Coolest Thank-you!

Last Monday the kids & I went to a birthday party for a little girl in our ward that was so great! It was so creative & well thought-out! People tell me how creative I am but I'm only faux creative! I spend tons of time online looking for ideas for parties & crafts & all kinds of things, but the parents who did this party just came up with all the stuff on their own! Now that's creative! So it was a rainbow-themed party and my favorite thing was the rainbow Jello. The dad had taken 6 or 7 different colors of Jello & layered them one at a time in a bunch of clear punch cups. Then if the kids liked they could have "clouds" (cool whip) on their rainbows. How cute is that?! I'm sure it's been done before but I would have never come up with something like that without finding it online first!

So the party was really cute & then the mom & dad & girl came over at the end of the week with thank you cards that she scribbled on & the dad made balloon animals for everyone! I guess when he was in college he did balloon animals to make some extra money. What a fun skill to have! Callie got a cute purple flower. Jack first got a green brontosaurus. He popped it a couple minutes later when he was playing with it on the floor so then the dad made him a yellow t-rex. That popped quickly too! Finally he made him a little blue mouse - a balloon animal that isn't easily popped! :) The kids loved them! I could only ever dream of having such cool thank-yous - and especially for being so prompt with them!!! It took me a month to sit down with Callie & do hers & I'd even bought the cards before the party! Typical Hillary.

Who are the grown-ups here?

Jeremiah & I have joked quite a bit lately that our children act so independent they could probably get on just fine for days with nobody around. Some points to prove our case:

Last night Jeremiah had put the kids to bed & was out in the garage working. He heard children-voices in the house so he went in to check things out & they were up in the living room with all the lights on like they'd never even been put to bed, playing with their play food and pots & pans "cooking."

I stayed up way too late last night so I slept in this morning. I woke up & went in the kitchen to investigate the noises I was hearing. Jack had just finished making Callie some chocolate milk (from powder) & was working on his own. They're not even allowed in the fridge w/out "kermission" (Callie) and they're also not supposed to be getting up into the cupboards. They've never spooned out their own powder before either. Surprisingly there really wasn't a mess from it!

About an hour later I was doing dishes & all three of them were in the living room playing on the floor. I heard Callie talking to Ellie about spitting up & mentioning a burp cloth. I went in a couple minutes later to check on them & Ellie was sporting a bib around her neck! I never even put bibs on her! I thought it was totally cute of Callie to do that!

A little before 11 I was in my room feeding Ellie & I knew the kids had been in the kitchen but a lot of times they're just getting into the crayons that are in their own "coloring cabinet" so I didn't think too much about it. A few minutes later Callie came in & told me it was time for lunch & that she'd made us "sammiches" for lunch! And indeed she had! One for each of us - they usually only get half sandwiches :) She made her sandwiches by layering American cheese slices & chunks of string cheese, then pressing it all down together! Jack kept calling his a cheeseburger & he made a HUGE mess of his (shocker)! I ate mine, except I gave one of my 2 pieces of Am cheese to Jack. :)

First Day of [Pre]School!

Today was Callie's 1st day of preschool! She heard me talking on the phone to different friends about preschool a couple of months ago when we were trying to decide whether or not to send her at all & she would say, "Oh please mama! Please, please, please, let me go to school!" She was "so extremely excited" (her words) to go this afternoon! She was especially excited to read a Barbie book she'd spotted on Meet the Teacher Night last week! :) Highlights of school today: a sticker for listening to all of the rules, playing outside, having a snack, and reading! Highlight of my day: going to WalMart with 2 kids instead of 3! :) Is it bad that I wasn't the teensiest bit sad to send her to school today? Not because I wanted a break, but because I was really excited for her since she was looking forward to it so much! I think it will be different when it's kindergarten, but preschool's only 3 days a week for 3 hours. No tears from this mama today! Just happiness for my big girl!

12 on the 12th

Tuesday, August 12th:

Totally didn't get 12 today. Just one of those days...

Started the day at the gym. Yay me! I signed up with a friend so I'm going to stick with it! For 6 months anyway - that's my goal. Only doing cardio for now.



Following my realtor to a house. Today's houses were much better than yesterday's! The whole thing is a bummer though! For supposedly being a buyer's market, it doesn't seem like much of one. There's just not that much inventory. And some people have their houses completely overpriced & they've been sitting on the market for months, more than a year in a couple of cases, & they've hardly lowered their price. Don't their realtors tell them they're never going to sell their house at those prices? It just makes me mad that some people are so pretentious! Well they obviously aren't desperate to sell their houses when they're $60,000 overpriced!!!



Callie, Jack & Ellie all went to my friend's house while I did some house hunting. Callie was so happy to hang out with her best friend Corinne! :) I think it's funny that my 4 year old has a BFF!


It's a bit ridiculous that at almost 3 Jack still eats like a 1 year old! It drives me nuts! My mom said that she almost quit after 3 kids (she had 6) because she was tired of cleaning up after meals. Amen! This is a regular occurrance at most mealtimes! Milk on the table, chicken on the floor, RIDICULOUS!


