The Indy Speedster

Carter got to participate in his first Pinewood Derby this month. Garth wanted to make sure it was Carter's car and not one of those cars that clearly the dad made while the child watched. Carter got to choose the shape and aside from the actual cutting of the wood, he did the rest. He sanded it, painted it, and decorated it with these stickers from the scout shop.

Garth made a truck for fun and when the race was over, the boys were challenging his truck to races (he beat every car there).

Carter won some and lost some and I wasn't sure how he was doing but when they tallied it up he was tied for second place. This is him cheering on the Indy Speedster against Issac's car for the 2nd place title. He won! Since he got second, he could have gone on to the district derby but he chose instead to go to Liberty Lake for his friend's baptism. A great choice if you ask me.This is what happens when you don't pay attention to Olivia. While I was cheering for Carter, she dug in my purse, found some hand cream and smeared it all through her hair. Nice.

Potty Update

Derek has been a rockstar at potty training. After the first week or two, we have had no accidents. In his words, "The pee goes in the potty. . .no problems!" He does, however fight with me about how to put his underwear on. He insists that the cool picture go on the front so he can see it. No big deal in the front, just a little baggy. . . Hilarious from the back.

Baby Shower

My cute cousin Erin is pregnant for the first time and we had a baby shower for her last weekend. I am not a huge fan of showers and must admit I wasn't thrilled to go on a busy Saturday afternoon but it turned out to be a lot of fun. I got to see a lot of my cousins and many of the girls that I taught when they were Laurels in my ward on the South Hill. I also got to see lots of old friends from that ward. It's funny that just moving North to Nine Mile really cut me off from so many people I knew growing up. I suppose it's because they weren't really that close of friends, it was just the convenience of seeing each other at so many church functions. My cousin Amber (Erin's big sister) surprised everyone and came all the way from Utah! It was so fun to see her because I don't get to very often. I also got to chat a long time with my friend Tia who lives in Colville. She and I have been friends literally since she was born (she was born on her Mom's birthday and since my mom was good friends with her, we brought her a cake in the hospital. . .I was less than 6 months old.) These are all the girl cousins that came that day. . .Kailee, me, Amber, Erin (the pregnant one even though you can't tell in the picture), Kelly, Jill, Kimberly, Kelly, and Stacey. I brought Sydney along and boy was she glad! They had decorated with a bunch of jars full of candy. The kids could go fill up these little red boxes with all the candy they could fit!Can't wait to meet baby Hudson in a couple of weeks!

Join the Party

Sydney has been going to a Zumbatomic class on Saturday mornings at our YMCA, and loving it! So when it came time to decide what kind of birthday party she wanted, it was a no-brainer. My friend Kimmie is an instructor so she taught the girls some Zumba dance. I ordered each of the girls these hip scarves. It made it that much more fun to have the tinkling sound of the skirts fill the studio.

The skirts came straight from India and they sent these jewels to put on the girls' faces. From Left to right: Zoe Steinbaugh, Paige Strom, Preslie Young, Addy Rippy, Sydney, Jamie Katz, and Carly Wickwire.

This was my first experience with fondant. It doesn't really count because I bought pre-made, pre-colored fondant from JoAnns and just rolled it out and used and exacto knife to cut out the Zumba symbol.

Although it was super fun, Garth and I are reconsidering how much time, money, and effort we put into our kids' birthday parties. Perhaps they should be an every other year affair.

Sydney's is Six!

Sydney shares a birthday with one of her new friends in Kindergarten so we really drug out the celebrating so they could attend each other's parties. The morning of her birthday, she woke up to find her new bike (mom thinks it's too big but dad is convinced she can make it work). I am really hoping she can learn to ride without training wheels soon! She also got this adorable rain coat and a new spring outfit from Mom and Dad.

I told her I would make whatever she wanted for her birthday breakfast and she requested crepes with strawberries and whipped cream. This was a first for me. I had never made crepes before and I must say they were quite delicious (thanks to an easy Giada DeLaurentis recipe).

