A Week of Firsts



A week of firsts...

Trace started 8th grade!! This is his last year at the middle school.  UNbelieveable!

Marci started 2nd grade!!...and Piano Lessons!

Paige cut her 1st tooth!

Marci meets her new 2nd grade teacher, Mrs Kelly Buck-Kelley



My Big SECOND grader!  All decked out with her new pink and black zebra backpack and lunchbox!

You know he DID NOT want me to take this picture...but I won!! *insert evil laugh! :)

It dawned on me...this was his LAST FIRST day of middle school! ;(

Ms Robin Curtis is Marci's piano teacher.  This was her 1st lesson.  I was sad that I had to miss out on this occasion...but Nonnie took pics for me!  She came in saying, "I LOVE LOVE LOVE piano lessons." and went straight to the keyboard to start practicing!

This is how Ms Robin taught her to hold her hands....

Paige had a great week too!  She was passed around from Daddy to Ms Alecia to Nonnie to Ms Karrie, since our babysitter is out for 6 weeks.  One problem...no one wanted to give her back to me...they all wanted to keep her! Ms Alecia took her to the barn to see the horses...and she helped clean the barn by sitting in her stroller and supervising!  Ms. Karrie and Trenton took such good care of her...she text me mid-afternoon saying there was no reason to come pick her up...they were just going to keep her :)  I'm so glad she's loved so much when I'm  unable to be there!   I'm so thankful for great friends that come to the rescue!  Paige had her 9 month check up last week. She weighs 17 lb and 15 oz(30th %), 27" (28th%) and Head circumference was 17 1/2"(62%).  She had to have blook drawn to check hemoglobin levels...I guess they did this with the other 2 kiddos...but it's so horrible I blocked it from my memory...which is what I'm trying to do after they stuck Paige...it's so pitiful! :(  She's walking behind toys...even toys that aren't mobile...she MAKES them mobile by pushing them around the room.  She also cut her 1st tooth today @ 9 1/2 mos old...well we actually NOTICED it today...not sure when it actually CAME in...she's not been fussy or drooling...I wasn't expecting a tooth, since Marci was over a year old before she cut her 1st tooth....but Daddy noticed it this morning while I was at work and texted me the news! Don't you just love that big smile?!  I eat up moments like this...they are good til the last drop! :)

So "Booty-ful" :)

After Marci's 7th Birthday Party, Paige was wiped out!  She had been asleep quite some time, and when I went in to check on her, evidentally her diaper had come loose...and that little tiny booty was just popped up.  Couldn't resist taking a photo of that!! She's so "booty-ful" in every way! :)

Marci's Cooking Party

Marci loves to cook...always wanting to help in the kitchen.  So, when we decided that we'd do a cooking party, I thought "but where?"  My house couldn't accomodate all the kids in the kitchen...nor my oven for all the baking.  I had  heard about "Papa Murphy's Take n Bake" pizza place doing parties, so I checked into it. 
SHOUT-OUTS:
Because Papa Murphy's is a "take n bake" place, they didn't have tables and chairs and the regular set up for a normal party, so we had to provide all of that. (Courtesy of HBC-thanks for letting us borrow tables and chairs)!
My Mother-in-Law made aprons for all the guests and they were fabulous...such a hit!!
My mom bought chef hats for all the gang and I puff-painted the guests' names on them!  She also made the birthday banner that you'll see in the pics!
Amy Lauterbach, a great friend of mine, made the "pizza" cake from a link that I had found online and it truely looked like a pizza!
Marci and I made personalized "place setting cards" for each guest.
Papa Murphy's Staff:  They said they'd never had such a big party before...I think we wore them out! 

PARTY DETAILS:
Set up:  We had 30 mins to set up in the lobby before the party started...so I was a mad-woman who had aLOT of help to get it accomplished!  My nieces and nephews, my mom and dad, Jamie and Trace and Marci all helped get it all together before the guests started arriving!
Pizza Time:  The employees of Papa Murphy's took the kids in the back and let them roll the dough out and then led them through the process of doctoring their pizzas with the various toppings!
Cookie Time:  While the pizzas were baking, the kids went over to do another recipe:  Eskimo Cookies  They got to follow the recipe and measure the ingredients and stir them...roll them into powdered sugar...and place them into their own little "to-go" boxes that Marci had ready for them.  These were "no bake" cookies, so the guests could take them home and eat them immediately! ;)
Just as they were finishing their Eskimo Cookies, the pizzas started coming out of the oven...so they go to eat their pizzas.  YUMMY! 
Present Time:  The kids all got a fruit kabob and sat and watched Marci open her gifts :)
Cake Time:  Sing and Eat...
The End ;)  Quick but wonderful party!! 
Thanks to all my HBC Small Group for  helping with all the stations...That's what friends are for...in baking and cooking...I'll be on your side forevermore...That's what friends are for ;)

Marci turns 7 and Paige turns 9 mos...

