This is part talking about the party prep.
I always try to make the girls birthdays extra special, my mom always did that for my brother and I. My birthday was something I always looked forward to, I want that for the girls too.

Supply’s ~ Thank goodness for the dollar store! I purchased (all matching Princess theme) plates, cups, cutlery, birthday banner, centerpiece and goodie bags. As well as all the princess goodies to go in those bags.
Cake ~ I am making a doll cake. Yup the cake is the dress with a doll’s upper body out the top of the cake. I’ve baked the cake and will be decorating it tonight.
Punch~ I’ve purchased the punch fixings, and now am doing something ‘fun’. I’m cutting up citrus fruit (lime,lemon and oranges) to freeze into a giant ice cube to put in the punch bowl. Still have to do that….
Wands~ I came across a tutu wand on a blog and thought it would be so much fun.. it is fun, but not when I’m down to crunch time. I was supposed to do all these crafts last week…uh huh. I hope I can get them done in time. I’ll take pics.
Tutu ~ I decided to make Joy a tutu for her birthday… I cut the elastic to big, so I just need to fix that and it’s done.
Present ~ her gift has been purchased just have to wrap it…well stuff it in a gift bag as we are out of wrapping paper.
Flower balls ~ I have a cake pop book. I decided to attempt one, NOT for eating…no no for decoration… silly me! I’ve cut close to 200 flowers in each of three colours (Pink, yellow and blue). I’m going to glue them onto Styrofoam balls I’ve painted light green. Oh and stick them onto a stick, tie a bow on each stick and put them in a vase for decoration. I’ll post pics. I’ve cut the flowers and painted the balls..that’s it so far. Have to do the stick and glue the flowers on as well as their ‘pearl’ centers. I’m doing these last so if I run out of time oh well.

I’m also currently blogging instead of cleaning, wand making, ball doing etc etc..

Oh and my brother turned 30 at the end of April so I decided to make him his own cake (gluten free, cupcakes actually), it’s baked and I’ll decorate it tonight when I do Joy’s cake (his will be simple).

Guess I should get my butt in gear. I’ll post pics of all the prep work/finished work next. Here is a picture of the flowers made out of fondant I did ~

I’ve been itching to do a blog post, one on each of my children actually. However it is something I want to put some thought into…. I don’t have that time! Here is a quick update on our lives ~ all typed one handed as I have a sleeping baby on me (don’t dare and try to put him down).

Jacob~ He’s my little chunker. He was supposed to have his 8week check up last week but the Dr. cancelled so we go in on Tuesday. He’s a gassy baby. He only poops once every 4ish days, and generally is fussier after. I’ve got him on some probiotics to help, will see. When he is not screaming in pain from gas he’s full of smiles and very content. This morning he laid in the crib cooing at the mobile for a good half hour! He’s also a very warm baby, spends his day in nothing more than a short sleeved onsie ~ if that.

Olivia ~ she’s decided she’s going to be sassy like her sister… fun… Actually she does everything her sister does, she’s like a mirror. Even if she sees Joy do something that gets her disciplined she does it right after. Her 3 favorite  things are bugging/mirroring Joy, ‘snuggling’ Jacob, and pretending she’s a puppy dog!

Joy turns 4 in just 9 sleeps! We are having her party the Saturday before, I decided to make some tutu pom wands… silly me. It’ll be a fun princess theme. Where did the time go? I just had her! She’s grown up so much. We also have her in speech therapy, what a smartie! Every new sound we learn she figures out how to say in the first 2 minutes of class then does it perfectly for the rest of the hour! I catch her at home forgetting to say them properly but she’s doing great! Next class is also our last and she’ll be learning SH, which is the hardest for her.

Some fun things Joys said recently ~ “Daddy, fome time I need you to leave me alone” (that was before she learned the s sound), Orlund asked her where his baby went and she replied “I ran away”, And on Sunday Grandma said she couldn’t keep up because she’s old and Joy said “Poppa’s old too”.

