Birthday Party Extravaganza

So I am probably the worst party throwing of all time...nothing coordinates, I let my kid pick everything out no matter how random and I sort of refuse to spend a lot of money on it. The kids had fun though and that is all that counts right?

So here goes a LOT of pictures from the big day.

J and Stockton just chillin' after scooping up pinata goodies.
Unwrapping gifts. I love how all the kids unwrap together and no one thinks a thing about it.
Hitting the Lightning Mcqueen pinata. J told me he wanted a Junior Asparagus party (from vege tales), but he insisted on the Cars pinata. Whatever.
The kids loved jumping on the trampoline. We put ball pit balls and balloons all over it. They had a hayday.

I made the cupcaked in ice cream cones, but none of the kids quite got it. They would decorate, lick the frosting and candy off, bite the cake down as far as they could and leave the cone. I tried to explain, but the words were wasted on three year olds.
And Gwyn realized that she could maximize her sugar calorie ratio by eating straight frosting.
Yummy and colorful.
Doesn't he look like a little birthday grouch in this picture.

The remains of one cupcake...the only party goer that saw my vision with the ice cream cones.
This ones for you, anne. Little Gwynnie
Party gang.
Emma M.
Sarah Jane...too interested in decorating to actually look at the camera, but a smirk none the less.
My party assistant cheesing it up.
Marissa J.
Stockton W.
Brady

J was bouncing off the walls the whole day leading up to his party. He was sooo excited. It made it so fun!
Mason J.

This is from his family party the night of his birthday. This is his Grams that he adores.
Blowing out the candles with lots of help and spit.

and to top it all off...

Jackson came to me and told me that he peed and pooped in the backyard and sure enough...

he is his father's son (not that D poops in the backyard, but he loves camping and nature and has no problem...okay I will stop there. This is going downhill.)

Oh, and as gross as it is, D and I are still laughing about it. What was he thinking?

my kid is driving me crazy so as a survival tactic I decided to blog. Ahhh. It has been one of those you know what-ava day.

Let's just hit on the highlights. We got a hot dog after our Costco run and J kept acting up. I warned him and in order to follow through I finally wrapped his hot dog up and tossed it in the garbage and we left. He wasn't happy about this and I think the people in the refrigerated room could hear his screaming.

Then, I had to run to smiths for some meat (a good sale). He was once again acting up and I had made the genius idea to just carry P so I was really unable to deal with him. We finally made it at the car and I was pretty irritated with him. I told him to go stand by his door and wait for me to put P in her seat. I had her seat facing me and had just laid her in when he started screaming because he had opened the door and knocked himself in the face. Normally I would ignore this until I was done buckling P in, but some lady came running over to him and was so concerned so I walked around the car to pretend that I felt bad for him (I was really just irritated with him some more). I plopped him in his seat and as I do this I see P's car seat tipping almost to vertical position. Yes, she was not buckled in and yes the door was open. You know those moments in life where you realize that there was divine intervention on your behalf?? This was one of them. I seriously have no idea how she did not face plant on the asphalt. I dived across the car and grabbed her, but seriously, I really think someone was keeping her in because she should have been on the ground. I was ready to burst into tears at this point. Still thinking about it I just feel so grateful that nothing happened to her.

So back to J driving me crazy...it is just one of those days. Bedtime will not come soon enough. Oh, and he is outside crying in his timeout chair, again. {sigh}

Week in Review.

I really don't have much energy or desire to do some drawn out synopsis, so here goes the short list.

1. Went to the park a lot. I can sometimes get a nap out of J if I stay long enough and that makes it all worth it.

2. Started painting my soon to be new office--'hawthorne yellow' by Benjamin Moore. I stole the color out of the PB Catalog and already it is proving to be a winner. It is a nice buttery yellow thank heavens. I am always afraid that yellow will turn out to look like the sunshine.

