happy birthday/not so happy party

How is the weather here in Meridian you ask? Beautiful, warm & sunny today. How was it Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday? Also warm and mostly sunny. How was it Friday you ask? Well, on Monday Friday was supposed to be upper 80s and all sun. Tuesday said Friday was going to be mid 80s and mostly sunny. Wednesday said Friday was going to be low 80s and partly cloudy. Thursday said Friday was going to be thunderstorms all day. Thursday was right.

Friday was Andi's birthday! She wanted a party at Settler's Park which is only a few blocks away and has an awesome sprayground for the kids. Friday started out very overcast and remained so all day. It was still rather warm, slightly humid, but there had been no sign of any precipitation all day until..... 30 minutes before the party. It started to sprinkle and was supposed to pass within 10 minutes or so. It did. So we went ahead and kept Andi's party at the park. It was definitely cooling off, but our kiddos were fearless and went ahead and jumped right into the water.

I had planned on putting up balloons and crepe paper and there was a banner up at one point, but the chance of rain and little bit of wind was not allowing for the decorating I was hoping for. I did manage to put up our treat table. We had Andi's requested pink cupcakes and then a few bowls of pink candies: strawberry whoppers, pink sour straws, all reds starbursts, and pink wafer cookies.

Even with our meager decorating we had about 3 or 4 moms come over and say how cute it looked.

Despite the cooling temperatures and lack of sun, the birthday girl still managed to have a good time.

We got all the kids fed... hot dogs per Andi's request, (even after her mother's attempts at persuading her to choose something else), chips, pasta salad ("noodles"), watermelon, drinks...

And then the hurricane force winds set in after only about thirty minutes at the park. Out of nowhere these huge gusts of winds came blowing in, blowing over plates, presents, and even glass bowls filled with the candy. I wish we had more action shots because everyone pretty much just laid themselves out over the tables to prevent everything from blowing away. We all got a good laugh.
We were done and decided to move the party back to our house. All the parents were good sports about loading and unloading their kids again. The guys all pitched in and loaded up all of our goods in no time. Luckily I had decorated a little bit that morning just for fun for Andi. It wasn't a lot, but the house wasn't totally barren. It was not as clean as I would have hoped, but it was going to have to do. And I was not prepared for an indoor party.

Kids being kids, they were happy playing with their balloons, dancing, and playing freeze dancing (as Alec pointed out was the name of it and then told me, "Oh, that's so easy." He cracks me up!) At one point all of the kids were sitting around the table just shoveling in all the pink candies. It was too funny. Andi didn't seem to notice or mind that her party had somewhat fallen apart.

Then we had cupcakes on top of that.
Andi & Zach are such good buds:

Bailey & Bostyn:Ty, Ben, Bostyn, Teage, Carter & Alec: (yes, they are mostly boys. There are no children Andi's age, let alone any girls! There's a baby boom Carter's age in this area, and then one year younger than Andi. Poor girl.)

Andi got tons of fun stuff: Strawberry Shortcake doll, movie, & coloring book, Cinderella polly pocket, a girl pirate costume, Tinkerbell pajamas, more play food, wallet with play money, doodle soap for the bath... She LOVES all of her gifts!

If, however, you ask her what her favorite part of her whole birthday was, she would say these:

"Lips."
Yes, mother knows best, and I knew she would love these "lips." Can you tell she likes them? Look at that glossy shine she has going on!

This morning Carter and Taytum slept about 20 minutes longer than Andi, so she and I got to take all of her presents out of their wrapping and play with them. She dressed up Cinderella a hundred times, brushed and smelled Strawberry Shortcake, and played in her pirate costume all day.

When Carter woke up and saw Andi in her pirate costume, he wanted to join the fun. I think his costume is a 2T, so we might need to upgrade to bigger one. "Show me your mean mug!" Thank you to everyone who came and party hopped! Sorry it was not exactly what we had planned. Andi had a great birthday though!

Remind me next year to skip the parties and just take the kids out to dinner or something. :)

And PS... the second the party was over, everything cleared up, there were blue skies and sunshine.

Happy Birthday Moo Moo

Andi, Anders, Ands, Andi-Moo, Moomoo, Moo, Mooms, Moomers....

