32

Yesterday was Spencer's birthday. We didn't do much but what we did do I think makes up for it. I made cupcakes yesterday so that after school the girls could decorate them. They were REALLY excited to do those.


It was really fun to do those with them. They did a really good job. Avary would hold her cupcake so tight that it would end up a muffin top so what I did was have her squirt the frosting on, I spread it, and then she decorated it. After we started that we didn't have anymore muffin tops. After we finished the cupcakes I hid them in the oven so Spencer wouldn't see them. The girls were really funny about that because they thought I was going to bake them more and melt the frosting, but I assured them that the oven wasn't on and that they wouldn't melt.

When Spencer came home we ate dinner and then his mom called, which was great timing on her part because I kicked him out of the kitchen into the family room to talk to her while we set everything up. When we were ready we called him back into the kitchen and started to sing when we saw him. When he came in he saw what we were working on:

There aren't 32 cupcakes, only 24, but they did make a GREAT "32". He thought it was pretty cool. The girls were really excited about them and they had their sights set on the cupcake they wanted to eat. It was a good day. I think he enjoyed it. We all made our own cards and gave them to him. He seemed really happy. The only draw back to his birthday is that I'm pregnant and being on my feet all day really wiped me out so I asked him to help with the pile of dishes. He willingly accepted and then I had a birthday cake to do for our doula so he carved that.

Her son is turning 8 and she wanted a volcano. We are quite happy with it. It amazes me how Spencer can get a 9x13 cake and make something out of it like this volcano. I never could see anything like this in a 9x13 cake.

Anyway, Happy birthday Spencer. I hope it was a good one for you.

Milestones

So, we have been reading scriptures with the girls every night and the other night we had asked CJ to read 1 Nephi 16:1. She started to ask why they didn't have a number 1 at the beginning of the verse and we started to explain why. In the midst of us trying to explain to CJ about the 1, Avary started to read the verse.....BY HERSELF!! She read the ENTIRE verse by herself with very little help (only on the really big words). We could NOT believe it! We all sat there with our mouths gaped open while she continued to read. Had no idea that child could read like that. We all knew she was learning how to read, but she sounded out words and read the whole verse. We were so proud. Well, then the next day we were going somewhere and Avary was putting on her shoes. I went into their room to do something and she is in there tying her own dang shoes. I just about died because we really haven't been working on it with her like we wanted to. I asked her who taught her to tie her shoes and she looked at me with a huge smile on her face and said that she had just been practicing. My baby is growed up. It's a good thing that I am having another baby in a couple months because this is starting to be a little too much for me. Not to mention CJ will be getting baptized in about 3 months and starting activity days, which means I will be taking her to Young Women activities with me because that is when they have activity days. Next Sunday is her first "fireside", the "8 Is Great!" fireside. My head is in a whirl wind. Where did the time go?????

Happy New Year!

Well, here is our official first post of the new year! We FINALLY got some snow about 2 days ago. It looks so pretty here now. The temperatures dropped pretty fast, I think it was -8 last night. Anyway, we are sure hoping that this new year brings better health for us all, particularly me, and we can't wait for the arrival of our new addition to the family, Reed coming in March. CJ will start 3rd grade this year and Avary will start 1st grade. This year has a lot to look forward to. The only thing that I'm NOT looking forward to is 9 o'clock church. The majority of last year was spent with me sick, or recovering from surgery, or sick again because of pregnancy and trips. I just don't want to do that again.

Spencer took the girls sledding for their first time yesterday (the new blog picture). They sure had fun, but came back crying because they got too cold. It was REALLY cold yesterday. Spencer said the second they started to cry because they were too cold, they came home. We immediately put them in the shower to get warm, then they spent the majority of the afternoon curled up together in their Christmas jammies and about 3 blankets eating soup. They loved it though and went to bed VERY easily last night.

From our Christmas post, I mentioned that I made the girls some new quilts for their beds. Here are the pictures of those quilts:

This is Avary's, or course....purple.


CJ's...green and pink, her 2 favorite colors. Turned out WAY cute! I actually picked these fabrics out, Avary's was a kit that I got at a quilt shop. she loves it, but I wish I was able to pick the fabrics out like I did CJ's.


The new beds for Christmas. First time they looked that nice.....and the last. They sure love their new beds. They look really nice in their room, adds some character other than their stuffed animals scattered all over the floor.

This is my latest cake for our birthing instructor. She and her husband are taking their kids to Disney Land on the 10th of January and wanted a cake to celebrate.
It turned out pretty cute, I think. She REALLY loved it. When she saw it the excitement just exploded out of her, it was fun to have been a part of it, a small part but fun none the less.

Well, we hope everyone has a great new year. We sure are looking forward to this one.

Happy New Year!!!