Ava is always telling "jokes" and her laugh is absolutely contagious.  We don't know how we ended up with two super outgoing, clown-y kids. I was never that way....

On Sunday, Tyler took Nathan home teaching with him, so Ava and I made her some bracelets. While we were working she kept singing "Little Miss Muffin sat on a tuffet..." I asked where she heard it that way, and she said Starfall. We got on there and I had her sound it out and she was like, Oh Ok. Then she wanted me to watch the video on there. (It totally sounds like they say "little miss muffin" by the way) She was laughing so hard, so I had her play it again and recorded it. Sorry if it is shaky, I was trying not to laugh so hard!

Oh and she says "Now it's my turn" and that is when it shows a cartoon little girl that Ava designed to look like herself. Don't worry that she has dark skin and hot pink cornrows... and she says "currage" which I am guessing is a mix between porridge and curds'n'whey.

Anyway here she is:

Friend Party

Last Saturday was the much anticipated friend party at LASER MANIA!

We started the morning off with a quick trip to Baker Dam Reservoir for some fishing with some family....way last minute. We caught one crawdad, and I caught a 4 inch fish on accident. I actually saw it grab my bait right before my line got out of the water- dumb fish. I had a heck of a time getting it off the hook, luckily my Mom was there to help, haha

(It was SO HOT!)

After coming home to shower and get ready we headed to the party. In the past I have always thrown crazy parties for the kids with themed cakes, treats, crafts, and lunches all made by me- not this year, and it was  weird. Nathan really wanted  to have a laser tag party, and all he wanted with it was cupcakes and root beer floats. The place set up the tables, and provided tablecloths, plates, and utensils, so all I had to do was make the cupcakes. Of course Nathan wanted gourmet Oreo cupcakes that our super fabulous neighbor makes for her business and she was gracious to give me her tips and such. Sorry no recipe will be included here but let me just tell you THEY WERE SOOOO GOOD! If you are having a wedding or need some yummy cupcakes let me know and I can give you her info!

Gotta love 7 year old boy

 

The kids all had a great time and when we were done I didn't have to re-clean my house! It was great!!

Hair Clip Holder

Ava has SOOOO many hair clip/bows. I first had them in a clear plastic tub, but it got too full. Then I hung them on a piece of ribbon on a hanger in her closet- fancy I know. I had been wanting to make a holder for a long time and just never did. Now that we have unpacked and are getting settled I decided to make it. I wanted a really ornate frame, but Walmart and  D.I. only had plain ones, and I didn't want to go all over town so I just bought a boring one. It was ugly peach so I spray painted it white.

While it dried I covered the cardboard piece with a scrap of batting. I wrapped it so that there was a couple inches folded over on the back. Then I hot glued it down and used a regular old stapler to fasten it to the cardboard.  Next I wrapped it in the fabric we picked out together. For my frame size I was able to just buy a "Fat Quarter" and it fit perfectly. (Make sure you IRON your fabric before wrapping it around the cardboard). I glued it down and stapled it carefully so the staples wouldn't go through the other side.

 

Then you just figure out how you want your ribbon to go. I pinned mine, and measured like crazy so the lines would be even. OCD... After you have it how you want put on some hot glue and staples. You want the ribbon to be tight on there so the bows don't slide around. Test it out with a bow before gluing. I did mine, took pictures, and then realized the bows would go on weird  and  ended up making the ribbon go vertically instead.

When all the ribbon was affixed I put it back in the frame, and bent the tabs on the back down over it to hold it in. If your frame no longer has the tabs or staples I read that some people use a staple gun along the edge to get it to stay. 

Here is the finished product: 

Pretty cute for $7.

Now that it is all full of bows I have about one ribbon left! I may have to make another one really soon....

AND Here is the little cutie all ready for her first day back to ballet this week: 

Happy Birthday/ First Day of School!

How did this happen?? How do I have a 7 year old already? A Second Grader??? I feel old...

