Makayla’s birthday was last month in November, but at least I am getting it blogged before the New Year! Makayla had a great birthday this year! She was super excited to be able to celebrate it with all of my family. That meant 13 other little cousins and 12 adults (gramma, grampa, mom, dad, and aunts and uncles.) We were in Boise because it was my family’s year to be together for Thanksgiving and since Makayla’s birthday was just a day before, we were able to be there together as one giant family! It was so awesome!!

Of course, I had decorated the girls’ bedroom with streamers so that when Makayla woke up she would instantly know that, yes indeed, it was her birthday!!

And I had the kitchen table decorated for her sweet little birthday, with streamers and presents ready to go!

She was most excited when she woke up! I made breakfast right away and she had the traditional birthday pancake, but this year instead of a Mickey Mouse pancake she got a ’5′ with whipped cream and pink sprinkles!! She was pretty happy about that! And of course, we put in a candle and sang Happy Birthday to her.

It was super fun to be able to eat her birthday breakfast with all of her little cousins and her sisters!

After breakfast we told all the kids to get dressed and ready for the day and then Makayla could open presents. Only a few of the kids were ready by the time she was so we went ahead and did it!

The first present she opened was a Nintendo DS game! She was super excited!! But, notice how upset Kaylee is. Kaylee was so mad about it because she thought she was going to have to share her DS (since she was the only one in the family who had one.) I did get her saying that on video and me scolding her to be patient. It’s pretty funny.

Makayla was super super excited to get her own DS!!! And notice how happy Kaylee is too! Hilarious.

After opening presents we packed everyone up and headed out the door to a great jungle gym place for kids. It’s a pretty fun place for kids to be crazy kids. They all had a blast!! Even the adults had a bit of fun too! (Daddy was still working in Baker, but was able to make it later in the afternoon!)

One of the best parts of the jungle gym was the big giant blow up slide they had. We got some great pictures of everyone coming down…. Most of them were pictures of pure fear, but we kept going up for more!!

Makayla was brave enough to try it on her own after a bit of persuasion and watching her sister and cousins go.

Kaylee had a blast!

Makayla, Kaylee, and their cousin Rylie had a blast together — all week!

Kiera wanted to try it out, but she wouldn’t go without me.  And Damen wanted to go, but I wouldn’t let him go without me! So we all went together. I think I may have made it worse! Everyone looks pretty terrified!

Then Makayla wanted to go with me and again, I think I may have made it worse. She did much better without me! It may have had something to do with my King-Fu grip on her crotch!!

She survived, but moved onto other things

After the jungle gym everyone was starving so Gramma wanted to take everyone to McDonald’s. That made for a very happy crew of little ones!

I am not quite sure what Damen is doing in this picture but he is somehow communicating to me how much he loves ketchup! And he LOVES ketchup!!

He will take a fry, dip it in ketchup, suck it off, and repeat. Then repeat, and repeat again.

After McDonald’s we went home and put the little ones down for naps and the bigger kids got to stay up and play. Gramma and I snuck out with Makayla and headed over to a cupcake boutique so she could pick out a very special cupcake for her birthday. Instead of doing a cake this year, I decided to make a bunch of cupcakes since we woud be sharing with so many little ones. So Aunt Mel, Aunt Steph, and gramma and I stayed up late the night before frosting & decorating cupcakes for everyone else.

Shortly after we got home, Daddy showed up!! It was a pleasant surprise to have him show up before we expected him. We had a nice dinner and then it was time for cupcakes and ice cream! I had hidden the cupcakes because I put them on a 3-tier glass platform and I didn’t want any little curious fingers or hands to get a hold of them. So while I am getting them everyone is patiently waiting….

And patiently waiting….

And finally here they come!! Makayla was super excited to see all of the cupcakes and to see her special cupcake on top!

She did a great job blowing out her giant ’5′ candle…

Now she is so proudly showing me her special birthday cupcake!

I am so happy she was able to celebrate her special day with so much family! It was such a fun day running around with all of her cousins! I am sure she felt like quite the little princess that she is! The last picture of the day was taken with her ’5′! It was a great way to finish the day! She looks so happy!

Just so we can remember what a special birthday it was for her, here is a picture of everyone who was there to help her celebrate. This is a picture of my giant family that we took 2 days after her birthday.

And here is a picture of gramma and grampa with “all of their little angels” – as gramma would say.

I am so thankful for each of those little ones! It is so fun to be a part of such a big family and it is so awesome that we all get along so well and love each other so much!

