Belle's Graduation day

Yesterday was Bellamie's graduation day from preschool. She did so well and we are so very proud of her! She has learn a lot and is now reading too!! Alicia is such a wonderful teacher and I hope to always be close enough for all of my kids to go to her for preschool. Bellamie really enjoyed going to preschool and she's now looking forward to start Kindergarten. She will be going to Entheos and we received an e-mail from them yesterday telling us that Julianne was accepted there too!! I'm so excited specially for Julianne, I think that she will do very well in that school. Entheos is a charter school and I really like their curriculum from what I have read on their website and from what I have heard from parents. I'm looking forward to meeting Belle's new teacher this coming week. It's very hard to get in this school so I'm very glad that I was able to get both of my kids in there!
But anyways... here's a few graduation pictures:


Bellamie and her teacher


With Daddy


With Mommy


With her friend Annie


Juju and her friend Katie

Hugs and Graduating,

Tine

Grandma day!

So this was several days ago...on the 15th of May but I have been so tired lately that I just don't feel like doing anything that I don't absolutely have to. Blogging is one of them that I don't really have to.
But anyways...for Mother's day I wanted to take the girls and do a Mommy 'n Me Royal tea party at the Gardner Village Protea Cottage. It's a very fun and cute activity to do with your little girls I really recommend! But since during the mother's day weekend Chad was gone, I couldn't do it that weekend, (can you all see Hayden in a place like that full of porcelain?! Yeah...don't think so!). Plus we do a Grandma day once a month so I suggested to Brigitte, one of the girls 3 grandmas, that we do a Grandma day out of this activity, so ended up being a Mommy, Grandma and Aunt and me activity! Aunt Natalie was there with us too!
So you get to pick the tea of your choice, plenty to choose from that doesn't have black or green tea in it! The girls got their own tea pot with pink chocolate, Julianne prefered the tea herself, she acts so grown up at times! They also serve English scones; jam & clotted cream; assorted finger sandwiches and specialty desserts with seasonal fruit garnish and the girls got to dress up with the hats and dresses that they have there. Here's a few pictures of that day.

Julianne all dressed up!


Bellamie all dressed up!


Showing off their outfits after the tea party was over.


All of us together.


The girls trying out a different hat before we left.


We did more stuff that day, we first went to feed the ducks at Wheeler Farm, then we did lunch, after that we went to Discovery zone for a little while where Chad met us to take over Hayden, after all the little guy have to have fun too right?! We girls then went to our tea party...fun full day!

Hugs and Tea Parties

Tine

Chad is coming home tonight!!!

Really he will be here tomorrow since it will be past midnight. But for my sanity's sake I'll just say tonight! :)
I'm so excited to have him home again..I HATE sleeping by myself!! If it was just me I would be OK...but since I feel like I have to be watching out for the kids at night by myself I don't really sleep well.
Pretty sad all of the horrible things that are always on the news that makes us paranoid...or maybe I should say, that makes me paranoid. Like little kids going missing in the middle of the night. :( So sad. I know that Heavenly Father is watching over us, but we must do our part to protect ourselves too right?! So what I did is I dragged the girls mattress to my room and they slept in the floor and Hayden was in bed with me and I had the phone and cell in the locked bedroom with me...just in case! I know I'm pretty bad!!! But really is there such a thing as too safe? Chad makes me feel safer than anything else in this world. Speaking of him...have I told you guys how great of a guy he is lately? NO??? Well he is...I hope that I never take him for granted. I must have done something really good at some point of my life to deserve him!
I had a wonderful mother's day! It's cute to see that even thou Chad was far away he wanted to make sure that I was taken care of, and I loved waking up and seeing the roses that he sent me for Mother's day, yes got here before mother's day but that's OK! :) I was also glad to not have to cook because of the meal that Chad bought frozen so all I had to do it's throw it in the oven. Julianne and Bellamie both went up with the primary kids during sacrament meeting and sang to me. They looked so cute up there...seeing them up there made me so happy! They made me cards and painted me pictures and gave me this cute and very yummy bouquet of cookies! :) (Daddy also got those for them before he left). I got to talk on the phone with my Mom and my little sister. I also got a lovely card from Grandpa Butler and some very yummy chocolate from one of my Moms, (I have 3). I must say that I never thought that I would like any other chocolate as much as I like the Godiva chocolate...but I'm in love again after trying the Vchocolates' fresh handmade caramels with chocolate and nuts...if you haven't tried their chocolate yet you MUST!!! I'm so grateful to be a mother...specially the mother of this 3 very special little kids that I love more than anything else in this world. Well almost 4 now. :) Nothing compares to being a mother!
Yesterday was fun too! We went to the movies with Grandma, Uncle Brady, Aunt Kym and Blake and saw Monsters VS Aliens. This was the very first time that Hayden sat through a WHOLE movie and I'm very proud of him! Hopefully this means that we can take him to the movies more often without Chad or I having to stand outside with him. After that we went to the Living Aquarium. Sorry no pictures...as always I forgot to take the camera.
Before I end tonight I also wanted to wish to all of the wonderful Mom's out there that I know...yes I'm talking about you! :) A happy Mother's day! Hope you all had a wonderful day and may Heavenly Father always guide us in our journey through Motherhood.