Yesterday was Nathan's birthday, and for the second year in a row- the first day of school. It was really hard to get up and going (especially because Hip Hop started the night before and by the time we got home and he showered, etc it was nearly 10pm and the kids are usually asleep by 8, 8:30 at the latest.)

Before Tyler and I went to bed we created a Balloon Avalanche that I saw on pinterest. Our picture looks ghetto but it was so awesome. When Nathan opened his door in the morning all the balloons fell onto him. He thought it was so cool.

He had requested pancakes for breakfast and got to open one present.

 I made a special one for Ava too so she wouldn't feel left out. Love her crazy morning hair.

Then it was off to school!

(Not sure why she has the Mr Bubble soap)

When we got to School his teacher had his desk all decorated! She is awesome.

 I couldn't figure out what to do for his birthday lunch at school, so I ended up packing his favorite sandwich, wrapping all of the things, and filling his lunch box with confetti. He didn't know what I had done until he opened it up at lunchtime. He and his friends loved it and thought it was so fun! Thanks to those of you who helped me brainstorm :)

He picked Lofthouse sugar cookies as his treat to share with the class, and they were so yummy.

After school he had a surprise visitor~ Papa came up just to see him!

His dinner choice was Carne Asada, spanish rice, homemade salsa, guacamole, chips, fresh squeezed lemonade, and banana splits (he didn't want cake this year, but wants cupcakes for his friend party). What can I say, he knows what he likes, and likes good stuff. He is proud to be a Mexican.

He is very into LEGOs this year, so that is what he got. It was a really great day for him.

We love this kid so much, and feel so lucky he is ours. He is so excited to be back in school but Ava sure misses him! I have to brag about him for a minute. Tonight at Back to School Night I was talking to his teacher and she said "I am really going to have a hard time with Nathan this year. Last year he read the books I had in my highest reading level, and I don't have anything higher! But we will figure something out."  Last year (while in 1st grade) they sent him to 2nd grade for reading group and apparently he passed the 2nd grade level before summer break. He just loves to read, and is good at it. Oh and he learned his multiplication up to 11s (and most twelves) over the summer. Don't worry he isn't a nerd though, he also perfected his Stall (breakdance move) and is really good at sports.

Whirlwind Weekend (long, but AMAZING story)

Like I said in my last post, last weekend was CRAZY. We have been so busy moving, and unpacking, working, and all that fun stuff. On Thursday I didn't have to work, so I woke up and got started on organizing/ throwing away tons of stuff. There was lots of running up and down the two flights of stairs, and I was ready to fall asleep by 8pm....but I still had stuff to do and just really felt like I needed to get as much done as possible. I do NOT handle clutter well and could feel it weighing down on me. I was feeding the kids and Tyler too much junk food, and slacking off on my motherly duties, and hated it!

So Thursday night at about 9:15 I get a call from my friend Heather....back tract to a year ago. They were new in our ward and she heard me sing in Sacrament meeting. She came up to me afterwards and told me they were really good friends with this amazing pianist. I had never heard of him, but she wanted a copy of me singing so she could give it to him for future reference. I never gave her a copy because my demo is old, and I kind of forgot.  So Thursday night she calls and says "Hey Monica, William Joseph is at our house right now and we would love it if you would come sing for him..." I had missed the call but hurried and called her back and told her how grungy I looked and that I would need a few minutes to freshen up. She asked me to hurry and listen to his song "O, America" that the Celtic Women sing because he may want to hear me sing it.

I rushed and got ready, grabbed some music, youtubed his song and headed over. I sang a church song, and he asked if I would sing another, then asked if I would sing HIS song. I only heard half of it before I left for Heather's house. After I finished singing his song he said "Wow! Ok, Million Dollar question-what are you doing tomorrow night?" He told me he was having a party the next night and asked if I would be willing to sing it there. It was a charity event, and I was more worried about what I was going to wear then anything. I actually cried about it when I got home, haha. No not just that I didn't have anything to wear, but I had to take a dessert to a funeral the next morning, work, find something to wear, find a babysitter, AND I had already committed to watching the little boy I nanny over night and we didn't know if Tyler would be able to get off with such short notice.  I wanted to sing it so bad and was so stressed! 

