First Place!!! - April 14, 2013

1st Place Trophy!!

Brian got 1st place at his race!!!  Well not just Brian but his race team "Chotchkies Racing" got 1st place!!!  AWESOME!!  I am so proud of him!!    This is a picture of the trophy that they got, it is sitting on top of their race car!  

Spring Break April 2013

Spring Break 2013!
Our spring break was the first week of April in 2013.  We didn't have anything planned.  I felt sad because our spring break trip to Disneyland and California last year was awesome!!!  I felt like we needed to go somewhere or do something cool.  However, no big trip was planned.  It was nice to just stick around town.  We did end up doing something fun each day.
Monday: Bri, Olivia, & Hudson came over to play!  In the afternoon it got sunny so the kids played outside.  Later that night Brian played outside with the kids on the bikes and Rock kinda began pedaling his trike!  Cool!
Tuesday: Brian took the day off work and we went hiking!!  It was supposed to be sunny, but it wasn't.  It was a little rainy, but not too much.  We decided to hike to the "Heybrook Lookout".  We hiked there once before in 2010.  It was really foggy the day we hiked.  It was nice and cool as we hiked, when we stood still for too long it got cold!  Dalia was an AWESOME hiker!!  She was up front leading the entire way and she never stopped walking.  I pretty much didn't even see her until I got to the top of the tower.  Brian carried Rock on his back and followed Dalia up the trail!  Rock was happy to be carried!  Tes was my hiking buddy!  She is a good hiker too, just careful and likes to take breaks a few times.  At the top of the tower the kids enjoyed watching their dad throw some rocks off the top (don't worry he didn't throw my Rock).
That night we tried to have a campout/sleepover in the living room.  In the end I think Dalia was the only one who actually slept downstairs.  But the kids sure had fun playing on the air mattress and with their sleeping bags and watching a movie on the ipad!
 

Wednesday:  Beautiful and SUNNY the entire day!!  We had a playdate set up with our friends the T's. Their daughter Mia is the age between Dalia & Tes.  They really like Mia, but they don't get to see her that much since she is in the other ward and goes to a different school.  So it was fun to get them together.  We had a Red party!  We wore red, ate red food, and colored red things and then just played.  Back at home Rock took a nap and the girls took books and worksheets outside to read and work as they sat in the shade!

Thursday:  POURED ALL DAY LONG!!  But that didn't stop us.  Thursday was "Dalia Day!!!"  Dalia choose to go to the Imagine Children's Museum!  The kids have fun running from one room to the next playing with different things.  Rock LOVED watching the model train!  He would get so so so excited every time it came around.  I think he could watch that thing all day!  Rock also liked driving the tractor!!  He drove the tractor at least more than 3 times!  Dalia really seemed to enjoy playing in the water room!  At home that night she got to choose the movie and she choose, "Gnomeo & Juliet!"  While watching the movie she wiggled her loose tooth and it popped out!  Dalia lost her 2nd tooth on DALIA DAY!!!  She said that was so special that she lost her tooth on her day!


Friday: Was "TESILA DAY!!"  Tes wanted to go bowling!  First picked up Daddy from work and went out to lunch at Subway!  Then we went bowling!  We hadn't taken the girls bowling since Tes was 2 & Dalia was 4.  And this was Rock's first time.  Rockwell LOVED it!  Well he loved picking up the bowling balls and pushing them down the ramp.  He didn't care to watch the ball roll down the lane and knock the pins down.  He just wanted to push the balls.  He would cry and cry when he didn't get a turn.  Tesila used the ramp for every turn and she would hold onto the ramp and jump up and down as she watched her ball roll down the ramp and hit the bins!  And then she would either be sad or do an excited dance! (depending on if she hit any pins or not).  We taught Dalia how to put her fingers in the holes on the ball and roll it down the lane.  And that is just what she did every time!  It was a fun day of bowling.  I won!!  Brian could never find a good ball and he gave a lot of his turns to Rock.  But i think he still had fun!  I am glad that he came.

HAPPY SPRING BREAK TO US!

Over the weekend we had General Conference on in our home.  It is hard for me to listen to conference when my children are all over the place.  But at least we had it on and hopefully my kids know that it is important.  Dalia had fun singing the songs with the choir!  She even talked about some of the stories that were told, so I guess she heard something.

Saturday afternoon we took an unexpected trip to Olympia to pick up Brian.  He headed down south to pick up some Cadillac parts in Olympia and got stuck in Tacoma.  I took the kids and Eric came with us to save him.  Eric took Brian's car back home and me and the kids took Brian the rest of the way to Olympia to get his car parts!  While we waited for Brian we watched a movie in the home theater of the family who has the Cadillac Graveyard.  Then on the way home we stopped at Farelli's Wood Fire Pizza for dinner!  It was a fun little vacation and end to our spring break!

March 2013 Videos

Video: Rock & Brian throwing rocks in the water at Howarth Beach - March 2013
Video: Dalia singing - March 2013
Video: Tesila's talk for Primary - March 2013
Video: Dalia lost her first tooth!! - March 2013
Video: Kids dancing! - March 2013

Easter & a Tooth - March 31, 2013

Easter 2013

Saturday as we were driving home from our ward Easter egg hunt Dalia said, "We haven't colored eggs yet."  Darn, i was hoping that they didn't remember that, I didn't really want to dye eggs this year.  We actually didn't dye eggs last year either.  It just seemed like one more thing to get done, so i chose not to do it.  But since they have the best daddy, he said he would dye eggs with them!  So Saturday night we put a movie on for Rockwell & Brian and the girls dyed eggs.  I think i was making a cake & getting stuff ready for easter dinner.  Brian & the girls got really creative in their egg coloring and made some neat colors!  Dalia had fun taking pictures of all her eggs.  She was sad on Sunday when we told her we were going to peel the eggs to make deviled eggs.

