Halloween

It's annoying having kids with opinions on what they want to be every year, mostly because I can't force them to be Mary Poppins and Bert (I mean, really, that would have been adorable).

Ali wanted to be Elsa with literally every other child in north america.  I just can't argue with "ice power". She got an Elsa dress for her birthday, but for some reason she wouldn't consider using it, and it just seemed unfair for Mitchell to get a costume for no reason other than halloween and for Ali to use her *favorite* birthday present.  And also, she's 4.  So I feel like she shouldn't be concerned with these things yet, but she totally is.

…...I really don't understand it either.

And for what it's worth, the whole "life isn't fair" talk isn't something I'm super great at, and I'm a huge pushover, but mostly, Ali's found a way to request basically anything in the most adorable way while simultaneously phrasing things in a way that I can't even say "no" too. I don't know. There's a reason we ended up buying 2 complete dance outfits, but I can't remember that reason.

Dance Outfit #2. Not the favorite because the pink is lacking and it doesn't have a "beautifully twirly skirt" Why did we even buy it, you ask? NO IDEA

So Sam's Club- the child spots a tangled rapunzel dress- complete with a cheap wig. Why would you even consider another costume?

"I thought you wanted to be Elsa"

"Tangled is my favorite"

"I thought Frozen was your favorite"

"Frozen is my other favorite.  I LOVE TANGLED. I BE TANGLED! YAY!"

Oh for the love.  Fine.  One down, one to go.

Mitchell, on the other hand, is the most indecisive kid ever.

"What do you want to be for Halloween?"

"Harry Potter."

"….You don't know who Harry Potter is"

"YES I DO.  He's that kid with the glasses and the sword"

"Yeah, that's a wand, and you just proved my point"

"WE HAVE HARRY POTTER BOOKS MOM"

"Yeah, I know that.  *I* know who Harry Potter is. Who do you think he is?"

"Oh he's a kid with glasses and a cool sword or….wand? Yeah. But he does cool things right?"

"Fine, fine. I'll figure out a Harry Potter costume"

And that was the plan for a solid month. Then, this conversation happened

"I want to be something scary for Halloween"

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Um, does Harry Potter have a bad guy?"

What is happening? How is it possible to have an obsession with Harry Potter and know *literally* nothing about it?

"Yeah, Harry Potter has a bad guy. His name is Voldemort"

"Is Voldemort scary?"

"So scary"

"Can I be Voldemort for Halloween?"

"….can I cut off your nose and get you red contacts? How does a Voldemort costume even happen?"

And then again, a few days later, Mitchell spots a mummy window sticker

"I HAVE AN IDEA.  I WILL BE A MUMMY FOR HALLOWEEN"

"MAKE UP YOUR FREAKING MIND"

And then we went to Target and #batman.  No really, it happened just like that.

But then we took the batman costume home and it didn't come with a yellow belt.

"Mom.  Where is the yellow belt? No one will know I'm batman unless I have the yellow belt"

Mike: "He's right.  The yellow belt is essential"

Um.  Do you not think the bat mask and bat symbol will give it away that you're batman?

So I promised the kid I'd make him a yellow belt and then proceeded to promptly forget about it 2.5 seconds later.

Until the morning of Oct. 31.

"MOM. Where's that yellow belt you said you'd make me?"

Are you kidding? We're going to do this today?

Spoiler: Yes, yes we are.

Yeah, so it's like 45 mins until school starts and I'm frantically searching for yellow (non floral) fabric for this child who is at a near melt down because YOU CAN'T BE BATMAN WITHOUT A YELLOW BELT

Luckily I had some black and gold felt and mad skillz that make me capable of slapping together the most ridiculous looking belt ever, that did not match the rest of the costume, but did in fact make batman batman, so all was well in this 6 year old's life.

