Cara is NINE

I'm SO not okay that my oldest child is turning 9 and that means next year she'll be fully double digits and then we get to prep for the pre-teen age (then, of course, comes the teenage phase that I'm dreading a little bit). In fact, I kept joking that I'm not ready for her to be 9 so let's just say she is 6 again. She said she didn't like that because then she'd be younger than Gwen, haha. I joked Gwen can go back to 5 or 4 and Lucy can be 2. None of them went for that idea though.

It was even better that her birthday just happened to be a Saturday, which means her party could be on her actual birthday! However, because of that I asked her if she wanted to do all her other birthday stuff on her birthday too (normally their birthday day they get a special table and they choose a special breakfast and dinner). She chose to do the table and breakfast on Friday and her dinner on Sunday (today) so she got a whole birthday weekend.

For her breakfast, she chose French Toast with strawberries. I made sure to get the Texas Toast to make it even yummier. She loved her table as well, she got some more masks, some gum, and film for a print camera as well as a couple of her gifts.

For her party, on Saturday, she said she wanted another one at home because then she gets to invite a lot of friends. We were looking at different places we could do a party that would let her invite more, but then I saw this idea for a gaming truck to come to your house and thought that would be SO much fun. She loves gaming, but she did mention she didn't want to do an arcade because some of her friends might not be into arcades and games like that. When I showed her the truck idea she said she LOVED that idea, we even found one truck that brought yard games for kids in case they didn't want to game so it worked perfect. 

Of course, then she went to a different friend's party that was KPop Demon Hunter themed and she decided she wanted that to be part of her party as well. So, we got KPop invites, table clothes, decorations, and even a special candle for her cake (this was mostly because the cake place didn't have a KPop specific theme so we ordered a singer/pop star theme and then got the candle separately).

We sent her out with about 18 invites and it turned out pretty much all of them showed up, with the exception of two kids (who are siblings) because they got sick and couldn't make it, which was a bummer since it was one of her closest friends so she was really excited to see them. We had a FULL house (luckily we've learned to put the cats in a room upstairs so we don't stress out so much about the constant in and out or if doors are open, it's much more stress free that way).

So the day of her party was incredibly busy, we're still in soccer season AND it's the first weekend of the month. This means I had to take the kids to the soccer games in the morning, while Larry ran around getting the cake, the workshop kits for the month (and because we normally get donuts after the workshop for birthday months he was kind enough to go grab those as well), and then he met up with us at the games. We ran home to do a quick lunch and then back out to the last soccer game. After that, we rushed home to clean, clean, clean (which luckily didn't take too long) and then we had about 1 hour to relax before the party started. 

After cleaning, I had to run to the dollar store to get some extra table cloths (when we added up how many RSVP'd, we realized we needed more tables/seating and the tables looked pretty gross, so we had to cover those up. While at that store, I figured we should get more cups and then I found some bubbles the kids might like and what I thought was some party blowers (that blow out the rolled up paper tube thing)...turns out those were kazoos and that was a HUGE mistake with so many kids! Once the kids showed up they all loved to grab the kazoos and start blowing them and it was a madhouse of noise and chaos. We ended up saying kazoos and bubbles are outside toys.

So once enough kids showed up, we told them all to grab some food and drinks (we even cut up some extra fruit we had and offered root beer, kool aid, or water as drinks). When everyone was settled with food, we broke out the cake (after singing Happy Birthday, of course) and then while they ate we did presents. As we were wrapping up the presents, the game truck showed up, and everyone thought it was so cool! Mom and Will had come, we were all very "noised out" by this point, so it was nice to send the kids out to the truck and then we sat out front to just chat and relax. It was crazy because you could hear ALL the noise from outside the truck, even with the doors closed!

Some of the kids did get sick of the games, so they came out to play with bubbles. Gwen also preferred that so she hung out more with those kids (she even said they are her new friends, but she didn't remember/know their names, haha). But the kids definitely had fun. We apologized to the gaming people a lot because they had to stay inside and it was REALLY loud, we could tell. After a couple hours, we heard them put on the "When Will I See You Again" song from Wreck-It-Ralph while showing the kids a slideshow of the pictures they took of them playing. They all came out saying it was so much fun.

When the parents came to pick the kids up, even they commented how the truck looked really cool and how they might have to use it for their kids' parties. I thought "well, at least they'll get more business from this chaos." It was funny because the few parents I did see come (we had 16 kids but I swear I only saw 5 parents come, so I assume everyone got home just fine) they mentioned we were very brave to have so many kids come over. I'm glad I can handle it, even though it is a tad overwhelming.

