Ellie's Sweet Shoppe Party

Yesterday we enjoyed a great evening with friends, celebrating Ellie's 4th birthday! I'll try to post from the computer more pics of the party. She had her very own candy Shoppe, it was no doubt a big hit for all the ages! It took Ellie six tries to blow out 4 candles. This girl is adorable and sooooo special to me and Pat. She can be way more spice than sugar at this age but we sure adore her none the less :)

Stop Sign: The Musical

Ellie got a hello kitty R/C from Effie for her birthday (party) yesterday. It came with two paper figures of a stop sign and traffic light. Cam and I took them out of the box to check it all out ( but of course Ellie will get the first drive when she wakes up :). Sitting a foot away from me at the kitchen table, Camden busted out into song and monolog with the figurines. The monolog was given by the stop sign who felt sorry for himself for being shorter than the stop light. The stop light tried to console him when the sign hopped away singing a little bitty about never growing taller. Little did he know, as he hopped, he WAS growing! When he returned to the light he was just as tall and the light expressed his great happiness for the signs growth!! Broadway, here we come! Camden I'm so glad you love music. I can't wait to take you to your first musical with Ellie in January; Peter Pan. You will love it!! Thanks for this little gift of a memory you have given me on Mother's Day :)

It smells like rain!

I love the smell of rain!! How exciting! I'm sitting in the back of the van with the kids parked outside of Camden's music class. I'm about to start scrubbing the seats while the rain showers the exterior. It's just starting to sprinkle... Hoping it starts pouring cats and dogs while we hang out for 40 minutes.

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Ellie's first hair cut!!

So I just cut 4 inches of Ellie's hair! It's a nice fresh start to a long hot summer.

Legos are the bomb

This box of Legos I picked up at a garage sale last month has been a huge hit! It's always nice to hear them playing together in the playroom and getting along. I'm not sure what they are all looking at in this picture. Lol. Yeay for Legos.

Choir concert

This is a picture of Camden waiting backstage in between concerts tonight. By the look on his face, I'm hoping he ends the night wanting to do it again next fall! Such a special boy! I'm so proud of you, I love you Cam-man!

Project of the month

Last month I helped my friend redecorate her girls' room. It was so much fun playing with fabrics, paint and adding little colorful accessories. This is a painting I created/ painted for the room. I wish you could see the other details of the room. It's very cheerful!

We are doing well!!

It's been awhile. Just wanted to leave a little post to say all is well. Fortunately, we are all in great health and plugging along. Camden's first choir concert with EVMCO is this Friday! In very wxcited for him and hope he finds being on the stage with a full orchestra behind him and a "full house" in front of him Invigorating. My birthday is tomorrow, that's fun. The big 30! My amazing Phoenix girlfriends surprised me Friday night and took me out to dinner to FEZ. Tomorrow we are going to the park and out to lunch with Katie and kids. I have been blessed with incredible and inspiring friendships. And a great and handsome husband... And hilarious and adorable children. Thanks Heavenly Father! Have a great week :)

How fast the time flies...

This is an update. As I was reading through old post (cringing at my spelling errors and typos, laughing at my sometimes funny self) I noticed a lot of the things I've mentioned in in recent post have already changed or evolved. I guess that makes sense, time flies when you're having fun... Or raising 3 children under 5 and just going with the flow :)
So, Autrey has begun to speak! He says kite, doggy, milk, ball, balloon, Ellie, of course he says mama :), Mario, back pack back pack (Dora), hello... Um, that's it I think. He tries to imitate the big kids when he's in the right mood. This is quite a change from saying nana for everything 4 weeks ago.

Camden does not use pull ups in the night anymore!!! Ellie was off for 3 weeks but we decided to put them back on and try again when she turns 4 in may. I'm so glad I worked through it with him. He has complete control, we don't even have to monitor his liquid intake in the evenings.

