Color Me Happy!

Today Sarah had a few friends over for a birthday party. Last summer after we did our rainbow crafts, a good friend of mine told me about an awesome blog (that has since become one of my favorites) that had a rainbow cake on it. So when I showed it to Sarah, she said, "I want that cake for my birthday!" We both fell in love with it. So we have been planning this rainbow birthday party for a while, and have had so much fun doing it.



A few weeks ago, we made these super fun and easy paper stars. We saved them for Sarah's birthday, knowing they would go perfect with her rainbow theme.



And we made some invitations.



Here's Sarah with her cake just before her party started. She came in and saw me finishing the decorating and said, "Oh Mom, I just love it! You did such a great job!" I'm so glad that she liked it. It made all of the hard work worth it just for those sweet words.



When her guests arrived, we made necklaces with our rainbow pasta that we had leftover from last summer. Then we did rainbow manicures, except for a few of the girls who wanted different colors. Like Emma, who wanted blue and yellow. A true Tors fan.



Then she opened presents, and afterwards was given a group hug from all of her friends. It was so cute. Then it was time to sing "Happy Birthday".



We cut into the cake to reveal the six rainbow layers. (Katie pointed out how cool it was that the cake had as many layers as Sarah's age, which I hadn't even thought of. Now she wants nine layers for her birthday cake.) It turned out awesome, and tasted delicious too. We also had a rainbow fruit tray, and rainbow jello, since it is the birthday girl's favorite. I think she enjoyed her rainbow food.



As her guests left, she gave them each one of these crayon cozies that I made. I have seen these on several different craft blogs (here is the one I liked best) and have been wanting to make these for a while, and with the rainbow theme, it was the perfect time. I had kind of a hard time with the first few, but I finally got the hang of it. They were really fun to make, and the perfect party favor. We put little cards on them that said, "Thanks for coloring my world with your friendship! Love, Sarah". I think the kids liked them. I know mine did, and were glad we had a couple left over so they could have one.



Happy Birthday sweet pea! Thanks for coloring our world with your sweet little spirit!

A sure sign that Grandma is in da HOUSE!

And John David's favorite new thing to get into!

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Today is our sweet little Sarah's birthday. When she woke up this morning, she asked, "Mom, am I six now?" She is such a little cutie. She wanted to wear this crown to school. I tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted. She said that other girls in her class wore crowns on their birthdays, so I let her. After all, the name Sarah does mean princess, so if anyone should wear a crown, it should be the princess, right?!



I made these butterfly cupcakes to take to her class. They turned out cute, but not as awesome as the ones that inspired me to make them. Now they were amazing! But I impressed Sarah and her kindergarten friends, and that's all that really matters.



Tonight Maw Maw, Paw Paw, and Uncle Ammon came over to help us celebrate the birthday girl. Aaron and I got her a bike that she had been needing, and Maw Maw and Paw Paw gave her a helmet. She was pretty excited.



We then all sang to the birthday girl, and ate some cupcakes and ice cream.

And then we just enjoyed each others company. And listened to Katie harass Paw Paw (who has been a Colts fan for a long time) about how the Saints are going to beat the Colts. She told him that Colts stands for Count On Losing The Superbowl. It was pretty funny!



Six things about Sarah at age six:
1. She still loves to cuddle! I love this about her, and hope she doesn't outgrow it anytime soon.
2. She is a chocoholic. She would eat chocolate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if her mean mom would let her.
3. Her favorite color is purple, and her favorite real foods are pizza and spaghetti. She has recently discovered that she also loves salad. She is always asking if different foods are good for her body or not, and then says, "I want to eat food that is healthy for my body."
4. She loves to do crafts and color and wants to be an artist when she grows up.
5. Her favorite things to do are ride her new bike and play with her brother and sister.
6. She loves animals and learning about them. Aaron's brother gave us "Planet Earth" dvds for Christmas and she loves to watch them and learn about our beautiful earth and all of its inhabitants.

Sarah is a very sweet, sassy, and determined little girlie girl, and brings so much fun and personality to our family. We love you Sarah!

Grandma's Here!

Mom flew in tonight, and we are so excited to have her here visiting with us for a few weeks. And the girls are already fighting over who gets to sleep with her!

