Jace's 4th Bday

A little boy I know has turned 4!!  

Jace had his birthday on July 26 but we celebrated early as we do nearly every year.  We are usually at Darren's family cabin on Jace's birthday so we try to get in a celebration before we leave and then we have a celebration in Idaho or Utah as well.

This year I decided to try my hand at creating a 3D dog cake.  I was scared but determined.  It wasn't as bad as I thought and it turned out pretty cute. 

Just what Jace wanted.   A Hoss cake.  Hoss is my brother's black lab puppy.  They look nearly identical. (The cake and the dog.  Not my brother and the dog:)

Can we say the highlight of any party are the presents?

And here is Jace with all his loot.  The orange top is part of his new pajamas!  Thanks Grandma.  Abby and Brooklyn hooked him up with new handcuffs (which have seen tons of use, by the way.)  And Dad was able to finally get Jace his very own flashlight.  What a great birthday!!

I'm not exactly sure why it looks like there are only 2 candles in Jace's birthday cake but there were definitely 4!  They must be hiding.

A few things about Jace at the age of 4....

-He is obsessed about being super fast (think Dash from The Incredibles)

-His favorite shirt is his "so fast I'm invisible" shirt (and he believes he can't be seen when he wears his shirt and runs;)

-He is the sweetest little boy and often opens my car door for me

-He loves playing the iPad

-His hair constantly sticks up

-His scooter is his favorite mode of transportation

-He has borderline asthma problems that no one else in the family has had - we're hoping he outgrows them!

Happy Birthday Jace!  We love you!!

Sweet Dreams

I've often wondered what happens at night when I go to bed.  I do wake up periodically and listen for anything out of the ordinary. But I'll admit it's a bit hard to "listen" for anything when you have a fan blasting on the nightstand all night and all year long.  Darren's habit that became my habit once we got married.  Now I can't sleep anywhere without a little bit of white noise.  Newborn therapy that works shockingly well for adults.  A blessing and a curse.

And by "out of the ordinary" what I really mean is "Are my children sleeping peacefully?  Are they up and about?  Are there things that go on in the middle of the night that I should be aware of?" Surely not.  But then I see and hear what goes on in my girls room after they have gone to bed, but before we've hit the sack.  It's weird.

There seems to be a lot of sleep talking.  Sometimes I head in just to see if I can make out what they're dreaming about.  Then I see tossing and turning.  Or sitting up in bed.  Or out of bed wandering around in circles.  Sometimes looking for the bathroom.  Other times just wandering.  Mostly with vacant stares.  It kind of freaks me out.  And makes me wonder what happens when I am asleep.

And then Jace will tell me about how he needed a drink in the middle of the night.  So he got one.  Or he was uncomfortable in bed so decided to sleep on the couch for awhile.  These things happened years ago.  He's only 4.  An independent 4.

So awhile back I was surprised ( but really not) to notice a light on in the kitchen.  And while Darren does get up to eat midnight snacks every night ( I thought it was weird too when we first got married.  Now I'm just used to it), he was sleeping peacefully beside me.  So I got up to investigate and found Jace getting his water bottle.   I helped him back to bed, wondering how often this actually happens,
and went back to bed myself.  I wasn't sleeping well that night so it took awhile for me to settle back down.  About a half hour later, just as I was dozing, I heard my door creak open.  I cracked my eye open to see Jace standing inches from my face.

"Mommy, I was just laying in my bed and looking out my window for a while, and a monster is there.  I was wondering if I could just sleep with you guys until he decides to leave?"

"Sure, jump in."  And now I know that there is in fact, a lot that goes on in the middle of the night.

Weekend in Denver

Back in May, Darren had a weekend long class to attend to get certified in Dry Needling.  What? you say.  Dry Needling?  

Yes. Dry Needling.  

It's basically the Physical Therapist form of accupuncture and Darren spent the weekend getting stabbed with needles.  Oh, and getting certified to do it to any other willing participant.  I haven't been willing yet.

