Railey's Easter Birthday

Railey turned 4!  I can hardly believe it!  This year she was the "Easter Girl" and she let EVERYONE know it.  For over a month before Easter she kept telling everyone and anyone that her birthday was on Easter and that she was the Easter Girl.  Somehow that was supposed to get her extra of something.  But she did have a great birthday.  When she was waking up in the morning I went in to wish her a happy birthday and she was adamant that it wasn't her birthday yet.  I asked when it would be and she told me not till after they sang to her in primary.  So we didn't sing because she was just being quite the bear.  Well lucky for me I got to be her teacher and was there when they called her name to come and open the mail box and find all the birthday surprises in there.  Yes there was one for her, surprise, surprise!  She was grinning from ear to ear.  They sang happy Birthday to her and she came and sat back down next to me and I asked if it was now her birthday and grinning from ear to ear she said YES!  Well we went home and quickly took a few Easter pictures and then headed in to open presents.  All she wanted was a Tinkerbell doll.  Because when she grows up she is going to be Tinkerbell.  So she got that and a couple of princess shoes (we split the box between Railey's and Kenna's birthdays.  Oh she was in seventh heaven.  It was fun to see her excitement.

 

 

 

 

Later that afternoon Darc and Jared came over to have cake with us.  We found some really cute cakes online of some Easter baskets with a chocolate bunny in them and she loved is so I tried to duplicate it.  I came to realize rather quickly that I can't do a basket weave and with lots of kids hanging out around me I quickly turned it into some sort of next looking thing.  Oh it doesn't matter she LOVED it no matter what!  They decorated it with all the peeps and bunny and eggs and everything.  That's when I realized It didn't matter what I did to the cake all the candy alone would make the cake perfect for any child between the ages of 1-15.  

 

She made her wish and refused to tell us what it was.  But that's normal she won't even tell us her dreams because "a dream is a wish" (yea from Cinderella) and if you tell your dreams or wishes they won't come true.  But we have a beautiful birthday girl who continues to grow up faster than we want her too.  She is definitely our happy girl.  In every prayer she says she prays that we can all be happy and then she goes about trying to make that come true.  She is definitely the sunshine in all of our days.  That's not to say that she doesn't have her fair share of arguments with her brothers and even Kenna but that smile she has is everywhere.  We love you Ray, Ray.  Happy Birthday!!!!

Belly Dancing

Railey has some pretty amazing talents. She has discovered many of them just recently. Here's one of her latest. This just makes us laugh. Yet no one else in the family can do it at all.

Who stole the camera from the counter?

Any guesses who stole the camera from it's spot on the counter? Oh well, he did pretty good snapping away and sometimes after I find him with it he convinces me to snap a few of him. He is a pretty good looking kid so I guess it's worth it. And isn't that the reason we went cheep with the camera we got, so that if he does break it again we aren't out quite so much money. Great pictures Seth!

Seth loves doing these hand stand flip things.

See Kenna's many personalities even between two pictures taken back to back

My little helpers

Railey and Kenna love helping me in the kitchen! Any time I am going to be mixing, stirring, cooking or baking they have to be right by me. They especially love the mixer. Whenever I am making cookies or bread I make a decent size batch which can cause my mixer to want to move all over the counter so I have grown accustomed to just placing my hand on the top to hold it in place. Well anytime the girls are in helping me they have to sit on either side of the mixer and they automatically put their hand up on top. I asked why they did this and they told me it was because I did it. I really don't mind but sometimes they scare me when they aren't paying attention and let their hand go down a bit. We haven't had any issues yet but it really makes me wonder what other bad habits are they getting from me. I know I've picked things up from my parents and do them just because that's how they did them even if there is no rhyme or reason to it but that's just the way we do it. I'm sure placing their hands on the mixer will only be one of MANY things they will pick up bad or good. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love being in the kitchen with them (most of the time).