Cara said this was her best birthday ever and she wants to do the gaming truck again and again (we'll see about that, haha). I'm glad we can provide such fun parties for her. I figure I can handle one day (or 4 in my case, with 4 kids) a year that's crazy and chaotic to give them such fun memories with their friends. It was funny to see some neighbor kids walk/bike by our house and zone out to the gaming truck, it did seem like it was such a hit!

She definitely got spoiled with some gifts. One friend's dad made her a Rumi balloon figure, she got some games, some bags, some stuffies. So many good things! From us, she got new shorts, a chapter book series (a sequel to "Trapped in a Video Game" called "Escape from a Video Game" which is kind of a choose your own adventure type), a new bag for dance or soccer stuff, a Rumi Funko Pop figure, and the Kpop Demon Hunters soundtrack CD...introducing the kids to CDs has been SO much fun! Gwen asked "what's a CD?" Lucy asked where the controller for the boom box was, and Cara asked how to open the CD case. They've become obsessed with playing CDs anytime they were doing something. 

Tonight, for dinner, Cara chose Golden Corral. We definitely stuffed ourselves with that and loved every minute of it. We also included the "what we love about Cara" part to dinner. I love doing that to make them feel special. And we measured her height on our ruler thing as well. Overall, it was a great weekend of celebrations. We love our oldest, independent, most friendly girlie ever!

To Cara,

I have absolutely loved watching you grow up. It's bittersweet, because without pictures I can really only remember the last few years clearly. I hope I've made you feel as special as you are. You are SO smart, so friendly, so sweet, and so strong. I truly believe you could be anything because you love trying everything out (except food, you are quite picky and stubborn with food, haha).

I absolutely love that you make friends so easily, but it makes me sad you are to that age where you prefer to be with your friends. But I understand everyone goes through that and that's why I go on field trips and let you invite so many kids over so that I can see who you are hanging out with and spending time with and make sure they are good ones. 

I love how much you still love to read. You even said your brain doesn't care what it's reading, it just likes reading. That is one reason I believe you'll go so far in life. You also say you like to be busy with different activities, so whenever I ask if you want to try something new out you say "yes" without hesitation.

You have become SUCH a gamer girl and I think that's one of your favorite ways to spend time. Because of this you and Dad are pretty much BFF and while it's a little bittersweet for me, I'm actually very happy you have such a good dad that will do that with you.

You are so adventurous and love to go on roller coasters. You say you want to keep riding The Cannibal ride at Lagoon because it scares you, but you like it, haha. We took you on Wicked for the first ride when we went last month and even though I had a panic attack of you guys falling out (it didn't help when you started yelling out "help me! Help me! Help me!" because you were having so much fun, haha), you said you loved it and wanted to do more haha.

You are doing so great at soccer, I know you don't get goals often, but watching you learn to play as a team has been a good thing for you. I know you get pretty competitive, so watching your sisters make goals hasn't been easy for you, but once you get over the jealousy, you're so supportive and a great big sister for them. I think you butt heads with Gwen the most, but sometimes you guys play like you are twins and couldn't live without each other. Those moments warm my heart, because after having you I knew I had to give you a sibling and Gwen is almost opposite of you so you balance each other well.

I love you, sweetie, and I hope you know I will ALWAYS be there and support you no matter what you do in life. I am your #1 fan and will always help guide you whenever you need it (and I'll try not to hold onto your wings too much when you decide you're ready to fly!).

Love, Mom!

April activities

April had so many fun things, we're loving the weather warming up and finding reasons to be outside more. But we also did a few little things I want to document.

-This month I created a new self improvement plan. I feel there's so much I'm falling behind on so I picked 5 goals to work on each day. When I accomplish all 5 in a day, I earn a quarter. If I do 3 of the 5 then I don't earn anything, but I don't lose anything. If I do less than 3, I lose a quarter. So far, I've done good with doing all of them that I can. Originally, I figured I'd focus on them for however long I need to to feel I've got the hang of it, but I have more things I want to fix up so I figure once I got a handle of these 5, I'll switch them out for 5 new ones. After I've earned so much, I can buy an item off one of my wish lists. Having a physical tracker has helped SO much. What really kicked this off is I wanted to start focusing on my eating - again, the Super Bowl really threw me off. I wrote down the foods I can have, how often I can eat out or have treats, when I can snack and having it written down has been so so helpful! Honestly, I felt so great after just one week, but I've got to still track as long as I can until I feel I've got it down. Hopefully this continues to really help me.

-This month we're back to full on soccer and dance again, luckily, this time, it feel like we're better prepared. The games are better since it's a more low key time of year and it smells amazing. It definitely feels good to get out after being hermits for so much of winter. We're just working on finding our groove with practices and dance class but also fitting in bath time. I've decided to take off one day each week to feel I have some breathing room or a day to do anything I feel I can't get done with this new schedule. That has helped so much.