But we did decide it might be fun to take the kids and make a long weekend out of it.  We got to Denver on Thursday night and had all day Friday, Saturday, an most of Sunday to hang out.  I was a little bit anxious about getting around the city with 4 kids by myself (without tearing out all of my hair) but it ended up being just fine (I only lost a few strands:)

Friday morning we headed to the Children's Museum.  We had never been there but learned that it was tons of fun!  First stop, the Fire Station, complete with a "real" Fire Truck!  Jace for some reason didn't think being a fireman was cool, so he didn't dress up.

Colby was also not impressed with goings on of a fire station.  I had to throw him on the bed in the sleeping area and snap a picture quick.  He wanted nothing to do with the big truck the other kids were posing at.  It might have had something to do with just waking up from a short nap...

Our next stop, however, grabbed everyone's attention.  There is not one person in my family that does not like to play with a ball and this was fun for the whole family.  Here the girls are creating a track for the ball complete.  It took some work.  Some of the gaps were hard to smooth out!

Colby's favorite place of the day.  That little orange hole sucked the ball right out of your hands!

The kid's also loved trying to work the ball through this gadget wall!  

We tried our hands at making and launching paper airplanes.  And then discovered we weren't very good at it so we snagged some of the "already made" ones.  They took off much better!

I had a bit of a problem in the Bubbles Room.  His name was Colby.  Colby thinks he's big enough to hang out with his brother and sisters.  He's not.  This room could have been great fun (more than it was) if Colby had decided to take his nap right then.  But he didn't.  So I ended up trying to keep him from ruining his clothes for the day (floors were slippery and there were tubs of bubbles everywhere that were just calling his name!) and slipping and breaking his head.  Needless to say, we were in and out!

Here's Abby forming a huge bubble!  It took a bit of practice.

And here the girls are creating a bubble to stand in!  It worked really well unless Colby got away from me.  He was very good at popping those bubbles!

The kids had fun running around this area.  Tunnels to go through and such.

And another "fun" room with Colby. Finger painting!! I would have walked right by it if my motto for the weekend hadn't been "I am the fun Mom."  So we stopped.  And I snapped a picture.  And we left. 

Not really.  Everyone painted and had fun.  Because I am the fun mom.  But I put my foot down to go back and get the masterpieces.  No thank you.  Not toting those wet things around Denver.

And then we went shopping and I let Jace take his scooter in the mall so he could keep up and I pushed Colby in the stroller and it worked!  The girls and Jace got the ipod ever stop we made and I made a mad dash to the dressing rooms and I was very impressed that no one got lost or had a meltdown!  Except for the fact that "mall police" informed us that scooters were not allowed in the mall (I kind of wondered but thought it best not to ask), we had a great time.   Granted, there was ice cream and the candy shop thrown in there, but that's because I am the fun mom! 

And then we went back to the hotel and met up with 

Darren and put the kids to bed (Colby did not sleep by the way) and finally went to bed ourselves (when Colby finally fell asleep)!

And the next morning, the fun mom was back!  We headed to the Aurora Rec Center where they have an indoor pool with slides and water features and playgrounds.  Basically a dream come true for any little water-loving child.

Once we got in trouble for having a scooter in the mall, Brooklyn's own "police radar" was turned on.  When we unloaded to get into the pool and she saw I had brought lunches she informed me she would not be carrying the lunch box.  She was pretty sure it was against the rules.  When I told her she had to help carry things in she traded with Jace so she wouldn't get in trouble.  Once we got inside and it was lunchtime, Brooklyn told me she didn't want to eat and asked if we could just leave instead.  When I gave her no choice, she hid behind me so she wouldn't get in trouble for breaking the rules (the rules were that you could bring in a lunch, by the way).  As we were leaving, Brooklyn saw me take out the combination lock I had brought with me from home and asked me "Mom, what are you doing?!!  Why do you have that?  Mom, I saw you put that thing in your bag.  Why are you doing that?!!!!" 

 Oh.  Brother. 

 I break one little rule so I don't have to drag Jace  through the mall and this is what I get to suffer through for it.

Anyway, once I convinced Brooklyn not to turn me in, we headed to the rock wall that is in the same building as the pool.  It was even covered by our entry fee.  Talk about a win-win!

