Rewind...Sammie's Birthday Party

Sammie had her third birthday right after we left Vegas. I knew that we probably wouldn't do anything big in Idaho for her birthday (mostly because we would be living in a hotel and partly because we didn't know anyone) so we decided to have a little family birthday party for her before we left Vegas.

Finding a theme for her party was super easy. At her request (or screaming demand), we'd been watching 'Frozen' at least once a day (sometimes three or four times in a row) so I knew a 'Frozen' party would be a winner.

I had looked on Pinterest for a few ideas (there were tons), but - to be quite honest - I think that really elaborately decorated and over the top parties for kids are a little ridiculous. I mean really, the kids don't care how "pretty" the party is (do they?). Anyway, if you are one of those moms, good for you - I just am not (maybe it's because I'm lazy). However, simple decorations and games aside, it was a good time and all the kids (and adults) loved it.

Our soon to be birthday girl. She's standing with Sven for our "feed Sven" beanbag toss game. I drew and colored Sven myself. Freehand. I am super proud of that.

What would a birthday party be without a piñata?

The party guests. Aside from our family, we had my sister's boys, the neighbor girls, and the kids of one of my mom's co-workers.

Ah, Sven.

We built snowmen out of marshmallows, pretzels, and candies. I think that more sugar was eaten than used to build with, but that's what happens at a party!

Feeding Sven.

Pizza!

Pinata time! All the kids got a couple of turns and, when it was still uncracked, we let the adults go at it. Pregnant Ashley punching it is one of my favorite shots of the day!

Presents! Sammie's cousins and friends were very generous.

The cake. I ordered it from a yummy local bakery called Freeds. To make a specialty 'Frozen' cake would have been really pricey, so I just had them do a basic cake, and then I bought little 'Frozen' figurines to stick on there. I thought it turned out perfectly (and, the cake was delish, seriously, I want another piece right now just looking at it).

Sammie takes candle blowing very seriously.

It was a fun party and a great way to celebrate our little girl (clearly we were all worn out afterward - notice that every single person in the background is on a device - including Max - ha!). She loved it and I loved seeing her love it. She is such a light and a blessing in our home. I love this baby (even if she's not really a baby anymore). Happy Birthday Sammie!

A random catch up post

I have a thousand legitimate things to post about, but I'm worried that if I do, all the fun random pictures that depict life around here will never make it to the blog! So let's just dive right in, shall we? Here we go:

I had a lovely Mother's Day. The kids were very sweet to me all day with drawings and songs and hugs and kisses. I said that I really wanted a good picture with them for Mother's Day and they delivered! I know it's a bit blurry, but can we cheer for a moment that everyone's looking AND smiling! I sure do love being the mom of this bunch!

Some of my Mother's Day gifts. Clayton made that vase for me at school. And Noah and Josie filled out "All About my Mom" sheets. My favorite things on these: Where Noah says I have "long" hair and "beautiful" eyes. I also laughed that he says I like to cook salad for my family (ah, you can always tell when Mom's on a diet, eh?)! I also like that Josie said that it makes me happy when she feeds the dog and gets dressed. Nailed it! That does make me happy!

Crazy hair day at school. Noah had a cool ponytail Mohawk, but he was mad when I was taking pictures and refused to have one taken. Love the look Clayton's sporting! He did tell me after school that he was SOO glad he's not a girl because having your hair in ponytails all day kind of hurts! Beauty is pain Clayton, remember that!!

Is it just me, or does this girl look so big now!?! Where's my baby going??

South Bend was super slow to get to spring this year. So we went bowling one morning. It was a lot of fun and sort of competitive! I think this will be even more fun when the girls are a little older.

Love being silly with this kid!

It was cold, but we braved it and got ice cream anyway. Sammy was in heaven with her ice cream cone!

After church one Sunday, Noah told me he had a secret that he couldn't tell Clayton. Of course, this made Clayton crazy. Secret was, he wanted to make him a friendship necklace. Clayton was so happy, he made Noah one in return (with 100 beads, no less)! I love that these boys are best friends!

Clayton has been staying after school once a week for months to be in the fourth grade choir. We went to their concert and it was awesome! Clayton's a great performer and we loved watching him!

The boys and I had a goal to read the entire Book of Mormon by the end of the school year. Last week we finished! It was so great to share this wonderful book with my two favorite boys. I loved watching their testimonies grow as we read. These boys are pretty special!

And, of course, I adore this girl to pieces. She keeps me on my toes, but nothing is ever boring when she's around!

