Slumber Party

Lily and Ducati have been wanting a slumber party for some time now. So with Mason, Hailey, and Mike gone we had ourselves a girls night. 

Complete with:

*facials

* Mani/Pedi

*Junk food binge (like ice cream, chips, and chocolate)

*Redbox movie, Koala Kid

photo source

* and tons of laughing, giggling, and new memory making

We had so much fun that Cati just fell asleep half way through the movie. This was so much fun that my girls want to do this again every weekend. :-) 

Maybe....

Get away

Our lives have been set on routine for some time now.

work. kids. laundry.work. homework. laundry. callings. laundry. dishes. work.

So routine that we were going crazy. So Mike had the weekend off so we booked a trip for Park City on one of those deal sites and loaded our kids up for a fun weekend get away.

We started our trip off going to see the movie Epic.

 We were going to go to an later afternoon showing but once Saturday morning came along everyone wanted to get on our way and get out of our house. So we went to the first morning showing.

Next stopped for some lunch at Burger King. :-)

Afterwards to ensure a smooth ride we went to a nearby park so everyone could get the last of their  morning energy out.

 Mason might tell you he's too old for playgrounds but don't let him fool you. :-)

Mike teaching Lily how to do the pole slide.

Hailey showing us her mad slide skills.

I think the park trip worked. :-) Lily and Ducati were fast asleep within minutes of driving.

 They are so cute when they sleep.

 But we finally arrived at our weekend condo. Lily and Cati went straight for the balcony

 and started stripping the leaves off this tree. (*sigh) We're on vacation so we're more flexible with our rules. :-)

 Hailey, Mike, and Mason relaxing after a long drive.  Super comfortable couches.

  Ducati enjoying a little snack.

 She found some birthday candles so she made a birthday banana. And no birthday banana is complete without blowing out invisible flames.

Here's the girls inspecting bounce potential in the kids room. This bed passed!

 And this bed passed! Thank goodness or they would have slept on the hide-a-bed. :-)

 Hailey's so cute! She just loved it here!

But while on vacation we had some fun adventures:

Mason learned to rock climb.

Not really! :-) j/k  climbing these rocks was a nice short cut to our room.

 Cati showing me her hiking outfit. Elmo shoes, headband, and toy flute. What else could a girl need? :-)

Anyways we went hiking on this beautiful trail right by the Olympic park. Absolutely beautiful! 

 Our girls just loved all the wildflowers. As you see we just had to pick a few.

But the coolest discovery for us was finding sea shells. When our kids asked us how sea shells can get on top of a mountain we thought about all the science answers we've heard. But we stuck with the most simplest and accurate answer we knew.... Noah!

So we went on a sea shell scavenger hunt. We ended up finding about 100 shells. That's so cool!

 Mason being the nice brother and was holding Ducati's flowers.

Nope...never mind he wasn't. :-)

 Flower girls. :-)

 Nothing cuter than seeing my man carrying 2 sippy cups. Makes me giggle with joy just looking at the photo.

Anyways we also went to the pool. Like everyday. All day. Each day. What else does one really need? Rest, relax, and hang out by the pool. That's all we wanted :-)

I normally won't post such a weird photo of myself. But it's funny so laugh away. My daughter loved to do canonballs but was too afraid to do them alone so I helped her out. 

Oh... and the first time our kids used a hot tub. Oh. My. Goodness. They loved it!

I'm not sure who loved it more Hailey or Ducati. 

But we also had a family movie night. Some redbox rental that I can't even remember the name of it since it was sooooo bad! 

But we made smores for dessert. 

Yeah we just popped off the fireplace gate and made our smores that way. Hey- we're on vacation so we wanted to do this the most laziest way we could. :-)

 Mike and Me ♥

 And before we left our rented condo we had to take one more dip. And man was it worth it. We had the whole pool to ourselves so super splashes happened everywhere.

 Ducati first :-)

  Next Lily :-)

And even Hailey wanted a turn. 

