Fancy Elena's Birthday Party

The theme was Fancy Nancy. Nancy has curly hair, so Elena sat still for me the night before while we put her hair into 10 braids so that it would be extra fancy in the morning. I didn't get any close ups of her on Saturday, but it did look really cute.
Elena was allowed to invite 5 friends over for her party. She invited: Laurel, Lynnea, Sobe (isn't that the cutest nickname for Isobel?), Chloe, and Sydney. Aunt Bethany was formally invited as a guest too, so she crafted and ate lunch right along with the girls.
Once everyone was here, we began with a craft. They decorated their cups with sequins and then made door signs for their bedrooms with their names and foam shapes. Then we had a snack of these ladybug cookies which were so fun to assemble. They are Nilla Wafers with red frosting, mini chocolate chips, and Junior Mints. I added a little extra edible glitter from the cake (further below) just for fun.
Next it was manicure time and the girls voted for rainbow nails (10 colors - one on each nail). It actually worked out really well. Bethany did the right hand and I did the left and they just all sat around talking about each color as we bounced from girl to girl painting one color at a time. Then we had them pose for pictures. Elena and Sydney both had dogs named Frenchy with them, just like Fancy Nancy. Next we ate our "fancy" lunch of heart shaped sandwiches and different kinds of fruit. My mom hung white Christmas lights and check out the flowers that my dad bought her for the party. :) This picture is apparently of snack time, but you get the idea.
The sandwiches were originally put together, but apparently Elena wanted hers pulled apart.
Here's the cake. Don't look too closely. The picture on top was printed out by a local cake decorating shop. They'll print out anything that you bring to them for $13. I was so glad because I did not now how I was going to manage to make a Fancy Nancy cake otherwise. I frosted it and then put the picture on top. The swirls are so sloppy, but I'm learning. My mom bought edible glitter to put on top, so that really made it look cool as far as 5 year olds are concerned.
I didn't get a picture of the pinata (it was a pink cupcake) and that was the last thing that we did. Elena was so sad that the party was over she started to cry when it was time to walk people out and say goodbye. She wants us to plan play dates with all her friends soon. They're all such sweet girls!

Dan and Kevin had a father-son outing during the party. And he couldn't resist buying Kevin a new toy. Even though Christmas was less than a month ago. But I digress. Kevin loves his new race track, he shares it with his sister well, and Dan had fun putting it together and playing with them. I got some pretty cute of videos of Kevin saying stuff like, "Gentlemen and ladies, start your engines!"

My Big Boy

There are no words for how much I adore this little guy. His most recent favorite phrase is, "No, never!" The first time he said it, it was so unexpected that we couldn't help but laugh. So now he uses it all the time.

"Kevin, pick up your cars."
"No, never!"

"Kevin buddy, please stay at the table with us until dinner is over."
"No, never!"

He must have learned it from a movie or something because although he does yell it, it's not angry sounding at all. Even though I hope it doesn't last long, I still think it's hilarious.

p.s. Guess who is not potty trained, but randomly asked to go on the potty yesterday? His attempt was successful, and I was so proud!

Elena is 5!

Bethany took Elena to see Beauty and the Beast 3D on the Saturday before her birthday. My mom and I tagged along. My dad stayed with Kevin and they played and watched the Bluray version at home.

Tuesday was Elena's fifth birthday. She had been counting down daily for weeks. First thing in the morning, she wanted to open her package from Abuelita and Abuelo. She loved everything, but thought that the ten $1 bills that were tucked into the card was the coolest thing ever. She also got a new puppy stuffed animal that she named Winter, and she adores her.

I taught preschool that day and so it was mostly business as usual except all the girls had cupcakes for snack. I let Elena skip her usual 1 hour quiet time and gave her a present to open early and play with instead. Then, Dan got home just before 4:00! That was a real treat. Then he and the kids watched Mr Popper's Penguins which was cute. I kind of watched too, but I was mostly in the kitchen. Her birthday meal request was chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, and french fries. It would have been so easy, but my pregnant stomach couldn't handle the thought of all that processing, so I made little fried chicken nuggets and baked some seasoned potato wedges. We did have Kraft mac and cheese of course, but I added in a salad and broccoli. It was actually a really good meal even it was a little more work than it needed to be.

Kevin liked the cupcake too.

