Angry Birds!? ...Or should I say Boys!?

So I have to start by saying my goal this year was to be a better birthday mom... we had a party at our house today!  And I am SO glad I did it.... but this party stuff is exhausting!  ;)

He LOVES Angry Birds!  (Both my boys do, so I will probably be doing this exact party again in 4 months!)  If you don't know what it is, it's a smart phone game.... and it's hugely popular! We had 13 boys (counting my 2), 2 hours and tons of fun planned! 

We had games:  Peg the Pig, which was basically Pin the Tail on the Donkey.  But instead of tails, they got to make their own Angry Bird!  I wish I had gotten a picture of them all stuck up there!  They turned out so cute!  

These were the birds they got to color and make their own.

Then they got to make their own Angry Birds Game to take home and make their parents crazy with!  :)  Sorry my friends, I was that parent who sent your child home with 7 ping pong balls, 10 Popsicle sticks, 15 fuzzy balls, and 15 small cups!  It's about using their imaginations! ... Sheesh!  (... and I'm kind of giggling about typing fuzzy balls.... hahahaha.... but I don't know what they are called... they were the rocks for our little game!)  :)  But in my defense, this crazy idea that I was terrified I wasted hours of my life on, they absolutely LOVED!  And they did a great job making them!  They were very serious about it!  They turned out amazing!  The sticks, cups and rocks are for building their own game to knock down with their birds.

They got to make 3 pigs.

And 4 birds.  Blue, yellow, red and white.

And then we played in The Pig Pen.  The pigs in the actual game are always taking the birds' eggs... thus the angry birds.... our green balloon pigs.... ate them.  There were 40 balloons, each with an egg inside.  And 3 golden eggs to be found!  I was a little afraid of this one too!  Because in my head I thought it sounded so fun... popping 40 balloons!  Really, what kid wouldn't want to do that!?  ....Not only did they have a blast... it was freaking hilarious to watch!  hahahaha.  I forget that 5-6 year olds don't weigh very much... so they had to get kind of creative about it!  I was laughing the whole time!  :)

And of course there were presents!  Jackson's favorite part.  Not because of the gifts, oh no, this kid is a ham!  Any chance to be the center of attention and totally hold the spotlight is pretty much his heaven!  hahaha.  He had them all laughing so hard!  :)  ....And of course he got new toys on top of that!  BONUS!

There were cupcakes too! I'm not a culinary specialist (In fact I have a hand full of Super Baker friends in UT I would have gladly paid to do something amazing!) but I found a blog here that had these super cute cupcakes... that were just right for my baking level! :)

He had so much fun!  I am SO glad!  I'm not sure I put this much planning into my wedding! hahahaha.  But for a great time, it was totally worth it!   

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACKSON! 

I'm so glad it's over.... I mean... I'm so glad you loved it!  :)  

3 Front Teeth

Most of us only have 2 front teeth, but Jackson had 3!  So it was time to let one go!  :)  It wasn't going to come out on it's own, so to the dentist we went.  He and Harrison both had regular appointments too, both without any cavities!  Woot Woot!  Then the dentist gave Jackson a little "happy gas" (that's what Jackson calls it... and he LOVES it! hahaha), numbed him up, and out it came.  The dentist did come out to tell me that he has maybe 1 in 20 kids who don't react to getting the Novocain... and Jackson was the 1.  He giggled through the whole thing!  The dentist couldn't believe it!  :)  They gave him a cool shark tooth necklace for being brave!  ...I'm almost sure it was the best day of his life!  Laughing gas, shark tooth necklace, tooth fairy money!  Seriously, it probably ranks up there pretty high on his list!  hahaha.

He was very proud of himself, and he should be!  He is not always the bravest with shots!  ....Maybe pediatricians should use happy gas!  ;)  But he did great!  And now he is "normal" again!  hahaha.  He says it feels weird to have only 2 front teeth!  I told him to get used to it!  :) 

Look Who's 6!

Jackson is!  :)  He officially has to use both hands to show his age!  ;)  Oh, this kid!  We love him so much!  He is such a tender heart, he cares and feels SO much!  He is the one who worries or stresses when someone is sick (so its amazing he doesn't have an ulcer with the siblings he's got!)!  He loves to give hugs and tell you he loves you!  Just a super sweet-heart!  And a super big bother!  He takes such good care of Reagan, and loves to play with her!  And Harrison is his little shadow, they are the best of friends!  :)  He loves to sing, a LOT! hahaha.  He also loves playing!  He is a mover... it can be hard to get him to sit still sometimes!  He has mastered his scooter and bike this year, with only minor injuries!  ;)  And the imagination on this kid is amazing!  He comes up with things all the time, random and crazy and totally funny!  He is a GREAT kid!  We are so glad he's ours!

