What's On My Happy List?

BABY SHOWER
My friend Heather threw me a Dr. Seuss/book themed shower last Saturday with friends in the neighborhood/ward. I felt kinda silly having a shower thrown for me when this is my fifth baby, and I tried to tell her that it wasn't necessary but she insisted. Besides, SHE knows how to throw a party.... so how could I resist? Everything from the invites, to the decor, and food were absolutely darling...

My friend Cathy is the BEST cake decorator...Seriously how clever is this cake? She also did the game where we had a list of lines from popular children's books that we had to guess from what book it came out of. One of my favorites was "I sat there with Sally. I sat there we two. And I said, "How I wish I had something to do!" Can you guess which Dr. Seuss book that is from? My mom used to read this book to me as a little girl and it's one I've enjoyed reading to my own. Its The Cat in the Hat...one of my favorite children's books for sure...

I absolutely adore children's books so I was tickled to add all these to my collection. I was spoiled though and got more than just books....I received gift cards, baby products, bath supplies, the cutest black and white zebra print blanket handmade from the hostess, and a new bag also made from a dear friend. I have such talented, creative friends! And I'm certain I live in the best neighborhood on the planet. Some neighborhood friends had to leave early and one come late, so they are not all pictured but here is a pic of some incredible people who are very dear to me.

These party favors were given out at the door. The little card had the Dr. Seuss saying "A person is a person no matter how small." So cute! How ironic that today, March 2nd, just happens to be Dr. Seuss day. Happy Birthday to one of my favorite children's book authors and a huge thank you to my friends who joined me in Seussville for brunch to celebrate our baby who is on its way!

What's On My Happy List?

BABY PREP

my new toile patterned diaper bag....squeal

...carpets and car have been professionally cleaned this week, car seat washed and ready, baby bed up, diaper bag packed...there is not much left to organize and get ready as my to do list is getting shorter and shorter. I'll tell ya this nesting business is crazy stuff... even non baby related things like the linen and play closet, my jewelry bag to card box have been thru a purging and organized. So strange! We will see how long this urge for cleanliness and order lasts. I'm afraid keeping things this way in the next two weeks will prove challenging. I'm losing steam....and fast. These days you'll most likely find me laid up on the couch with the heating pad to my back, watching the Olympics. I do not remember having this major of a lower back issue with the girls. It makes me wonder if I'm carrying this baby differently...maybe it's a boy?...hmmm. When I am mobile I'm trying so hard not to waddle, I hate that! But it HURTS to even walk.... so quack quack I go these days...I went to the doctor yesterday..I'm dilated to a three now and still 60% effaced. My blood pressure is a tad high on top but not enough to take the baby this soon. Doc says I could go early but I doubt I will. He has scheduled my induction for the 11th. Which is 5 days before my due date...So only 13 days left. Whoo hoo!

What's On Our Happy List?

Shakespeare Festival
Hear Ye! Hear Ye! All ye toad spotted villains and jovial groundlings....The 6th grade Longview Shakespearean players presented bits and tidbits from four of Shakespeare's plays...Hamlet, Macbeth, Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Emma did a fabulous job playing the role of Hermia in Midsummer. What a delight to see her "acting". A side of her that I've never seen before. I was surprised at how much she got into her character's part and played it with emotion.

Here she is with Lysander, her true love...

Here she is with Demetrius....and asleep in the forest...

They also performed a Shakespearean dance...poor Lysander is about a head shorter than she is!

A group shot with some of her best friends....

What's On My Happy List?

This Valentine I found that my little Hannah had written to me....it reads

I admire you. You make my heart filled with kindness. I love it when you give me hugs and kisses before I go to school. You make me feel happy and smile when ever I see you. You love me and I love you. We are like cupid. You are kind and wonderful. You make me adore you. I am glad you found me and I will cherish you in my heart forever.

