Alexis' "friend" birthday party

This is Madison's baby doll that was obviously fed Madison's cereal.

We gave the kids bowls of Captain Crunch to eat in the car because we left so early in the morning.

I guess Madison decided that her baby would also be hungry, what a thoughtful little person!

Good Morning!

The kids thought that we'd slept in the car because it was still dark outside when we put them in. It was only 6 a.m. but when you're used to seeing the sun when you wake up it's a bit of a jolt on the system I guess.

I made both cakes. I was very proud of myself, they turned out better than I thought they were going to! I had never used fondant before, hence the reason it has some white powdered sugar left on it. It kept sticking to the table, so I used powdered sugar to help it not stick but didn't think of it being wedged into the dress! I was still happy with it!

L to R: Grandpa Wadley, me, Drew, Miriam, Josh, Katie, Carma, Jen Gaede, Grandma Didi.

L to R: McKaylyn, my belly, Miriam, Katie's torso and Mary. 

Aunt Cheryl and Irelynn

Jacob

Allen Ward

Christian Ward

Back of net L to R: Jill, Dave, Russell, Katie

Front of net L to R: Miriam, Kalin, Grandpa Wadley, Josh

Drew

Jacob riding with Great Grandma Rappleye and Great Grandpa Rappleye

L to R: Great Grandma Rappleye, McKaylyn Higley, Mary and Alexis

Alexis and Great Grandma Rappleye

L to R: Mary, Alexis, McKaylyn, Madison, Christina and Drew

L to R: John, Dave, Jill, G.G. Rappleye

G.G. Rappleye wearing John's sunglasses! She still has her spunk even when she isn't feeling well!

Back row L to R: Dave, Jill, Madison, John, me, Drew (pulling a face), balloons, Grandma JoAnn.

Middle row L to R: G.G. Rappleye, G.G. Rappleye, Miriam on Judy's lap, Josh, Katie, Christina. 

Bottom row: Janice, Alexis and Mary.

Photo courtesy of Jen!

Back row L to R: John, Grandma JoAnn, Judy and Janice.

Front row: G.G. and G.G. Rappleye.

Although it was a crazy day, we had a lot of fun!

I didn't get pictures of everyone who came, I think I counted 42 total, but there were so many cameras going I'm sure everyone is in at least one picture! Grandma JoAnn was doing a fabulous job of getting lots of pictures!

We were all excited that G.G. and G.G. Rappleye felt well enough to come and mingle for a little while.

We took the kids out to dinner that night and Alexis saw the waiters singing Happy Birthday to someone at a table near us. She wanted to know why they weren't singing to her. So . . . John went and told them it was her birthday and she was so excited when they came to sing to her and give her a piece of chocolate pudding and whipped cream with sprinkles!

She also got sung to in Primary today, she was so excited!

The drive home was interesting.

Madison had to pee three times, it's only a two hour drive and she peed right before we left. But, we stopped each time and let her drain the 5 drips she had stored in her bladder. The second stop we made Drew suddenly said he needed to puke. He repeated this very rapidly three times and then it flew. Luckily it was fairly well contained and he didn't do it again after that. We're hoping it was just car sickness and nothing more than that!

Overall we had a great weekend and love seeing everyone!

Soccer has begun

Does she look like she's having fun to you?

Logan doesn't have a big enough indoor soccer program for 5-6 year olds, because they were booked solid before we could ever even think about trying to sign up.

I found a South Cache Valley soccer team that let us sign up, even though we were nearly two months late!

I got called on Thursday to tell me that they could put her on a team. The catch? She had a game that afternoon. Not bad right? Then they told me that she had to have a specific uniform, which involved driving to North Logan and visiting FOUR different stores to find all of the outfit components.

This wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't have to make four cakes, the fondant flowers, go to class, finish packing for our Utah county trip, clean up the house and get Drew to his soccer game, all after lunch. The next morning I had to wake up at 5:30 so we could get to Utah County on time. Let's just say both John and I were completely exhausted. Alexis however is so excited to be playing soccer and to have the chance to make friends.

John said she did really well in her game and that she has a great kicking leg, which we already knew, but she can out kick a number of the guys on her team. One of the other players dad's came up and complimented her on her great kicking! She's such a proud little girl!

Good thing we have a good daddy who helps out a lot!

Drew at his soccer game. This last picture shows him getting to kick the ball into play. There was another little boy who was so excited for him, that he kicked the ball right before Drew did. Oops.

That night after we'd gotten all the kids to sleep, I went to check on them and this is how I found Madison.

She really doesn't like to wear clothing. I left her like this until I was sure she wouldn't wake up while I redressed her. I wish I could get into her mind to see what she is thinking when she does stuff like this.

Madison "helping"

This is one of Madison's classic faces. Don't ask what she was doing with the neck thing, she was being a nut!

Daddy fed Madison breakfast, but forgot to put the milk away.

Madison let me sleep in, I wonder why.

She had milk inside the chocolate mix and chocolate mix all over the table and a nice thick slimy coat of it on the bottom of this cereal bowl.

There was still milk in the milk jug though, so it could've been much worse!

All the kids found a box and played train for a good half hour!

We made Alexis' cakes for the friend birthday party.

This is what the kids looked like after they licked the bowl clean.

