Happy Birthday Andy and Giovanni!!!

I am so excited to celebrate my boys today! It's been a fun day for them and a little bit of fun for me! :) They are REALLY hyper, and very excited about their birthdays! Today Andy turned 9 (well, at 7:44pm he will be 9 lol) and Giovanni turned 4 at 9:24am! :-) It's funny because when people hear that the boys were born on the same day EVERYONE thinks they are twins until they find out they are 5 years apart. Andy was born c-section after Z went through 30 hours of labor, he just wouldn't come. Then 5 years later she was getting ready to have Giovanni and they were picking the date for the c-section and every date they chose the dr was booked. They finally narrowed it down to the 28th because the dr was going out of town. So totally by fluke the boys were born on the same day 5 years apart.

I continued my tradition of letting the kids chose breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So for breakfast I made Andy a HUGE bacon and cheese omelet with salsa and jabenaro hot sauce (he LOVES spicy foods)and he ate the whole thing! I made Giovanni mickey mouse pancakes with a ton of syrup just like he likes! Of course for lunch Andy was at school but I surprised him and brought him Chinese food- spicy kung pow chicken, an egg roll, and fried rice- his favorite! He was soo happy when he saw me in the hall, and he kept telling me I was the best, it was super cute! Giovanni of course had a happy meal- chicken nuggets and french fries with TWO sides of ketchup. lol.

Tonight we are going to Red Robin for dinner (thanks to our dr office they give free kids meal coupons to the kids when we go in!) and Andy gets to order off the adult menu. He is so excited! lol

Andy you are an amazing young man. You have grown so much over the last year and have become such a great example to your little brother and sister. You are such a great helper, so smart,and make me laugh at the funny things you say. You have an old soul and are at times too big for your britches, but even when you are managing to get in trouble you are (usually) mature about it and have a great way of making me feel bad for punishing you. lol. I love you. You are such a blessing in my life. You have made me a stronger woman by becoming your Mom. You have answered my prayers and I am so glad you are my son. Thank you for letting me be your Mom and embracing me from day 1.

Giovanni you are my little lover bugger. From the first day I met you I felt you were my little bug. I am so proud of you and learning to talk so well (though at times it's too much, I'm still proud of you!)! You make me laugh at the silly things you say and the funny faces you make. You try so hard at everything (except the things you don't want lol)and your determination amazes me for such a little guy. You came to me so little and helpless and I've watched you grow into a little boy who is starting to have a testimony and strives to be the best. I am so thankful for you and the love and joy you've brought into my life. Thank you for letting me be your Mommy lover bugger.

Boys, I love you. You kids are my Sunshines. I don't know what I would do without any of you. You have made our family what it is and I am so glad we get to celebrate you today!

Happy Birthday Bry and a little of everything else!

Last Tuesday was Bry's birthday, he's becoming an old man... 29!! wow! But, he didn't want to do the usual for his birthday instead he decided to have surgery! Yep, a few months ago the dr told him he needed to have sinus surgery and correct his deviate septum as well as remove his tonsils, adenoids, uvula (or the "gully gully" as my kids and I call it), and a bunch of tissue so that he can sleep better. The dr said he probably hasn't gotten a full nights sleep in 10 years. He has really bad sleep apnea and this is supposed to help with that also. So when he called to schedule it, August 12th was the next available- after that was October and he's been so miserable not sleeping he decided on August 12th.
Because they were keeping him overnight at the hospital I took him out the Saturday before to celebrate. We went to this yummy Brazilian Steakhouse called Fogo e Brasa for a VERY yummy and VERY filling dinner! They have a salad bar and then they come around with 12 types of meat... it's pretty cool. After dinner we went and saw The Dark Night. Which, by the way, I LOVED! It was super good! It was fun to go out and celebrate Bry. I love him so much and am so blessed that I'm his wife. I'm glad we were able to go out before he was cut open and miserable! :)
His surgery went as well as expected, just the healing is the part that sucks. He's having a hard time swallowing (the dr said this was normal) but the bonus is he's lost 19 lbs since Tuesday. lol. Poor guy! I can tell he's improving, I just think not as fast as he'd like.
Also last week the kids started school. They are doing sooo well! Natali- I mean Lauren had her first spelling test and got 105% on it. The first time I went through the words with her she knew them all! Then she had a vocab test where she had to read like 6 sentences in 1 min... she finished them in 11 seconds!! Way to go!! She is making lots of friends and hasn't gotten in trouble for talking... yet! :)
Andy is also loving school. He likes to play football and baseball before school and at recess. He's making a ton of friends and his teacher said he is doing awesome! He hasn't really had homework yet- that starts this week for him, but he's doing great!
Giovanni is going to speech preschool Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays and is also loving it! He had a bit of a meltdown last Tuesday, but then told me on Thursday he was going to "take it like a soldier" lol. The kid cracks me up! He's very excited because his school provides transportation (good thing because there's like 15 min between his school ending and the other kids school ending) so he gets to ride the bus!! He is sooo excited and his teacher says he's talking sooo well!
It's been a busy last week for me. I didn't realize how much work everything was during the school year, but now we're getting back into the swing of things and it'll be great! I'll post pics when I find my camera charger! :)