3. Got the garden ready for planting and purchased some of the plants. We are kind of lazy gardeners and we will weed until it gets hot and then the weeds just overrun the garden, so this year we are laying weed tarp on the hole thing and only making holes to plant. My dad and D extended the garden last year so we will have a lot of planting room. Here are some of the crops of choice:tomatoes (all varieties and sizes), cucumbers, zucchini, cantaloupe, jalapenos, herbs of all varieties, red and yellow peppers, yellow squash, and maybe corn towards the end of the summer. We ended a long day of gardening with a bbq of chix and zucchini. The weather was perfect on Saturday and we sat outside and ate.

4. Bought fabric to make a window treatment for my soon to be new office.

5. Got my new camera. I am in {heart}.

6. Went to Weight Watchers. I have but 0.4 pounds left to reach my target weight. Hallelujah. I am feeling pretty hot-haha.

That is all my limited memory can remember. Dang, my life is exciting. Paige has been pretty fussy lately. I think she really wants to crawl and just can't figure it out. She just flops to her stomach and then cries until I sit her back up. It is getting pretty annoying. Good thing she is so cute. I think I tell Jackson a hundred times a day one of the following: "Leave her alone", "stop sticking that in her face.", "don't push her over", "enough", "she is happy, don't bug her", " stop pestering her", or some deviation of that. He is constantly tormenting P these days. He isn't mean about it, but he is always bugging her and making her cry. Ahhhh. Also, he has decided that he doesn't want to wear undies anymore. What? I have to ask him whether his undies are on many times a day, he will lie and tell me they are, and I will tell him he can play with his toys once he gets them on. Then he will finally run and find them and we will put them on. What is his deal. He cracks me up many times a day. The best is when he comes to me and says, "you're beeeeeautiful mama." Don't know where he picked that up, but it does wonders for my esteem.

I am late for my Jane Austen special. Until later.

another Jacksonism...

Jackson was snuggling up to me and stroking my arm while I was eating the other night. He looked up at me oh so lovingly and said,

"You have nice whiskers on your arm, mama."

Okay thanks, I guess.

my blue eyed beauty...

I know I am biased, but I think she is the prettiest little thing. I know D agrees with me so it must be true.

Family Update

I try to do a summary each week for our parents in Georgia and Guatemala. These get a little lengthy so read at your discretion. I have found that grandparents LOVE to know what is going on with their grandkids. Anyway, this one really will be a novel since I feel like it has been an action packed week here at the Shaw house.

I will start with last Friday since I haven't written about last week. D and I went out with some friends for our Valentine's Day dinner. We went to a little restaurant in Springdale. The food was good, the company superb, the service odd and the decor totally distasteful. There was on the wall directly in front of us this Picasso-esc painting of a really large woman in the buff. Bizarre. I wasn't totally offended by it since it was really abstract and the woman slightly resembled a man, but still, don't you think that is interesting decor for a restaurant. And, all over the room there were these crosses with men hanging on them and names over the top of them...really weird. We discussed whether they were mocking or respecting and we were not sure. Oh and a picture of Christ ( a really weird one) on one of the walls. It was a mexican restaurant so I guess maybe par for the course--but still kind of uncomfortable decor for an eating establishment.

Then the service. It really was okay until the server put up a huge fit about splitting the bill for us. Take into account that there were only four couples and that they added in a 20% tip. She finally consented and when she got back D said, "Thanks, we really appreciate that" and she went off on some lecture about how if she had been busier she couldn't have done it and ladedade...We all just kind of looked at each other astonished.

Having waited tables myself I can personally attest to the fact the splitting a bill is NO BIG DEAL. I guess when you are such a high profile server in Springdale Utah you can put up a fit about whatever you please.

Saturday D went cross country skiing with a friend. It was his first time and he really enjoyed it. I love cross country skiing despite my dad's version of our last downhill skiing adventure (which, I must add is completely inaccurate).

