Harry Potter Party

There will be details coming (I think the party could stand to have several blog entries!), but the short-and-skinny details are we decided to throw a party to coincide with two important events on Friday, July 20th 2007: The release of the new and final Harry Potter book and Bountiful City Fireworks for the 24th of July celebration. We invited Greg's family over for dinner and a magical night at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am pleased to report that the kids almost had as much fun as the adults. Everything from potions class to the treat trolley on the Hogwart's Express.

Loads of pictures (and a slide show) are available at http://picasaweb.google.com/goyuix/HarryPotterParty
(tip: you can press F11 on your keyboard to toggle the slide show "full screen" once it has begun, F11 again to toggle back to normal)

My true identity revealed!

In one week, I made my first wedding cake and changed my first flat tire. Accordingly, I must say that in addition to taking care of my four little girls, I think I can now reveal that I am in fact super-girl! Last night Greg needed to change the tire on the car, and although I have watched people change a tire I have never actually done the whole thing myself. So, from beginning to end (with the exception of loosening the first lug nut) I changed the tire by myself! Greg stood close by trying to comfort a fussy Rachel making funny comments about the role reversal in the family. After the fact, Greg remembered that he had given blood earlier in the day, so it was a good thing he didn't over exert himself.Here is a picture of the cake I modeled Haylee's wedding cake after, but instead of the flowers in the middle, she wanted a 4 tier cake. Sadly, in my nervousness to get the cake and my girls all ready for the reception, I forgot my camera, so I will have to wait for the wedding pictures to post a picture of the actual cake, but I think it turned out pretty well.

Here's Rachel

I couldn't let Greg post a family picture without Rachel, so I had to get our picture "retaken" with her included! So here it is!

Happy Fourth!

Well, as I don't really have anything interesting to post, I thought I would include a family photo taken not too long before Rachel was born....
As you can probably tell - we all look a bit different. The Simpsons Movie website now has a section on it where you can go and create your own character so I whipped up a few family members and churned out a family photo. No baby option so poor Rachel got neglected. It amazing to see what husbands end up doing with a day off!

Sunday afternoons

What speaks of a better Sunday afternoon than a nice relaxing nap, and now I know what it means to "sleep like a baby." Sarah decided to try to join Rachel in her crib, got stuck, and started to cry for help. When I went in Rachel's room, I discovered Sarah perched on the top of the crib with one leg in and one leg out, and Rachel sleeping with both arms resting behind her head. Who but a baby could stay zonked out under such circumstances?

And for anyone who didn't hear about Ellie's adventures in church a week ago, here is a quick recap. During Sacrament Meeting, Ellie was being more restless than usual, and Greg had to take her out after the Sacrament. He took her home (one of the advantages to living next door) and sat her on the fireplace to practice being reverent. Ellie was a little distraught at not being able to stay at church, so Greg asked if Ellie would like to say a prayer to help her be more reverent. As she said her prayer, she stated, "I'm sorry for all those bad things at church. Please help me to do better because this is a serious problem."
I am happy to report that this week she was much better behaved!

Two weddings and a Birthday

Wow! I can't believe it is already July! We ended June with a bang--the 29th being Becca's birthday, Ben's half-birthday and Grandpa Welling's wedding day! On the 30th we had a shower for Haylee & now as we enter July we will get ready for Greg's birthday and Haylee's wedding. For Becca's birthday, she requested a "Strawberry Shortcake" party, so we invited her friends over and played pin the crown on Strawberry Shortcake, Strawberry Shortcake Bingo, went "berry" picking, made strawberry scented play dough, ate peanut butter and "strawberry" sandwiches, and ate strawberry cake and ice cream.
I admit that I love decorating my kids' birthday cakes, but I don't usually do anything as formal as I did for Becca's party. Since Haylee has requested that I make her wedding cake --yikes!-- I decided that I had better get some practice in making a tiered cake. So here is Becca's multi-tiered birthday cake, complete with a few finger jabs from her siblings. I am thinking it would be smart to work on the wedding cake after all my kids have gone to bed to prevent the same thing from happening there! :)