Chipmunks and Chipettes Birthday... Kenzi's 5!

I had so much fun with Kenzington's birthday this year! I wish time could just stand still sometimes. My kiddos are seriously growing up way too fast.

When I asked Kenz what kind of birthday cake she wanted, she said, "A Chipette birthday cake!" What?! My first thoughts were... "Really?! There are so many different princesses and frozen stuff you can get... And you want Chipmunks?! Do they even sell that stuff?" Well nostalgia and the craft bug kicked in an the rest is history. (I thought Pinterest would be my friend to plan a chipmunks birthday, but there was really nothing on there.) It was seriously so much fun for me! I based the whole theme off of the Chipmunks Adventure from the 80's. My sisters and I loved that show when we were little.

Her invites were movie ticket stubs. So to kick off her party we let Kenzington open one present early, which was the "Chipmunks Adventure." Then we watched the movie which the kids loved... and I'm not going to lie, I loved too.

In the movie they race in hot air balloons around the world to gather up dolls. So of course we had to have little hot air balloons as part of the decor.

I ordered miniature Chipmunk dolls off e-bay to use as Cake toppers and play a Chipmunk adventure game with. The kids had to "race" around the house to gather up all the dolls. (It was a glorified treasure hunt with cookies at the end. (See below.)

We also played a game I entitle... "Feed Elenor." (A variation on Bean Bag toss.)The kids got a kick out of trying to feed the chipmunk by throwing stuff through her mouth.

And the take-away prizes were hot air balloons too! I bought little basket at the thrift store and tied them with tool. (I'm not a huge believer in take-away prizes but once I had the idea i couldn't help myself.)

As for the cake it was a Raspberry Pistachio Marscarpone and it was AWESOME! Pistachios are Kenz's favorite so I just pinterested "Pistacio cake" and it was one of the ones that came up. And since raspberries are her favorite fruit I thought it would be perfect. It did not disappoint!

The rose tarts were pretty fun to make too. They look super fancy, but really weren't hard and they tasted amazing! But then again I am a sucker for french pastries. (See Apple Tart Rose for Recipe.)

Kenzington's Chipmunk and Chipette birthday party was seriously one of the most fun parties I have ever thrown. I loved it and Kenzi LOVED it!! There are so many fun directions that you could take this theme.

End of School Year Craziness!

I feel like the months of April and May have been pure craziness. April started out with my birthday on the 1st and it was awesome! The Saturday before my birthday Brandon had borrowed our friend's, the Laws', horses and he surprised me by taking me horseback riding. It was so much fun until I got bucked off!! Ugh! I felt like I got hit by a bus! My arm still has a scar from where the horse stepped on me. I'm still so mad at that horse for putting a damper on the perfect birthday by bucking me off! I had to bounce back rather quickly, because he had planned a surprise party for me with the Cowley's, the Jewkes', the Smith's, and the Beagley's. Bless his sweet heart! He'd made a homemade Tres Leche cake for me, printed out a binder full of love letters and emails from our missions, and seriously just spoiled me. He can be so sweet and thoughtful.

I'm not going to lie the thought of turning 30 was a little daunting, but I just like with any other birthday I still feel like the exact same person. Age is just a number. And to be quite honest, I think my flirty, thirty, and fabulous years are going to be great!

My mom and dad took the day off of work and came over to spend my birthday with me. We went out to lunch, played with the kids, and just had such a fun, relaxing day. My aunts Annie and Ellen came over the following day to take me to lunch and come hang out with the family! We absolutely love spending time with them. I felt so LOVED and so spoiled! I often don't feel that I deserve the wonderful family that I have.

My sisters also took me out on a girls day, shopping for my birthday, minus Alyson. They always do this for my birthday and I enjoy every minute of it. We went out to dinner and a movie. I could get use to these birthday week long celebrations... they are much more fun than just one day. ;)

Shortly after my birthday we celebrated Miss Brooklyn Paige's birthday! Oh how we love our sweet little 5 year old!

She wanted a dress up princess party with her friends and butterfly cupcakes for her birthday. She had such a fun little party with all of her friends! 10 little girls came to her party. It was kind of a lot and little chaotic but they had a blast. And mostly importantly she LOVED every minute of it. They were all so darling in their little princess dress up clothes.

Claire, Amiah, Laynee, Kenadie, Izzy, Morgan,
Kenzington, Sammie, Brooklyn, and Haven.

Oh and did I mention one of Brooklyn's sweet little friends got her chickens for her birthday?! The girls absolutely LOVE them, so we are officially chicken farmers.

Brooklyn graduated preschool! It is crazy to think that she will be starting kindergarten in the fall. She is so ready for it! She is such a little smarty pants! She got the most prestigious award in her preschool class... Little Miss Reader! (Proud mommy moment!) She is very studious and loves to learn.

She loved all the little activities that they did in preschool from visiting the fire station, to cowgirl day, to motor-cross, to biker day, they really got to experience it all.

We are all definitely going to miss her preschool teachers. We have loved them all. Mrs. Marque, Mrs. Nicole, and Mrs. Tara.

  

 

She also had her Spring Show dance recital. She did such a good job. It is so fun to watch her grow.

Brandon and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary on the 11th of May! 7 years!! No itch for us. :) Our anniversary also fell on Mother's Day. So it was extra special... or extra lucky for Brandon... killing two birds with one stone. We celebrated Mother's Day at my awesome Mother's house having a Mother's Day luncheon with my sisters, minus Alyson. It is always fun when we get together. I really feel so blessed to have so many awesome Mother's and examples in my life. I sure love them all!