Course 3

Tonight I started Course 3. In this course we are learning how to make more intricate flowers, learning more borders, learning how to make and work with fondant, and how to make tiered cakes. For my final project I have to make this two tiered cake. I am excited to make it, but I don't know what we're going to do with all of this cake. I'm thinking we'll need to have a cake party and invite everyone. Seriously, cake anyone?

Sarah's Field Trip

She was supposed to have one back in December to Grant Tree Farm, but it was cancelled due to bad weather. I was looking forward to going to the tree farm, and was more disappointed than Sarah I think that it was cancelled. And even more disappointed when they sent home a note a few weeks ago saying that they had planned another field trip, but this one would be to the Livestock Show in Lake Charles. I had never been to one, and was not looking forward to it at all. But I have to say that I was surprised that it was actually pretty fun.



First we went to this area that had all kinds of different cows, and lots of them. I wanted to take some pictures of the more interesting looking ones, but I was in charge of three little girls, pushing John David in the stroller, and trying to make sure none of us stepped in poop. We stopped by this lady who talked to the kids about milking cows, and even let the kids try if they wanted to. Sarah was not interested in trying it. This little girl in the picture milking the cow is named MaKayla. I was surprised that she wanted to give it a try because she was ready to leave not long after we walked into the cow area. She said, "Mrs. Young, it stinks in here, the cows are trying to lick me, and I have poop on my shoes! I'm getting out of here!" It was pretty funny.



We then went and watched the goats being judged, but this didn't hold the kids attention for too long, so we headed over to the cute little puppet show. Then there were several people who talked to the kids about different kinds of animals and the things that they make, and that we make from them. Then the kids got to see and pet goats, sheep, a little calf, baby ducks and chicks, a bunny, and a little pony.

The kids even got to practice roping, and got to try out horse racing. Sarah had a great time, and so did I. It was a fun day.

FOR HIRE--One Man Wrecking Crew

*Lots of experience.



*Very efficient, determined, and cute too!



*References available.



*Please call 1-800-WRECKING BALL.

Aloha Jenny and Clayton!

Tonight we went to Amy's for a Happy Birthday/Going Away Party for Jenny and Clayton. They are moving to Hawaii with Jenny's new husband, Andy (who is currently stationed there).





They are pretty excited, and we are excited for them. We will miss you guys, and can't wait to come for a visit!

Primary Talent

Last Sunday I was released from my calling as Enrichment Leader and put in as a counselor in Primary. For the last five years or so, I have bounced back and forth between a counselor in Relief Society or Primary and Enrichment Leader. Maybe one of these days I can figure out how to do these callings and move on. Just kidding. I actually LOVE being in primary. I love the songs, I love the cute kids, and I love that it is so much fun just to be in there with them. Anyway, today was the primary talent show. Although we didn't have alot of kids there, the ones that came showed off their marvelous talents. We had several singers, piano players, a violin solo, a poet, artists (who had their work on display), and dancers. The highlight--at least for me--was watching Aaron do the "Cupid Shuffle" with Katie, Sarah, Savannah, Claire, and Alayna. It was pretty funny watching him shake it! If I can get it to work, I have a video I'll download later.

The Grand Finale Cake

Tonight was the last class of Course 2. I loved this course! It was so much fun! We learned to make lots of flowers (rosettes, rosebuds, chrysanthemums, apple blossoms, violets, the Victorian rose, daisies, daffodils, pansies, and primroses) using royal icing. Daffodils and daisies are definitely my favorite to make! So fun! We also learned how to make color flow icing and how to make different kinds of decorations with it (like the little blue birds on this cake). We also learned how to do several borders. We reviewed the shell border that we learned in course 1, and learned to do the reverse shell, and we learned the rope border, and how to do the basket weave, which is way easier than it looks. And so much fun!



I love how well it turned out!



Cake anyone?

Haircut, Part 2

Sarah got another "haircut" tonight after getting this stuck in her hair.



It's hard to believe, but this is actually the first time that we have had this happen. I was worried when she first told me she had gum in her hair that her new cute cut was going to not be so cute anymore, but after inspecting it, and pulling most of the hair out of the gum, I only had to cut just a tiny bit. You can't even tell. Whew!

