to get our traditional "1st day of school pictures". Jaedyn didn't want to be left out, so she put on her back pack she got for her birthday and joined the boys for the picture, she looked so excited...


I had to get a picture of the back packs too. Jantzen was so excited to have a new back pack with a matching lunch box this year.


The kids had one big hug before we left for school. It makes me smile when I see my kids like this...


Then we were off! The boys like to ride their scooters to school and Jaedyn and I follow behind with the stroller.



We met up with our "group" we walk with everyday and I grabbed a quick picture of all the school kids before we continued our walk to school. Don't they all look so happy to be going back to school?...


Jaron made a comment to me as we were walking that made me laugh. He said to me, "I really hate admitting this, but I really want to be at school right now because it's so hot!". It was very hot, I hope it cools off soon!

We made it to the school and I got another quick picture of me with the boys before they left with their teachers. They were both excited and nervous for their first day with new teachers and I have to admit, I was a little nervous for them. It's sometimes hard seeing your kids grow up and move on to new things.


Their teachers came to get them and then they were gone...:( I caught up with my fellow "stroller moms" and we headed home. These ladies are so much fun to walk with every morning, we have lots of fun chats along the way to and from school.

(From left: Natalie, Jessica, Me, Lara, Amanda, Julie, and Taryn with our non-school age kids)


When Jaedyn and I got home, we quickly left again to run some errands. The nice thing about my boys being in school all day this year is that I can run my errands and I don't have to rush home to pick up kindergarten carpool.

I love how Jaedyn loves wearing her sunglasses anytime we're in the car. She likes to ride in style I guess.


I went to pick the boys up after school and I was excited to hear all about their first day. Jantzen told me he had a fun day and said he really likes being in first grade. I was a little worried about him at lunch time because he's kind of a messy eater, but he assured me this morning that he'd be fine and he was. He told me he went to the bathroom after lunch to make sure he didn't have food all over his face before he went to recess. He also told me about all his friends that he has in his class and he was really excited about that. Jantzen also said that he has recess at the same time as Jaron, and that made him really happy. Jaron's response to my question "How was your first day?" was, "It was FANTASTIC!" He was very enthusiastic about it. I'm so happy that he gave me that response because he does have a tough teacher this year. He's already started getting to work and doing lots of it. I guess that's a good thing though because he will be going to middle school next year and he needs to prepare for that now. I think they will both do good this year as long as they listen...lets hope they do.

(Just a little side note...when I went to pick the boys up after school, my car said it was 119 degrees outside, not to mention the high humidity. I was dripping sweat, it was so hot!)

For dinner we had our traditional "Back to School Pizza" that we have every year on the first day of school. We tried a new place this year, "Hungry Howie's" and it was yummy! The kids all loved it.


It was a good first day of school for Jaron and Jantzen. Jaedyn kind of had a hard time understanding where her "Jantzen" was for lunch, and so did I. It was a little too quiet, but we'll get used to it and start to enjoy it as the year goes on. I'm so proud of my boys for all they've accomplished in school over the past years and I looked forward to seeing everything they accomplish this year. Good Luck Jaron and Jantzen...we all love you boys!

Tri-Ward Swim Party!

Last night we went to a tri-ward swim party with our ward. It was at the rec center so my boys were really excited because we haven't gone swimming there all summer. Jaedyn was really excited to go too, she's loves to swim!

The first thing Josh did there with Jaedyn was go on the big water slide...


I think she liked it because they went on it a couple times and this was her face after (no crying, so that's a good thing)...


The boys quickly started having a blast with their friends. (The bottom picture is Jantzen swimming underwater...he loves it!)


Here's Kaiden, Keagan, Jaron, and Jantzen just chillin'...


Jaedyn took a break from swimming to enjoy one of her favorite things...Cheetos! I love how she has to show me what she's eating.


After enjoying some food, Jaedyn and Josh got back in the pool to have some fun, she didn't want to get out.


It didn't take long for Jantzen to get in on some pool fun too..


Jantzen loves to be thrown in the pool, so that's what Josh and Spencer did for most of the night with him. I love all the poses and expressions on Jantzen's face as he's being thrown, he's so funny and loves every minute of it!





Jaedyn was feeling a little left out, so she got to be tossed too...


...and she loved it!


Jaedyn took a little break from swimming while Josh played with the boys, so we hung out and messed around with the camera.