Let's see, Sunday was like most. I taught in Relief Society. I enjoy teaching and often wonder if other enjoy my teaching as much as I enjoy doing it. I haven't totally found my groove with teaching out of the JS manual, but I love studying and preparing for it. D teaches Elder's Quorum so it gives us a chance to read together and discuss the lessons. We had BLT's at Grams house, got kids to bed and I watched the second installment of Pride and Prejudice with Grandma. I wasn't going to since I have it at home and it is LONG, but I was sucked in and I will be over there tonight again to watch the end. I sure hope Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennett end up together.

Monday J turned three. It was so fun for all of us. I had put up balloons and streamers the night before and J was up way to early to enjoy them. I could hear him downstairs squealing about the sight. We let him open a couple of presents before D left for work and J was so funny about it. He would start unwrapping it while muttering, "oh my gosh, oh my gosh" and then when he opened it whether he knew what it was or not he would say, "It's just what I wanted." He got some fun stuff for him and parents! Lincoln logs and Wedgits (which I have wasted much time playing with--check them out! They are really cool.) from Nana and Papa, and an assortment of Duplos, a book, computer game, and DVD from us.

He wanted to have pizza for his birthday and since we are in a dinner swap and it wasn't my night to cook we met up with friends and brought pizza and cookies to the park. The weather was so nice and I love taking him to the park because typically it means I can get a good nap out of him, an occurance that is more or less unheard of these days (Unfortunately). He did indeed come through with a good nap after I had bathed him and gotten all the sand off of him. There is a huge sandbox at one of the parks and J spends the majority of his time in that--playing, laying, kicking, you name it. We had Calypso Pie to end the night and he was in bed early. It is so fun to have kids who "get" the birthday thing and think anything they get is fantastic.

Tuesday I felt like I cooked all day. I swapped dinner nights and took on Giada's Lasagna Rolls, french bread and fruit salad. I did a lot of rollin', but I have to say that it was so worth it. I loved them and will definitely make them again. I have loved dinner group because I enjoy cooking for other people, but once a week pretty much feels that need of cooking for me. It also allows me to try new foods and have quite a few critics. Some are winners and others, not so much. D had planning and zoning so I spent the evening doing odds and ends.

Wednesday consisted of storytime, Target, delivering birthday party invites in the rain (which J thought was the best thing ever) and D having his class. Paige woke up about 1am with a high fever that lasted until this morning. Needless to say, I have had little sleep the last few nights and I am feeling it. I took her to instacare in Thursday and they did a strep culture, checked her ears, throat etc and they found nada. Just some weird big that had to work itself out. Her fever is gone today, but her appetite is still not back and she gets tired and cranky really easily. I brought her home after sacarament meeting and put her down for a good (quiet) nap. She slept really soundly.

Thursday I hosted book club at my house. I made a chocolate mousse dessert, and orzo pasta salad with roasted red peppers and baked brie. I really enjoy making food for parties.

I am feeling a little deprived today with regards to weight watchers. I am about 2 pounds from my goal and I have to admit that I have lost a little motivation. I cannot understand how people do WW full time. I think I would go crazy if I had to count points for the rest of my life. I just felt hungry today and was so irked that things like grapes which really consist of little but H2O in my opinion, even have points. I know that I just have a few more weeks, but I think my exhaustion and the gloomy weather are both contributing to my lack of desire to try. {sigh}. None the less, I was good today and will stick with it until the bitter (and it might very well be that) end.

Saturday we had J's party. Pictures will follow. I only planned it for an hour which was sufficient for 8 three year olds. They decorated cupcakes, played with balloons, jumped on the tramp, did a pinata and ate lots of sugar. What could be better. They were all cute little kids and really had fun and got into the party mode. I made cupcakes in ice cream cones and I don't think they quite got that they could eat it too. They all just frosted and then picked the candy off the top and ate it. And then there was Gwyn who found that spoon fulls of frosting satisfied her. It was a lot of fun. Jackson was excited about it all day. It feels so good to do things that make your kiddos happy.