Orlund and I are doing good, trying to get stuff done around the house. Life is just so busy. I’m also trying to work out every week day, doing pretty good. I’m also watching what I eat. Week 1 was good, dropped 3lbs and 1″ off my waist. Week 2 not so good, ate out 2 days and missed 2 days working out. I didn’t lose anything. I’m not really to concerned about my weight, I can lose that later. I want to ensure I can still Breast feed Jacob for as long as he needs. That being said I find I have more energy if I work out and therefore get way more done

Last night (while I forced Orlund to stay in the living room) I baked his Birthday cake… Yeah, didn’t get a chance during the day so I did it once the kids were in bed. For someone like me, it was a complicated process. I got the idea off another blog, kinda wish I’d looked at their pictures better as it would have helped me not make such a mess… But I got it done, put in the oven. Cooked. Cooled and now it’s sitting hidden in our fridge. I took pictures along the way..I can’t post them yet as Orlund’s birthday isn’t until Saturday.

Today I’m icing the cake. I was going to make the icing this morning as my girlfriend Leah coming to help me later and I wanted the icing ready to go ~ oops left the butter in the fridge so it’s now out ‘softening’. My plans on just exactly what I’m going to do keep changing. I’m hoping Leah has some ideas. My experiences with Icing cakes is not good. I’m not all that talented at it, but I’m going to give it a try again. I pray I can make the icing thin enough to do a ‘crumb’ layer (where you ice a thin layer on to keep the cake from crumbing into your decorating), I just heard about this crumb layer for the first time today… wish me luck. I usually give up on decorating when my cake starts crumbing, and Orlund finishes it off… NOT today. Today I’m going to do it..

Wish me luck! I’ll be sure to take pictures of it at all steps along the way and post, probably, on Sunday..

I really should post more pictures… unfortunately I can’t find my camera…I should get on that eh?
Today was a good day. I started off not feeling the brightest, but it turned around quickly with a nice walk. The boys arrived at 8:20am, while I was still wishing my AMAZING mom a happy Birthday on Skype. After we signed off and the girls and I ate breakfast I loaded up the strollers… That’s right strollers. I had promised the kids once summer hit we would take a walk to the local 711 for slurpees. So I got the double stroller (picked it instead of the bike trailer as it has cup holders), then strapped an umbrella stroller to the side of it. So I only had to push 1 stroller but I could have 3 kids riding. Joy doesn’t like to walk when it’s really hot out. Strapped the 3 littles in, made sure Gabe held on and we were off. It is a short walk, about 15/20minutes. I then learned a VALUABLE lesson…. little itty bitty slurpee’s cost only about 10cents less than a gigantic huge slurpee. I paid $10 for 4mini slurpee’s, 1 large slurpee and 1 pack of candies. Next time (if there will be a next time) I will bring our own cups, buy 1 huge slurpee pour the slurpee into our cups for the kids and I’ll drink what’s left over. That will cost around $2. I might grab extra straws from 711 but otherwise it’s to expensive for them each to have their own! I told Gabe my plan, and as I started to explain I said that each of the kids would have their own sippy cup (straw kind) and he blurted in “NOT ME”… Yes you too! I told him to listen until I’m done talking, once he finished listening he thought it was a smart idea.
Well I am happy that summer has finally hit. And although it took it’s time getting here, it seems to have hit over night.
Olivia loves pushing limits and is constantly testing me right now. Joy loves talking back…… sigh… Good thing they are so cute eh?

Happy Father’s day to all you dad’s out there!! I hope you were spoiled rotten.. Orlund was. Before I get to what all we did this past weekend, I wanted to share a little ‘questionnaire’ that I did with Joy. She was SO cute when answering my questions and I hope you get as much of a kick out of it as I did~~

What is Daddy’s Name? Daddy
What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Eat eggs
What is Dad’s favorite thing to do? Go for walks with me
What is Dad’s favorite food? Cake
What does daddy always say? Daddy like baby, Daddy like Nemo (Nemo is our goldfish)
What is something special daddy does just with you? Go to Church
What is something you want to do with Daddy? Go for a walk to the park
How old is Daddy? 3
Why did Daddy marry Mommy? Want to so Mommy doesn’t cry
Why did Daddy name you Joy? Because I’m a girl

Isn’t she cute?

