Happy Birthday Hayden

This handsome boy turned 7 in December. How on earth has it been 7 years? He is getting so grown up.



His actual birthday was a little crazy and rushed. It was the day of Jerry's last final. It was also the same day as Rebecca's preschool Christmas program. After her program we came home and had a little family b-day party. He opened presents and we had some cake and ice cream.

He loved his awesome Lego Star Wars pen set from G'ma and G'pa Ewell.

A Lego set from the kids

And a Santa Claus is coming to town Wii game from us.
He also bought a Ninja Lego with $ from G'ma and G'pa Roylance.
Yes, this boy is a LEGO boy!!

I wasn't planning on doing a friend party for Hayden but he convinced me. It was a Star Wars party of course. All I can say is, thank heavens for creative people that post wonderful ideas on the internet. Once I found some ideas I was very excited about the party.

Sadly, winter sickness was floating around, so 3 kids weren't able to come because they were sick. We still had a great time with the friends that were there. As the kids got there they got their official "Jedi" clothing. (Just a tunic shirt and a belt) Then they had to go search for orbits. (Basically similar to an Easter egg hunt, but searching for hidden toys wrapped in tin foil)

Even Luke was a little Jedi - Little Luke Skywalker

Next they played pin the saber on Yoda. Here is my little brag.... I freehanded that poster of Yoda, thank you very much. The things you do for a 7 yr old b-day party.
Then the kids got their light sabers. (Pipe insulators wrapped in duck tape) They played a game where they had to keep the balloon in the air using only the saber. This was a big hit, and of course it turned into light saber fights. Another great reason to use foam pipe insulators..no tears or bruises.



We also played a couple rounds of "Jedi, may I" and "Jedi says" (Mother, may I and Simon Says.) Then presents and cake and ice cream.

A light saber cake.

And of course I need to share some things about Hayden at 7 years old. Hayden's life revolves around friends, Legos, video games, and Star Wars. So he is the absolute happiest when he is playing Lego Star Wars on the Xbox with his friends. People that think Hayden is quiet or shy haven't seen him play video games. Not a quiet or shy bone in his body when he's playing.
Hayden is our thinker. He is so very literal - which is good, but sometimes drives us crazy. :) He is a very obedient boy that is very eager to please.
He loves school, and his favorite parts of school are riding the bus and recess. He is reading really well, and loves to write stories. He makes several "books" each week that I love reading.
He has adjusted pretty well to the move, but still has times when he misses his friends in Las Vegas. At night when I go check on him before bed is when I get to talk with him the most. It's these times when he talks about Las Vegas. I love this time with him. It's been probably a harder adjustment for me, than him with him being in school all day. I feel like I hardly see my boy, and find myself getting jealous of his friends. Silly huh. He's in school till 4:00, then plays with friends, then it's dinner, and before I know it it's bedtime. I miss my little boy, but I am also so proud of him, and the good boy he is as he grows older.

About a month after I had Luke we were going to dinner with my brother and his family for my brother, John's birthday. Jerry was studying, so he wasn't able to be there and it was probably the first time I was getting out of the house with all the kids, and to top it off I was going to a restaurant, with 4 kids, 1 month after having a baby, without Jerry. YES, I was very nervous. But I really needed a night out to have fun. Anyway.. on with my story. As we got to the restaurant, before we got out of the van I started giving the kids the pep talk about how they need to help me and be so good in the restaurant. After they all agreed they'd be angels Hayden came up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder. He said, "Mom, I know why you cry all the time."
My eyes started watering because I thought I had hidden it a little better. Sad that he'd seen his emotional wreck of a mother. I quietly asked, "You do?"
"Yeah, It's really hard for you without dad around to help out with Luke. So I'm going to help you take care of Luke so it's not so hard. And I'll be really good."

Tell me you wouldn't be crying from that too. I would have lost it right then and there if we weren't going in to dinner. Even so - I still went in with watering eyes. That touched me so much because, well, that's my boy. What a sweet boy. I had been having a little bit of a hard time anyway (probably post baby hormones) of just feeling like I was losing my little boy - his friends were more important than me. Yes, I'm a jealous mom. But he'd noticed what a hard time I was having and loved me and wanted to help me. He tells me he loves me every day, but he isn't one to gush his "I love you's." He shows me in his own ways, sitting and talking to me about his day at night, before bed, reading stories that hes written for me, and making Lego creations for me.

I love that boy. I am so proud of him. He is an excellent older brother, and generally so patient with his sisters. He absolutely loves Luke too. He loves the fact that they share a room. (For at least a couple hours every night. Hopefully it will increase. haha)
Happy Birthday Hayden! We love you.

p.s. Don't worry - I've slowly regained my sanity, and I don't cry "all the time" anymore. :)

Early December odds and ends

This is how Jerry and Luke bond the best.

