Eight 12 year olds all by myself, REALLY?

It's winter, so ideas for birthday parties are hard to come by when there's snow. Well, introduce

WINTERPALOOZA!

We decided instead of working against the winter, we could use it to our advantage. Funny thing here is, we had tons of snow the week before her party. By the day OF her party, no snow, not a single snowflake was anywhere to be found. Well, so I improvised, like I always do in the days of mommyhood. We had pizza, treats, soda, and played our snow games indoors.
We kept the winter theme throughout the party. These were her cute favors.

Everyone got snowman marshmallows with hot chocolate, a snowman on a stick, and a penguin oreo. These were a huge hit with all the girls. I was so glad I could impress eight 12 year olds.

I made all the decorations. Alexis wanted penguins and snowmen, so everything was one or the other.

We went with blue, silver, white, and black for the color scheme. Alexis wanted cupcakes, so I ran with these. A chocolate cupcake with an igloo made out of frosting with snow crystals with a penguin on top. I was impressed with myself that my penguins actually turned out so cute. We also had snowmen marshmallows and york peppermint patties candy pieces on the table.

A close-up of my cute little penguins.

Some of the girls enjoying pizza, breadsticks, soda, and a lot of treats. This equalled to a lot of hyper girls. It was a lot of fun to watch them and hang out with Alexis. The hubs took all the other kids out, so it was just me with eight, crazy 12 year olds. It was TONS of fun. I missed out on a lot with being an only child. It's nice to see what a bunch of girls do together.

Crazy Human Snowman Game

We had plans to race building a snowman outside, but with no snow, the game moved indoors. The girls split into groups and they had to build a snowman using one person. They had 6 rolls of toilet paper, gloves, a hat, a scarf, a carrot, and they had to draw 4 buttons on their "snowman."

It was crazy fun, and hysterical! What was even crazier, was what happened after.

I let them have a "snowball" fight!

What was I thinking?

They all buried Alexis under the "snow" and then dog piled her(no one got hurt). They had tons of fun, lots of giggling and laughter.

Here is just a small look at the "snowball" fight. A mess, but it was hilarious watching them. The hubs would have been going crazy, so it's good he wasn't here during this. Alexis had a fun time and her 2 hour party turned into half the girls staying for a late night and one actually spent the night. I was happy she had so much fun. Preteens are so silly and crazy! I LOVE IT!!!

Alexis turns 12

It finally happened!

My first baby turned 12!

EEK!!!

I can't believe it. She is actually 12 now, and she is no longer in Primary. She is in Young Women's now! OH MY HEAVENS!!! What's a mother to do. Oh, I know. If I hide under my covers and pretend it didn't happen, will she still be a baby? Please, pretty please, with a cherry on top.

No, you say she's only gonna get older. Man, this being a mom is hard work on the heart. Time just keeps flying by. Well, if she must be 12, then I guess I'll have to deal with it.

She's a GREAT kid, I mean, young lady. I could have never dreamed of having such a wonderful daughter, and I ended up with four. I'm very lucky!

Alexis is growing into a wonderful girl and I'm so proud to call her my daughter. She is so considerate, loving, responsible, funny, beautiful, smart, talented, sporty. I could go on and on about this girl of mine.

Each year the kiddos get to pick out their birthday breakfast and she chose cinnamon rolls this year. Don't they look de-lish? They were SO yummy!
This year she was having a big party, so we did dinner at home, but I did make her this decadent oreo cheesecake. It was gobbled up by everyone.

This year we lucked out and Alexis's present was actually given to us from the hub's parents. His grandma was a painter and she passed away a few months before. Well when they were cleaning out her place they found this easel and asked if we wanted it for Alexis. We said yes, and knew we could give it to her for her birthday. Needless to say, she LOVED it. We also gave her some canvases, and she has already completed some masterpieces. This was a hard birthday for me to wrap my heart around. I just was having a hard time realizing things are getting faster and faster here, and as a result, the kiddos aren't so young anymore. I feel like I need to catch up to them. I will, eventually, but in the meantime, can the younger ones slow down please?

