cupcake decorating.

Is it just my kids, or does everyone else have kids that want constant entertainment? I try to keep up the energy, and I try to come up with new things...but gosh it is exhausting. From the moment they wake up, I need to be on.

After we had already played outside in the rain, we cooked and ate dinner, we had a playdate in the afternoon, we did some coloring crafts...aaaand they were still bored.

So, I whipped up some box cupcakes, and some yummy homemade buttercream for the kids to decorate  make a mess decorating them.

Yes, Devin ate more buttercream than what he put on the cupcakes. He also may have licked all the buttercream off of the cupcakes he decorated 2 seconds after he was done. I was basically his hero afterwards.

Savannah was much more interested in making hers spooky, and not as much eating the finished product.

It was the perfect activity for both a 2 year old and an 8 year old. That can be hard to do sometimes.

Definitely going to put this in the rotation of fun things to do with them, and I know my muffin top will approve.

love. {savannah edition.}

Today it is Savannah's 8th birthday!! Where did the time go?

Here is a love post for her...

I love that Savannah is excited about learning, adores exploring, and can't get enough of the great outdoors.

I love that Savannah will watch her little brother and sister so that I can get things done. She is such a good big sister!!
I love that Savannah wants to try new things.

I love that Savannah has her own style, and has already started to want to do her own hair. She loves cozy clothes, and has a thing for mismatched.

I love that she reminds me of Paul.

I love finding notes and drawings that were clearly intended for her eyes only. :)

I love that she is learning to stand up for herself...she will need this skill her entire life. {BTW, kids are mean, yo! I don't know how many times I have had to tell her not to worry about her big teeth, because someone has teased her...I really do love them! Oh, and hello Savannah look at my teeth!}

I love that for some strange reason {we can't figure it out} she loves to change diapers.

I don't love that she is getting to the stage of rolling eyes, telling me I am ruining her life, and she even called me an evil witch one day. Bwahahaha!! I mostly find all of this entertaining so far, I will tell you when I have had a few years of it.

She is getting baptized soon, and I love that she is so excited...

We love our Van.

Happy Birthday girly...getting oh so close to getting those ears pierced! :)

love. {paul edition}

No better time to do a love post about Paul, because we are celebrating his 34th birthday this weekend.

I love that Paul is confident to go to Pitch Perfect by himself, and then take me two more times because we both love it. He also rocks out to the soundtrack in my car with me.

I love that Paul is the ultimate family man. He doesn't mind when our 3 kids and I tag along to work with him. He loves to spoil us, and always forgets about himself. He never goes to Idaho without taking Savannah, or all of us.

I love that Paul is always willing to help me. He started working more nights, because he stays home to give me the extra set of hands with the babies during the day.

I love that Paul is honest. When I ask for his opinion, I know I will get the truth...not always what I want to hear.

I love that Paul will always listen to my random stories, reads my blog every day, and supports me in my adventures.

I love that even though Paul hates pictures, he will always play along with my craziness.

I love that my weak spots, are his strengths.

Paul is the best at picking out presents, and I am the worst.
Paul is a total rockstar at our budget, I can't be trusted.
Paul is always well dressed, I prefer sweat pants.

I could go on forever...

Love that man of mine.

Happy Birthday Paul!

high blue belt - tae kwon do

Like I said before, Savannah hasn't been loving Tae Kwon Do. She has been at a blue belt since May, and was suppose to test for her high blue belt last month...and that didn't happen. She wasn't ready, and we were okay with skipping out on the testing.

This month her Master put a lot of pressure on her to test. We went to 4 classes a week, got a private lesson, and yet the night before testing...I wasn't confident that she would pass. We even tried to talk to her Master to tell him that it wasn't gonna happen the night before, but he said the show must go on.

{before}

I have never been so nervous for her, and she was nervous too. We ate a quick dinner in the car, just the two of us...and she said that she wanted to say a prayer to help her do well.

