Kyle's 8th birthday

What a big boy I have!!  

EIGHT! 

Its so bitter sweet. I love having such a great helper.  Kyle is a great big brother. Always watching out for his siblings, helping me keep track of them.  I have seen a lot of growth in Kyle over the past year. He's a kid I can depend on.

But he's also not my tiny baby boy anymore.

 Mind you, he will ALWAYS be my baby, just not so tiny...

 

 We went to ToysRus because I got him a Galaxy Squad Lego that wasn't exactly what he wanted and I knew that. So I told him we could go get what he wanted. When we got there we told them it was his bday so they gave him a balloon and crown. I had to get this picture because the poor sentimental me just kept thinking, this may the last time he will happy wearing a paper crown in public. Basically losing his child like innocence. I know, I'm silly.

We are into nontraditional cakes birthday cakes at the Shiflett house and this year was no exception.

Kyle chose this watermelon cake since he is a super fan of watermelon. 

 It was super fun to make and EAT!

Kyle also got to chose where we had dinner. He always asks if we can go to Chili's...always. So it was no surprise that he chose it for his bday dinner.  

Kyle got Legos for his birthday. No, we are not out of the Lego phase and I do plan on being out in the foreseeable future. Whatever makes my baby happy.

Happy Birthday to my Kiksy Sticks. You are an amazing kid. We love you!

Favorite book is your favorite....

...color?... purple

....food?...pizza, Mommy's Alfredo

least favorite food... 

...TV show?... Lego videos

what are you really good at?... riding my bike/scooter

Who is your best friend?... Nathaniel, Caleb and Liam

What makes you happy? Being with my family and looking at my Pokemon cards.

Favorite animal: wolf

favorite thing to do: Play with Pokemon cards

Favorite movie: Kronk's New Groove

What do you and your mom do together: tickle sessions

What do you and your dad do together:  build Legos

What is your favorite sport: baseball

Where is your favorite place to go: camping (Coyoye Gulch) and Legoland/Disneyland

Favorite book: anything I can read but I really like Calvin and Hobbs

What do you want to be when you grow up? scientist (chemistry)

A Great Weekend

Memorial weekend for the Shiflett's traditionally consists of a few days camping and hiking at beautiful Kodachrome National Park.  This year would be different however.  We are in the midst of showing/selling our home of  8 years.  We had a lot success with our showings and got a couple of offers so we didn't feel like packing and all the while trying to keep our house immaculate.

So while we felt bad missing out on tradition, we had a wonderful weekend just being together. 

Noah's 6th Birthday

Noah was a very lucky boy. This is what Noah got to do on his birthday this year. 

(Megan's first dance recital.)

 But before you feel too sorry for this non-girly birthday boy, this is also what he did for his birthday...

We went to the park and had McDonald's and opened presents.

He got Batman2 Wii, a few Skylanders (don't ask me their names) and a Razor scooter.  He was very thrilled and overjoyed with it all.  He could not stop exclaiming how happy he was. Sweet boy.

A week after his birthday we had a Magic party at Noah's request. (We won't talk about how he changed his mind and really wanted a Skylander party that I refused to do.

 I loved the Magician party idea too much to give it up.)

Little magicians

back row l-r: Dillon, Hayden, Kyle, James

front row l-r: Ava, Ivy, Carter, Coleman, Noah, Noah P.

(There were a few others at the party that were not pictured here:

 Meggie Kate, Ethan, Stuart, Mikayla and Allisyn

We had a real live magician come to the party.

 He was great, the kids loved him and he did all the work. :)

Yessss.

Noah got to be up front and help with the magic tricks the entire time.

He loved it until...

This happened...

He remained fairly calm but kept saying "get it off me. Ow...get it of me."

Noah's guests enjoying his discomfort.

I think everyone had a great time. 

(Especially Megan who laughed loud and long through out the entire show.)

I love my Noah.  He is truly a sweet, funny child.

 He definitely marches to the beat of his own drummer.

He loves his family and proclaim it on a regular basis (but almost idolizes his brother). He doesn't like reading or doing school work. Still loves his teddy bear blanket but seems a little less attached. Chilled out.

Birthday Questionnaire

How old are you? 5...oh yeah, six

What makes you happy? Going hiking and also my brother playing Legos with me

Favorite animal: Wolf

What is your favorite thing to eat? Pizza and hot dogs, Mommy's tomato soup

What is your least favorite thing to eat? tomatoes, mushrooms...I HATE mushrooms

What is your favorite thing to do? Play Legos...and Skylanders...and play with my family

Favorite TV show? Lego design video clips

What are you really good at? Cleaning (making) my bed, milking a cow (Well, some milk fell on my face when I milked that cow...)

Favorite movie? Spy Kids

Favorite color? green

Favorite song: Dynomite by Taio Cruz (Noah loves music and has many favorites)

Who is your best friend? Coleman, 

What is your favorite sport? basketball (Noah doesn't seem to care too much for them yet.)

Where is your favorite place to go? Disneyland and Legoland, Clark Planetarium

Favorite book? Dr. Seuss books

What do you want to be when you grow up? a gold miner, a scientist and a Lego designer

9 month Ella

Ella is such a fun baby. She is starting a get a bit mobile. She can get from her bum to her tummy and scoots using the tip of her toes. She is motivated as she wants to get her little chubby hands on everything she possibly can. Not only is Ella a grabber but she is a major gabber.
 Not fun when the boys are trying to play Legos anywhere in the vicinity. 

 She is wiggley and almost impossible to hold when trying to absorb a Sunday school lesson. 

