Another teenager?!!!

Yes, we have another teenager in the house. I 'm not quite sure we will survive. ;) I seem to think of Andrew as a perpetual toddler...after all, he was the world's cutest baby. My mind's eye still has a very clear picture of him: big head, big blue eyes, blond hair and chubby cheeks...in overalls and a striped shirt. I still expect to find those little boy clothes in the laundry basket. How quickly the time has gone. I am thanking Dr. Suess for my mantra this year; "Don't be sad that it's over, be glad that it happened." Yes, I know things are far from "over," but I swear I only blinked once and here we are.

In spite of my efforts to stop time, Andrew on the other hand, is very excited to be a teenager. He has taken to Jr. High and teenage life without a hiccup. He maintains straight A's and loves the increased freedom and privileges he is earning with friends (cell phone, later bedtime, night games, etc). And, he might even think there is a cute girl at school (but you didn't hear that from me).

He had fun celebrating this year. He chose to go to Moochies with the family for dinner (good choice!) and had a great party at the Rec Center with his friends. Mustaches compliments of mom. ;)

One memorable milestone!

I've been sounding like a broken record lately. "Where did the time go," has been said by me multiple times a day as of late. It seems that each five-year increment of life seems to get progressively faster. The first five years as a mother moved along at a nice leisurely pace; story time and mall walks with stops at the sale rack at the Baby Gap and a big pretzel to share filled our days. The next five years started to pick up significantly with more kids in the mix as well as adding in school, scouts and extracurricular activities. The last five years? Some days I'm left wondering if they even really happened at all. Life is increasingly becoming a blur. One day you are doing little league baseball and elementary carpool...the next you are getting ready for dating, driving and wondering if you've done enough to prepare your child for a mission and college. I'm not kidding. All I can do is accept it and work hard to live in the moment. And this moment has truly belonged to Josh.

How wonderful it has been to reflect on Josh and to celebrate who he has become (and working to become). I have loved seeing him thoroughly enjoy this milestone. Sometimes it is nice to stretch out a celebration and this year we did just that. It started last week with a special surprise from Chad. He surprised Josh with tickets to the Dream Theater concert. Spending an entire night with his dad's undivided attention would have been enough...the concert was the cherry on top. A night with dad, a sandwich from Moochies and a concert...Josh was in heaven. 

Wednesday we got to celebrate again by going to dinner with Chad's parents and Aunt Tammi. Grammy's birthday is Oct. 3, so it was fun to have a joint celebration. Josh got to pick the restaurant...Q4U bbq. 

Friday night a friend party was in order...a boy-girl party...his first to host as a matter of fact! After buying the entire junk food aisle with a few veggies thrown in for good measure (the veggies were the first to go btw!), cleaning the basement and creating a photo wall of Josh, we were ready to go. (If you ever want to do something super easy...and special, do this photo collage. It was a big hit on so many levels.) Josh had about 25 friends. They had fun eating, playing games, watching movies...and mostly just hanging out. It was actually really fun. I loved getting to experience Josh's friends. And guess what? He has really good friends! He hasn't stopped smiling since last night. I can't tell you how much I love seeing him feel so loved and celebrated. What a good kid....a very good kid indeed. 

Tween?!

Another child in our house has left life in single digits! I can hardly believe Sarah is 10...TEN years old! When I asked Sarah what she wanted for her birthday she said, "Oh, just clothes and jewelry...maybe a gift certificate to Clair's." Now, I don't know about you, but I think she fits squarely in the "tween" category. For further evidence, all you need to do is look at what she is wearing in these photos and where we are celebrating. No more Gymboree ensembles. No more princess parties. (Nope, I am not going to get sentimental...no, no, no...I will just keep telling myself that.)