As soon as the testing started, I could sense her confidence. It made me relax a little, and I even started to tear up a little watching her totally kill it.

She has never tested where she hasn't had to retest on certain combinations...this time...no retests!! I was so proud, and wished that Paul could have been there to see it all.

Two hours of testing, she totally passed.

We got in the car, and she broke down. Lots of tears for excitement and relief.

{after}

Happy to see her loving Tae Kwon Do again.

wheeler farm

Over the weekend Paul came up with a brilliant idea to go and feed the ducks, and we just so happened to already have an old loaf of bread to feed them. Win, win.

We decided to go to Wheeler Farm, because we thought we could do the pumpkin patch they have...and mark another thing off of our Fall bucket list. After looking at it, we decided it wasn't worth it. It is $7 for kids and you get a tiny pumpkin, a wagon ride, and a little hay maze...oh, and adults have to go in with them, adults are $9.

Paul bribed the kids with toys from Target to not do the pumpkin patch, and everyone was happy.

Okay, so back to feeding the ducks...SO. much. FUN. It will definitely be something we remember to do again in the near future when we need something cheap to do with the kids. It was adorable to watch Devin jump up and down with excitement, and Savannah trying to make friends with the lonely duck in the corner. Totally showing their different personalities.

When the bread ran out way to fast, we went on a nature walk around the farm {crossing another thing off of the Fall bucket list instead}. They had lots of fun Halloween decor set up, and the kids loved to run and play.

We took a quick look at all the farm animals, and decided that baby animals are just so much cuter. Devin still has his obsession with chickens, and Savannah wants a bunny now.

I will be excited when Sabrina is a little older and can hang with the big kids. Right now she just wants to hang in her car seat, and fall in and out of sleep...which means she isn't in a lot of pictures. Sad.

The kids and I love when Daddy comes with us, and makes it that much more fun to do stuff. It always feels good after you do something as a family, and you come home with warm fuzzies with the love you feel for each other.

gardner village witch festival

We actually live fairly close to Gardner Village, and go a lot to pick up orange rolls from the Naborhood Bakery. We use to go to find Snowball the cat, but the store he lived at went out of business...and the kids no longer beg to go as much.

During Halloween it is all the rage to go see all the Witches they have arranged all over the village. We have gone a few years now, and I didn't plan on doing it this year...but it was one of the things on our Fall bucket list {thanks again, Rachel} to do. Savannah is all about getting everything checked off, and so we went.

It is so darn busy that it makes the experience not as fun, IMO. When we went last week the lines were huge, and when you have 2 kids under the age of 2...they aren't as patient. :) Most things we had to completely skip, because it just wasn't worth listening to a couple of babies cry. It made Savannah disappointed, but what do ya do.

We waited in line for the $5 sparkle tattoo that Devin wanted. They said it would last 5 days, it looked like crap the next day. I'll remember that next time.

Savannah really wanted a witch hat this trip, and I was shocked when one of the stores was selling them for super cheap. Nothing is ever cheap, right?! So, she was pretty happy to ge that, until she saw the tattoos...and she wanted that too!

We found a few of the witches, but Devin is still terrified of big characters...so he wanted nothing to do with those. So, I ended up letting them dance on the stage for most of our trip...which actually made them both happy.

I do think it is fun to go, but maybe next time I will keep it to a big girl date with Savannah...

AND note to self...remember to let the kids dress up. I always forget, total Mom fail.

goals.

After the first couple of weeks of school Savannah came home with the paper that said one of her goals this year was to make new friends {especially from school}. What I didn't realize when she made this a goal, was that it would also become a goal of mine.

Savannah has wanted to invite friends over from school, exchange phone numbers, go home from school with friends...on and on and on for a long time. In my head I know this is part of her growing up, but then my overly protective Mom comes shining through...and I always squelch the idea. I did let her invite friends from school to her birthday party last year, and there was the one time I let her go home with a friend on early day...but I will be honest and I say I was a mess for that entire time.