Neither of the girls had ever rock climbed and were excited to try it out.

Abby made it to the top several times.

And Brooklyn decided it was harder than she thought!

And then, we went to another all that we just happened to drive by!!  Because I'm the fun mom who deserves a little shopping after spending the day keeping my children from drowning!

And I told Jace to bring in his scooter.

And he did.

And we didn't get caught.

By the "mall police" that is.  Brooklyn caught us.  And almost didn't come inside.

What can I say, she's walking the straight and narrow.

And this is what happens when I have to stop to pick up some make-up!

Whew!  What a weekend!

Spring Sports 2013

Spring has sprung and we are full swing into soccer and softball!  We have soccer in the fall and spring so I'm going to keep the story short (not much to tell anyway, we played soccer!) and post a few pictures to remind us of all the fun we had!

This was Jace's first year playing soccer and he loved it!  He had a bit of a hard time keeping up with the older kids (he was playing on Brooklyn's team) and got worried when the masses headed his way, but overall it was a success.

  

Brooklyn was all over the place and got down to business once the whistle blew.  She has no qualms about getting in the middle of all the action (Jace usually ran the other way if the ball came near, you know, because with the ball came lots of wild kids!  I don't think I blame him).

  

I think Jace actually kicked the ball once or twice. And that was for the season.  He was upset after games because no one let him get that ball.  It's tough playing with the big kids.  And when you're running the wrong way.

Abby was in an older division where they learned more about the rules and techniques of the game.  And they played on a bigger field so there wasn't as much action.  Abby feels like the boys try to dominate the game and doesn't appreciate the fact that she is open lots of times without ever getting the ball!

Jace tried his hand at goalie.  It wasn't as exciting as he thought it would be.  In fact, I'm pretty sure the concept went right over his head.  But I think he found a cute bug to keep him occupied while the ball was at the other end of the field.  And if I remember right, once the ball came back to his end of the field it really made no difference.

This is what Colby did to stay busy.  Kicked around whatever soccer ball he could get his hands on.  It was a trick to keep him off the field and out of the way.  This kid just loves anything to do with balls and playing games and wanted in on the action.

And after it was all over, we all got medals.  For partcipation.  Once again.  The kids loved it.  I rolled my eyes.

I mean, how can you really learn to be  champion when everyone is hailed a champion?

Oh well.  When the kids are happy, mom's happy.  And they look pretty happy to me.

And then we headed straight into softball.  It was Brooklyn's first year out of t-ball and the only reason we moved her up was because Darren was coaching Abby's team.  I was pretty nervous about it because they do Coaches Pitch and I wasn't sure Brooklyn was ready for it (at all), but we practiced with the wiffle balls out in the back yard with her and she did great!  In fact, she was one of our most reliable hitters!

Darren's job as coach.  It's not a great thing when the coach strikes out all of his players.... luckily that didn't happen to our team (too often anyway!).

This field wasn't the field we played most of our games on but we did play a few.  It is an unfinished field that  will someday be for softball but that's why the dugouts look the way they do.  It was actually a bit of a safety hazard with nothing for the girls to stand behind while they their team was batting but we didn't have injuries from it.

Look how cute she looks!  This is Brooklyn and she was bound and determined to hit every ball.  You could tell from the expressions on her face that she was giving it everything she had!  At the beginning of the season she about gave me a heart attack by waiting until the last pitch to hit the ball. 

 Every. Single. Time.

And if you know Brooklyn you know that she was nervous.  (This girl gets nervous about attending bday parties - I mean, she gets herself worked up). So I was very happy when she stopped that trend and began hitting the ball after the first few pitches.  We all breathed easier.  I think Brooklyn only struck out one time all season! Yay!

And our team made it to championship game!  And then we lost.  And I got a glimpse of my future with my little athletes.  I'm that mom.  The one who goes to games and instead of cheering for the little girls on the other team starts badmouthing the unpaid officials for not getting the really close call right.  And gets so involved in the game that at the end of a loss they can't handle it!  I was upset.  And I wanted  a rematch. 