And then he was off to school, and Ali and I travelled all around town in her little dress sans wig, gathering the traditional donuts, and groceries, and getting stopped by virtually everyone because even though I've perfected my "don't talk to me" pregnant hormone face, Ali loves talking to strangers and giving them all kinds of personal information.  Super fun.

I sent Mike off by himself to trick or treat with the kids and made him promise he'd take them for a solid hour because Mike is usually done in 15 mins and I am pregnant and did not want to walk all over everywhere so he took pity on me.

I stayed home with Daisy the dog who has a barking fit of rage every time the neighbor steps outside (or a car drives by, or anyone comes anywhere near our driveway, or the neighbors driveway). And since the new neighbors are really "into" Halloween, they spent the good part of the day dressing their yard up in gravestones and spider webs, Daisy almost lost her voice, and by that point I didn't think that was the worst option.

And then Halloween- with the doorbells and the knocking and the neighbors flashing lights, I just put Daisy in Mitchell's room and let her bark her little heart out. And she did not lose her voice and I'm not even sure how that is even possible. It was out of control.

The kids came home and emptied their loot out and traded all their twislers for my candy.  Apparently, they both think it's the worst kind ever. So funny.  And then they took over the door duty, which I was so happy about. And then the trick or treating died down and I somehow ended up at TJmax with a friend buying frozen nonsense for my daughter, for christmas #tistheseason, which is stupid because I'm SO over frozen, but Ali loves it.  And I comply.

Mitchell came home one day talking non stop about Beethoven.  I thought it was funny and pretty cute so I gave him an old classical music CD.  That was a mistake.  It's been Beethoven's 5th on repeat  FOR DAYS. (Mitchell pretends to lead the orchestra, and Ali dances.  They also sing the tune with the words "Beethovens wig" - No idea. They think the song is actually called Beethoven's Wig.  The other one they like is Moonlight Sonata.  But apparently that's only for nighttime.  So we have Beethoven playing here constantly.)

Mitchell asked me "Can Uncle Thom play Beethoven?"

"I'm sure he can"

"Text him and ask him"

"Yep. He just texted back that he has some Beethoven sonata music but he can get Beethoven's 5th and play it"

"Awesome! I'm going to have him play it for me! And then maybe he can teach me! I can't believe he can play Beethoven! That is so cool! Uncle Thom is the best!"

"Um,  *I* can actually play Beethoven too"

"On the piano though?"

"No, but technically Beethoven's 5th is a symphony, so it was written for the violin and a bunch of other instruments before it was abridged into piano music"

"…...I only like it on the piano"

Oh great. Uncle Thom can be the cool one, playing Beethoven like all the cool kids, fiiiine

Meanwhile, Mike is convinced this is all some elaborate scheme by me to get him off the wrestling/football wagon and into "my court" LOL. I *wish* I would have thought of that earlier, but no, this is all on him. Plus what 6 year old listens to classical music beethoven constantly?

And Baby #3 is a little girl! We are over the moon excited and scared out of our minds. Another girl like Ali wandering around will be adorable but I guess my make up will disappear twice as fast.  Not sure where everyone is sleeping yet, or any idea what we'll call her, but Ali is so so excited to have a little baby sister.  She's decided she'll be Elsa next year for Halloween because she'll have a sister who can be Anna.  She doesn't forget, so this actually will probably happen. She kisses my belly every morning and night and periodically throughout the day. Pretty sure this babe will recognize Ali's voice before mine. Sisters are the best though,  and girl clothes are more fun to buy…..

More pink all around!

My Best Friend has a Birthday

Ali affectionally refers to me as her best friend (to the dismay of dad), and I thought I'd write it down somewhere since I know it'll be abruptly gone one day. Probably around the same time I ban short-shorts and midriff shirts- and that day will most likely be before she's out of elementary school since she already has a pretty strong opinion on her wardrobe.  Though I can deal with the current trends of must-wear-pink and must-wear-skirts and must-have-on-jewelry opinions.