I have become really good at excuses as to why she can't invite {insert name} to do this or that. I will spare you, and not share them. In her ripe old age of soon-to-be 8, she has figured me out though. It really has nothing to do with the friends either, I am just crazy.

So, when I told Savannah that I had an extra ticket to Secret of the Wings, she had a list of friends she was ready to invite from school. I tried to use all of my best excuses, but she had a great come back for all of them.

Gasp, this was happening. I was going to have to call a Mom, and in the process of inviting her daughter to come with us...I had to make a friend. Gah.

So, I chickened out...I emailed super late the night before the movie, when I just knew that it was going to be too late. {Okay, so I know I sound lame!} I had already set Savannah up for disappointment, and then guess what happened? The Mom promptly emailed me back, gave me her phone number...and we chatted on the phone that night, making plans for the movie.

I don't know why this all felt like a first date or something. Savannah even made me go and vacuum out the car, because the backseat always looks like a bomb went off.

It was a great learning experience for both of us. It made me realize that I need to let Savannah experience things like this more often. She was so happy, and had a lot more fun than if we had just gone with each other and Bean. They giggled in the backseat, said odd things to each other, and I let them be silly. It was fun for me to watch Savannah acting so grown up...definitely not little anymore.

I guess this goal isn't so bad if we both get a few more friends out it. Hopefully next time I won't be so nervous when I have to call a Mom. ;)

Oh, and Secret of the Wings was adorable, and fun. I loved that they handed out sparkling wings for the little girls. It definitely was the perfect girly date, and will be going in our DVD collection after it comes out.

he is addicted.

This is one of the many things I love about Paul.

He is addicted to buying jammies, and holiday apparel for the kids. Last week I bought a Thanksgiving shirt for Bean, and I was scolded for taking his job.

It is true we are a little bit obsessed with October. We love the color orange, we love our October babies, and we love the weather.

We decided we did go a little crazy for Bean's first Halloween, but whatev...

I had to throw in a sad picture, just to make sure you guys know she does cry sometimes. :)

the power of social media.

I don't know if it is because I am a blogger, or what...but social media totally works on me. It makes me want to buy new things after reading a review, go to a new store, and eat at different restaurants.

When two of my bloggin' friends wrote posts for Scheel's grand opening, I knew I had to take the kids. I didn't know what Scheel's even was until Emily and Stephanie talked about it. They did a great job making me excited, and I looked forward to the grand opening. :)

When I told Paul that is what I had planned for our Saturday a couple of weeks ago, he was a bit skeptical about going. Grand opening = busy...indeed it was.

How can you not want to go and see a ferris wheel inside a store, and the biggest fish tank eva...{while we were in the store, we saw a scuba diver doing some maintenance in the tank!}

The kids loved it! It was free to browse, except our browsing lead to purchases.

I did show loads of self control, because I tried baby Uggs on Bri and decided $65 was a bit much to pay for her shoes. I even passed up the adorable Northface snow suit that was just a cool 100 bucks! Be proud people!

They haven't gotten all of the 49ers and SF Giants stuff in stock yet which was disappointing...it just means I have an excuse to go back for Christmas shopping for Paul.  

entertainment.

It is true that I am slightly obsessed with pictures, and when I get to have professional family pictures...it is a lot like Christmas.

After Paul bought these really cute fall outfits for the kids {that he totally picked out without me}, I just knew we had to splurge and get pictures done in them. I realize that we just had pictures done in July...twice...but Sabrina changes daily. {I justify things, roll with it!}

I had zero intention on having Paul and I in the pictures, but then I realized the last time we had family pictures Devin wasn't even walking. It always takes a little begging until Paul finally consents to being in them.

So, the pictures happened today. I woke up early, and everything ran so smoothly...until we got to our location. Dun, dun, duuuun.

I waited until the last possible moment to dress Sabrina. Ya see, she has this problem with her bodily functions. They are unlike anything I have ever experienced...let me give you a quick example...

