Island Birthday & Cake

We did an "island themed" birthday party for Kennedy (She is THREE!!!) on Saturday. I didn't take a whole lot of pictures, but I managed to get a few.

I tried making a hula girl out of gum paste to sit on the island, but she looked more around 80 years old rather than 3, so I scrapped that idea and made a pineapple, beach towel, star fish, and a beach ball to sit on top. I love the sharks :)



I am THE best at taking pictures where very few people are actually looking at the camera.

Justin, Nathan, Ereita, Abbie, Chloe, Colette and Brent. Travis is hiding in the background.... And the only one looking? Ereita.  We had Cafe Rio style sweet pork burritos... Thanks Linda for the amazing recipes. Everyone loved it!



Opening presents. We got Kennedy a sleeping bag (which is what she asked for...  She really loves camping)



Most of the kids spent their time in the sandbox.

I wanted to get more pictures, and I'm sad that I didn't. We also did one of those fishing games where you throw the hook (clothes pin) over a sheet and get prizes.... I am pretty sure I had as much fun doing this as the kids did. :)

First "official" camping trip

A few weeks ago our tire literally fell off of the land cruiser when we were on our way up Provo canyon to go camping. we hadn't traveled very far before Judd and I noticed a weird sound coming from the car and before we could react the back end of the cruiser dropped to the ground as we watched our left rear tire rolling down toward Deer Creek Reservoir. I'm pretty sure my heart dropped about as far as the back end of the car... We spent 5 hours looking for the tire (which was never to be found), putting a new tire on, jumping the cruiser (because on top of it all our alternator went out), and waiting for a tow truck (the guy got lost and took an hour to find us). It was a super hot day, and I was glad that we had a cooler full of ice/drinks/food to keep the kids happy. They were actually so patient and did really well. I wish I had taken pictures of the cruiser, but I didn't dare to since we barely made it to the side of the road to begin with and the end of the car was almost in the road.
The next night we spent the night "camping" in our back yard. We even did a dutch oven dinner and dessert.
After two weeks in the shop we got the car back and we decided to try our luck at another camping trip. I'm sure Judd was bugged with me because the whole way there I kept asking if the noises I was hearing were "normal"... Call me crazy, but I didn't feel like dealing with car problems again....

mmmmm dirt.



I took the kids on a hike so Judd could take a nap. He worked the night before and was really tired.



This is what Levi and Kennedy looked like for the majority of the trip. Covered in dirt. 



Roasting mallows

If you look closely, you'll see that they both have marshmallow on their faces. Priceless.

My boys "copping a squat"



I love this picture! They have so much fun with each other and get along so well.



In most of the pictures my kids are carrying around either a fork or spoon, or both. Don't ask me why, but they have a fetish with plastic utensils. I love this picture :)



 

So here are pictures from our first camping trip. The kids LOVED it! They spent most of their time digging in the dirt, we went on a hike, cooked some dutch oven, played some games, and Kennedy roasted her first marshmallow and had her very first smore. I would call it a success.

Graduation cake...?

OK, so this is not the best cake that I have ever made, and would be a perfect candidate for cake wrecks . I look at ideas online and always think to myself "that looks so easy"... Not the case. My brother Andrew graduated from BYU last weekend and we had a little celebration for him. He is a wild land firefighter, which explains the shovel, the fire hose (HA!!! Didn't look like one at all), and the outfit (They must have been going through budget cuts because his uniform looks extra stupid.) Anyway, he did an internship at a crisis call center so I thought I would throw a phone and some books on there as well. The fondant was really soft so he ended up with a hunch back and a slouchy face when it started to settle. It definitely tasted better than it looked. I did a milk chocolate cake with cream cheese icing and raspberry filling. ... Long story short I am signing up for some cake decorating lessons.

Seats at the Marriott Center. Thought it was a cool picture.

Kennedy checking out the funky hat.



Paige, Jameson, Andrew, the kids and I. I am 33 weeks pregnant in this picture... I don't realize how pointy my belly is until I see it in pictures.



Grandpa and Levi. Dad drove down from Montana on a few hours notice to be there, now that's love :)

What the heck is that on your head?!

My latest attempt at house wifery...

So I'm sure anyone with kids has this same problem: You sweep and mop your floor just to feed your kid a half hour later and you are left with a sticky mess under their chair/highchair. Well, I have created a solution. A sort of baby "drop cloth" if you will.

I used patterned flannel fabric, to hide any stains and so that it was thick enough to stop most of the goop from getting through to the floor.

I sewed a washer into this little square. On one side is the flannel, on the other some non-slip material to help keep it from sliding around on the floor. I put snaps on it so that I could un-snap the weight from the main piece and throw it into the washer when it gets dirty.

I've been meaning to post this for a while so I have had a few weeks to try it out and I LOVE it!! It makes cleaning up after a meal much more simple. Just pick up the cloth and shake it out into the trash, then wash it when it gets dirty.

The killing of a baby turtle.

I can't believe he is ONE!! It has gone by so quickly.

Always smiling.... Unless he is hungry, then he isn't so sweet.

Before



During



After :)

I was cleaning red velvet cake out of his ear for days. He didn't eat a bite of the cake, he just wanted to play in it.

Turtle birthday cake

I made these turtle cakes for Levi's birthday. I had extra cake so I made him a little turtle (complete with a binky) to smash. I'll post pictures from his birthday soon.

Saving some green

Take a look at this receipt, I think it speaks for itself.
This is what I got today:
27 packages of pasta
8 bottles of Nivea body wash
2 boxes of Ritz crackers
2 boxes cheeze-its crackers
5 packages of Mr Clean magic erasers
1 carton Silk almond milk

ALL OF THIS FOR 9.39! Not a bad day at the store. I was bummed that the tooth brushes I wanted were gone, I would have gotten 16 of them for FREE. I like the fact that I can give extra stuff like that to shelters.