Finished Frame Wall

You will need to look at the last post to see where I got my inspiration for this.  Obviously they went for a more classy look and I wanted a more kid friendly idea.  Here is what my finished product looks like and I love it!  So do my kiddos.

This is the far left side of the wall Easter egg and a chick peeps candy up top, then little hershey kisses that look so cute on the wall, but I can't get a good picture up close on my camera and an easter basket that I'll probably add some solid eggs too.

The word EASTER up top and it looks like it is coming out of an egg then a baby chick hatching on the bottom

carrot on the top left and a bunny rabbit with a carrot on the top right, and two different easter eggs on the bottom.  

I LOVE THE WAY THIS WALL TURNED OUT, and now I will be able to just change it out for every holiday!!!!  So fun

This looks so cool

I saw this on junkinjunky.blogspot.com
http://junkinjunky.blogspot.com/2010/12/2010-in-retrospect.html
and knew that I needed to make something similar for our entry way;)  There is nothing on the wall yet, but I do have a lot of different size picture frames...so I am painting them all black right now, then I'll post the update of what mine turned out like.  I am going to put holiday vinyl in each frame, then I can change it out every holiday;)

Solvang

We had the opportunity to take the younger two kids with us to Pismo for an old family friend of Wil's that was visiting because his mom passed away.  We drove there one night to stay with Wil's Aunt Diane and Uncle Mike, then the next day we went to the funeral and then drove home.  We couldn't drive all the way home without eating some of our favorite treats...so we went to Solvang and sat down and had Abelskievers...MY FAVORITE!;)

See's Candy

Wil's dad LOVES to buy see's candy and share it with all of his grandkids.  He wants to be the first person that gets to feed your kid chocolate.  I don't like this idea for this early, but I let him feed my babies one piece of chocolate...they just suck on it for a minute then we take it away.  He gets to feed it to them at about 3 months!  Then he doesn't get to give them any more until they are old enough to say candy;)

It was Nate's turn and grandpa drove up here for a one night stay after a conference he was at down the hill.  You should have seen the look on Nate's face once they put the chocolate in his mouth...it was like WHOA where has this been all my life!  Here is a picture of Nate eating the chocolate.

Zach's 7th Birthday Party

This year we were in Ut for Zach's birthday because he has a cousin that was getting baptized.  We took him out of school for a couple of days and let him enjoy some time with his cousins.  He LOVES being around his Ut cousins...we don't get to see them very often!
Zach has always been very clear on what kind of birthday party he wanted to have and this year was no different.  For months he was telling me that he wanted a ZACH party....what does that mean you ask???  Well he wanted a cake that was cut out to spell Zach, with the last name written across the decorated Zach and he wanted cupcakes that spelled out Zach and a balloon that said Zach...get the picture;)  This kid said he wanted a party that was all about him.  LOVE IT!  So we did our best, it was definitely one of the easiest cakes I have ever done.  My sister in law Marin actually baked the cake and cupcakes for me, then I cut them out and decorated them.  He wanted everything to be red and blue (his favorite colors)
Here are some pictures from his party that his Uncle Rob took for us;)

Here is Zach standing to tell everyone thanks for coming to my party and thanks for the presents;) 

WE LOVE YOU ZACH

Happy 7th Birthday Zach

I can't believe my sweet boy Zach is SEVEN years old already.  Yesterday was his birthday, but we were in Ut this weekend celebrating with his cousins.  I still remember sitting in the hospital holding my brand new baby boy...he was the sweetest little guy and he loved to snuggle.  He is still the sweetest boy.  I love all of our little chats in the car on the way to school.  He is so smart and talented.  This year he wrote a book and drew all of the pictures himself and turned it in at school.  HE WON the young authors award for his whole grade which means his book will get published.  He was so excited.  This is what he does best...draw and make up stories.  He is so creative and has an imagination like no other child I have ever met.  He always knows how to make us laugh.  He teaches me so much every day.  He is so smart, his teacher told us at parent teacher conference that she was reading a book about something and there was a sloth on the page and she couldn't remember what the animal was called and Zach raised his hand and said its a sloth...they like to eat...they live...  he knew everything about the animal it was so funny!  His teacher loved it!!!   Zach makes friends EVERYWHERE he goes, which is a good thing because we moved a lot in his short life time.  Everyone loves him because he is so easy to get along with.  His best friends though are still his little sisters and brother and all of his COUSINS.  He loves to be with his family!  He is my big helper with the other kiddos.  He was definitely sent to our family first for a reason.  He was made to be a BIG brother and a protector of his other siblings.  I am so grateful that my Heavenly Father loved me enough to let me be this sweet boys mom.   Zach I hope that you always keep that smile on your face and that tender heart.  You are going to do amazing things in your life I just know it.  WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH ZACHY MAN!!!!;)
I'll post the pictures from his Zach party later...but here are pictures from the last couple of years!!!!

This picture pretty much sums it up;)
Zach with his friend Drew at his 5th birthday party

Sea World...one of Zach's favorite places to go

He is so sweet to his sisters

Love this kid;)

This boy loves his DADDY so much...we went to BNSF celebration to see what daddy does at work

And here he is with Nate...this boy has waited a very long time for a little brother and he is so good with him and loves to hold him ALL the time.

The Power of Prayer

From the moment Ashlyn was born she has been a little girlie that HAD to have a blanket with her at all times.  She liked to grip her blanket while she sucked her thumb.  When I was pregnant with Ashlyn everytime they did an ultrasound my sweet little girl had her thumb in her mouth;)  She used baby blankets for a while, then when she was old enough to crawl she stole Zach's old ratty blanket.  We got tired of her carrying around a red and blue ratty blankie and so we asked Ashlyn if she wanted to ask SANTA for a NEW blanket that was just for her.  Her reply...YESSSSS!!!  So when Christmas of 09 came around, Ashlyn opened her first present and it just so happened to be a purple HANNAH MONTANA blanket that (Mrs. Clause) made just for Ashlyn.  Ashlyn was so in love with this blanket that we couldn't even get her to open more presents right then...She instead grabbed her blanket and went and slept on the couch by daddy.

Ashlyn still to this day carries that blanket with her everywhere,  and this can cause a little bit of drama at bedtime when we can't find it...Usually mommy or daddy can find it pretty quickly!  Last night was A LOT different.  We looked everywhere in the house 3 times...it was nowhere to be found and Ashlyn was hysterical.  I couldn't let my poor sweet girl go to bed so upset.  So I used this as a teaching opportunity for Ashlyn and myself.  I explained to her that when we have done all that we can do to try and find something...we can kneel down and say a little prayer that Heavenly Father will help us to find it.  Within about a minute of closing our prayer we looked in the toy room for like the 4th time and it just happened to be hiding inside the train table.  Ashlyn lit up with excitement when she found her blanket...instantly stopped crying and went to sleep.