Trick or Treat!

Conner, Kate & Sadie had a great time trick-or-treating! Conner was a Jedi, Kate was a Snow Princess and Sadie was a Duck. Aren't they the cutest! Ben, by the way, dressed up as a Dad. He took the kids trick-or-treating. I stayed home and passed out candy. I can't help but comment that at least half of the kids who came to my house were taller than me...

Carving Pumpkins

We had SOOO much fun carving pumpkins. I think it might have been because Conner was able to carve his pumpkin all by himself. He even cleaned it out... Then when he was done he helped Kate with hers. Although Ben did dissapoint me by carving a giant Y for BYU in his pumpkin, I think the night was a complete success!

Kate Turns 4!

We got to celebrate Mother's Day and Kate's birthday all on the same day this year! Grandma & Grandpa Baker came up for the weekend for the occasions! Kate has been looking forward to her 4th birthday as soon as her last birthday was over. She wanted a Princess Party this year. Even though she wanted a princess theme and a princess cake and even informed us we were to throw here a surprise party, she wasn't in control of everything. She was still surprised when she received a brand new bike for her birthday. She LOVES the dresses she received from Mom & Dad and Grandma & Grandpa Ashton (She has already worn all of them and I will have to do laundry tonight so she can wear them all again tomorrow...

Thanks to everyone who made this day so special!

My Baby Turns 1!!!

We celebrated Sadie's birthday this week. What a fun day, but yet I found it kind of sad. My tiniest one is no longer a baby...


Conner and Kate wanted to throw Sadie a Surprise Birthday Party. That is funny enough as it is since a one-year-old has no idea what a surprise party is. But, Conner and Kate insisted on balloons, streamers, etc. We even had to turn off all the lights and hide so that when she came in the room with Ben we could all yell surprise! We couldn't even say the word balloon in front of Sadie because it might spoil the surprise. Too funny! But Sadie seemed to enjoy it!

Here are pictures of my little Sadie Lady at her surprise party:

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter! We are really enjoying having morning church because we get all afternoon to be together as a family. Easter was no exception. Check out these pictures. Don't our kids clean up great!

Isn't it greatwhen your kids play nicely together?

So, just five minutes ago I was relishing in all THREE of my children playing nicely together. Notice, I WAS relishing the moment. They were playing a game where Conner and Kate were some sort of super heroes. Sadie was their baby. They had to protect the baby from the attacking bad guys/aliens/mutants/villains. Cute, huh? Anyway, this went on for a while and I was listening to them while I folded laundry. I then witnessed the following conversation:

Conner, "Hurry, the bad guys are coming!"

Kate, "Save our baby, she is scared of the bad guys and is crying!"

Conner, "Kate, Sadie is not crying."

Kate, "Well, we could make her cry."

What do I say to that? This super-mom just let them keep playing. Why intervene? The bad guys/aliens/mutants/villains arrived before they could make their little sister cry so all was well. At least I got to fold the laundry in peace, right?

My favorite things Kate has said lately...

You never know what will come out of Kate's mouth... Here are a few of my favorites from the past couple of weeks:


When in Target Kate all of a sudden had to go to the bathroom (of course, we were as far away from the bathroom as you can get at the time...why is it always like that?). So, we run to the bathroom. As we go into the stall and close the door, Kate exclaims in her loudest voice, "Look mom, there's a hooker!" I looked where she was pointing and saw a hook on the back of the door. I explained that it is called a "hook" not a "hooker". She continued to insist that the bathroom has hookers and why don't we have some at home. I tried correcting one more time, to the sound of the lady in the stall next to us laughing hysterically in the background. I think I finally convinced her that there are hooks in bathrooms and not hookers.



Over the weekend Kate was being very cranky. I asked her to go to her room and see if she could find "Happy Kate". I make this suggestion to my kids at least once a day... Anyway, she shouted back at me that "Happy Kate is at Chuck E Cheese". Well, OK then...



The other night at dinner Kate announced out of the blue that when you die your tongue pops out of your head. Once we got over the initial shock and confusion, we were reminded that when we were young, the absolute sign that someone was dead when we were playing is that their tongue was sticking out... Huh.

My Latest Cake Masterpieces

I had two cake projects for this weekend. Two fun birthday cakes! The first was for a 9-yr-old who was having an American Idol karaoke party. They wanted a karaoke machine cake. I think it turned out awesome!

I also had another birthday cake for a little 6-yr-old. She was having a Fancy Nancy party. I had never read any of the Fancy Nancy books before making these cakes, and may I say they are darling! They are about a little girl who likes everything to be fancy. If she were to decorate her own birthday cake it would look like this:

Boys Night

So, although the girls night resulted in some fabulous hair, I can't say the same for the Boys Night. Ben and Conner went to the park together and then got their hair cut for their Boys Night Out. What could ever have posessed Ben to allow my little Conner to be turned from this:

Into this:

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Apparently Conner told Ben that we wanted to look just like him. Well, at least they succeeded in that...