First, the clothing. A couple weeks ago, she was trying to describe to me the kind of shirt she wanted. "Mom, it has this little jacket thing attached," is what she told me. I wasn't sure when she was telling me, but once I saw it I was pretty sure and when she unwrapped it, I knew I'd been exactly right. She also loved the "tunic" shirt I gave...only problem was, it apparently needed a black belt to complete the look. I obliged by sewing up a little black sash (see photos).

Second, the party. She was quick to tell me she wanted to celebrate at Boondock's this year. I'm glad I didn't see this one coming because I think I would have been much more sentimental about not doing a little theme party at home. Maybe I expected to do princess, butterfly and kitty parties forever or maybe I am in total denial that my little girl is growing up. Regardless, the party was hit...a huge hit and that makes me nothing but happy. It was such a joy to watch her having so much fun with her friends....she was in heaven. While watching all the girls at the party, Chad and I maybe an observation. Sarah has a wide variety of friends and that is just cool. I love that she can have so much fun with a variety of ages and personalities. I think finding commonalities with people is so important and I hope that Sarah continues to do that. I am so thankful for her truly unique and creative spirit...for those of you that know Sarah know exactly what I am talking about. She is special. She is one of kind. She brings so much joy to her family and those around her.

Here kitty, kitty....

This year was Jenna's very first friend party! She was so excited to have a real party this year (we only do friend parties every other year). Jenna had no problem deciding what kind of party she wanted...a kitty party all the way! With so many creative ideas floating around, I had no problem finding cute things to do. Jenna loved handing out her kitten invitation (found on Etsy) and she also loved helping me get ready for the party. Just before the party as I was running around trying to finish everything up, I exclaimed, "Where did the time go?!" Without missing a beat, she hollered from the other room, "It's on the stove, Mom!" I love, love this age.

As each of the girls arrived, I told them they would come as a little girl and leave as a kitten. While they were waiting for everyone to arrive, They got to practice licking like a kitten with a popsicle. (yes, I tried to turn whatever I could into a kitten theme)  We then started our first game in which they would be given their new kitten name. My little helpers (Sarah and her friend Maggie) had strung yarn every which way in the basement and the girls had to follow their string to their new, unique kitten name. I think my helpers got a little carried away with the string as it got a little tangled and confusing, but still very fun.

Next, we created name collars with ribbon and tags. Then, they were given a set of "paws" (socks with pink felt paws). Once they had their paws on, it was time to start the next game. I had two boxes wrapped in layers and layers of paper. The girls then had to paw their way through the layers. I love this game (and have used variations of it in many parties), the socks make it take longer and what kid doesn't love unwrapping something? When everything was unwrapped, the kids found two of their party favors; kitten ears and a kitten tail.

To make the transformation complete, I had my helpers paint whiskers and nose on each girl. They were so excited....I have never heard so much meowing (yes, it was loud!). They all began running, hopping and crawling (and of course, meowing...lots of meowing) like kittens all over the house.

Finally, it was time for cake and presents. In true Jenna form, she got a little embarassed and shy when everyone started singing to her. Look closely at the photo....she has her head turned to the side with her tongue twisted in her mouth....so funny, so Jenna. The girls loved their kitten cupcakes and kitten party bags. I think it was all a success. Jenna slept with her kitten tail pinned to her pajamas....I don't think I could have been given a better compliment!

Babies grow up

So my baby turned six today. I am trying really hard not to think about it too much. I keep pushing down the sentimental memories of Jenna when she actually was a baby. I swore I would never "baby my baby," but the hard thing about that is when you have your last one, you are never forced to move onto babying the next one and so you just kind of get stuck into always seeing that child as a baby. It's these darn milestones that force us to face reality a bit. We all grow up and that's a good thing, right?