I think autrey has allergies. He gets really puffy eyes and his whole body seams to swell up when it happens. It has only happened twice since January but it lasts a while when it happens. We went to the park today so I'm interested to see if he has any effects tomorrow.

I'm really struggling to create a schedule that works next fall when cam and Ellie are in school. I'm hoping the next time I write that will be solved! I.e. carpooling, classes after school etc.

Pays home now and I have to get on my good wife duties :) gotta go!

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Garage sale-ing

Friday I drove with the kids down to Tucson to do some ultimate garage sale-ing. My good friend Briana is from there and is always wearing cute clothes that she picked up for a dollar from a sale. Friday night we made the famous Debbie Hobbs cinnamon rolls before we sardined in for the night. We were out the door just after 7 to hits the streets of here parents community. Every year around this time they hold a large community garage sale. We went to about 15 and passed by many more.
Here's what I got:
-Children's crocodile excavation site. Never been used, hours of scientific entertainment ( I'm hoping). 1$
- 140 count large Lego set. With bucket and Lego floor mat ( 40$ value). 5$
- stuffed dog that looks almost identical to the famous " baby doggy" that Camden lost about a year ago and still sheds tears over. With a white Girly one for Ellie. 50 cents
-3 huge throw pillows and 2 sewing patterns. $1.50
- fossil purse. 1$
-children's game and 2 cute outfits. 1$
- microscope. 1$
-New Rolling pin for briana's mom because she doesn't have one ( I used a cup for rolling out the cinnamon rolls. She needed one). And a pirate hat ( that evening we went to a dress up pirate birthday party) 1$
- soccer outfit for build a bears. 20$+ value. 4$
So that's 16$ so far.
I spent 20$ on a children's wardrobe vanity. 400$ value. It's all wood, the kind made for schools that lasts years. I've got a kitchen set from the same company that I got at a garage sale 2 years ago and love. I'm going to paint it or at least sand it a bit and give to her for her birthday next month.

Overall, I think I did pretty well. And it was fun! Pat has been out of town for a week and this is general conference weekend so, although I don't usually buy toys for the kids unless it's their birthday or Christmas, these purchases have already proven successful and worth it. Giving me a break ( when they're not fighting over them) and sanity :)
Happy garage sale-ing to you!
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IKEA

Last night pat and I took the kids to ikea. We ate dinner in the restaurant, the big kids went to the play area for an hour and we ended the evening with a taste of each of there chocolate bars. Oh, and we got what we were looking for, shelving for the office. I'm so proud of ikea for creating such a family inviting shopping experience :) it was so much fun for everyone. Pat was happy because we found what we needed at a great price, cam and Ellie were tickled because they got to eat French fries and go to a cool play area and I was happy because I didn't have to make dinner or clean up after it and I got to spend some time with my handsome husband and kids out! Autrey even scored an emergency diaper for the family bathroom ( I left the diaper bag in the car. I'm sure you think thats not sanitary but I was very grateful).
So thanks to IKEA for adding joy to our Saturday!

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Celebrate!

The BEST girls weekend EVER!