Is that not the sweetest thing? I tell ya being a mom is the best! Your kids make you look better than you really are. :) I feel so blessed to have four healthy daughters to love and another little one on the way to cherish. BTW...the latest baby news IS... The babe should be arriving in the next couple of weeks. Had a doctor's appointment yesterday...I'm dilated to a 2 and 60% effaced. He said I could come early. I'd like that in some respects because I am pretty darn M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-E with a capital M.... and I wonder if I can really hold out for a few more weeks. The pressure and tightness in my lower back is so bad that every step I take is uncomfortable. Add the swelling, acid indigestion, a cold, cough (finally got the sickies) and waking up in the night like a gazillion times. ugh! On the other hand, there is so much going on these next three weeks, Emma's Shakespeare performances at the school, my baby shower, 2 big Relief Society things I need to get thru, Dance workshop for the girls, Parent Teacher Conferences, scheduled carpet cleaning, Mommy daughter dates that I have planned to do with the kids, Jaren's birthday, Ortho and hair appt....and on and on.... That it would really be best if he or she can hold off its arrival until the 11th, when our schedule has calmed down somewhat. But we will see! Either way, I'm so looking forward to meeting this new little one....

What's On Our Happy List?

Emma's birthday!Emmsie, our little Valentine baby, is officially a Young Woman now as she turned twelve on Monday! Turning twelve is such a milestone and oh my goodness what mixed emotions for me. A tich sad when she gave her last talk in Primary last Sunday but excited for her that she gets to attend mutual for the first time tonight. Yet realizing she will never be home on Wednesday nights again. Boo.

Because of President's Day, she had the day off from school on her birthday, which is a gift in and of itself. The p.j. clad Young Women came early that morning to welcome her into YW's. They sent her on a little scavenger hunt with clues to help her find her NANCY DREW themed cake. Which was perfect for her as she loves Nancy Drew and has read oodles of her books. The cake even had footprints, flashlight and magnifying glass on top. So cute!

Later that morning the Primary Achievement Day Group took her out for gelato. She and I went "birthday outfit" shopping that afternoon and then Dad and I took her, by request, to the Belgian Waffle House for her special dinner. She loves breakfast foods! Here are a few of her other favorite things.... kit kat candy bars, baking, reading, pot roast and mashed potatoes, drawing, going to school, the colors red, pink and purple, salmon, ballet, organizing, watching the Food Network Challenge, Cake Boss and Say Yes To The Dress.

Emma is such a delight to have in our home. She is funny and thoughtful and my biggest helper! I don't know what I would do without her. I'm so lucky to be her mom. Love you much Emmsie!

What's On Our Happy List?

Happy Mardi Gras Day!
Making this Mardi Gras float is about as close to celebrating Mardi Gras as its going to get around here. No bead throwing or shirt lifting for us! haha! However, Kyleigh's French class celebrated Mardi Gras today by turning in their projects... This is the masquerade themed float that Kyleigh made. She was able to use masks from our Venice and Shakespeare mask collection. I think it turned out pretty darn cool! Her French teacher loved it, apparently someone else did too as one of the masks got stolen the next day. GRRRR!

What's On My Happy List?

VALENTINES WEEKEND

This delectable treat was a pleasant surprise hand delivered to our door late Friday night by my sister-in-law's mother, who we affectionately call Grandma Pat. They are THE biggest, most beautiful looking chocolate dipped strawberries I've ever seen. ALMOST too pretty to eat. They were beyond delightful and devoured quickly with a few left over to eat with our traditional, heart-shaped french toast Valentine breakfast the next morning. Waking up to little Valentine gifts and goodies left by Cupid...
Happy girls....Getting together with friends to make these Valentines...And sneaking away with Jaren to see the new movie "Valentines Day"...sharing popcorn (well, I guess Jaren got a few handfuls) and a hazelnut crepe. Doesn't take much to make me happy.

What's On My Happy List?

