Giddy Up Cowgirl

Last Friday Phoebe was invited to a Pink-nic Cowgirl Party for a neighbor friend Charley. The party was  cowgirl themed which meant rides on their ponies which Phoebe was ECSTATIC for! The party also had one other request which made Phoebe happy, instead of bringing gifts you are to draw about what makes you happy and right now Phoebe is really into drawing so she LOVED the time that I set aside to help her with this picture.  To make it even more special for her, I took out some special new crayons for her to use. This is what she came up with for her happy picture, besides the one flower and the words I helped with NOTHING else, it all Phoebe's great creation!

I was also really happy that there was professional photographer at the party since I couldn't stay to take pics. On a side note, I get a kick out of how EXTRA small Phoebe appears is in this pic...many of the kids are about her age.

 

Also I mentioned that Phoebe is really into drawing right now so I thought I would show one other creation she drew last night, the Fergy Family Portrait, minus any/all of her own immediate family:

Daddy Dates, Cami's Turn & Other Weekend Happenings

A week ago was Cami's date with daddy so to start off Cory let Cami invade my nail polish stash and pick out her own special color, she went with glitter blue & then daddy painted her nails.

They then left for Gardener Village to feed the ducks nice and early before any stores opened so they would have the whole place to them selves, which Cory said was great because Cams truly did just rule the roost there. Cami LOVED feeding the ducks and got a kick out of the little sparrows that kept following her around just waiting for he to set her bread down.

After Cami's daddy date we ran over to Grandpa & ma Fergy's to deliver Grandpa's valentine that she made him, she only made ONE and he was the lucky winner of it. (that's Phoebe's beautiful drawing of Grandpa Fergy just to the side of her valentine, she LOVES drawing people lately)

While there Grandpa Fergy had Cory make a Welcome Home Sign for all the grand kids to color for when grandma got home later that week. All of my kiddos enjoyed leaving their marks for grandma to enjoy on her banner.

The Thaw?

They saw we always had a thaw out in February, but to tell you the truth we never really have seen the freeze so many day I am lucky enough to get to dress up all the kiddos and send them outside to play. Unfortunately the winter for he most part just means most of the landscaping is dirt and mud which the kids and come to LOVE digging in Seeing this mess always makes for one super happy mommy; I think they mainly do it because they know it gets them a second bath.

Strange People in the Strangest Place

Lately it is frustrating funny to see the twins have stronger and stronger personalities. Cami now cares what she wears everyday which either leads to 1 of 3 things 1. The same outfit 3+days in a row, even if it's dirty 2. A weirdy outfit/pjs or 3. I pick and it leads to a 10 minute tantrum. Cami is also my MOST troublesome child right now and every night we would have issues with her turning on and off the lights ALL night, but recently we got a child safeguard for the light switch and it has solved all our problems. For the first little while we put the guard on we often found her asleep by the switch after trying for so ling to turn it on, hints her sleeping in her toy bin.

Josh has always been our docile kid and compared to his two older sister he still is very much, but lately he has shown them both that he doesn't always love how they treat him and he likes to be alone and if that means watching the whole first half of the Superbowl while siting under the table then so be it!

I admit that having twin toddlers many days doesn't feel so euphoric, but every once in a while they are just so stinkin' cute or funny I am glad I haven't set  them out for sale on the curb yet.

9 Mos Old

I can't believe my baby turned 9 months on Sunday. To celebrate we took her to the Drs. for her 9 mo check up on the following Tuesday.

Weight: 16lbs 13oz (25% for girls)

Height: 26in (10% for girls)

This last month Sophie has grown up so much on me it is a crime!!!  She not only cut her first, but her second tooth too (you can't really see the 2nd tooth but it came the next day right next to her first)

Over the lat month Sophie had gotten to be a pretty good army crawler and really goes after what she wants.

Sometimes she just gets tired, however, and just falls asleep wherever she stopped crawling on the floor.

Finally Sophie likes to be in where all the action is and cries and cries at the bottom of the stirs if she is left behind.

My little Sophie is still the most smiley baby and even when teething she is 500% happier than any of my other children where. I am just sad she is slimming down (in the last 3 months she went from being in the 50% for weight to the 25%) and there isn't as much squish to pinch and kiss.

Daddy Dates

As part of our family improvements this year Cory has decided that every Saturday he is going to take one of the kids on a Daddy date. Phoebe was the first to get to have her special date, much to Josh's dismay, he had his hat on ready to go.

Being that we are still not rich we are thinking outside the box for fun & cheap things to do so Cory took Phoebe to Walmart to look at the fish and pick out a doughnut.  Nothing grand, but Phoebe LOVED it!

She chose this hideous red heart doughnut that died her mouth red as she licked off all the frosting. She was so excited for it and since her date keeps reminding Cami that this weekend is her turn to go with daddy.  Hopefully we can stick with it, because I think this will be something the kids will begin to really look forward to.

If you have free or cheap date ideas that toddlers would like please let me know!!!

2 Dates for 2 months in 1 week

At New Years Cory and I made our list of our monthly date and for January we had an Xbox workout game night, but we kept finding ourselves never feeling up to it so we changed our date to something we knew we actually would do & that was watch Lost (we started watching it and have been obsessed with it & are through most of season 3 now). We decided that we would have a Lost date and create Dharma Initiative badges, and water bottles while enjoying the tropical fruit of the island. It wasn't anything grand but we really enjoyed it.

