Sarah Turns 5

Five is a big deal. It's a whole hand, says Sarah.  So we started celebrating early.

The week before her birthday, I took the kiddos (Justin was hunting) to visit my brother and his family in Logan. His kids are my kids' favorite cousins. I think it has something to do with them doing whatever my kids want to do.

We went to Ryan's Place Park in River Heights, right next to the elementary school I went to for kindergarten and first grade. This park is very unique and kept the kids busy forever.

Then on Saturday we went to the same restaurant Jaana had her 16th birthday party last year.  My SIL Lisa had cupcakes and balloons waiting for us just like she did for Jaana last year.  Sarah was so excited. She pretty much wants to do everything Jaana does.

This has nothing to do with Sarah's birthday but Lisa got these Easter decorations from a neighbor and the kids were trying out ideas to make them scary Halloween decorations, thus the red light.

And then this past Saturday (the day before Sarah's birthday) we went with my sister's family to the Central Utah Garden pumpkin walk. I had never been there before.  They had lots of fun games and activities for the kids to play. If you dress up, you get a free doughnut but of course, my kids didn't want to dress up.

This is a leaf raking game. It's Henry's favorite kind of game: work.

Note to self: Take pictures of kids when they're not holding candy.

Don't my kids make the cutest pirates?

Here's little Mason. The binky really completes the costume.

Every game scored a piece of candy. Did I mention it was all free?

After the kids were loaded up, we went across the street and got doughnuts at Krispie Kreme. Then Justin came home that evening (woohoo) and we went to Sarah's favorite restaurant, Chuck-a-Rama, and loaded up on scones, chocolate milk and other good stuff.

Setting cup Sarah's birthday the night before feels a little like Christmas and I like that. Here's what she woke up to Sunday morning.

This pinata may or may not be a wedding cake but that's okay because this closely resembles the cake Sarah wanted for her birthday.

Some other decorations.....There wasn't really a theme this year, just pink and girly, I guess.

I'm a bad mom and didn't take any pictures of Sarah opening her presents because I was being a good mom and enjoying the moment. She got a doll that she can do her hair, the Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game, a new dress, some clothes, books, Little Mermaid DVD, a necklace (pictured below) and some birthday treats. Then we had pink waffles for breakfast and got ready for church.

Our primary program was that day plus Sarah gave a talk in Primary so it was a full day for her.

Sarah practicing her cake decorating skills.

The cake. 

The party. A card with 8 quarters for ice cream cones.

Funny socks from Rachel, as requested.

More games! This girl loves games. She also got some hair stuff, nail polish, and more money.

Henry tried out the mask from pin the crown on the princess game.

 Here's my girl, all grown up.  Her primary teacher passed out these hats in class that afternoon.

Can you see the excitement?

She handles the attention way better than I do. That's why I have her sit by me on my birthday. Happy Birthday sweet girl!

This was Henry yesterday. Apparently he's not he only one who likes silly socks. He's wearing 5 pairs at once.

Wish me luck this Halloween. Let's hope Henry is in a good mood and wears some sort of costume and that Sarah changes her mind back and decides to be a witch (it's a witch or nothing, I told her).

You should probably know

We are having a baby girl!

Now I don't feel so guilty about all the money I've spent on Sarah's dresses over the years.  They will live to see another day!  But that hasn't stopped me from buying more stuff. (Baby girl clothes are hard not to buy.)

As you can imagine, Sarah is the most excited.  Henry gets excited when we talk to him about it but I don't think he really gets it.  I don't think he's even noticed my ever-increasing belly.  Sarah on the other hand liked to say, "Wow, Mom, your stomach is getting really big," until Justin explained to her that's not something anyone likes to hear.  Sarah has already said the baby can sleep in her room, she'll change her diapers and if she cries, she'll take care of her.  I will hold her to it.  She will actually try and that's why she's the best first child ever.

Henry continues to be my dual-personality child. I guess that's what the terrible two's really mean; two-sided. Just yesterday he cried and whined and threw fits about everything for three hours.  Then while I was doing the dishes he gave me a big hug around my leg with an emphatic "mmph" and then walked back to what he was doing.  It brought tears to my eyes, the little stinker. I think God knew I needed that so I didn't ship him off next time he freaks out about putting on shoes and then freaks out after he pulls them off.

Soccer ended last week. Hooray! It was fun sometimes but I don't think I'm cut-out to be a sports mom. I don't like hauling my kids all around and eating dinner late.  And I don't really like competition unless I'm playing cards against Justin. Sarah had lots of fun and so that was worth it but I can't help but think there are ways for her to have fun and grow in a family, not on a team.  It's given me a lot to ponder about.

Anyway, the kids rioted the beginning of their first game by tearing down the goal.

 Last team huddle before the game. "We always win because we always have fun" her coach said.

 Henry sees his dad made it.

Below is the kid no one likes.  He steals the ball from his own teammates and quickly makes a goal. And then steals from the other team and makes a goal. Repeat and so on and so forth. It wasn't fun to watch. I was getting irritated. By some neglect on his part, his teammate scored a goal and he pouted about it.  Only the kids slightly oblivious to what was going on were having any fun. A couple of his teammates didn't even go in because, hey, what's the point. He's talented and that's great but his coach and dad need to sit him down and have a little talk about how this is a team sport.

Somehow Sarah scored two goals, one with Pele right there. I love how excited she gets.