My mom watched our kids that night so that we could go on an anniversary date. We went out with Ashly and Kimball Lee on a double date! It was a blast. We went on a "choose your own adventure date" complete with bowling, Chinese fire-drills, truth or dare, Olive Garden, Sip-it Sodas, and playing pool. The highlights of the night were our crazy made up bowling names and dance after a strike or spare, turning in the name Lequifa to Olive Garden for the waiting list, Ash and I killing Brandon and Kimball in pool, Brandon putting Soldier Boy on the jute-box and it being a totally different song than we expected, and just talking about grown up things with one of my besties. It was so fun!

This past Sunday, the 18th of May, was Brandon's birthday. It's hard to believe this sexy beast is 32! :)

I celebrated it by leaving him alone during sacrament meeting and all of church with all the kids. Of course they asked me to speak on his birthday, I was also in charge of sharing time, and had Ward Council. Brandon didn't even complain once. He is such a good dad and father. My talk went well, but mostly I am just glad it is over. It was on learning to be happy. I love the learning and preparation that goes into giving a talk, but the anxiety of public speaking never seems to completely go away, no matter how much I do it.

We celebrated Brandon's birthday after church by having a homemade lemon blueberry cake and having Brandon's parents over for dinner. It was so good and so relaxing.

Brandon has been studying like crazy the months of January, February, March, and first part of April. He was away from home so much trying to prepare for the Professional Engineering Exam. We missed him. On the 11th of April he took his 8 hour exam. It is a pass or fail exam. No score. It is graded on a curve of how well paid professional engineers do on the exam. And you don't get your results for 8-10 weeks!! Eek! The anticipation has been killing us. Well just yesterday Brandon got his results back and .... PASS!! We are thrilled! And I am so proud of Brandon. All of his hard-work and time spent studying paid off.

Little Miss Bridgette is as happy as ever. We love her to pieces. She is growing and changing to fast. I just wish she could stay little for longer.

Kenzington and Brooklyn are starting t-ball in a few weeks. It will be so fun because they get to be on the same team!! Brooklyn will also be starting swimming lesson the first of June. She is so excited. She is loving piano lessons. I am actually teaching her, and she is such a dedicated little student. I teach 6 other kids piano lessons as well. We are definitely keeping busy, to say the least, with no signs of slowing down this summer. But we love being actively involved in our ward, community, and family life.

Bridgette is 6 months!

Seriously! Where does the time go?! I can't believe that our cute little stink is 6 months old!!

Bridgette is such a joy in our lives... as our the other two little whooligans.

Bridgette was barely on the charts at her 6 month appointment, coming in at 19 lbs. 3 oz. and 28.5 inches long!! She's really tall!

She is eating almost any baby food and loves them. She is so smiley and happy all the time.

One of my most favorite things is when she wakes up in the morning. She will just coo and smile in her crib. Content as can be! It warms my heart.

As a family we have been staying super busy. I've been trying to keep up with the three little Miss's, get the new Primary year going and running smoothly, playing women's volleyball, playing bunco, starting a freezer meal group and a craft group, teaching piano lessons, and being especially dedicated to becoming more fit. Eight weeks ago I started a program called Great In 8. It has been so awesome for me to compete... and I am actually on track to win the entire program for the state of Utah!!! (Yes! I am tooting my own horn here! Woot! Woot!) Plus the prize winning money will be nice too! If I was a little bit gutsier I would post my before and after shots, but... well, I'm not.

Brandon has been busy with work, Young Men's, basketball, and studying for the PE. The PE stands for Professional Engineer. It is his big state exam that gives him his state certification and stamp. It is a HUGE/HARD 8 hour Exam! I know he is going to do awesome on it, because he is awesome at anything he sets his mind to accomplishing. Brandon's brother is also getting married in New York this summer, so we are planning a "No Kids" trip to NYC, of course we will be taking baby Bridgette. It's kind of become a tradition that we take our babies on a vacation when they are under a year old. :) Brooklyn went to NYC and Washington D.C. at 9 months, Kenzington went to Alaska at 5 months, and now it's little Bridger's turn. We are so excited for his brother Joseph and our soon to be sister-in-law Jenne!!... Not to mention excited for a fun vacation!

Brooklyn is staying busy with preschool, dance, piano, and playing with friends. We get to register her for Kindergarten on March 11th!! I still can't believe that she is going to be in Kindergarten! She is such a great big sister and is always willing to help out with anything we ask. She has a little job chart that she has become obsessed with and is always asking for more chores! (We will see how long that last for. :)) She's gotten really good at making her bed and cleaning her room. I love to see her so willing to help out around the house.

Kenzington is mommy's little buddy. Her and I get to spend a lot of one-on-one time together while Brooklyn is at school and Bridgette is napping. I am so grateful for this time. She has the funniest, spunkiest little personality. She just turned 3 and thinks she is SO grown up. She loves playing outside and especially riding her bike. Everyday she asks if we can take off the training-wheels... and with her determined attitude I'm sure she'll be ready for that real soon.

As I said before, our little Bridgette is growing up too fast! In fact all of our kids are! I love the joy that these little ones bring into our home.

I couldn't have asked for a better family, a sweeter husband, and more loving girls. Feeling very blessed!