Carter's BIG 10!

Can't believe I've been a mom for 10 years! A decade! I was really worried about getting this cake done with all I had to do for his party later in the day, so I got up early to get it started and  I just couldn't stop because it was going together so well! I'm no pro cake decorator but I was pleased with the turn out. And it was a relief to have it done. 

 I took some treats into his class and they sang to him.

 who's the kid with the mowhawk?!

 Then I B-lined it to the church with all my spray painted boxes to make an obstacle course for a NERF GUN PARTY! (Yeah the Mario cake had nothing to do with the theme but thats how he wanted it.) And although it took a little work, seriously such an easy party!

 All the food was ready to go and waiting for the boys to show up after school.

 Blue Gatorade to rehydrate those smelly boys! Next time, remember to open a window! And goggles because....safety first!

 The boys arrived and scarfed down some food for energy for their war!

 And then it was GO TIME! I turned the war part completely over to Chad and he had a few games for them to do.

 BLUE TEAM!

 Carter's DOWN!

 Cheesin it.

 And of course a silly one. His buddies Spencer, Trevor, Brandt, Jordan, Tavin, Micheal, Tucker, and Titan all came.

 ORANGE TEAM!

 His party was on friday, the day before his birthday so on Saturday we slept in (not really but he requested that). Rode his new scooter! This one ended up being too small so he took it back for a bigger one.

 Opened presents.

 Ate donuts. Went to a football and soccer game later in the day.

 And met up for some good ol Golden Coral for dinner! Also his request. And we go to this big buffet and of course hes most excited about the white rice. What the?!

 He really wanted someone to sing to him at the  restaurant and the servers were very gracious and happily sang to him.

 Then they stuffed themselves with more dessert, and then more.

And heres some epic pictures of Carter enjoying some of his gifts. That scuba gear one may come back to haunt him some day! HAHA!

SECOND first day of preschool

 Brielle was over the Moon when after Labor Day it was finally HER turn to go to school! She is still with Miss Lori at ABC Discovery Preschool. We love her so much!

 She really does love to swim and she talks all the time about being a teacher AND a mom.

 And I always love this scene of little ducks in a row following their teacher! So so so cute!

And these pics were too cute to leave out! It was reallllly quiet one day for about an hour and when I finally found out what they were doing all I could do was giggle. They were doing Poppys hair but I guess it spilled over onto Bri. I think they used every bow in the house! And I think next time we have a crazy hair day, this will be our go to hair style!

I sure love it when these girls play together! They can be such good friends (most days) and I know it makes Brielle SO happy to have attention from her older sister. I hope they will always stay close and take care of each other and do fun things together! 

LOVE ALL MY GIRLS! AND BOY OF COURSE.

Da' Boat

Back around April sometime, Chaz decided he didn't want the family boat anymore. They had new hobbies and it was expensive! Somehow, (still not totally sure how) WE got the boat back! The same one we had in Twin Falls, the same one Chad grew up using with his family. The boat was bought in 1990! Its had lots of work done, but with lots of love comes lots of ware. She was in SAD shape when we got her back. 

 We decided we needed to either get rid of it, or fix it up. Knowing the later would be VERY expensive, we started crunching numbers hoping it could be a possibility. I mean how often does a free boat land in your yard (for the second time?) :) It was going to cost a lot and we wanted tht upholstery to look good so we needed a professional. But most quotes were coming in around $3-4000 bucks! That was nearly our whole budget. We ended up cashing in an old 401K from Chads first job here in utah and using it to pay off the truck with a little extra to dump into the boat. We found a guy in Tooele who does upholstery at his house on the side and his prices were incredible! We jumped on it immediately and then started carpet shopping! This lovely grey color was the winner.

And we couldn't be more happy with the results of our upholstery! It's bright and beautiful again and Chad glued down the carpet himself and did a really great job! We never got her out on the water this summer but you can bet your bottom dollar we'll be out there early next year! We are so excited to be on the water again and spend this precious time as a family with our growing kids! Cheers to wakeboarding again!!!

LITHOTRIPSY!

In August some time I got tired of feeling like I always had a UTI, but no infection was present in my urine so I decided it was time to go see what was up. The doc reccomended a CT to see why there was also blood in my urine and another bladder test to check for an auto immune disease called IC or interstitial cystitis. I really didn't want to do it, but I decided I should. He put a little camera into my bladder and there is a defect in the lining of my bladder which can inflame and cause a little bleeding. Which could possibly be where the blood was coming from but wanted to be sure. Enter the CT! 

  Kinda a bummer thing, but it doesn't bother me enough to need to take any action against it, which I'm glad. I just wanted some answers. 

I was a little surprised when the technician said, yep, you have kidney stones! Not really what I was expecting to hear! And at my next appointment I found out they were big. REALLY big. Like 8mm big! ( A marble is 10mm) and there were TWO! WHEW! He highly reccomended having lithotripsy where they break up the stones so they can be passed.  Again, very hesitant! But I did NOT want to risk these stones trying to pass. He warned me I would want to die if I did! So on Aug 24 I begged my mom to come help me out while I had the surgery. Chad had plans with his family for a little get away in SLC and I had heard recovery was pretty easy I was ok with him going. Mom came and of course took very good care of the girls so I could rest!

Several crafts were done and many games! And who knows what else. I was pretty out of it the rest of the weekend. My back didn't hurt at all and I didn't have any problem passing stones, but my lungs filled with some fluid during the surgery and they had to suction a bunch of gunk out. MY LUNGS WERE ON FIRE! And I could not catch my breath for 2 days. It sucked really bad! 

Grandpa came on Saturday night and we all went out to dinner at Jims. I'm so grateful for good parents who step in when I need them and take care of me and my babies! 

And I'm especially grateful that I only had to do this procedure ONCE! They were sure I would need 2 treatments. I consider that a huge blessing! Hopefully my body will behave and not make any more! The doc said I have kidney stone making kidneys! NO BUENO! Be good lil kidneys! Stay strong!

Goooooo Blueberries!

I have waited for this day for a while! Brielle FINALLY got to play soccer! Her cute little team is named the Blueberries! Could she be any cuter?! She just giggles as she runs everywhere she goes and gets really offended if someone takes the ball from her (as most 4 year olds do). 

 Her and her best buddy Zayne are on the same team and it is a blast to watch them! They are both built pretty solid and they just put their heads down and run and bowl people over! I seriously hope these 2 are friends forever! And that they go on dates when they are grown up!

Her first game was so fun to watch and she was always really proud of herself. 

 And of course the ONE goal she got, Chad and I were both other places running kids to their sports. But she was Watching this age group play is always so funny.

However, I don't think soccer is going to be her thing. All season long she keeps asking when she can go back to dance. She is our little dancer.  

Love you BRI! You can do anything you put your mind to! I'm so proud of how hard you tried this season!