I packed 6 outfits for our overnight trip to Idaho, that girl came home nekkid. She had pooped on every single one in 36 hours!! It is a problem, and I have tried all possible remedies...no luck.

So, can you imagine what happened in the 9 miles from our house to the location!? BLOWOUT!! Should I point out her shirt was cream!!!! I almost died when I picked her up out of the carseat.

This is when Paul and I looked at each other, and couldn't help but laugh...and wonder what the heck we were thinking by putting her in the outfit before we got there! Lesson learned...never trust her bowels! Like never, ever.

Even though Sabrina tried to sabotage our family pictures...our photographer wasn't about to let it. While I had Bean nekkid on the grass in 60 degree morning weather, Kim did what she does best...whipped her camera out and took pictures of the entertainment.

In that moment I was so glad that I had hired Kim to take our pictures, she was absolutely just what we needed today. She didn't let a little poop ruin our day, and we made the outfit work. :) Even though no one wanted to hold the baby.

I have always known I loved Kim, I mean we did know each other in Junior High...but today pretty much sealed the deal. We had fun, we felt comfortable, and Paul and I even decided she could totally pull off being his back up wife. I can't wait to see the end result. I am sure the pictures will be amazing, her work always is. AND yes, I am already trying to figure out the next time we can do family pictures...

Secret of the Wings

Savannah is so excited to see this movie. We were thrilled when we got the invite to go and see the ADVANCED screening!

Guess what made it all the more exciting?

I get to invite all my readers to join us to see it too! Sweet, right!?

First you have to claim your free tickets here. {Make sure you do this, because we want you to actually get in.}

It will be at Jordan Commons.
Saturday, October 13th.
10:00 AM!!

Come with us...we are making it a date...without the boys! :)

Tiny Prints + Giveaway

If you have been a blog reader for any amount of time, you already know my love of snail mail. Last year instead of Christmas Cards we did Valentine cards. It was fun to change things up, and to be able to announce {again} that Bri was due in June. I have never done birth announcements, and decided that I shouldn't start with my last baby. So, I am definitely excited to send cards out sooner rather than later to show off our family of 5.

I have been going back and forth on sending Thanksgiving cards...to be different, or just stick with what everyone else is doing. Our family pictures are this week, and I know I will be so excited for everyone to see the end result...I will probably end up doing whatever holiday comes first, Halloween. :) I am impatient like that.

Tiny Prints has been my go-to for my holiday cards, return address labels, and everything inbetween for over a year now. We have even done personalized stationary for Van's teachers last year, and it was a total hit. Of course they will be printing whatever I decide on, and I might not be able to decide and will end up printing cards for the next few holidays...just because everything they have is cute.

I have never been disappointed with anything I have ordered from them, and I know first hand they have great customer service. Tiny Prints also has an awesome "special promotions" page that you should always check out before ordering. Think...free shipping, 20% off, free samples. You can thank me later for that little nugget of knowlege.

Who else has a love for snail mail and Tiny Prints? Well, if you don't let me try to fix that...

Tiny Prints would like to give one of my readers a $50 gift card to go towards your next order {not including shipping}.

Christmas is comin' early around these parts! :)

Just comment.

Giveaway ends October 29th at Midnight MST. Winner will be chosen by random.org, and will be notified via email.

Disclosure: Tiny Prints has compensated me with product for posting this, but my love of snail mail is all my very own.

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road trippin'

It has been since before having Bri that I have tagged along to Idaho to work and play. Which also means Devin has stayed home with me, and Savannah has been Daddy's helper.

Paul only had a few things to do this trip, so we made it a family affair...and Bri's first road trip.

I couldn't have asked the kids to be any better behaved in the car, and at the locations. Which is the only places I really care about.

After we worked very little, we started to play.

