The Land of Sweets and the Sugar Plum Fairy

About a month ago Claire informed me that she was going to have a Nutcracker party. I asked her what exactly was a Nutcracker Party and she told me quite specifically what it was. "Mom. The Sugar Plum Fairy will come. We will decorate cupcakes and pin the hat on the Nutcracker." Claire held onto those ideas which forced me to figure it out. Thank goodness for Circe and Golda! Golda graciously said yes when asked if she would be our Sugar Plum Fairy. She was the sweetest and best fairy I could ever ask for. Honestly. If you have a birthday party coming up and need an AMAZING helper Golda is your girl! Now you need to know something about me. I may be musical but I am not crafty or creative. Honestly. I remember getting kicked out of 7th grade art because I was so bad. I think the quote from my teacher was "you are much better at the performing arts than the visual arts. I think you should stick with performances." So armed with Claire's ideas, pinterest and my trusty Sugar Plum Fairy I think we pulled it off today. We invited way too many girls and yet I would not change it at all. I won't tell you how many came but let me tell you that thanks to the generosity of Claire's friends we won't need to buy anything for her for the entire year. That includes Christmas! This post includes some phenomenal art work by Kent (the pin the hat on the Nutcracker game and the invitation) and some of my best crafty work. Again, pretty much all the ideas came from various blogs found from pinterest. Without further adieu...Claire's vision of the Nutcracker.

5 years old...where did the time go?

Happy Birthday Claire! I can't believe you are 5 today. You are such a sweet and loving little girl who has some fire and sass like no other. I want you to know that we are so lucky to have you in our family. You have taught your dad and me more about strength, humility and prayer than anyone else in our lives. Thank you! You inspire us daily.

We love you so much and hope you have fun tomorrow with your Nutcracker Party and the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Love you so much!

Mom and Dad

The Great Disney Adventure

This post is going to be long. At least I think it will. So you can stop now and just know that the short version is we went, we had fun and we survived. All good things! :)

The long version is that about 6 weeks ago I had this crazy dream after talking to my neighbor that we (Kent and I) could do Disneyland. It seemed like it would be so much fun and that the kids would freak out.
So after checking into the prices and deals I pulled the trigger one Saturday night. I felt both giddy and sick at the same time. Can you feel that?! Well I did.

Then started the great Disney research. I swear I emailed, facebooked and read every website that would give me all the tips and tricks to taking young kids, toddlers and twins to Disneyland. To say I was a bit obsessed would be an understatement!

Fast forward to last Tuesday after school. We picked Emma up from school and had all the bags packed and loaded in the car. We told the kids we were going on a trip and that the big surprise was Disneyland. Emma seemed totally overwhelmed and Claire just freaked out! She kept saying "I am going to meet Tinkerbelle!"

We flew with all 4 kids and it went great. We were a bit of a circus but I am used to people staring at me when I am out with the kids. Kent...not as much.

We spent 3 days at Disneyland. Had lunch at Aeriel's Grotto which was actually pretty good, saw 3 parades, fireworks, the World of Color show and also trick or treated at Disneyland. By the time Friday night hit I had hit my overload button of everything Disney. It was a blast though and I am so glad we did it.

The kids tonight were telling us all their favorite things they did. Emma loved meeting all the characters and getting their autographs. I thought she was going to die when she met Jessie from Toy Story! Claire seriously loved everything. Except for the new Aeriel's ride. It was the first ride she did and I think she was overwhelmed by the huge Ursela and burst into tears! Needless to say she did not want to ride that one the rest of the time. On Friday afternoon she told me "Mom. I think I will give it one more try." She did it and loved it. I was so proud of her!

The boys were seriously so funny. Like total boys they just hung out and went with the flow of what the girls wanted to do. They were thrilled with whatever person they met and whichever ride they went on. They were actually pretty easy since they had no agenda or opinion of what or where to go. They really loved the Aerial ride as well as anything Toy Story related. They were so cute and were so much fun!

Kent was a total trooper and a great sport. He is not a Disney fan period. I think it is a safe bet to say he did not catch the "Magic" but still went through the exhaustion of the trip for his kids and me. I once again have realized how lucky I am to have married him. He was a great support!

My Tips and Tricks for Disney are these:
1. You can plan all you want but seriously it will not work out the way you think. Just go with the flow.
2. Watch out for the people on mopeds. They mean business and they will run over your small child/children if your not watching!
3. Churros and Corn Dogs do taste better at Disneyland. I don't know why but it is worth the $$.
4. Once you are sucked in you will not get out. Try as you might you will need to allow yourself at least an hour to exit the park. You keep seeing things you need to check out or buy or just try once. It is mission impossible!
5. This is a tip I think I will hopefully try the next time we go. (yes. there will be a next time it just might not be for 5 years!) I am hoping that next time we will be able to stay at the Grand California Hotel. I am thinking it will be worth the extra $$ to not have to drive/walk/shuttle anywhere in the morning or at night. Especially with 2 strollers.