Blessing Dresses

I was going to make a blessing dress for new baby Reece. Erin was coming over to decide how she wanted me to make the dress (out of her wedding dress--I know freaky huh, I still can't believe she trusted me that much) any way I pulled out Railey and Kennas dresses to show her. The girls were sure they would fit into them, so we tried them on and guess what they still fit and were too long on both of them. Raileys could have buttoned in the back but we also may have popped a button off so we just didn't go there. I guess I made them a little big. But the sure had fun twirling around in their dresses. It was fun to see how excited they were. I have the boys outfit hanging on the wall but I still haven't finished the girls shadow boxes so theirs sit in the closet. Pulling them out is a really big deal. But look how cute they were.

And no I don't have a picture of Reece's dress I forgot to take one. I was more worried about getting it out of my house before something happened to it. Maybe I can get one on Sunday at the blessing. But it did turn out quite cute and simple. I did love the fabric!

Bike Riding

The neighbors gave Railey a bike a couple weeks ago. She was ecstatic! First off it was pink, then there were princesses on it and all of that topped off with the fact that it was hers. Only problem we had to hold her up everywhere she went because there were no training wheels, so that problem was quickly solved with a trip to Wal-Mart. She has never ridden anything or had to peddle anything, let along steer while pedaling and we knew that would be an issue since it was for the boys. So as soon as we flipped the bike over after putting the training wheels on, Steve turned to Railey and said "Let me put the tools away and then I will help you." He walked 4 ft over to his tool box and when he turned around she was in the middle of the road pedaling away. She needed no help! WHAT! Every kid needs help knowing how to ride a bike, but not Railey! She is out there constantly riding and just loves it. She's actually good enough that I think I will take one of the training wheels of this week and see how that goes for a week or so before taking them both off. She's amazing. Go Railey-- except not out of the cul-de-sac!

She Don't Know She's Beautiful

I threw together a dress for Railey today during Kenna's nap. Railey likes to sit there and "help" me the whole time especially when she knows the dress is for her. She of course had to try it on like 5 times before the dress was done, but now that it's done she won't take it off. I have to get it off of her so that it will still be clean for Sunday. Anyway Railey judges a dress by its twirl ability --"if it don't twirl she don't wear it!" The dress can be ugly but full in the skirt and its beautiful to her cause it twirls. I've made her some way cute things that she won't wear now because they aren't good to dance in. Silly girl! So after making and finishing the dress I was over cleaning up my mess when I looked over to see Railey and Kenna dancing to the song "She don't know she's beautiful" It was so cute. Though both girls know they are beautiful, they are even more so when they are happily dancing! But if you listen carefully you will also hear Railey singing the words. This is a song she has always fallen asleep to even from the time she was a baby, she loves it and loves to sing "Beautiful" loud and clear. Also you can't help but notice what a little ham Kenna is. Most people don't get to see this cute side of her because she is so serious scowly in front of everyone else but this is what we see all the time.

Wink Wink

A while back Steve was winking at Railey, he's cute with the kids and me like that. Ya know how some people are winkers, he's one. I'm not but I find it quite charming. Anyway back to the post. Railey started trying to copy Steve and eventually got it down. She is so determined. So here are a few pics of her winking at the camera. It's still a very concentrated wink but a wink nevertheless. The other thing she's picked up is snapping her finger. And yes you can even hear it snap! She's good! I don't know that Damen and Seth even know how to snap but she goes around showing everyone. That is one thing I love about kids they are not shy to show what they have learned and accomplished. What changes in adults that we think we aren't modest if we show what we've learned. Who decided that anyway? It's stupid. One more reason Christ says we need to become like little children.