This year we have 9:00am church so there wasn't much time in the morning for easter things.  The girls woke up quickly and were excited to see what was in their baskets.  They found new Easter dresses!!  and they each got an Avenger figurine (which i think was their favorite thing!).  Rock did get to check out his basket until we got home from church.  But he was glad to find a long green stick that he thinks is a sword or a gun, but it is actually a water shooter.   Dalia also got a bird feeder with bird seed!!
At church we had a great sacrament meeting about the Savior and his Resurrection.  I sung in the choir and we sang some beautiful songs about our Savior.  The kids learned about Jesus and the big stone that was rolled away from the tomb.  They have great teachers who spoil them.  Rock & Tes came home with easter goodie bags.  Dalia game home with a tomb made out of a paper plate and Jesus coming out!  When we were at home Dalia drew pictures of all the other people in the story, (the women coming to see Jesus, the guards at the tomb) so that she could retell the story of Jesus' Resurrection!  In our house we celebrate Easter because Jesus was Resurrected!

After church we had Eric & Emily over for an Easter Egg hunt and Easter dinner!!
Brian hid the eggs thoughout the backyard.  Then the rest of us hunted for the eggs!   Tesila got the most!  Dalia however, found eggs and then would start hiding them again so that Tes & Rock could find them.  What a great big sister.
For dinner, we had Pork Roast Sandwiches, salad, Jello Eggs, and Deviled Eggs!  For dessert with had a homemade Carrot Cake!  Decorated by Tesila with "REAL" carrots & green jelly beans!  Tesila LOVES carrots!
 

After dinner we had an Easter Egg hunt just for Brian & Eric.  The four girls hid about 20 eggs in really hard places in the backyard.  It took them awhile to find them all.  Oh, Eric & Emily rode over in Eric's new green car!  I don't know what kind of car it is (sorry Eric), but Brian likes it!

It was fun celebrating Easter!  However, something really exciting happened as we were tucking the girls into bed.  I kissed Tes goodnight then went over to kiss Dalia goodnight.  Dalia said, "Mom, look what i can do with my tooth."  I looked and her tooth was bent sideways.  She could turn it around.  I told her she needed to get up and we needed to pull her tooth out.  I didn't want her tooth to fall out while she was sleeping and her to swallow it.  To the bathroom we went were she looked in the mirror, twisted her tooth and out it popped!

DALIA LOST HER FIRST TOOTH!!!

To say she was excited is an understatement.  She was ecstatic!!!  She has been waiting and waiting and hoping and wishing that she would loose a tooth.  Lots of her friends have been loosing teeth since kindergarten and preschool.  Here is my big 6 year old, soon to be 7 year old in one month and she lost her first tooth!  It is her right bottom middle tooth!  After she pulled it out she rushed to her room to find the little Tooth Fairy pillow that we made the other day (we made it on March 19th, the day she came home from school saying her tooth hurt.  I looked at her tooth and noticed that it was wiggly.)  I made Dalia come downstairs so that i could take her picture.  But she was so excited to go back to bed so that she could put her tooth under her pillow and get to sleep so that she would see what she might get tomorrow from the tooth fairy.  I asked her what she thought she might get.  She said, "Well, Alicia (friend at school) got 2 quarters!"   Cool!!

Morning of April 1, 2013:  Dalia woke me up early with a huge smile on her face and showed me that she got "2 Quarters" from the tooth fairy!!!

Blue Fish - March 2013

Here is a clip from Dalia's play!! Look for the cute bright Blue Fish, that's Dalia!!

 Video: Dalia as a "Blue Fish" in Under the Sea. March 2013

Snow & a Blue Fish!! - March 22, 2013

Dalia's Big day!! - March 22, 2013

Today is the first performance of the play that Dalia is going to be in, "The Little Mermaid, Jr."
We woke up to SNOW, and a lot of it with Huge flakes still coming down.  I was worried.  I checked the school website and school was still on!  Oh good!  Dalia was to go to school early today to prepare for their first performance for the Elementary school kids about 9:30am.  I signed up to go early before each show to help out with hair & make up!  Friday morning Dalia & I left our house covered in snow.
 

Brian took the day off so that I would be able to help out with the play.  While Dalia & I prepared for her first performance, Rock slept in and Brian & Tesila went out and played in the Snow!!  They built a huge snowman!  After I was done helping with make-up I decided to stay for the school performance!  It was so so fun to watch Dalia up on stage.  For being an elementary school play i was really impressed with the quality of the play.  The students were awesome!  The costumes were great, the set was great!  The singing and show were great!!  I was excited to come back that evening to see it again.

Back at home Rock had woken up so Brian took Rock & Tes both back outside to play where the sun had come out and the snow was now melting.  I went to the store and bought some blue flowers and some fish candy to give to our little fish after her performance tonight!  After Dalia got home from school she was excited to play outside in what was left of the snow.  The snowman's head had fallen off so Dalia fixed that first thing.  Then we had a slushy family snowball fight!

Later that evening, Dalia & I headed back to the school to prepare for the first evening performance that was just for families.  Each family got 4 tickets to the friday night show.  However, we did not want to take Rock because I knew he wouldn't just sit and watch.  So our friends the L's watched Rock.  Brian, Tes, & I went to the show to see Dalia and we brought a long our friend April and the girls babysitter since we had an extra ticket!  It was so so so so fun to see Dalia perform her part!  She was ALL SMILES the entire time on stage!!  She sung & danced great!  She even waved to us a few times.  Later i asked her about it and she told me how it was sneaky and that nobody could tell.   After the show she got her blue flowers! and she enjoyed seeing her friends that were there.
Dalia's favorite friend in the play was "Flounder"  her real name is Clara!  During play practices Dalia would tell me about her best friend at the play and i would ask who it was.  Dalia would say, "Flounder of course"! Clara is a 5th grader and is so sweet to Dalia.  Dalia always has to give Clara a hug before I pick her up after each play practice.  And Tesila wore an Ariel dress complete with our Ariel wig!  Everyone at the play thought she was so cute!  Tes really wanted to get a picture with the other "Ariel" from the play!  