If you have stuck with me this long...Thank you! I am totally impressed!!!

First Day of First Grade

Today Emma started her first day of First Grade. She has Miss Rushton and is in a 1st/2nd split. It was funny because for as confident as she was to go once we got there she was totally shy. I have never thought of Emma as shy but today she showed that side. I am totally anxious to hear how her day was and how lunch and recesses were. I think they do early out day today because the parents (i.e. me) need time to adjust to her not being here.

I miss her but know she will do great. I love you Emms! I can't believe this day has arrived. Big milestone. BIG!

9 years ago...

9 years, 4 kids,2 continents, 2 apartment, 2 houses and countless cars later we find ourselves here. Today. Celebrating! Thanks for always being there for me. I love you!

Happy Anniversary KWP!!!

love,
MEWP

p.s. how sad is it that this is the only picture I could find of us without children. This was taken on our last trip alone...before the boys were born!

So Many Miracles!!!

I went and saw 17 Miracles in the theaters the other day. The movie subject always gets me. The Willie and Martin handcart company's story. The thing that struck a chord with me was how many miracles there were. I am sure there were more than 17 but the show could only be 2 hours right?

Well in our house we have had at least 2 MAJOR miracles the past 2 days. I need to write them down so I will never forget.

Our first was with Pocket. Many of you know he made it through surgery. Thank goodness! I was not ready to see our little guy go just yet. The vet came back though and told me that he was pretty certain that the form of cancer he has was a) rare (which really should not surprise us since we deal with rare medical on a daily basis) and b) aggressive. He then told me that we would be in the exact same spot with Pocket next year as far as surgery goes. Great.

The miracle came though when yesterday afternoon Mike (from the barn) called and told me that the biopsy came back and the tumor was benign. Which means that Pocket should be around for a long time! I am so thankful for this miracle since the girls and boys seem to really be loving Pocket and the horses right now.

Our 2nd miracle was more of a "I don't know how that happened" miracle!
On Monday night we were watching fireworks at Kent's sisters place for the 4th. Things were going great and the kids were loving them. Then they lit one of the really big aerial "now legal" ones which in the process tipped over and started shooting right at the family with my kids on the front line. It was seriously the most scared I have ever been for my kids! It felt like being in a gun fight with fireworks going off all around us. I even felt a bit of singe on the top of my ears and hair! Somehow all my kids were not only safe but had not a scratch on them. It made me think of the part in the handcart story where the angels were helping them push the wagons. Well I felt that angels were seriously holding and protecting my kids as I was not with them at that exact moment. The kids did not move or panic. They each had a little bubble around them that seemed to deflect the fireworks. The kids were a little scared (obviously) but other than that just fine. Again, I seriously don't know how they were not hit but am so thankful for safety and protection on Monday night!

Miracles do exist! If you ever doubt them just look around. I have never been so sure of anything like I am now!

A little Blue...

These pictures were taken just after we got Pocket by our great friend Becki.

I am a bit sad and felt like I needed to write about it to just get it off my mind. Does anyone else do that? I am sure you all do it in a more private forum but me...why not just spill it out for the whole world to read?!

Here it goes...
Today I dropped the girls off to riding lessons at G. Simmons barn and went to run some errands. When I went back to pick them up and Mitchell (our incredible riding instructor and friend) told me that I needed to talk to Mike (the barn guru) about Pocket. For those of you who don't remember Pocket is our incredibly small and cute pony that we bought for Claire right after she was diagnosed. He has been a great therapy pony for us.

Anyway- it turns out that Pocket is really sick. We knew he had a small tumor on his nose the past couple of years and it has been not a big deal. Well over the weekend it grew really big and has made Pocket really sick. In short our small pony is going in for surgery on Friday. We don't know what the outcome will be and I am sad.

I tried to not cry but got teary eyed when I spoke to Mitchell about it again. I then told the girls about everything. Man! It was so sad! I told them that Pocket might not make it through the surgery and that we needed to be ready if that was the case. They handled it well for being 6 and 4. I think it is me who is really moved by this experience. I feel like this is one of those parenting moments that I can handle well or really screw up. I am not sure if I have done either just yet. All I know is that I am hoping that Heavenly Father heard the little girls prayers tonight when they both asked Him to help Pocket to be OK.
I hope he hears my prayers as well. To know how to handle this either way.

Man this parenting thing is tough!!!