Stake Conference

We had Stake Conference last Sunday. Our Stake broadcasts the conference to 3 different buildings. I must say I used to enjoy conference growing up, now it's a bit frustrating and almost dreaded. Oh that sounds so bad. I'm sorry it's just that trying to entertain and keep 4 kids reverent for 2 hours in a dark room just wears me out! I think in the five years we have lived here in Lehi we have attended the actual meeting in the actual building only 2 times, probably because we are the biggest ward in the stake and fill our own chapel on a normal Sunday clear to the back of the gym (it is a smaller gym). But we are a big ward and a very active ward.

Anyway lets just say they have some serious issues with broadcasting it over the Internet. After a 5 minute pause in the middle of the prayer (you should have seen all the people looking up to notice why the guy was so emotional), then after missing all of the sustainings, half of the stake presidents talk as well as some of a couple of other talks, we were getting a little perturbed. Why they can't hold two sessions like they did in our last stake I don't know but we were a little frustrated the noise level kept raising and raising with each LOOOOONG pause.

But we all had to laugh when Railey in her normal loud voice (she's is incapable of using a normal quite or even everyday voice--for her it is LOUD, LOUDER AND LOUDEST) said, "Mom I really don't like this movie can we get a new one." Sadly I had to agree at that point.

Always some theatrics

Seth had to memorize a poem a few months back for school. He chose "The Night Was Dark and Stormy" (the same one Damen did last year) He did a great job! He spent about one day memorizing it and was ready but it was all that day. His teacher really wanted him to do it for the storytelling festival but he wasn't interested in having to perform in front of more people. He's so funny that way. He will crack jokes all day long and loves being the life of the party and being silly but when forced to do it NO WAY. Damen on the other hand is the complete opposite!

Two days later Railey was in bed with us and all of a sudden she starts repeating the poem. While she had heard Seth saying it over and over I guess she got it down too. It is so cute to watch them both do it that I had to capture it on video. Like all kids they love to perform in front of the camera but the actions they do with this poem they do even without and sometimes even more dramatic. Like I said whether it's repeating a poem or normal everyday fighting or playing there are always some theatrics in our home.

Happy Birthday Railey

Today was Raileys birthday. She just turned 3! Oh my goodness where has the time gone. We woke up to a couple inches of snow on the ground just like the morning she was born. All I can say is that better not be a tradition the rest of her life. I am SICK of Snow! Any way back to Railey. This is the perfect age for a birthday. She expects so much and is so excited for every little detail BUT she is not disappointed or expecting too much does that make sense. She doesn't care that the little presents she gets don't cost much its just that she got some. She doesn't care that there isn't streamers hanging from the ceiling she just wanted the birthday sign hung (which we couldn't find so had to make one). Every little thing is just so exciting and the best part is she goes around singing "Happy Birthday to Me" all day long and all you can do is smile because it's so cute. If I did that I'd be laughed at.

For months Railey has wanted a choo choo train cake. I didn't want to make a choo choo train cake--not for my princess. I wanted to make this rainbow cake that I had seen on line. Well at least all the layers I didn't care what the cake was decorated as. But when we got to looking online we saw a cute lady bug and she wanted that. I was happy. So we set to making the cake. After six rainbow colors of layers we decided that we couldn't put the lady bug on top like the original plan was going to be so we had to come up with something for the towering cake. Steve suggested a castle. I was all for it. This was going to be so girly! I told Steve later "next time I suggest getting "Hersey nuggets" to do the top of the castle just say I'll be right back dear and go to the store without me even asking." See I said the nuggets would be a good idea but I didn't do it instead I cut out little sections of the top layer and then "glued" them to the little section that I hadn't cut out which was just a cakey mess. nuggets would have been better. But once that top part was frosted everything else was fun and Railey was there with me the whole time, even bumping me quite a bit the little 3 year old!

Oh but she loved her cake! She was so proud of it. By the time we had dinner ready and then invited some friends over because the cake was so humongous, we still didn't have a present for her. So I sent Steve and the boys to go get something before our friends came. Oh Railey loved what the got her!

