Jensen is TWO!

Somehow this baby boy turned 2! TWO! 2! He was so excited for his birthday, with all of his practice candle blowing he was ready! Since singing "Happy To You" and blowing out candles are his favorite thing I really let him live it up on his birthday. We started the morning off with round one...

It took some serious effort, which was even funnier considering how many times he had "practiced for his birthday"! But he finally got it!

After lunch I let him go at it again with a cupcake, we just had to sample the cupcakes I had been working on to make sure they were good before we served them at the party...

The Party Goods... Jens has loved R2D2 this past year so I thought it would be so adorable to have an R2 Party for him turning 2.  My first time decorating a cake with icing tips, it resembled R2 so it was good enough for me!  Not to mention delish.  

We were so lucky to have Uncle Jeff and Aunt Crystal bring over their gigantic pirate bounce house and slide for the party! They started a new business this past year, renting out bounce houses, you can check them out at St. George Fun.com . It was a HIT! The kids had a ball and it made it the easiest party I've ever done! I think we've found a new tradition. Thanks Jeff & Crystal!

And finally the big moment, the official Happy Birthday candles!

We are so in love with our sweet boy and now we can't imagine life with out him. Jens we love your smile, your laugh, your prance and your run. We love your talking and the new words you say everyday, we even love it when you constantly say, "I do it. Self!" You are growing up so quickly and you bring so much joy to us and to our home. Pierce and Madi adore you and Mom and Dad love you more than words can say. Happy Birthday Jensey Boo!

My Big Boy, Glad He's Not Too Tough

Pierce was so excited about the Pinewood Derby this year!  It was his first year to get to actually participate, last year he excitedly made his car and then was bummed that we were gone to Park City the day of the event, (glad it wasn't during summer this year!) and he had his friend, Joey, race his car for him.  Luck was with him and he took 2nd Place over all!  He was THRILLED to say the least!
   

Baseball season was bit tough this year, it was Pierce's first year of "kid pitch".  The games could be long and boring, with half the boys walking bases as they struggled to pitch the ball.  He had fun and had a good attitude even so!  This game was the highlight of the season for him and luckily the one I took my camera to.  He had been so anxious for a chance to pitch and he finally got a turn this game!  He walked the first couple of kids but then he got the hang of it and did great striking several boys out.

He also hit a home run! Considering that this season just getting a hit was a great thing, hitting a home run was super duper awesome!  He was so funny, he got to second base just fine and the other team overthrew the ball, he didn't waste any time and kept going, he was so determined he just kept going and made it home in the nick of time!  I was one proud Mom!  Here is his big hit....I didn't get a shot of him coming home, I was too anxious watching him run!  He had a great season.  Way to go Bud!

And last but not least, my new favorite picture of my big little boy.  I went in to wake him up for school one day and found him still sound asleep just like this....

Talk about melting my heart.  Cashew is his little Teddy Bear that he has had since he was born, it was given to me at my baby shower for him.  He has loved this little thing for years and even though he's a big tough boy now he still lets Cashew sleep with him.  I thought this was just about the sweetest thing I'd ever seen and I was so happy I was able to capture it with my camera.  I will treasure this shot always, and it's sure to make an appearance or two when he's older I'm sure.  Love my sweet tender hearted boy.  So glad he's not too big and tough yet. 

Shoes, Cars, Candles & Bubbles

In other words - a catch up on Jensen and some of the things he loves, or a few recent pictures of the boy I love! 
This boy LOVES outside, shoes and hoops. This day I was talking to a friend at my front door, he saw the opportunity and went for it. He quickly slipped into Mom's tennis shoes and was out the door, he was so cute clomping down the sidewalk I grabbed my camera and asked him where he was going, his reply, "hoop!" He was headed out to Brother's hoop in front of the house. I especially loved it when he sat down to adjust his shoes.

Another love: Vacuuming!  I say just about everyday, why can't the big kids love to help as much as he does?  When the vacuum comes out, Jens is there saying "turn, turn!" 

This is what happens when Mom ignores a little boy during a photo shoot. Poor kid was so tired he just fell right to sleep on the couch. Madi was quick to make him comfortable by covering him with "Purple Blank" and giving him a couple of Monkeys to snuggle (even color coordinated!). Sweet boy and sweet Sissy. 

Fun with blocks!  He was so funny this day, methodically stacking all the blocks and then knocking them over and laughing at himself, just so much fun!  I guess he had to find something fun that he could do close to mom while I was getting ready for the day. 