 It was kind of nice to know that my competitive edge lives on.  

More Easter

Eeeeek!  I totally missed the rest of our Easter!  I decided no time like the present to finish it up:)  Can you believe that I have never dyed Easter Eggs with my kids before?  Well I haven't. I know.  How could I? (Well, thoughts of dozens of hard boiled eggs in my refrigerator with no one to eat them but me had something to do with it.  As well as visions of splattered dye all over my kitchen. Which did happen, by the way.) 

 I did have good intentions, however.  Which is why  we had an Easter egg tie dying kit lying around (it was about 3 years old.....see, told you I had good intentions)

I'm not going to say too much about it, but our Easter Egg dying actually happened after Easter.  But happen it did!

It was really quite fun.  See our nice little tray with all different colors of dye?  Well about 5 minutes later Colby got his hands up there and pulled that tray down.  Yes, dye everywhere.  Luckily 409 got most of it out.   But our color tray ended up being mixed after that. (And I ended up with a much higher blood pressure.)

 And here are all of our finished eggs!  Aren't they pretty?  I thought they turned out great and Abby and Brooklyn even helped me eat them!

These are our Easter Sunday pictures.  I was very ambitious this year and decided to make the girls Easter skirts and the boys ties.  Brooklyn's didn't quite get finished in time (I ended up having to add another layer I wasn't planning on because it was a little short) but she was able to put her new outfit on with a different skirt and it worked out fine.

Aren't they so cute? I just love Colby in a tie.  And yes, he is an ornery little boy.  Doesn't his face show it?

Happy Easter!!

Easter Egg Hunt 2013

This was our other organized Easter egg hunt.  It was put on by the Parks and Rec Department and we go every year.  This year was by far the nicest weather we've had.  It was fairly warm, the sun was out and there was NO WIND.  Amazing! 

Here we are ready to line up and wait for the signal.  There was a good turnout and I was worried the kids wouldn't be getting many eggs.  You remember last year?  When Abby ended up with 2 eggs.  And I think Brooklyn only got a few more than that.  And we had a cry fest.  Well, I prepped them both this year letting them know that we would go and have fun and wouldn't cry about how many eggs we got.  So that's what we were ready for.

Here's Brooklyn at the signal.  I was with her, Darren was with the boys, and Abby was on her own.  So I really only got pictures of Brooklyn in action.

Just look for the red coat.  It was very convenient to keep track of her by!

Here's Abby.  I got this picture of her when Brooklyn was done and Abby was just going back over her  course one final time to make sure the hundreds of kids hadn't missed an egg.  Which they hadn't.

And looky!  We ended up with a basket of eggs!!  I think both girls ended up with 9.  They were desperate to find the Golden Egg but it has eluded us year after year:)

Darren and the boys.  Apparently Jace still wasn't all that into the egg hunt.  Instead of getting after it and gathering eggs fast, he would spot one, walk up to it, and ask Darren if he could pick it up. 
He still managed to get his basket full.

Colby picked up all the discarded eggs looking for candy.  When there was nothing in it he threw to the side and went after the next one.

Afterwards we stuck around for the dance party!  Here the girls are doing the Bunny Hop.  For every dance you participated in you got put in a drawing for prizes.  And guess who won the very first prize??  Our very own Brooklyn!!  Woo hoo!

She won a soccer ball.  It was awesome.  And it gave Colby something to do while we waited for the fun to end.

And guess who won the very next prize??  None other than Jace!! He won 5 swim passes to the pool this summer!  Right on!  I couldn't believe how lucky we were.  That's when the pressure was on for Abby to win.  But she didn't. 

Until the end that is.  And then she won swim passes too.  What a great Easter!! 

We got plenty of dirty looks from those around us.  You know, everyone hates a winner if it makes them a loser!

We didn't really mind.  We were too busy celebrating our good fortune:)

And here they all are. The big winners of the dance party.  Jace is just beside himself to get his goggles on and go swimming.  I told him it would be a while.  The good news is that the soccer ball is getting plenty of use already!