Checking out floorplans online in case we decide to go that route. We'd planned on building (we've been planning that forever but we've now actually paid to have real plans drafted!), but with the market being as bad as it is, we're going to have to hold on to our blueprints & keep our house & rent it out. We now plan on buying or building less of a house for the time being.

Watching the Olympics with Jonny & Katie. Thrilling. Not really. I'm just not that into it. But go USA anyway!

love this face

The difference between first time parents & 3rd time parents!

Ellie LOVED it & was annoyed that I wasn't sharing more! :) (5 mos.)(and in case you noticed the backwards shirt, Uncle Jonny dressed her! :))

i love: Bumbo

I don't know if the Bumbo seat wasn't around when I had Callie & Jack or if I just didn't know about it, but I love our Bumbo seat!

And so does Ellie! :)

It's a nice change from a bouncer or swing & it's very portable. We bought a little tray attachment to go with it that for now can have toys, but soon she'll be able to snack on Cheerios in it. I highly recommend the Bumbo seat! It's pricey so if people in your area use Craigslist that would definitely be the place to find one! You can buy it at WalMart or Target, but WalMart didn't sell the tray.

Story Time

I LOVE our Library! They have a really great story time program during the school year & during the summer they have a great summer reading program! When we were going to visit Jer's parents in OR last spring I checked into story times in their area & they were ridiculous! They were very strict on age groups: 0-18mos, 18mos-2 years, 2-5. So if you had two kids that fell into different age groups, you couldn't bring the sibling. And there was a waiting list! Our library has a really fun 0-5 story time with 3 different time slots during the week. Miss Linda & Miss Kelly plan themed days & read books that go along with the theme & do songs & fingerplays. Occassionally they do a craft too. The summer reading program was "Catch the Reading Bug." There was a craft every week along with a Little Debbie snack & Capri Sun at the end.

These pictures are from last Wednesday - the final day of the summer reading program. It was a great program day! No books this day, just lots of singing/dancing & finger plays.




This was so funny! One of the songs had them do "the swim." Check out Callie - she's even holding her breath & closing her eyes while doing it! :)

Jack started out with the group but ended up sitting alone at the table following along!

This is my friend Francis. She's in my ward & has a daughter between Callie's & Jack's ages. While she was holding Ellie her ticket was drawn for the adult date night drawing (movie tickets & movie treats!). She was so excited & kept calling Ellie her lucky star because she says she never wins anything! :)

The craft this week was decorating bug containers. Jack has other ideas for his.

So he did end up putting some foam bug stickers on his bug container. Here he is enjoying his snack & juice.

Callie worked very hard on her bug container!

So this was awesome! Callie won this inchworm riding toy in a drawing! How awesome is that?!!! All during the summer reading program they had some bikes & then this inchworm in the library that could be won by turning in your reading logs. Although we read to our kids plenty, we only ended up turning in 2 reading logs for each of the kids. Since Callie got a bike for her birthday I entered her into the inchworm drawing since Jack & Ellie (in a while) can enjoy it. Anyway, I can't believe she won! She was super excited about it! Here she is with Miss Linda & Miss Kelly & Jack & her new inchworm! Oh, & I also won one of the 3 date night prizes that day! And the kids all got coupons for free personal pizzas from pizza hut & Miss Kelly even gave me one "for Ellie!" It was a great day at the library!

12 on the 12th

Saturday, July 12th
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Jeremiah made us all breakfast sandwiches! I love that he enjoys cooking & is a good cook! I'm so fortunate!


I am so burned out on throwing baby showers right now! If you're really my friend, you won't get pregnant! This cake was for a baby shower I was throwing in the afternoon for a gal I visit teach. Kind of funny story - I usually ask the person the shower is for if they have any preferences as for a theme & colors but this time I didn't ask. The invitations were pink & brown & the stuff at the shower coordinated w/the invites. I gave the mom-to-be a little play dress that was blue & her mother (who I've known for a long time & can tell me this) told me Amy was so thrilled to get something for the baby that isn't pink because she detests pink!!!! *wince* I almost did purple & brown instead of the pink & brown & I totally should have! Oh well. She'd better get used to it - most little girls like pink. Fact of life. Oh yeah, & if you're really my friend I'll still throw you a baby shower - happily! So go ahead - get pregnant - you have my blessing.

Ellie was extremely cooperative while I worked on the cake. She took a very long nap in the swing & I was able to mostly finish getting ready for the baby shower.

Callie & Jack got to go to grandpa & grandma's house to jump on the trampoline & play in the bird bath! Yuck! Jeremiah let them pick out flavored milks when he took them to the store so they proudly toted those around as they played.

I was so glad that Jeremiah gave Ellie a bath - she was due for one! Look at her fat thighs! I LOVE them! Callie & Jack never had fat like Ellie does! I saw a scrapbook lo that somebody did once about her fat baby & her title was "Body by Breyers." I think about that when I see all of Ellie's chubby parts! Although for Ellie it was more like DQ.

Jackson is addicted to Dora. He'd watch her all day if I let him! Callie used to be the same way but she's not so bad anymore. Maybe it's because she's added Charlie & Lola, Little Bear, & Franklin to her list of favorites!