Just playing around with some lighting with my camera, but this face was a keeper! 

Cars! Race! This boy LOVES cars!  We had been over to see Jack on his birthday and Jensen loved playing with the Hot Wheels racing track Jack had gotten.  Within a couple of days he had come up with his own "race" using my paper cutter.  Poor boy seriously needs a race track.  I took the blade off and let him take over it, now we've progressed to propping it up so he can at least somewhat race the cars down it.  So glad he is easily entertained! 

Jens also loves candles and loves to blow them out. For months now when he sees a candle he says, "blow!"  I started telling him, "let's practice for your birthday" and I sing to him and let him blow out the candle any time he sees a scented candle burning in the kitchen.  He especially loves birthday candles and is excited about singing "Happy to you" for anyone's birthday.   For my Mom's birthday in April I always do a little something with the kids in memory and honor of her, this year we once again got out the last of the batch of cinnamon rolls and enjoyed them.  He loved singing with the kids and blowing out the candles! 

Bubbles!  Who doesn't love bubbles, really?  Something just so wondrous about watching bubbles float through the air.  He loves bubbles and frequently requests, "Sissy bubbles, Budder (Brother) Bubbles".

I love this face.  I love this boy so much, he is such a joy to all of us. 

Madi's 7th Birthday!

My little girl turned 7!  SEVEN!
What a day she had.  She had been, of course, looking forward to her big day well, since her last birthday really.  A couple of months ago they had a school assembly for the "kite festible" and she came home SO  excited that the "kite festible" was on her birthday!  Our power company puts on the kite festival every year for the elementary school kids in the area, they read each day and keep track of their reading minutes and then get a free kite when they turn in their minutes.  We've never even been before, but our little bookworm was thrilled after the school assembly where they showed them kites.  She had a lot to look forward to on her big day...

Our traditional breakfast muffin...

So excited, I love this shot of her.

The "kite festible"! 

Madi chose a lady bug kite and Pierce chose a shark, they were so excited! We gave flying the kites a go, but we weren't very successful in the big crowd so we packed them up, got a snowcone and headed home to get ready for the big "friend party"!

Madi was so excited to have her friends over, especially since she didn't get a friend party last year. 
We did a Strawberry Shortcake themed party, the girls colored pictures and enjoyed strawberry lemonade and strawberry Twizzlers, then we played Pin the Hat on the Birthday Girl, "Strawberry, Strawberry Shortcake" and then it was pinata time!

Pierce was disappointed that the pinata didn't hold up for him to have a turn to hit, but the girls had a ball and they all enjoyed gathering up some goodies!

Present Time! She got so many fun gifts from her friends, here she is opening a favorite, American Girl books from Annie.

Such cute friends - Kassidy, Aubrey, Ava, Madi, Annie
Kinsey, Natalie, Laynee, Ashlynn and Brother

Cake Time! 

Love this face.  After cake and ice cream we watched Madi's new Strawberry Shortcake movie until the party was over.  Such a simple party and they loved it, success!

That night we went to Pizza Factory for her birthday dinner, we were excited to have The Woodburys and Grandma join us for a fun, yummy and bit chaotic dinner.  Here she is with her big 7 year old pizza.

Madi & Annie

After dinner Grandma came home with us and it was time for gifts from Mom & Dad, wahoo! 

Here she is opening her Strawberry Shortcake "Berry Bitty Market", she was so excited for this and I was so excited to finally give it to her! It's been hiding in my closet for a year and a half while I waited until she was improving on picking up toys before I gave it to her, it's still a struggle, but we've made progress.  I really wanted to give it to her before she completely outgrew it, glad she was able to be persuaded to have a Strawberry party.  She has loved playing with it and so does Jens.  He says "Strawberry"  and wants to play, I can't blame him, it's a really fun toy!
 

And for the finale, here she is opening her last gift in true Madi fashion,  notice her expression in the first picture, then the second.  She is opening a set of Beverly Cleary books, she was thrilled about it, (she is a fan of Ramona) but as she saw all of the titles, she looked up and me and said, "Really, Mom, Ralph?" Not as excited about Ralph.  I told her we could return it, but she decided to keep it.  We'll see if she eventually decides Ralph is worth her time.  She has been loving her Ramona books.

Oh our Madi girl.  She is a sweeter than sweet one minute, then meaner than mean the next.  Sometimes she pushes me to the brink of sanity, and sometimes she completely melts my heart. I want to remember and cherish the sweet moments she brings, here is a recent favorite...