Happy Birthday my dear Andi! Gosh you make life so amazing. You have so much spunk and sass and zest, I just don't know what to do to contain it at times. You make me laugh every day. I love that you love to be with me. Just the other night I was walking to a friends house to babysit and I could hear you crying through your window that you wanted to come with me. You so badly want to be a grown up girl, to wear make-up, to come to church meetings with me, to attend baby showers and girls nights with me. I think you would come to work with me if I would let you. At birthdays one usually thinks, "I can't believe my little one is already __." But not me, I can't believe you are only three. Not only do you want to be one of the grown up girls, but you speak really well and are tall so you just seem older to everyone. I love waking you up in the morning because you always have a smile on your face and something funny to say. You like to close your bedroom door at night when you go to bed. I think it makes you feel grown up. You still enjoy dresses/skirts most days of the week and like to make an outfit change midday, most days. You are a water baby. You love swimming and sprinklers and the water table. Even a few weeks ago when we went swimming you were shivering and your teeth were chattering but you wouldn't get out of the pool to warm up. You LOVE playing with your baby stuff and food and dress up. You and Carter pal around most of the time and love each other so much. You love making Taytum laugh and you love that she sleeps in your room with you. You ask for "mac'n'cheese" every day for lunch. You think you have the cutest booty around (which you do). You are one awesome dancer and can shake those hips like nobody's business. You are great at making faces; sad, happy, angry, fish lips... You don't love getting your hair done and usually request "just a clip." You love painting your nails. You like all food, especially fruit (and mac 'n' cheese). I can still squeeze a snuggle out of you, which is divine. You give the best hugs. We are so blessed to have you in our family. Heavenly Father must really love us!

Happy Birthday.

Grandpa Stewart

My Grandpa Stewart passed away a few weeks ago, and last weekend I was able to go down with my kids to Utah for the funeral. My parents and Alli drove through Boise so we managed to trick Alli into driving in our car. It was a funny and dangerous drive. We hit bad, bad rain and it was pelting our car so loud + the kids movie was turned on + the kids were in the back trying to talk to us + Alli and I were trying to carry on a conversation which consisted of us basically yelling at each other. We may have got the giggles, that on top of the horrific rain made it so I drove on the rumble strip for quite a ways, consequently making us laugh even harder. We were grateful to make it to our hotel in one piece.
The viewing and family prayer:

The funeral was a very nice service. All of the siblings spoke and each of the grandkids got up and shared a favorite memory of Grandpa. Then the grandkids sang "My Redeemer Lives."

This is the Cadillac we all have requested for our funerals. Grandpa Stewart went out in style.

We come from Scottish lineage, so there was a lone bagpiper there and it was beautiful. There is something about a bagpipe that just commands reverence. The second he started playing all of the kids quieted down and tuned in. After the graveside service the bagpiper piped in again and just slowly walked away into the cemetery. It was again, simply beautiful.

Here is the legacy my Grandpa and Grandma Stewart left behind. Three kids, 13 grandkids (plus spouses), and a whole slew of greatgrandkids... (19+ that I can think of off the top of my head)

The "Originals":

The kids in attendance. One of these things is not like the other.... me in my bright purple sweater. I guess I missed the memo that you wear black to a funeral. :)

My super amazing parents.

With lil sis Alli:

My cute kiddos had not a clue as to what was going on. I told them in very simple terms, but I caught them a few times at the graveside service dancing on graves and climbing over headstones. But for the most part they were gems. They got a little bit of a jump when they did the military solute (or whatever it's called when they fire off the guns). When we drove out of the cemetery they both blew kisses to Great Grandpa Stewart, and it made me a little teary.

The three Stewart kids... Frank, Aziele, Paul

We had a nice family luncheon after the funeral put on by my grandpa's ward. This little doll, Nora, is my cousin's little girl and she and Carter played prince and princess the entire luncheon. It was adorable. They are far enough removed for it to work, right?

After the funeral we had some of the afternoon left so we went to a little street fair they put on at the tabernacle lawn. There were a ton of booths, food, and a stage with live bands. Gramzee got the kids dancing while we waited for everyone to show up.

Andi & Alli:

When we first got to the street fair, Carter started saying he wanted "some of the hairy stuff." It didn't take long for me to realize that he wanted a cotton candy. It is kind of hairy come to think of it. "I thought I ordered a cotton candy, but got a small planet instead."

My cousin Jenny and I are the same age and we're both nurses. It was fun to catch up with her a bit.

Dinner at Firehouse is a must when in Logan and always a treat. They seriously have the best pizza I have ever ever ever had. Alli was a trooper and sat on a bench with both of my kids. She learned her lesson.

And who doesn't want to kiss those cheeks!!! Oooooh that girl is scrumptious! It was a really good trip and great to be there to support my dad and honor my grandpa. I was so glad I was able to be there. My mom rode to Boise with us and was a sport about tossing back treats and climbing back a time or two to retrieve dropped snacks. My kids struggled a little on the way home, but were mostly good sports about the down and back trip.

We're hoping the next Stewart family reunion is in the near future.

Summer?

On of my friends just had her baby a little over a week ago and we got to keep two of her three older boys for the day when she went into the hospital. We were lucky enough to have one of the warm weather days and so enjoyed our time out in the sprinklers. Michelle and her kiddos came over as well.

Tay also got her first taste of popsicle, which she might have liked.

This picture does not do her orangeness justice. We're still trying to get the orange out of her swimsuit. (with no luck, I might add.... any suggestions?)

The kids got a little movie time in and a round of Candyland too before their aunt came to pick them up for the night.

Ty, Alec, Carter, & Andi

And just a few days after that Carter was picked as Hampton's guest for their family pool party and we were all invited. It was a little windy, but that did not stop the kids from swimming away.

Please let summer be here to stay!