Alexis's Christmas Program

This year the 6th grade put on a program for Christmas. They did a cultural spin on it to fit the district's "no Christmas celebrations" guidelines. She picked an ancestor to feature and made a wooden doll for the "Festival of Trees" project. She picked my great-great grandma Pauline who was Polish. She did FABULOUS! The classes also sang a bunch of songs and then served us cookies and juice. They also talked about their own tree projects. They all had to pick a word and do special things for someone that went along with that word. She picked the word "useful" and picked me do serve for 2 weeks. It was suppose to be secret, but I kinda knew already. She makes me very proud and she has grown into a wonderful, caring, helpful, smart girl. I can't believe sometimes that she is my kid, she is SO good. Just look at how grown up she looks.
Here she is telling us all about her ancestor. My pics didn't turn out well because I was wrestling Noah and Bella.

Here she is during her program. I love going to school programs and this one was definitely one not to be missed. So glad I went and saw her in her last program of her elementary career.

An EXCITING Announcement!

I have an exciting announcement concerning Alexis, but I can't spill the beans until the 12th!

So stay tuned.

I am SO, SO, SOOOO, proud of her!

Alexis gives a talk!

Alexis was assigned this last week to give a talk in Primary and she did it extemely well. I was unable to go, but Eric said she was awesome. I take great pride in the fact that she has a strong testimony already and she knows how to choose the right over the bad so well. She has a good head, heart, and spirit about her and I'm very lucky to call her my daughter. I wanted to post her talk because she did it all on her own without help from anyone. It's a good refresher for us all.

Trying to be Like Jesus Christ

"When we are trying to be like Jesus Christ we should say our prayers every night and every morning. We can also read the scriptures. The scriptures teach us what Jesus was like.

During His ministry, Jesus would teach the people, he would heal the sick, he would help sad people feel better and he even raised the dead. Whenever there were little children like us, he would talk to them and bless them.

Jesus is a very kind, loving, person, so you should help people like your parents, grandparents, neighbors and friends whenever you can. You can do an extra chore around the house, maybe help watch your siblings or be good for the babysitter. If we ever do something wrong and we feel really bad about it, we can repent!

That would make Jesus Christ very happy. That's how we should show we're becoming like Jesus Christ."

It was a very short talk-but then in Primary, all the talks are short- but VERY good and straight to the point on how we should be like Jesus. It's nice to know that we really,HAVE, taught our daughter well enough that she knows what she should be doing. She is such a great example to her younger siblings and to me too!

Alexis turns 11!

This sweet girl just turned 11! Wow, I can't believe how fast time has flown by. I still remember when Eric and I brought her home from the hospital late at night and wondered what do we do now. Whew! At least we started to figure out what to do, but now I am wondering what do I do now with a tween! She's really a great kid! She helps out a lot and loves to help her younger siblings. She's smart and very talented with her drawing and painting. She had the best little birthday. My dad took her to Color Me Mine(it's a great little painting studio)and out to Red Lobster for lunch over the weekend. She chose a cute frog and had a blast at painting it. She then got to eat shrimp and lobster for lunch. Oh man, was she in heaven. Then the kids were off school on Monday so we went to Thanksgiving Point for the morning and then Tuesday was her actual birthday. She was so excited that she got a whole four days of fun and celebrations, especially since this is how Eric gets his birthday celebrations every year-his birthday always falls on Memorial Day weekend, and she got to have one too!This is the finished product all fired and glazed up.
Alexis chose the menu for me to cook this year instead of going to a restaurant. This is her root beer float cake. I also made homemade root beer ice cream to go along with it. Our dinner was peel and eat shrimp with cocktail sauce, shrimp scampi and pasta, garden salad, garlic bread and root beer to drink. These are all her favorite things, so what better day to have them all.

She got a new pair of reebok atheletic shoes from Eric and me. I was so happy to score a sweet deal on these. With coupons and codes I saved 75% off of them. And they are blue, her favorite color!
We then really surprised her by giving her a MP3 player. She was so excited! This is her saying "AWESOME!" We had told her she couldn't have one until she was at least 12 or 13 because they are fragile(and frankly can cost a lot if they get broken or misplaced easily) so she was very surprised. Again I got a really good deal on it, so if it does get broken, lost, or destroyed by little siblings because she leaves it laying around, it's not that big of a deal. This is the same kind Eric has only it cost WAY less! At the end of the day she said it was the best birthday ever! I love when we can make the kids' day! Sometimes its hard to be able to do that so it's a win-win for everyone today!

Just another cute picture of her frog!

This is when she picked out her frog and began creating her masterpiece.

Hard at work and lovin' every minute of it!

Her frog all finished and ready to go into the kiln. We get to pick it up in a few days. I am excited to go and paint something myself one day. Maybe as a mommy get away. They have some cool little deals throughout January and February I just might have to use.