Haircuts

Lately Katie has been not wanting me to comb or fix her hair. Which is fine with me--one less thing for me to do. The problem was that she didn't want to do it either. So I told her it was time for a haircut. She didn't want one to begin with, but she finally got excited about the idea. I didn't really want to cut Sarah's. Hers is just finally getting long and pretty like it was before "the old lady haircut". But she wanted hers cut too. So I took her and just thought we'd get hers trimmed. It took the lady like two minutes to trim her hair. I looked at her and asked if she liked it. She shook her head no, and said that she wanted it shorter. I didn't really want to cut it shorter, but she insisted. So I told the lady to go ahead and cut it. So they both got lots taken off--Katie, about 5 inches, and Sarah, about 3.

Here is the before.



And after.

We love their new cuts! Such cute (and sweet) girls. Fixing hair in the mornings just got easier. Wahoo!

My Reality

When I was a kid I used to have a recurring nightmare about a moose that was attacking me and my family. I know it sounds silly, but I was a kid and it was really scary to me. For this reason, I could never watch "Rocky and Bullwinkle". It just creeped me out. Anyway, one night as my Daddy was telling me goodnight, I told him that I didn't want to go to sleep because I was afraid that I was going to have this bad dream. He said, "Tell me your dream, and you will never have it again." So I told him my dream, and I NEVER had it again. He saved me from my bad dream. I asked him a year or so ago if he remembered that story. He said he didn't. But I did. I thought it was the coolest thing ever, and I think that was the beginning of his "Superhero" status in my eyes. Lately I have been having another recurring nightmare. I dream that my Daddy dies. And I wake up, and think to myself, "Oh, it was just a dream." And after a few seconds, the "fog" clears out of my head and I realize that it isn't "just a dream". It is in fact my reality. And then I am sad. So sad that I can't sleep. And then I feel anxious to see him. And then panic sets in as I realize that this is an impossible dream. At least for now. And I wish that my Superhero was here to say, "Tell me your dream, and you will never have it again."

The Order of Things

Katie said something to Aaron that Sarah didn't think was appropriate for her to say to her Daddy. So she corrected her by saying, "Katie, you are not the boss of Daddy. Daddy is the boss of you. (Pause) And Mommy is the boss of Daddy."

Eleven Months

Here's what our little man has learned to do over the last month.



*How to walk--Yes, Maw Maw was right when she predicted that he'd be walking before Christmas. He's been walking for a few weeks now, which means he is getting into stuff faster, and that he's not a little baby anymore. (sniff sniff)



*Drink from a cup. He likes his sippy cup, but prefers to drink out of a regular cup--with help of course.



*How to get what he wants. He's learned that if he does this, he can usually get what he wants, especially if Sarah is around.



*How to eat a sucker, thanks to his sisters and Grandma's sucker tree. It's no wonder he's sweet as sugar! Here are some of his favorite things to do right now.



Clean out the diaper bag.



Eat! If anyone is eating anything, he is right there.



Do the "Indian call" as we referred to it when we were kids. He loves to do it, and it's so cute to watch. Aunt Joyce would be proud, although he isn't nearly as loud as her.



"Play" the guitar. He still absolutely loves Aaron's guitar, and will sit there and strum it. So cute!



And he LOVES, LOVES, LOVES a good game of "peek-a-boo"! He gets so tickled and laughs so hard. It's pretty much the cutest thing ever! He likes to get behind the curtains and play, and it's so cute that I can't even tell him not to play in the curtains. Yep, he's got me wrapped around his chubby little fingers! And quite honestly, I really like it there! Now it's time to plan a John Deere birthday party!

IT IS SO COLD!

How cold is it you may ask? In the low twenties, with wind chills in the teens, which is absolutely, downright, uncommonly frigid for these parts. And cold enough for school to be cancelled today, even though there is no snow or ice. Kinda seems like a waste to me for it to be this cold and not to have snow or even ice. It was also cold enough to break out this.



I have to confess that when I recieved this cute coat for John David at my baby shower, I wondered if he would ever get to wear it. Someone even asked when I opened it up, "Oh, are you guys moving?" So I am glad that it got put to use not only so it didn't just sit in the closet with the tags still on it, but also because he is so dang cute in it!

