Happy Birthday, Amber!

Holy Cow, this feels like a major birthday at our house! How could our firstborn be 14-years-old?! It sounds so cliche but I swear she was just a baby!

This is a non-friends-party year for Amber (why didn't we stagger their non-party years so that we're not planning two parties within 11 days of each other every other year?!) Amber, like Haley, got to invite a friend to spend the night and participate in her family party. She chose her friend Sydney, from school. Since Amber's birthday falls smack in the middle of our spring break this year it was perfect timing for a birthday sleep over!

Here are 14 things we love about our Amber:

- She's genuine and true to herself

- She's not concerned with what's "cool" or popular

- She has a strong testimony of the power of prayer

- She has a great deal of empathy for others

- She has a great sense of humor

- She loves children (and babysitting...even her siblings!)

- She is kind to those who don't "fit in" and is a friend to all

- She is TALL (this is probably my last year being taller!)

- She is a talented video gamer :)

- She brings music into our home (piano, clarinet, saxophone)

- She loves her family and extended family

- She's boldly stands up for those who are picked on
(even when the bully is older and bigger than she is!)

- She's HEALTHY!

- She is not afraid to live her standards

We feel so blessed to have Amber in our family and love her very much.
Stake Dances, here she comes!

Happy Birthday, Haley!

Our "Baby Hay" is 12-years-old today!

No b-day party with friends this year (we do the big parties e/o year at our house) so we told her she could have a friend spend the night and she chose her cousin, Kyli. They have had a great time (and continue to...even as I type!) Kyli joined us for our little family party and then Haley and Kyli went swimming. Currently, they are doing each other's hair in preparation for a midnight release party for the Twilight DVD at our local video store. I am the lucky parent accompanying them :)

Here are 12 things we love about Haley!

- She's so helpful/thoughtful

- She's kind and friendly

- Has a great sense of humor

- She tells her parents EVERYTHING (and in great detail!)

- She is a hard worker

- She stands up for herself and others

- Does a good job of "choosing the right"

- Has a great fashion sense!

- She is responsible

- She thinks things through

- She makes great cookies!

- She loves her family

Haley chose cinnamon rolls and omelette's for breakfast (which means both Brad and I had to get up early - he is the omelet chef and I am the cinnamon roll maker) and spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. When I asked her what kind of cake she wanted she said, "I don't care at all as long as you write "Twilight" on it.

These two are Coo-Coo For Cocoa Puffs!


Haley had blinked in the previous 3 attempts to get a picture of her with her beloved Twilight cake so Kyli stepped in to help.

We came home from swimming to find that her cake had been defiled! Haley immediately suspected Amber, but I knew the real culprit - that prank had Brad written all over it!

Parent Teacher Conferences

This week is parent/teacher conferences in our school district and last night Brad and I went to both Alyssa's and Danny's conferences. It's always interesting to hear how the kids are doing from their teachers' perspectives...even when there are "issues"! But thankfully, last night there were no major issues reported and both kids are doing well (Danny needs to keep his hands to himself at recess and stop tackling...but considering it's Danny, we were pretty pleased that that was the only problem!) What was definitely 'blog worthy', however, was a spelling test Danny recently took with his kindergarten class. I wish I had a scanner so I could just post the actual test, but typing out his answers will have to suffice:


1. Hot

2. Big

3. Mat

4. Not

5. Wii

6. Like


So, obviously (since this wasn't a quiz on how to spell various Nintendo gaming systems) #5 was marked incorrect and his teacher had written, "We!" next to his answer! I think he should have gotten extra points for making her laugh so hard, though!