As soon as Jenna realized her birthday was approaching, she began counting down the days. "Six more days, Mom...then I will be six," she said while holding up the appropriate amount of fingers. Without a doubt, this last year has shown a big jump in Jenna's maturity level; emotionally and educationally. It hasn't been without a lot of work though. She has really worked hard this year and it has been exciting to see so much growth. With each sight word learned, I have seen her confidence grow. If you know Jenna, you know she is a bit shy and that shyness usually exhibits itself with a ornery-tinged scowl. This personality characteristic has made learning certain things a bit of a challenge; she doesn't like to be wrong and it's been hard for her to find the confidence to try whether she knows the  right or wrong answer. Nothing has made me more proud of her than to see her keep pushing forward and allowing courage and confidence replace the fear of failure.

Last night, Jenna whispered to Chad that she wanted all of us to be hiding and surprise her this morning. This morning we all gathered around her just after she woke up and sang "Happy Birthday" to her. In typical Jenna fashion, she tried to hide her smile as she was shrinking into Chad's arms from embarassment. So funny to see her love the attention, but still not liking being put on the spot at the same time! Today she had a special lunch date with G'ma and G'pa Jensen, got a special phone calls from Aunt Tammi and G'ma and G'pa Medeiros, opened some fun gifts (she loves "I Spy") and had a dinner of her choice (Chuck-a-rama). I think she had a great day and she will get to celebrate all over again when she has her very first friend party next week!

Milestone birthday!

Happy Birthday Andrew! I can hardly believe he is 12 years old. Of course we parents say that with every birthday, but it's the truth isn't?! I can still remember him as a toddler with a cute (big) head and angelic (big) eyes and now he is ready for mutual nights and passing the sacrament. He has been working hard to be prepared for this next step (of receiving the priesthood) and I know he is ready. This year, his birthday just happen to fall on Tuesday, which, coincidentally, is mutual night. He was so excited to join the ranks of the youth in the ward.

By the way...pack an overnight bag

I knew Chad had made dinner reservations and arrangements for the kids to stay at my mom's on Friday night. I was looking forward to a quiet night at a clean home (it doesn't stay clean for more than 10 min at a time) after dinner and a movie. However, Chad had made different plans. As we were discussing the plans to get the kids to my mom's house, he casually said, "You might want to pack an overnight bag." Well okay! I was totally surprised and couldn't wait to hear about what he had planned.

We had dinner reservations at Tiburon in Sandy. It was delicious. I had the lamb and Chad had the roasted chicken. We will definitely go back sometime. Next we headed to the Grand America dowtown. Have you ever stayed here? This was my first time and wow, it is amazing. Our room was just beautiful. It had a sitting area, huge bathroom and a gorgeous view of the east side of Salt Lake. After check-in we headed to the Gateway for to see the movie, "Salt." After the movie, we enjoyed an evening walk throught some of the gardens at the hotel. When we returned to our room, we found our bed turned down with a robe, chocolates and music softly playing. In the morning, we had breakfast on the patio next to the beautiful grounds.  As if this wasn't enough, Chad made spa appointments for us at Sego Lily Spa. We both had 90 min treatments. What an indulgence! This was such a relaxing fun weekend with Chad. I can't thank him enough for going out of his way to surprise and pamper me.

16 years

You think we look a little young when we got married? Yea, I'm pretty sure they checked my birth certificate at the temple. Sheesh, I look like I'm 14! It is so fun to look at these photos and remember how we felt when we were dating and when we first got married. It was wonderful. But, you know what? I wouldn't trade it  for what we have now. Last week Chad sent me this email:

I was just looking at our blog. Sometimes I need to pinch myself that you chose me. I am proud to be best friends with you and can’t believe it has been 16 years. I feel like we have always been together and couldn’t picture myself with anyone else. We have beautiful children. I feel privileged that I get to be their father. Just wanted you to know that.

Love you! Have a great day!

And to think he wonders why I chose him...I can't believe he chose me. 

Don't you just love the old school posing on the photos and wow! what great '90's attire!