So on with our weekend. Saturday Morning I got up put coffee on and then made breakfast. A special breakfast, waffles with Strawberries, blackberries and whipping cream. I have to say, they were yummy! Then I got the girls ready and we went to Solomon’s 2nd Birthday party. Unfortunately it wasn’t the most beautiful day and I had figured it would be inside, oops nope. It was outside. And just as I was leaving the house I forgot to grab their jackets… So they both ended up wearing a sweater of Solomon’s. It was fun, but tiring. We came home for their naps. Once they woke up we headed out for dinner ( all you can eat Sushi!!!). Very yummy, very filling. Headed home for bedtime.
Sunday Morning we got up early and got ready for Church. 9am we got there for the Pancake breakfast~ yummy!! Had Church then headed to Orlund’s parents place for lunch ~ yummy!! Had a good visit and headed home a bit later than planned. We tidied the house and got ready for dinner while the girls napped. My dad arrived for dinner and we had a wonderful visit with him and again, yummy food

Well I guess I should get on with my day now… The boys are coming in 1hour and I’ve got lots to do before they arrive.. God Bless you and I hope you had a wonderful weekend as well!

Pictures, finally.

The cake. Before the red pooled

Yummy!

"I did it!"

Unfortunately I only have pictures of her eating her cake… Wish I had some of her opening gifts (we video taped it and Orlund took pictures on his camera).

Wow, the weekend is over! I got a bunch of stuff accomplished that I hadn’t planned to. And a bunch of stuff NOT done that I had wanted to. I had Friday off work, so I decided to go through the girls dressers and closet. I re-boxed all their clothing (had put in those vacuum bags, however they didn’t stay vacuumed, so had to put back into boxes). A Big job and I did it spontaneously! Hadn’t planned on doing that (although it needed to be done). That was the ‘big’ job I did Friday and I don’t remember most the rest of the day…. although it was productive.
Saturday we went to the Wildlife park. That was a lot of fun! There was a puppet play going on and Olivia thought it was the funniest thing she’d ever seen! She kept looking back at Orlund and I (she was sitting on Orlund’s lap) with a huge grin and would giggle! SO CUTE. Joy found it entertaining, but she just stared. That took up most the day, and I honestly don’t know what I did the rest of the day (geez I’m forgetful).
Sunday we went to Church (1hour early as Orlund was ushering). After Church we headed straight out to Orlund’s Brother’s house to celebrate his birthday. *Happy Birthday Virden*. Enjoyed a fabulous lunch and a good visit. Missed the hockey game (except for a few times we checked the score). I LOVE hockey right now, never really have before. We headed home after a good visit, the girls slept the drive home… as did I. We got home Olivia went for a nap and Joy refused to. I put a movie on for her and decided to take a nap of my own….. well that didn’t last long and I got up and decided to declutter my bedroom. I went through all my dresser drawers, the closet, and even the bin under my bed. I have a laundry basket full of clothes for ‘Sally-Ann’. It felt good to purge all the stuff. (Orlund was working on repairing our fence~ Thanks Honey!).
Today, Monday, I dropped Orlund off at his Dad’s place and went grocery shopping with the girls. Orlund and his dad got more wood for the fence and used their van to haul it. After grocery shopping Olivia took a nap, Joy and I put the groceries away then visited Orlund and Hugh when they arrived at the house. Joy played while I made lunch for us all, and Olivia woke just in time to eat. After lunch I put Joy down for her nap and took Olivia downstairs with me. First I went through the upstairs toys and hauled the unnecessary ones downstairs. Then I went through all the downstairs and crawlspace toys. I gathered some for a garage sale I’m helping out at, in June, and tossed a few others. Then I switched the toys around so the ones from the crawlspace are now out to play with, and vise versa. I also moved the ‘baby’ toys downstairs ~ exersaucer, baby swing etc. Oh I see another toy I forgot to move down, I’ll do it tomorrow.

