Brayden's Baptism

This has been a few weeks of celebrating Brayden! 

On New Years Day he got baptized!!!!! That should be an easy date to remember... 1/1/11.

His grandparents, cousins, and friends came to watch him get baptized and officially become a member of our church. He was SO excited to get baptized!! He got his very own set of black scriptures and a black carrying case, just like his Dad's.... just as he had requested. He got his own small Hymn book and a new white shirt, belt, and tie for the big day!

It was quite surreal to watch my own child get baptized. I guess I'm still in denial that he's that old! On our way home from the church, I asked him how he felt now that he was baptized and he answered with a very enthusiastic "HAPPY!! SO HAPPY!" I love it! It makes my heart so happy that he was so happy to get baptized and to become part of this gospel that we love so much and to be such a great example to his little brothers.

We went home and enjoyed a great dinner with our family and some friends that had traveled so far and in horrible weather to be with him on his baptism day. We ate good food, laughed, and visited while the kids ran around and played and had a great time. 

Thank you to all who came from near and far. We all appreciated it. It was a wonderful day that I will always remember!

Christmas at our house....

We had a great Christmas this year!! We must have had some very good little boys around here, because Santa brought them some pretty good things!

There were Lego's, Tech Decks and Ramps, games (board games and DS), all sorts of things that were on their lists... and a few surprises! They were also pretty spoiled by their grandparents.

Landon also loved finding the Candy Canes that Santa had left for everyone in their stockings and on the tree. It didn't take him long to figure out that if he broke them where they bend, he could open them and eat them. There were many Candy Cane casualties on Christmas morning!

We had our traditional Christmas breakfast of scones. So yummy!!! Then we played and played all morning with all the new toys, games, and Lego's. It was so funny to watch how intense Brayden was as he was putting together his new Harry Potter Lego set that Santa brought him. Landon enjoyed his new Giraffe toy, but the ball popper may have been his favorite. He kept running back and forth with it. He also loved to stand on any and all boxes he could find. We spent the whole day in our PJ's and just relaxed and had a yummy Christmas dinner.

(Someone was VERY fascinated with the tree this year and loved to bring mommy all the ornaments he could reach!)

We are so grateful for this time of year to celebrate the birth of our Savior. We have been so blessed recently and we are so thankful for our Savior and our family!

It was a fabulous Christmas!

Brayden turns 8!!!

I don't believe that my little boy has turned 8! 

How did that happen??? How has it already been 8 years since we became parents?? 

Brayden was the first of our crazy cute little boys and he was a great way to start off our little family. 

He is an energetic, opinionated, loving, smart, funny little boy. He thinks he's a teenager or something sometimes and can make me laugh and drive me mad all in the same day! 

 We started off his big day by opening up his presents. He got some great stuff! 

He got this Lego Harry Potter game from mom and dad.....

We all had fun playing it together later that afternoon. Brayden won!

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books from his Grandparents....

He's already read one book and is onto the next one.

And this huge crazy remote control car from his Grandpa Patton...

Can you see Brayden???

I'm not sure who had more fun with this remote control car... Brayden, Landon, or Daddy! Landon thought it was the funniest thing to chase the car around and try to catch it. He just giggled and giggled as he ran after it or as it zoomed passed him.

He also got a Bakugan Wii game and a Harry Potter Lego set from his brothers. (Does anyone else see a Harry Potter and Lego obsession going on here?!?! Just wait until you see what Santa brought him the next day!!)

After presents, Brayden chose to have cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We went all out and had Taco Bell for lunch (again his choice!) and his favorite dinner of Fideo. 

Since he had already had a cake at his party the week before, he decided to have his favorite, Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, after dinner with a candle and we all sang to him and enjoyed the minty chocolaty goodness before bed.

It was a great day! We all played together and laughed and had a fun time celebrating Brayden's 8 years in our family! When the day was over, we put out cookies and Dr. Pepper for Santa (that's what he likes at our house!) and some carrots for the Reindeer. I attempted to get a picture of the 3 boys in front of the Christmas tree....

This was the best I got. Landon was not exactly willing to sit still.... I mean after all, it was Christmas Eve... so much excitement, and one year olds pretty much never ever sit still.

Happy Birthday Brayden.... thank you for choosing to come to our family 8 years ago and for making us your parents!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

Harry Potter Party!!!!

This year... I think it's safe to say that Brayden is a bit obsessed with Harry Potter. So it was not surprising at all that he wanted to have a Harry Potter birthday party. I am not at all a "party planner" kinda mom. I do not enjoy planning parties for my kids. It stresses me out. BIG time. And having tons of kids in my house running around and being crazy loud... well not really my idea of fun. But it's all for my kids, so I gotta do it... right. 

A while ago, my neighbor threw her son a birthday party and only spent $10 on it, and it was awesome!! I was pretty sure I was unable to be THAT good and figure out how to only spend $10 on it, but I was pretty impressed how many things I came up with that I already had supplies for. Food storage and my craft supply came in pretty handy!!! 

So first... I asked a friend of mine how to make some cute invitations like she has made for her kids parties. With her suggestions, I came up with these that I made on Picasa, and had them printed up for super cheap at Wal-Mart.

Next was to make our house a little Hogwarts-like.

