Kade's Bithday Pics

I took Kade to get his birthday pics taken! He looks like a handsome little man in these! He's getting so grown up-it's a little sad!!

Happy Birthday McKade!!!!

McKade turned two last Wednesday. It's hard to believe that two years have passed since he was born! It has been a wild ride having three kids but so much fun! McKade has been such a fun baby and it's sad to see him growing up so fast! Of course, he wants to be just like the big kids and do everything they do. On the other hand, he's still willing to plop that that thumb in his mouth, grab his bear blankie, and settle in for some major baby cuddles that we love.
Since Ben had Scouts on Wednesday, we only had time to celebrate by having a quick dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. We were lucky enough to get to eat in the trolley, which the kids thought was sooo fun! Before bed, we opened up some presents. Skylar got Kade a skateboard, and Nick got him an Ace/Earth Planet Hero (my current favorite toys for my kids since they are learning so much about space!!) that comes with a skateboard! Kade could not have been more happy since he is obsessed with skateboarding! Mom & Dad got him a Batman big wheel which is soooo cool. He can't quite reach the pedals yet though (our poor kids are always so short!!) but he does love all the cool buttons on it!
On Thursday night we actually had a little Buzz Lightyear party for Kade. We only invited the Tongs and the grandparents since it was a school night. We had some pizza, played a few games (actually all the guys watched the BYU game), opened some more presents, and had cake and ice cream. We had a fun time. Kade seemed to totally understand what this thing called birthday was all about and loved every minute of it! Happy Birthday Kade!!! We love you!!!

A Wee Bit 'o the Irish

I'm a 100% gringo. This is not something I find too exciting. I've always had friends that have come from interesting cultures and celebrate their heritages with cool traditions. My family... nothing. So I am determined to have my kids celebrate something from their heritages. Hence, I make a big deal out of St. Paddy's Day since Ben's got some Irish blood in him. I guess the world's way of celebrating St. Patrick's Day includes a lot of partying with the good ol' green brewskies but since I try to not be "of the world", we settle for green food all day long! So for breakfast: green eggs & ham, of course. Also, the kids wanted green OJ and we lucked out finding some green bread at the local store for some yummy green toast with jam. Although the green bread seemed a little iffy, we decided to finish it up with grilled cheese sandwiches along with green grapes and green milk for lunch. Yummy!
Believe it or not, dinner was not green! I made the traditional Irish meal of Corned Beef and Cabbage. Ben grew up eating this and he loves it! I actually hate it!! It seriously makes me gag. But every St. Paddy's Day I make it for him because he loves it and I love him. I also make Irish Soda Bread, which I actually like. So that's what we had for dinner. Well, Ben and the kids, at least-I had to sneak out for a burger after because I honestly can't swallow more than two bites of the stuff! Hey, at least I'm a good sport and make it for him, even if I don't eat it. Our kids actually ate it though! Skylar said she loved the beef but the cabbage was too soggy. Of course, the bread was a hit with everyone.
Since it was FHE we had dessert too. To go with the Leprechaun thing, Skylar and I made rainbow parfaits with fruit of every color: red-apples, orange-oranges, yellow-bananas, green-grapes, blue-blueberry yogurt, and purple-raisins. We even topped it with some vanilla ice cream "clouds". The kids loved it and were so excited that we were eating a "healthy" treat! All in all, it was a fun day with many adventures in eating! Happy St. Paddy's Day Everyone!!

Crazy Kade

Have I ever mentioned that life with Kade is well.... interesting. He's always doing something crazy. The other day I heard him having a hard time going down for his nap. Later on I discovered his bed was a little crowded:
This note from Skylar proves the point:


I love you Kade-a-roo!!!

Weekly (or two) Wrap-up

So the winter has turned into a blur of being cooped up and getting stir crazy. It just seems as one day blends into the next at this point. As usual, we've been busy. Last week it was our turn to do Joy school, which we haven't done at our house for awhile. We had fun learning about trying and confidence. The kids even made crazy cake: bread, peanut butter, jelly, honey, raisins, chocolate chips, nuts, etc, and the kids devoured it! I never knew slapping some stuff together would prove so appealing to a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds.
The weather we had last week certainly made me so excited for spring. Bring on the flip flops!! We even made a trip or two to the park. It was so nice to be outside! I also took the kids to the gym and let them get out all the gobs of energy they've been storing up.