Saturday, there were two more performances.  The first Saurday performance, Brian & Tes went (I took Rock home for a nap, it was so so hard for me to not be there, silly mom!).  Eric & Emily were there.  So were a lot of our friends, Alyica & Preston, Amy & kids, Melissa & kids, Serena & kids, and some of Dalia's school friends were there.  They let the kids sit on the floor in the front.  All the kids that were on the floor in the front were Dalia's friends.  Cool, huh?


The evening performance on Saturday our neighbors Ken, Moe, Jen, & Aiden went to see Dalia!  We are so glad to have so many friends come out and support Dalia!!  Thank you Thank you!!

After the last performance we let Dalia choose where she wanted to go out to eat!  She chose Olive Garden.    We had fun celebrating out little actress.

Side note:  As we were waiting for Dalia to change out of her costume Saturday night we waited and waited and waited for her.  Most of the other students had left and we were still waiting.  Eventually I went to find her.  As i walked down the quite school hallways i heard singing!  It was Dalia singing.  I followed the singing and found Dalia in the bathroom stall singing her little heart out as she changed.  Sweet girl!  She is ALWAYS singing!!

Video: Dalia singing - March 2013

March 2013 Stuff

Things we did in March 2013

We went to Howarth Beach on a cloudy afternoon!!
Dalia & Tes LOVED climbing & posing on the big rocks and the driftwood!
Brian enjoyed wading in the water!
Rockwell LOVED throwing rocks in the water, big & small!
Britni enjoyed being at the beach and watching her family play!

We celebrated Pi day by eating Pie of course!  Tes helped me make our dinner Chicken Pot Pie & our dessert Banana Cream Pie!  Did you look closely at our group picture?  Yes, I know the filling of our pie fell out during our picture.  We hurried and stuck it back in the pie and ate it.  Opps, I guess i tilted the pie too much, oh well!  Happy Pi Day!!
Tesila made a Leprechaun Trap at Preschool!  There was slime inside in hopes that the Leprechaun would fall through the green tissue paper and get stuck in the slime.  However, by St. Patrick's day the slime had hardened so the Leprechaun did not stick in the slime, he just walked right off and out of the box.
Dalia's teacher said to make a Leprechaun trap at home and bring it to school.  Dalia had a great idea to make a house that the Leprechaun would get stuck in.  So Dalia & her dad made this little house.  The door could be pushed open to enter, but could not be pulled open to get out, there was no door knobs, making the Leprechaun get trapped!  She hoped to lure one in with her sign that said, "Leprechaun's Welcome  FREE GOLD!!"  Inside the house she said it needed a bed with a comfy pillow and blanket and a couch.  Dad made the furniture and mom helped Dalia to decorate the furniture and the house.  Brian put his iphone in the house for a TV & Tes set her little barbie doll in the house to try it out.  (Dalia did not take the iphone tv to school).  Dalia loved her house!!  However, the Leprechaun got away, i don't know how, but it left behind green jelly beans.  She seemed pleased with that!
 

Tesila was asked to give a talk in Primary!  Which at first she said No!  Whenever they ask her to give a prayer she says in the quietest voice, "No Thank you" with her head bowed down to the floor.  And the first time they asked her to give a talk she did not want to do it, but i made her.  I had to drag her up to the front and she didn't say a thing, so i said her talk.  This time Tes said she couldn't give a talk because she didn't say the prayer.  I told her she could still give one and we could make it really short.  I asked her what she wanted to give her talk on and she said when Jesus comes out of the tomb.  Tesila's talk:  "We celebrate Easter because Jesus was Resurrected.  In the name of Jesus Christ amen."

Perfect right!?  She would hold up a picture of Jesus coming out of the tomb & say her talk.  We would practice every day.  She even told me, "Mom, you don't need to come up with me when i say my talk.  I can do it all by myself."  However, when we walked in the primary room she froze and she didn't even want to sit up front to wait for her talk.  So i sat with her.  When it was her time to give her talk she didn't want to go up to the microphone.  I walked her to the microphone where she bowed her head to the floor and said nothing.  She wouldn't even hold up the picture.  I whispered in her ear, but still she said nothing.  So i quickly said her talk and we sat down.  I was so sad for her, because she had practiced so well at home.  But i think she made huge progress just being willing to giver her talk at home and being excited for it.  After church she gave her talk to me one last time and i made a video of it.  It is so cute to hear her cut little voice and watch her facial expressions!  I love that little Tesila Rose!

We have had a few sunny days to play outside.  We even had snack outside one day.  But the kids made sure to sit in the sun and not the shade.  We also taught the girls how to play twister!  And just about everyday after school you will find Dalia practicing for her Little Mermaid play.  She not only practices her lines and songs, but everyones lines and songs.  She will read and sing through the entire play book!  She is living and breathing this entire play experience!  It is awesome to watch.  I am glad she is loving every minute of it!!  The month of March she got to play practice 3 times a week sometimes 4.

St. Patrick's Day - March 17, 2013

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2013!!