I mostly used balloons and streamers I had left over from past birthday's. Even though my kids don't get a friend's party every year, we always decorate a little for them. So I had a good stash to get stuff from.

"Forbidden Forrest    A Warning: Peril Await all who enter!!!"

I hung up this sign I made just for fun and because I didn't want kids running up and down the stairs. I wanted to contain the craziness if you will. But I soon found this was just as good as an invitation to the kids to try and sneak into the "Forbidden Forrest".  They tried every chance they could.

 The kitchen/dining room turned into the "Great Hall" The kids were served "Pumpkin Juice" (aka Orange Soda), Pizza, and Cake!!

Each guest got one of these badges. I made them up on my computer and had these badge covers in my craft box. Brayden was "Head Boy", Patrick and I were "Headmasters", and all the rest of the kids were Hogwarts "Honorary Guests".

The boys were so excited to get to use their Halloween costumes again.

We were ready to PARTY!!!!

First up, everyone knows that a proper wizard needs a wand. So first was Wand Making class. Every one got a dowel to paint and decorate. This got messy. I'm glad I made sure it was washable paint, because it was all over clothes, my table, chairs, and the floors. But they made some fun looking wands.

Next up was Quidditch Practice where we made our own Golden Snitch's. I made some salt dough balls ahead of time and they all painted their Snitch's with gold paint and glued feathers on the side. 

Next was Levitation Class. 

The kids sat in a circle and had to keep the balloons off the ground for as long as they could using the spell "wingardium leviosa". This gave us time to set up for the next class....

Potions class! This was a favorite! It was kinda fun to see the kids try to guess what was really in the cups. We had green jello for "lizard slime",  gummy worms were "bloodworms", brown sugar was "fairy soil", "Unicorn Nectar" was apple juice,  "Basilisk Venom" was red jello, "bat liver" was chopped up olives, "Goblin Nails" were chocolate sprinkles, then the last ingredients we added were baking soda as "Essence of Newt" and vinegar as "Stink Pond Water" so it would fizzle and bubble up.

 Each child got a cup to mix their "potions" in and a straw to stir it with. They all loved watching it change colors, fizz, stink, and bubble up.  They had successfully made Polyjuice Potion!

 Next was Dueling Class. We had each child duel off in a "tournament"  and the winner won a Golden Coin from Gringotts Bank. 

 Then it was back to the Great Hall for Pizza and Pumpkin Juice. Then we all sang to the Head Boy and he blew out his candle and opened presents.

 This was the best shot I got of all the kids together. Don't mind the dead looking child... I promise there were no children harmed in the making of this party!

When each child left, they took home a bag filled with their wand and snitch's they made, a Gringotts Golden Coin (they were chocolate coin candy things) and these home made goodies:

 (aka Muddy Buddy Chex Mix)

(aka Monster Munch Popcorn which is pretty much just popcorn, peanuts, Rice Krispies covered in Peanut Butter and white chocolate)

It was a fun party. There were a total of 15 kids (including my 2 boys... Landon just sat back and watched the craziness). My voice was almost gone by the end from trying to talk over everyone and I was exhausted!!! It was so much work, and lots of internet searching to find ideas, but all in all I think it turned out really well, and Brayden had a great time. 

Which that was the whole point, so I guess my mission was accomplished!!!

SANTA!!!!

After our super annoying experience of waiting 2 hours in line to see Santa at the mall last year, I had several friends suggest that we go and see the Santa at the Bass Pro Shop where there is a great Santa, no lines, and a FREE photo with him. It was worth the drive to the other side of town, I must say. We have never even been to a Bass Pro Shop... since we are more of what one might call "indoor" kinda people, but they had lots of fun stuff to look at there and the boys just loved it. I mean, you would think that we'd never let these kids outta the house before the way they were running around looking at things, playing with the toys to try out, and looking at the displays of animals every where. 

We first went to see Santa. I knew that Landon would most likely NOT sit on his lap for a picture. And I was right. But he did surprise me and walk right up to him all on his own. And even sat there on Brayden's lap for a few seconds before screaming. He didn't start getting mad until they wanted to take the picture. So this picture just makes me laugh. Maybe that makes me a mean mom, but I'm ok with that. 

 They took the picture and I took Landon off Santa's lap while the other boys told them what they wanted for Christmas. Brayden said that he wanted some Harry Potter Lego's and a Tech Deck half pipe with skateboards. Conner told him he wanted a Lego set and some Tech Decks... and a 4 wheeler!!!! (They had just seen "kid" sized 4 wheelers and sat on them, and now apparently it is on his list!! I will have to talk to him about that one.....)

Landon decided Santa was ok to approach again once Santa was handing him a candy cane, and then he was off again. He found this cute little chair and tent that he just loved and kept running back to every time we took him out of it. 

He never let go of that candy cane either!

The older boys (including Patrick) all played with a big remote controlled monster truck, shooting elk with darts, racing Nascars on a race track, controlling a train, and  shooting deer with a toy rifle.

Just look at that concentration!!

They also had an huge aquarium that all the kids loved. Landon was so intrigued with it. He kept trying to grab at the glass to catch the fish as they swam past him. 

We had a fun time, and really, you can't beat a free family outing to see Santa. Now... let's just wait to se if Santa can bring what they asked for. 

Except for the 4 wheeler.... he can keep that!  :)