Party On

We survived another birthday party with 12 boys and Ellie running loose around the house. Here's just a few memorable moments.

Stevie and Ellie racing to eat donuts.


Present vultures.

Hallelujah! The cake survived until the family party.

Cute kid with cute cake. Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Yessssssss!!!

CAKE WARS

So I had a friend call me up a week or two ago and she wanted a Yoda cake for her son's birthday but didn't know how to go about it. If she'd contacted me a bit earlier than 2 days before the event, I would have tried to come up with a way to do 3D. As it turned out, we only had time to do this one, but I thought it turned out really fun. I did make her do most of the frosting and she even drew Yoda (she's an artist so I didn't dare draw anything for her) but I helped walk her through it and it was a success!

This one I have been planning a bit longer. I thought for sure it was within my realm of possibility but wasn't sure how it would go until it was finished. I had so much fun playing with the fondant that I'm sure it will be my new favorite medium. Now to see if it can stand until Sunday night.

What The Hell

Do you ever get the feeling that someone has taken you and all those you care about and thrown you into a giant toilet ... and then flushed it?



At first you think, this isn't so bad, it's just like a big swirling swimming pool that's a bit stinky. It's only a little wet and kinda dizzying. Then after a while it gets a bit rougher and the jostling becomes much more severe. Now your soaking and getting quite uncomfortable. Before you know it, you and everyone you care for, are swirling uncontrollably towards a putrid black hole that has no way out and leads to a vast dark abyss of nothingness.



I think some famous author described hell in a similar fashion. I prefer the toilet analogy, it's apt.

Baby Mozart

The best part is how she stops to turn the pages.

These pictures reminded me of one of my favorite movie quotes. 10 points to the person who can identify it (see side quote).

Baby Elephant Walk

Today was the big day! The Step Out for Diabetes Walk. We were able to raise $320 for diabetes research. Thanks again to all of you who donated on Natty's behalf. A special thank you to Morgan Reynolds and Sallee Matthews who put together the video that touched so many people.











We meant to do the walk as a family but Steve had to referee a lacrosse tournament, so it was me and the kids, grandma and grandpa, and Sara Jane. The course was 2 miles from This is the Place to the Hogle Zoo. Stevie was a trooper. He walked the entire way with no complaint. Riley was in the stroller most of the time with many complaints. Natalie was everywhere keeping people happy. And even Emma insisted on walking a good part of the way.









We are already looking forward to next year. We are going to do the JDRF (Juvenille Diabetes Research Foundation) walk next time. Those of you who wanted to participate this year but were unable, I'll keep you posted so we can get started earlier and do more fundraising.


The walk ended at the Zoo and all walkers had free admission. Yea! The zoo has a lot of new additions, not the least of which is a baby elephant. Aaaaawww. It was adorable! It was so cute walking around like one of the big guys, only in miniture. This was the best picture I could get. Just look at the cute legs!





They also had a new baby pachyderm, giraffe, and tiger cubs (no picture, sorry).

Happy Birthday and Hallelujah!

This has been a crazy couple of weeks. We had 3 kids start school and two birthdays. I'm exhausted.

Stevie started school first 2 weeks ago. He is in first grade and is in a French dual emmersion program. So half his day he learns in English and then he switches to a teacher who is only allowed to speak in French. It's so bizarre but he doesn't seem to mind. Some of the kids in his class are really frustrated and come home from school crying, but Stevie doens't seem to care. He's a real easy going kid. When you ask how he likes it he just says "I don't understand a freakin' word she says!" So supposedly by Christmas they should start speaking small phrases themselves. We'll see.

Then Riley started kindergarten the next Monday. This was very exciting for everyone. She has been looking forward to this all summer. I dropped her off in front of the school and she lined up with everyone else and waved goodbye. No tears. No trauma. She was so prepared to have her own class to go to and meet new friends. Riley has really come a long way from hiding in the closet the first time we took her to preschool. She's such a big girl now! We love you Riley!!!

Then there's Natalie. Thursday of the same week, Natalie started preschool. This was the hardest for us. Not only am I handing over my little Natalie 3 afternoons a week, but I am trusting them to handle her diabetes. This was nerve racking. Especially when the first day she came in from recess and tested in the 50's. It's going to be an adjustment but we'll get used to it. I take great comfort in the fact that grandma is right there to test her and give shots as needed. Thanks Liz!

So If you add that all up, it equals 3 afternoons a week with just Emma (the champion napper) at home. 3 hours of peace. Quiet. Nap. Sewing. Exercise. What ever I can think of. Your ideas are most welcome. I'm sure I'll run out soon.

Then we had birthdays. Steve got what he's been asking for since the day we got married...a truck. It's old and crappy but it may as well have been gold plated for all he cared. We can now pull up to home depot with pride, purpose, and pleasure.

Natalie's birthday was just after Steve's and only 100 times bigger. We had a fun bbq with family and friends and opened a billion presents. We now officially have enough toys in the house to open a daycare. A special thanks to grammy for the cute night gown. I think Riley was more excited than Natalie to have someone to match her.

I also made her birthday cake of course. I have again strayed from "tradition" and made a more traditioanl looking cake. I'm trying to practice my fondant skills in preparation for an R2-D2 cake Stevie wants for his birthday. Stay tuned for that headache. Natalie said she wanted a cake with doggies, kitties, froggies, and duckies, so here's my interpretation of that.

By the way, Thanks to those of you who contributed to the Step Out for Daiabetes. There are only 3 weeks left so if you are still thinking about it, we have a long way to go to reach our goal of a cure for Natalie. Please see my last posting for details about helping out there.

GO BYU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They just beat Oklahoma, ranked #3, 14-13!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's all folks!!

Cure for Natalie

Hey everybody! This is a video about our sweet little Natalie that Morgan Reynolds and his sister Sallee Mathews made for us to promote the "Step Out for a Cure" diabetes walk. If you're reading this blog then you probably know Natalie. There are also millions of other adorable little kids out there like her who have to go through the same things she does. We can all agree that it's time to find a cure for type 1 diabetes and by following this link we can all make a difference. Please check out the video and donate what you can to this more than nobel cause.

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3UOCi3&h=0d7368e73442b80cc5263bd6f4ef8f03