Jack's Birthday Weekend

Get ready for picture overload!

We had such a fun weekend celebrating Jack's birthday.

Saturday morning (his actual b-day) he woke up to chocolate chip muffins (his fave) and some family presents, we like to get things started early. :)

 Next we were off to the activity of his choice. I offered the zoo or Cornbelly's, which is a really fun Halloween festival.  He chose Cornbelly's and we drove down to Thanksgiving Point only to find it doesn't open till next weekend.  I could have ruined the birthday fun, but lucky for me he loves the Barn and we were right next door.  Plus, the Barn was having a cowboy day with games and crafts so it was extra fun. 

 To top off the afternoon, we let him pick the restaurant for lunch and what do you think he picked?
Noodles & Co. of course!  Mimi and Papa let him open a couple presents too.  Followed by the best Ninja Turtle faces.

Sunday evening we had a family party.  Lots of our favorite people and some more fun presents.

And finally, a third day of partying.
This time a pirate party with friends.

They painted skull masks and played a few rounds of
"find the sock monkey in the treasure chest".  Then opened presents and finished with cake and ice cream.  Oh, and, ran around screaming, with swords, like a bunch of
crazy pirates.  15 of them!

Jack has had so much fun these last few days,
but I'm ready for a break!

Who Knew?

My cousin Rachel got married this weekend. 

The sealing was beautiful and the bride was stunning.

 And then there was the reception,
which turned my family into dancing fools!
Who knew we had it in us? So much fun.

Just a couple cute ones

We spent an hour at the Church History Museum,

most of which was spent doing this...

 Then spent a few more hours with a dear friend
I hadn't seen in years.

 And because I think they are so dang cute,

I'll throw in a couple more.

Mommy and A-bree

See these two little dolls?  Avery has been playing with them non-stop for the last couple of weeks, even taking them with her for naps and bedtime most of the time.  They are "mommy" and "a-bree" (aka Avery).  They have conversations all day.  More than once I've turned around thinking she was talking to me and she'll say
"No, not you Mommy.  This mommy." 
Lucky me, I am played by Sleeping Beauty.

The Copper Mine

BBQ

 We had such a fun night with our friends a few weekends ago. These kids are lucky to have such good buddies.

Let's get REAL

I know I mostly only post the fun things we do around here, because that's really how we roll.  But, that's not to say our home is always rosy and perfect.  So, just to document life around here a little more accurately, here's what life really looks like when we're not doing all that other fun stuff...

 

Jack's toys pretty much cover the floor and couch (accompanied by a clean load of laundry just waiting to be folded).  Avery's hair is always hanging in her eyes when we're at home, she won't even wear a clip.  And Wesley's watching TV.  That's right, my kids watch a lot of TV.  I'd feel a little bad about it, but between Sesame Street, Dr.Suess, and Wild Kratz they're learning a lot. (And I'm sure that's the excuse every mom uses but I don't care.)

 It's no secret Jack is my most passionate kid.  He expresses every emotion physically.  He's a lover when he's happy and a screamer/hitter when he's not.  And it doesn't take much for him to go from one extreme to the next. 
(We're working on it)  Our latest battle... Calcium. 
My boys haven't drank milk for a while now, so the doctor suggested TUMS.  Jack does NOT like it!  So sure Brad's laughing while he's screaming, but we're not mocking him, really, we're just used to it. :)

And speaking of screaming, my little Avery can be the cutest little thing when she wants to be and a stubborn snot too.  She looks like this a lot.

 

So here it is... Wesley's a tattle tale, Jack and Avery haven't quite figured out how to control their emotions, my house is hardly ever clean (picked up maybe, but not really clean), and Brad cooks dinner half the time because I just didn't get anything started.

 

Oh, and, in the first two weeks of school I've made Wesley late (which he hated) and forgot to pick him and Tate up once!  Later he told me with the most sincere little face that when I was late "his thoughts were scared."  Sorry buddy, I'll try not to do that again, but I can't make any promises.

 

Our life is good.  Really, great.

I'm may not post stuff like this, because it isn't the stuff that matters.  Every day we are trying to make good and happy memories and that's the stuff worth recording.