These are deifinitely the highlights of the week. Of course we still did the normal everyday stuff that really isn't noteworthy--you know, bathe kids, change diapers, clean up messes, run errands, but the stuff that adds to a fulfilled life. We feel really blessed with great family, friends, kids, etc.

Oh, and on that note, I finally did it...I ordered my new camera. I caaaaaan't wait.

I am going crazy!!!

I edit my photos in photoshop and they look great and for some reason when I upload them the color gets all funky. I have no idea why and it is driving me crazy!!

***taken care of...just had to play with my color settings a bit...thank heavens!!***

Jackson's three year pics

#11

gets up with jackson on sunday morning allowing me an extra (precious) hour of sleep.

10 things I love about D.

1. Great dad

2. Will rub my back whenever I ask (which is often)

3. Works really hard to support the family

4. Makes me laugh like no one else can

5. Laughs at me when I act like a total goof/freak (I think he actually thinks I am funny)

6. Is always supportive when I want to go out with friends, take classes or just have my own life

7. Will get up with the baby at night if I ask him to

8. Total supports my business ideas and gets excited for me when I propose them

9. Doesn't weird out if I just need to cry...he tells me just to do it because I will feel better after

10. Leaves me nice little notes all the time.

dia de los loveers.

Happy day...I started my lover's day at 1am this morning...to a baby screaming who was covered in puke? spit-up? no way to really know since my baby is master spit-up-er. I would have thought it would pass, but no, she continues excelling in the spitting department. I feel like I am master stain remover woman though.

Anyway, she gets cleaned, put back to bed but she is not having it...half hour later I go in and give her a bottle--(one negative about losing weight is that it is also affecting my milk). She goes down after that for a whole 20minutes. Long story still long, she comes to bed with us (I have never done that) and eventually at 5:30am I take her to her crib and she sleeps till 8am. Kids. She is fine today. I think it may partially be her separation anxiety...or that her snugglie had to go in the wash after puking. Who knows.

J and I spent the morn in pjs working puzzles and baking cookies to take to friends. He is loving puzzles and can sit and work 24 piece puzzles for an hour before getting bored. It is so nice for me. Today however he has been sticking to me like glue...I try not to get irritated by it, but sometimes I just was to be alone. How selfish. I have to say though, I haven't lost my temper for about a week with him which is a miracle. He has really responded well to love and logic.

Well, it is my dinner night. I am in a meal swap with three other families so we each cook one day to feed the others. Tonight is my white trash meal...nothing says love like velveeta and fritos. I know many are thinking gross, but really it is delicious.

Off to make valentines with j. No time like the present.

another week gone by...

it was a good one. I started a parenting class called "Love and Logic" and already I have seen improvements in J's behavior. Basically it teaches you to empathize with your child and help them to feel the importance of their decisions. It has taken some thinking on my part to rephrase things for him...for example, instead of saying, "If you hit the dog once more you can't play with him," you say, "as long as you choose not to hit the dog anymore you can keep playing with him." Seems simple, but J has really responded to it. Anyway, I am excited about it. I needed some new tactics to help me deal with him.

I felt like we were gone a lot this week. I started cutting out fabric for a quilt on Sunday and didn't get a chance to get to it the rest of the week. I finally put it away on Thursday but hopefully I will finish getting my blocks cut out this week. I am finally making a few rag quilts that I bought fabric for about three years ago. I decided that instead of feeling bad because I don't get projects done to just do them--make time and do them. I have started doing some "fly lady" stuff again which allows me to feel like I have done enough to warrant time for me. Sounds dumb, but so often I get caught in the mind set of needing to have my house spotless in order to work on projects. What that really results in is me never working on projects because there is always laundry to do, bathrooms to clean, vacuuming to do etc. I have set it up where I do certain jobs each day and when those jobs are done I am done with the cleaning bit (besides dishes and laundry and you know, the never ending tasks). So it has only been a week, but it was a good one and hopefully I can keep this up.

