The Little Fairy Princess

Paige recently had her dance recital so we had to try out the spongy curlers for the first time. Paige's hair has grown like crazy over the last few months so I decided that I need to get a little more adventurous with it. The spongy curlers were great. They bring back all sorts of memories of going to bed with curlers in my hair every Saturday night so I could have gorgeous hair for church.

Paige's costume for her dance recital was so cute and will most definitely be recycled for Halloween this year. She was so cute with her make-up all done and glittering head to toe.

Paige has lots of little friends that go to the same dance studio as she does. They are all so cute together. These two have known each other since they were born and her older brother is Braiden's best buddy. Now that's a recipe for life-long friends!

Memorial Day- Tamara and Marissa

This post is a little out of date but I am working on catching up. As I mentioned back on Braiden's birthday post, Tamara came to town to visit her sister, who lives in Lehi so we got to spend some time together. We had a great time just hanging out.

We had a Memorial Day BBQ at Lara's house and had YUMMY Santa Maria style tri-tip!! Thank you Lara! Thanks for the visit Tam and Marissa. We love you!

No Doubt!!

May 25th, Memorial Day, I went to the No Doubt Conert in at the E Center in Salt Lake City.

It was so AWESOME!!! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Gwen Stefani and have been a fan of No Doubt since I was in 9th grade. When I heard that the No Doubt reunion tour was hitting Salt Lake City I HAD to go so we made it a family thing.

~Me and my Lovely sisters~

How Does your Garden Grow?

Three is definitely a magic number. This is the 3rd spring that my roses and peonies have been planted in my backyard and I cannot believe how they are blooming like crazy. My house has been full of bog beautiful blooming roses.

I love it.

Happy, Happy Birthday...

Today is Paige's 4th Birthday...4 years ago to the hour right now i was pushing my sweet little girl into the world in front of an audience of 6 people...don't ask!

I remember when I found out that I was having a girl. I was so excited as I had been seeing pink forever. Paige is a Daddy's Girl through and through.

She, being the only girl in the household gets a special kind of attention that the only girl always gets. She loves her brothers and loves to play.

She loves dance class, McDonaldDuck's, and anything Disney (especially Sleeping "Dooty"). She is very predictable in the sense that she loves to watch any show, always needs a drink and a snack and LOVES to take baths.
She will say "hold you" when she wants you to hold her and she asks if we can go see the airplanes at the "airsport". She is always the first to spot the temple, any of the 4 around us, when we go by them and says that she is going to get married there when she gets married "next week".

Paige has many little sweet quirks about her but her loving little personality makes it impossible to lose my temper or get upset with her. She always says "Thanks Mom" and "sorry Mom".

This was the first year that decided to do a friend party for Paige. I figured she was old enough to appreciate it and Heaven knows there are plenty of little girls that are willing to come to a Hello Kitty Party!!

So a slaved away on the darling headbands they are wearing. Each girl was donned with a headband and necklace upon arrival and they colored to their heart's contents with photocopied Hello Kitty pictures.

Next was the Pin the flower in the Garden Hello Kitty rendition game. I found out that 4 year-olds have a VERY short attention span. They were interested in the for about 1 minute before they were asking what was next...

So on to the painting of the Hello Kitty figurines. I found these at Target in the craft section. They LOVED it. That lasted for a whole 15 minutes... anything over 5 minutes is considered success in attention games.

The girls then found some entertainment in playing in the backyard with ladybugs and in the playhouse until we then went inside for some "DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE". WOW! That game is rough...especially for us 31 year-olds. They loved that game too and it wore them all out.

We then ate Hello Kitty Birthday cake (thank you Wal-Mart) and drank pink 7-Up. Next was the presents and then a half hour of Hello Kitty cartoons. Whew!

Overall the party was a hit and the girls had a grand time. They all went home with green and pink tote bags from the dollar store filled with little trinkets and super high blood sugar...

Success!

Paige made out like a bandit the birthday with gifts from all her sweet friends and from mommy and daddy. I think she was a bit overwhelmed and flabbergasted at all the stuff and all the fun but she loved it.