A hair brush and comb and MAKEUP! Yes you heard me right! I guess Steve and I haven't had the talk yet about what age girls should wear make up! J/K. It was just lip gloss and NAIL POLISH which I let her wear when I put it on. But when I found her in her room painting her own toes I might or might not have gotten a little upset and threatened her with her life. Then we told her to never share her lip gloss so that she wouldn't share germs. What was the first thing she told me when her friend came over. "Look Mom doesn't she look so BEAUTIFUL with her lip stock" (that's what she calls it). Then she showed me her nails that she had painted by herself and that's when I gathered up all the polish and hid it. What a great present. But she is beautiful!

Here's the candles being blown out!

Here's the 6 layer cake. Boy was this thing hard to cut and dish up but all the kids loved it and couldn't stop talking about how "big" it was. It was pretty BIG!

Oh Railey, you definitely are our little princess. Everyday you do become more and more beautiful. We waited was seemed like and eternity to welcome you into our home and now we honestly do not know what we would do without you. You bring so much joy and peace to our home. Yes you have your moments but all in all you are such a happy girl. We love how you run everywhere on your tippy toes and how you have to have twirly skirts on anytime music is playing. We love to see how much you love your brothers, you can definitely bring out the best in them. We love watching you with Kenna and seeing how you are already bestest friends with her. You are a great big sister. Railey you were named after both your grandmas. You have inherited qualities and talents from each one and we hope you continue to look to them for council and wisdom. They have so much to teach you, things that Mom and Dad won't be able to teach you. Look up to them and follow them. Railey we love you and wish you a very

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I'm Soooo Beautiful!

Railey knows she is beautiful. She always has. She knows others are as well. She will come up to Kenna and me and say "Oh you are soooo beautiful." It not only makes you feel good about yourself but she just melts you every time she does it. (which is often) She is so sincere and I even believe that she does really see people for who they are and just how beautiful people can be. Steve I think helps with all of this as he is always telling her how beautiful she is. But, yes there always has to be a but doesn't there, the other day she wanted to be beautiful like Mom. After an extremely long period of time that it was quiet in the house while I was exercising, we found Railey in the bathroom trying on every shade of makeup I have. Yes there is even a bluish green on her face, which I have never ever worn (someone gave it to me). We tried hard to tell her that she doesn't need it, but it's hard to convince her when she sees mom put it on every day!

Right now I have to ask her if it is Halloween, or if she is 12. When she says no to both I tell her No as well.

Growing Up

So it is that time of month for me (now you all know I'm not pregnant) and I had gone into the bathroom to do a little out with the old in with the new (ok is that too much info?) Well it's true and of course I had two little girls in tow. Why can't a mom go in there by herself anyway? So I had a tampon in my hand, unopened (waiting for the girls to listen and leave the room) when Railey says, "Mom can I have one of those so I can grow up?" I guess at one point I must have told her she couldn't use one until she was all grown up. Maybe that was the same time she dumped an entire new box on the ground opened them all up and pulled them all apart only to come and get me to show me, with pride all over her face, what she had just done. I just hope it's a long, long time before she has to use them and once she starts she'll be wishing she didn't have to!

Railey's 1st Skiing Experience

On Martin Luther Day we decided Steve would take the kids skiing. We had Railey all ready to go with her new skis (DI $8) when Steve had the idea to take her over to the church hill, instead of up to the resort. That was the best idea ever! She loved skiing but was done after about 20 minutes and wanted to go sledding with the boys. She did great, as you'll see on the videos. Yeah she's 2 1/2 and skis better than me. Steve keeps telling me if I'm going to learn I better do it with the girls 'cause the boys are already way better and would actually scare me to watch them at this point.

We practiced the pizza before we went over

Her cute double chin poking through her coat (oh she's so excited)

Waiting for dad to pick her up. She couldn't walk the boots were too big

Just getting the skis on and practicing pizza on the snow

there she goes down the hill

Here are a couple of videos of how well she was doing by the end. She's a natural!