Anyway, despite being the most emotional and dramatic person on the planet (I mean, that's a guess, but it seems likely) she's still really good at never getting in trouble.  Saying mean things to Mitchell under her breath and saying "No!" to Mike and I in the most hilarious, darling way ever, we just end up laughing usually because we're terrible parents.

I can barely handle it. I mean, she's been this way more or less her whole life, it's just shifting rather quickly to the right side of the mild-extreme scale.

So she turned 4, not 25 (just clarifying).  Her birthday list was extensive and well organized, giving people different answers (and the same answers for the same people every time. I was impressed).

From grammy she wanted make up with "lips" (this was a wise choice, as it was probably the only person who would have filled this request)

Including a pink purse?! Perfect.

From my inlaws she asked for pink bed sheets and a blowdryer.
She told Emma she wanted an Elsa dress (I was so relieved- those stupid things are hard to come by recently)

From Mitchell- a frozen game
And the one time I stupidly asked her after buying all her gifts, she wanted an Elsa castle with Elsa and Anna (uummmm you can ask santa for that one…..)

Her birthday fell on conference weekend, as it will often, and not wanting to set the expectation of skipping it, we decided to try and make conference fun for the littles.  Probably something that should have started years ago, but better late than never. To my surprise, it worked out pretty well.

I sent over 5 conference books I found on the internet over to FedEx to print.  I didn't check or care about the quantity of pages, and ordered 2 of each.  And then it was $15.  What the.  Since when do black and white copies cost $15?? I'll tell you.  It's when you order 180 pages. Yeah.  The kids are set for the next 2 conferences, actually.

And then we taped the first presidency/quorum of the 12 on the wall and put sticky notes all over their faces of things we learned about.  Ali just wrote "Ali" a bunch of times, but it was fun for the kids to match faces to the TV (and we drew our own pictures for the other speakers)

We had about 6 bowls out with words like "Family" and "Love" on each, and each filled with some sort of smallish candy.  Every time they heard a word they could eat a candy. Ali could never remember all the words (and she can't read) so when she heard any kind of word, she's jump up and get excited and Mitchell would bring her down to reality.  It was hilarious.  Ali: "SACRIFICE!" Mitchell:
"No, Ali, that says service" Ali: "CAN I HAVE A CANDY MOM? THEY SAID SACRIFICE"

I can't say no.  Probably not the best thing to do when you're having cake later, and cinnamon rolls for breakfast (the kids were on sugar high for days)

And the freaking cinnamon rolls.

"Ali, what do you want for your birthday breakfast? Eggs and muffins??"

"Yes."

(Mitchell): "No! Ali! Wait! Don't you want those big cinnamon rolls? With raisons?! LIKE CHRISTMAS"

"YESSSSS!! MOM. I want cinnamon rolls.  With raisons"

Curse.  Why is this happening to me?  So yeah, I was up till 3am making cinnamon rolls because #birthdays and because the day before her birthday was the busiest most complicated day ever.

After conference my mom and sisters and uncle thom (I don't know. Somehow "girls trips" include uncle thom every time. She specifically asked for him to be there) ventured out to the mall where she bravely got her ears pierced with pink diamond flower earrings. She didn't even really cry. Of course, when one fell out 3 days later and I had to shove a sterling silver stud into her ear, then drag her down to the mall to take out that earring, and replace it, she cried.  And then when it caught on something when Mitchell was jumping (I'm still not really sure) and the other side came out, and we (thankfully) found it and I shoved it in her ear again, she cried. And so now, when I clean her ears 3x day, she always asks "Are you going to take it out?" in near tears. NO! We're not taking these out till Christmas (that was later changed to valentines day, mostly because she thinks Christmas is tomorrow (most days) and freaks out about changing them - we don't have to! You can wear these flowers for the rest of your life!)

It's been super fun.

But she loves showing them off.  And she looks so big.  I seriously can't believe she's only 4.