-We had our doctor day this month. Pierce had a checkup on the 6th (everything is all good with him, but I didn't know he could draw as well as he can so I told them he just scribbles, but Larry told me he can draw shapes and stuff. I didn't believe him until I saw him do it with chalk on our driveway and I'm amazed at what the kid can do! He does have some skin bumps on his back/side, but it turns out they aren't anything big, we just need to get cream to help them). I had my gyno checkup on the 7th (another all good, I decided to do some blood labs, which came out all clear. I also found out I have a lot of fun new medical stuff to look forward to in a couple years. Yay for turning 40!). We then had our dentist checkups on the 23rd and we all had clear mouths, no cavities. So that was good news!

-Our damn cats got into a fight and my hand got the worst of it!! I wasn't sure how to bandage it up at first, but we found some big band aids to put on my hands. I'm hoping it doesn't scar too much. Definitely feels worse than it looks!

-We did a Malad run on the 11th to turn in old tickets. Larry, of course, wanted to get new ones. Last time we went the playground was all roped off so I wasn't expecting a fun trip. We stopped at a Tremonton Grill place that ended up being SO good, had so many good choices, and was really cheap for a family of 6 (normally we spend close to $100 for dinner out, but this was only $60!). When we got to Malad, we went to see if the playground was opened and it turns out they must have been doing MAJOR upgrades last time, because this time it was SO much cooler (everything was all new and clean and shiny!). I decided to walk the path to get steps (Gwen came with me) and it looks like they added in new tennis courts, they had stuff for another possible playground, and a new workout playground area that is pretty cool. Now I actually look forward to Malad trips because it looks so cool and fun now!

-Lucy had her school birthday lunch on the 13th, so I had to do that (of course!). She said she wanted Wendy's so she could get a frosty and fries. I was not about to say no to that, haha. She was so excited for that day!

-Cara had her first field trip on the 15th. I was nervous because the teacher said their field trip would be to the Museum of Natural Curiosity, which I won't chaperone (because it's just TOO much with kids I don't know), but then they announced it was switched to the Museum of Ancient History, so I signed up for that one. The Museum was cool, but parts were blocked off, and then it was shorter than we planned (I guess someone wrote the time down wrong so communication was off) so then we went to a playground nearby for a picnic lunch. I was chilly (which is not anything new), but the kids all had so much fun. A boy teacher definitely does field trips differently (he just told kids to pick a chaperone, rather than having groups planned out), but I had a group of lots of Cara's friends so it's always nice to see who she's hanging out with.

-The girls got to do their Dance pics on the 16th and 18th. This time, they didn't request specific hair styles, so I had to figure out what we should do and it turned out really cute. We did have to have Gwen skip her soccer practice on Thursday, but luckily we didn't have to miss any games and she had her other practice on Tuesday so it worked out. I'm really excited to see how these turn out.

-My biggest thing, was I officially put in my notice at work!!! I'm quitting work and I'll post on the details about this later, but this is a day I was so excited for and now that it's passed I'm looking forward to my next chapter.

-And, of course, my favorite pics of the kids:

Another Play at Hale Center Theater

I have become obsessed with going to see plays. When I found out Hale Center was putting on one called Hallmarked that makes fun of Hallmark stories, I knew mom and I had to go. We checked with Rachel to see if she'd have a day off that we could all go together and today was the day. I had been looking forward to it for so long. The only down side is after we got the tickets we found out the kids would have soccer games at the same time and it was more games I'd have to miss (I absolutely hate missing their games!). Not to mention leaving Larry to figure it all out with ALL the kids. They did good, too! I just need to make sure not to miss anymore.

This time we were in a new theater section, so that was cool to see the new stuff. Our seats were really good, too. The play itself was a little weird. It had some really funny parts and parts that were entertaining, but the story itself was...odd. Not one of my top favorites, but I'm still glad I got to go. The actors did a really good job, so I'll give them that (I know I couldn't do what they do!).

I kind of wish I had taken the girls to see Frozen back in January and February, I think they would've liked that show. Hopefully there will be more shows I can take them to. Rachel mentioned this new theater section will give them the opportunity to add some more weekend kid matinee shows so we will try to make that work for really good shows. And even though this show wasn't one of my top ones, I still love seeing plays and am in awe of the actors doing their roles live!

Using Our New Lagoon Season Passes

We have officially done our first day using our Lagoon season passes. I am already so excited we have these and can go as many times as we want this year! The kids loved so many things from last year and this year there's the new Nutcracker ride (although the line was WAY too long to even think of trying that one this time, I promise I'll ride it before the end of the season!).