(Please ignore the funky messed up eyebrows I'm sporting)



Josh and Spencer tossed Jantzen some more...



Then, Jaron came over and wanted to be tossed too (is that a cheerleading pose he's doing?)...


After Jaron was tossed a few more times, Josh and Spencer decided to throw both boys at the same time...I love it!


Jaron showed me some of his diving skills...


We all swam a little bit longer before it was time to go home. I got another quick picture of me with my little mermaid...she's just too cute in her swim suit!


We packed everything up, and I mean everything (Jaedyn climbed on for a ride all by herself), then we headed home...



It was a fun night!

Back to School Lunch

Every year I take my kids to lunch for a "Back to School Lunch with Mom" on the Friday before school officially starts. I've been doing this ever since Jaron started kindergarten and they love it. This year Jaron and Jantzen went back and forth on a few different places, but ultimately McDonald's won out. We did a little bit of school clothes shopping in the morning and then headed to eat lunch.

The kids all enjoyed their usual McDonald's Happy Meal and then they played for a while before we went to the "Meet and Greet" at the school for them to meet their new teachers and see their classrooms.


I'm hoping as they get older that they'll start choosing somewhere other than McDonald's to have lunch...fingers crossed!

Enjoying the Spoils of her Birthday...

It's been a couple days since her birthday, but Jaedyn's still enjoying everything as if it were still her special day. She absolutely loves this "Minnie Mouse" bag I made her, she carries it with her everywhere she goes (it has her jewelery inside)...


She also loves the rings we gave her. She insists on wearing all of them at the same time, but has a hard time keeping them on because the jewels in them are so big, but she loves them. She has been making me wear some of them with her...



I think I'd have to come to the conclusion that her purse and rings are some of her favorite presents she got. I had to run Jantzen to a friends house this morning and Jaedyn insisted on wearing her rings and taking her purse. That may be because I always have on my jewelery and my purse whenever I leave the house. Check out that "rock" on her finger! Holy Cow, I want one that big (a real one though)!


Later on we ran some errands and this time Jaedyn added a couple more accessories to her already stylish self...her sunglasses and her "Minnie Mouse" bracelet. Isn't she just the cutest little girl ever?!?! She's absolutely adorable in her sunglasses and the best part is, she loves wearing them!



Jaron was behind me showing Jaedyn some poses and that's what she's trying to do here...so stinkin' cute!


The other two presents she got that she LOVES are her new "Minnie's". The smaller one sings and laughs if you shake her and the other one is just a stuffed toy that she insists on having at nap time and bed time. I think they are her new BFF's...



Today, Jaedyn finally ate a cupcake from her birthday party. I felt bad that she hasn't had any yet, but she's been too interested in her presents. She was so funny with the cupcake because at first she posed for a picture with it and then I tried to take off the "Minnie" head and she got mad at me. For some reason she thought that you were supposed to eat that part, so she started licking it. I started laughing so hard because she gave me a look like, "this is kind of gross mom".


Jaedyn finally let me take Minnie's head off and she quickly started licking away the frosting (that's her favorite part).


It didn't take her long to finish the cupcake and she did pretty good not making a big mess. This is the face of a satisfied two year old after eating a yummy cupcake...


I just can't say it enough...I LOVE THIS LITTLE GIRL!!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Jaedybug!

Today was Jaedyn's 2nd birthday. I can't believe it's already been two years, it seems like just yesterday I was in the hospital delivering her. For Jaedyn's birthday this year I picked a "Minnie Mouse" theme since she LOVES Minnie or "Mimi", as she calls her.

Here's the invitation I made for her party, I love how it turned out...


I wanted to make Jaedyn a birthday skirt this year to match Minnie's skirt and I was so proud of myself because I was doing all the sewing and it didn't look too bad for my first attempt at a skirt. There was only one mishap with it...Jaedyn decided she wanted to do some alterations on it. She got into my scissors and started snipping away. Luckily Spencer caught her before she did too much damage. The result was several cuts that I ended up patching because I didn't want to start over. You couldn't even tell anything had been cut on it while she was wearing it, thank goodness!


These were the decorations I put up this year for Jaedyn's birthday...pink, white, and black balloons and streamers, pink tissue flowers were hung from the kitchen ceiling and white ones were hung from the chandelier, I had pink table covers with a white "dot" in the middle, and I made "Minnie Mouse" centerpieces for the tables. I loved how everything turned out...



Here's the little princess standing in front of her birthday presents from me and Josh, she looked so cute in her new birthday skirt...


