Birthday girl

We headed out to my Dad and Penny's Friday night. My whole family was gathering there for a weekend visit. We had a little party for Hayley. I was complaining about making a cake or cupcakes for Hayley's birthday and a dear, dear friend of mine offered to make them for me. She is the best. The cupcake's were adorable. Thanks Megs. I really appreciate it. Hayley wasn't sure about the cake. She ate it, but it didn't seem like she was really enjoying it. Then we gave her a minnie mouse shopping cart. She loves things she can push around. It was the perfect gift. She loves it and pushes it around all the time. I can't believe my baby is one!

Happy Birthday baby girl!

One

After I had my first 3 kids really close together, I knew it was time for a little break. Even though it took a few years to even consider having another one, I always knew there would be another one. We started debating if we should try for another one almost two years ago. We decided we would go for it and try, but a week later I kind of panicked and thought that maybe we should wait just a little bit longer. Well, too late. I found out a few weeks after that, that I was indeed pregnant! I'm not going to lie, the pregnancy was pretty much awful throughout the whole thing. It was definitely way worse then my other three pregnancies and took a lot out of me.

But when I held our beautiful baby girl...our beautiful Hayley Kim, I knew that the last 9 months were worth it. She felt right. She fit.

And now, my precious little bean is 1 years old! I can't believe it, and hate how much the time has just flown by. She is adored by all of us, and is growing into such a fun, beautiful, and sweet little girl. She is a smarty pants, and catches on to things quickly. She loves to play with her siblings, loves being outside, and still loves cuddling with Mommy and Daddy. She loves to laugh, loves to dance and sing, and loves going up and down the stairs all by herself. She loves being in the water, and just goes and goes and goes. We absolutely love her like crazy and can't wait to see what toddlerhood brings for this little one (or can we?).

Happy Birthday Hayley Bean! We sure love ya.

Lately

Last weekend it was Heritage days. We went out to the town Ryan grew up in and spent the weekend with the Olsen's. Ryan played in the family ball tournament so we watched a lot of baseball games. The parade was Saturday morning and the kids loved watching it and got tons of candy. Then we had a lunch at the farm with Connie's brother and his family. It was nice to visit and catch up with them. When Ryan was all done with ball, we went out for ice cream just the two of us. On our way back to the farm, the fireworks were about to start but we were just too tired to go watch them (pretty sad, eh). Sunday we got to hear Connie speak in another ward, and then we went to Dave and Jacki's ward to watch the kids sing. They were so cute and did such a good job. Then we spent the afternoon at the farm playing until it was time to go home. We always have such a good time out there.

I forgot to mention that the farm has been infested with wasps this year. Connie's had to spray under the deck twice. Ty was stung twice, McKenna once, and little Hayley even got stung once. Not fun.

Now we're getting ready for a weekend at my Dad and Penny's with my family. I am very excited but hate having to do all the packing.


Oh...And...

I worked my last night at the clinic last night. I've been working there for almost 7 years for two nights a week for the walk in clinic. I have loved it so much but it is getting too hard to be away from home two nights a week now that the kids are in school and have extra curricular activities. It was hard to say goodbye, but I know its the right thing to do. I'm still on their casual list to fill in for people who are sick or away, so I guess its not goodbye for good. The girls surprised me with cupcakes last night. Thanks guys. I'll miss you!

A little bit of Heaven

I've been wanting to get the kids a pool they can play in on those hot summer days (we've actually been having a lot of them), but apparently you have to buy them at the start of the summer cause now all the swimming stuff has been replaced with school supplies. We finally found a tiny selection at superstore.We bought a tiny one for Hayley, and a bigger one for the kids. We got home last night at about 6:00pm, but it was still hot out so we filled those babies up. The kids were in heaven.

I just put a little bit in the bottom of Hayley's pool, and I filled it with warm water from the house. She loved it. She would splash, and stand up, and get in and out all by herself. The older kids would jump in it after being in their freezing pool and called it their hot tub.

The kids loved their pool too, even though the water was freezing cold. I might even have to dip in that little thing when it gets hot out. Glad we finally have some water fun to enjoy in our own backyard.