She said "Thanks for the 'credible' party mom." I think that's a good thing.

Happy Birthday babygirl! Don't grow up too fast.

Adventures in driving...California here we come!

I had the great pleasure of taking a little trip, not a vaction (the distinction is that a trip is with kids, a vaca is without) to California with Braiden, Paige and my lovely new college-grad sister Whitney. We started by staying in Grandma's house in St George one night (as you will recall from the lovely hairball incident). Then made our way the next day to Las Vegas.

We checked into the Circus Circus Hotel (cheap and decent) and spent a little time at the pool with the kiddos. It was HOT! That night Braiden and I went to the Phantom of the Opera Production at the Venetian. I have seen this twice now and it just gets better. We had amazing seats right in the middle of the theater, smack dab in front of the stage. Perfect view of the stage and perfect view of the infamous chandelier as it fell right on top of us. Braiden was totally taken by all the special effects and trying to spot the Phantom whenever he would pop up out of nowhere. It was a really good time. I want my children to grow with an appreciation for the performing arts so Braiden is off to a great start. The next morning we made our way to the obligatory child-appropriate stops such as the M&M Store and the Coca-Cola Store. That was about the extent of our hanging out on the strip. I am not a fan of Vegas. Off to California we rode!


We stayed the night at Dad's house in Southern California and then the next day we were off to the Magical Kingdom to play with princesses, fairies and mice...First stop---California Adventure. Paige was tall enough this time to ride Soarin' Over California and she LOVED it. It was so fun to see her. We hit Monsters, Tower of Terror, Playhouse Disney, Bugs Land, California Screamin', the Ferris Wheel, Braiden went on the Paradise Pier rocket thing (3 times) and then we were out of there to get some shut-eye.

We got a late start the next day as we visited the pool and the breakfast bar and just took our sweet time. During that time I received about 6 text messages from Eric inquiring as to what we were up to. Where are you guys going now? Where are you parking? Have you guys left yet? I figured he was just missing us so I humored him and answered all his questions so he could live vicariously through my adventures... So...

We get through the security gate and are just walking to the Disneyland entrance when I look to my far left as I see a dude walking toward us that looks curiously like Eric...WHAT THE HECK??? IT IS ERIC!! The sneaker had flown in that morning and checked into his own hotel and managed to track us down to surprise us!! I couldn't believe my eyes. I thought I was seeing things because I truly had NO IDEA!! It was a very pleasant surprise and Paige was in AWW at being able to hold her Daddy. She did very tightly for a solid 10 minutes. It was pretty sweet. He spent the next 2 days with us and flew home...oh yes, I drive home and he flew...stinker!

That day we spent alot of time in line to see the fairies and the princesses. This trip we promised Paige that we would do it so we did and the LINES WERE LONG! My Disneyland tip of the day---if you want to see the Princesses, go first thing in the morning and go pee before you get in line. People are ruthless and those mothers are not about to hold your place for you--you snooze, you lose! Ha!

We Spent a second day at Disneyland for which I forgot my camera so you will just have to use your imagination. Braiden pretty much went on every ride in the park. Eric and he stayed as late as they could and Whit and I went to the hotel with Paige and crashed by 10pm. That's just about my limit after being there about 11 hours.

Paige was a trooper...they both were. No freaking out or massive tantrums. No running away or getting lost and no begging for over-priced ridiculous souvenirs. They were both ready to go home when the time came and so was I. Never do look forward to the drive home but when I get there its all so worth it! Until next time...August I think. :)

In Memoriam...

Jerold Farrar Lazenby

Uncle- In- Law

May 17, 1935-May 12, 2008

Georgiana Lazenby Erickson

Mother- In- Law

June 10, 1947- December 5, 2006

Becky Lynn Pollard Watson

(My Step-mom)

1958-2002

Lynne Jay Lundberg

Grandfather

January 6, 1926- May 11, 2008

Also...

My Grandfather Lee Watson

My Father-In-Law Larry Reynolds Erickson (although I never knew him) lived August 18, 1936-October 2, 1993.