We had a really fun weekend. We started out with a Valentine's Party with some friends where we played none other than the "Newlywed Game." It took D a few weeks to soften up to the idea, but this time we went into it with a strategy and the understanding that the game is sort of meant to pit one spouse against another. We actually came in third which was good considering our dismal performace at the Elder's Quorum Party a few years back. It was a fun party because it was a group of people that I don't always hang out with. After the game we all sat around and talked and it was a lot of fun getting to know some of the people.

Saturday we headed down to Las Vegas for one of my cousins Eagle Court of Honor. There was quite a bit of my family there and it is always fun to see and talk to them. We stayed the night with my cousin Tara and her family and it was really fun. Tara and I grew up close and it seems like whenever we get together we just pick up where we left off. D and I knew that it might be a crazy night with the kids off routines (I am kind of a routine freak--my kids are always in bed by 7, nap, eat, etc. around the same time). I get a little stressed out when they are off. Anyway, J was up playing with his cousins until close to 11pm and had a blast. It was so fun to watch him play "tag", chase around, jump, run, converse etc. just like one of the big kids. When did that happen? He had his first slumber party with Lincoln and Julia and he thought he had died and gone to heaven. He slept in Lincoln's bed and thought he was big stuff. Of course at 11pm I had to send D in there to lay with him and get him to sleep...I knew he would still be up at the same time and that would mean that he would be grouchy. D and I slept in the room with P and were awakened a few times by the sound of P blowing raspberries and talking. It was pretty cute.

So even with little sleep we survived and had a great time. I smoked Tara at Nerts and we had delicious brownie sundaes (weight watchers? what is that?). I hope we can see all of them again. J informed me tonight that "weenkin" and "doowia" are his best friends. Funny kid.

So, I am down 12 pounds now. That is a great feeling. Unfortunately I think it is affecting my milk and that I have little left. We will see how much longer I can convince P to nurse. She has turned into a total momma's girl and is perfectly happy until she can't see me anymore. Kind of endearing although I know it will drive me crazy at times too. I had my friend Anne watch her this week and P cried almost the whole time which is totally unlike her. Poor Anne. I think P is started to have separation anxiety.

Speaking of Miss P. She is not crawling yet, but has figured out how to move around in her little circle. I will turn around and she will be facing the opposite way. I know it won't be long before I have to baby proof the house again and all the knees of her clothes are beat up. Blah. The crawling stage is not my favorite (although the little bum in the air crawling around is oh so cute.)

Another week until J's third bday...can't believe it. He has requested a junior asparagus party. He loves Vege Tales. It will be really low key whatever it is.

Off to watch the next in the Jane Austen series on Masterpiece theatre. I have enjoyed watching all the british versions of her works.

some more jackson-isms

Overheard as he played with D, "That's not completely accurate." sounding more like "dats not compweetwee akurat."



Said as we got him ready for bed tonight, "That's the funniest joke I never heard."



Dang that kid is cute and funny. He sure keeps us on our toes.

just playing around today.

I don't even want to tell you how manh conversation hearts it took to get J to cooperate.

This is what P's hair is like in the morning. Not a pretty sight. She rubs her head all around in her crib until there are little knots all over.

I can't get enough of those little downturned lips. I actually got a semi decent picture of J...that is a miracle.



the color is kind of wonky in some of these...too lazy to fix it right now. really i should be on the treadmill anyway.

True Wuv is what bwings us togefer today...

The big day.
One of my bridals. I wish I realized how skinny I was at the time. I would love to be that thin again!!