After dinner, we had heart shaped cupcakes and Elena opened presents. She got her first set of Legos (rather than Lego Duplos), lots of books, clothes, a puzzle, and a Sleeping Beauty doll. She loved and gushed over everything. It's so nice that she's appreciative. We all played together for a while and then it was bedtime. As soon as her birthday was over, she immediately started to ask, "How many days until my party?"

Kevin tells a Mater story

I love the way that Kevin speaks. He enunciates in a hilarious way and he talks a LOT. Plus, he is always licking his cute little lips. I just don't have very many videos of him. Poor, poor second (and soon to be middle) child. He doesn't stay in one place for a very long time, so I thought that I had a good chance of him being still long enough to get a good video right after a bath last week. Even better, Elena was still in the tub, so she couldn't jump into the camera space and steal the show - but you can hear her singing in the background. :)

And a little bit more about his bath toys:

Dison Kids on Ice

Two skating girls:

My little Apollo Ohno in training:

We took the kids to the local outdoor skating rink last week. My dad and Bethany skated around with the kids and I took pictures and videos. Both kids had a great time and were very adventurous. They were both sad to go, but slept really well that night.

Proof that I was there. Don't I look pregnant and tired? :)

In the first video, Elena is just starting out at the kiddie rink. And in the second one, Kevin is running/skating on the ice.

Happy New Year!

"Kids' New Year" was at 9pm.

The kids had fun drinking sparkling Welch's grape juice and making noise. They went to bed and then my mom and I watched a movie (I slept a little on the couch) and then we watched the ball drop with Dick Clark. Sweet Dan called from the hospital right before midnight so that we could count down to the New Year together. He took some party favors with him for the other residents. If you have to work on a holiday, you should make it fun, right?

So far our new year has been good and uneventful.

• Elena's preschool started back up yesterday and I am teaching this month. She is constantly carrying around her new doll and baby doll. She's such a good little mama.
  
• Kevin loves all of his new gifts and takes turns throughout the day playing with cars, trains, a magnifying glass, and new bath toys. Dan and I are both amazed at how old he seems all of a sudden.
  
• Baby boy is healthy and moving around like crazy, but still nameless. I have a short list, but I don't feel passionate about any of them. Dan, meanwhile, seems to dislike every boy's name in the world. :) It'll be interesting to see what we come up with and how last minute it is.
  
• Dan is working hard and trying to spend as much time with E and K as he can. I think that this Sat/Sun are the last days he has off between now and February, so we'll have to make the most of it.
  
• Now that January has begun, I am feeling much more relaxed in general, but I will be busy soon looking for a great place to live with a fantastic school for Elena and rent in our budget. A neighborhood pool would be a big bonus. That shouldn't be too hard, right? :)

I hope that you all (all 5 of you who read my blog regularly) had a Merry Christmas and that 2012 will be a great year for everyone!

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful day. It all started too early (just before 6am), but other than that it was great. We honestly thought that our kids were too tired and young and to wake themselves up early on Christmas morning. I guess the days of sleeping until a normal time (7-7:30) are over. It hasn't happened in the past, but this year, they sure popped awake bright and early.
After a morning full of present opening and playing, we had a very nice sacrament meeting in church. The Spanish branch (which we attend) and the singles' branch (of which my dad is the branch president and my brother and sister attend) were all combined with one of the wards (my mom's), so for once we were all together at church. My dad spoke and my mom sang in the choir. They each did awesome.
We returned home and cooked a little, played and read some more, ate a lot, and the kids were passed out in bed a little after 8pm. I hope that you all had a wonderful and merry Christmas too!

The Cutest Kids

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving on Saturday, November 26th because Dan worked on Thursday and Friday. The group was: us, my parents, my sister, my older brother and his family, and my cousin Matthew and his family. It was perfect! It was the first time that I can remember needing two tables for a meal at my parents' house. (I did not grow up living near any extended family.) I'll add more pictures later, but I wanted to quickly post a few of some seriously cute kiddos.

Elena and the three 2 year olds. It took some work, but at least we can see all their faces in this picture with Frosty at Busch Garden's Christmastown.

Back row: Claire and Carolyn (my cousin's daughters).

Front row: Ari (my brother's oldest) and Kevin and Elena

Keira

This was so funny. For a solid 5 minutes, these sweeties dumped armfuls of leaves on me. Each time, Carolyn (on the left) would take the time to brush every leaf off my lap before she went back for more.
Awwwww! I love these guys!
What a funny dad/uncle!