Well I need to head to bed. It’s after 10pm and I have the boys arriving at 7am tomorrow! yikes. That’s early… I’m usually awake at that time, but not with rambunctious boys! ~Side story, the boys were at Joy’s birthday party and one of the mom’s that was also there asked me the other day “are the boys always like that?” (high energy, rambunctious) “YUP” I replied…. “Wow” she said “that’s a lot of work!”. it sure is.

This morning Joy walked out of her bedroom speaking in clear full sentences. As she got tired through the day her speech started to slip back to it’s old ways, but to start off Orlund and I were both in Shock. She turned 3 today! Well actually she was born at 11:36pm, it’s only 10:30pm so it’s getting close. She turned 3. wow. We had a fantastic birthday party for her, she was completely spoiled rotten. The house was NOISY! 10 kids, 11 adults! NOISY.
Here are the kids ages~
Girls~ 5, 3, 2, 2, 1, 9months. Boys~ 7?, 4, 2, 2(in June). 4 kids age 2!
Olivia was up coughing for most the night, so she slept through most the party. Which she also slept through most of her own birthday party too… hmmm.. perhaps large loud groups tire her out too? I know they do me!
It was a raining day but over all we had fun! Hotdogs, Hamburgers and salad made the yummy lunch. Frog cupcakes made for tasty desert! Orlund took pics, I’ll post soon! (uh huh, got lots of pics to post!).

Well I’m pooped out, and need to find where I left the diaper bag. So I’m sighing off!
Good night and God bless!

My baby turned 3 today…… I just can’t get over it…. 3….

So I should be heading off to bed right now, and Orlund is just about to shut off his computer. So I’m typing quickly, sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes (although even when not in a rush those pop up!).

So Saturday is my Baby girls 3rd Birthday! Yup. Joy is turning 3!! Where did the time go? I just told her about the party today as she kind of lets things go to her head and I didn’t want it going to her head to soon I’ve been cleaning the house ever since Olivia’s birthday party.. I mean, I’m always cleaning, but I’ve been cleaning keeping in mind I don’t want to be running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off last minute. And I”M NOT GOING TO BE! I worked two days last week, and spent one day doing errands (purchased everything I could early for the party). So every night while Orlund and I watched our TV shows I would write out a list of To-Do’s on my white board I keep on the fridge. And everyday I was sure to check everything off the list (as well as my usual chores). This week I’ve been doing the same thing, however I worked the first 3 days of the week, so kept the to do list at a minimal. Today however I flew at the chores. My plan was to get the house clean so tomorrow I can spend outside getting the yard ready for the outdoor party (although it’s predicting rain…). I found I only needed 5minutes in each room (plus vacuuming) and the rooms were done!** Now I didn’t get the Kitchen or Living rooms done as they are our most lived in areas, so they are for tomorrow (the last minute rooms). I have my list written out for tomorrow and I’m praying I feel motivated so I can get it all accomplished with time to spare. In the evening I will be decorating the cupcakes I baked today ~ SO excited!

Joy’s party starts at 11am. One of our guests and her daughter are coming at 10:30, so if we are needing to do last minute stuff she can keep the kids entertained ~ yipee! I’m hoping that we can have everything done tomorrow so that Saturday morning is spent calmly and with no need to work up a sweat… We will have setting up to do if the weather is nice enough for a back yard party, but all in all that should be about it!

Well my eyes are feeling like they might just close and not reopen here, so I guess I should head to bed!
I will post pics! Just gotta find that silly cord….. Or borrow Orlund’s….

** You might be wondering why if it only took me 5minutes per room why the entire house isn’t done, well I have two kids… two young kids… If you have kids you’ll understand. if you don’t have kids, well then…just you wait! LOL

While Orlund works on something mysterious downstairs I figured I might as well get to updating the blog. I have a bunch of pictures to post, however I can’t find the cable thingy to download from my camera to the computer. But here are a few snips of our life as of late;

~ Olivia got a cold the day after her 1st birthday. She still has it. The Friday after her birthday she had her 1year shots, two weeks later she had measles bumps as a reaction. We had a bunch of sleepless nights.