Hugs and eating chocolate,

Tine

Our week so far...

This post is for Chad...he's away in training in New Orleans and so I wanted to post a few pictures of what we have been up to while he's gone and also for him to see the kids.
Monday we went to the Living Aquarium and had tons of fun...or at least as much as we can have without Daddy! :( Then we went to do one of the crafts over at Michaels.
Wednesday we went to the zoo and also had a lot of fun! Aftre the zoo we went to get dinner at Carls Junior and the kids played in the toys there for a long time too!
Today we went to play for a few hours at the "castle park" as the girls call it over at 7800 South and also had a lot of fun...we had to take Hayden home kicking and screaming! :) Here's a few pictures:



They moved the Ryno!



Hayden with one of his favorite animals!



Wow!







Hayden with his new PJs that he did not let me leave Walmart without it!



Check out my cape guys!



Finally one of the kids playing in the park today. We love you tons Chaddy!! Hurry up and come home!

Hugs and keeping ourselfs busy,

Tine and the Trio

Free Mother's day Crafts at Michaels

Just wanted to let you all know that Michaels craft store is doing something fun this whole week for Mother's day.
Every day of the week they have a different free craft for your child to do for you. I took the kids there today and they were making a Corsage. Here's the link to their website with a list of what they will be doing every day of the week.

http://www.theknackkids.com/EventView/Code/ev0022.aspx

Just click on the date to the left of the page to see a picture of what will be made. Also note the times...today was just for an hour between 6-7:00 so make sure to show up at the right time! I'll try to take the girls there every night. One more thing...the picture frame on one of those days you have to pay for it...it's one of those $1 frames. So anyways...just wanted to pass on the events in case someone else thinks that would be a fun thing to do with your kids like I do! :)

Hugs and Crafts,

Tine

Belle is 5 years old now!

How crazy...time goes by so fast that's not even funny. My little ones are all growing up too fast!! I wish there was a way to slow things down a bit.
Today is my sweet little Bellamie's 5th Birthday! It has been such a joy to have her in our lives! I thank Heavenly Father every day for every one of my kids and for His trust in me to raise them here on this earth.
This morning when she woke up and come over to my bed we sat there and I told her a few stories of when she was born and from when she was a small baby. She enjoyed listening to them.
When Bellamie was born and I got to hold her for the very first time I had the same feeling as I did with Julianne...the feeling of "How have you been?! It's been a while since I last saw you!" Other than of course having my heart full of joy! But at the same time it was a little like dejavu because at first she looked sooooo much like Julianne that's not even funny...well actually she looked exactly like Julianne even the little mark in her forehead! When we look at their newborn pictures we never know who's who. The only way to tell is by the date the picture was taken. Juju and Belle hit it off right away and they have been best friends ever since. Juls tried to feed her in the hospital fries and chocolate and Belle didn't mind that a bit. :) Juju also liked falling asleep on top of Bellamie. It was the cutest thing ever...here's a picture:



I love to see the relationship that they have as sisters. Bellamie is my easy going child...she's always very happy and content. She doesn't need much, she doesn't ask for much. Her happiness is very contagious!! She's very cuddly too! She will one day make a super great wife and Mom because of her always happy and positive attitude!
Happy Birthday sweet heart and I'm glad for every minute that I get to have you in my life! I love you with all of my heart to the Moon and back...and some more!

Hugs and Feeling Grateful,

Tine

Does this baby make my bottom look big?

