Happy 4th Birthday!!!!

Kylie and Carson started their birthday festivities very early yesterday morning. Carson was so excited. Neither of them slept very good, and he was up and ready to rock n roll at 6:30. They helped me decorate a little for their party, which was really fun. We picked up Kyle from work, got some lunch and took it to the park. They requested kids meals.

Lexi practiced her walking skills with her daddy,and her sliding skills with me
Kyle had to go back to work. The kids and I went to the dollar store, and they each picked out a balloon. Kylie picked a princess one, and Carson picked a Mickey Mouse one. His didn't even make it to the car. He likes to watch them fly. I did inform him ahead of time, that I would not replace his balloon if he let it go.
We then went to pick up their birthday cakes. I had ordered them over a month ago. Kylie wanted a "Snow and White cake" (I think it is so cute that she says it like that......too cute to correct). Carson asked for a train cake. I tried finding ideas on how to make them myself, but for the sake of time, and my lack of cake skills, I decided to order them=)
The weather was pretty warm yesterday, and when I got home.....Kylie's cake looked like this..... Oh, man. I was a little bummed, because I paid pretty good money for these cakes, and I didn't want Kylie to get upset about it. I pulled out some skewers, and started going to town sticking parts back on. It was kind of funny, yet stressful all at the same time. The middle peak was starting to lean, so it got skewered also. ha.ha.

I think over all, I did a pretty good patch job!
Carson's cake turned out really cute, it handled the car ride and the heat perfectly. He was very happy and excited about it.
Party time! We had a super fun birthday party. We had a great turn out. I am so thankful to everyone who came to celebrate this special day with us, especially since we don't have a lot of family close by. I am also thankful for all the cards, and phone calls. It made their day extra special. The kids loved playing with their friends and on the new swing set, even Lexi likes to climb up the slide. Here is grammy loving on my birthday boy!
And finally, the time came for presents. Carson had been waiting all day long for this moment. I told him he had to wait for his friends to get there, before he could open them. As soon as the first guest arrived, he ran over and ripped open a present. I guess I needed to be a little more specific about when he could open them. So he then had to wait until after we all ate our pizza and salad! Kylie was very patient. She even took the time to fold her clothes after she opened them, and put them back in the bag nicely.
One little kid got a present that was for both of them. It was wrapped in half girly paper, and half boy wrapping paper. Smart little girl!
Everyone thought Kyle was crazy for holding the pinata (in fear that he would get whacked with the bat), but I was one step ahead, and got the pull string kind.........no bat necessary=) These kids were like vultures when the candy started dropping. It was pretty funny, they had no mercy for one another.
Carson first blew out his candles before we sang, so he got to do it twice.
And here is my princess blowing out her burning castle! She had some help from her little friends. We were worried that she would blow over the tower too, since the cake had seen better days.ha.ha
Carson was thrilled to have an operating train again. His old one has been broken for a while, so he would just move them along the track with his hands. Kylie loved getting her Snow and White doll set. She can change her into different pretty dresses. The clothes are rubbery........kind of cool.
And here I am with my birthday twins. I had to change out of my party clothes, because Lexi had a sugar overload and threw up all over me=0) She is kind of like a little vacuum, and sweeps all the candy off floor, and eats it. ha.ha.
And my little buddy crashed hard, when we put him in his bed. He didn't let go of his new toy though=0)
Kylie was still awake when I checked on her. She had her purse full of treats and her new lip gloss. When I peeked in on her, she was eating some sweethearts. Since it was her birthday, I didn't make her brush her teeth again. There are definitely some advantages to being the birthday girl!

I must admit....Kyle and I were exhausted at the end of the day too. It is a lot of work throwing a fun birthday party. Knowing that the twins had a wonderful day, made it all worth it though. Some great and funny things they learned/did at age 3.................They both know how to spell their name. Not write it, but spell it. A few months ago I asked Kylie to spell her name while she was busy playing. She said K-Y-L-MNOP. It was very funny! Carson had just learned to dress himself, he occasionally needs assistance. I still pick out the clothes, because I do like them to match. He was putting on his new birthday shirt and the top button was not undone. He said " ahh, it's dark in here" ha.ha.ha. Kylie has mastered getting herself dressed. Carson was sick last month and he told me that he had a "lightning storm" in his tummy. He calls an elevator and "alligator" and it is just one of those things that is too cute to correct. I find myself calling it an alligator too, and I also call Snow White....Snow and White. Kylie is really good with her computer. She is amazing at the letter search. I am so proud of her. Carson can make the coolest train out of his building blocks. He did this all by himself, and I was more than impressed. I will post a picture of it soon. These are just a few of the awesome things that they do each day. They are so close to each other, which makes us happy......I hope they remain that way forever. They make me laugh every day which I am so thankful for ! They are my little side kicks. Even though it is sad to see them grow so fast, it is so exciting at the same time. They LOVE to see and learn new things, so the excited feeling I have rise above the sadness of them growing so fast. Kylie told me a few months ago, that as soon as she turned four, she would be able to drive. Thankfully that is not the case......I am definitely not ready for that yet! ha.ha.

The kids also received hula hoops for their birthday.....they call them "hoopa loops" That is way cooler then the traditional name.