Happy 5th Birthday Makayla!! We love you so much! You are such a sweet spirited little girl. You love to share anything you have with anyone. You love to make others happy and you are very concerned about others when they are sad. You have definitely become more confident and social since you started Preschool! You have burst out of your quiet little bubble and it has been so fun getting to see you grow. You are still daddy’s little cuddle bug. You love to climb up onto his lap when he is watching tv on the couch and you love to climb into bed and snuggle right up next to him. You also love to scratch his back. He absolutely loves your attention and your loves. You love everything pink and you love to wear skirts! One of your favorite things to do is put on dress-up dresses and dance. You also love to color. You can sit and color and color for hours. We love you so so much!! Happy 5th Birthday Sweet Girl!

I really struggled with finding a preschool for Makayla this year. I really wanted to put her in the same one Kaylee went to because it was absolutely amazing BUT it’s about a 15 minute drive on an old highway one way. So 15 highway minutes to drop her off, and back = 30 mins….. and 15 highway mins to pick her up, and back = 30 mins. That’s 1 hour, 3 times a week. Plus, it’s in a different school district than where Kaylee would be going to first grade. So I contacted the principal of the far away school district and asked if both of my girls could go there. She said no to Kaylee because the (yes there is only one) 1st grade class is was way too full. And she said yes to Makayla. So then I had to figure out how I was going to deal with 2 kids in 2 diffferent school districts. We are in a small enough area that it is actually 2 different towns. After a grueling process of thinking and worrying and stressing and praying, I decided they should both be in the same school district. So then my hunt for a decent preschool in our town was on. And it was tough. I hadn’t heard very many good things about the few options I had. I debated even not doing preschool with Makayla and just doing a homeschool thing for her. But, a week before school started I noticed that the YMCA here in town was starting a Preschool for the very first time this year. So when I called and asked them about it they said they were having an open house that night!! So I went! We got there so late that I had missed the teacher, which is really why I wanted to go. But, I was very impressed with the classroom and was excited to learn more about it. So I emailed the teacher a few questions and then actually asked if I could come in the first day of school to observe. So I did and at recess I drilled the teacher about what kind of preschool program she was going to be running. I made it very clear to her that I wanted to send my child to school, not daycare. And she was totally on board. She agreed with my whole opinion about how it’s so important for mothers to be at home with their children and how school needs to be school, not daycare. And so on… we talked for the entire 15 min recess and we were great friends by the time it was done. I was definitely ok with putting Makayla into that preschool and actually very excited. And I am SO GLAD I did!!!

Preschool has been the best thing for our sweet little Makayla. She has blossomed into a confident, fun little girl who knows who she is and LOVES making friends. She is a whole new Makayla!! School has been so good for her. I have never seen this side of her before and I am so thrilled it has surfaced. She is absolutely a sweetheart! Here are pictures on the morning of her first day of school, Septmeber 7th, 2011!

She gets along so well with all of the kids in her class. I was super happy to see on the first day of school that there were only 4 boys and 4 girls. Perfect! But since then, they have added 1 more boy and 1 more girl. Still perfect! I still LOVE Makayla’s teacher and ALL of the kids her in class. It’s a pretty awesome group of kids and parents. So so thankful for that!! She has gone on a pumpkin patch field trip and was invited to a Halloween party at one of the student’s houses. It was so fun to see her leave my side to go play with the other kids and to see her enjoying every minute of it! And then the next school day after the party, one of the boys who was at the party ran up to her when we walked into the classroom and was so excited to see her! He stood about 2 inches from her nose and said, “HI MAKAYLA!!” and then just continued to stand there. She was like, Uhhhhh, hi (now please move so I can hang up my coat and my backpack). She didn’t say that, but her body language did. I loved it.

Here is her school picture we just got back.

Love it! Love her. Yay for preschool!

Kaylee was SO excited for school to start and she has been doing so well! The first quarter is already over (we had parent teacher conferences last week) and she is, thankfully, an awesome student! I am a little sad it has taken me so long to get her first day pictures up here, but I am happy I am doing it now! This picture was taken on August 30th, the first day of school, but it was only a half day…

Her “official” first day of school was Septmeber 1st! She was so excited she could hardly contain herself!!

I decided I didn’t want her hair in a pony tail again so we fixed it and then I had to tell her to not be quite so excited for her picture… I love how much she loves school!

I think that is a great picture of my sweet Kaylee. I love her so much! She is such an awesome girl!!

