Mice all Over the House!

Today there were mice all over our house! It was so much fun....we had Bridger and Angeli's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Birthday party today. They both love Mickey and Minnie Mouse and their show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. They have been talking about this birthday party for a year and were very excited to finally have it. Our mice were adorable!

This picture totally cracks me up. I asked her to pose for me and she starts doing this pose. I had no idea where she got it from until I looked at the Minnie mouse on top of her cake! Ha, I love girls!

It was a lot of fun though the cake decorating was a first time for me as far as the size of the project and my first time using fondant. It didn't turn out quite as I imagined... I didn't really get my fondant to turn out exactly right until we were almost done with the cakes. Next time it will be a lot easier just because I'll know what consistency I am going for. But the kids didn't care if my fondant was too soft, they thought they were wonderful so bless their hearts! Stewart, like always, stayed up way late helping me get it done (3 am when the guy leaves the house at 4am every morning). Sweet Man!
Bridger is the one who commissioned the cakes. He has been talking about having a big mickey mouse CLUBHOUSE cake since his last birthday. It had to have all of the clubhouse too! No skipping corners or leaving out a slide, nope he wanted it all!

(Notice how Minnie is standing. Angeli was trying to stand like Minnie. he he he)

So we transformed the living room into the clubhouse and let the kids enter only by saying the password, "Misca Moussa Mickey Mouse! ". They played running around with balloons and such. Then we did some fun games where they earned their mouse ears and helped Mickey open the treasure by finding all the shapes hidden around the house and matching them to their figures. They loved this game and took it very seriously...so cute!

After they had their fun we did cake and ice cream. I have to admit I was little sad to cut into my cakes when not many people had seen them...but what is cake for? Certainly not just to look at!

To burn some of that sugar off Stew and I played "Pete" where we chased the kids around the house spraying silly string at them. It was my favorite part! Then we put on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to help them wind down a little and then ended things off with some classic hide and seek until parents arrived.

It was so much fun watching the kids eyes light up when they saw their decorations and their cakes. Then watching their glee as they were able to share it with their best friends made it even more enjoyable. We were sad because half of the party seemed to be home sick with a bug that is going around. :( But it might have been for the best, because it could have been a little too chaotic.

Now party season is over...well, I have an anniversary to plan but other then that we are in the clear of parties for awhile.That is if I can resist the temptation I am having to host a little tea party with the girlies...I am a lost cause!

Today...

Today I am craving wearing shorts and a polo shirt and flip flops and going outside and sitting in the warm sun while my kids run around.

Today I am thinking about how much I am going to LOVE being a grandmother.

Today I am busy getting the kids birthday party ready for tomorrow.

Today I am so grateful for my neighbor who came over last night and helped fix our fence.

Today I am missing my sisters. I wish they could just drop in and chat with me as I go about my daily chores and we could let our kids run around like a bunch of crazies.

Today I miss my mother I wish I could help her paint the hall bathroom as I am sure she is doing and I would tell how wonderful she is and how talented she is.

Today I love that Stewart dosen't have to be on call for an entire month!!!

Today I am thinking about the book I reading that my mom sent me and wonderign how I can be closer to Christ.

Today I am excitedly thinking about when I will get to see my in-laws again and how I hope we can all be together this summer - its been too long.

Today...

Angeli Turns Three

Oh, words cant express what a complete angel our little Angeli is. I am so glad we named her Angeli for that very reason. She is a sweet sweet girl. She has turned into a little girl this year and I am always so amazed as I watch her run around the house mothering her brothers. I love those moments when she doesn't realize I am watching her and she is playing by herself doing something make believe. She is shy around strangers and always cautious but when she is in her comfort zone it is apparent that she is a complete doll. She is a very caring sister to her brothers and I am pretty sure when she is a teenager she'll have her own personal body guards to ward of the boys. Which make mom and dad pleased. ;) We just adore her and love her to pieces. Thank Heaven for giving us one of their finest angels.

Once again I did a little photo shoot at home and once again the lighting wasn't very good...But its still clear she is beautiful.

Interview With the Girly

Favorite Color: "PINK, purple and green. Those are my favorite colors."
Favorite Foods: "Sausage, chips, and .............."
Favorite Game: "Ummm, play with Bridger. Playing scary guys and house and that I am Mommy."
Favorite Movie: "Ummmm, Snow White!"
Best Friends: "Anne..... Um, Bridger and Sam and Benjie too."
Favorite Song: Ummmmm...... (I finally got her to agree to twinkle twinkle little stare but I probably could have gotten her to say anything...she can be very indecisive. Complete opposite of her brother.)
Favorite Place: DISNEYLAND!
What do you want to be when you grow up?: "Mommy!"