The great thing was, we only stayed for 5 hours (which isn't really much when it's open for like 10 hours) and we didn't do very many rides, but it's nice to know whatever we missed this time, we can do next time. I have a plan that we'll do one Sunday as a family and then I'll pick a couple Tuesdays or Wednesdays throughout the month to go with just me and the kids, we'll see if we only do it that much or if we end up going like once a week, haha. We even have the perfect backpack that holds so many snacks, water, and sunscreen (so we have a big breakfast and then load the bag up with as much as we can) so we can just snack all day in between rides and leave before dinner time, it's really the best set up!

This time we stuck to the end of the park that has Wicked and Spider, and just did most rides on that end. We did go to Pioneer Village to do those rides as well. Pierce and Lucy decided they don't like Rattlesnake Rapids though, and since it wasn't very warm, I just let Larry take Cara and Gwen on that one while we waited for them. 

I did find out, however, that I have complete and absolute panic attacks when taking the older girls on the bigger rides. We started with Wicked and Gwen was just a tad too short so they put a little booster in her seat. I was so excited to ride it with them, but the second it started going I suddenly imagined them both falling out of the ride, especially Gwen with the booster (it just looked like she wasn't all the way in and I literally imagined her falling out and me trying to reach out to grab her and the utter terror I felt completely overshadowed anything else that we experienced on the ride...seriously, I have NO idea what the ride was like because I just was sick to my stomach with that image). It didn't help that Cara started screaming something like "HELP ME!" in such a voice that I couldn't tell if she was being silly or if she genuinely was freaking out. Once the ride stopped, she had this HUGE smile and I realized she was just being silly. I told her she can't scream things out like that or I'll freak out haha.

Can you tell I'm coming off the biggest panic attack
I've EVER had here?

There was a bit of a funny part when we first got to the park, we were walking to the bathrooms when this grown man starts yelling out "Gwen! Gwen!" and walking straight to our Gwen. I was rushing with her to the bathrooms, so Larry was a ways away, but I was giving him a look like "who is this random man trying to talk to my little girl??" when Larry smiles and says, "look Gwen! It's your soccer coach!" and I realized that's what was going on. We had JUST seen him yesterday at the game, but I totally didn't recognize him at all. It was so funny. He even ended up in the Wicked line next to us and was commenting how brave she was for going on that ride.

We ended the day with ice cream, of course, and it was a really good trip. We got there later-ish (around 11) and decided to call it quits after the 5 hours, but it was definitely enough for one day. I really can't shake the freak out I had on the one ride so I'm trying to decide if I should just let Larry ride any upside down ones with the girls or if I should have them wait until they are a bit taller and I feel better or if I should just have them try and wiggle next time we are in the seats so I can confirm they aren't going anywhere. I'm not sure, but I know I cannot continue doing those rides with them right now with how bad I freaked out.

I'm glad we get to do these trips and I just hope the kids don't get sick of going so often, because if this works out like I think, we may just get these every year. The drive is long, but it's totally worth it!

Spring Break Fun

Our spring break wasn't as filled as last year, but we still had so much fun! I worked only 4 hours each day so that I could still get a bit of work done, but then did fun stuff or a cleaning project the rest of the day. 

To kick it off, we went and saw the new Mario Movie. It was our 2nd movie as a full family and it was so much fun. I honestly don't remember how the movie was because I was enjoying seeing how the kids liked the movie so much. Pierce actually paid attention to a good portion of the movie, which is a big win!

We were supposed to have soccer practices, but they got cancelled so we spent those times at some playgrounds nearby. Even though there were some ouchies, we still had so much fun! The kids worked a lot on their skating skills and I'm pretty proud of how quickly they picked up on that.

I also decided I should see if I could find hiking sandals for the kids, but it turns out it's a bit too early to find those in the stores just yet, but then Gwen and Lucy chose hobby shopping coupons this month so I took them to Hobby Lobby to pick out some fun projects (Gwen chose a snake you can paint and Lucy picked out a unicorn you could color with markers and then wipe clean and re-color).

One of the days I decided to take the kids to Jurassic Jungle at Thanksgiving Point. We spent a good hour there and then the kids said they wanted to go to the Curiosity Farms place, so I had Larry get tickets for that and we headed there. It was so fun to do 2 in one day and that it's all covered with our membership.

Friday the kids requested a chillax day so we just stayed home. I did end up doing our Costco list so we could hit that up this weekend. 

Overall, it was more low key, but busy and a lot of fun. I love having these weeks off and have an excuse to have fun with the kids that's not our usual fun.