Carrie Underwood Concert

Kyle gave me tickets to see Carrie Underwood in concert for mother's day. I was teaching a church class on Mother's day, and I had major butterflies in my stomach, so I don't think I was as excited as I should have been about my gift. We went last night, and she was AMAZING. She has such a beautiful voice. Kyle and his brother find her to be pretty attractive, but I must say her opening act.......The sons of Silvia.......were pretty easy on the eyes too=0) We had a great time, and we both forgot how fun concerts are. We use to go to them quite a bit, before we had our kids, but they slowed us down a little bit as far as that goes. Thanks Kyle for an awesome night out. She sang a couple of songs on her flying truck, she circled around the Idaho center on it. It was really neat, because then the people up high, and in the back were able to get pretty close to her.

Thanks also to our friends Todd and Christen for watching our munchkins for us. We don't have a lot of babysitters, so we really appreciate them staying up late on a work night. Our kids love them, and on the way home they were telling us about the pink balloon that farted at their house. So we thank them also for teaching our kids about a whoopie coushion.he.he. No wonder why kids love them so much!

Memorial day weekend

For memorial day weekend we went over to Idaho Falls to visit with Kyle's family. Here is Carson with his great grandma. My sister in law scheduled some pampering time for her and I. It was a wonderful break. We had scalp massages......they were awesome!

Here we are during It was really fun

And here we are after

My handsome hubby back to his cowboy roots, I love him in his hat. I carry a picture of him and his horse in my purse.

Later that day we went to Leo's place. They have pizza and games. Carson and Kylie played so hard with their cousin Aiden. Carson's face was bright red from all the playing. Pretty funny!

Here is Lexi enjoying some root beer, while the other kids were playing

The boys and I playing an intense game, Samuel makes it extra stressful =0) Kylie loves to say hi to grandma and grandpa's horses while we are there

My kids LOVE playing with their cousins. I wish they could do it more often.

We stayed at a hotel on the way to see Thomas the train. We didn't bring swim suits, so we had to go buy some for the kids and Kyle. Lex and I just watched them swim. She was super tired

Carson's face when he first saw Thomas was priceless, and the entire trip was worth it, just for that moment alone! He squealed and covered his mouth. It was really cute.

And here is the star of the day

The girls and their daddy enjoying the ride on a beautiful day

My handsome buddy and I on Thomas

Kylie and Carson take turns sitting in the front, and whoever is there at the time, likes to hold hands with Lexi, and she loves it too.

Our projects

We have been very busy around our house lately. Here are some of the things we have been working on..........

we had a beautiful day out a couple of weeks ago, so the kids and I deep cleaned our mini van ( I am still not a proud mini van owner, but it works great for our situation right now, some day we will have a cute sporty vehicle, but I must say.........this is very convenient. The sliding doors are a brilliant invention). We scrubbed the floor mats and everything! Kylie and Carson had a blast with the water, but Lexi did not appreciate getting soaked with it :( I got Carson back for her, so it was o.k! The kids birthday present! My dad has been a great help with it. It is cute, because he was pretty excited about it.
Lexi is always close by, observing all of our work
it is not finished yet, and we have less than a week to get it done before their birthday. This will be another busy week!

Kyle also built these awesome planter boxes for our garden area. The kids helped to fill them up with dirt. And so did our little neighbor friend. Ellie has pretty much adopted us as her home away from home! She picked up a shovel and went straight to work. We treated her out to ice cream as a little payment. She is very cheap labor ;)

We still have more to build, so we will be busy around here for weeks to come. It is fun though, and we are enjoying all the family time that these projects are bringing us.

Face Lift

BEFOREAFTERHALLELUJAH!! Our house is no longer the ugly duckling on the stree=0)

Trash or Treasure??

What would you call this lovely pile of wood, and junk? I call it a treasure.he.he.
Since the twins will be having a birthday next month, we decided that a swing set would be a great present. I wanted to get them a nice one, without paying a fortune. I had been searching craigslist for a few days. I called on a few.......but they sell within minutes of being posted. It was like trying to win the lottery. We even had a cute metal one lined up, the guy said he would hold it for us........but he lied.Grrrr. So I finally won the craigslist lottery a couple of days ago. I found an AWESOME deal on a wood one. I loaded the kids up, headed to the location, and I was the first one there to pay him. YAY! But Kyle went later that night to pick it up, and the bolts were snappping, and the wood was cracking while he took it apart. I think he was a little frustrated with me at the time. After getting it home, he figured out ways to fix it up. He is very handy, and really smart........that is why I knew the old parts wouldn't be a problem=0)
He is now excited and we are all working on it this weekend. It is turning out to be a pretty fun project for all of us! See............I knew what I was doing after all! And I saved us from spending a ton on a new one =)

Lexi at 15 months

At 15 months, Lexi weighs 25lbs. She is not walking yet, but she is crawling up and down the stairs. She also says quite a few words. (she has a big scratch on her nose in this picture....it is actually rug burn....she fell off of the bed.....bad mommy!)

She loves to give big, open mouth kisses........
The words she says are "Hi"-she says that to everyone, especially while we are out shopping. She is so friendly. She likes to hold the phone up to her ear and say "ow" which is her version of hello. She can say Kylie minus the k. She waves a lot, claps,blows kisses. She says "mommy" "dada", "bye, bye", "uh-oh". She is so funny, if she sees something that she wants.....especially food......she says "me, me", it is really cute. If she doesn't want to eat what I am giving her, she shakes her said "uh,uh".

This is such a fun age. She is learning new things really fast. She is still a really, really sweet girl. She loves to do what her big brother and sister do. She watches them, and follows them. We are just so grateful for her, and love her to pieces!!

Kylie and Carson got some shopping carts from my parents. I let them take them to the store with me last week. They had fun helping me do some shopping, it was really cute.