Happy 3rd(?!) of July

With the 4th falling on a Sunday this year, the celebrations for the fourth were scattered all throughout the weekend...what fun...a three day celebration! We enjoyed most of festitivites on the the 3rd. We headed up to Kaysville for the chuck wagon breakfast and parade. The breakfast is always a great place to see a few old friends. The jets doing a fly-by, the veterans and the firetrucks are always my favorite part of the parade. After the parade, we headed to Dan and JaNel's for swimming and BBQ. That evening, we headed to Sandy for the celebrations there. They have a great event with a parade, live music and booths. Sarah had a great time being front and center dancing in front of the stage. She got to meet the cute, up and coming country singer, Paisley. Sunday included a 3hr walk through neighborhood and we even saw a few fireworks at the end of that long walk (don't you just love summer when all the neighbors come out?) and on Monday, we enjoyed swimming in Provo with Chad's parents. What a fun weekend!

Something that needs to happen far more often that it does: getting all the neighbors out!! Thank you to the Means and Goodners for organizing this. It was so great to see so many of us out there. All were welcome...many came...maybe even more will come next year. Yay, for neighbors!

39 and holding....

Chad just celebrated his 39th birthday and he handeled it like a pro. One more year until.....well, until he's not quite as young as this year. Aren't we both still 25? Weird how time flies...we are all headed in the same direction and fast, too! He had a nice quiet celebration this year. Chad's parents took us to Flemings for a very delicious (and pricey) steak dinner. After dinner, we enjoyed some decadant cupcakes with the kids. There is no one else in the world I'd rather have next to me to grow old with. Love you, Chap!

A grand experience...

Grandma Chris wanted to do something special with Sarah for her 9th birthday. She made reservations for High Tea at the Grand America hotel. We were seated in a beautifully decorated lobby complete with crystal chandeliers and a harpist. The hors d'oeuvres and specialty hot chocolates were delicious. However, it was the "tea flower" that stole the show. Upon our arrival, our waitress placed a small bundle in a tall, stemmed glass. After a few minutes, we saw the hot water do it's magic. It opened up revealing a beautiful flower. It was so fun to watch. After our "tea" we wandered around the hotel enjoying the paintings, antiques and beautiful furniture. Sarah even got to watch a bride in the courtyard. What a special and indulegent afternoon indeed...thank you Grandma Chris!

I can have my cake and eat it, too

And, the calories don't count on your birthday, right?! Talk about a cake. Check this out; red velvet cheesecake. Holy cow. Delicious. Of course Chad went out of his way to spoil me. He never fails to surprise me and make me feel so special. He loves doing things for me and I love that he does things for me! I'm one lucky girl. 

On Sunday, I asked my primary class how old they thought I was. One child exclaimed, "Fifty-nine!!" Today a girl came to the door selling magazines and asked if my mother was home. I think she was hoping for a sale and proceeded to tell me she thought I looked fourteen or fifteen (is that even a compliment?). So, let's just split the different and call it good at 37. Not that I'm having a hard time with my age advancing, but I will say that saying this number felt like a bit of a jump. You know how some birthdays just make go, "Hmmm, I'm getting older." Clearly, the best solution for any uncertain feelings is...CAKE! And, I enjoyed plenty of it.

A week of celebration!

I think it's safe to say Andrew had a good birthday this year. After all, the celebration stretched throughout the week! Monday, we celebrated as a family, Tuesday he had a special dinner date with G'ma and G'pa Jensen, Friday he had a bowling party with friends and that night he had a birthday sleepover with Grammy and Papa in Provo.

Andrew just turned 11....

...and he still has a twinkle in his eyes. Seems that not even age can dull that angelic twinkle.
How can it be that 11 years have passed since my "Angel Andrew" was born? His entrance into the world was a bit rough for mom, but he has more than made up for it. Andrew is my "pleaser" child; always wanting to do exactly what he should. Well, I guess I should be a little more clear: he does exactly what he should when it comes to schoolwork...not so much when it comes to housework. ;) We all need something to work on, don't we? Recently, at parent-teacher conference, his teacher wished she had "twenty-five Andrew's." I'd have to agree, the world would be a little bit better with more of us like Andrew.