We took Jaedyn outside to get some pictures of her before her party started and before she messed up her hair (it looked so cute and she did end up messing it up after her tantrum) and this was the cooperation we got from her...NONE! She was being such a little DIVA and she didn't want any part of picture taking. We even tried to put her on the trampoline, thinking that would make her happy, but that didn't work either. I guess it did make for some funny pictures that she'll enjoy when she's older though.





After Jaedyn was done being upset about me taking pictures of her (she ended up having a timeout) we made her a birthday breakfast that consisted of pink "Minnie Mouse" pancakes complete with a strawberry bow. I think Jaedyn was fascinated by it because she couldn't take her eyes off it. She loves both pancakes and strawberries, so it was the perfect breakfast for her birthday and she loved it.



I also did a treat table for Jaedyn's party. I did a makeover with the birthday banner I made for her last year so it looked like "Minnie Mouse" heads...


I found this cute "Minnie Mouse" stuffed toy and thought it would make a good centerpiece and a great gift for Jaedyn after her party...


For the treats I made strawberry flavored cupcakes in pink and white polka dotted liners along with "Minnie Mouse" heads on top...


...I made chocolate covered "Minnie Mouse" Oreo heads (with Double Stuff and Mini Oreos). They didn't turn out exactly as I had pictured, but they tasted really good!...


...I made brownies with pink candy melts drizzled on top of them (sooo yummy!)...


...and then I bought strawberry Whoppers (Jaedyn's request) and pink Starburst's...


For the party favors I made "Minnie" and "Mickey" ears for all the kids...


...and I made "Minnie Mouse" bags for all the girls. The boys just got blue goodie bags. I bought "Minnie" and "Mickey" bubbles with a bubble wand for all the kids and the little girls got a "Minnie Mouse" bracelet in their bag. I also made a "thank you" candy bar for all the kids...


Here's a close up of the candy bars...


I found this cute "Pin the Flower on Minnie" game at the party store. Jaedyn was really excited to have a big picture of "Minnie" on the wall.


The time finally came for the party guests to arrive. The kids all played around to some Disney music until it was time to eat, they were all having a great time!


For lunch we had turkey and ham sandwiches with homemade rolls (that's right, I was being a little domestic for her birthday), mandarin orange jello salad, broccoli salad, a variety of chips, strawberries, green grapes, a veggie tray, and a variety of Minute Maid juices.


Here's Jaedyn with her BFF, Rylee eating lunch...


After everyone was done eating lunch we played "Pin the Flower on Minnie". Jaedyn was up first, of course, and she got her pink flower pretty close to the designated area. It was cute because she was so proud of herself.


The rest of the kids went in order of youngest to oldest and when it came time for Jaron to have a turn, Josh was a stinker to him again just like at Jantzen's party. Josh spun him around and sent him in the wrong direction. He eventually made it to Minnie, but unfortunately didn't stick his flower close to where it needed to be. All of the kids that had a turn had fun with this game.


Jaedyn was in awe of all the different colored flowers on Minnie.


Dallin and Kennedy (blue flowers) ended up being the only ones who got their flowers right on target, only because they cheated a little. Dallin peaked and Kennedy felt for his flower and stuck hers on top of his. That's okay though, it was still fun.


I had to get a picture of Jaedyn and Rylee in front of Minnie because they were being so cute and they were so good and gave me some cute smiles.


The next thing we did for Jaedyn's party was the Minnie pinata. We hung it from a tree in our back yard and Josh controlled the height for each kid.


Jaedyn went first and she was so excited! She kept hitting the pinata while constantly laughing. I was so happy that she was enjoying it, she was being so cute!


Then, we let the rest of the kids, from oldest to youngest, have a turn hitting the pinata. Jaedyn and Rylee were the only ones we didn't make wear a blindfold, but we did with the rest. When the older kids would go to hit "Minnie", Josh would pull it higher so they'd miss...it was funny to watch that! When it came to Sadie's turn, she broke "Minnie" open, so the rest of the kids didn't get a turn. Luckily for them though, there was a lot of candy to grab and eat.

(top: Jantzen, Dallin; bottom: Jantzen, Sadie, Rylee)


Once the candy fell out, I made the older kids let Jaedyn and Rylee get some candy first...


...then I let the rest of them grab what they wanted.