I love the color green!  That is why I like St. Patrick's Day!  It might be my favorite holiday!  I love to wear green and eat green food! (even if it is dyed with green food coloring)  This year i even have Green pants!  But I didn't wear them to church, i should have!  For Breakfast we eat Lucky Charms with green milk and my kids get St. Patrick's day socks & gold chocolate coins!  Brian got new shoes!  It's like socks.  However, the girls were concerned because he didn't get any St. Patrick's Day socks.  We had our traditional green meal.  This year we had Green Salad with only Green vegetables in it.  We of course had Green Jello and Green Kool-Aid.  We had Green grapes & apples, Green cookies & Green cake balls, and Green pistachio pudding.  However, our rolls were not green, that is why they are covered under a white cloth, maybe next year.  Below is our time lapse dinner.  Happy Green Day!

Video: Our annual St. Patrick's Day Green dinner! - March 2013

Here is our dinner again from a different angle using the GoPro. Everything is cooler with the GoPro!
Video: Our Green Dinner with the GoPro - March 2013

Callie & girls came to visit!! - March 5, 2013

Callie & her girls Raylie & Chloe came to visit us for a week!  (February 26th - March 6th)

(Rayson had to go to Texas for 2 weeks for work so they decided to come visit us in Washington!!)

Tesila, Dalia, Rock, Britni, Chloe, Callie, & Raylie

They came at the perfect time because they were here for Tesila's 5th Birthday celebration!
While they were here we mostly did our normal day things around Lake Stevens.  We had our last day of Preschool at our house, I helped out in Dalia's class at school, Callie was able to watch Tes & Rock for me!  The girls & I had our dentist appointments, and Callie was able to watch Rock, Tesila's dance class, Dalia had play practice.  We also, played in the backyard when the sun came out.  We played a lot inside the house upstairs & downstairs!  The kids had fun standing on chairs looking out the front door window watching Brian change the oil on the Pilot.  Dalia & Tes liked having a real life doll baby to get toys out for.  Callie, Chloe, Tes, & I went shopping & out to lunch!  While Brian stayed at home with Dalia, Raylie, & Rock and built this huge knex track that would carry toy balls up so that they could race down and back up again.  

We had a Tea Party!!!  The girls had fun getting all dressed up!  Rock even enjoyed sitting down to play!  The girls also dance all around the house!  Chloe is the best baby ever!!  She is just so happy!  She will just play on the ground with her toys with no complaints, or she will sit in the high chair eating graham crackers!  The only time she cried is when she was ready to go to sleep.  Sweetest baby ever!  Raylie was fun to have around.  I enjoyed hearing her little voice as she talks a lot!  She should she is almost 3!  I am just not used to it, since i don't see her that often.  Raylie is also a good big sister!  She loves to play with Chloe & watch out for her, and take toys from her (but that is what big sisters do!)

When Dalia & Tes were at school Callie & I took the 3 little kids to the park and on a walk!  It was fun to see Raylie & Rock play together without any big girls involved.  Back at home we picked up Tes from school & she wanted her and Raylie to have a picnic outside. 

Monday afternoon, March 4th G&G Ha. had a layover in Seattle on their way back home from their trip to Georgia so they stopped in to visit with us for a couple of hours.  Grandma was excited to see Tes in the Rainbow dress that she made for her!  When they arrived Rock was sleeping.  When he woke up from his nap i brought him downstairs and showed him that G&G were here.  His jaw dropped as he noticed Grandpa sitting in the living room.  He ran right over and sat on Grandpa's lap for quite sometime.  He was so so excited to see grandpa!  Then Grandpa sat on the ground and played blocks with Rock.  G&G walked and picked up Dalia from play practice and then they left to go over and visit with Eric & Emily. 
Tes had fun being the big kid as she played in the backyard with Raylie & Rock.  She kept catching them at the bottom of the slide.  And Tes would go and make silly faces at Chloe as Chloe sat inside in the highchair eating graham crackers and watching the kids play.

It was so fun having Callie & her girls here!  We didn't do anything really out of the ordinary, except Tesila's birthday.  But it was fun to just have them around.  Callie & I of course talked and talked and talked!  I am really lucky to have her as my sister and that she loves me.  I don't feel like i deserve her love.  She is always so happy and optimistic.  Callie is so kind and patient, she is the best mom to her little girls!  Thank you Thank you Rayson for letting Callie, Raylie, & Chloe come to visit!  I loved having them here! 

Tesila is FIVE!! - February 29, 2013

My Tesila does not have a birthday this year!  There is no February 29th in the year 2013.
For the past month Tes has been telling people, "It is my skipped birthday this year.  My dad is going to sing, 'Happy it's not my birthday' and he isn't going to give me presents."  But Tes and i began planning for her family birthday party anyways!!  She requested an Orange & Pink Butterfly Birthday!!  She asked for a Rainbow dress, a pink crown, and a brush.  Then about a week before her birthday she decided that she wanted a 'surprise' birthday party (and this was even before she knew i was getting a surprise birthday party.  I think she saw a TV show where someone had a surprise birthday).  She was so funny, because if i asked her how she wanted something for her birthday or if she wanted to help me make her cake she would say, "Mom, i'm not having a birthday, it's my skipped birthday!"  But she only meant that because she wanted it to be a surprise.  So i would tell her to forget about anything i talked about and tell her that we were not having a party for Tes.  So whenever we did something for Tes for her birthday i would start it out by saying, "Surprise!!"  She seemed to think it was cool.

For Tes having a skipped birthday this year she sure had a lot of celebrations!!
First off Aunt Callie, Raylie, & Chloe flew in on Tues. Feb. 26th to visit for a week!!  That night Aunt Callie helped the girls make Pink & Orange Butterfly sugar cookies for Tes to take to preschool the next morning (I went to Young Women's and helped them decorate cakes).
Wed. February 27th -  Tesila of course had to get a birthday picture with her teacher Miss Britni (that's me!!)  As she was dressed in her new orange shirt in her pink and orange outfit!!  Oh and the night before Brian put up pink & orange crate paper and balloons!!  Surprise!!  We sang to Tes at preschool and passed out her cookies!  Then i explained to the kids that Tes really doesn't get a birthday this year, and they just seemed confused. 

