Sad Princess Story

It really is sad. I cried. Right along with her, because I knew she was so dissappointed. Here's the story of a truly Sad Princess.


This past Friday night, the night before the big birthday party that has been greatly anticipated by little Hailey, ended up being miserable. I heard Hailey come out of her room around 10pm and went upstairs to see if she needed anything. I found her using the bathroom and she was shaking uncontrollably. She said to me "I don't know what's happening".  I put her back to bed and told Nate she was asking for him. He laid down with her and quickly realized that she had a horrible fever. Horrible indeed.


We put her in our bed and kept her with us all night. As per the doctors request, we kept all our windows open and a fan blowing right in our direction to try to cool her down. Needless to say, it was FREEZING. And, it didn't really help much. She kept her temp at about 103.5 all night. The next morning, we went to the doctor, they checked her out and after running some tests, came to the conclusion it was just merely a viral infection that had to run its course. We knew right then, we had to cancel her birthday party.


She, however, did not know that. After getting her home and letting her take a nap, she woke up and asked if it was time to go to the Kangaroo Zoo yet and we had to tell her the bad news about her birthday. This is where the sadness comes in. While we were explaining to her that we had to cancel and why, all she did while laying in our bed was allow tears to run down her face. No tantrum, not fit, just tears. Then came the quivering chin. I left the room, it was so sad. Nate teared up knowing how disappointed she was.


We decided to have a little family party with grandparents for her instead and I went ahead and made her cake that she has been asking for. Her fever broke around 3pm and she has been fine ever since.

She wanted a princess party with a castle cake this year, so that's what she got, or was going to get, till we had to improvise. The good news is, we were able to reschedule with the Kangaroo Zoo, so she will be able to live her 4 year old dream after all.

Princess Castle Cake

Sad Little Hailey

this picture breaks my heart. She just looks like she's had such a rough day. Those big brown eyes just look so sad to me.

Plasma Car

Our present to Hailey this year. She's in love with this car. She takes Addy for rides all the time and they love it!

and of course, I had to take it for a spin...

then the girls had some fun playing in the castle I made for her party

Then of course, it wouldn't be complete without blowing out a candle.

Overall, she ended up having a good evening, but was still very disappointed about her party with her friends. 

We felt bad for family that traveled this weekend. Like my mother in law always says, "it is what it is".

After an emotional day, with highs and lows and lots of snuggling and worrying and busy cake making, we were tired. And very ready for bed.

Thanks to family and friends for being understanding and caring about the outcome of the weekend.

Halloween 2010

Halloween was SO much fun this year. Not just the night itself, but the days leading up to it. Hailey really gets the concept and because Hailey gets it so well, Addy follows suit of big sister and joins in the excitement. They both could not wait to get all dressed up. 


Introducing this years duo:

Little Mermaid and Lil' Pumpkin

And this was part of the process of getting them there:

(or protecting the ozone layer.. either way.)

Family Photo Op

(the weather died down from all the rain so we were ready to do some trick or treating)

 

Hailey was SO fun this year and Addy was a blast. Every time we left a house after getting some candy, Hailey would run off yelling "WOOHOO!" and Addy would get these crazy huge grins on her face. It was so fun to watch them get so excited.

Traditionally, we always go to grandma and grandpa's neighborhood in Orem to trick or treat. We know a lot of the people in their neighborhood and they always get very excited to see our kids dressed up each year. Besides, it allows grandma and grandpa to share the evening with us as well.

This is the house of some really good friends of ours. Their son was dressed up SUPER scary with a crazy scary mask on, so he took it off after a minute to let the girls know it was just him. They said just before we got there, he scared a group so bad that they were diving off their porch, running over eachother and screaming to get away. Love it.

I think we might have a problem with our girls eventually. They are SO intrigued by scary stuff. They love it. Nate took them to the halloween store one night and he said all they wanted to do was go to the graveyard section with all the creepy stuff. Weird.

This was Hailey impatiently waiting in the rain to do some trick or treating.

I couldn't get Addy to keep a straight face while photographing her. She was CRAZY that night.

Hailey was in true princess form with being Ariel.

It was pretty cold, but they didn't care.

 They loved EVERY minute of it.

And of course:

The Loot!

then, when all was over and they were ready for a bath, this is what it looked like from the dye in their hair. 

SICK!

While we are on the subject of Halloween, Hailey had a parade at her preschool's Halloween party.

She was adorable and thought it was pretty darn cool to dress up with her friends.