The big event of the last week or so was Ben quitting his job. He got a new job offer from a friend who has been trying to get him to come work with him for awhile. The timing worked out perfect as his last job was moving their office to Draper this week which we weren't too excited about him having to commute. His new office is once again within biking distance so he may get back to that as soon as the weather improves more. He is working at Orange Soda, which I believe, is an online marketing company. I probably shouldn't be quoted on that. Anyway, he will be the Web Design Manager, which he is excited to get back to more design work. Today is his first day of work so I'm hoping he's loving it!
Skylar had school off yesterday so Ben decided to take an extra day off too so we could do something fun as family (and he could get a breather between jobs). We went up to SLC to go to the Living Planet Aquarium. It was pretty cool, although really small, since it is only a preview exhibit. It definitely does not compare to other aquariums that we've been to out of state but for being in Utah, I guess I can't complain. They had a big section on Utah fish and then a section with jellyfish, sharks, and they even had rays that you could pet. We had a lot of fun! Afterwards, we headed for our favorite store, IKEA, where the kids got to play and Ben & I continued to try and figure out our bedroom completion project. We also ate dinner there . What a fun day and a nice break to the same old, same old!

The Tooth!

Skylar's two front teeth have both been loose forever. The left started wiggling first but the right quickly took over in the race to come out first. The last week or so it's kind of taken on this distorted placement and isn't able to go back into place. It was kind of just hanging there and not going anywhere. Finally, Ben & I were fed up with it and convinced Skylar to do the old string on the door trick to get it out. Here's how it went:

So it's finally out! Whoohoo! Just in time too because the reason that it wouldn't go back into place was because the adult tooth is practically a fourth of the way out! Skylar is ecstatic with the new space in her mouth that accommodates a straw. She was also so ecstatic about the tooth fairy coming that she woke up at 5:30 this morning! Apparently, the tooth fairy had taken the tooth but left nothing under her pillow. After she & Nick sufficiently searched their bedroom and had also sufficiently woken the entire family up before 7 (way too early for us!!) we finally found the loot under her bed in the corner! Let's just say last night's tooth fairy (and I'm not mentioning his name!) may be out of a job for future tooth exchanges!

Weekly Wrap-up

Last week was a busy one with all of the Valentine's happenings- especially the weekend! Everyone remained healthy so the kids begged to finally have friends over, which we did every day! I was definitely in need of a break after having extra kids in the house all week. Luckily, we did the V-day date night swap with Tongs so they could go out on Thursday night and we were able to go out on Friday night. Trading is the best! Our kids absolutely love being together and it's so nice to be able to get a night out alone-even if all we did was eat at the Bombay House (yummy Indian food!!) and then go shopping-at least the shopping was calm and uninterrupted by kids on the run!
I don't know if I've mentioned this before but Skylar is in love!! Absolutely, without a doubt, in love. This is not a shock to us. She's been in love with Donovan Tong since birth practically. They are both convinced that their love will stay strong throughout the years and they will end up married.

The future wedding announcement

They are kind of getting to that awkward stage of life where the opposite sex becomes "icky" so we'll see if they like each other much longer. So, of course, Skylar was really excited about seeing him on Valentine's Day and giving a Valentine to her boyfriend, "Dadoo" (what she used to call him when she was little). I had to laugh at the Valentine that she made for him. It's just too cute!
On Saturday we headed up to the Hanamaikai's house for Kaipo's birthday party. It was a pirate party and my kids were so excited! We had some good food-yummy luau chicken- and a great time! It's always a good time with a house full of Hanamaikais! We promised our kids that we would stop by IKEA on the way back and see if they could get into the playland. By the time they got in they only got to play for 15 minutes but they loved every minute of it. IKEA has become our family's favorite store. Even Kade joins in screaming "IKEA!!!" when we pass it on the freeway!
On Sunday Skylar gave a talk in primary. Her subject was: The scriptures teach me about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and how to return to them. She talked about when Jesus visited the Nephites and told them to be like their little children. She did really well on her talk. Skylar loves to speak in church-something she did not inherit from her mom!
Ben had work off on Monday and we went to yet another party for Dylan's birthday. We went to Chuck E. Cheese where it was crazy busy!! We had a fun time with the Tongs and the Hoens amid the chaos. We were sufficiently worn out by the time we got home and everyone crashed for a long nap. It was a great ending to a busy weekend!