The hostest with the mostest

Chelsea and Carly wanted to surprise their friend, Taylor for her 18th birthday.  Taylor is actually having a party friday night, but they wanted to do something more intimate.  The invited her over to "hang out" and surprised her with a candle-light dinner.  Both the girls organized and cooked the whole thing.  Mason helped set up the table while Chelsea was going to get the girls.  They served cordon blu, mashed potatoes, rolls, and salad.  For dessert - special cupcakes that Chelsea was excited to bake and decorate. 

I think she was a little surprised.  All of us disappeared upstairs so the girls could relax and have fun by themselves.  We heard a lot of laughter going on. 

The blue cupcakes spell out "HB (happy birthday) and the

pink lit cupcakes are in the shape of the fabulous 18.

Taylor was really surprised. 

After the dinner, they headed out to see the midnight viewing of the movie "The Vow".  Unfortunately it's a school night so momma was so happy about this but made an exception this time because for the next week Chelsea is going to have to be my extra mommy and won't have a lot of time to hang out with friends.  I'll need her to run kids around since I can't drive.  I'm so grateful for her willingness to help and I'm glad she was able to relax and have some fun with her friends. 

Despite the fact that they got maybe 2 hours of sleep before they had to go to school on friday, they all swore that this is the BEST MOVIE EVER!!!  Totally worth the sleep deprivation.

Nevada Ballet

This month we made a switch to Brianna's dance studio.  She really wants to be more focused on ballet and didn't feel that her current studio would do that for her.  Her friend had just switched to Nevada Ballet Dance Theater and was trying to recruit Brianna so we decided to check it out.  It wasn't an easy decision.  Brianna had a lot of friends at Fern Adair and loves to preform in their dance concert in August.  But she knew if she really wanted to improve in ballet, she would have to move.  She tried out for NVBT and was disappointed that she didn't place as high as her friend.  This just confirmed the fact that she wasn't getting the instruction she needed at her current studio.  This placement in level 5 complicated the decision because they meet on tuesdays (which happens to be our YW activity night).  We ultimately decided to make the switch.  She doesn't attend on tuesdays so she can't preform in the spring dance concert, but she does take an extra class on thursdays so she can make improvements and hopefully move up to level 6 by next fall.  She she had to give up friends and the chance to preform (which she loves) in the hopes that she can get the ballet instruction she needs to improve her future.  It's a big leap of faith but she is dedicated to making it work.  The new studio is 30 min away which has been a bigger commitment for us but I'm sure it will be worth it.  She comes home exhausted and says that they really work her hard.  It's our hope that she'll be able to preform in the nutcracker this Christmas.  We'll let you know :)

Everyday moments

I'm better at capturing the everyday moments that make me smile with my stupid phone camera. I don't like the quality of the pics but they capture the fun things that my kids are doing. I wanted to capture them on the blog so I can remember them.

Cord still loves Chester - so much. Poor dog.

Cord made it to the top of the stairs, and could go no further.  So exhausted.

Our latest fun activity has been water painting.

Mason went to park with us one day.  They ran around and laughed.  It was fun to watch.

Shark boy!  He had fun at the souvenir shop at the shark reef.

Here he is looking so COOL! (not cute).

Flashback to December when Riker came to visit.  He and Mason were having an interesting conversation with a statue.

Couldn't resist this pic because it had snoopy and he asked for a saxophone.

One side note, Mason tried out for honor band this year.  They had to learn a very difficult song and play it for the judges.  Kids from all the middle school were allowed to try out.  Unfortunately, he didn't make it, but I was so proud of him for trying out.  He wanted to back out at the last minute because he didn't feel like he knew the song well enough, but he stuck it out and went through the process.  He is determined to try out again next year and now he'll have more of an idea of what to expect. 

Cord and Momma time

Cord's preschool class went on a field trip to the Shark Reef. It's was the perfect opportunity for a little momma and Cord time. That morning he was scared to go, he was afraid that a shark would eat him. We talked about how the sharks were lonely and wanted a friendly visit from him. Then he decided it would be OK. We had a great morning together.

Cord and his teacher, Miss Lynn, were having a good discussion about the piranna's.

Cord enjoyed giving the fishes a "kiss".  This lion fish was super cool.

Cord did have a good "visit" with the sharks.

I love having this time one on one time with my little buddy!

Cord enjoyed "making wishes" and throwing pennies into the various ponds at the Mandalay Bay.  So cute.  He wouldn't tell me what he was wishing for because then it "wouldn't come true". 

At the gift shop, Cord bought this white shark that you color yourself.  He was busy all afternoon making his shark colorful.  Nice thing was that you can wash it off and color it all over again. 

Georgie

Introducing, Chelsea's new best friend, Georgie. We bought this car from my sister for Chelsea. It needs a little ...... love, but otherwise it's perfect for her (and cheap). After taking a month and a half to get it to pass the nevada smog inspection, we were finally able to officially register it. So now it's all ours!! It gets her where she needs to be and she is very helpful with running kids around which is great for me.

Once we knew it was official then she went ahead and made it "her own". She loves snoopy so now he travels with her.

She took off the BYU sticker (sorry Eric) and changed it to her favorite - Go Aggies!

I have no idea what's up with the playdoh. I'm sure it's an inside joke with her and her friends.

BFF dinner

Brenda and her hubby will come down to Vegas just for dinner. I still am amazed that they are willing to do that but I sure love it when they do! They bring their kids to hang at our house while we go have a night on the town. The evening always go by way to fast. They don't get home until after 3:00 AM. Now that's true friendship! LOVE YOU!

Brianna's crazy friends

Brianna and her friends can be crazy sometimes. At one sleepover they decided to do a "photo shoot" in the park. So I stole some of them off her camera to share. I also love to find ones on facebook of her friends at school. She's always surrounded by people.

Merry Christmas Chelsea

We finally got Chelsea's main Christmas present - her letterman jacket. She lettered in guitar last spring and has wanted this forever. We designed it before Christmas but it takes a month to put it all together. I think it looks awesome!

LOVE the name on the back!

Can't believe she's going to graduate in 2013.  And we added the music note on the pocket.

On the side of the arm is the year she lettered.  Right now 10-11 is showing.  But if she letters this year and next we just have to uncover those years.  When we were ordering the jacket, the salesman didn't believe that anyone could letter in guitar.  We prooved him wrong.  She's the first one in her guitar class to get a jacket.  Maybe she'll be starting a trend.