This week I had another doctor's check up. I now have 11 weeks to go...we are getting close. Can't wait to meet this little guy! I would love to have a little red head in the family...but I'm not holding my breath. :) Everything is fine other than my iron being super low...but that's normal for me.
A couple of months ago when I went to the doctor's office they took my weight and told me my weight. I mentioned to the doctor that as long as I don't gain another 50 pounds this time around like I did with Hayden I would be happy, after all that's about half my regular weight. He then told me that he's not worry about it because I always loose all the weight very fast, talk about a good compliment that your doctor could give you! So he said that I shouldn't worry about it either. He must have taken a note on my chart because last month when I went in he came in and told me my new weight gain, this time he was off by 4 pounds...I didn't think much of it, neither did I correct him I just thought that maybe he made a mistake when he told me that I had gained 17 pounds instead of 21. But now here's the funny thing. This week when I went there the nurse took my weight and told me that I had gained 4 pounds since last time. She didn't have to tell me that I can see the numbers in the scale yelling at me.
So I walk in the room and my doctor comes in and goes through my chart and tells me that I had gained a total of 18 pounds so far...hum...that's only 1 pound more than last month...but I must say that sure sounded a lot better then the 25 pounds total that I had gained! So once again I left the subject alone. Wouldn't you?! :) But driving home with Chad I realized what he was doing...he was lying to me on purpose I'm sure! He must be worry that I'm too concern with my weight gain and he doesn't want me to start a diet or anything like that. He doesn't know me very well. I told Chad what happened and we were laughing in the car...he told me that next time I should correct my doctor and tell him that weight "X" sure sounds a lot better then "Y"!!!! :) What a good doctor I have...he even lies to make me feel better about myself! :) I must say that I do enjoy my curves right now...after all it's the only time that I actually have any! :(
But anyways...so I saw this maternity T-shirt the other day that I wanted to buy just so that I could were it when I go to my doctor's office...the T-shirt said: "Does this baby make my bottom look big?" I loved the T-shirt but $40 for it?! No thanks...not for something that I get to use for another 10 weeks or so....
Anybody looking for a good doctor?! :)

Hugs and Getting Rounder by the Minute,

Tine

One little, two little, three little beads up Hayden's nose!

Have any of you ever seen the movie "One fine day"? In this movie there's this little boy, he must be about 5 or 6 in the movie...that has the habit of shoving small things up his nose and getting them stuck there. When I first saw that movie I remember thinking...what kid puts something up his nose?! Not only once but several times and have to go to the doctor's to take it out?!!!! I can see doing it once...and learning your lesson once that you have to go to a doctor to take it out...but several times??!! Well...I'll tell you what kind of kid does that...MY SON that's who!!!
I haven't had to take this little guy to the doc's yet....knock on wood...but I'm thinking that's just a matter of time! Yesterday was a record breaker for Hayden...usually he will put one small bead up his nose and stop there...but yesterday he outdid himself! First in the morning he put TWO beads...one on each side of his nostrils....so I got those taken out...I have to use bobby pin to dig them out because after he puts them in his nose he tries to take them off by shoving his finger up his nose therefore pushing them up further to the point where's almost impossible to reach. When she shoves them up there you can't just squeeze them out of his nose either.... :/
Then later on the day, close to dinner time, Hayden shoved not one...not two...but THREE beads up his nose!!!!! I couldn't believe how many were up there as I laid him flat on his back and started to dig them out with a bobby pin!!! I better go get more bobby pins by the way....two beads on one side and one on the other. After I got those taken care of and after Hayden ate his dinner he went back to the toy room, where he some how finds all of this beads, and then I heard him scream... "OH NO"...so I asked him what was wrong. He then pointed to his nose and said "nose".
I knew at that point that he had shoved another bead up there and then tried to take it off himself and that's why he was screaming oh no because he knew that he had got another one stuck up there. He then proceeded to walk to the bathroom where the bobby pins are and laid himself down the floor to wait for the torture of digging them out of his nose...he hates when I take them out and he screams and cries but that doesn't stops him from doing it again and again in the same day...usually he will do this once a day or once every other day. But that was a total of 6 beads on one day!!! I then saw as he was laying down that he had 2 more beads in his hand ready to shove them up as soon as his nostril was free again...so I got those taken care of too...here's a picture of a bead stuck up there, this was the last time in the day when he had only one on his nose.



He is smiling here because of the camera but he wasn't smiling while I was taking the bead off!