We stopped by our favorite Mexican restaurant Guadalajara's. We use to have vending in here, but don't anymore. It was a bittersweet stop in our road trip. The owner came up and gave Savannah the biggest hug, gave Devin a huge kiss, and fell madly in love with our Bri...no surprise there. As we sat and ate the best all you can eat food ever, we talked about all the memories we have made here in Idaho. The people we work with have become part of our family, love our kids, and are excited to see us. We decided that even if we don't have vending as a reason to come visit, we will make it a priority to still come eat at Guadalajara's more often!

We made a quick trip to the mall in Twin Falls. Paul specifically told me that we were not buying the kids anymore clothes, and yet we walked out of that mall with 3 overstuffed bags! We have gotten a little carried away with all these adorable coordinating outfits for these babies of ours. Just you wait until you see some of the pictures. :) We justified it all by saying we have family pictures, Savannah's baptism, holidays...and the kids need to look sharp.

The kids played video games, while Paul and I sat on the floor of the arcade trying to rest up for our night.

We rushed to check in to the hotel, got Bina to sleep, and changed clothes to head to the swimming pool. I am proud that Savannah is getting so brave in the water. She jumps off the side, and is confident going under now. It took her a long time, but the improvements are huge. Devin is a lot more daring, and I was proud that he only went under once and needed to be rescued. I had to pull those two away from the pool so that we could eat, they could have stayed in the water all night.

With lots of jumping on beds, movies, treats, and fun...they crashed almost 2 hours past bedtime.

We woke up to the free hotel breakfast, another dip in the pool, a quick stop for gas, and we couldn't help going back for more Guadalajara's...and poof! our fun road trip was over.

So glad that Paul doesn't mind bringing us all along, even though it a lot more work for him. It isn't some tropical vacation, but it is nice to have a little getaway to recharge us all for the new week.

Mega Bloks Lil' Princess Party!

Before I start talking about the party, we have never had boy toys and girl toys. At one point Savannah was really in to playing with trains, and Devin is a big fan of babies, princess stuff, and whatever else his sister thinks is cool. This makes things so much easier at our house.

The Lil' Princess line of Mega Bloks have been perfect for my two older kids to play together endlessly. Without any fighting, I might add.

Devin loves the horsies {aka unicorns!}. Savannah loves to set up everything just so, and with the addition of the 3 story Enchanted Castle to our collection of Mega Bloks toys...she has all the more things to rearrange.

We had a little playdate at the park to share the fun you can have with these little fairies, and unicorns...I am positive no one left disappointed.

I loved that the girls quickly unboxed the toys, and took the fairies and unicorns on a flight to the playground. Every time I looked at one of the kids, my little heart melted at the imagination and fun they were having.

I saw a little group of girls huddled up all talking and playing with the toys, and I couldn't help but want to know exactly what they were dreaming up in that circle. I love toys that require them to imagine. Savannah has always had a spectacular imagination, and it has been fun to watch her teach Devin to use his.

You always wonder after the party and the excitement of opening up the new toys, if it quickly wears off...in our case it hasn't. It only has made Devin decide that his other Mega Bloks stuff is even cooler. The boat he has had for at least a year has gotten more use ever since he realized how much fun this all can be!

Since I have already started my Christmas shopping, I decided that Santa Claus will most definitely be bringing more Mega Bloks...especially since my kids will actually share these toys.

Disclosure: Thank you MommyParties and Mega Bloks for letting us invite our little friends to experience such awesome toys. Our opinions were not swayed, the toys were just that awesome! By publishing this post, I received free products as part of a promotional program with MomSelect.

friday photo dump: week 11

1. We have a new place to eat that we love...it is Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse. It is some of the best BBQ I have had, and the service was awesome too. Totally an added bonus.

2. We are addicted to Gymboree lately. With family pictures coming up, and the season change...we are shoppin' til we drop.