There's a word for when they kick it in after it was kicked out of bounds from the other team. That's what Sarah is doing here.

At the end, they all get trophies of course. Sarah's was a girl with short hair (don't tell her they are all boys.)

Team Incredibles.  They were equally excited for their doughnuts as their trophies.  

**Any costume ideas for a two-year-old boy who only likes to wear 3 of his shirts, one pair of his pants and must have his blue basketball shorts on over most every outfit?

Sew much to tell you!

If I didn't have to use this super slow, old desktop (it has a floppy drive, to give you an idea) I would blog more.  This seriously took an hour of diligent uploading. Grrr.

First of all, these are skirts I made for Sarah for back-to-school. 6 out of 7 days she insists on wearing a skirt so I thought I'd better make her some that were a little more fall/winter friendly.  I made up the pattern but they're each slightly different.

Today was her first day of her second year of preschool.  She was sooo ready to go back. She insisted she was a big girl and didn't need me to walk her in. I relinquished but only because it's the exact same place she went last year. But next year, when she goes to kindergarten, they are going to have to drag me away. I'm already sad.

"I'm getting older so I have to wear glasses. My sunglasses."

Le'ts back track a little since September was more than just my birthday, I guess.  Justin's brother Dallin came home from his mission September 3.

 Sarah was very excited.  Henry had no idea who he was but talks about him all the time now.

For the last few weeks, Sarah has been playing soccer.  The first game was hilarious to watch. Sarah's team is outmatched every week but Sarah doesn't seem to mind.  They don't keep score and I don't think it occurs to Sarah that there could even be a winner.

 Her teammate was scared to play so Sarah volunteered to hold her hand. Always the little mother.

She has so much fun.  I don't know if she'll play next year because hauling around a baby and a three-year-old right before dinner time twice a week is going to be a pain.  

At first, Henry wanted to run out on the field and play too but he's learned he can't. Now he just wants to be taken over to the batting cage and watch the boys practice.

She's the best on her team.  I'm not bragging or even exaggerating. The fact that she's the only one truly "pre-K" on her team even though it's the pre-K league has a lot to do with it.  The other 4 kids are 3 and would rather do somersaults or sit with their moms.

These are Henry's "hiking boots".  They are a pain to get on but he doesn't care. Once they're on, he says, "Going hiking, Mom. Have fun." They stayed outside for 3 minutes before they got scared (It was raining really hard.)

Sarah is all about making patterns with things around the house.

 I find a car rainbow on the couch almost every day.

There was this one day where the kids were driving me up the wall. Henry put two dirty diapers in the toilet (luckily didn't flush) and there were screams and fits just to get dressed to go to the PARK. When we got back, they wanted to stay in the car while I unloaded groceries so I let them.  The most peaceful moments of my day were those 10 minutes before I made them come in.

 "Want to play baseball, Mom?" Henry has to put socks on (which he calls gloves but pronounces "doves") to play with any kind of ball.

The weekend before last we went to the cabin.  It started out fun and relaxing.  New toys to play with....

This toy microphone was a hit.  Luckily it stays at the cabin so I only have to hear "Presenting...Sarah!!!" a million times when we go up there.

The kids were so captivated by the cabin phone.  It has buttons. And a cord. "If you'd like to make a call...." Sarah liked to leave it off the hook just to hear that.

This is the kind of phone we'll get for our kids.  Want to talk to someone? You'll have to stay in earshot of everyone in the room. No texting, no pictures. Maybe caller ID.

 Junior explorers.

I had a mother-of-the-year moment when I led the four of us right through a patch of sticker weeds.  Poor Sarah's shoes and pants were covered and it took forever to get them all out of her clothes and mine.  I got three slivers in my thumb.

This kid doesn't hold still outside. Not even for a picture.

 I think Sarah was trying to do a weird pull-up but it just looks like she got shot in the shoulder.

These two love the cabin and besides the sticker week episode, we were having fun. But then things turned ugly that night. Henry spent that whole night crying for his crib. At 4 am Justin took him for a drive so the rest of us could sleep.

We didn't stay long the second day.  We were going to stay a second night but since Justin nor I had the energy to pull an all-nighter again, we packed up after lunch.  Poor Sarah was fine though.  She sleeps like a rock anywhere and never understands what all the fuss is about.

 I love these two.

Henry's favorite thing to say is "Know what Mom? My birthday's in May! So fun?" He loves Woody and Buzz. He's starting to become aware of super heroes (supa's he calls them) but I'm holding off for as long as I can because I don't want him to get into that stuff yet (ever).  I'm sad he's growing out of Winnie the Pooh so Toy Story and Cars are grown-up enough for me. He has an ear for motorcycles and an eye for sports. I think he's surpassed my football comprehending skills. He does fine in nursery 50% of the time and that's a big improvement. He asks for extended family members all. day. long. He talks a lot. I've got two big chatters and some mornings it's more than I can handle. He had a hard time while Sarah was at school today. I don't think he knows what to do without her but he'll figure out soon it means he can play with what he wants without Bossy Pants getting all up in his grill.

Looking forward to in October: General Conference (more cinnamon rolls!) kids picking out pumpkins for our porch, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, sewing Sarah's Halloween costume (she wants to be a purple and black witch. Henry will most likely be a kid in a coat, little stinker) sewing a baby quilt, soccer ending, leaves changing color, wearing jackets and scarves, no more yard work, Sarah's birthday, and Halloween.