Andrew started out his birthday with waffles and bacon served on the special red plate. On the way to school, he was serenaded by the carpool. Seeing Sarah whispering to the others to organize the singing brought such a smile to my face. Andrew chose Training Table for dinner....he's a burger and fries kind of boy.

The celebration will continue through the week with a dinner date with G'ma and G'pa Jensen, a bowling party on Friday and sleepover with G'ma and G'pa Medeiros. Happy Birthday, Andrew....we love you!!!

Happy Birthday Josh...14 years old!!!!

Yea, yea...I know! How in the world can Josh be 14....FOURTEEN???? He can go to church dances now. And dance. With girls. I think there just might be a few girls already lined up hoping he'll ask them for a dance.

It seems with each year, it gets harder to celebrate and gift give. Gone are the days of the dinosaur theme party and a pile of gifts to be opened. The fifty bucks or so that bought several toys now buys ummm, say 3/4 of a cool gift suitable for a teenager. Fortunately,  Josh was just as thrilled with his new cell phone (Celtic green, of course...and no, it's not an expensive phone...we stayed within budget!) and Skull Candy headphones. So glad he "gets it."

However, I am Julie and I worry that I haven't done enough or his day won't be memorable enough. So what do you do?? Well, apparently you spend $20 in doughnuts and candy at the gas station the night before his birthday. (so much for practical gifts and budgets) I thought it wholly appropriate that Josh start his day off right....with a chocolate Dunford doughnut. The candy? I attached a "happy birthday" tag to 14 (get it??lol) packs of Josh's favorite gum and candy. I then asked his friend to distribute the candy to friends who would then in turn give them to Josh. About 8 packs in, it dawned on Josh that it was me that did it. He said it was the font and the tag that gave it away. I wonder what that says about me and Josh that A) he knows what a font is and B) he associates "fonts" with his mom. I digress.

Later that day, G'ma Chris joined us for dinner at the Training Table. (mmmm....thanks g'ma!)We ended the day with chocolate cake, ice cream and a few gifts. Sarah put together some  items she thought Josh would like (ie. very random things gathered from around the house). They were carefully placed in a white box tied with yarn. I love that she did that...Josh loved it, too.  I know Josh had a good day....he hasn't looked up from his new phone. We love you, Josh!!

15 years....

It's hard to believe that it has been 15 years since Chad and I got married It seems just like yesterday and yet, the people we were then seem like a lifetime ago. I love evolving as a person, wife and mother with Chad by my side. I'd like to think we are both better people for being together.

We had our big anniversary celebration earlier in the year when we went on our first cruise together. It was so wonderful and we are filled with daydreams of doing it again someday. Wednesday, the 22nd was our official anniversary. Chad and I planned a little evening of shopping, dinner and a movie. However, our well-intentioned plans did not live up to their expectations. It started out wonderfully with a beautiful bouquet of white roses. Then things started to fizzle. Our shopping trip was a bust when the item we were looking for was sold. Then came dinner ambitions. I think we are giving up on "the nice" restaurant. A couple anniversaries ago, "The Roof" was very disappointing and this year "Flemings" failed to impress as well. Dang, that is some costly food. However, the chipotle mac and cheese was very good. After dinner we thought we'd head to the movie. We checked the showtimes on my phone and figured we had just enough time to get some ice cream. Best part of the night? Marble Slab had my coconut ice cream. Ahhh....heaven! Then we headed over to the theater only to find out the movie time was wrong. We'd have to wait another 45min than expected. So, we did what any old, married couple would do. We went home. Happy anniversary. lol

This post really sounds like a complaining, negative rant BUT that's just the thing. We were really OK with it AND that's just what I love about Chad. The night doesn't have to be perfect to enjoy being together...besides, we have our cruise to fill our memories of celebrating 15 years together!

Weekend highlights...