Hailey with her teacher Miss Megan

And in the spirit of Halloween, Jack O Lanterns

Nate is a brave soul. I came home from Young Womens one night and he and the girls had carved pumpkins, AND had the mess all cleaned up!

Nate's

Haileys'

Addy's

Happy Halloween!!

A Little Catching Up

Here are some pictures I've been waiting to upload. Now that my computer is fixed and happy, here they are!

BON APPETIT!!

This Halloween, I decided to make some fun Halloween foods and treats! I haven't captured all of our Halloween tastiness on camera, however, here are a few!

Pumpkin Cake with Raspberry Filling

The girls and I decided to make

Witch Cupcakes

Jack O Lantern Quesadilla

Of course, who could deny 

Mac N Cheese Halloween Style!

Mummy Hot Dogs

(this was a favorite)

SPINACH SMOOTHIES!!

Always an afternoon favorite snack. It's pretty much asked for every. single. day. (Don't pay attention to the mess in my kitchen)

SNOW! Really??? UGH! 

I was definitely less than excited to wake up to snow the other morning. The girls, however, were elated!


Last but not least, this is what happens when you play wally ball with a bunch of youth. My inner volleyball player came out and I dove for the ball one too many times.  

It definitely was fun though. And don't worry, both knees look like this.

A little bit of Everything

So, there's been some stuff going on around here. I haven't blogged much for a few reasons.

1. my computer sounds like it's going to blow up. I need a new fan and being on it for more than a few minutes drives me crazy.
2. my keyboard is JACKED (sorry dad) up. Addy decided it would be fun to pick off keys and now a few of them don't work properly, particularly the 'o' key. It couldn't be x or z, it had to be a vowel.
3. my whole system needs to be wiped and re-loaded. It freezes when I transfer files or try to upload pictures. It's awesome.

Good thing I have a computer genius for a husband.  I got a good surprise today when he texted me letting me know that he had ordered me a new fan, a new keyboard and he was ready to wipe and reload it. YAY!!!!!

Hopefully next week i'll be able to get back up and running with some new pictures.

Aside from all that, I've had some new and fun things going on. Some things deserve pictures for proof, but for now, i'll just get it out there for rememberance sake. (feel free to stop reading at this point if you wish, the rest is mostly for my own fading memory)

- I made edible flowers for Hailey's birthday cake which are sitting on my counter drying.

- I sewed Addy's Halloween costume and made the hairpiece to go with it.

- I re-vamped Hailey's costume. It was made pretty poorly, so I had to re-do a bunch of stuff.

- I deep cleaned my entire house. When I say deep cleaned, I mean that I did things that have needed to be done for some time now, like re-caulking bathrooms, throwing a ton of junk away, etc.

- If you remember my last post with the pumpkin craft, I sawed and sanded (with my trusty sander that I love so much)  2 VERY long 2x3 pieces of wood into 8 sets of pumpkins to be crafted at young womens. I got a gnarly blister on my hand from that darn saw.

- I took the girls to the zoo with Summer and the kids.

- I've gained a new love of ZUMBA.  Let me tell you a little story about Zumba. When Zumba first came out, it was on VHS form. I bought them on an infomercial. Yes, I spend about $120.00 for the set. That was close to 10 years ago. So, I kind of feel like a Veteran when it comes to Zumba. However, now that I can take the classes at the gym, i've fallen in love all over again.

- I've read about 6 books this year, which is really good for me. I think before this and last year, I had read 0 books since highschool and I haven't been in highschool for 13 years! Now, I feel really old.

- I got Nate to read a book!!! Now, that's HUGE, for those of you who know him!

- I've been pretty much off of sugar for about a month. I've had a few bites here and there of stuff, but for the most part, sugar and major preservatives are non existant with my food intake these days. I feel great. My lunches consist of simple things like baked potato with nothing on it and steemed veggies or a spinach smoothie and I've gotten to the point where I LOVE it..  My sister in law Summer taught me the greatest lesson of dicing food and now I make homemade salsa all the time for my snack since it takes only a few minutes to do.

- I planned a pretty sweet surprise for Nate for his birthday. I booked 2 nights in the Red Rock Hotel in Vegas (more nights if we decide) and got us tickets to see 'O' at the Bellagio. The reason this is so cool, is just because I have a hard time leaving the kids with anyone but him overnight, so it's a big step for me and one that he never thought I'd do. So, he's pretty excited.

PHEW!!! That's a lot of stuff. But it's sure been fun. Pictures to come!