3. I saw this idea, and I just happened to have everything to make a version of the wreath I saw. Can I just vent a little? Okay, well I am going to anyway. ;) I have read so much about Pinterest, and bloggers not getting credit for the idea they came up with, and Pinterest not making things...people do. I get it, I really do. BUT you know what, all of it just makes me not want to use Pinterest. I am afraid the wrong person will get credit, and then on and on and on...End rant. So, yes I saw this idea on Pinterest, I didn't pin it...because of the above reason. Sorry to the person who originally came up with this, and I am not giving you credit...I think you are genious. If you find this post, and see your idea...comment and tell us who you are.

4. Co sleeping with Devin is a little hard. This pictures was taken in the middle of night, in a dark room, when the flash went off it hurt my eyes. Sooo, yes that is his foot, and the other one is on the top of my head. He is a mover and shaker.

5. Bless this girl for coming to our family.

6. Flour Girls & Dough Boys needs some TLC. When they have 8 drink options and 3 of them are out, and it happens every. single. time. Huge problem. They have some serious slow service, and can't get an order right even if you repeat yourself. Problem. It is a darn good thing they have good food.

7. I love hand watering, and the kids like for me to spray them too. It is a win-win.

8. Devin with his girly duck face and purple finger nails...look at the sassy too...he is definitely in touch with his feminine side.

Have a great weekend folks. Bina is finally old enough to take our favorite {bwahaha} trip to Idaho this weekend. Twin Falls or bust friends.

Follow me on Instagram to see the crazy...Evonce.

oh so helpful.

Yesterday I was crazy. One minute I was a screaming idiot, the next I was reading an article and bawling.

I had to go to parent teacher conferences with all three kids by myself. People, it got ugly. Good thing the teacher still had such awesome things to say about our little Van, what I heard through the screaming of my two babies...of course! I don't always appreciate how amazing Savannah is. She usually comes home from school to an already grumpy Mommy. When things are getting hairy, I take it out on her...because she actually listens. I never said I was perfect, but darn I try.

After telling Paul about my afternoon, he took me to dinner...and finished it up with dessert fondue. I know I looked frazzled, I don't hide my feelings very well.

He took the kids home, and sent me on my way by myself. Those minutes of picking up a Christmas present, and the quiet...were bliss. I came home already feeling refreshed. Amazing what little I need to be happy again.

I got everyone to bed, and then Paul sent me to bed. The clock read 8 something. You guys, I might just make this a habit, it was awesome.

I woke up this morning, and feel 10 pounds lighter.
My house is cleaner.
My kids are cuter, and better behaved.
My motivation, it's back.
The hallway that always has a laundry pile...it is clean {!!!!}.
I showered before 9:00.
My bed, it got made.

Thank you Paul for always helping me run this joint.

Love these kids of mine, I am just trying to still figure out the juggling act.

she's a brownie.

We have been trying to find some different activities for Van that she may like, but don't overwhelm our time. There is a fine balance for us, and I don't want to tip that scale in the wrong direction.

Van has been in Tae Kwon Do for years, but lately she isn't loving it. We thought taking the "maternity break" would help, but it didn't. As parents we think it is good for her to be in, and she will continue Tae Kwon Do...but we have backed off on the pressure to advance belts. Once she is in class she enjoys herself, and I like seeing her exercise and learn something that is out of her comfort zone. So in a nut shell, we are making her stay in.

After discussions of what we should add, she picked being a Girl Scout. I was kind of surprised how excited she was to do it...since I have never been one, and knew next to nothing about the program.

Her first "meeting" she asked if they were going to sell cookies that night. She still has her innocence, and I love it.

She has since gone a few more times, and has enjoyed making new friends in the neighborhood, and likes her leaders too (Hello Jessica and Nancy!). She has learned, and had fun...which I love to see. We even went to a 100 year celebration at the park with her troop, and that little girl was on cloud 9.

I am proud of Van for wanting to try new things, and making a good choice in her extracurricular activities! She is now counting down until she is selling those cookies...watch out, she will be coming to you soon! :)