So after this we packed up as quick as we could and headed to McD's (kid's choice not mine) for lunch. Then headed home. Even though we were 45 minutes from home it was so nice to get out of our daily living routine and just have fun. This vacation is something we all desperately needed and we can't wait for our next one.

Past Week

My mind has been elsewhere this past week. But here are some cute and adorable highlights from this past week that I want to remember forever. 

#1 Lily, Ducati, and I went up to Mike's work since that's where our doctor's office is at so whenever we go a quick visit from Mike is a must. On this day Lily seen the forklift that Mike drives and just fell in love with it. :-) She loves it so much that she wants to be a forklift driver when she grows up now. 

#2. Lily had a playdate with one of her friends so this gave Ducati and me some "Alone Time". So we went on a mommy~daughter lunch date.

 There's not that many places a 3 year old wants to go so we just went to McDonald's. But enjoying a milkshake and fries outside always make things more special.

 #3. Hailey's class put on a Mother's day performance which was the most adorable thing I have ever witnessed. The class sang some songs (that left me teary eye) and there was some games for the mom's and kids to play. Along with some yummy muffins for a morning snack. However this mom packed her own gluten free muffin.

 (see Hailey in the back. Follow the pink arrow)

#4. Mike and I were able to go on a date together. With the new Star Trek movie out in theaters we HAD to find the time to make this date happen. And it was nice to enjoy my husband's company without having to compete with 4 others. 

#5. I don't remember which morning this happened on but Mike and Lily had breakfast together. Nothing fantastic... only cereal.... but that bonding time was what made that breakfast time fantastic. It's the little things that count. :-) 

There's nothing too major happening in our lives. Just sunshine that we've missed so much that we've spent alot of time outside. So this has caused me to get alittle behind in my blogging.

Mother's Day

I feel very blessed to be able to celebrate Mother's Day with my family. Since I wouldn't be a mom without my 4 rugrats. :-)

This year was much like last years Mother's Day. We had 3 people who had colds. So 2 in the begining stage and 1 near the end. So this mom was working around the clock to help take care of my sickies.

But I was still able to enjoy myself.

At church I gave a talk in sacrament. I spoke from my heart about how I try to be a better daughter of God. I was really nervous since this was my first talk EVER in sacrament. But despite my nerves the Lord helped me deliver the message I was suppose to deliver. And from the sounds of it from people in my ward I did a great job. They would have never known that this was my first time talking. That my message delivered such a strong spirit to them that they walked away feeling blessed.

All good things to hear since I was nervous.

When we came home my kiddos all went down for a lovely nap where Mike took that time to vacuum our living room. :-)

Our home teachers came over which is always a nice thing. Our family really loves the messages they bring to us.

But no Mother's Day would be complete without gifts. (Honestly I really didn't want gifts but my kids insisted so Mike took them all to Dollar Tree)
So I was spoiled with a
Diet Coke + silk roses from Mason.
Paper plates +  plastic spoons from Hailey.
Silk orchid + popsicles from Lily.
Fly swatter + socks from Ducati. ("so I can smash bugs".... I love that girl!)
But Mike really spoiled me with a pair of funky socks and a new coupon binder.

                                Now I look like a professional couponer with my handy shoulder strap and dual binders so I can separate my coupons. Yup- I love it! When I transfered everything into this big momma it weighed close to 7lbs. I hate to see how much it weighs now. But that's 7lbs of money saving paper. :-)

Anyways I had a great mother's day. I feel truly blessed to be a mother of 4 amazing and complete different spirits. They teach me more than I think I teach them. They help me grow in more ways than I thought one person could grow. They have helped me become the type of person I always wanted to become... Me :-)

Bubble Gum

So our house has been a mess. Certain things on our schedule have been way more important to us than vacuuming. So today I tried to get the girls in gear so we could put our huge pile of laundry away but instead of working I found them playing this game.

♪♪ Bubble gum, Bubble gum

in a dish

how many pieces do you wish? ♪♪

When Mike asked me why they weren't cleaning I showed him this picture and told him, "They're busy making memories right now." He didn't mind the little delay. :-)