Because we kept pushing our January date back until it finally was January 31st and we had already planned and arranged for our February date to be Feb 3rd so then we had 2 dates for 2 months in 1 week. For February we had a bogo voucher & went to a new science interactive museum downtown, the Leonardo.

I have to admit this is a pretty cool museum. I don't know that I would pay full price for it, but you should go see it. When you walk in you are under a a GIANT "living" piece of art called the Hylozoic Veil. It is pretty cool and it moves and and reacted to people around it with infrared senors, you can read about it below.

This museum is like a big playground but not made for kids. It is a place where adults can learn and play some of the exhibits include:

Green screening

Mirror drawing...I know I am NOT an artist.

They also had a really AMAZING room dedicated to the civil rights movements in America.  They had pictures that I am not sure how they got including MLK's wife in her bed within the hour she found out her husband had been shot , another aboard Air Force One on her way to go see the Kennedy's & MLK in his coffin.  I just can't say enough about the HUGE photo collection all in order and every picture had a short expert of the people and story it told. The book below has all the pictures which would have been amazing to own but it was $45.

The museum also had a massive plastic art piece I didn't read what it was all about but probably showed the amount of plastic we waste on one day wth water bottles or something of the sort. The Leonardo had cool computer programs and Humongous screens where you could play with data comparisons in different Utah ...sound  boring I know but you get really sucked in. While you play around, they had these cool chairs for you to chill on;  it is a wood circle filled tightly with national geographic magazines.

Finally one of the most unique exhibits was the prosthesis area. We got to play with a mechanical hand, which are difficult to use, a hook hand, & wooden and carbon fiber legs and feet. In this area I learned several things: 1. Protetic legs are hard to balance on, 2. I can't loose a hand, because I stunk with both a hook and electrical hands 3. I would rather have a carbon fiber foot rather than a wood one, it was easier to walk on.4. Even the slightest bumps are much more difficult to walk on with prosthetic feet than stairs

After the museum we went across the street to Amore Pizza and Gelato. We got a small pizza which tasted wood oven authentic and great mint chip gelato. The place was tiny, only 2 tables, it mainly was in business  only to supply the next door restaurant which was PACKED with pizzas. Some of their pizzas were interesting concoctions (as you can read below) we, however, opted for a safe pepperoni and mushroom.

This was a pretty fun date, there was so much more at the museum that I didn't picture or mention so I would highly recommend it for any couple looking to have a fun time learning and playing.  

Next month's fun date adventures...the SL Home show; this is something we love seeing, but have missed out on for the passed 4 yrs.

Note to Self: Markers & Toddlers...BAD Idea!

What do you get when you trust a toddler with a markers???

 

In my defense Cami started out coloring nicely on paper so I continued on my other tasks, when I thought it was too quiet I checked back to find a very color filled Cami. It was a good things she was only in a diaper, some of the markers weren't as washable as they claimed to be. This girl is going to send me to an early grave with all her mischief!

Took Many Cooks in the Kitchen

Even the simplest of tasks are growing more and more difficult around here. When I am trying to make most meals I have multiple kiddos wanting to help which is difficult in a smaller kitchen & with so many who can't really do anything but eat what you are trying to cook and make a mess. 

Another example of simple tasks made 3xs more difficult is just trying to enter the house.  When we enter the garage one wants to push the button to shut the door, another wants to turn off the light, and the third we make up a task such as turn on and off the light switch.

I wonder how I seemed to function all these past years minus 3 "handy helpers."

My 20-12 Birthday!

As of one week ago I officially turned 20-12 (aka 32). I can't say this was anything too traumatic for me because many time last year I thought I already was 32...AHHH my mind is going!  The morning started as  Cory & I got us early to to get ready before kiddos were up as we always do.  It was shortly after that all came running in to help me with all my loot.  Josh, Cami, & Phoebe helped me with all the pesky wrapping paper and tape while Sophie was in charge of bows.

I got tons of goodies as I always do including some very much needed items like new skirts, makeup and new paper cutter. Cami was quick to grab some of my new makeup cases and begin talking on it like a phone...what a nut.

Phoebe drew a rainbow on the shower wall for me and was eager to show me it was my birthday present from her which also came with a big hug and Happy Birthday kiss, she always knows just what I wanted the most!  Cami's gift to me was clean hair after it took 3 days and a million baths and washings to get the Vaseline that she rubbed in her hair out. Josh's gift was to smear his legs & arms completely in butt paste. YEAH ME!Luckily it was much easier to was off than Cami's hair.

For dinner we have my choice of hamburgers with homemade fries, simple, but pretty darn good!

For dessert Cory surprised me with Sweet Tooth Fairy Cupcakes, this year we only got 7 and not 13 a much more manageable amount!

Sophie was in particular excited about this peach cobbler cupcake which was the one I choose to divulge in.  It was AMAZING even if it did have a bit too much frosting!

I love my birthday, I always have & probably always will. I love that it is my special day and a million people wish you happy birthday even if they don't talk to you another time of the year.