~ The week leading up to Olivia’s birthday she started nursing more, adding back in her 10am feeding.And still didn’t sleep through the night with 2-5 feedings.

~ The Thursday night BEFORE her shots she was up all night screaming. She couldn’t breathe due to a stuffy nose. At 4am we realized she was hungry as she hadn’t eaten all night. She couldn’t lay down to nurse, so we gave her the bottle.

~ Olivia didn’t go back to breastfeeding after that…. I was NOT expecting that sudden stop. Shed a bunch of tears. Orlund couldn’t understand why I was upset by this as even I had said she was old enough to wean. It was just so sudden, especially after she’d started nursing again. I felt like a special time with my baby was over, she’s growing up. It takes a bit to get used to.

~ Joy also got the cold the same day Olivia did. And she still has it. She also got Croup in there….fun… She’s over the Croup but still has a bad cough.

~Last night Joy didn’t sleep. So neither did the rest of us.

~ We’ve been looking at all the things around the house we want to do. It’s extensive! But this year we hope to tear down our old fence (on one side of the house) and put a new one up. Put mulch down in the back where Orlund had a garden last year (this will give room for the kids toys that isn’t on the grass). And install a ‘lattice’ like contraption on our back cement wall and plant some vines to crawl up them. I think that will be all we can afford this year. But it’ll make a HUGE difference around here!

~ Our neighbors trimmed our front Junipers (I think that’s what they are called). Completely cleans up the front of the house!

~ A bunch of people I know just had babies. I know a whole bunch more that are pregnant. Sigh. I held a -almost- week old today, he was so adorable! The same weight as Joy was, but 2″ shorter. So cute!

~ Joy is pretty much Potty trained. I say pretty much as she still wears a diaper at nap/bed times but otherwise she’s doing great! Even played at Grandma’s today and didn’t have any accidents. I told her if she goes until her Birthday (1 week away) without accidents then she can go to Sunday School with her friend “Ky”.

~ Joy is obsessed with her friend Ky. She talks none stop about Ky. “Ky nap?”"Ky nummies?” “Ky go outside?” etc etc. it’s cute. However whenever we actually get together with Ky Joy just stares at her and is shy! Unless we are at Ky’s house, then Kylie bosses her around and Joy is happy to play along.

~ Joy is getting better and better all the time with her language. She’s saying words I didn’t even realize she knew, and picking up words wonderfully. Sure she still seems behind other kids her age, but she’s doing GREAT.

~ I have a book (like a binder but not, forget what they are called) that is full of my “to do’s and goals” for the year. I have each month written out. Of course I’ve fallen behind, but I’m doing alright. I finished Olivia’s cross stitch and bought the frame today to finish it off completely.

~I also have another book that has other lists in it. Part is organizing for a trip we plan to take to visit our Grandparents, and the other part is organizing for Joy’s Birthday party. The first part isn’t very big yet, just dates and people to contact etc. Joy’s part is big. I have people to invite, time, what to feed everyone, and that sort of stuff. I have grocery lists, cleaning lists, organizing lists, decorating, and general prep work lists. I like my lists. And I’m getting them checked off wonderfully! I have the goodie bags all purchased, and any groceries I could prepurchase purchased, cleaning is on schedule. I actually got ahead on the cleaning, then I noticed and somehow fell a bit behind now….Oh well, it’ll all get done. I plan to have it all done by Thursday, so Friday can be decorating and any outdoor chores (we will be in the back yard). Then her party is Saturday morning, so before the party I don’t want to be running around, I want to be getting the girls dressed, hair done etc. I’m looking forward to it.

~ Have I rambled enough? Once I find my camera/computer cord I’ll upload some pics of Olivia’s birthday. Promise.

Oh I think Orlund is done the ‘mysterious’ business (think perhaps its to do with Mother’s day? Just a thought.). I’m going to go now and spend time with him! God Bless!