At the mall, we got some candy from the candy store, Aunt Amy let her pick out the ugliest Elsa shirt ever (I'm super tired of frozen - can you tell?) and over to the toy store (of course) to find an Elsa barbie that was probably sold out because Elsa anything is always sold out. But she settled on a blonde barbie with a sparkly blue dress "she's pretending to be Elsa, right?" …. right.

And Mitchell, feeling left out, got a little lego set that was at least 3x more expensive than it would have been at Target, but whatever.

And we came home after priesthood and had a quick little party with a barbie cake (oh, yeah, and trying to bake and frost that thing in less than 3 hours, during conference, was not the brightest idea.  I basically ran out of cake and shoved various cake pieces around her waste, not having time to fix the fact that barbie's behind was abnormally huge. And Ali picked out this hot pink frosting that didn't look edible. The whole thing was a hot mess. The good news is there's always next year, it's apparently a new tradition to pick out a new barbie and make a new barbie cake every year. And with that, I wish sams club made barbie cakes.  Holy stressful).

This is how Mike cut the cake….

Same face as last year for the cake though. Ali was super pleased with the ugly barbie cake. All her dreams coming true just like that.

I found this electronic kitty that I knew she would love (and that, friends, is an understatement). This toy is my nemesis.  She named it "Alya" (not sure how to spell it, pronounced Uh-Lie-Uh).  The thing will not. stop. meowing.  Ever.  And she carries it around, denounced Daisy as her pet, and elevated this plastic piece of garbage to her personal pet status.  Whatever. (Mitchell: "SO DAISY IS MY PET? JUST MINE?" um, sure. What's happening.  Can you pay for her shots and haircut? Because it looks like she hasn't had either since 2008). I convinced Ali, opening Alya's belly up (that alone traumatized Ali) and turning the switch to "off" was "putting her to sleep" which I realize sounds like I kill the cat every night, but I didn't know how to explain it and there is no "sleep mode" so NO ONE can sleep because it meows more than a live cat.  Ali got used to that, realized she enjoys sleeping quietly, and now asks me to "put her cat to sleep" every night.  It's kind of funny.

That night, she asked me to put on her new pink bed sheets, which I did.  The pink sheets replaced the blue sheets she picked out 2 years ago.  And Ali climbed into bed and said, "Now, my room is perfect.  Right mom?"

Besides the fact that it's a disaster and you have a demonic cat now, yeah, it's perfect.

I had been telling her we should skip her birthday the whole week leading up to it.  "Don't grow up, Ali. Let's just skip your birthday.  You can turn 4 next year" And she'd laugh and say "No, mom!" And now she's telling everyone she's skipping her 5 birthday.  "We can skip my 5 birthday, mom.  I'll stop growing up"  I'm sure she'll change her mind when next October rolls around, but it's pretty funny. Mitchell's been concerned and has started praying that she turns 5 and has a birthday (to which Ali just says "no" during the prayer.)

I love these kids.

Happy Birthday best friend!  We love you!

How Ali and I spend our days

It's a little strange just the two of us together all day.  But we got used to it pretty quickly and have a lot of fun.  Ali is always entertaining and has a bright imagination.

Sometimes we do lunch at places "the boys" don't particularly like.

Or ice cream breaks.  Strawberry with sprinkles every time. 

She's started dance with her BFF Alyssa.  She *loves* it, talks about it daily, and even though it's the most expensive hobby ever, I love watching her get this excited about something.  And, I know I'm biased here, but she makes the cutest little ballerina ever.  (and thanks mom for those leg warmers!)

She loves fairies and asked one day if we could make a fairy house.  Adorable.  I'm not sure where she came up with this idea, and I'm not sure why fairy houses were not a part of my childhood (I mean, it seems likely that Amy and I would do something like this, but it never happened). But anyway, we pulled out my glue gun and went to work.

