Wordless Wednesday

Who are these hot mammas?

Not sure, but from the looks of things, they probably know these two. . .

Eating Cereal for the 1st Time!

Okay. . . I know this is going to sound crazy. But I put off feeding Ane cereal because knowing that she's my last baby I was having issues with the fact that she was growing up and wasn't just a newborn any longer. This is so hard! I have to say that it has been a gift, already having the answer from Heavenly Father that we have everyone in our family because I feel it gives me more gratitude for situations that would normally be overwhelming and sometimes annoying. I try and have more patience when everyone is screaming at the same time, or I have two poopie diapers to change at the same time, because I know it won't last for much longer, and I want to make it last! But it was obvious by the way Ane was staring down all of our food while we ate and she just watched, that she was ready. Here are some shots of the big night. . .

Those were about the only shots I have of just her eating. The rest look like this.


I could not get the girls off of her chair. . . she must have this magnetic pull, or something. Malia was by far the must sucked in by said pull. No matter what I said, she just came right back, so that every time Naki took a picture, there she was, right beside Ane. When he took this next picture, I just knew what I had to do...

I couldn't resist. . . the mouth wide open and everything. I just accidentally mistook her mouth for Ane's...
I love that picture because it still hasn't hit her that I'm putting the spoon with cereal on it into her mouth instead of Ane's. Here's the moment of realization.


Oh, the moment was so sweet for me. I love when I get them good. I especially love when Naki finds something I do funny, and he was rolling on this one. And, despite people's assumptions that because we don't have boys, we don't experience boyish things, Think Again. Here's Malia tackling Line because she was laughing at her.

I just can't believe that she's getting so big! Love you, Boo.

Lollipop, anyone?

Despite the fact that when Eva was so sick she lost several pounds, apparently she never lost her sweet tooth. This girl finds every sweet thing possible when she's not supposed to. It reminds me of someone I know. . . perhaps someone she's named after? I don't know, just a guess.

Aren't big sisters the greatest?

Happy Birthday Eli-Belle

We just cannot believe that Eli turned 4 the 2nd of this month. How did that creep up on us so quickly? She is so enjoyable and we don't know how we ever survived without her. We started out the day with a Happy Birthday doughnut.

We were lucky enough to not have school that day. . . a Professional Development Day, so we had all day together! You can be sure that Eli reminded us every several minutes that "Today is my birffday so . . . " and then she would complete that sentence. I have to say, I've never met anyone who ensures that she's treated as the princess for the day like Eli did. She guarded that title very very carefully. We spent the evening at the movies, which is a rarity for us. We saw Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler. That movie is so so so great! We all loved it, Mom and Dad included. If you get the chance go and see it. It's one we'll own, for sure. We had a great day with our Eli-Belle.

We planned her birthday party for later that week, and because of the sheer numbers of those attending, (just cousins, Aunties, Uncles, and Grandpa and Grandma) we've decided that we pretty much do birthday parties at the church in the gym. It makes for great fun, the kids have tons of room to run around, and it makes for easy cleanup. This year Eli had a Valentine's party kind of theme. We had so much fun as a family, making the cupcakes, all the different colors of frosting, and of course decorating them with candy hearts and fun sprinkles. They don't always turn out the way I would do them, considering that I'm a bit of a control freak as far as the amount of sprinkles per cupcake and frosting to cupcake ratios, but I learned a while ago that it is so much more fun this way.
Besides, according to the kiddies surveyed, I don't think they care. A cupcake is a cupcake. Right, Tori?

Our two activities this year were so much fun. We did a craft activity. In planning it sounded fun, but after spreading everything out I wondered if I'd created a potential catastrophe. Each child was painting and decorating wooden plaques that they could take home with them. Everyone did a great job, and all without any incident...especially amazing seeing how I forgot to tell the parents to bring shirts for the kids to paint in. Oops.


Here's the finished products.

Thank you Aunt Katie for occuping Ane for me.

Eva just kinda roamed the gym because I didn't have enough hands to moniter her painting. Had I let her, that would have spelled catastrophe for sure. Look at these two cuties...this is Eva with her cousin Aria.

The other activity we had was a bean bag toss. I don't know anyone who doesn't like to try and get the bag in the hole. . . adults included. Although I have to say, there was a Nazi bean bag moniter. . . no need to mention WHO, just look at the pics.

He wouldn't pass out any treats unless they were able to throw 3 out of like 5, or something. What a stickler. And if they had like 2, and the 3rd almost made it in, he'd turn them away. What a meanie. (Just kidding, babe!) Everyone got treats. Here's Eli with hers.
She got some great presents and we know that it can be a sacrifice to always be buying birthday presents for our family. It seems like there's always a birthday. Thank you, all you loving family members near and far. She felt so loved on her special day. We love you Eli-Belle!

A couple of Maileisms. . .

The other morning I overheard Lose telling Eli, "Hey Eli. . .did you know that Grandfather used to be a gunfighter?"

We were talking to Malia about the 8 yr old and older camp this summer that Grandmother and Grandfather are holding, that Line, and not Malia, will be attending. We realized that she may have misunderstood the way it would work. That in fact, she would not only get to attend the following year, but that all those that had attended the previous year would again be participating. Naki said to her, "Just so you know, Malia, ", and then explained it to her. She quickly followed with, "Just so YOU know, I'll be sneaking in Line's suitcase this summer."

I've been trying to make more healthy-conscious decisions in all of our diets, and have started putting some shredded wheat in with their morning cold cereal. After Eli finished her first bowl, she hollered to me, "Hey Mom! Can I have some more hay?"

Last night we had grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner. As we were eating, Malia said to us, "I know why it's called 'girlled cheese'. Because it's for girls and it has cheese in it." Apparently, we really need some boys around here. Even our food has been overtaken by all the females.