Today is a good day...

I know that I still have so much catching up to do since December but I had to post this today:

Today is a good day...and it's only 9:45! Here are the reasons why:

1. I made some fantastic berry-oatmeal pancakes (so easy!)

2. Lizzy officially declared her Tomseth liniage by actually saying the words : "I have a better idea" out loud.

3. Trevor actually RAN to the potty all by himself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been taking his diaper off for the past 2 days (since we are finally putting in concrete flooring in soon!) and he is finally "Getting It". I had also been denying him access to the bathroom since he could open door for two reasons: 1. He destroys it. 2. The initial reason that he started wanting to go to the bathroom was because he would do anything just to be able to get into the bathroom like his brother and sister get to do. Turns out, once I took the child door handle off a couple of days ago, he was glad to run in there. It gave him a sence of independance and was actually much easier to just run in there himself instead of trying to find someone that would open the door for him or waiting for someone to tell him it was time to potty. I guess he doesn't like being told what to do...he totally gets that from me! :)

Anyway...today was a good day.

Ryan turns 5...and joins the Circus!!

My little boy is 5! I know this sounds cliche but time really does FLY and get away from you. This little guy is so sweet. For his birthday, he wanted a "Mario" cake so this is what I came up with. Ryan loved it. We started the day by having our traditional birthday breakfast of blueberry, bannana birthday pancakes (in the shape of the first letter of their name and the age they are turning) then, we had our traditional birthday lunch at McDonalds where the kids all get to get a happy meal. He was pretty excited about this. We brought along Ryan's best friend, Jason. That kid is hillarious and so sweet.

It just so happened that the CIRCUS was in town that weekend!!! How increadible is that?! We even got free tickets for the kids! They had Elephants that could dance, The ball of death where 3 motercycles spun around in at the same time! (this was Ryan's favorite part), dancing poodles, pony rides, Some guy that did a handstand on like, 10 stacked chairs, Airialists (this was my favorite part), Lions, Tigers and Bears!!!! OH MY! It was an amazing show and they did not dissapoint.

After the circus, we went home and had pizza (Ryan's favorite) and invited Jason's family over for some cake.

Phew!...what a super fun day!

Dear Ryan,

You really do bring such a sweet light into our lives. You love to help. You love to be "awesome" and "cool". You LOVE video games...thanks to your father! You are so smart. You love to figure out how things work. You LOVE to learn. You can retain anything that you are taught. You are so excited to be enrolled into the Chinese Immerssion program at your school. You love to be outside and be active. You are so social. You love to play with your friends. You are a sweet, sweet boy who loves to give mommy hugs and kisses. You love it when I sing you your bedtime song. I will be so sad when the day comes that you will get to "big" for that. You love to be big and help your little brother. Trevor really does want to be like you and do everything that you do. I love to call you "Captain Awesome" but you get embarrased when I do. You talk so much now. It's so funny to listen to you chat away at the dinner table. You idolize you daddy...as you should. He is such a good man. Your favorite thing in the world is to wrestle with daddy. You love when he comes home from work.

You already have a deep love for Jesus Christ and love to do things that will please him. You love to read the scriptures and learn about the characters and warriors in the book of Mormon.

I love you with everything that I have my little Ry-Guy.

Love,

Mom

I can ride my bike with no Training Wheels...No Training Wheels...

We finally took the training wheels off of Lizzy's bike and she took to it in a matter of minutes! She's a pro. She's been asking us to take them off for a while but we've been hesitant to do so due to her...how do I put it delicately?...lack of coordination? We were so wrong. She did so good. Jacob was so good and patient as he taught her how to do it. I was at work all morning and this is what I came home to!

18 and Oreos

My youngest brother is an adult! He turned 18. He loves Oreos so this is what my mom requested for him. I loved doing it. It was so fun. My only complaint was that it looked like a quadruple-stuffed oreo! I should have trimmed it down quite a bit.
You can't tell by his face but he really was happy with the cake, he just wasn't happy with the 10 pictures that I took of him with his cake. :)

Lizzy's first Lost Tooth...or Teeth!!