For Tesila's birthday breakfast she requested a "baby giraffe pancake made by dad!"  So on Thursday, February 28th, she came downstairs to more streamers & balloons and her baby giraffe pancake from dad.  After lunch Aunt Callie, Raylie, Rock, Chloe, and I took her to Jack-in-the-Box for an Oreo Milkshake.  That afternoon Tes had dance class and she asked if i could go with her, just Tes & Mom!  Since Callie was here it worked out!  I was able to leave Rock with Callie & had a friend pick up Dalia from play practice and i went to Dance class with Tes and watched her for an hour without any distractions!  She kept looking over at me to make sure i was looking at her!  She is adorable to watch!  And yes she wore her Pink crown to class and her dance teacher Miss Sara sang her happy birthday!  Back at home we had her favorite dinner cheese tortellini with red sauce for dinner.  Then we stuck 5 candles in a butterfly sugar cookie and sang happy birthday!  Well i'm sure Brian sang, happy it's not Tesila's birthday.  We let her open one present.  Which was from my dad (he sent some money and i picked out an orange and pink dress that would match her party).  She was so excited and said, "He knew just what i wanted!!"  Because she had seen it at Target before and said how she wanted it because it was orange & pink, so actually Tes picked it out she just didn't know it!!

Friday, March 1st we played at home that morning.  The cousins played while I made a butterfly cake!  A few weeks ago Tesila & I designed her cake.  I looked at some pictures online and i drew out a some butterflies and Tes told me which things she liked about different butterflies and that became the final drawing.  She colored it (I changed the colors of the frosting a bit).  She also requested an all fondant cake, but i opted for the first layer to be just orange frosting, since i thought that would be too had to do.  The wings and the body were made of fondant and as it turned out Tes only ate the fondant not the cake.  I think her cake turned out really cute.  It was also pink & orange in the center and we had pink & orange sherbet with it!  That night Tes got to choose where we went out to dinner.  At first she wanted to go to Olive Garden, but I told her they don't sing to you on your birthday there, so she choose Red Robin as long as she could have noodles there, which she did, she got Macaroni & Cheese.  Then the staff came and sang to her and brought her some ice cream!!
At her family party was: her dad & mom, Dalia, Rock, Aunt Callie, Raylie, Chloe, Uncle Eric, & Aunt Emily!

After Red Robin we all went back to our house for cake & presents!  First we sang happy birthday to Tes & Brian and Eric sang it's not your birthday terribly.  She blew out her candles and we ate cake (except Tes ate fondant!)  Then it was present time!  The 3 little girls were so excited.  We had to keep telling Dalia & Raylie that the presents were for Tes to open.  Gifts: Pink crown, new Brush!!, golden nail polish, stick on earrings, pink & orange pony, string & alphabets beads for making jewlery, princess notebook & paper, sparkly purse with chapstick!, headbands, make-a-face sticker book, butterfly wings, red crown, and...she got a Rainbow dress from G&G Ha. that Grandma Ha made while she was here a few weeks ago.  Tesila LOVED it!  She put the dress on spun around!  and Dalia, Tes, & Raylie danced and danced!!
It was so fun to celebrate Tes being 5!!  (even though she thinks she is still 4 since she had a skipped birthday).  Also, i wanted to note that Tes was very specific that she wanted crate paper hung between the living room and kitchen like a curtain just how Grandma Carolyn had hung up blue crate paper when Rock was born.

February 2013 Videos

Here are some videos from February 2013. Below are videos of Britni & Tesila's Birthdays!!

Video: Tesila dancing in the kitchen! - Feb. 2013 Video: Dalia as a Narrator in her first grade class production of "Tacky the Penguin." - Feb. 2013 Video: Rock playing Cars - Feb. 2013 Video: Rock got into mom's mascara and put it all over his face & head. He was so proud of himself. - Feb. 2013 Video: Britni hitting the Pinata at her 30th birthday party! - Feb. 2013 Video: Happy 30th Birthday to Britni! - Feb. 2013 Video: Surprise Birthday Breakfast for Tesila!! She got just what she requested, a surprise! and a baby giraffe pancake made by her dad! - Feb. 2013 Video: Tes is 5!! We celebrated on Feb. 28th with a Sugar Cookie & one present! - Feb. 2013 Video: Tes opens her birthday present from Papa! - Feb. 2013 Video: Tes opens her present from G&G Ha. - Feb. 2013 Video: Tesila's 5th Birthday cake! Orange & Pink Butterfly!! Happy Birthday to Tes! - Feb. 2013 (She doesn't like her daddy & Uncle Eric's singing, can you tell?!?) Video: Tesila spins in her new Rainbow Dress made by Grandma Dixie!! - Feb. 2013

Britni's Birthday! - Feb. 24, 2013

Happy Birthday to Me!

This year i turned the big 3-0!  Since my birthday was on a Sunday this year, Brian said he wanted to take me out on Saturday.  However, our Saturday was pretty busy.  I had a baby shower (which got cancelled last minute) to attend in the morning, Tes had a birthday party in the afternoon, and their was an Elders Quorum activity in the evening (we never go to elders quorum activities, but Brian said he wanted to go, weird?!)  Well we were busy.  Brian decided to take me out to lunch while Tes was at her birthday party.  And he got my friend Lana to watch Dalia & Rock.  So out to lunch we went!

