Kiersten’s Blog

Recently I pinned an idea on Pinterest that gave ideas and even coupons for dates with your kids.  I thought this would be a great idea for London.  I have been feeling like she needs a little bit more one-on-one time with just us and I think this is a great way to do it.  We printed out the coupons for her and talked about spending time together.  She was really excited.  Every month she will go on a date with just one of us and we will switch off who takes her.  We figured that Ashton doesn’t really need that yet, since he will be with the other parent while London is out and can be doing other things, and he gets a lot of personal time with me while London is at school.  We do a lot with just him.  Anyway, January happened to be my month and London was excited to go to Barnes and Noble for a new book and a treat.  She chose a small American Girl kit with a miniature paper doll and book.  For her treat, she chose the “Oreo Stacker” dessert.  We decided to share it and I’m glad we did because she took one bite and decided that she didn’t like it.  But she didn’t complain about it.  We just chatted and had a good time.  I’m so glad to be able to spend time with just her and I know she’s loving it too.  Lately I have been having way too many days of counting down the hours until bed time, rather than just enjoying the time I have to spend with my children.  I think this will be a good way of helping us to bring the fun back.

This afternoon I took London shopping with me. She was good and I wasn’t mean. In the store she told me that maybe I should take a class that would help me be a better parent. You know, so I won’t be so mean. She wondered if they have classes for that.

All day I have been listening to whine, whine, whine. Is it bed time yet? We got a magnetic chore chart from my parents for Christmas. One of the chores that can be used is “stop whining”. Of course that one was at the top of the list. That is, until it mysteriously disappeared. But I didn’t know it was gone. It wasn’t gone for long before the guilt got too much of her and London walked to the kitchen drawer and pulled the “stop whining” magnet out of the oven mitt. I just started laughing which, of course, made her even more upset. Finally she went upstairs to her room where she called for Ashton saying, “Ashton, LaLa needs help! I need you to come up here and help me count to 10 and take a deep breath!” Now she’s back downstairs, whining more than ever while Ashton sings “We Are A Happy Family.” Oh the irony.

We’re spending time with my family in Sacramento. We get a lot of time to relax, which is nice. The kids are having fun. Yesterday Kenton and Bree took Ashton and their two youngest boys to the Railroad Museum in Old Sac. Ashton had the time of his life. At the same time London and her cousin, Preston, were fishing with Grandpa. Upon asking her if she caught any fish she replied, “No, but we went to McDonalds!” When they got home, they were found outside playing with the leftover bait. I said, “EW!” she said, “He’s so cute!”

Today the kids are out helping Grandpa clean up the yard and having a great time.

They found a bird nest.

As mentioned in my post yesterday, London had a dance recital this weekend.  She is in a ballet class, as well as a musical theater class.  The director of the studio thinks that she’s great and asked if she would sing a solo in the recital.  She sang Tomorrow from Annie.  Thankfully, a friend of hers had an Annie costume that she loaned us.  That girl stole the show and I’m not just saying that because I’m her mother.  The audience really loved her, and for good reason.  She’s good.  You can see the video here.  I wish I would have recorded her in an earlier show because her choreography was much better (which she came up with on her own).  But all in all, I think she was fabulous and I couldn’t be more proud.

It has been a busy weekend but we were able to squish in a few minutes of play time at The New Children’s Museum (we just happened to be downtown with an hour to spare). I love these photos I was able to capture of the kids there. More on our busy weekend later. For now, enjoy the cuteness.

Right now it’s 73 degrees outside.  When London was driving me nuts asking which ones to wear and I told her to pick whatever she wanted, I guess she thought it was cold outside.  I explained beforehand that if she was warm, short sleeves and shorts would be good.  If she was cold, then maybe long sleeves and pants.  If she was just right, probably short sleeves and pants would be a good idea.  It was warm when she got ready.  And she’s in long sleeve, long pants fleece.  Whatever kid.  And right now Ashton’s sleeping with his feet under his pillow.  His head isn’t even on the mattress anymore.  It’s on the floor.  It’s a good thing he sleeps on a mattress on the floor.

We spent the weekend in Hemet.  It was kind of a last minute thing, but there has been a lot going on in Taylor’s mom’s family life at the moment (the latest with the surprising passing of her sister) that we wanted to be with her to lend support this weekend.  We probably drove her crazy instead, but at least she wasn’t alone.  We had a nice time which included watching conference and eating WAY too many cinnamon rolls.  I put some in my freezer today so I wouldn’t get too fat.  Oh, and speaking of kids sleeping, Kerri checked on the kids before going to bed Friday night and Ashton was nowhere to be found.  When at her house, the kids sleep in the same room — London on the bed and Ashton on the trundle.  He had rolled off the trundle and under the bed.  There was no sign of him at all.  When we lifted the bed skirt, there he was, as comfortable as ever and fast asleep.  Maybe you had to be there, but we thought it was hilarious.