So here we are, one week into quarter 2. She is above average in everything, but crazy above average in reading. She has made so many friends and has developed into quite the social butterfly. She has become the “popular” girl in school where everyone wants to sit next to her and play with her at recess. It’s pretty fun to see. When I walk into the classroom all the kids get very excited and so many of them say, “Oh! It’s Kaylee’s mom! It’s Kaylee’s mom!” Kaylee even had to tell me a story just a few days ago about how she saw that one of the girls in her class was sad at recess so she went over to ask her what was wrong and the girl said she just wanted someone to play with. So Kaylee played with her all during recess. Then Kaylee told me that when the class was lining up to go in after recess all the girls in her class were asking where she went and that they were so mad she didn’t play with them and Kaylee got all defensive and said, “I just played with “Susan” this recess, I will play with you guys next recess!!” I love when she comes home and tells me all her stories. She’s a pretty mature little girl.

Here is her school picture that we just got.

Gotta love it.

Speaking of mature… Yesterday she was trying to remind me of something I had done the day before. So she was describing what we did and something that I said to her and it was a very specific thing she was trying to tell me. So when she got done describing it she looked at me and said, “You know?” I was only half paying attention and didn’t have a clue what she was talking about so I looked at her with a very confused expression and said a little irritably, “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She looked at me like I was a complete idiot and said in a very bothered tone, “Seriously mom!! Put on your thinking cap!!!” I love her.

I can NOT believe my oldest baby is 7. Holy crudoly. That means next year she will get baptized!? That doesn’t seem like it’s possible. I can remember when she was only 2, my best friend and I were talking about how crazy it would be that in not so many years we would be talking about our girls getting baptized. And now it’s here. Her daughter Hannah just got bapitzed in September and now my sweet angel will get baptized next September. So not cool. I want each and every one of my babies to freeze. I LOVE where they each are in life right now. It’s perfect. I want them to stay like this forever. And ever. And ever.

Kaylee turned 7 in September. She is SO awesome!! We love her so much! She is in first grade and is so not a first grader. I had a meeting with her teacher to discuss “her situation” about the 2nd week of school. Her teacher picked up on how advanced she is right away so she started testing her to see what level Kaylee is. In the second week of 1st grade, Kaylee tested out on a 4th grade level. Oh dear. But that right there sums Kaylee up in a nut shell. S.M.A.R.T.Y. And way too mature for her age. I feel awful about where she is compared to the other 3 siblings. I definitely had WAY MORE TIME ON MY HANDS when it was just she and I. And holy crap, it shows.

I got to take birthday treats to Kaylee’s class on Thursday afternoon. (They don’t have school on Fridays thanks to awesome budget cuts.) She got to help me pass out the cookies,  the napkins, and the cups and then I poured the juice. I don’t really realize how mature Kaylee really is until I see a whole bunch of other kids her age. Like 25 1st graders in 1 classroom. Sheesh. I have a lot of appreication for teachers. They are super heros. Because Oh. My. Word! While we were handing things out I could have throttled more than a few of the kids because they were just….. morons for lack of a better word. Wow. I am so thankful for my sweet Kaylee. So was so excited for me to bring treats to her class and she was so happy when the entire class sang “Happy Birthday” to her!

After school we headed to Boise and we spent her birthday in Boise this year because I had a huge Jewel Kade event going on on Friday and her birthday was Saturday. So we just stayed in Boise to celebrate with gramma, grampa, Uncle Brian, & Aunt Stephanie and her 2 boys. It was a fantastic time! Which I am thankful for. Her sweet daddy was away hunting so I am so grateful we were able to celebrate in Boise with my family. Kaylee has definitely started to show some resentment towards her daddy hunting so much. So I don’t think it would’ve gone well had we been home to have the big party!

In the morning, of course, she woke up to balloons and streamers all over “the bunk bed room” at gramma and grampa’s house. Then when the girls came upstairs it was decorated so nicely by gramma and grampa with streamers above the kitchen table and a very cute table cloth with all of the presents on top.

One of Kaylee’s presents was too big to wrap so I just decorated it instead It was a loooooooong morning. Kaylee was SO EXCITED to open her presents, but I thought it would be best to wait until Aunt Steph, Ben Alex and Max showed up. While we were waiting, we had our traditional birthday breakfast… A mickey mouse pancake for the special birthday girl with a candle. Kaylee felt pretty special when we sang to her.

Then we were still waiting so we went outside to help gramma pick her beans and tomatoes. The girls actually thought that was pretty fun. Then we blew bubbles. Kaylee looks so old to me in these pictures!

Finally Steph and her boys showed up around 11 and Kaylee could open her presents!! The big present was a new chair and Steph bought her a barbie. (Kaylee thought it was so awesome since Barbies have been outlawed from our house for about 2 years now. I guess Aunt Steph wasn’t aware of that. But, that’s ok, it made for a super special awesome birthday present for Kaylee!)