Kyleigh's Birthday!
Can't believe one of my babies is actually 14! Where, oh where does the time go? Kyleigh had a great time celebrating this weekend with family. She and two of her cousins went and did baptisms for the dead Friday afternoon at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. She was so intent on making that a part of her birthday celebration. Seriously, how many teenagers out there in today's world would want to do THAT for their birthday? She is such a good girl! They came back for a sleepover. They had pizza, bread sticks, and brownies for dinner, watched movies and goofed off until 4:00 in the morning. Although some of the seven kids didn't make it quite that long. (The last sleepover the majority stayed up until 6:00 a.m. No lie.) This time the goal was to stay up until 4:31 a.m. when Kyleigh officially turned 14 but they didn't quite make it, even despite sneaking outside for a few jogs up and down the street in the wee hours of the morning to keep them awake. They apparently munched all night too...they ate popcorn at 11:00. Ice-cream sundaes at midnight and pickles and cheese at 3:00 in the morning! That last one cracked me up! I'm afraid I've started a pickle craze around here. more on that later. I'm telling you the cousins are quite the combination when they are together! Kyleigh said she laughed and laughed throughout the whole night.

Here is a picture of the most adorable "Twilight" cake that the Young Women gave to her. Kudos to some very talented ladies in our ward who whipped this up. You know who you are! Even the plate has hearts with Bella, Edward, and Jacob on it. So cute! Kyleigh just happened to still be in her "Twilight" PJ top when it was delivered early afternoon. Go figure. After the night they had, the kids all slept in 'til the cows came home.

Kyleigh and I went 'birthday outfit' shopping a few days prior. Besides her outfit and birthday money, Dad and I took her for a special birthday night out for sushi rolls at Tsunami Restaurant. ABSOLUTELY delish! Kyleigh and I were in heaven.

For years I've been asking the kids on their birthdays what their "favorite things" are. So

here are a few of Kyleigh's FAVORITES AT FOURTEEN...

sushi, the color pink, bagels and cream cheese, dancing, hanging with family, going to mutual, watching the TV shows Sanctuary, Robin Hood and Merlin, French Class, listening to music on her i-POD, reading, the church movie "The Best Two Years", twice baked potatoes, Jane Austen films, and playing (not practicing) the piano.

THE SMILES YOU GIVE

THE JOY YOU LIVE,

THE LOVE YOU BRING
IS A BEAUTIFUL THING....

Happy Birthday to a daughter who's so easy to love!

What's On My Happy List?

My honk'in new RED bag that I had to purchase....(darn it)

to be able to fit and carry my cute, organized into 19 different sections coupon binder, when I go grocery shopping...

Since the new year, I've become a tad bit obsessed about clipping and using coupons, browsing coupon websites for deals and tips, and watching for sale items in the grocery store ads....kinda crazy but all in an effort to save a few bucks! It's not that I've never used a coupon before but never to this degree. I'm being called the "coupon lady" around here. Thanks to my niece, my fellow hip2saver, who got me hooked...it has been a fun challenge this past month to find a bargain.

One of my favorite Internet deals of late was getting 7 jumbo packs of diapers for about $3.60 a piece and a small case of travel wipes to boot.

I love seeing how much I save on my receipts...I figured we spent almost $200 less on our grocery bill in January. Hopefully we can keep that up!

Hannah's plea for a pet...This letter Hannah typed up at school and brought home cracked me up big time...

First of all, there are several in our household who are not huge animal lovers. Our experience with having hamsters a few years back proved that. Therefore, we've been very hesitant about having any more pets. But how can you resist a letter like this? Both Hannah and Emma had a hermit crab as a classroom pet in the first grade and they loved them. So....I half reluctantly took Hannah to the pet store last weekend to check out the hermit crabs, to determine if they would be high maintenance or easy to take care of. Hannah insisted on the latter. I so wanted to make her wish come true... BUT, after finding out more about them, we did discover they would be more work than we were willing to deal with and thankfully, Hannah, realized that too. She happily settled for a toy Zhu Zhu Pet named Winky...just my kind of pet...one that doesn't smell! :)