A proud little painter who had a TON of fun and can't wait to do it again with grandpa! Alexis enjoyed her days of fun and I just can't stop believing she is 11 already! My little girl all grown up and on her way to becoming a teenager. YIKES!

Essay Winner!

I am so PROUD of this girl! I always am, but this is a special honor that our lovely daughter received this last week. In her school the whole 5th grade participates in the D.A.R.E. program and after they have completed the program they have a graduation. Well this year's program also contained an essay contest. The students were all asked to write an essay and one girl and one boy from the entire grade would be selected as winners. Well our miss Alexis won for the girls from her grade(which is about 150 students) and received this certificate and a free meal at Del Taco-her dad is excited to take her for lunch. The funny thing about this(well not that funny to me) is she didn't even tell us until after the ceremony. I have been sick and we were going to take Bella to the doctor's the morning of the graduation so we ended up not going. We didn't know that she was being presented an award and she read her essay for the entire school and parents. I felt very bad for not being there, but a little upset that no one told us about it. Sheesh, I would have thought her teacher would have let us know, but oh well. Alexis read it to us when she got home and Eric and I are very proud of her. Way to go Alexis!

Gorgeous girl makes me feel VERY old!

She can't be my daughter- my lit'l Alexis?

Last Post for Awhile

Well we finally heard some news about Alexis, but it still has us baffled and won't be resolved until June. All her tests for thyroid functioning are fine, however her bone scan shows a 2 year bone growth delay and they don't know why. The doctors haven't explained much to us, but I'm hoping to get more info in the coming months. Stress, stress, stress! I knew she was looking short, but a 2 year delay is crazy.
On another note, this will be the last post for awhile as I head into doctor's orders of bed rest. We thought everything was fine for our new little one, but it changed again. I have been diagnosed with placenta previa and am hoping nothing bad will happen. All I can do is hope for the best and whatever happens, happens. It's out of my hands and all I can say is in our family when it rains it POURS!
Hope for the best and prepare for the worst seems to be our family motto these days! I'm going to miss our free annual date night this year. We love Art Soup, which is CNS's fundraiser, it's fun, free, and it's for a good cause. They are a non-profit nursing/home health care business. They took real good care of Christian and loved him deeply! I also get a free piece of art bought by my dad when we go. RATS, what a time to be put on bed rest.
Please keep Alexis in your prayers that everything will be fixed and she'll remain healthy. She's my first-born and I hate to think of something awful happening to her. I would hate it for any of my kids, but she's the oldest and was touched the most by her brother and has had enough bad stuff in her short little life. And on that note, I must be returning to my couch!

Does He Know What He Is Doing?

So I ask the question, does He know what He is doing? By He, I mean God. Does He know that He is testing my sanity these days. I'm sitting here stressed and worried, AGAIN, about one of my children. My poor eldest daughter is sick and her signs and symptoms have the doctors baffled so they are sending us to PCMC this morning.
They are taking a guess at testing her for thyroid problems, but they are not sure if that is what is going on due to the fact we have no family history and she has had no problems up to now. They say we'll try this and go from here. This just has an eery sense of d'jeveau for me. The last child who had doctors baffled and was sent to PCMC for tests turned out to have terminal cancer. Not that I'm wishing or expecting that again, it's just hard not to let your mind jump immediately there.
I'm just really getting tired of visiting PCMC for my kids. It's not a great place for us. I know I should be glad that we have a children's hospital so close to us, but I would be happier If my kids could stop having to use it. I now have had half our kids up there and I really want to stop.
Is it too much to ask for God to stop testing us and putting Eric and I through the stress and heartache. I really feel like we've had our share. I just want my kids to be healthy and have a little happiness in their lives. Their lives have already been horribly changed and affected by the death of their brother. So much that my youngest daughter keeps asking is she going to die like her brother. So not a question a 5 year old should have to think and ask. My other kids get scared whenever they are sick thinking something horrible will happen to them. Eric and I just keep reassuring them that they will be fine and live a long, happy life. But how do we continue to think this if we keep getting mysterious sicknesses thrown our way with our kids. It truly is a hard thing to think when life is going good and then bam, another kid is being sent to PCMC because doctors are baffled and what is going on.
I just really do hope that God really does know what He is doing. Good or bad, my sanity is being put through the ringer. I just want my kids to be healthy! Is that too much to ask for, I think not. Well hopefully all will go well this morning and over the next few days. Maybe it will turn out to be something really silly and we can get back to normal life. Keep Alexis in your prayers!