After opening presents we had birthday cake and ice cream.

One thing that I thought was awesome is that Kaylee has the Hibbert birthday song memorized and every single time after we sang the traditional birthday song to her, she would continue on and sing the Hibbert birthday song to herself. I did my best to sing it with her, but I don’t know it 100% by heart. But, she sure does! She is so dang smart! I loved that she knew it though and she would sing it every single time.

After cake and ice cream we went to a new Bounce House place in Boise and it was a blast!! The kids had a great time and even Steph, gramma and I had a good time. I forgot my camera so unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of it. But, if you can imagine a giant warehouse full of bounce houses, it’s a kid’s dream come true. Lots of running, bouncing, sliding, sweaty kids!! Even Damen had a great time. He found a ball to carry around and he was a happy man for the entire hour that we were there. He loves balls!

After that we went to Kaylee’s favorite place. U-Swirl! The kids all made their own frozen yogurt cups and put their own toppings on, which usually consists of gummy worms and sprinkles. Hey, at least it’s kind of healthy, right?

Then we went home, packed up, and took some last pictures with gramma before we headed back to Baker.

Our cute little man is happy as can be with gramma.

Kaylee stormed off in that picture because she was so angry that Kiera was sitting in her new chair. Goodness. The drama of girls. It’s never ending.

And now Kaylee is happy because she has her chair back, but notice Kiera isn’t in the picture. She is off and crying. And apparantly Makayla doesn’t like the fact that Damen has the kids’ new movie, Rio. Drama continues.

And there is our last attempt to get a good birthday picture. So not happening. But at least the birthday girl is happy. Then off to Baker we go.

Happy Birthday Sweet Kaylee!! Oh my goodness, we love you SO MUCH!!! You are such a ball of bright sunshine. You are such a social butterfly and since you have entered 1st grade, you LOVE making new friends. It’s like a whole new world has openeded up to you. You LOVE school. You love learning. You love everything. I mostly hear you talk about lunch and recess Probably because that’s when you get to socialize the most and you are definitely all over that! I love how smart you are and I appreciate how mature you are. You are a HUGE help to me at home. You are a second mom to all of your younger siblings. You are always eager to teach them what you learn at school and church. You are such a good example for all of them to learn from and to look up to! I hope the bright spirit within you always shines as brightly and always has the same intensity to choose the right! We love you so much!! Happy 7th Birthday Sweet Girl!

It has started already. Damen is barely over 1 and he is so boy it’s not even funny.  It’s actually a bit crazy. I started noticing a difference between boys and girls when he was still an infant. Maybe 4 or 5 months old? But the older he gets the crazier the difference is. For instance, he won’t sit still. My girls who will sit still for hours and color, or play with dolls, or do puzzles, or just play with each other will sit and sit and sit. Damen on the other hand. DOES NOT SIT! The only time I have ever seen him sit for more than a few minutes is when he sits on the couch with Jarom and watches hunting or football. Yes, I know, Damen is doomed. He LOVES watching hunting. We have him on video and it’s about a 20 minute video of him watching an elk hunt. He loves it! He bugles at the tv… yes, he can elk call. And he stomps his feet and is so intent. Then when he watches football, he gets SO excited when he actually sees the football and starts yelling, “Ba! Ba!” (for ball). He also throws both arms into the air above his head when we yell, “TOUCHDOWN!” He loves it! He has to crawl right up on Jarom’s lap and be all up in his business. He also loves to sit right next Jarom and be a big man himself. It is quite entertaining.

Another boy incident was in the car a few days ago. I heard him yelling to me, “SEE?! SEE?!” So I look back to him and he very proudly has one finger shoved all the way up his nose. Seriously. So I turn around without saying anything. Then about 20 seconds later I hear him very intently and happily yelling to me again, “SEE?! SEE?! SEE?!” So I turn around to look at him again and he has another finger very proudly shoved up his other nostril. So he now has two fingers shoved up both holes of his nose and he is smiling as proudly as he possibly can. Wow.

Then today was the moment that made me say to myself, “Ok, I MUST sit down and blog this boy.” There are too many things I have wanted to say and I wanted to write them down before more time slipped away. This morning I heard Kiera screaming…. “OOOOWWWWWWWWWWW! DA-MEN!!!!!!” Then I heard Kaylee yell, “OH NO! MOOOOOM! DAMEN PULLED OUT KIERA’S HAIR!” And this is what I found….

A HUGE chunk of hair that Damen had ripped out of Kiera’s head. Honestly child. What are you? A boy? Good heavens. Oh well. I love him so much! So so much!