July is one of the most busy and most fun months of the year. I love all the out of state visitors, parades, BBQ's and celebrations. Last week I saw a few of my oldest and dearest friends. I got to see Alysa (Rhode Island) and Teresa (in transit from Iowa to Oregon) for lunch and dinner twice. I also got to see Mia (Nebraska...soon to be Utah!), Erin (back from New Jersey) and Kristi for lunch as well. So. Much. Fun. It is so great to reminisce and catch up on each other's lives. It is so wonderful to have friends that you can pick up right where you left off!On the morning of the 4th, I did the Murray 5k with some of my "Slacker" teammates. We had such a great time doing the Wasatch Back together that we couldn't resist doing this small race together. With his I.T. band still healing, Chad was bummed to serve as the support. My goal for this race was 33min and I did it in 31min!!!! That is a 10:05 mile, folks! Slow for many of you, but a new record for me!We then headed up to Kaysville for the parade (getting more and more crowded every year...I'm not sure why!). After the parade, we went to Dan and JaNel's for swimming and BBQ. The cousins couldn't get enough of each other and the pool!
This year, we did something new for the fireworks. We headed to Sandy for the festivities there. We went with our great friends the Fletchers, Larsons and Yraguens. What a super fun night...live music, friends, (junk) food and fireworks. Sarah couldn't resist dancing to the music...it was so cute to see her dancing. I think this is an event we will be going to again next year!

Celebrating CHAD!

In between the chaos that is the end of school and the blink of our summer, we celebrated Chad's 38th birthday. Happy Birthday Chad (and Marc!!)! Chad is way too modest when it comes to his turn in the spotlight. I'm not sure why he quickly brushes off any birthday wishes or attention given to him. Maybe he has figured out it just means we are all getting older? ;) With his birthday falling on a Sunday, we had a low-key gathering of a few friends for cake and ice cream. Chad even blushed at this small get together in his honor, but I didn't care....he deserves the love and a little roasting! Most of his gifts fell into the running category and with his I.T. band injury they were rather anti-climatic. He can't wait to get full use of them once his knee feels better.

The fact that Chad is a part of our lives deserves a whole lot of celebrating. I have no doubt that my life, the life of our children and so many around us are blessed because of him. He is hard worker; committed to taking care of his family and honoring his duties at church and work. He is thoughtful; I have been hard pressed to hear about any other husband as thoughtful as Chad...he plans ahead and really thinks about his gift-giving, he loves surprising me. He is patient; he listens to me talk in circles and he patiently puts up with my short comings. He is still my best friend; we still love being together any chance whether its going to Costco or going on a vacation.
Happy birthday Chad....here's to many more years of making you blush under the spotlight on your birthday. I love you!

"The peas gave it away, mom"

It seems that Sarah had the most "April Fools" spirit around our house today. Last night, she artfully drew up a "Just Married" sign to post on the back of Chad's car. She was so proud of her trick and couldn't wait for daddy to discover it. Chad didn't even notice it until he got to the gas station. She also switched the bags of cereal into different boxes...I even fell for that one. Not to be out done by Sarah, I pulled up some "April Fools" dinner ideas online. I found an idea for a meatloaf cake, but since I didn't have a round cake pan, I made meatloaf cupcakes instead. They were frosted with mashed potatoes and sprinkled with peas. I thought they were kind of cute. Sarah said, "The peas gave it away, mom." Then as we were eating, she continued, "It just looks a tiny bit gross. But, I do like your creation, I just don't like my food all together like this." Oh well. So much for the "April Fools" spirit! :)


ETA...
Woohoooooo! The spirit of laughs and trickery ends the day on top! Just as I was cleaning up the kitchen a wonderful thing happened. Forgetting what the pink stuff really was, Chad took a nice, big finger lick of cold, pink mashed potatoes. He momentarily thought it was pink frosting. I will go to bed with a big smile on my face (thinking of this....and thinking of him falling over while taking his socks off the other day...yep, he really did! I love you Chad!)