Happy Birthday Lauren!!

Yesterday Natali turned 6! I can't believe it! She was named Lauren Natali Garvin and it was planned that she would be called Natali... until the past few months when she informed us she will be going by Lauren. We had such a fun day yesterday. Growing up my parents always tried to make our birthday's super special and I wanted to do the same for my baby girl.

When she woke up she ran and got in the shower and I told her she could wear ANYTHING she wanted. This was a huge thing for her. She has soo many clothes it took her forever to pick an outfit. I then told her I would do her hair any way she wanted (flat ironing is her new passion) and then we went and opened her presents. I let her chose breakfast (blueberry muffins), lunch (McDonalds), dinner (Red Robin), dessert (Bahama Bucks), and where we went all day (the dollar tree, wal mart, and to see Daddy at work). She was wished Happy Birthday at every place we went and her biggest treat was that we got to meet her teacher last night! She loves school and loves to learn so this was HUGE for her!

When she got to her class room she was the first one there so she gave her teacher the puzzle card she made her and introduced herself as Natali. The teacher said she didn't think there was a Natali in the class and what does she say, "Oh, ya my name is Lauren" lol. It was soo funny! She invited her teacher to go to dinner with us, I thought that was super cute! On the way out I said "Natali, where are you going to meet your brother after school?" (hoping that she would remember the HUGE flag poll I made them walk to 5 times) "Mom, it's Lauren" was all she replied! lol.

When we got to Red Robin last night she told the host, "it's my birthday, can you sing to me with all the other workers?" lol. It was super cute! I totally wish I had my camera!

Lauren, I hope you know that you are one of the best blessings in my life. You make me laugh at how funny you are, I love how you have your own sense of style, and your kind gentle heart amazes me. You are such a sweet daughter of Heavenly Father, and make me so proud. Thank you for letting me be your Mommy! I love you the most, I win!!

Family Home Evening

Last night was one of the most fun FHE's we've had. Not the most spiritual, but the most fun. We decided that we would bake chocolate chip cookies (bad mom moment, I've never done this with my kids- I usually just do it and they enjoy the finished product lol) and then go swimming. So yesterday we went to Wal*Mart and bought all the necessities for cookie baking. The kids were very eager to help and the adults were very eager to enjoy the cookies!

So, we're making cookies and I'm measuring out the butter and thinking to myself how it looked like a lot of butter, but we were doubling the recipe so I thought that was probably what happened. Well, we get all done and the dough is sooo runny (and yellow!) and I could not figure out what I did wrong! Until... my memory came back for a minor second and I looked on the package and realized I was supposed to add 2 c. of butter NOT 4! I had looked at the CUBES instead of CUPS! Oops!!

So, Jenny and I decide to send the kids upstairs and dr the cookies up a bit... YA, we should have never been left alone with flour- a HUGE flour fight, then like a million cups of flour into the dough... needless to say, we baked 1 batch and decided to throw the rest out it was SOOO nasty! lol.

It was soo much fun, but I am soo ashamed to admit I went to culinary school and worked at the Four Seasons as a PASTRY CHEF! Yikes! When Bry came down and saw us, it was priceless! Good thing we had the camera ready!