Rebecca has some major bloody nose issues. I was like that when I was young too. I'm sure her finger in her nose doesn't help the situation either. But one morning I was woken early by hysteric screaming from Rebecca. Jerry was already at school and Luke was sleeping next to me. I tried to calm her and tell her not to be so loud or she'd wake Luke up. (Anyone who wakes a sleeping Luke gets my wrath - not a happy thing.) I was getting upset with her for being so dramatic when I finally got a glimpse of her face from the light coming in from the hall. A very scary sight to wake up to. Blood was gushing out of her nose AND mouth. I know - probably too gross for me to include in a blog post, but I had to include for a few reasons. 1. To show this picture that amazes me. The bathroom really looked like a crime scene. There was blood everywhere. (Picture without backstory is pointless for this one) The pic is after the bleeding had stopped (which took a while) and I'd even cleaned her face a bit. It still doesn't do it justice with how bad it looked. Gross huh. 2. So everyone reading this can be amazed at what a supermom I am for keeping my calm and helping her without even waking Luke. HA!

This was one of the first snowfalls we had. It didn't stay long, but as soon as the girls saw snow they wanted to go out. As you can see, They obviously didn't really know how cold snow was. i.e. Sydney's dress up princess shoes and Rebecca's sandals without socks.
A girl in the ward arranged for a group tour of McCord's candy shop. We got to go with a bunch of other kids from the ward to see how they make candy canes. It was really fun, and the kids all loved it. Especially the fact that they got to make their own candy cane.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving weekend was a wonderful weekend, very deserving of its name. My sister Ruth Ann and her family came from New Jersey and another sister, Mary and her family, including her mother and father - in-law came from Kansas, and of course my brother John and Sara here in town all came to our house for Thanksgiving. It was wonderful. Mary's family stayed at John's house but we made sure to spend as much time all together as possible. Ruth Ann got here Wednesday evening. We stayed up talking and laughing till way too late. The next morning I got up early to put the turkey in the oven. We had 30 people here for Thanksgiving, and a very large turkey! I don't know how we fit everyone, but we did. It worked out great. I was just happy all day long, having my family here.

Jake and Ruth Ann and darling Spencer

Mary and David and their sweet Rebecca

John and Sara

The girls having so much fun with their cousins

I LOVE this picture. They were having so much fun together.

After our Thanksgiving Lunch the games began. What would be a game day without Risk??

It got so intense everyone ended up standing for the majority of the game.

Hayden had fun playing board games with cousins too.

It was nice enough outside the the kids went out and played for a while.

That night we stayed up late again talking and laughing. Then at almost midnight Ruth Ann and I decided to try out the Black Friday sales. Ruth Ann had never done the Black Friday shopping, and wanted to get a taste of it. We had so much fun at 1:00 am in Wal-mart.

Friday was a relatively warm day so we met up with everyone at a park that is about halfway between our and John's house. It was a great plan. The kids had fun getting out of the house, playing. We had a picnic and played. Then we went on a great walk on the walking trails.

My handsome nephews, John, Keaton, and Stephen

Isn't that an adorable little guy!!??

That night we were able to have a little siblings date night. We all went without our kids to Friday's. Ahh, I love these people. We had such a great night visiting. Then we all went to Target for a couple little last minute Black Friday sales.


Once again, stayed up too late talking Friday night - but so worth it. Early Saturday morning I got a call from a friend in our ward. Her water had just broken and she was having her baby. So we added 4 more kids to the mix. They were actually very good kids and just fit in with the crowd. We hung out at our house and played games, talked, and ate all day. That night we celebrated the 1st advent all together. The first advent (One of our family's German Christmas traditions) wasn't actually until Sunday but we wanted to celebrate while we were all together, before everyone went home on Sunday. We made gingerbread houses. Each family had their own house to decorate.

It was getting a little late when we started the houses, so David had gone back to John's with a couple of their kids and his mom and step dad. (That's why there are a few missing from the pics)

This was such a wonderful weekend. It was the perfect medicine. Spending time with family just helps me feel like myself again after all these huge changes. It was a much needed vacation weekend for everyone. I'm so glad I have wonderful sisters that are willing to drive 12 hours just to keep their little sister happy. And an amazing brother and sis-in-law that live here. It's been great getting to know John and Sara more and more and spend so much time with them. They, unfortunately, are moving to Wisconsin this summer.:( I will miss them - but it isn't here yet, so I'll enjoy the time I have with them!