And we're off!

It's been a couple of  months in the making and it's finally here...we are about to wake up the kiddos to give them a surprise of a lifetime. We are leaving for Disney World/ see Gma K and Papa R  in about two hours. Aric and I are giddy waiting to wake them up. We will be filming the whole thing...so we're off! I will catch up with you in about ten days!
Adios!

Not sure if I should post this...but I am anyway.

The other day I overheard Maya and Eden talking to Camden. There conversation went a little something like this...
(Maya and Eden using their high pitched baby voices...)
"Where's Jesus Camden?"
"Oh are you looking for your Jesus?"
"Yay Camden you found Jesus!"
"Oh you love Jesus don't you Camden?"
I couldn't figure out what this was all about so I went downstairs and saw Camden playing with this...

It is a dashboard Jesus bobble head doll. Our dear friend Patrick gave it to Aric a few years ago as a joke and I hadn't seen it in ages. Apparently C loves him.

Camden tries to hold Jesus' hands, it's so cute!

Here he is tasting Jesus...not so reverent.

He must really taste good...

His favorite past time is throwing Jesus down the stairs and watching him tumble.

Well, I hope this post isn't offensive to anyone, we love Christ and we truly do reverence him in our home. I just couldn't help taking these pictures. I think that Jesus has a sense of humor and I like to think that he is having a good chuckle out of this post.

Oh and just for fun...here is what the girls did to Camden today.

Yes, that is my son...running around in a tutu, a scarf and a toy knife. Aric said he looked like a deranged pirate.

And this is how he spends most of the day...minus the tutu and knife...he has ridiculous upper body strength and he can pull himself up onto anything. Oh I love my boy!

The Eldest

Back to my love posts...

Today it's all about Maya.

 

There are so many reasons to love this girl.

I love that she still thinks I'm cool.

I love how she loves to read and has finally decided to take on reading the Harry Potter books.

I love how she tells me everything. She doesn't know how to be sneaky, it's just not in her nature. I so hope that lasts...

I love how much she loves Camden. I know that he is too young to realize it, but he has the most loving and attentive big sisters on the planet.

I love that she is a hard worker. I am so proud of the way she has pushed and applied herself in math. That subject has been very difficult for her but she has worked very hard and it has paid off.

I love that she is nine. I am so scared of ten. I can see the light bulb going on, and how her mind is developing and understanding things that I don't want her to know yet.  Like how some girls, and boys, are just plain mean.  I hate that I have to talk to her about big stuff, like how there is a registered s. offender in our neighborhood. I hate that I have to explain the evil of slavery and see her eyes show pain an she processes what that meant for so many people. And that she understands that it could have been Camden being stolen from his mother had he been born back then. I hate having to explain why Mormons were beaten, killed and driven from their homes for their beliefs. This stuff is heavy but she is at the age where she can see the world for what it really is and that is so, SO hard for me.

On the other hand...I get to watch her face light up when she figures a math problem out all on her own. I get to watch her pull out her scriptures and read from because she wants to read them. I get to hear her pray and talk to God, knowing that he is her Heavenly Father. She knows that he is real and that he is listening. I get to see how she appreciates Martin Luther King Jr, in a way that many kids her age don't. I get to see her laugh at her dad's jokes now that she understands his humor. I get to see sense of gratitude and respect that is beyond her years.

So these days I am trying to cherish every moment,while all three of my children are still "little". Don't get me wrong, I do look forward to the years to come, the dances, the clothes, the boys, and the late night talks. I know they are just around the corner. But today, and tonight, and for as long as I can, I will soak up the snuggles and the pig tails and everything else that is my sweet nine year old Maya.

A Whole Lotta Love

The Valentine Boxes

Maya's grade had an Olympics theme. She worked very hard and did her box all by herself.

Eden wanted a blue and green valentine box. I convinced her to add some pink and red.

The Valentine's Day Apparel

The School Parties

I was in charge of Eden's and I had to bring Camden with me. It was a disaster. He wouldn't take a nap so he was seriously out of control. He was stealing candy and chips. I finally just gave him a sucker, that kept him happy and incredibly sticky for the rest of the party. Needless to say I am thrilled that this was the last party of the year...YA HOO!