That weed tree is straight out of Ali's head.  It now resides safely under our playground and we periodically check it for signs of fairies. 

All this fun, we're still super happy when Mitchell comes home!

The Boy Begins Grade 1

I panicked for a good 6 months.  Sending him all day, everyday, to school is something I didn't think he'd be able to cope with.  Plus, the elementary school doesn't have morning recess.  And their lunch break is before lunch.  Which seems like the stupidest thing in all the land, but I digress.

Mitchell, to my surprise, is totally fine.  Aside from all the colorful language he's picked up, he's doing great and seems to be loving every minute of it.  Despite being an ultra morning bird, it's still super painful getting him out the door on time every morning. He's still the pickiest eater ever, and has this fun ritual of asking me *and* his teacher, every day, (I mean, he figures we won't lie to him together I guess) what the school is serving for lunch.  And if it's anything other than: pancakes, hot dogs, waffles, or pizza - no dice.  Home lunch it is. The variety (or lack of) home lunch is a pb&j, apple slices, some sort of treat and a mandatory juice box.  Surprisingly, I can pull this together in less than 5 mins.  Though today I wrote "Mitchell" on the brown bag with a pink marker and he wasn't super happy about that.  Dude.  If you want anything fancy, then get yourself dressed before it becomes a wrestling match between the two of us.  I've threatened to take him to school naked before.  He hates clothes, hates halting his playtime with Ali, hates brushing his teeth, hates finding socks, the list goes on.  I have no idea what I'll do when he starts hating school (maybe that won't happen).  Though, he did change his future occupation from dentist to "something I don't have to go to college for" after telling him he'll be in school till he's 18, followed by more school "dentist school".   Glad he's aiming high and his priorities revolve around the least amount of school.  Super great.

Turns out having 2 kids at home is infinitely easier than one.  Ali, my little social butterfly, bored out of her mind, follows me around the house asking various questions always ending in "right?" e.g. "I'm going to school when I'm five, right?" "I'm going to dance class with Alyssa, right?" "For my birthday, you're making me a pink barbie cake, right?" "For my birthday, I want a blowdryer, right?" It's so exhausting I've started making her nap again.  Of course, this doesn't happen unless I'm snuggling her while she watches frozen, but I can sneak away easy enough it's worth it.  Or I fall asleep right along with her and the house goes to shambles and no one has any clean clothes.

Sometimes we do fun and spontaneous things like go to lunch together, or drive from dropping Mitchell off to breakfast at mcdonalds.  Running errands is so much easier with only one in tow. 

My computer broke down, so we took it into the apple store.  Conveniently located by H&M.  Ali had no recollection of the mall (we used to go when we lived close and Mitchell was in preschool. I stopped when she started asking to go look at the "pretty" bras & underwear and had way too many pairs of shoes.  She was like 18 months.  I should have realized it would get more intense)

So when we walked into the mall her eyes lit up and she asked if we could go to "a girl store" after "the computer store" I can't say no.  I should have, because H&M and all their dresses and matching shoes and accessories practically sent this little diva into a coma.

I HAVE NEVER SEEN HER SO HAPPY.

So after a couple outfits, a new pair of shoes, and a minnie mouse headband that matches literally nothing, we made it out of there alive. She's been talking about a princess birthday party since Mitchell's crazy town party, but I successfully talked her out of that and into a day of shopping.  I figure it'll probably be cheaper and definitely less stressful.  And then she asked "and we can go to lunch?" LOL. I can't handle it.  *Of course* we'll go to lunch! She's super excited for a little girls shopping trip.

Ali, reviewing her purchases in the car on the way home. Followed by a brief fashion show for the boys.

Her birthday items include: A pink blowdryer, pink bed sheets, and butterfly mascara. I don't know what butterfly mascara actually is, but it seems weird she's turning 4 and not 19.

Cheri came to visit and bought some toys for both kids. A new kitty family for Ali's calico critter dollhouses and some cool blocks for Mitchell.  They play with them constantly. 