She makes the funniest sounds (blowing through her nose and closing her throat.)
 She is also, we believe, saying dada and mama. Pretty impressive. 

She likes to stretch her arm(s) out when she sees people- kinda like she wants them but definitely doesn't. It's really cute and endearing if not tricky.

She has two teeth on the bottom now. The right one came in first at about 7.5 months and the left one followed about a month later.

 Stats:

Weight- 19.14 lbs 80%

Height- 28 in 75%

Head- 18.6 95%

6+ 

 Grabby McGrabberson

The juicy roundness of those cheeks...

 Sweet strawberry curls. I hope they stay.

Dancing Queen

Megan finally had her very first dance concert last a few nights ago. It was so precious. 

Megan started taking dance from Just Dance studio in Jan. My friend, Jamie, and her little girl, Alli, attend the Mommy and Me class and got us a spot to join. Megan has always been very attentive at dance recitals she has attended and loves to dance herself. So while I hadn't planned on putting her in dance until at least 4, I decided to give it a try. 

She has mostly loved it. She has been bashful at times but has always been happy to go and tries her best. 

I had no idea what to expect when it came to getting on the stage. I didn't need to worry though. She kept asking me, "When do I get on the stage??" Asked many times. She got out there and did her thing with a smile on her face and had a good time. (I got verklempt.) She was all excited to get back up there at the end for her bow. 

Later she's loved performing her dance for everyone that wasn't there. 

                  4th dancer in. 

         
Megan and her good friend, Alli.

What a sweet little dancer she is. 

Mommy and Daddy are so proud. 

Happy Mother's Day to me. 

If it weren't for these little people of mine I wouldn't be celebrating this day. 

They made cards for me with words like 

"If all the moms got together you'd be the best" 

and 

"I love helping you". 

I love being their mommy. 

And I'm thankful for Adam who makes my job as a mommy a little easier.

He was up early this morning making wild rice soup, 2 salads, dessert, breakfast sandwiches and ironing clothes for the boys.  

What a guy.

 I feel very blessed. 

Things I love about today...

Kyle reads the newspaper. I don't read the newspaper. (It helps that it
was an article about Legos. But still!)

Megan running to the bathroom and telling me she's "not going to freak out" (as she is wont to do).

Megan insisting on using my bathroom to wash her hands because the "boys bathroom stinks!"

Noah telling me if he had three wishes they would be -to be rich with money and gold -to be a ninja "wif" swords and 

-to have robot armour. That's not asking too much, is it?

Ella getting excited about getting the tub. I loved her quick breaths and feet and twirling. 

8 Month Ella

This has been a month of becoming a strong sitter, trying a variety of food, more sleeping through the night, getting a first tooth, and lots raspberry blowing. Oh she is so darn cute...and wiggley! This has been the most difficult photo shoot so far. Ella wanted to do everything BUT look at the camera or pose with her bunny. EAT her bunny is more like it.

Temple night

Went to the Jordan River Temple tonight to do sealings. It was really nice to sit still in the Temple and be quiet. It felt very peaceful. The sealer instructed me to respect Erin and that our marriage was the most important thing we will do. I love seeing Erin in the temple, it reminds me of our wedding day.

Thumbs

Oh the thumb-sucker's thumb

May look wrinkled and wet

And withered, and white as the snow,

But the taste of a thumb

Is the sweetest taste yet

(As only we thumb-suckers know).

-Shel Silverstein 

Sunday Walk

My niece, Anna, made the suggestion to take a walk to the elementary (MY elementary) last night. It was a gorgeous night. I couldn't refuse. In the end everyone but Nana decided to come along. So after cake and ice cream to celebrate the April birthdays, we took the much familiar walk up the street and down the old walkway. It hasn't changed much yet in some ways it has. It's a much shorter walk and the fence doesn't tower the way it once did.

Noah was very excited to see where I went to school and said my school was "so cool!".
The playground has totally changed. It has a lot more to play on and the kids (aaaand adults) loved climbing and swinging. I love my playful family.
It was fun to take a walk down memory lane last night.

"We are Westland! We are a team! 

We like to do things that turn out supreme. 

Try to compare what we are sharing.

 Learning to work our problems is quite daring

. Catch us. We'll take you on. 

We like to find out where we belong. 

We will reach our destiny. 

We are Westland Elementary!"

Must have walked this path a thousand times or more.

Even Papa came and played.

Robert and Ella enjoying the swings.

Swingin'...

Uppity Date

We are all happy and well and that is awesome.
...The housing market is hot once again and Adam and I are having the hardest time trying to decide if we will take advantage. We are looking at a community in West Jordan called Three Forks. Just not sure if its right yet. {sigh}
...Kyle finally played his first game last night. His team has ready played twice. Due to weather, schedule mix ups and being out of town Kyle hasn't been able to play. It was so fun to watch him play last night on what is to me a real team. He scored twice (due to the pitcher walking everyone). They lost but Kyle had a great time anyway.
Kyle is so done with school. He claims to be bored and I believe him. The kid is just too smart. I'm anxious for summer myself.
...Noah will hopefully be starting his first baseball game tonight if the rain and snow will go away.
...Meggie is still enjoying dance. She knows her dance routine better than I do. I look forward to watching her perform and hope she doesn't get too much stage fright.
Ella is growing by leaps and bounds. She is sitting up, sleeping fairly well at night, eating like nobody's business, getting two bottom teeth (finally!) and is just an all around sweet baby. (She still lets others hold and love on her.)

Kyle's First Baseball Game