Monday, September 29

I should have warned you first to brace yourself for this cuteness! About a month ago, I sent mom a link on Facebook to these adorable Cabbage Patch hats/wigs and told her I wanted one for Ricki. Leave it to my crafty and talented mom, she whipped one up in no time. Ricki has the perfect chubby little cheeks to make this wig really work. We distracted the entire league for a minute when mom put the wig on and took pictures. I just can't get over how funny this is! I love every second of it!!

 

 

Sunday, September 28

We had dinner at Dave & Viv's and sweet baby Henry was there. We just can't get enough of his cute little face.

 

Saturday, September 27

Kendra was invited to a "Frozen" birthday party today. They said to dress up like any princess you wanted so Kendra chose Belle from "Beauty and the Beast". She looked so beautiful. It's fun to have little princesses (and princes) around.

 

 

Friday, September 26

We had Amie over for homemade Café Rio dinner then we did her nails. Sweet little Ricki was sad so she sat on either my lap or Amie's while we finished up. It was fun hanging out with my bestie.

 

 

Thursday, September 25

Zack, Ricki, and I went to lunch with Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Jim. Afterward, I ran to the store to buy material. I am making my cousin, Kristy, a car seat cover for her sweet baby girl due next month. Luckily, I've had Angie on my side helping me pick out material.

 

 

Wednesday, September 24

After preschool each week, we've been hanging out with Jenni. When we went over today, Jen had a surprise for Ricki. It is a scrapbook of her blessing day. What a fun and special gift from her aunt! :) I also want to mention that we went to lunch with Grandma Howard. It was Gma, Jenni, me...and 7 kids! It was really fun!!

 

Tuesday, September 23

If you know me, you know there is one big job that as a mother, I abhor. It's switching out the kids' clothes. I think that is hands-down the worst part of being a mom. Ricki needed her newborn-3 month clothes switched for 3-6 months (tear), Zack needed his 24 month/2T summer clothes switched for 3T winter clothes, Kendra needed her 5T/size 5 summer clothes switched for size 6 winter clothes, and Nick needed his size 8 summer clothes switched for size 10 winter clothes. The problem is that we're having unseasonably warm weather so even though they're growing out of their sizes, it's not quite cool enough for "winter clothes". The other (more significant) problem is that without the rooms being done in the basement, I don't have space for both summer and winter clothes. We're maxed out on space. And I'm maxed out on patience. I'm ready to have this project (both the clothes and the kids' rooms) done!

 

Monday, September 22

I forgot to take a picture of the 5 cute plates of cookies before we distributed them. I wanted to say thank you to everyone that pitched in and helped us last-minute when I decided to go on Girl's Trip a day early so we baked them cookies, wrote a thank-you note, and took them around for Family Night.

 

 

Sunday, September 21

Our super fun Girl's Trip came to an end way too quickly. This is a picture of all of our shopping bags the day we went home. We were a little crammed in BJ's compact car and we were nervous about fitting it all in. It was a tight squeeze but we figured it out and got all of our stuff home.

 

 

Saturday, September 20

We spent a good part of our trip shopping. This is at the kitchen store. I had just told my mom I needed a container that could carry 24 cupcakes. Although I love my Tupperware cake-taker, it only holds 18 cupcakes. I want this one that conveniently holds 24! Christmas?? We started the day today yard saling then went out to Tuacahn for their annual "Ivins Days" (basically a community boutique). We then had a late breakfast at Denny's and went back to the house for naps and crafts. Later, we went back out shopping and ended up at Ross, Target, Rue 21 (again), Dollar Tree (souvenirs), and Tai Pan. We drove around trying to decide on dinner but, because of me, we ended up at Chick-Fil-A. We topped our awesome day off with ice cream from Cold Stone. 

 

 

Friday, September 19

We started the day off today at the pool. Sweet Ricki just had to give it a little try. We went back to the mall for more shopping fun and spent lots of time (and money) at Rue 21; a Girl's Trip favorite shop spot. We had dinner at Olive Garden then topped our night off with shakes from Arctic Circle. YUM! Back at the house, we watched movies and did fingernails until an unreasonable time of night. I think I finally closed my eyes about 2:30am. :)

 

Thursday, September 18

Happy birthday Kenny! :) Today on Girl's Trip, we started off at Kneader's for breakfast then went shopping for a few groceries. We always do a little cleaning project at the house and this year's was a biggie. We cleaned out the pantry, fridge, and freezers which were all overflowing with expired food. We ended up throwing out about 10 garbage bags full of outdated foods. It was crazy! Later, we hit the strip mall for some shopping fun. We only got about half way down when we were all hungry (well, munchie at least) so we went to dinner at Café Rio. We stopped at a cute store called Charming Charlie. We have one at The District...why haven't we been there before?!? Anyway, we went back to the house after dinner, ate candy bars, and sat at the kitchen table on our electronics. :) Pinterest is much more fun with friends!  

 

 

Wednesday, September 17

We pulled this off! On Monday at bowling, dad sent mom a text saying that The Little Mermaid at Tuacahn was sold out for the Saturday show and that was the only day it would be playing while we were there unless we went on Wednesday (instead of Thursday). We scrambled to figure out a way to go. Luckily, I have the best neighbors in the world...no, seriously, they're all amazing!!! I dropped Zack off at my neighbor, Diane Breinholt's, and we hit the road about 3:15. We stopped in Cedar for a quick dinner at Subway and rolled into the parking lot at Tuacahn at 7:30. That gave us just enough time to drop Ricki off to the Showcare (daycare during the play) and get in our seats before it started at 8:00. It was SOOO cute! I'm glad we made it in time to see it.