I later explained to Ben that a haircut that is appropriate for a thirty-something balding man is not appropriate for a 6-year-old. Ben promised he would not pay someone ever again to shave my son's head. I still don't think that Ben feels bad in the least...

Girls Night

Last night I got to have a fabulous Girls Night with my two little princesses. We painted our nails, put our hair in curlers, ate chocolate and had fun just the three of us.

She just makes me smile!

I just came across this picture of Sadie... she just makes me smile all the time. I love all my kids, but as all mothers know, each one holds a special place in their heart. I love Conner the most because he was my first baby and we learned how to do things together. I love Kate the most because she is so much like me. I love Sadie the most because I know the Lord wants her in my family.

Sadie is such a determined and curious little girl. I can't wait to see how this determination develops as she grows! She already calls me mom and Ben dad. She learned to clap this week and does it every chance she gets. She loves her big brother to pieces. And she has learned to wake up and cry at around 10:00 PM so that we get her out of her crib. She cuddles up and goes right back to sleep in our arms. She will only be so small for a short time, so why not enjoy her spirit and warmth? She is so chubby I just want to squeeze the heck out of her! I love my little Sadie!

PlayDATE with Ella

So, Conner was invited over to Ella's house to play today after school. It was his DREAM DATE! They went to McDonald's (they both LOVE McD's cheeseburgers...) Then, they played Nintendo and ate brownies at her house. Can you believe it, she made him his favorite desert as a snack! Like Ella told me, they have so much in common...He hasn't said much since he got home...keep you posted.

IMPORTANT- YOUR KIDS SHOULD KNOW THEIR PHONE NUMBERS!

MAKE SURE YOU TEACH YOUR KIDS THEIR PHONE NUMBERS IMMEDIATELY!...

..... Because they will need them when they get to kindergarten and girls start asking for their digits. Yep. That's right. The love story of Conner and Ella continues. The phone rings today. Caller ID says it is a local number. I pick up. I hear a little voice ask, "Is Conner there?" I say, "Yes, may I tell him who is calling?" I am not at all surprised to hear, "This is Ella."

So, I give the phone to Conner and about 5 minutes later (five minutes is not long when it is in terms of things like the movie will be over in five minutes. School starts in five minutes, etc. But when used in terms of two six year olds talking on the phone- that is really a long conversation...)

Conner doesn't say much, I just hear the high-pitched sound of a little voice through the phone. I can't make out what she is saying but she seems to be saying a lot. But, when Conner hangs up the phone and I ask him what they talked about he says, "Nothing." Yeah, right. The only thing that I was able to get out of him was that she invited him to come over to her house.

It turns out that Ella asked him for his number during "Free Play" time today at school. Good thing I spent so long last year making sure he knew his number and all the possible reasons he may need to use it. I am pretty sure I never mentioned he would need it to give to girls...

Meeting Ella in Person

So, on Thursday I volunteered in Conner's class. His great teach asked me to take kids one at a time into the hall and read with them. Fun. I get to gauge my son's smartness quotient in comparrison to his classmates, AND I get to spend three minutes one-on-one with the infamous Ella. I didn't say anything to her about Conner. I just did my little volunteer job and sounded out words with her. One of the words in the book we were reading was POT. I wanted to make sure she understood what a POT was so I told her that I cook spaghetti all the time in a pot. She paused and then she asked me if Conner likes spaghetti. I told her that it is his all-time favorite food (it truly is). She told me it was her favorite as well. I then told her that Conner could probably each three giant plates of spaghetti because he loves it so much. She told me that she can too (of course). After a couple of seconds Ella said to me, "It sounds like Conner and I have a lot in common." Well, Ella, if favorite foods is a basis for true love in kindergarten, then you do have a lot in common.

And the Response...

So, Ben and I played it pretty cool with Conner and his whole "Love Note" thing. Though you can rest assured that in private we laughed a whole lot... Anyway, we didn't really suggest to Conner that he respond in any way, but this morning at breakfast he says (in a really cool voice that suggested he had practiced this conversation), "Well, I guess I should write a letter back to Ella, huh? That would be the right thing to do, right?" Well, Romeo, I guess it is the right thing to do. So, this is the note that Conner wrote and took to school this morning for Ella. When I asked him after school how it went, he said fine and that he played with her before school. The best thing in all of this is that I am volunteering in his class tomorrow morning and I will get to see first hand what is really going on here... Stay tuned for my social observations...

Please note: Conner wrote this himself. I think that Ella must have an older sister helping her along...

Love Notes In Kindergarten

When I was clearing out all of Conner's daily school papers from his backpack today I found the following note folded up very small. Conner didn't know he had it, so I am assuming that the author of the note (ELLA) put it in there in secret. Ben and I found it very humorous. Our favorite part is the heart at the top of the page that has stick figures of a little boy and a little girl in it. What in the heck are we supposed to do with a son who gets love notes in Kindergarten?