Course 2

Tonight I went to the first class of the Wilton cake decorating, Course 2. This class is all about learning to make all kinds of flowers and borders. We did a little review of some of the things from course 1, and then learned to make chrysanthemums and rose buds. The instructor also showed us how to make royal and color flow icing, which we have to bring next week to class to practice making more flowers. The thing I like about this course is that we don't have to bring a cake to class every week. If I had known that, I would have taken it sooner. I took a break because I was so tired of cake since we had to take one each week last time. Anyway, it should be lots of fun, and I'm looking forward to learning to make this cool cake on the cover of the course 2 book and student kit.

Third times a charm......right?

At least that's what we're hoping. Today we picked up Katie's third pair of glasses. Her first pair she kept losing the lenses out of. We took them back several times to have them put back in, until she finally lost one and we could never find it. So we went and picked out different frames. That's when she got the cute red pair--burgundy really. They were so cute, and we all loved them. She lost that pair about a month ago. We searched high and low and couldn't find them. So we took her back and she picked out this cute pink frame. They are super cute too. Hopefully she can hang onto them better. Maybe we should make her wear them around her neck on a chain like a little old lady. :)

Our Trip to North Carolina

We left for North Carolina the Sunday after Christmas, and got back this afternoon. It was a quick trip, but so worth it. We had a great time, and made lots of fun memories. Here are some of the highlights.

1.Visiting with Great-Grandma Barnett (my Dad's mom), also known as "Little Grandma". She is such a sweetheart and loves it when we come to visit her.



2. Cousin's sleepover, hosted by my brother, Cory, and his wife, Kristen. They ended up with 11 kids by the time everyone got there. All of the kids had a blast playing Wii, watching movies, munching, and just being together. They also did a marvelous reenactment of the story I posted a few weeks ago about one Christmas Eve when my Daddy was a little boy. You can check it out on Kristen's blog. It's pretty dang cute!



3. Adult party, hosted by my brother Neal and his wife Amanda. After everyone dropped off their kids, we met over at their house and had a Wii tournament. It was so much fun, and very entertaining. While ones waited for their turn on the Wii, others played with the kids' Nintendo DS's (since lots of cousins got them from Santa too). That was loads of fun too, even if I did lose every time. Hey, I was holding a baby at the same time. Anyway, those DS's can be addictive. It's still a toss up between who likes them the best--the adults or the kids.



4. New Year's Eve party, hosted by my sister Melissa and her husband Jacob. We all gathered again for more visiting, another Wii tournament, some delicious finger foods, including yummy cheese and chocolate fondue (thanks Cory and Kristen!), and then.............



..........sparklers! The kids had a blast with the sparklers that Grandma bought for everyone. Afterwards, we all went inside and watched the ball drop, and then celebrated with lots of hugs and kisses. Fun times.



5. New Year's Day we all headed back down to Albertson to Grandma Barnett's for a delicious home cooked feast, including turkey, dressing, yams, butter beans, deviled eggs, and my personal favorites, chicken and pastry and collards. It was so yummy. Oh how I love me some collards! You just can't find them in these parts. Grandma usually cooks her big meal on Christmas Day, but this year she wanted to make sure she cooked when all of "Russell's kids" could be there. So we totally scored and were so glad to be able to be there. I feel like we should have cooked for her, but she enjoys doing it, and says that she will always cook as long as she is able. After we at, we took a picture with all of my siblings and their families with Grandma. Then we just hung out and had a great time visiting with her and my Aunt Carolyn Jean.



6. Just before dark, we all went to the family cemetery to visit Daddy's grave. We tried to sing "Sixpence" to him, but I think the grand kids were the only ones who made it all the way through it. Reality is starting to sink in, and it's hard to think about starting a year without the patriarch of our family. We sure love and miss you Daddy.

7. Celebrating the beginning of the teenage years with the first grandchild, and our New Year's baby, my niece Victoria. Where in the world has the time gone? I remember like it was yesterday spending New Year's Eve in the hospital waiting for her arrival. She is such a sweetheart. I made her a cake, which as you can see turned out to be more like a cake wreck, but it tasted delicious. I told everyone that I meant for it to crack like that. It signified Victoria "breaking" into her teenage years. Yeah, that's it.



8. Having so much fun that we all (except Aaron) slept alot of the drive home--except when we were playing the DS's. Santa was so right on that call. Good job Santa!



9. But the best part of all, was just being together (even if it does make us a little crazy at times, huh Kristie?!) and making lots of good memories! We love you all so much, and can't wait til summer rolls around, and it's time for Camp Singletary!