Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday to our little Claire Bear!! She turned three on Sunday and we just love her so much! Having five children means that every time we've had a birthday party for a 3 year old, there was another little baby in my arms or on the way. At those moments I have said, "See? This is why I keep having babies. So that I can always have a three year old in the house!" I just love three. It's such a fun age to experience with my children. But alas, there comes a time in life when a person, (translation: Matt) just has to say, "Enough is enough!" Which means we've just had our last 3rd birthday party. It isn't sad. It's just one more milestone. But it's true that you learn to appreciate the little moments more and more. So this birthday was especially fun for me. And I think that Claire enjoyed it too!

I asked her what kind of cake she wanted.... "Pink!"
Opening presents with plenty of encouragement from siblings.
A thank you hug to Corinne for the stickers.


Blowing out her candles!

Sporting her new pink sunglasses and piggy from Aunt Barbara.

And here she is the next day with her new sand table. I know. You're probably tempted to point out the fact that our whole backyard is a sandbox. But that dirt is off limits. Grass is on the way! (Maybe the power of positive thinking will make it come true.)

Wind Caves

Last Saturday Matt took the older kids and went for a hike to the Wind Caves in Logan Canyon. They had a great time and Matt said Spencer asked to go again before they had even made it back to the truck. Maybe next time Claire and I will get to go!

Nicole, Spencer and Paige on the trail:
Nicole and Corinne
Yay! They reached the caves in one piece!
Spencer has always really loved Spiderman. Now I know why! I never knew they were related.
Okay, just kidding. The picture above wasn't rotated correctly. But I had to put it in because Spence laughed so hard when he saw it like that. He kept saying, "It looks like I'm climbing on the ceiling!"
Paige finally found her niche in life. (Wow! Did I really just type that? Sorry!)
Pictures like this are the reason I don't go...
And this...


Not a bad view! (And the scenery is pretty great also.)

Summer Home

Well, it may not be a cabin on Lake Tahoe or waterfront property in the Hamptons, but my kids love it! Officially, our summer vacation started yesterday at 11:30am. But Nicole, Corinne, Paige and Spencer got a jump on things on Monday by literally moving into the playhouse. They've assigned themselves each a bunk, decorated, and stocked their "adult-free zone" with all sorts of necessities: books, crackers, FM radio, more blankets and pillows than I can count, and board games. If the playhouse had running water, it's possible that I wouldn't see them all summer. (Hmmm....that's something to think about.) Truthfully, I was skeptical. I remember plenty of summer nights sleeping outside in which I ended up trudging back inside to my own bed. These pictures aren't just from their first time sleeping outside this summer. This is their first time EVER! So, I left the outside lights on and the doors unlocked, sure that I would hear them soon enough. But no! The only thing that finally drove them from their haven was nature's call the next morning! And then they were gone again--but not before stealing more "supplies" from the kitchen. Fun stuff!!

P.S. In other news: Tonight is the second night in a row that Matt and I are awake much later than we'd like to be because our "nearly teenager" is at a party, so we have to wait up for HER!! I really feel remorseful right now for all the many nights I kept my mom up. It never even occurred to me that she was tired! I guess it's payback time...

One Year Older...and Wiser, Too!

Yesterday was Matt's birthday! It's always such a big day for him. He looks forward to it with much anticipation and excitement. Oh wait, my mistake. That would be ummm....anybody else. Matt has to be reminded.

"Yes, tomorrow is your birthday. "

"Good morning, Happy Birthday!...Yes, you!"

"Hi! Just calling to make sure you're coming home on time today...Why?? Because it's your birthday and your mom and grandparents are coming!"

Fortunately for him, he has plenty of reminders. Five of them to be exact and they were more than willing to help him open his presents and blow out his candles. We sufficiently celebrated him one year older. We love him and we're very glad we have him. We'll keep him around for many more birthdays!!

Now for the "wiser". You thought that title referred solely to Matt's birthday didn't you? Nope! That man is already far too wise for my own good. The "wiser" in this post is Spencer! He graduated from Preschool last week. It was a close one. We had some late nights making sure he had all his assignments in and a couple of projects to help bring up his grade in "Cutting With Safety Scissors". But fortunately for all of us, he has been deemed worthy to move on to kindergarten in the fall. Here are THREE (yikes!) video clips from the program. The first is of Spencer reciting his part. The next two are samples of songs they sang during the program. He's quite the silly yet handsome little man! (If I do say so myself.)