Of course, the celebrating continued with cupcakes at school then Friday evening Grandma Theresa and Grandpa Tony took her out to dinner and shopping. She had told Theresa that she wanted skinny jeans so they decided to shop together to make sure they got a pair that fit right. She then got to spend the night and met us at Carter's basketball game the next day just in time to head over to her friend Jamie's b-day party.

Sunday was dinner, cake, and presents at my mom's house then there were two different present drop-ins from John & Lori and from Norm & Ele. What a spoiled little six year old! We waited a whole week to do her friend party (I'll post that later) and by the time that was over. . .I was so done!

The Blue Thunder

We have another successful season of basketball under our belt. Garth coached again this year and based on all the compliments I got on his behalf, I'd say he did a great job. One of the dads, Dan Dunlop assisted him this year. Dan doesn't know much about basketball and his personality is quite different from Garth's but they balanced each other well. Every time Garth would get on one of the boys at a game, Dan would follow up with lots of clapping and encouraging words. I don't know if it was a conscious thing but it made me laugh how opposite the two were. Whatever they did, it worked. They only lost one game (by one basket) and the boys improved immensely. They even ran real plays this year! Carter worked really hard at home to learn to dribble between his legs. Garth discouraged him from doing it in a game because he said there was no purpose for it and he would more than likely loose control of the ball. At one of the last games, Carter was bringing the ball down the court and I saw him slow down a little. . . he dribbled between his legs then drove toward the hoop. In the car on the way home Carter asked Garth what he thought of the between the legs move and Garth told him he didn't really like it. Carter responded with "yeah, but did you hear the volume in the gym when I did it? I like doubled." Garth had to agree with that, then Carter added, "It's okay to warm up the crowd a little, isn't it?"
As Carter narrows down what sports he is interested in, I hope basketball stays on the list. I love watching him play and I think it's great for he and Garth to share the sport.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Excuse Olivia's face, she wasn't feeling festive this morning.

Olivia

Oh-Livia, it is hard to believe you are approaching two years old. Try as I may, I can't seem to find the time to scrapbook your birth, enter every new tooth that appears into your baby book, or document all of your firsts. Since the baby book entries are few and far between, I thought I'd do a post about the things you do that make me smile (okay and some that make me want to scream!)
You are a girly girl like your big sister. These mardi-gras "necknace" are your favorite and you wear them every day. I love how you rub your tummy and say "fretty" every time I get you dressed. You are beautiful. You are a great little talker. I started to list all of the words and phrases you say but the list is so long it seemed silly to put them all down. I work hard to get you and big brother Derek to be polite and you so a very good job of saying "seez" when you want something. You also like to tell on your big brother. I hear the phrase "he hit me" over and over. Until about a month ago, you wouldn't say "yes." Instead you would nod your head but it was a full body nod. It was adorable the way you'd give us a yes all the way down to your toes. Now, you still don't say yes but you say "yeahm" I'm not sure where the extra M came from but it is totally adorable (that's what you are saying in this picture).What's more memorable than the words you say, is the way you say them, or should I say YELL them. You are a very loud girl! You will stand at the top of the stairs and yell "Darder, c'mere" or you'll yell "MOM" when you can't see me, and you frequently yell anything you can think of at Derek. Your daddy teases that every party has a loud fat girl, and right now that's you. (Mom is sure you'll grow into your big belly and is praying you learn to control your voice.)I often find you here, weighing yourself in my bathroom. You are fascinated by the numbers that pop up and mom is happy you entertain yourself so she can shower. You like to give kisses and you go at them tongue-first just like you do with chapstick. Mmmm.There is no question you are turning into a toddler. You know exactly what you want, but can't always express it. I'm not sure who that frustrates more. . .you or mom. You have started to be a little mischievous, coloring on your face, taking toys from siblings, climbing where you don't belong. Every day is like a 13 round fight with Derek but you manage a few intermissions for a nap, and for complete preciousness wherein mom forgives and forgets completely.