We had a little party with cake and ice cream on his birthday, May 17th.  We had the Elam's over to party too!  :)  So he got to open his presents from us and Grandparents and a couple of friends.  It was a great day!  He was so excited about everything!  :)

He kept getting stuff for a Wii, which we didn't have, so we were teasing him about having to return it all.  ;) 

And then he and Harrison opened the last present.... :)  The Wii is for everyone, but it didn't dampen his excitement!  :)

I thought it would be fun this year to let him tell about himself, so here is what he had to say:

Favorite Food:  Ramen Noddles
Favorite Color:  Blue, Green and Red
Favorite Toy:  Speed Racers (HotWheels)
Best Friend:  Wyatt, Harley and Harrison
Favorite Song:  Days of the Week
Favorite Sport:  Football and Basketball
What do you want to be when you grow up:  a Dentist.  (We had to go to the dentist today to get his tooth pulled, he got laughing gas.... he thinks dentists get to have laughing gas whenever they want!  hahaha.)
Favorite Thing to do:  Play the Wii and swim
Favorite Book:  DK Eye Wonder: Sharks
Favorite Movie:  Transformers
Favorite TV Show:  Wild Kratts
Favorite Animal:  T-Rex
Favorite Holiday:  Christmas and Halloween

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACKSON!!

**More birthday fun to come, he is having his Angry Birds Party tomorrow.  So wish us luck!  :)

Kindergarten Promotion

It's official, he is no longer in Kindergarten!  To celebrate, Jackson's class had a Promotion Program/Party on May 17th.  (Which also happens to be his birthday!)  He got to wear whatever he wanted, instead of his uniform.  Luckily he got new threads for his birthday!  :)  He looked SO handsome! 

It was the cutest program!  They sang about 6 or 7 songs, most of the ones they do everyday about sight words and days of the week!  And of course they danced too!  :)  They were so cute!  (He LOVES to sing!)  

Then they got to get up one at a time for their certificates.  His teacher had them draw a picture and write about what they wanted to be when they grow up, she showed the picture and read it for everyone as they stood up in front.  It was pretty cute, so funny what kids want to be when they are 5!  :)  Jackson, of course, was one of a kind.  His read "I want to be a Border Patrol and catch bad guys while riding my horse."  :)  Can't imagine where he got an idea like that?!  And so specific too!  hahaha.  The bad guy in the picture is crying, because Jackson caught him and he has been bad!  hahaha. 

They had a cute slide show of pictures from the year, the kids loved that!  And then we got to have some treats and he got a scrapbook of the year.  Super cool!  He really loves his teacher, he is a little devastated about having to leave her!  (I have loved her too, she is amazing!)  But he thinks he will be ok... that's what he said when she asked him if he was excited about moving on.  :)  I think he will be better than ok!  He loves school, works hard and doesn't have a problem making new friends!  It'll be cake!  ;)

1st Grade... here he comes!!!  :)  Congrats Buddy!  We are SO proud!

Jackson's Week! Owl of the Month!

Owl of the Month Award!  Kindergarten Promotion Program! (It's the last week of school.) And his 6th Birthday!  Holy Cow!  It's going to take more than one post, so we'll start with his award. :)

Every month they pick one boy and one girl from each K class who have been outstanding Owls!  Jackson was selected this month!  They have a special assembly for the Owl of the Month Awards, it's a pretty big deal!  Dad and Harrison got to go and cheer him on!  (Reagan and I were getting her test taken care of.  So Dad took the day off just to be there! What a great dad!)

He was SO proud of himself!  And he should be!  He works really hard in school and he is a good kid! 

He is so funny! And he has no problem being in front of people!  I don't know what goes on in that head of his, but I am sure it's entertaining!  haha.

We are so proud!  Great Job Jackson!! 

Harrison's Week!

Harrison got a fever last Thursday. We assumed he would get over it, the other two had both had a 24 hour fever bug too.  But his lasted until Sunday!  He had also developed a cough.  So after 2 days with hardly any sleep, we decided it was time to get the poor kid some professional help!  To the Urgent Care we went.  And... he has pneumonia!  In May!  90 degree weather!  Weird, right?!  Because we got the kids' tonsils out... so he wouldn't be sick all the time!  ....What can ya do!?  Luckily, we caught it early, so no hospital.  Lots of rest and fluids... and meds!  :) 

And I am happy to say, as of today, we have been fever free for a whole day!  Woot Woot!  :)  ...I feel so bad that he seems to have gotten the short end of the immunity stick!  But I'm glad he is back to his happy self! 