Jaedyn had to come show me what she picked out. All she wanted was a "Tootsie Pop" sucker and two "Tootsie" rolls, she's too cute! I love the concentrated look she has on her face while trying to hold her candy for the picture.


We went back inside and let Jaedyn open her birthday presents. Here she is posing with them before the fun began (as you can see,she didn't forget her chair)...


Jaedyn had a lot of help this year opening her presents. Her brothers were always right by her side and Rylee even joined in to help her out.


Jaedyn got a "Tinkerbell" cell phone and backpack along with a set of bracelets and rings from Dallin and Rylee (this was the best picture I could get of all of them together)...


She got a "Disney Princess" cell phone and a skirt and purse that her aunt Nena made for her from Kennedy, Sadie, and Tate (I love Jaedyn's relaxed pose in this picture)...


She got a drum and music instrument set with some gummie Lifesavers from her aunt Megan; some crayons, "Tinkerbell" stickers, a "Mickey Mouse" coloring book, a microphone (she loves singing in it), and a homemade personalized notebook from Sadie and Taylor; a pot of pink flowers from grandma Goddard; and a picture of her from her aunt Ashley that she drew for her and grandma Goddard framed...


From Avery, Jaedyn got a new dress up dress and some "Minnie Mouse" shoes. I got Jaedyn a "Minnie Mouse" toy camera and didn't have time to wrap it, so I just stuck it in with Avery's present...Jaedyn loved it! She didn't want to put it down. She went crazy taking pictures, I think she gets that from me!


Josh and I gave her a "Singing Giggling Minnie", a "Beach Bow-tique Minnie", a new bottle set for her babies (I love how she used her foot to hold up this present as she opened it), and her grandma Goddard gave her a ladybug pillow...


There were more presents that she opened, but the very last one that Josh and I gave her was the biggest one there. She didn't want to open it at first until Josh started helping her and she heard some noises coming from it. When she opened it, she was soo happy because it was a play kitchen. I added some vinyl flowers to it to make it a little more girly since it was blue and brown.


Jaedyn LOVED it! She ended up not having any of her birthday cake because she was too busy playing with it.


Here's a picture of all of Jaedyn's birthday presents. The rest of what she got consisted of...a new pink basket of food, a black with white polka dotted apron (from grandma Goddard), a "Minnie Mouse" puzzle and coloring books, some "pop on Pals" toys, an apron and chef's hat that I added a "Minnie Mouse" charm to, and lots and lots of bracelets and rings...


We decided to have cake next. This was Jaedyn's birthday cake this year...


Josh had to literally pull Jaedyn away from her kitchen in order for us to sing "Happy Birthday" to her. At first she didn't know what to think about the candles on her cake, but she quickly figured out that she had to blow them out. She blew them out so quickly, I wasn't ready with the camera to get a picture...



...so I made Josh light them again, so I could get one...


Jaedyn then stuck her finger in the frosting to get a little taste and it didn't take long for Josh to get in there and help her try a little more, so I guess she did get to try a tiny bit of her birthday cake.


After we all enjoyed some cake and ice cream, I made the kids put on their ears for a picture. Don't they all look so cute? Jaron tried to hide in the back, but I can still see him!!


I took the Minnie Mouse down from the treat table and let Jaedyn have her. She was so excited to have a big Minnie Mouse. She played with her for quite a while the rest of the day.



After Jaedyn's party was over she got to take a nap (I wish I could have done that). Later on we took the kids to Red Robin for Jaedyn's birthday dinner. She enjoyed macaroni, of course. The waiters sang to her and she got her birthday ice cream sundae. And yes, her mouth is full of food in this picture, I think I caught her off guard.


It didn't take her long to dig into her sundae, she enjoyed every bit of it!


All the kids got a balloon before we left. Jaedyn got an orange one and she loved it!


Jaron's balloon ended up popping in the car and Jaedyn was so concerned about it. She asked Jaron, "What happened Honey? You ok?". It was seriously cute how sweet she was talking to him about it.

It was a busy, but fun day celebrating Jaedyn's birthday. She's such a blessing in our lives and I'm so grateful that she's a part of our family. She's learned so many new things in the last year and she's getting smarter and smarter every day. She loves to sing, dance, entertain us, wrestle with her brothers, and snuggle for movie time with her brothers. I love the joy and laughter she brings into our home, she has a funny personality like her brother Jantzen. She can be sweet and sassy all within a minute of each other, but she's still so much fun to be around. We all love her so much...HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAEDYN!!