Last Thursday evening, Autrey and I hopped on a plan to SLC for the weekend to meet up with best friends BETH and BRE. We are flying home tonight. I can't tell you how positively special and endearing this trip has been for me. I knew that reconnecting with the girls would be fun but I had no idea i would feel this bonded to them again as well as reconnect to the individual I am and love. Gosh, I have AMAZING friends! I haven't laughed this hard since, I don't know when. So here's what we've been up to...
Thursday night Bethany's mom Char picked us up at the airport ( Autrey did fantastic on his first flight by the way!! Oh yeah!). Bethany flew in shortly after me and we all headed to The Campbell's home and managed to get the kids to sleep before 10. I brought autrey with me on this girls trip because both Bre and Beth have kids under 2 as well: Bre's twins, David and Emily and Beth's little girl Annabelle. I'm sooo glad I brought him! It has been such a bonding experience with my baby. Friday morning we started a puzzle and took a little trip to the store before Bre and the twins came over to play. Char made us this CUTE cake, picked up pizza and a balloon and these WILD glasses so we could have ourselves an official 30th BIrthday party together. The 3 of us turn 30 in the next 3 months. At times of the evening we were on the ground laughing so hard. So much laughing. It took forever to light the 30 candles with a blow torch. We managed to get this picture before the candle tipped on to each other, some completely melting onto the cake. We decided to talk and finish the puzzle. Beth had to go help Annabelle about 11:30ish and Bre and I set the goal to finish the blasted puzzle by 1. We reminisced and laughed at the funniest memories, most coming from Bre's brain. We went to bed at 2. The next morning we took the babies to the aquarium and then after naps (mom's included) got babysitters (Thank you Bumpa!!) and hit the town. Cafe rio, down east clothes, costco and the sunglass hut. Beth and I got a new pair of glasses for our birthdays. We went home, watched mulan rouge and called it a night at 11pm. This morning we went to church and took naps. Autrey is still down for his. It has been very relaxing and great fun. I hope we can make this a more frequent occasion! Huge Thank You to Pat for taking a day off of work and watching Camden and Ellie all weekend. I appreciate this weekend so much and will no doubt go back to phoenix a better wife and mommy.
Cheers ladies! Thanks for the best birthday in my 30's ever! More pics to come.

Ellie's game

So, the weather is great, kids are in a good mood and I'm in the mood to hang. Ellie is being her bossy self and created a game that involves everything in the backyard, including goggles. Cam and Ellie are currently taking turns standing on a big rock and shouting orders. This is awesome. Lol

Student of the week

I have this poster hanging around my house, ripped and crumpled ready to be tossed. Camden's was a student of the week last November and I've been meaning to do something with the info on it. So here it is:
November 2011 Camden Hobbs star of the week

My favorite color is: green
I am 5 years old
When I grow up... I'm going to be in a karate class and I'm going to be a chef and bring food to people and I'm going to be a grocery store man.
Soccer... Is my favorite sport.
My favorite food is... Cheese pizza
These are my hobbies:
Wrestling, to think about things and just do them, ride my bike, coloring, help mommy, trying new foods.

You are a star Camden!

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Autrey

Autrey is kind of a forgotten child... He's usually in a stroller so he doesn't make it in a ton of candid pictures. He's super easy going and stays out of the big kid drama and doesn't talk at all... So, when I get a picture like this of him with his amazing smile, I have to give him a shout out! Baby boy, like I tell you every night, you are my happiness!! I adore you!!

Library day

Tuesday is library day. Our community has a new public library, built last summer. Now we don't have to drive to tempe. The kids pick out a fiction book, non-fiction book and DVD ( favorites are Backyardagains and Dora) each. It has been a nice little tradition that hopefully will instill a love of books and respect for the Library. Griffin is with us Tuesdays. We are happy to have him join in our adventures :)
Note: the last 2 weeks we have been learning about stars and constellations.
Rattle snakes too. We also finished our first chapter book. Working on comprehension.
Just a reminder: when I give little details it's because this blog is our family journal. It's really the only way I'm keeping memories. So details are for us. We are happy you like to follow along.

Meet Shelly

Shelly is a Mermaid from Scrap Island. A girlfriend of mine bought her to give to a little birthday girl. I was the face painter at the party do I got to see the look on her Mommy's face. Vessa didn't open her presents at the party so unfortunately I didn't get to see Shelly's first hug :) ok, I'm getting cheesier...

Meet Scurvy!

Skurvy Is Camden's doll. His hook comes off. I love him, I'm so happy to have found a boy friendly project that I can make with my hands. He was a 4 am project. In other words, kid free crafting time.
All of the dolls that I made last week required no trips to the store which makes them extra gratifying. More pics on the way... Sending these by my phone is truly amazing and extremely exciting for the future of this family blog.

Meet Cantaloupe

So this is doll #1. Ellie picked out all of the fabric, including her hair. And she named her Cantaloupe. More pics to come...