 

 

Tuesday, September 16

While I was at gymnastics with the girls, Simon took the boys to Pack Meeting. It was the Rain Gutter Regatta. Simon and Nick worked hard on his "U" boat and he was happy to show it off there. He ALMOST won first place! He kicked butt in all of the races but at the very end of the last race, the one to determine the first place boat, he hit the sail with his straw causing it to hit the side of the rain gutter. He was disappointed that he didn't win but proud of himself for making such an awesome boat! I was really sad I wasn't there to see it and cheer him on.

 

Monday, September 15

I just can't help but take pictures of these cutie babies. Zack loves to hold baby sister. Especially in the morning when she's in her "cuddle jammies". Before bowling, we had lunch with mom and she had a special surprise for me. That bottle says "Share a Diet Coke with Heather". So cool! My mom is so cute to go through all the Diet Cokes at the store to find this one for me!



 

Sunday, September 14

We celebrated Kenny's birthday this Sunday because we will be on Girl's Trip next Sunday after his birthday. He is so handsome and doing pretty well on his recovery. We love Uncle KenHow!

 

 

 

Saturday, September 13

Today was a crazy day for us. I was supposed to go to "Souper Saturday" at my church. I was in charge of one of the classes and have been looking forward to today for a couple of months. Well, I went to bed with a sore throat and woke up with a VERY sore throat, chills, and body aches. I still got up and showered thinking I would tough it out but after being awake for about 20 minutes, I realized it wasn't going to happen! Instead, I went to the Instacare and found out that it's just a virus. I was sure it was strep! I couldn't handle missing Jake's baptism so I took some pain killers and made it for his very special day. He was baptized with his cute cousin, Abby. BJ and Pug did amazing jobs on the baptisms and confirmations. It was very spiritual.

Tonight, we were supposed to go to dinner with Doug and Liz but I was feeling horrible. Instead, Zacky and Simon worked on putting up Wayne's coating in Zack's room and painting Nick's room downstairs. Hopefully everyone can move into their own rooms really soon. This has been a project 7 months in the making (so far).

 

 

Friday, September 12

Kendra and Zacky had their annual check-ups and poor Zack had to be shot. Twice. The brave little man didn't even cry though. He is so sweet! Tonight, I got a much-needed break with Candace, Melanie, and Zupa's (with a very brief appearance by Amie). We sat at Zupa's and talked from 7:00 until 10:00! It was awesome! I love these gals so much. Just visiting with them lifts my spirits.

 

 

Thursday, September 11

It's Patriot's Day. I remember where I was and what I was doing on Sept. 11, 2001. This year,  I spent some of my day organizing $600 in Scentsy products to deliver to Alissa Goldhardt!

 

 

Wednesday, September 10

Today was Zack and Halle's first day of preschool. They are going to Ms. Liz's Preschool (Liz Ward) and they had an excellent first day. They are so cute! :)

 

 

Tuesday, September 9

My poor little kids....they needed shoes! Kendra didn't have any tennis shoes for gym class and Nick's church shoes were literally coming apart. I called sweet Grandma Howard and she didn't have plans (it's a Christmas miracle!) so we went and got them some shoes. Oh, we stopped at Chick-Fil-A too! ;)

 

Monday, September 8

Today was the first day of both bowling and piano lessons. Bowling was a little crazy being the first day and I actually got home too late to see Nick off to his first day of piano. Thanks to wonderful neighbors (Erin Coles), he still made it though. His teacher is Catherine Cummings and he really enjoyed his first day. He came home ready and eager to practice! Let's just hope that lasts.

 

 

 

Sunday, September 7

What a special day! Simon blessed our sweet baby in sacrament meeting. Afterward, we went to Hamilton Park by our home and had a luncheon with everyone that came. We are blessed to be surrounded by wonderful and supportive family. It was a perfect day to celebrate our perfect baby.

 

 

Saturday, September 6

First of all, Simon and I met on this day 15 years ago! It seems like yesterday! :) I spent some of my day working on this cake for Ricki's baby blessing. It was fun to make and very Pinterest-inspired.

 

 

Friday, September 5

Poor Ricki had a rough night last night. Starting at 3:30 am, we were up every 15-30 minutes. She's been battling a fever all day today. Plus, she scratched her sweet little face - just in time for the baby blessing. The good news was that this was a 24-hour thing and the fever went just as quickly as it came.

 

 

 

Thursday, September 4

Amie has a voucher for 2 free meals at the hospital that we've been wanting to use for about a month. I texted her today and asked if it would be a good night to go. We hopped in the car and went over to find that the cafeteria closed at 7:00 (we got there about 7:30). We ended up eating at Chick-Fil-A then went shopping at Ross and Target. It was a fun night but we had a heck of a time getting a good selfie. I put this collage together of all of our failed attempts. I liked the very last one we took. :)

 

 

Wednesday, September 3

My sweet mommy crocheted Ricki her very own beautiful blessing gown. She also made her matching "soulless shoes" and flowers to make a headband. I finally put the headband together tonight so it would be ready in plenty of time for the blessing. I think it's beautiful! I love that Kendra and Ricki get to keep their dresses that were made with love by their grandma. What a special family heirloom for them!

 

 

Tuesday, September 2

Happy 8th birthday to Jaker the Baker Maker! We had an impromptu party at McDonald's then I took Kendra to her very first gymnastics lesson. The kids loved playing with their cousins at McD's and she loved gymnastics!

 

 

Monday, September 1

Ever wonder what about $400 of paint looks like? Well, there it is! We spent some time today going through all 4 kids' rooms and deciding on colors. Then we all went, as a family, (pull my hair out), to Home Depot to buy the paint. We were in a hurry to buy it all because of the Labor Day sales going on. Although we forked out $400, we will get $60 back in rebates so it was totally worth it. We'd buy the paint either way so we might as well buy it when they are offering a deal!