Seven Year Old!

Kate had a very busy, birthday yesterday.  To start, she woke up really early.  It was probably 5:30 when she got into bed with me.  We got up at 6:00 and started getting birthday party stuff ready.

After a delicious breakfast of mush (malt-o-meal) Kate opened her presents.

 Jack picked out an American Girl book, called Meet Ruthie (Kit's best friend).

 I made her these pajamas for Kit, her American Girl doll.  It only took me 4 hours to make them...

 And we gave her all the Kit books with a miniature-sized Kit.

After breakfast, Dave and the kids headed to White Rock, so Kate could play in her first soccer game of the season.  She had to leave the game early to make it to her birthday party at the park.

We did a combined birthday party with her friend, Lexie (who's birthday was a week or so ago).  It was going to be a "library party", since Kate loves to read so much.  I made these cute library card invitations, like these:

 I forgot to take a picture of her actual invitation, but they looked like these.

It didn't end up being very library-ish, since the weather was a little chilly and very, very windy.  We huddled up to this wall by the tennis courts at the park.  It protected us from the wind a bit.  

There were twelve girls at the party.  They decorated their library bags first.  They painted book shaped stamps and stamped them on the bags.  It ended up being a bit chaotic and messy, but the girls love their bags.  

From L to R: Katy (Lexie's mom), Sophi, Emeline (Sophi's cousin that was visiting), Ada, Natalja, Lexie, Ginny, Elizabeth, Annika, Nina, Heather, Kate) 

 I'd planned some fun "library" themed games, like relay race with a book on your head, etc., but it was so windy that we didn't play any games.

 So, we did the piñata instead...

The girls loved the piñata.  Inside the piñata was some candy and their party snack -- crackers and fruit snacks.

After they ate their snack, then we had cake.  It was so windy that we had to forgo lighting any candles, so we sang Happy Birthday and then uncovered their cakes.

 I wanted to make Kate a book shaped cake since it was a library party.  She loves Katie Kazoo Switcheroo books, so I put Katie Kazoo on the front.  I spent a lot of time making the cake look like a book, but after I piped Katie Kazoo on the front, I noticed that I'd done it upside down and the book "binding" was on the wrong side.  I was running out of time and frosting, so I scraped the binding off and smeared it on the otherside.  So much for all the time I spent making the book part look nice....Kate thought it was great though. (I modified it a bit, so it looked more Kate-like.)

 Then the girls blew bubbles, actually, they didn't even have to blow, the wind did it for them.

 Then came my most least favorite part of a birthday party -- presents.  I love parties that don't involve presents.  I don't mind giving them to friends, but I don't think my kids need ten presents.

The party went from 10:00 until noon.  At 12:02 it started raining (perfect timing).  Probably not a good idea to schedule a birthday party at a park in April.

Later that afternoon the kids went to their friend, Nina's birthday party at the YMCA to do gymnastics.

Since we didn't need to eat any more cake, we put Kate's candles in her birthday dinner of orange chicken and rice.

 Happy Birthday Miss Kate!  It's hard to believe that it's been seven years since you were born.  I'm so lucky to be your mom!

Airplanes

Last week we did preschool about airplanes.  The boys made airplanes out of bananas, pretzels, marshmallows and a little peanut butter for glue.

Not Just for Skaters

Did you know that skate parks are not just for skaters?  They make great "bum slides" for little boys.  We have a skate park right in front of the library.  I really hate it, because it's usually occupied with kids that aren't the greatest role models for my kids.  But yesterday we went to the library for music and movement class and afterwards the skate park was empty.

Jack and Ty had so much fun! (Don't mind the not-so-quality cell phone pictures)

Okay, so this next picture is awful and fuzzy, but I wanted to share what my boys look like when we go to music and movement at the library.  Not so much movement going on with them!

Ty was sitting so still with his feet together and his hands fidgeting in his lap, so I had to take a picture.  Guess we should go more often so they're not so nervous.

Overheard...

Tonight I heard Ty talking/singing to himself in his crib.  He said, "Ra Ra Ra. Go Cousa!"  Yep, our boy was singing the BYU fight song. 

Ty's been talking a lot today.  On our hike today he kept pointing out the water and the rocks.

This morning we were all upstairs and Ty grabbed my hand and said, "Comeon.  Eat."

He also loves garbage trucks.  We're lucky and two trucks come on Thursday -- one for recycling and one for the regular garbage.  Yesterday was garbage day, so I heard "garbage shuck" a lot.

We've been feeding our friends' cat, Merlin, this week while they've been on vacation.  Ty loves the kitty!  He says Merlin a lot and we leave with him covered in cat hair. 

Ty is also pretty serious about basketball.  Jack usually has his hoop higher than what Ty can reach, but Ty is happy trying to shoot anyway.  If we lower the hoop for him, he makes a lot of his baskets.  He'll run into the kitchen and tap the ball on the floor (dribble) and then shoot.

I know Ty is our third kid, but I still can't get over how many cute and sweet things he does.

Hiking to the Rio Grande

Today was the last day of Kate's Spring Break, so Dave took the day off.  We decided to hike from Overlook Park in White Rock down to the Rio Grande.

It's quite the hike -- straight down and then straight back up.  Well, I guess it's not straight since the trail is pretty much all switchbacks.  On the way down Jack told me how much fun he has having.  I'm pretty sure he fell 30 times on the way to the river and maybe 5 times on the way back up.

A little way down the trail.

We found a little place to eat our picnic lunch by the river and piles of horse poop.  (I guess we were too hungry to smile in this picture.)

Then we played in the water.  It was really hot, so the water felt great!

The kids loved playing in the mud and throwing rocks into the river.

Dave rinsed Jack off in the water before we left.  He got even more muddy after I took this picture.

The boys on the hike back up.  Ty fell asleep in the backpack.

Kate was a great hiker on the way back up the hill.  No complaining!  She was the trail leader.

We made it to the top!  You can see the river in the distance. 

It was quite the hike, but really fun!  Next time I'll bring a lot more water and not leave the sunscreen in the car.  Maybe the kids will even wear swimsuits to mud bathe in.