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!

Final Days of Summer

As the final days of summer are passing by us, I am getting a little sad that the kids are going back to school. It's been nice having little helpers and sleeping in (I've trained the kids that during the summer they are supposed to stay up super late and then sleep in really late, too! But now we are back to a regular sleep schedule and it's not so fun!). We've been hanging out with friends, going to Grammy and Papa's, swimming, playing the Wii, playing Rock Band, watching movies... just doing all the fun summer time things you should do! Though we really didn't go on vacation (the kids went to Utah and we all went to Payson for a weekend) we've still had a lot of fun.

This week has been the hardest. Bry left Sunday for Chicago until Wednesday and then flew from Chicago to San Fran for the rest of the week. I know that I should be used to him going on business trips, but I'm totally not. I hate sleeping alone, and everyone who knows me knows I'm massively paranoid and swear that at night we're going to be kidnapped or something. lol. Last night we didn't get home until 1 (I told you we stay out late) and when we got home I checked the house like 3 times over. Then I woke up at like 6 to let the dog out (how do I make her stop barking so flippen early?!) and the kids bathroom light was on- never once did I think that a kid got up and went potty and didn't turn it off, I thought someone was in the house. I'm telling you, I'm crazy! I'm for sure glad Bry will be home tomorrow night!

We've also been taking this Marriage and Family Class through the Church. It's sooo good! This week will be our 3rd week, and it's so amazing how much I feel it's already helped our marriage. Most wards offer the class, so if you haven't taken it I would TOTALLY recommend it. It's not for marriages that are failing, it's to help strengthen your marriage. There are couples in there that have been married 30 years and then Bry and I who have been married 16 months- and everything in between!

What else? Oh, I'm back to having dark hair, and so much happier! lol. I need to take a pic of it but am totally slacking today and haven't done my hair yet! I also gave Natali bangs, they are sooo cute!

Just wanted to update everyone! Oh, the pics were the other morning (at 10:30) when I went into the boys room. Giovanni refuses to sleep on the top bunk, and this is how I found the boys! Cute, huh? What do you think of the wall color? Pretty cool, huh?

FHE

A few months ago I bought this book while I was at Deseret Book called "Before they Turn 12: Helping Children Gain a Testimony of the Lord's Standards". On the cover it said it was good for families with children aged 5-12, and that pretty much covers 2/3 of my kids, so I got it! With the move and everything I hadn't gotten the chance to use the book yet until last night. Basically the book introduces the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet to children and each lesson covers a different topic. While I was reading the lesson yesterday morning I was so excited to teach this to my kids. So I went to the distribution center (ps I LOVE living so close to all these great places!!) and got the pamphlets for my kids. I hadn't looked at one of those in a really long time, so it was cool to go back and flip through.

Anyway, last night was awesome! The kids got really into the lesson and were super excited about it. Last night was the introduction and we read the message from the first presidency. While at the distribution center I picked up a picture of the first presidency and of Christ, which also helped out with the lesson. We read about how if we follow the instruction that laid out for us in the book we would receive many blessings from being faithful. The kids were excited to learn and to hear about how important it is to follow the Prophet. The lesson was quick, but powerful and the Spirit was so strong.

If you have kids and are looking for some FHE ideas, this book is awesome! I highly recommend it.

Linds and Don

So, I know I've mentioned that we have these super good friends over here, The Rogers (Linds and Don), and we hang out with them pretty much every night. It's super fun because we go to each others houses, our kids play and we get to have fun too! Well last week (I think it was last week) we went on a double date with them while Jen watched all 7 of our kids (she's a total trooper!). We had soo much fun! We were going to go to dinner and a movie but we ended up leaving our house at 9:30 and hardly made it to the restaurant before it closed so we just had dinner, dessert, and a drive.

We went to Chili's for dinner and a guy I used to hang out with from culinary school was the manager there, so it was fun to catch up with him. I bet he thought Linds and I were drunk though, we were having soo much fun and laughing soo hard! The guys didn't find us as funny as we found ourselves, but secretly, I know they had fun too!

A few days after that their dog was going to have her puppies, so we went over to experience that. I think Bry thought that I was crazy because he knew the kids would ask all sorts of questions, but I thought this was a really cool thing and a great time to explain to them how a baby (or puppy in this situation) was born. Punkin (yep, that's how you say it, and that's how I say it too! lol) had 6 puppies and was such a good sport. She was spooked with the first one and jumped up to run away but we got her to lay back down and then she was a pro. Linds wasn't home from work yet so I was the birthing coach along with Don and I took pictures all along the way. (Don't worry, I won't post the nasty ones) We didn't let the kids watch them all come out because the first one wasn't very active and we weren't sure if he'd survive but he did so then we let the kids watch the last 2 being born. It was cool because like 10 minutes after Linds got home from work Punkin had the last one, so Linds totally felt included. lol. It was a really neat experience, and I totally want a puppy, but am forcing myself to realize we can't have 2 dogs. Bry is a big help with making me realize that because he is just getting used to Sophie.

So I was also just going through my pics and found some super cute ones of my kiddos and my hubby, so I'm adding those for your viewing pleasure! :)