I gave up and put Madison and Drew in the shower, it seemed like the quicker option for cleaning this mess up!

Easter

Alexis got an early birthday present Easter weekend. Can you tell she was super excited?

Instead of coloring eggs, we decided to wrap them in tissue paper and let the tissue paper color them.

The kids loved putting pieces of paper all over their eggs and painting down the pieces that weren't wet enough. The problem? The tissue paper I had didn't bleed. When did this change take place? It's always bled everywhere for as long as I can remember.

Grandma Didi decided to try and glue the papers down! Ha ha. She ended up being a sticky mess and the papers didn't stick.

Madison was walking around the house with all of these suckers when we got out the shower.

She was so excited to be able to lick a different sucker each time!

Finding Easter eggs. Alexis was too busy running around to get a picture that looks good.

Madison kept trying to sit on the barbie chair that came with the barbie house. Too bad her butt is too big for it!

Random happenings

If you zoom in, you can see the deer lying down by the slide. The kids thought it was great that John and I were right about deer visiting our backyard!

Drew came in to show me the "cord" the baby could use. He fashioned it himself and he was so excited to have made something that "bobo" needs (this is the name that Drew decided on for the baby, it doesn't matter what we say, that's her name). Too bad she already has her own cord to use!

Happy 5th Birthday Alexis!

Little Miss is officially 5 years old!

She's been counting down to this moment for the last 6 weeks, no joke. Now she's counting down until her "friend" birthday party next weekend.

For her friend party she wants a barbie cake. Not one of those that is easy to just put a face on and make it look like a dress, but one that has the barbie coming out of the middle of the cake and the cake being her dress. We'll see how it goes.

So, for her birthday today I made this cake. I was impressed that you could tell that they were flowers and leaves.  She thought it was "lovely" and that's all that really matters right?

She was so excited to open her birthday gift from us.

Grandma spoiled her and let Alexis open her gift from her on Saturday.

Here she is making sure she got all of the gift out, which she hadn't.

There were a number of barbie outfits and shoes for all her barbies. She was so excited that her barbies wouldn't have to be naked anymore. We'll see how long it takes before these clothes get lost!

Her birthday is a family birth date. 

I was induced on the 5th, right before noon, and she didn't come until 2 am on the 6th.

We should've known then that she was going to be stubborn child from that moment on. 

She shares her birthday with her Grandma Rodney and great cousin Tommy, both who have passed away, and my cousin Michelle's little Johnny, who also turns 5 today. (I think I'm missing someone.)

Grandma Rodney had red hair and blue eyes and Little Miss came out with red hair and blue eyes. Honestly, had I not seen her come out I would not have believed that she was my kid.

She also shares a birthday with the Church! (Apr 6, 1830)

She's grown so much and it's amazing to think it's only been five years. Sometimes it feels like yesterday she finally graced us with her presence and other times it feels like she should be at least 15, especially with the attitude she gets!

She is learning to read, she can read the first four chapters of her new Dick and Jane book all by herself. (Chapters = 3 pages). She can tell what hour it is, she's learning to add and subtract and to write words. She is so excited for August when she gets to go to Kindergarten! She is also learning to cook, which she loves to do. She loves to measure out all the ingredients all by herself and then mix them all together. And, if it's something yummy, she licks the bowl clean!

She is also so good at waking up and being quiet until other people are awake, this is oh so nice, especially when she wakes up an hour or two before the rest of us. She will watch t.v., play on the computer or the Wii and be oh so quiet so that she doesn't wake anyone else. 

We love our little princess and we're so excited that she's learning and growing and enjoying life!

Pain

Madison showed me her hand while whining and this is what I found.

She hadn't been outside for a good 16 hours, so I'm not sure how long it had been there.

She was such a good trooper while I took it out, she didn't whine and she didn't try to pull away, I thought for sure it would be a fight.

Alexis went and had her shot for Kindergarten. She didn't like it, at all.

(This was Sunday morning before it got really bad.)

The next day she kept complaining that there was a bump and it hurt. I kept telling her that that is normal for a shot and that it would get better. That night when she was getting in the shower, her shoulder was red, swollen and hot. I called Dr. Eric and he said not to stress, Benedryl and fever reducing meds should take care of it. On Monday it was even bigger and it had little bumps through it with a small region that had developed underneath it. Wednesday it looked about 50% better and the heat was dissipating. We figured we were on the mend. Friday, it started swelling and getting hot again, so off to the doctors we went. He thinks that it is an allergic reaction to neomyocin. She was given Zyrtec and we were told to watch it. We're so glad that it was just simply that and not something else!

Madison decided to throw her book at my foot. Needless to say, it hurt like a beast.

A few days later, I stubbed my toe on our chaise lounge and it lifted my toenail half way down. This too hurt like a beast.

This is not the best picture, but there is a bruise right in my scarring. How do you get a bruise right there you ask? You trip on a box in the kitchen and land on your knees and one arm. The other arm was holding my cell phone and we wouldn't want to hurt the phone right:? My mom was on the other end of the phone and she said: "Well, I know it didn't hurt too badly because you're laughing." Little did she know that when I'm in pain, I laugh, I'm not sure why, but the more painful it is the harder I laugh.

So there is our week of pain. I'll put up the fun parts of this last week next.