Bridger at Four Years Old!

Our Boy is Four! He has grown up leaps and bounds this year. I know I always say this but he is full of so much life and adds so much energy to our home. Everything he says is said with an EXCLAMATION mark. Everything. He has always kept us on our toes and we wouldn't want him any other way! We are so grateful he is our boy.

I did a little photo shoot the other day...sorry its bad lighting and such. What can you do when there is sleet failing outside and its January? Besides, he's so hansom who cares about the lighting anyways?!?!?

Interview with the Four Year Old

Favorite Color: "BLUE! and purple and green and I like lots of colors. I like all the colors!!!"
Favorite Foods: "Breakfast my favorite is blueberries and pancakes! Lunch my favorite is macaroni and cheese. Dinner is daddy! hahahahahehhehe"
Favorite Game: "Playing Mickey Mouse Club House with Angeli!"
Favorite Movie:" "MICKEY MOUSE CLUB HOUSE!!!"
Best Friends: " Sam! And Anne and Angeli and Benjie."
Favorite Song: "MICKEY MOUSE CLUB HOUSE!"
Favorite Place: "DISNEYLAND!" (Disney should hire him to promote their brands! )
What do you want to be when you grow up?: "Daddy!" ( that made his daddy very happy. Stewart asked if he wanted to have a job too Bridger said yes emphatically and announced I will go to school all day long! I wonder where he got that from?...if only he knew that wasn't really a job.)

Projects, Projects, Projects!

That has been my passion lately. Thus I have been busy trying to squeeze it all into my very limited free time. I have been going non-stop from 5 am to 10 pm everyday hardly getting a breath in with all the fun I have going on. I am really excited about having some stability in my life again where we aren't going all over, in part, because I can finally dedicate some time to being creative instead of just trying to stay alive. I am rediscovering my creativity and it has been really good for me. I haven't really had a chance to share with anyone all that I am doing so I thought I would blog about some of them really quick to serve that purpose. :O)

- My secret anniversary gift for Stewart. This is my favorite right now. I will share more when it is done and given to Stew. I hope he loves it as much as I do.

- Making clay letters. I have been wanting to do this for a long time and I finally started to play with it some. I thought if they are cute enough I could sell them on-line for a little extra income. I hope! I will put them up on my wall and show them to my clients if they seem interested I think I will have the green light to start doing them professionally. Time will tell.

- Planning my Smith Family's reunion for this summer. It is going to be really great - Heritage themed. We are doing things that have to do with our heritage and family ancestry. I am in love with it. We'll be doing things that capture what our family is: gardening, building, cooking, sewing, art,... I want the grandkids to learn about what it means to be apart of the Smith family. Where their ancestors come from, what their family traditions are, what the smith Legacy is, and of course do it in a fun interactive way. Since food is such a big family tradition I am putting together a family recipe book of all our favorite foods growing up. I will pass out at the reunion. Oh, it is going to be awesome!

- Scrap booking like crazy... so fun since I haven't done anything for like two years. Borrowed my girlfriends cartridges from her Cricut and have been using them for some fun stuff. Oh, I really need some more stuff but for now I will be the annoying friend who borrows a lot. ;)

- Getting all our family videos formatted and burned onto DVD's. We love watching our home videos and I like trying to make them extra cute. Plus this is a cheap project. Love that!

- Planning for a major yard work this spring. We are getting our patio poured and my cute little terrace sitting area I dug out all finished. I think it will be really great. I plan on doing a really cute flower thing in the front yard with all the rocks we got out of all our digging last year and planting some flowers in the back yard along our terrace and in a giant planter as well. I am going to try and save money and grow the seeds myself...we'll see if it works!

- Putting together our Primary Scripture themed Quarterly activity. It is going to be cute with the kids acting out different stories on the stage which I will film (to be watched next year at our scripture jar filling party). Followed by our ice cream party they earned for filling our Scripture Jar this past year.

- Sewing scripture bags for the kids. This was a funny thing since I didn't want to spend any money on it so I used this funny material I was given for free. They aren't what I had in mind but after trial and error they will be cute enough for me not to be embarrassed when they take them to church. When they are done I will post some pics.

-Hopefully finishing the Christmas gifts I meant to make for my closest mommy friends but never had a chance too. It is something I really wanted to do for myself and when I started to plan for it I got the grand idea to mass produce them and give them to my closest mommy friends and family. I hope for Mother's day or Christmas this year I will be able to mail them out. Crossing my fingers!

Isn't that just so much fun?!?!?! Well, it is for me. Cheers!

3 kids 3 and under no more!