What can I say? Jeremiah's a stud! He cleaned up my cake mess & all of my other stuff while I was at the baby shower!

It had been a long week & day and we hadn't had a date night so we got ribs & chicken fingers from Kingman Steakhouse for dinner. I think most of the 12ths have been dinner out. I swear I really do cook!

Callie & Jack like to play mermaid & shark lately. This is a game they've made up. Sometimes Jack plays the mermaid. I enjoy watching them flop around on the ground trying to eat each other.

I normally take my car to the car wash, but Jeremiah went out with the kids & washed the cars. I don't know that they were that helpful, but it was nice to have a clean car!

After the kids went to bed it was time for a treat! Jeremiah went to Sonic & got us an Oreo blast to share. He did more sharing - I did more eating.

Jeremiah bringin' his A-game (& his game face), playing Call of Duty w/his brothers.

Happy Birthday Jeremiah!

Happy Birthday to the most wonderful husband a girl could ever hope for!!!! Though you don't enjoy going to The Nutcracker with me, you are very thoughtful, giving, and kind. Understanding, loving, PATIENT, helpful, and just awesome. I could go blind from "over-exposure to your pure awesomeness!" {kung fu panda - should've seen it hon} It would be worth it.

Happy Birthday America!

Our friends Brit, Summer & Kenadee Haws are visiting us this weekend. Today, as Callie said, was a very special day, because we went to the movies, we played outside on the water slide, we had dinner, we had [homemade] ice cream for dessert & we played with pepp-its (what Kenadee called the poppers) and sticks (what the kids called the sparklers) and watched fireworks. And Callie was right - it was a good day! Just the way I like to celebrate a birthday!

Happy Birthday Callie!

Callie I think had one of the best birthdays a 4 year old could have! (Tuesday) Starting with breakfast I asked her what she wanted. Her favorite food is "sammiches" so she wanted sandwiches for breakfast. And when she told me she even said, "sammiches, and it's my special day so I can have whatever I want for whatever I want." That's right. And I would have been happy to make her sandwiches for breakfast but I also offered pancakes or waffles & she chose waffles. :) Since I'd stayed up till the wee hours of the morning to be ready for her party (our first ever friends party!), birthday day was mostly relaxed & fun. Callie was loving all the attention she got all day starting with calls from Nana & Grandma Darcy & from some of her aunts & uncles & great grandparents throughout the day.


We had a water party with a kiddie pool, bubbles, & a huge inflatable water slide that one of Jeremiah's employees who has a jumphouse business on the side let us borrow! We had watermelon stars, pretzel & cheddar goldfish, aquarium jello, & ocean punch & water for snacks. I had planned some races & simple games but the kids had so much fun with the water & backyard toys that we never played any! Bytheway, it was so hot out (104) that by the time the party was over the rest of the jello was completely melted! Liquid!





There was a lot of this crack action throughout the day!



I don't know how many cupcakes Jack ended up eating, but it was definitely more than anyone else. The cupcakes that didn't get eaten went in the garbage because jack had eaten the little shell chocolates & some of the frosting off of all of them!




This is Callie's best friend Corinne (above & below). They LOVE each other so much! Corinne asked Callie before presents if she could help Callie open them & Callie told her no & Corinne said okay & was fine with it, but I guess Callie changed her mind! :) I hadn't planned on Callie opening presents at the party because first of all, we told people they didn't need to bring a present, but also because I know it's hard for most kids to watch siblings open presents when they're not getting one & all the kids were young so I didn't want it to be hard for them, but one of the moms that stayed said she thought I should let Callie open them so the kids could see her be excited about what they brought for her. I'm glad I did, because I was talking to my friend Tana (Corinne's mom) yesterday & she told me that Corinne has talked non-stop not only about the party but about how much Callie loved her present (and she does!)!



The friends party ended & it was a huge success! Thanks to my mom for all her help!!! I'm glad the party's over but I'm so glad Callie & Jack both had such a good time. Jack never went down the slide at the party but we get to keep the slide through the weekend so maybe we'll get him down with the water on in the next couple of days!

Ellie was perfect all day! She slept through the entire friends party & was happy & sweet all day long! I love, love, LOVE this girl!!!



For Callie's birthday dinner she wanted sandwiches! LOL She's so funny! She also thought pasta would be good. I suggested a couple of other things but her mind was made up so sandwiches it was (hoagies for the grown-ups)! We also had pasta salad, watermelon, and chips.



Thanks to Chelsea & Tara for the cake ideas. Callie loved, LOVED her cake! It was pretty fun to make for her!




Making a wish. She told us the first wish so we told her she had to make a second one. She told us that one too. We gave up. Here are her wishes:
1. "I wished that I wouldn't die."
2. "I wished that I won't get baptized."
She might have issues. Okay, I don't know about #1, but #2 - she's afraid of being dunked in the water. Perhaps it's time for swim lessons.



Her new bike! She loves it & has already spent lots of time on it, despite the heat.



Finally, our littlest princess. What a great day we had!