And on a funny note!  I did manage to get asked 3 times in one week if I was pregnant!  hahaha.  Nope, I'm sure not!  But 2 x-rays with Reagan and 1 with Harrison meant for a lot of asking!  :)  Oh, the joys of being a mom!  Nothing like standing in a cold room, wearing an iron apron, holding your sick/uncomfortable/crying child down so they can radiate you both to get a good picture of their insides!  All in a weeks work!  ;) 

Reagan's Week!

This past week was kind of big for Reagan.  We started it with a meeting with her foot dr last Monday.  Her feet are looking good, which is great.  And we finally got to get a closer look at her little tag along toe.  :)  It was a pretty cool x-ray.  6 little piggies in black and white! :)  And... it is time for it to be set free.  We haven't set a date for the surgery yet, but it will be soon.  And hopefully it won't slow her down too much developmentally. 

(I'm including nude pics!  haha.  Because they are SO cute!  And you get to see all those awesome rolls!)  :)

She has been doing so well lately, learning new things!  First... to roll her tongue.  haha.  She and I are the only ones in the house who can do it!  And I sort of love that she can do something her brothers can't!  ;)  

And she has also figured out how to roll onto her tummy intentionally!  And repeatedly!  She is even trying to pull herself with her arms!  Yeah!  She's gonna be all over the place before we know it!  :)  Notice her sitting in the tub too!  She has been sitting on her own for a long time, but not in the tub!  It's kind of a big deal!  ;) 

Splashing... her new favorite thing!  :)

We did get a little surprise from our Pediatrician about 2 weeks ago.  Back in January Reagan had a renal scan done to check her kidneys and bladder, it was just for preventative purposes.  The results didn't make it to our Ped. until 2 weeks ago.  As it turns out, Reagan has some swelling in one of her kidneys.  It can be a sign of reflux in the kidney, and that can cause serious problems for the kidney. So she was scheduled for a test for reflux.  (Friday the 13th.)  It wasn't a fun test.  She had to get a catheter, they used it to send iodine into her bladder.  They filled her up and then watched as she let it all out!  :( (Sorry if that's TMI.)  Poor girl, I felt so bad for her!  But there was good news, the dr. said she looked negative for reflux!  What a relief.  This was her before they got started.

How cute is she in that little hospital gown?!  :)

They also took a urine sample to test.  And sure enough, a couple days after the test we got another call.  And Reagan is now on antibiotics.... for E-coli.  Yep, you heard me right.  They found e-coli in her pee.  What the...???  She is fine, she has been fine, and as far as we know, she will be fine.  So apparently it's not a big deal!?   It's just weird!  But weird is better than bad!  So we will take it!  :) 

Being a Mom...

There were a lot of things I figured would happen or change when I had kids, but there were a few I didn't count on.  Like when we watch the nature channel and that mama bear is out for blood... I totally cheer her on... sometimes my heart rate actually changes!  :)  I cry when I watch sweet commercials or sappy movies. (I actually cry more about sweet things than sad things, it totally confuses my boys!)  And I am completely unable to remember more than half of the things I should remember in a day.  hahaha.  (Someone really should have warned me about the memory loss!)  I know more cartoon characters names now than I did when I was a kid!  And I get excited over things like coupons and sales on bulk items.  hahaha.  I know what you are thinking.... it must be pretty cool to be me!  :)  And it totally is! I am a lucky lady!

My Mother's Day ROCKED!  Thanks to my Rock Star of a husband who took care of everything!  I didn't have to get anyone ready for church except me.  He even took Reagan to Priesthood so that I could relax a little during RS.  He cooked an amazing dinner... and even cleaned it up!  And I also got to take a nap.  (Which was documented with a cell phone picture that almost cost him an eyebrow in his sleep.)  But it was amazing! 

The boys made me the cutest cards.  And sang to me in Sacrament Meeting (Jackson got up with the Primary... Harrison sang to me from the pew. ;)  He's a little shy for the stand.), I love when they sing!  There was a lot of hugs and "I love you's" too! Reagan gave me lots of hugs and kisses, she has become so affectionate lately! (It's an amazing thing, a child being able to show you they love you!)  Best Gifts Ever!!!  I am a sucker for the sweetness!  :) And, as always, they gave me wonderful presents too!  

I love being a mother!  I love these kids!  I love their Dad!  I also love my mother very much!   Sometimes I desperately miss being able to sleep, eat and pee when ever I want... but I wouldn't have it any other way!  :) They are mine!  And I will love them forever!   I'm so grateful for every day I have with them and everything they teach me!  I would not be the person I am today if I wasn't their mom!

:)