Its official, I now have 3 kids 4 and under because the Bridge is now FOUR! Four seems so much older then three. To me its like 1 -3 are toddler and 4 + is in the kid range. Four is still very young but he is growing up and thus our family is growing up too. I feel like I am no longer a new mom. I have a four year old and thus I have been at the mom thing for quite some time. That is a little weird for me even though it feels accurate. I guess it just makes me feel a bit old.

I like having "older" kids. It is a different pace, less physical and more emotionally challenging. Being a mom is my favorite thing in the world I know what I am doing now is the greatest work of my life. I grow everyday from all the challenges and adventures I face. It is hard but extremely rewarding.

Bridger is such a source of happiness in our home. He sets the pace and adds so much vigor and cheer to our world. I have really loved being able to have long conversations with him about life, the Gospel, volcanoes, trains, cars, baby owls, the difference between gold and silver and anything else that he finds interesting. I love his approach to life. He is so excited, eager, and optimistic. He really does face life with arms wide open. While that can be a little scary for me as I fear he will hurt learning that many people don't love as easily as he does I still know he will be ever resilient because of his happy energetic nature. Everyday he talks about how when he turns five his teeth will fall out and then he will get bigger teeth and when he is even bigger he will get married. So like his mother, one foot in the present and the other foot in the future!

On his birthday Stewart was on call. I was preparing for having to postpone a family dinner for a couple days but then Stewart called and told me that the residents let him switch call days so he could be home for his son's birthday. I was so grateful. We bought a small little dog cake that he picked out, bought his last present, bought some pizza, and rented a movie of his choice and had a little family party for him. It was fun. Simple but fun. I am throwing a big joint birthday party for the big kids in a couple weeks and they are VERY excited about it. I have to admit that I think we will be doing friend birthdays every other year from now on. So much work even when I try to go simple. But we'll see, I love throwing parties.



So, those are my thoughts on my son graduating from a toddler to a kid, and my crazy life of three under three graduating to three four and under. It is different but I think it is going to be really good too. I will do HIS Four year old post after I get his four year old pictures taken. I have been so busy lately I have done little more then write it on my monthly to-do list.

Sweet words just at the right time

I was feeling a little down yesterday. It is hard for me to adjust to being home alone with the kids after living with family for so long and then having Stewart home with me for two + weeks. So I was feeling a little uncared about or something very Emily-ish and then Bridger randomly walked into the room and said, "Mom, I really like you." He then casually walked over and gave me a hug. Then just like that he walked out again and continued to get dressed for the day. Thank goodness for my sweet children. Not only do I take care of them but really do take care of me too. I couldn't feel down after that. Not at all. :O)

Oh boy, here we go!

It struck really fast. Benjamin went from being a careful, cautious, baby and turned into a curious, climbing, and tantrum throwing toddler in just a week. One week is all it took for him to completely transition . Today Stewart was on call and so I had to take the kids to church solo. I was super prepared. Clothes laid out on the couch, bags packed, sharing time all ready... but I was not prepared for Benjamin. It seemed every time I turned around he was off doing something crazy. Case in point - I went to rescue my hair from a really bad hair-do and when I emerged from the bathroom five minutes later I found him perched on the table sitting in a small puddle of milk. WHAT?!?!? How did he get up there?!?! Then at church as I tried to teach sharing time he was everywhere. Which was ok except when got a little too curious. Every time I tried to reign him in he screamed and threw the biggest stink. I found myself wondering if I was really ready to enter the craziness of toddler world. Oh, the flashbacks of kids running in the street, powder sugar poured all over the kitchen, being locked out of the house as my kids run crazy in side without me, my entire spice rack poured out into a "special soup", my make up smeared all over the carpet and couch, sharpie art all over my bathroom, toilet paper clogging the toilet, and lots and lots of screaming! Well, ready or not here it is! Thank goodness I adore him absolutely.


* Yes that is my son sitting on our glass topped table that is cracked and taped together. Very safe!

Stepping into 2010

This week we have been taking our first steps into 2010. It has been a step forward into normal life leaving vacation mode behind. We are really setteling in our home for the first time since July. Stewart is in school again and doing his internal med rotations. He always hates the first week of a rotation. Its hard to figure out what the heck his responsibilities are and how he should best complete them but he is getting there.

Bridger started school again too. I think this will be really good for him. He sort of needs that outlet. Bridger started primary this past Sunday and it is really fun to have him in there with me. Can I just say how grateful and proud I am for his love of being a "student". He loves his teachers, learning, and he is actually a really wonderful student. Obedient, cheerful, participates, and he really learns his stuff. After church he told us all about Moses. It was cute. He took Stewart and showed him his new classroom and explained how primary worked. He made it very clear that there are no toys in Primary, "Primary is for when you get too big for toys in church". It was darling.