Translation:
Verse 1
I love my Mommy
I love my Daddy
I love my little brother
I love my big brother
I love me

Verse 2
I love my uncles
I love my Grandma
I love my "ants"
I love my cousins
I love my Grandpa
I love my big big big big family

p.s. sing poem again if you forget it

So glad she loves her big big big big family.
 

Our Happy, Clucky, Pukey Easter

Easter came and went too fast this year! It always throws me off when Easter falls in March, and I had never understood until this year, why Easter changes so much. Thanks to my very smart friend, Julianne, I now know why Easter is when it is. It is the first Sunday after the first full moon, after the Spring Equinox, (or the First Day of Spring for those like me who didn't know the word Equinox meant.) Wow, I feel so much smarter this year, thanks for educating me Julianne!

We were excited for our annual Robison cousin Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday at Jeff & Crystal's, they are so gracious to host us and let us all enjoy their beautiful yard.  I was especially excited for Jens to really discover all the fun of Easter Egg Hunting this year, Ryan was ready with the video camera and I was ready with the camera to capture all of his excitement when we let him loose and he discovered eggs filled with candy were his for the taking.  We corral all the kids in the house and then let them out into the backyard, littlest kids getting a head start, he came running out... and went straight for the basketball!  Should have known.  As soon as he saw the ball, he put down his bucket and didn't give it another thought.  This kid loves balls.  Then he moved on to the chickens and there was no competing with that.  I kept trying to coax him into coming along to find the candy, but the chickens were much more interesting.

While he was doing this.... 

I was

Pierce & Madi were doing this....

We finally persuaded him to find one egg.

 And then it was back to visit the chickens.  These turned out to be my very favorite pictures of the day.  Love this boy so much. 

All the cousins!  Well, all those in attendance.
Ira, Ellie, Davis, Danielle, Brock,
Brooke, Calli, Kelton, Matthew, Logan, Jens, Pierce,
Lily, Madi, Bridger, Thatcher, Dallen, Harrison and Graci
We are so lucky to have such fun cousins, we love playing with them!

The fun kept going and we were lucky to have Aunt Crystal get out one of the big bounce houses that they have recently acquired for their new business (check them out http://stgeorgefun.com/).  The kids had SO much fun bouncing and sliding!

Jens was a little unsure at first...

But after a few times down with Davis and Brother he was running with the big kids!

His pants were just slowing him down.  Lost his pants and was cruising up by himself in no time! 

The anticipation of Easter morning was high!  I was hoping for a better reaction to an Easter basket from Jens than I got from the Easter hunt.  He did not disappoint.   I guess when the candy is visible, and there are no balls in view, he doesn't mess around.  Just like Christmas, he didn't waste any time and dove right in to the best candy in his basket. 

 

Pierce and Madi were both thrilled with the new books they found in their baskets, and loved the small Lego sets they found hidden inside eggs.  Glad that Easter Bunny has a good mind for reading!  

Sweet kids!

After all the excitement we enjoyed breakfast, except for Madi who started not feeling well.  I was a little worried that she wouldn't eat and she hadn't even had any candy so I knew it wasn't a sugar induced tummy ache.  After church Madi still wasn't feeling good and started throwing up that afternoon.  I felt so bad, poor girl didn't get to enjoy a single piece of Easter candy.  I was hoping it was just going to be a 24 hour bug, but no such luck this time.  Rather the next 10 days were some level of awful each day.  Vomit, diarrhea, our first trip to the Emergency Room, and the worst "flu" sickness I have ever had in my life.  Yuck, yuck, yuck!  Everyone in the family got sick and everyone was affected differently but it can be summed up as awful.  Awful, awful, awful!   After 3 days of being sick Madi was having such intense pain in the middle of the night I thought something had to be wrong, there was no way a stomach flu would cause her that much pain!  So after several attempts to calm and comfort her in the middle of the night I took her to the ER at 4:00 AM, thinking she probably had appendicitis.  2 hours and $2000 later, no it's "just a bad virus".  After it went through all of us and a no good, very bad week, I was so glad to finally have everyone healthy again!  I had never been that sick with a virus before and it definitely made me appreciate my good health!  It also made me think I for sure, never ever want to get pregnant again, ug!  Too much of a reminder of morning/all day sickness!  Blah!  I wish I could say we've all been healthy since but this week were dealing with strep throat and a yucky croupy virus.  But I wont blog about that.  At least not today.  Madi's 7th birthday is up next!