Here are the beads that he shoves on his nostrils...he will usually put the small in first and then the bigger one to seal them in. :/



Here's my happy weird little guy again! He better be proud of that shirt because his Mom really does ROCK!!! :)

Hugs and digging beads

Chad's 30th Birthday

I have so many of you asking me where's the post of Chad's b-day...sorry...sometimes life is just to busy to stop and write about it! But Chad's b-day went very well!!! We all had soooo much fun...and yes Chad did too!!!! Chad and I have this thing in our house where we don't really take ourselves very seriously and it's ok to aloud others to laugh of us because in the end we end up laughing just as much if not more than anybody else. So with that being said, my intentions with what I did to Chad wasn't just to pay back but also to aloud him to have just as much fun laughing with friends as I did on my b-day. This is how all went down... Chad took a day off from work to spend with us so we took the kids fishing, (what else would Chad want to do?!) :) You guys have NO idea how hard it is to handle Hayden around a lake. Took the two of us and the girls to keep that little guy safe...as I have said before taking care of Hayden it's like being on a 24h suicidal watch! Very active little guy but also the sweetest little kid ever. There was a playground there too so I ended up taking Hayden and Belle there while Chad and Juls walked around the lake searching for frogs...I know so much for fishing right?! After that we grabed something to eat on the way home and swallow whole because we were already late to start the little "scavenger hunt". After we ate I told Chad what the girls and I had planned for him...well not all of it...we just told him that we were sending him on a scavenger hunt and the first home that he needed to go to was the McBeth's. Of course I had to go with him so I could get a video and take pictures. Back up a little...let me tell you how I did the scavenger hunt. I started out with a "National Treasure" theme. But decided after I took a look at the crosswords puzzle that I had put together that it was going to take way too long for Chad to figure everything out and time was not on our side. So I called my two girls and asked for help...so they helped me with all of the clues and that made it very cute and easy...well somewhat...Chad still couldn't get his older daughter's age right! ;) To get his clue he had to do something in each home. After he figured out the clue the family then would get to "decorate" Chad for the b-day parade. That he could not know about it until he received the last clue! So now we are at our first destination...when Chad arrived there he had to sing "When you wish upon a star" he then got his clue and figured out the crossword puzzle that had the address of his next destination. The family then painted his nails green and blue and tight a balloon on his wrist. Here's a picture.


So now on to next house...the Irwin's. Arriving there he had to read a children's book while imitating the voice of a character of their choice. They picked a chicken and I must say that Chad did a good job! :)
They decorated him first. They hang a sign on him and a few other things here's a few pics:

He then got his clue where he had to color a page with a marker to reveal his next destination, I wrote the clue with a white crayon. Our next destination was the Robb's home. He was supposed to do the hula dance there but we were so late that we ended up forgetting, on his clue this time he was suppose to go through a magazine and find the letters to form the address to the next home...not enough time for that either so I just told him the next address. The Robb's decorated Chad by adding loop earrings and a life saver! Here's a picture:

So now on to the last home. The Rex's. When he got there he had to yodel for his last clue! For some really sad reason the sound come out messed up on this video! :( So sad because he did such a good job too! :)

Here's what they did to him!!! :)



His last clue was just a letter congratulating him and letting him know that he was now ready for his b-day parade! We had his Dad, Brigitte and his Mom and some friends waiting there for us. So we put Chad on the back of his Dad's truck while we drove around the neighborhood honking and letting everybody know that we were coming! The bishop and his family joined us with their car all decorated and they were also all wearing fun hats! Lots of people came out to greet Chad it was so much fun! Brigitte helped me make a flier to pass around and the bishop and his family helped me by making copies and passing those around! Thank you all!! :) So they were all expecting Chad! :) While we were gone Suzi come over and did a cute job at decorating the front of our house for Chad! Thanks Suzi! :) After the parade we had cake and ice cream over at our house where family and friends came over and we had lots of fun! After his party Chad said that this was a birthday that he will never forget!! :) I hope that he meant that in a good way!!! :)
Here's a picture of him during the parade:



Oh my most adorable husband...I do love you with all of my heart!


Hugs and Celebrating

Restaurant deals

So every once in a while I'll be posting not only things about our lives but everyday things that I might like or some killer deal that I found.
This time I found a super good deal on restaurant gift cards. I'm not sure if many of you are familiar with this website:
http://www.mybargainbuddy.com/
But I love this place, I like to check them out once a day to see what's the deal of the day since it changes every day. TIP: Good way of getting your Christmas shopping done early while saving a lot of money! Yesterday's deal of the day was at the http://www.restaurant.com/index.asp?pgn=home website. You go there and enter your zip code to see a selection of restaurants participating in your area, a very cheap way to go check out new places. They have gift cards worth $25 selling for $10 and now here's the best part...they have a coupon now for an extra 60% off the already reduced price, so you will be getting a $25 gift card for $4!!! The coupon code is SEASON and expires on 04/13/09. Can't beat the $21 off. I know that the gift cards have to have a minimum amount to be able to use it, for example you have to spend $35 to get the $25 off...but hey paying $14 for a $35 meal it's still a good deal if you ask me! So we got ourselves a few gift cards...can you say cheap dates?! Hope you can enjoy this deal too! :)

Hugs and Eating Out