I am back into life with a hubby gone before we are up and home some nights for dinner. The kids keep asking if he is at Grandma Rasmussen's but I have to tell them he came home last night it was just when they were sleeping and he had to leave early this morning before they were up. Depressing. I am getting into play group mode, doing sharing time this month, planning the kids birthday party, planning the primary quarterly activity, setting up my girls nights again for when Stewy in on call, enjoying exercising again after a long break, started planning reunions for my family YAY!, and trying to keep my family spiritually on track.

It is all very happy but it is certainly taking some big first steps for me to keep up. Here is to 2010! I hope it is even more fun then last year. :O)

Going the Way of Privacy

I think I am going to be going private. I think in like a month or so. If you want to keep up with my blog leave a comment or send me an email and I will make sure to include you. It can be scary how limited our privacy has become with all the social networking and everything going on. It freaks me out a little and I consider myself a very open person. I hope you'll comment. Smiles!

Resolute

Happy New Year!

I love the New Year Holiday. I like feeling like I can have a new beginning. I love that it is a time to set goals. I am a goal setter by nature. I am not always a goal achiever...but I am definitely am a goal setter. :O) I am excited about some goals Stewart and I have set for this year and I wanted to share them because I am just so darn excited about them. So if you are interested here they are!

{Weekly Spousal Scripture Study}

I thought it would be fun each Sunday night to have each of us take a turn to pick a topic and then we spend a good long time together searching the scriptures, discussing, and pondering the principles. I think once a week is reasonable for us and I am so excited for this goal. I have been in primary for 6 years now and I have really missed adult gospel study and discussion. I think it will be so much fun, a great way to build our testimonies, help us be better teachers for our children, and strengthen our relationship with each other and our Savior and Heavenly Father. Could there be better outcomes then those?

{Twice a Year}

Stewart decided this one for himself and I thought I would jump on board. We are going to read on our own the Book of Mormon twice this year. I am so excited for this. I love reading the book of Mormon and the faster I read the more I seem to get out of it. I think this goal will make it so Stewart and I help motivate each other with a healthy dose of competition too. :)

{Monthly Temple Attendance}

This is a goal every year. I know some of you go much more often but for us once a month is quite a feat. Paying for a babysitter is a big sacrifice for us and we don't really have friends who are able to do children swaps. This will be a hard one to keep this year with Stewart's schedule being so crazy but I know visiting the temple brings protection and blessings that we certainly do not want to miss out on. Besides, it brings us closer to our Creator and is one of the greatest acts of service one can do. Why would we want to skip out on that?

{Regular Exercise}

Exercise along with daily scripture study is my anti-depression medication. The high I get from it is wonderful. I could be feeling like the biggest failure known to man and then I go on a run and a mile into it I am singing a different tune. I feel like I can concur anything. I feel so valuable, so excited about my daily life, and I often get inspiration. It seems I am close to the Spirit on my runs. Many of my best ideas have come on a long run. This is no new goal for me but for Stew it is. He has decided that he wants to find his own athletic high. He really likes playing sports or doing buddy stuff, like hitting the gym with a friend. So he is searching for something that will fit into his totally chaotic scheduled. Lets hope we can both get some great exercise habits.

{Have Adventures}

We are going to have fun this year. Go camping, hiking, have picnics, build forts, go swimming, play ball, have slumber parties, make creative art works, get messy, dress up fancy, and just have plain old kid centered fun. Our kids are growing up and in a few short years they will be starting real school and be gone for much of the day and busy in their scholastic endeavors for many years subsequently. And by Golly, we are going to have sporadic, spontaneous, wacky fun while we still can!

{Cut Out the Excess}

I have a tendency to get carried away with some inspiration or idea I have and at times it makes me neglect the big stuff. I am very decisive and when I make a plan I have a hard time letting it go - for better or for worse! At times this past year I took on too much and unhappiness followed. I have decided that this year in all of my decision making I will ask myself if the goal in question is really going to help me achieve what I want most or simply distract me from my greater works. My sister sent this Julie Beck Quote to me and it is something I think I will have to rehearse to myself often. It is so true. You cant to it ALL and still do the most important things well.

Mothers Who Know Do Less

"Mothers who know do less. They permit less of what will not bear good fruit eternally. They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world’s goods in order to spend more time with their children—more time eating together, more time working together, more time reading together, more time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying. These mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all. Their goal is to prepare a rising generation of children who will take the gospel of Jesus Christ into the entire world. Their goal is to prepare future fathers and mothers who will be builders of the Lord’s kingdom for the next 50 years."

Julie B. Beck, “Mothers Who Know,” Ensign, Nov 2007, 76–78