On our way home, we drove in separate cars.  I’m taking the kids to Disneyland next Monday with a friend and her kids (the kids don’t know yet) and we thought it would be easier if we all drove together, but neither of us have a car that fits all of us.  So we borrowed the in-laws van since it’s rarely driven.  Taylor drove it home with the kids (because it has A/C and if you recall, ours doesn’t anymore or maybe I didn’t write about that yet so just know that we don’t have A/C in our car at the moment) and I drove the hot car all by myself.  It was kind of refreshing.  I had the windows down and the radio blasting.  I don’t do that much.  Sure, it was a little warm, but it was a nice, relaxing drive.

And one last thing.  I bought a new vacuum.  A Dyson.  I ordered it from Kohl’s because I found a 30% off coupon code.  That also means that I got $50 Kohl’s cash which I intend to spend on shoes for myself tomorrow.  I can’t wait to get my UPS package sometime this week and immediately vacuum.  I’m excited to have a machine that actually sucks.  A lot.  And then I’ll vacuum my car since the car seats are no longer in it.

Oh, and one more thing, in case you don’t read my other blog, let me mention that I spent Friday morning lifting these two 2-year-olds in and out of airplanes and helicopters at the Miramar Air Show.  Lots of fun was had by all.  I think.  And we were all exhausted in the end.  At least I was.

For London’s actual birthday, she wanted a Rapunzel cake.  (We had cupcakes at her party.)  I don’t know why I subject myself to such torture when it comes to birthday cakes.  I am not a cake decorator, but I want them to be cute and yummy.  So when I saw an idea for a Rapunzel tower cake, I thought it looked reasonable.  When it came down to it, all it did was make me mad.  I made a round layer cake.  Both layers stuck in the pans.  The frosting was yummy, but not as good as I would have hoped.  Then I stacked some mini donuts on skewers stuck into the cake to make a tower.  I placed a cupcake (which didn’t last long) on top and topped that with a purple frosted sugar cone.  The idea was good in theory, but the tower fell.  Twice.  It tore apart the cake, which I tried to cover mostly with frosting.  After falling the second time, I moved the tower off the cake and onto the plate.

We had London blow out the candles then, because I was sure that if we waited until after dinner, it would fall again.  Sure enough, it crashed during dinner.  But I didn’t care.  Neither did anybody else.  next year it will be all about taste and not at all about presentation.  I’m finished pretending I’m a cake decorator.

London lost her 6th tooth on her 6th birthday.  She has quite a small mouth (partly, I think, from her cleft palate) and small baby teeth that are really close together.  Now, as she has permanent teeth pushing those baby teeth out, we are noticing some major orthodontic issues.  Her two top teeth pushed 4 of her baby teeth out.  Anyway, she lost her 6th tooth last Sunday morning.  She was excited to put it under her pillow for the tooth fairy, but when it was time for bed, the tooth was nowhere to be found.  We figured out that Granny accidentally threw it away while cleaning up the table for dinner.  We told London that if she wrote the tooth fairy a note, we were sure she would still leave her some money.  I thought the note she wrote (along with the pictures) were hilarious.  The tooth fairy loved the notes more than any teeth.

As mentioned in my last blog, London’s birthday was last Sunday.  Since her good friend, Gwyn, has a birthday coming up this Wednesday and they have many mutual friends, Gwyn’s mom and I decided to combine the two girls’ parties into one.  London turned six, and Gwyn will be 5.  I think it was a great idea.  I can’t imagine doing all that work by myself!  It turned out really cute and I think the girls had a great time.

We set the party up in our back yard.  When the girls arrived, they chose a princess dress and headed out back where there was a table set up with a teacup and saucer for each girl.

They ate fruit and veggies and small sandwiches (shaped as castles, shoes, and crowns) and drank apple juice and lemonade.  Then they decorated butterfly masks.  When they finished with their craft, we “pinned the tiara on the princess scene.”

We then moved over to the hill where we read the story Tea for Ruby, after which we opened presents and ate cupcakes.

On their way out, some of the girls stopped at the “photo booth” where they could have their picture taken with their friends, all dressed up and in their masks.

They all went home with their teacups filled with goodies as a reminder of the great time we had.