We drove in to Everett to eat at "Red Rock Subs!"  So good!!  We still had one hour left until we had to pick up Tes from her birthday party so we started driving around.  We passed the old cemetery in Everett and Brian suggested that we go there.  I said, Yes!  I find the old cemetery's fascinating with the old head stones and big trees!  This cemetery had moss covered everywhere, on the little sidewalks, the trees and head stones.  It was very cool!  We even found a tomb!  Yes, a huge pyramid tomb!  You can see it from the road, but we had never seen it before.  It is "Rucker's Tomb" one of the guys who helped found Everett.  Brian of course climbed to the top.  After that we had to go and pick up my Dairy Queen Ice Cream cake (since we couldn't get it tomorrow on Sunday).  When we were out Lana "called" (Brian faked that she had called him) to tell him that she had to run some errands and would just drop our kids off at our house.  Weird?!  So we headed back to pick up Tes from her friends party and go home.

Britni at the Everett Cemetery
Yes, Brian took me to a Cemetery for my 30th birthday, what was he telling me?

Brian at "Rucker's Tomb"

Back at home as i walked in the door, my living room was decorated with pink and black streamers and balloons! (and their were 30 hearts taped on the walls with 30 things that they liked about Britni)  and there was silence.  Um...then i heard a noise that sounded like my little Rock.  Then a whole bunch of my friends and their kids said Surprise and began appearing from all places from my home.  So fun!!  Kids popped out from behind the couch!  Friends came out from the kitchen and from the back hallway!  So so fun!!  I have the best friends and husband!!

They then put 30 candles in my ice cream cake and sang happy birthday to me!  After we ate cake, the kids played (or colored coloring pages of me that Bri made) while the adults filled out a questioner with 30 things about Britni.  (Bri is so fun!)  Next was a Pinata!!  Cool, huh!  It was shaped like a sombrero, which my girls just loved!  We let all the kids have a turn hitting, from youngest to oldest, and then I got to finish the job.  However, they made me put my forehead on the bat on and spin around 30 times.  I got dizzy after about 7 spins and had to sit down because I was so dizzy.  After the pinata we ordered some pizza, let the kids play some more and us adults had a Tetris competition.  I don't remember, was it Brian or Bri who won?  I didn't win.  But afterward they all watched me play Doctor Mario and made me feel pretty special because I won every time.  That is the only video game i am any good at, thanks to my Mom.  She passed on her mad skills for killing viruses!

Friends at my Party: Amy and her kids, Tessa & Sawyer, Lana and her kids, Natalie, Christian, Cameron, & Payton; Bri, Mat, Olivia, & Hudson; Jamie, Reuben, Isaac, Bella, & Ava!

A BIG thank you to Brian & Bri for putting together such a fun party to celebrate me!!  They are the best!!

On Sunday we celebrated as our family.  At church i had the young women sing to me, the young women birthday song ("You've had a lot of those good old days, Happy Birthday to you!  You've sure grown out of your baby ways, Happy Birthday to you!  It's your birthday wish you many more, health and wealth and friends by the score.  So cut the cake and lets eat some more, Happy Birthday to You!!")
Then at home Tes was so excited for me to open up the present she got me, she wrapped it all by herself!  She got me my little smurf stuffed animal that i have had since i was a little girl.  The O. family got me M&M's with my name on them!!  How awesome is that?!  The M. family got me some pretty Calla Lily's.  Jami got me an awesome "30 Rocks" button to wear!  I also got some new clothes with the money i got from my dad & gma A.  The S. family made me a chocolate fudge cake, that looked like a huge donut!  Brian got me....a trip with my sisters to Victoria, BC!!  (coming this April 2013)  and then my 4 favorite people sang me Happy Birthday a couple of times!! and we took turns blowing out the candles!  Rock was so excited when we would sing!  I am so lucky and so blessed!  

I love this picture of Tes singing to me!  And Rock's excited face as he is about to try blowing out the candles!


Britni's 20th Birthday Party!  February 24, 2003
(Mat, Ashleigh, Stacey, Aaron, Brian, Britni, Jenna, Becky, Eric, Wells, & Cindy)
That is me in the white shirt sitting on Brian's knee, we were just friends at the time.  We had no idea that in 10 years he would be throwing me a birthday party as his wife!  So fun!!  (Also the following year, February 24, 2004, Brian threw me a 21st surprise birthday party! as his girlfriend!)  Brian is pretty cool. 

It's February! 2013

Here are a few things that have been going on in our home this February!

Mom & Tes with the Valentine Tes made for mom at preschool.  We are wearing Pink & Purple because we learned about the letter "P" today at preschool and had our Valentine Party!!

 Tes set up a "Hair Do Store" in her room!  She is doing my hair!

P.S. Tes wants to be a "Hair Do" girl when she grows up!

 You will rarely see Rock without a car in each hand saying, "vroom" and making car sounds!

He loves to drive his cars on the counters and table, but mostly on the walls!!

 Me and my 3 kids before church!!

 Tes is wearing my Baptism dress & Dalia is wearing my Easter dress from when i was little.  My Grandma C. made both of them for me.  I am glad that my girls enjoy wearing them!!

 My little Rock all snuggled up on the couch with his blanket!  He laid there still for quite sometime.

 For Tesi's preschool we went on a field trip to a Bakery!  Here are 6 of the 9 kids in her class. It was a quick field trip.  We sang out "5 senses" song for the moms, had a quick little tour and cookie eating at the end.  Tes was disappointed because they didn't get to bake anything.

 Rock found a "boat" in our backyard.  He kept saying, "boat" over and over!!

 Tesila LOVES to chew gum!  It took her awhile to not swallow the gum, but since she has mastered not swallowing it she loves to chew it!  Recently she has asked me how to blow bubbles!  So today I tried teaching her how to blow bubbles with her bubble gum.  So far she didn't blow any bubbles today, but i had fun just being with Tes and sticking our tongues out at ourselves in the mirror.  We will keep practicing!