August 12, 2011 was an exciting day for us!! Marci is already 7 years old?! Wow...it's truely hard for me to believe that SEVEN years has passed by!!  Marci has been wanting to take piano lessons, since she no longer wanted to take gymnastics...but we were missing ONE tiny detail...a PIANO.  You must have a piano in order to practice.  So, we thought a keyboard might just be the right fit for now, since it would take up less space.  She was so surprised!!

Paige Naomi...my my my...NINE months already?!  I'm already starting to plan her 1st bday party...it doesn't even seem right!  She is doing great...babbling...eating...sleeping...pooping...all in a day's work for a baby!  She's starting to stand on her own a little bit...she's letting go more and more...she'll be walking before we know it...if I had MY way, she'd be waiting til she turns one! ;)

"Egg-speriment"

We have had a HOT summer so far...day after day it has been over 100 degrees!  Today being 104.  I went out barefoot to water the plants and my feet almost burned...and it got me to thinking...what WOULD an egg do if we cracked it on the sidewalk?  So...we tried it!  We let our neighbors join our "fun" too...and each of them cracked an egg on the hot road.  I thought it would be just like a frying pan...but it wasn't!  We sat there, watching our eggs, for 5 mins...10 mins...15 mins...and then we gave up.  It didn't change!  Marci and Blair tried scrambling their eggs.  Trace and Baylie went for sunny side up.  Here are some pics of our awesome "egg...speriment" ;)

p.s.  even after an hour...it still looked egg-sactly the same...egg-cept the consistency was different...
ok...ok...ok...I'll stop with the EGG puns :)

8 Months already?!!!

I have been taking a picture like this each month of Paige's life...and already it is amazing to look back and see how she's changed...in just short 8 months!  I thought I'd share some of her accomplishments each month through blog...and what better time to start than now.

Weight:  17.5 lbs.  (I took Marci to the Dr today and had them weigh Paige just out of curiosity).

Sleep:  She FINALLY started sleeping through the night!!  She goes down around 8-9 pm and wakes up between 5-6 am...nurses and then falls back to sleep for another couple of hours.  This works great for her and it works great for my schedule b/c I usually leave the house around 7 am to take her to the sitters' house. She stays with Ms Laury T, W, Th...and then with daddy on M and F.  This summer Grandmom Virginia has been coming on M and F...and Nonnie Judy stops in for visits too...she is one spoiled little girl with all the love and attention she gets!

Eat:  She nurses morning, noon, afternoon and night. 
       Breakfast:  She loves rice cereal or oatmeal with fruit; yogurt
       Lunch:  Veggies
       Snack:  Veggie/fruit puffs, Yogurt Puffs, etc with Sippy of Water
       Supper:  Veggies and Fruit
She loves a great variety of foods...everything I make, she takes it in! So far this has been her menu:
Squash, peas, beans, green beans, kale, spinach leaves, sweet potatoes, eggplant, avocado, asparagus, carrots, potatoes, mangos, blueberries, bananas, pears, persimmons, apples, kiwi, peaches, plums, cherries, nectarines.  Everything has been really easy to prepare so far, except the cherries...it's a pain pitting them :(  On a good note, Marci discovered that she likes them.  I have to say I've never bought them before, mainly because it's not something I grew up eating...and never thought to get them...Glad to introduce my kiddos to new foods...it tickles me when they enjoy it! :)

Playtime:  Marci passed down an old doll of hers to Paige recently.  This doll has a soft body but hard face and when you press her belly she makes babbling noises, etc.  Paige LOVES this doll...she makes babbling noises right back to it and smiles real big...it's like they are having a conversation!

Likes:  She likes to look at books...we try to read a story each night before bed...Marci enjoys this as much as anyone.  She loves to play teacher, so this fits perfect!
She likes hanging on to momma...she's not real keen on anyone taking her AWAY from momma...those little hands grip to my shoulder like molasses!  It's awesome to be so loved :) but a little crazy when momma needs to be doing other things and a baby is attached to the hip.
She likes being outside!
She likes music and dancing!

Milestones:  She's been pulling up and crawling for a couple of months now...she just keeps getting faster.  Jamie mentioned baby gates the other day and I cringed...I hate baby gates!

Swim Fun!

My niece and nephew, Faith and Cole, came to visit us for a few days last week.  We took some time to go swimming.  Rhonda Asfour was kind enough to offer her pool for us to bombard! :)  Rhonda's great- nephew, Jaden, was also there for the fun!