So Lizzy had been complaining that her lower front teeth hurt. Being a paranoid former dental assistant, I immediately thought that she had cavities! I checked it out and they looked fine. A couple of days later, I see two adult teeth growing in behind them! How did I not even think of that?! They weren't even loose! I had to take her to the dentist to get them pulled because I was worried that they might grow in crooked like they were already doing. She was so brave. She didn't even flinch! The dentist hooked her up to nitrous, turned on the t.v. on the ceiling and popped them both out in two seconds. Look at all the loot she got just for loosing two teeth! A smoothie (eaten with a spoon of course), presents from the dollar store and a pack of Pez refills for her dispenser. And that is BEFORE the tooth fairy! What a cute girl.

LIZZY TURNS 6!!

First of all, I can't believe that I have a 6 year old! Second, I think that she may be the sweetest, cutest, funniest, smartest thing ever. She had an all-out "Hello Kitty" party this year complete with friends from school. It was SOOO fun to decorate and prepare for. We both looked online for ideas for a Hello Kitty cake. This was the one she found (with just a minor change of the border). I was really glad because I was ready to make a 3-D Hello Kitty figure but Lizzy just wanted this simple round cake.(Thank You Lizzy!) We had pink EVERYTHING! Daddy even brought home pink flowers for her. Lizzy made out with the presents this year. There were 8 little 6 year olds in my house!! We watched "Barbie and the Diamond Castle" and then danced around to the music video. We opened presents, Gave presents to our guests, sang Happy Birthday and of course "Bit the Cake". It was so fun to finally do a party with little friends from school. Happy 6th Birthday baby girl!

(P.S. This video is so funny! First of all, I was holding the camera the wrong way at first and second of all, one of the girls is going all out with her singing ability! Just listen, this girl thinks she's a rock star. I don't even know who it is but it is so funny)

Dear Lizzy,

You always, always make me smile. You amaze me with your creativity and intelligence. You are always saying the funniest things. You LOVE school and especially love chatting with your girlfriends. You are so social. You are so silly and I just adore that about you! You love Pizza, Spaghetti, Hawaiian Haystacks, any kind of fruit but especially apples, and of course, cake. You are so sweet. You think of others and their feelings even at this young age. You are always looking for ways to help and please your daddy and me. I am so amazed by the things that you create with your crafts. You really think like an engineer when building the things that you do. You are inventive in your solutions. You love, love, LOVE bunnies!! You have about a million of them that you sleep with! You want to be a Vet when you grow up. You also want to be a "Cake Maker like Mommy" (You don't even know how cute I think that is!) You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I love to do your hair. I love to dress you up. I love to listen to you read (You are getting so good! I can't even believe it!). I love reading to you. I love listening to what you have to say. Your little brain fascinates me. You love to negotiate (and you are way too good at it!) I LOVE your smile. I love your silly, goofy laugh. I pray every day that I can give you what you need emotionally to grow up to be a beautiful, giving, loving, intelligent, well-educated, dedicated, strong young woman. My advice to you will probably be the same every year. Read and study the scriptures. There is such wisdom and such a sweet, noble spirit to them. Pray EVERY DAY. Your Heavenly Father wants to hear from you just as much as I do (well, actually probably way more). By staying close to him, you will stay close to what really matters and to what will give you the most joy in this life. Always be understanding and kind just like you are today. I love, love, LOVE you so much my sweet, beautiful baby girl.

CHRISTMAS 2008!

Christmas was so much fun this year. My mom and brothers Steven and Quinn came up this year and spent the weekend with us. I LOVE having my family at my house! On Christmas Eve we had a yummy dinner of Black Bean Soup (SOOOO good!) and then Jacob ran out and delivered our Secret Santa gift in our neighborhood. After that we had our traditions of putting the Christmas Key on the doorknob for Santa (since we don't have a fireplace), spreading reindeer oats and glitter (so they smell and see our house from the sky) on the snow, leaving Santa treats, reading Christmas stories, and finally, having Santa come and visit!! On Christmas morning the kids woke up to lots of toys including 3 new scooters. Daddy got that table saw that he so "needed" and I got an awesome Ateca fondant mat and some other great things. We gave my brothers some "dating" shirts and my mom a really cool book. We ate all day and watched the new movies that we got. It was such a fun day of hanging around the house in our P.J.s all day.