The Friend Party

Maya has been invited to quite a few parties lately. She had two on Friday. Eden was feeling left out and  the "little sister" issues were in full force. I was feeling bad for her, so I decided to have a Valentine's Party for her and all of her "Little Sister" friends.

They played some fun games with conversation hearts...

They frosted cupcakes...

(clearly I need to supervise the sprinkle usage next time)

They played sing star...

Everyone's favorite song was "Eye of the tiger"...so funny.

The Family Valentine Festivities

Our pouches and gifts...

(I just realized I forgot to take a picture of the earrings A got me. I will post a picture of me wearing them another time)

As you can see I didn't get around to making C's pouch yet...there's always next year.

Aric made me take this picture. We still hadn't gotten ready for church yet so we are lookin' fabulous in our jammies.

Aric always out does himself in the food department. This was breakfast...notice he is nicely dressed because he had early morning church meetings.

Dinner was sooo yummy too...

Now before you think I am completely lame and did nothing, look closely in the background so you can see the fruits of my labor...

...ten plates full of goodies. I decided not to do Christmas deliveries to our friends this year because things were just to crazy. Instead I made Valentine's Day deliveries. Eden was so proud of me because they were actually "homemade" . The cookies turned out so good. I must say I was proud of myself too.

A and I did a babysitting swap with my sister and "bil" so we celebrated by going to PF Chang's on Saturday with Mike and Amy. I forgot to get a picture of that, but it was good food and the funnest of times. I hate that they are moving....HATE IT!

So as you can see we had a very LOVELY Valentine's weekend. I hope you did too.

You will thank me for this one...

Wednesday after school I put Maya in charge of Camden for 10 minutes so I could finish making a baby shower invitation. After about five minutes she yelled "fashion show!", I turned around and this is what I saw running toward me...

I couldn't stop laughing!  This is one of Maya's dresses that I saved from when she was little. My Abuelita Hernandez got it for her.

Now his true feelings about the situation are coming out...

If he could only talk...I think he would be saying

"Are you kidding me mom!?"

I had to include this one so you could see his one and a half teeth.

I saved the absolute best for last...I hope I get this video thing to work, because if you can watch this, I promise you it will be the best 18 seconds of your day! Be sure to pause the music so you can hear the girls singing...

The girls are singing the song my great grandma, my Abuelita Tina, used to sing  to the babies in our family. She loved to sing it whenever we put on something special.

I'm in love...

Seriously I am totally in love with my kids right now. For some reason I am more aware than ever how fast they are growing and how someday they won't be so little. Since my last post was all about C, this post is all about Eden.

This is my girl.

She is awesome!

She loves fashion and still calls her outfits "elefits". She names her "elefits"...this one is called "black girl".

Eden is full of life. She is a ray of sunshine.

I love how she writes her name.

Ever since Maya started writing in cursive, Eden has worked very hard to perfect her name in cursive.

She loves music, dancing and performing.

She loves her baby brother. I'm pretty sure that her faith and her prayers alone would have brought Camden to us.

 

This is a paper Eden did at school. It is about Camden. This is what she wrote..."He plays with me. I love him. He is ceute. His skin is like chocolate.

 

She is the sweetest, kindest, funniest, most generous kid you will ever meet.

She tends to tattle and is always concerned with fairness. She is a bit put out that Camden prefers Maya over her.

She is quite sensitive and is very aware of those around her. At school her teacher's only concern is that Eden is too busy helping others that she doesn't get her own work done.

She loves Maya and wants so badly to always have her approval.  Unfortunately, Maya isn't the best at appreciating her sister's admiration.

I was the second child, I was the little sister. I know how it feels to be the tag along and not always wanted. I know how it feels to be looked over and not listened too. I like to think that because I am sensitive about it, I can help her. But sometimes there is just nothing you can do about being the middle child. I think Eden handles it better than I ever did.

Having Eden as my daughter is a dream come true.

SERIOUSLY! I love my girl.

Oh and just for fun my friend Lindsay is doing a give away go here to check it out!