 My little 4 year old at dance class!  This is her last dance class as a 4 year old!  Next week is her "skipped" birthday!!  She tells everyone that will listen, "This year it is my skipped birthday.  My dad isn't going to get me a present and he is going to sing, 'happy it's not my birthday' instead of the real birthday."  We for sure will be celebrating our Tes next week! 

 Tesi's balancing pose!  It is my favorite thing that she does in dance class.  She is so graceful!  Her pose reminds me of the Dave Matthews Band dancer symbol!

I notice that there are not a lot of pictures of Dalia in this post and none of Brian.   But they are around too!   I guess i take most of my pictures in the day when she is at school and he is at work.  Dalia has also been busy with play practice 3 times a week for her elementary school play of 'The Little Mermaid.'  I am so very excited to see her perform at the end of March!!  Brian has worked with Eric on their racing seat a few times and played with the kids a ton.  The kids think their dad is way cool!  (and they are right!!)

We have been busy this February and we still have many great things planned for the last 7 days of this month!  Family swim night!  My Birthday!!!  2 more days of teaching Preschool!  Callie, Raylie, & Chloe come to visit!!  and finally Tesila's birthday!!  It will be a busy week but so fun!!

Happy February!

February 2013

Things that happened in February 2013

Dalia's first grade class put on a play for their parents!  It was only about 10 mins. long on a friday afternoon.  They performed the play, "Tacky the Penguin."  The kids made different 'hats' as their costumes.  There were Narrators, Penguins, & Hunters.  Dalia was Narrator #4.  She did a great job!!  I think she was the best, and not just because I am her mom.  When it was her turn she took a step forward, and read her lines loud and clear for all to hear!  Her only problem was that she needed to go to the bathroom and so she kept wiggling.  Brian said he thought she was just nervous, but i could tell that it was her potty dance, i guess that's because i'm her mom!  I am glad that we were all able to make it to her show!

Tesila can say the Pledge of Allegiance all by herself, thanks to Preschool!  

I found some of my old dressed that my Grandma Cr. made for me when i was a little girl.  Dalia & Tes love to wear them.  Tes is wearing my white baptism dress that i wore when i was 8!  Dalia is wearing my Daisy Kingdom Easter dress from when i was little, I have a matching black dress for my doll too!  Callie had a blue one and Jami had a pink one!
For Preschool we went on a field trip to a Bakery to use our 5 Senses!

Rockwell LOVES everything about cars!!  You can usually find him with a car in each hand saying, "Vroom!"  He drives them everywhere!  But i think his favorite place to drive his cars is on the wall as he walks down the hallway.


Here are a few pictures from Preschool at our house!  The kids at carpet time on Tesila's birthday celebration!  The girls gluing!  The Pirates & Princesses on "P" day where letter P was missing and we had to go on a treasure hunt to find him.  We found him in a box full of Popcorn and letter "P's"!!  And our Valentine boxes!!

When Tesila's dance teacher asks the kids to balance on one foot this is Tesila's pose everytime!!  I love it!  The kids were watching a movie with Brian and I walked in to find them all sitting on dad.  Who needs a couch when you have a Dad!!!
One day Rock was playing upstairs, I went to find him and he wasn't in his room, but in MY room, playing with my mascara!  He had drew all over his face, ears, and his HAIR!  That's right his light blond hair had a big black streak going down the middle like a skunk!  When i walked in my room he hurried and opened up the mascara and started combing his hair with it.  He seemed so very proud to show me what he had been doing!
Tesila loves to "do" hair!  She set up a Hair Do Store in her room and enjoying doing mine and Dalia's hair!  Brian even let her buzz his hair later that night, Dalia took a turn to, but i ended up finishing it.

2 year old Tesila singing!

Oh my goodness, i just found the cutest video of little 2 year old Tes singing back in Sept. 2010 and i had to share! Video:

Valentines - Feb. 14, 2013

Valentines 2013

Dalia & Tes each got to make Valentine boxes to take to school.  They are so lucky to have such a cool dad.  Brian helped them make their boxes.  He helped Dalia make an airplane.  Okay, maybe Brian made it and Dalia colored it.  But Dalia was SO excited about her plane!  She kept saying how all the boys were going to love it.  She also did not want to paint it pink and red and put hearts on it.  She colored on it with marker and made lightening bolts and some face thing that i think had blood on it.  She called her plane "Hehawk Wing" and wrote that on the tail of the plane.  Brian made a Rocket for Tes.  Tes worked hard to paint her rocket!  She loved her rocket!  They both enjoyed picking out what Valentine card would go to each one of their friends.  They also enjoyed writing their friends names and their own names on the cards and attaching a piece of candy to their cards.  They had fun passing out their valentines at school and had fun looking through their valentines at home to see what they got!  The day before Valentines Day at Preschool we learned about Valentines Day, passed out Valentines to our class and made Valentines Cards for our moms!

I made Brian a Huge Pink Heart shaped crispy treat that i hid in is car for him to find on his way to work.  (Those orange things in the rice crispy are butterscotch chips.)  Dalia had play practice and Tes had dance class on Valentines day.  When we were all home we had a quick dinner of cheese tortellini (the girls favorite)!!  Then I picked up our babysitter April to watch the kids while Brian and I went out.  We were tagging along with Eric & Emily to Traxx Racing to go go-karting.  It was buy one get one free race night for Valentines!  Brian got me a Henry's Donut and we waited for our turn to race.  Eric came in first, Brian in second, Emily in third, and I came in fourth!  I also hadn't raced for awhile and I forgot what a blue flag meant.  Do you know what a blue flag means?  I know a yellow flag means slow down and a black flag means pull over you are in trouble, and the checkered flag means the race is over, but a blue flag??  But everytime i saw them waving the blue flag at me someone would bump me on the next corner and they would pass me and i would get slowed down.  Come to find out the blue flag means: "You are holding up traffic, let the kart behind you pass."  Opps, I am just too slow.  But it was fun racing!  and Fun doing something with Brian that he Loves!  After racing we went out to Dairy Queen for a Blizzard, which i LOVE!!  and i had a buy one get one free coupon!  It was a great Valentine date.  Thanks Eric & Emily for letting us come along!