Pet parade and Harry Potter

Yesterday we spent the day at the Roelofs. I started babysitting these girls when Nic was 3 and Mar was 7 months. The first time I met them all it just felt right. Like we were meant to be in each other's lives. Now Nic is 16, and Mar is 13. I'm so grateful that we're still part of each other's lives. I use to joke with them when I was babysitting that one day they would babysit my kids. That day has come, and I love it. My kids love, love them. They always have so much fun with them. They live out in the country (which just means 5 minutes outside of the city) in a beautiful house with a huge yard. They have pets, pets, and more pets. They have I think 4 cats, a big bird that talks named Lulu, a couple hedgehogs, and a guinea pig. We have no animals, so the kids love to be around their's. Hayley is very curious about the cats, but when gets right next to one she whines and isn't sure about it. She loved the bird. She was not afraid to touch that thing. McKenna wasn't too sure about the hedge hog. She was playing with it on the floor but if it came near to her she'd freak out.

Other fun things the kids did:

played the wii, had popsicles, had a snack, played with remote control monster trucks, on the skateboard, chased a rabbit, Ty rode a bike while the girls went for a ride in the wagon. What a fun day.

and #flashbackfriday...here's a bunch of pics of the girls and us on our wedding day. Just don't mind the hideousness of some of the pics...thankfully photography has improved a ton since we got married.

After we got home and I put Hayley to bed, I wanted to get a picture and document that Nate and I are reading Harry Potter together. Ry wasn't at home so I had Ty and McKenna try and take a picture with my phone. Here are the takes. Trust me, there are a lot of them.

Okay, I lied. I must have erased all the other one's already. I had about 10 more. they would be blurry, or my head would be cut off, or it would be a pic of just the book, and so on. Finally McKenna got the very top pic. Its blurry, but it was definitely the best one. Guess we need to practice with these kids.

Then Nate took this one...

Pretty good.

Cream Cheese Chicken

This is one of our all time favorite meals. It is so easy, so yummy, and every single person in our family loves it (that does not happen very often), it is a big hit, so I thought I would share:

What you need:

A crock pot
4-6 chicken breasts
2 cans mushroom soup
1 pack cream cheese
Italian dressing seasoning (you can find this in the dressing isle in a little green package)
and that is it. seriously.

Put your mushroom soup in the crock pot and the italian seasoning and mix it up.
then add the chicken
Cook on high for 3 hours
Add the cream cheese (add this an hour before your done, and best to cut up into little squares so it melts easier)
after cream cheese is added, cook another hour (so 4 hours all together) then serve over rice!

Easy peasy...and so delicious. Enjoy.


Also, a few weeks ago when Ryan was away for work, I was at Costco buying easy to make meals for the kids and came across these:

Kirkland Cheese Pizza. I don't usually buy frozen pizza. Its just never that good for the price that it usually is. These were 4 for $10, so I thought I'd give them a try. I was pleasantly surprised. They are really delicious. Definitely the best frozen pizza I've ever eaten. The kids and I devoured it. We also took one out to Adam and Britt's to share and Britt raved about it too. So if your looking for an easy frozen pizza meal (we all have days where we don't want to cook) I recommend these...and so does Britt!

Happy eating.

News

and no I am not pregnant.

I actually put my 2 weeks notice in at work yesterday. I've been working two nights a week doing receptionist for a walk-in clinic for almost 7 years now. It has been a wonderful experience. I love the work and I love the people, but now that my children are getting to school age and are starting extra curricular activities it is getting too hard to be away from home. So, after a lot of thought, we decided that it was the best thing for us, and that we could manage without my job, as scary as that is, to tighten up the budget a bit.  I'm hoping I will be able to get our lives a bit more organized.

We also booked our hotel for our Disneyland trip! We are going February 9-16th. I have never been (I know, sad right.) so I am really, really excited...maybe even a little more so than the kids. We are going with my in-laws, and Ryan's brother and his family. Now I just have to wait 6 more months.

And lastly, my beautiful, adorable, little baby girl is now throwing the biggest tantrums. No. How can this be happening already? She is screaming, crying, and hitting the wall, floor, and she is a stubborn little thing. She wants what she wants and lets you know it. Its hard to distract her away from the thing she wants. I am not ready for this.

I'm actually looking forward to this cooler day, hopefully with a little bit of rain. The kids even had to put pants on to go out and play. As long as its back to hot, wonderful sunshine tomorrow. We have plans you know.