Justin and I celebrated our 12 year wedding anniversary over Memorial Day weekend. We spent our anniversary driving with the kids to Wisconsin to visit our best friends. Not super romantic, but we got to talk to each other and laugh almost the whole way there. It's been a great 12 years and I know that the best is yet to come with this guy! I'm lucky to be married to him!

In Wisconsin over Memorial Day weekend. It was H-O-T! We had a blast and spent almost every second outside, enjoying the summer heat, eating popsicles, and watching the kids play in the sprinklers.

Mmmmm, summer...

These two best friends. They were stuck to each other like glue all weekend. Enoch stepped on glass right after we got there and ended up needing stitches, so he was a little limited with the activities he could do, but Noah stuck with him. I love that when they see each other they pick up right where they left off.

Sammie was enamored with "Baby Cake" (Kate). She would dote on her all weekend. I was starting to feel sad that she will never get to be a big sister...until she started going crazy jealous every time Justin or I even looked at the baby. Sammie loves babies...she's just not willing to share her parents!

Here's the whole crew (minus Kate). We can't wait to see them again in a month!

This was the view from my front porch yesterday morning. Look at all that green! I love a green landscape. Like really, truly LOVE! I'm sad to leave it because the west has nothing that even compares to this (well, maybe the pacific northwest). It makes me laugh sometimes when people in Utah, Nevada, or Arizona post pictures of their "gorgeous seasons". They have no idea. Seriously. None.

Sister best friends!

Grocery shopping with my ladies. They always beg to ride in these car carts. On the occasion that I do cave, they ride in them for five minutes and then spend the next 20 running circles around me while I push this monstrosity around the store. Apparently I'm slow to learn my lesson...

I'm going to have to break this up into two random catch up posts because I've still got quite a few pictures to share before I get into the real stuff (like my awesome solo trip to Idaho to finalize our house finishings...that'll be a good one). So stay tuned...hopefully I can get another post in tomorrow!

The rest of December (so far)...

Here's what we've got:
We made "ginger bread trees". Really, they were just sugar cookie cones turned upside down and decorated, but the kids had a great time.

Some of us were there for the decorating, some of us were just there for the knife full of frosting and the candy...

 Classic Sam:

 Guess who was just there for the candy and frosting-knife:

 The finished products (they turned out so cute, but the kids learned really fast that they didn't taste as good as they looked - too much sugar...even for the kids!):

 Then we colored holiday pictures to hang up in Justin's clinic:

 Sometimes, we need to take a break from the holiday festivities to eat this baby:

 We went to Justin's holiday party at work (where the girls got to see Santa again):

The kids and I have been running around doing countless Christmas errands (which I am happy to say are now completely done)!

At the clinic holiday party white elephant exchange, we scored with this Minnie Mouse gumball machine. Sammie snuck up and helped herself (and then did the classic Sam "eye close" when I tried to take her picture).

The Sunday before Christmas. Once again, we were in a rush to take pictures on our way out of church so they're not great pictures.

Clayton's face is a little scratched up, Sammie's baby doll just had to be in the picture, Josie's sporting the fattest lip I've ever seen, and Noah's smile looks a little scary but I think this is still the cutest little group of kids ever! I mega-love them.

 Sweet girls:

 Handsome gentlemen:

Close up of Jo's fat lip. She was running around and fell into the corner of our game table. Her lip is enormous and her gums are cut and swollen as well. It was pretty tragic when it happened and Josie's really NOT a fan of having a fat lip (she told me this morning that she thinks she looks like a monster) but she's handling it much better now than she was. Hopefully it'll be back to normal by Christmas!

This weekend our good friends, the Petersen's, came to visit. We had a blast. The adults went to an awesome Straight No Chaser concert one night and out to a nice dinner another night. The kids just basically enjoyed a lot of time together playing. Plus, we got to meet their sweet new baby Kate. I LOVED snuggling with that sweet tiny girl!

It got sad when it was time for them to go though. Noah and Enoch have been best friends their whole lives. The fact that they live in different states and only see each other a few times a year has done nothing to change their relationship. They play perfectly together and parting is always a teary affair. You can see on Noah's face how sad he is that Enoch's leaving:

Thankfully we know we'll see them again soon (and, fingers crossed, we can convince them to move to Idaho with us)!

December has just been flying by. I can't believe there are only three more days until Christmas! There are still a few things left to do around the Smith house to prepare, but we're excited to do them. Hope you're having as wonderful of a holiday season as we are so far!