"backwards day"

And finally, Mike and I figured it was about time for baby #3.  We're super excited.  The kids are ecstatic and say good morning and good night to the babe via stomach kisses every day.  It's so adorable.  I ended up telling people way early because I was super sick and had to tell my kids why I was throwing up and sleeping all the time.  That led to Ali screaming "ARE YOU FEEDING YOUR BABIES?" loudly during the sacrament one week.  Oh great.  Also, even though both kids were talking about the "babies" (plural) for the longest time, scaring the crap out of me, thankfully, there is only one.  I'm really quite glad they come one at a time. 

Coming March 2015!

The first and last time I decide to throw an over-the-top birthday party for my already spoiled child.

Mitchell turns 6.  I spent most of the days in near tears because he's 6, and I don't feel old enough to have a 6 year old, and for some reason we just kept talking about the night he was born and all the silly little things he used to do as a baby, and the kid acts like he's 48 and is more responsible than I am (you're grown up enough so stop it).

We had these grand plans to buy a zoo pass this year, for part of his birthday present, but then when the reality sank in that it was going to be a million degrees that day, and I'd have to walk around with both children by myself I said, "You know, Mitchell, we could do anything on your birthday.  Anything you want."

"Like swimming?"

"YES!"

Done and done.  We ventured out to the local pool and the kids and I had the time of our lives running around like crazy people. They're at such a fun age.  I love not having to worry about diaper bags or extra clothing.  And both kids are freakishly mature, so it's like going to the pool with your BFFs.

No pictures, maturity doesn't equal swimming ability so I did have to stay near by.  Mitchell is tall enough to touch all of the shallow end, Ali is not, but Mitchell loved feeling like he had super strength and carried Ali around all over the deeper end of the shallow end (while she laid her head back, getting her hair all wet "like ariel")

Swimming lessons, I found out, are super cheap so I'm seeing our near future here since both kids love the water and dislike all kinds of safety precautions.

And then we went to lunch at chick fil a.  And because Ali likes sandwiches, and doesn't want chicken nuggets,  her little "happy meal" is special ordered with a chicken sandwich and costs just as much as a combo meal.  Lovely.

Mitchell came home and opened a present.  I let him open his spiderman lego set I found him and was so excited about since they are 2 of his loves wrapped into one awesome toy. The best reaction -ever-
"oh my gosh.  oh my gosh oh my gosh.  you're the best mom.  oh my gosh. are you serious? Oh my gosh.  can we open it!? Oh my gosh!" and just giggles.  So cute.

Later that night we had a party with family for (sams club) (cup)cakes and ice cream.  He's been asking for a scooter for a good 6 months now, so we bought him a blue one, forgetting that he changes his favorite color every year on his birthday (so it's green now, but 5 year old mitchell liked blue). But he loves it and mastered it pretty quickly.

And then probably because I have a death wish, we invited pretty much everyone we've ever known to a huge carnival style party.  I didn't take very many pictures, sadly, but I did take a few:

 Thanks to Aunt Emma for her balloon animal making skills (this girl is just full of surprises), Madee for her hand reading/fortune telling skills and the random people that Emma knew to help with the Pin the Tail on the donkey, fishing, bean bag toss, and target shooting games. And thanks to the $60 I spent at dollar tree for prizes and other useless crap that is long in the garbage.  I was amazed the 25 children were entertained for an entire hour and a half.  Woah baby.

Ali, the little darling, has all the grand plans for her birthday in October.  I might have to reign it in just an inch or two.  At least we've established kid parties aren't a yearly occurrence.  

Happy Birthday Mitchell! So glad this 6 year old is mine.  He starts 1st grade on Monday (what!?) and I'm a little nervous to send him from 9-4.  With lunch.  And without Ali…… Ali and I are going to have some real bonding time haha.  Poor girl.