Happy Memorial Day...

Can you Throwdown??

Learn the Hannah Montana Hoedown Throwdown with me!!

Oh Heavens, my child is in the double digits!

Holy Moly, I have a 10 year old. Its official...I'm old. Oh I will get over it but really I cant believe it has been 10 years since Braiden was born. The time has gone by so fast, before i know it he will be 20.

I cannot believe how much Braid has changed in the last year. He went from looking like a little boy at 9 to looking like a 'tween at 10! He will likely be as tall or taller than me in the next couple years. Braiden is a smart, fun-loving, strong, and caring kid. I am so glad that he came to me.

There are days where i wonder if I can do it then there are days where I wonder how anyone could choose to never have kids. I Love you Braiden and I am so proud of the little man are becoming!!

To celebrate the occasion we had a party at Cobblestone with some friends and family. We had a great turn-out (Thanks everyone!) and Braiden made out like a bandit!!

Look closely, you will see "Happy 10th Braiden" scratched into the cake. (Didn't have time to decorate it. Had to make due.)

I also forgot candles so we had to pretend there were candles to blow out. Which really only facilitated Braiden's spitting all over the cake. Oh well. It was good anyway.

The kids had a great time eating and making a wonderful mess

Quinn and Teague came for the food. LOL!

Braiden's ever-prized new DC skate shoes he has been asking me to get for months. I have to take a moment and brag about the fact the I got the $65 shoes on eBay for 30!! Woot!!

Boys are so funny the way they all flock over the new toys like they are gold.

Don't worry Luke! I know you were just trying to be the favorite uncle by buying a 10 year old an air soft gun (YIKES!) but don't you worry. I will get you back when I take one of your girls out to get her belly button pierced!! Haha!

And last but not least! A present for me when my bestest friend Tamara showed up from Seattle to surprise me!! Ok really she came out to see her sister but I am so glad to see her!!

After the party I dropped Braiden off at his Dad's house and he gave me a hug and a kiss and said "That was the best birthday party EVER!" That's what makes it all worthwhile.


Happy Birfday Bubba!!

Warning- this is SICK!!!

***Warning***
This is seriously sick so if you are eating or chewing on anything that you could possibly choke on, please stop prior to scrolling down.


So we went to Grandma's house last weekend. She said "Don't use the shower downstairs because it's backing up". Since I am such the do-it-yourself type i thought "I will fix it!"

Need I say more?

Mother's Day 2009

Mother's Day was rather hectic this year as I left that day to drive to California for a little jaunt (details to come in a future post). So we all met at Mimi's for their yummy breakfast. Food, Folks and Fun as McDonald's would say.

That dude in the picture with my mom is Rand, her new flame and hopefully her last. He is a nice guy and at this point "NICE" is our only requirement for a new step-dad. My mom says he's a good kisser too so I guess that's a bonus- for her.

My husband and kids, of course, gave me great hand-picked gifts for Mother's Day and I love that. Eric is always so good to me and he loves and respects me as a Mother and a Woman more than anyone I have ever known. I love that about him and I love that we have 3 AWESOME kids that make my life what it is.

To those I know who are mothers: Congratulations in taking on the world's most difficult yet rewarding "job" you can ever have. It's because of good mothers that there are ANY good people left in the world today. Thanks for telling your tales so that I can avoid a mistake here and there. We have to work together to assure that our babies make it out of teenage-hood alive. Go TEAM!!

To those I know who are not yet mothers: Get to know who YOU are before you try to bring children to your world. You can only love others when you have learned to love yourself first. When the time is right, it will happen and it will be the most AWESOME and EXHAUSTING challenge you have ever taken on. Don't sweat the small stuff because there will always be small stuff. Just love your children unconditionally and they will appreciate you for it someday.

I have known some of the most awesome mothers there are. I have a mom who worked her entire young life to take care of 4 kids on her own while trying to make her own life better. She taught me perserverance and patience. I have Grandmothers who are amazing examples of unconditional love.

I want to be like them.

Happy Mother's Day- hug your babies a little bit tighter tonight!