Any projects you've been up to? 

Facelift

You might remember our kitchen table if you've ever been to our house. Or if you've seen pictures on my blog like this one:

Well, I decided it needed a serious facelift. With putting my house back together after the 'big project' that can be seen here, I felt it would look much better if it were a different color. First, I needed an electric sander. I cannot tell you how excited I was to go buy my sander. In fact, I was so excited that I even called my friend Becca the night before to tell her I was going to buy it the next day. Yes, most girls like to buy clothes and jewelry with their extra money... I buy things like power tools. (don't get me wrong, I do love the occasional facelift on my closet as well)

So, after many early mornings and naptimes of sanding, priming, painting and curing, it is complete. There were a few times of begging from my little artist, that I gave in and let her help. She was ecstatic about it.

Her teacher at preschool pulled me aside a week or two ago when picking her up and told me how impressed she is with Hailey and her painting skills. I would agree. She does a pretty fantastic job.

I think it turned out pretty nice.

Oh, and to my 'craft night friends' I'm sorry I did this one without you, but it is so stinkin cute not to share.

Again, I got to use my trusty electric saw and sander for this gem.

I'm excited to find something new to create.

Together at last!

Nate and I made the decision that it was time to move the girls into the same room. Not only MOVING Addy,

but also putting her in a big girl bed. 

So, without putting too much thought into it, we just did it. If I think on these things too long, I get anxiety and back out. So, about 4 days after making the decision, we bought them a new bed.

They think it's pretty much the coolest thing ever. Nate and I HATED that thing after the LONG hours of putting it together. So far, the transition has been great.

Addy thinks she's pretty hot stuff and they LOVE sleeping in the same room. Nate's excited to have his office back and i'm happy that everyone's happy.

 So, life is good.

Spontaneous

What a weekend. Last Friday morning I made a random decision to drive to St. George for my niece, Avery's birthday. My mother in law ended up driving down with us which made the trip much more bearable. Nate had to stay home for work and we were off. Friday night was birthday party preparations which made for a fun late night.

Saturday morning, my sister in law Melissa and I took Hailey and Addy to a splash pad in St. George. The girls had a blast! It was such a fun little place to let them play and get wet.

That afternoon, it was party time. Hailey and Addy had such a great time at the party. It was a really fun 'Dancer Party' complete with dancer food and dancer games. So fun.

 I had to include the picture because it makes me laugh. Typical Hailey.

  This was the finished product of the birthday girl's cupcake. Frosting IS the best part, right?

After cupcakes, we took off for Vegas. I figure if we were going to be that close, we should go visit Grandpa and Grandma Luke. I also talked my mom into driving back to Provo with me on Monday. (she didn't really need to be talked into)

Monday morning, we headed back to Utah. On the way, we stopped off in St. George again, only this time, it was to see my grandparents. We had a blast visiting with them.  They gave the girls treats and ice cream, lots of loves and tons of fun with their dogs. Hailey and Addy were in heaven. It was the perfect way to break up the trip.

It was a crazy fast weekend, but we had a good time with great people.

On to other things...

Well Friends, i've made a decision. I needed to simplify my life. I feel like I miss out on too many things that are important because i'm too busy. Or my mind is just crammed with mindless information that I don't need.

My girls are growing up way too fast. I am WAY behind on scrapbooking and that's something that I love.

I want to read more books.

I want to spend more time outside.

I want to spend less time on my laptop. (this is a HUGE one)

I want to spend more time reading to my girls.

I want to spend more time cooking wonderful meals for my family. (as apposed to throwing something together last minute.)

I want to teach my girls more skills. (cooking, cleaning, etc.)

I want to watch a movie with Nate without distraction.

Aside from the physical changes, I want to have less stuff on my mind. I feel like I need to have a more clear outlook on things that are more important like my family.

We recently had regional conference and in a talk given by Julie Beck she states: 

"avoid being distracted by things that are nice to do at the expense of things that are most important."

This is my new goal. So after many talks with Nate and after much consideration on my part and on his, i've decided to cancel my facebook account.  Honestly, since I did it, I feel like a weight has been lifted in a way. It's a little hard to explain.

So, from now on, stay tuned for updates on my blog. I'll miss you all on facebook, but i'll be in touch!

P.S. I spent a lot of time on facebook last night going through and writing down contact information the old school way. (in and address book) So I can still be in touch with those long lost friends and family that facbook reconnected me with. Now, as we part ways, I am greatful for facebook for that.