Tes finally started CHEWING her gum and NOT swallowing it!!  Hooray!!  She has been asking me how you blow bubbles with her gum.  So i bought some bubble tape (they don't sale bubblicious in our area, sad!).  While Dalia was at school and Rock was napping Tes and i started chewing gum and i got out the mirror so she could see what she is doing.  So far no bubbles, but she is getting good at practicing.  She LOVES to chew gum and is always asking me for some gum.

One day my sweet Dalia dressed as a Boy for school, just for fun.  She picked out her spiderman shirt and jeans and made sure to wear her brown shoes, not her pink ones.  She also told me that i had to put all her hair in a ponytail, so that it looked like short hair like a boys.  She usually only wants me to do a little pony tail in her hair.  Before she left for school i took a picture of her and she made this serious non-smiling, "boy" face!  She is so funny!  When i picked her up from school she said that she fell in the mud at recess and got up and didn't even cry, she just looked at her hands and thought, "my hands are dirty."  She told me that's just what boys do.  

December 2012 Videos 1

Video: Rock opens a present. - Dec. 2012 Video: Rock playing with his new Train! - Dec. 2012 Video: Tes opens her Apple Peel-it - Dec. 2012 Video: Rock opens his Drill - Dec. 2012

G&G Ha. visit! - Feb. 10, 2013

G&G Ha. come for a visit!!
G&G were head back home to Alaska from their trip to Las Vegas for the concrete convention and we were lucky that they were able to come and spend the weekend with us!!  When they arrived I asked Dixie if she would like to make a Rainbow dress for Tesila for her birthday.  Since that is what Tes said that she wanted and I knew I didn't have the time to make one and if i did it would take me a while to do it.  Dixie is a fabulous seamstress so I knew that she could pull it off in a weekend.  Saturday morning Dixie and I headed to the fabric store.  We kept things hidden from Tes, but the girls knew that grandma was sewing and they wanted to sew.
So Grandma taught the girls how to sew!  She taught them how to make a dress for their dolls!  The girls and grandma had so much fun!  Dalia cut and sewed hers!  This was her first time sewing!  Tes tried, but i think grandma ended up sewing most if not all of Tesila's.  The girls were so proud of their dolls dresses!  Thank you Grandma!
 

Saturday night we had a big group dinner at Aunt Barb's new apartment off of Rucker in Everett.  Mark & Dixie, Eric & Emily, Barb, Flora & Kyle, Andrew, Ruth, and us.  And yes, i forgot my camera, how?  I don't do that.  We had dinner, played games, and talked!  It had been too long since we had been together.  Sunday night we went over to Eric & Emily's for dinner with Mark & Dixie.  Tes was so excited to go to Emily's house and play with Emily's little horses, that were Emily's when she was a little girl.  Dixie barely finished the dress Tuesday morning before they left.  It is perfect and I know Tes will love it.  Stay tuned for dress revel on her birthday!!

Our family and Grandma & Grandpa at Eric & Emily's house.

January 2013 Videos

Video: Dalia sledding down a big hill. - Jan. 2013 Video: Dalia practicing her song for the play tryouts. - Jan. 2013 Video: Rock playing cars. - Jan. 2013 Video: Rock helping dad hang a curtain rod. - Jan. 2013 Video: Tes at Dance class! - Jan. 2013 Video: Tes says the Pledge of Allegiance - Feb. 2013

Preschool - Feb. 6, 2013

Preschool Kids tracing their names!

Today we had preschool at our house!!  Tes was SO very excited!!  She helped me set up everything last night before she went to bed.  She was excited to set out all her friends tracing sheets and floor mats and had fun deciding where they all sat.  Tes also told me everything that i needed to do for preschool and how it was done.  She was very helpful.

Preschool went really well today!  We learned about the letter O, the number 11, and our sense of Smell!  It was fun to smell things.  I enjoyed watching the kids read books while they were waiting for everyone to move on to the next task.  It was neat to see how they all were excited to look at books!  

At preschool today only one preschooler got time out.  It was Tesila!  She began pouting and pouting and pouting some more.  So i asked her to sit on the stairs until she was ready to participate.  She ended up going to her room crying.  About 5 mins. later she came back down and joined us and told me that she just misses Dalia.  

However, it really all started when the number 11 tracing worksheets got passed out.  There was one that was printed in color, and that's the one Tesila got.  She did not want the colored one.  She wanted to color the little 11 pigs herself.  Then she was sad because she didn't get the purple marker that she wanted to use to trace with.  So she didn't do her worksheet.  All the kids were back at the carpet except for Tes.  Tes finally came to the carpet sulking with her head bend down and hair all in her face.  I had given all the kids a marshmallow for sitting criss cross applesauce and being ready.  When Tes was sitting i gave her a marshmallow, but apparently the marshmallow fell on the ground and that made Tes even more sad.  That is when she was so pouty i had her sit on the stairs and she went upstairs crying instead.  Oh Tes!

Other than that episode, Preschool was fun!  We are starting to get ready for our next Preschool day filled with Princesses & Pirates!  We will be learning about the letter P!!

P.S. Mom, Rock goes to a friends house to play while Preschool is going on.  There is no way i would be able to teach with him around.  That boy gets into everything!