Side note:  Heather later told me that when she first mentioned me he was really skeptical, and wasn't sure if he wanted me to come over. He has so many people say "I have this singer..." and so he said Heather could have me over but not to say anything about the party because he didn't want to have to tell me it wouldn't work out....but then once he heard me he said he was having a hard time not getting emotional! I wanted to die with excitement!!!! 

Anyway I was able to get work off, and ended up not having to watch the baby over night, and then remembered my sister in law had a dress that would work perfectly. Everything just fell right into place. 

We went to the event and the song went really well, so he asked if I would sing with him again at a fireside that was on Sunday. Seriously it has been an amazing weekend. Oh except for the fact that I got super sick on Saturday (allergies or something) and was so worried I wouldn't be able to sing on Sunday. Tyler gave me a blessing though and I drank lots of water with apple cider vinegar (nasty but so works!), and Zicam and was able to make it through the performance. 

William is such an awesome down to Earth person. He has 3 albums, was signed by David Foster, and one of his songs was almost chosen as the theme for the Beijing Olympics...and he is only 32. Even with all that he is a faithful member of our church. He even put his career on hold to serve a mission, and is a father of three.  You should have heard him speak at the fireside, he had his scriptures on the piano the whole time :).  He is the nicest person and it was so fun getting to know him.

I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to sing with him last weekend and can't wait to sing more with him! 

Here are some pictures from after the fireside:

Nathan thought he was pretty awesome.

HERE is the link to the video from the party. The quality isn't the best, and it sounded better in person- I hate listening to recordings of myself, blah.  I start singing at about 5 mins but you should listen to the whole thing to hear the story of how the song came to be.

Where Did July Go?!?

We spent the 4th of July in Vegas with family. Nathan was standing far from where we were lighting fireworks. One was acting like a dud, and then all of a sudden shot out of the side and zoomed right past his head. He said he could feel it. Here is what he drew after it happened...

My aunt and cousins, Seth and Hannah were there and the kids all had a great time together.

Tyler and I had birthdays.

The kids finished up swimming lessons, and did excellent! It is amazing how much they can learn in just 2 weeks. It sure helps that they have the best teacher ever.

Nathan doing the backstroke....most of what I took was video...

 We said goodbye to Rico. Super sad day. Even I cried. Seriously best dog ever, if only he didn't bark at the vacuum and camera, and shed so dang much. He is doing great at his new home and getting fat :)

We went to Kolob...and got a flat tire on the way back home... super steep, windy roads on a spare makes for a really exciting drive home. 

 

GIANT dandelion

My cute Grandpa

 

Nathan sat by the feeder for SO LONG and actually got a hummingbird to land on his finger! He was so EXCITED!!

Eric left for medical school in Kentucky. There were many tears shed, and I felt like I was sending off my own child. The past little while I have felt like his mom, since my parents left the house. We loaded him up with tons of gear for his new place, and all cried like babies. He and my Dad made it there in really good time, and got to see some fun things along the way. He is already making new friends and we are all really excited for him.

Look at ALL THE GREEN!!!

And this is what you do in Kentucky, when the UHAUL doesn't have a big enough truck and you don't have a bed....

He is in a super tiny town (like 6,000 people) so he only had to drive a couple of miles like this.

After Eric left we cleaned the carpets, moved all of his and my parents stuff into the basement, and moved all our stuff into the main part of the house. It has been like moving 4 times, but I think we are now pretty much done with the major stuff. There is still so much organizing to do, but after this last week I am going to take it easy....(more on the weekends EXCITING events later.)