8 really is great

i can't think of a more momentous weekend than the one we just had. reagan was baptized and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on saturday afternoon. thomas was able to baptize him and it was a really incredible moment for our family. the Spirit was strong, scarlett sang, "i am a child of God" and i laughed and cried at the wonderment of my special son that Lord has entrusted to me. 

and it was especially fun because reagan was WIRED before the baptism and then decided as soon as he and thomas were in the water that he actually wasn't convinced immersion was the way to go and he DIDN'T want his head to go under water. so, reagan's baptism was of the more acrobatic variety. but, it was a success. 

 my special 8 cookies. i think my luck ran out after reagan's birthday cupcake spectacular. these don't look very inspirational, but they tasted fantastic. thank you emily! 

afterward we went to dinner at reagan's choice. of course it was pizza and all the way downtown i tried to convince him that mexican food was actually the baptismal food of choice but he held to his guns. 

we really did have a good time though this picture suggests otherwise.

easter sunday was a delight. we were nearly on time for 10am church and it was only slightly awkward when i walked in late to the front of the chapel because i was actually one of the speakers. 

and this was as good as it was going to get. everyone but me in this family has a camera aversion. thomas didn't even make an appearance for easter morning pictures.

scarlett set up this cadbury egg vingette and then she was suddenly on board with easter photography. 

for the record, i purchased those flowers and glue gunned them on the headband and clip myself. big deal for easter. 

and in closing, i was lucky enough to be able to speak on easter sunday about the atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ and specifically the garden of gethsemane. preparing a talk for church is always such an uplifting a refreshing experience for me. i truly love it. 

one of my favorite quotes i used in my talk was from elder kent f. richards. 

"The Savior is not a silent observer. He Himself knows personally and infinitely the pain we face.

“He suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children.”5

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”6

Sometimes in the depth of pain, we are tempted to ask, “Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?”7 I testify the answer is yes, there is a physician. The Atonement of Jesus Christ covers all these conditions and purposes of mortality."

it was a great weekend indeed. 

reagan, the matter-of-fact magician

over the past year, reagan has been getting into harry potter and that whole alternative lifestyle. he got this great hogwart's wizard robe for his birthday from grandma sandy and he has been turning every stylus-shaped object into a magic wand. but when he's asked about his wizardry skills, he replies, "i'm not a wizard. i'm just a magic person." then he proceeds to look at you like you're stupid. he's really funny about his magic shows that he puts on. he can make anything smaller than a shoe disappear as long as you close your eyes. one of his best tricks involves 5 snakes and a blanket. that description doesn't do it true justice. it's 1 part magic, 2 parts subtraction and 5 parts imagination. he's also been making up his own spells. unfortuntaley, they don't all work that well. i've been borowing his "cleanius maximus" spell but i've had very limited results. 

8

reagan is 8! he had his birthday and birthday party on the same day and that doesn't just happen. 

it was a wonderous and glorious day that started out with 2 breakfasts. he's a cereal lover after my own heart and a mcdonald's breakfast lover like thomas. the best of both worlds. 

we had the most perfect weather, which i am pretty sure is the result of much prayer. outdoor parties in mid-march bring me to my knees like nothing else. 

i got a little crazy with the cupcakes. after a pep talk from a crafty friend, i decided that i could do something beyond ordering my regular costco cake. behold, my creations! go ahead and pinterestize this:

we did a repeat from last year. we stick with what works. 

an artistic shot of my budding tree and the bounce house showing the seamless blend of nature and industry. 

and yet some kids shunned the modern entertainment and stuck with the old stand bys. birthday party hipsters, if you will.

                            

  

"pig" from word world made an appearance. 

 blythe, the pine cone licker. poor third child. always filthy.

it was pretty fantastic. i love when people love reagan. there is no better feeling.  

and the gratuitous photo parade of my delightful children:

reagan was even lucky enough to experience his first 8 minute long time out on his birthday. one minute for every year of life. he kept turning off the blowers that keep the bounce houses up and running whilst scarlett was at the top of the slide. funny, but totally and completely dangerous. 

but all fun things must come to an end. bedtime was gloriously simple that night.

seriously, the 3rd child is adorably disgusting. she is a blender without a lid just waiting to be plugged in.

the end!

blythe's favorite things

things blythe likes:

rudolph

hers is a violent love.

measuring cups

climbing in her toy basket.

this may be her most favorite place. she goes from swinging the bathroom door and crawling over to the shower door and commences swinging that one around and before she rediscovers the bathroom door again.  minutes and minutes of fun.

her mother's daughter. staring at herself in the mirror. notice the movement of the garbage can.

i finally had to move it to a new permanent position inside of a closet. that swing top flap was just too tempting.

but the bathroom garbage can isn't the worst. this is her grossest favorite. the dog's dish. it's magic. 

it's one of the things that motivated her to crawl. 

our dog hates us so much. but, as a result of blythe's wandering, his dish has never been so clean and frequently refilled. 

and last but not least, scarlett's baby doll. blythe has declared it her all time favorite amen and amen. 

babies having babies.

ROAR!

friday fun!

friday fun! each friday we do fun stuff! normally we spend every day after school doing around 2 hours(or more! yipes!) of homework and other therapies with reagan plus ballet or choir or whatever other activity we have going on and it's really no fun. important and critical, but no fun. i call it "homeschool afternoons". but friday we try and compensate for it by only doing fun stuff. i LIVE for friday fun. it's the one day of the week when i don't feel like i have to make my children better citizens and we can just embrace being the regular schlubs that we are. normally, friday fun means homemade pizza(with my bread maker, which i am now AWESOME at making) and a movie night after the kids "clean" up their rooms. however, last friday was our town's daddy daughter dance for scarlett and so we made it reagan's choice of dinner and a movie with mama. 

scarlett was pretty pumped for this year's big daddy daughter dance after last year's debacle of having a silly mom who couldn't buy tickets in time. this year she had a silly mom who came through in the clutch and bought tickets with weeks to spare.

thomas's quote of the night, "it was the best night." 

meanwhile, the mama son date started with a trip to the classy mcdonald's drive through, by request. reagan wanted his picture taken, but not of his face. he wanted a picture of himself making movies on his leappad. so, there you go:

and our movie night. finding nemo is a modern classic. 

so, everyone needs friday fun. i can't wait til the next one. i can deal with monday-thursday homeschool afternoons when i know friday fun is around the corner.