Yes, we got married in the Provo temple which many people think it weird, but it was perfect. We got married the day after spring semester and there was only one other wedding that day. We got doted on by all the temple workers. Also, it was the temple we were familiar with...the one we went to together and while we were in the MTC. It has sentimental ties for us. We also inspired some friends to get married there too. Douglas didn't realize he was supposed to wait for me to come out so this is take two of him exiting. Don't I look just smitten with him?

Hehe...D looks so young in this picture.

This was the picture we put in our announcement.

I am probably one of the few who have done this that has digital files from my wedding...no scanning for me!!

What is his name? Douglas Fletcher Shaw (goes by Douglas unless you have a southern accent or are family and then it is Doug.)

How long have you been together? Married five years in April--feels like forever, yet went by so fast. I can't remember what it was like before. We started dating six years ago this May or June.

How long did you date? 7 months until engaged with a three month engagement. We knew each other for quite a while before that...he was my home teacher right when I got off my mission, but there was no interest on either side then.

How old is he?? We both hit the big 3-0 this year. Woohoo?

Who eats more? Haha...no contest...HIM. I can eat a lot, but he can pack it down if he wants to. He learned to do that back in his sports days. Of course if we are talking desserts it is me.

Who said I love you first? Me. I knew I was going to marry him early on, whether he liked it or not which actually is interesing since I never evisioned falling for someone like D.

Who is taller? He is. I am 5'8 and he is 6'

Who can sing better? Me, definitely. D has a nice voice, but is pretty tone deaf. It doesn't stop him from singing though.

Who is smarter? I would say it is a tie, although I think my brain cells are fried from having children. I am a much better student though. I had a 3.9 odd GPA when I graduated from BYU. He did well too, but I am a studier when I have to be. We excel in different areas though and so I feel like we have a good balance. Plus we are both know it alls. Makes for some fun discussions.

Who does the laundry? I do. I don't know if he even knows how to start the washer and he claims he does not know how to iron (whatever). I detest doing laundry though...something I inherited from my mom.

Who pays the bills? I do. My mom did and I think all my siblings do in their respective relationships. I think we all like being in control of that and knowing where we are. D and I sit down and balance the checkbook together each week though and we are pretty strict about sticking in the budget (although often times I fail at that).

Who sleeps on the right side? If lying down I do. This is not set in stone though. Typically I just sleep closest to the bathroom which is typically closest to the door. I don't think it would upset our zen or anything if we switched though.

Who mows the lawn? (chuckling) he does. Yard work is not his specialty though and he really takes no pride in it although we always plant a mean garden and work on that together. He does the mowing because he has to and I will nag him until he does.

Who cooks dinner? Typically me, but if I don't plan something he is more than happy to do it. He is a good, creative cook. He almost always helps clean dishes after which is nice.

Who drives? Me. I am a better driver and he makes me nervous (plus I am a back seat driver). On long trips he drives.

Who is more stubborn? Depends on the situation, but in general I think I am. He is always quick to say I am sorry and I am always quick to hold a grudge :).

Who kissed who first? I think we kissed each other. He initiated, but I accepted. I did ask him about a week before that if he was ever going to kiss me...he waited forever and I was beginning to wonder about him :). He still teases me about that, but hey, I like efficiency and he was moving WAY TOO SLOW.

Who asked the other out first? He asked me out and I was SHOCKED, seriously. He came over one Sunday night and I was the only one home so we sat and chatted. I had really cute roomates though so I assumed he came to talk to them and since they weren't there he resorted to me. Before he left he said, "hey, the reason I came over was to see if you wanted to go out on a date." My answer (utter shock as I said), "who me??" He also laughs about this still. We had known each other for quite a while and he was the Elder's Quorum Pres and I was RS Pres (yes I know, how romantic) and he always came and walked with me to our meetings Sunday morning (and consequently was always annoyed because I would be running late often). We talked a lot and spent a lot of time together, but I thought that was it. My charm oozed through though and he couldn't resist.

We went to the mountain and made brownies on his camp stove and ate those and ice cream and then made a dry ice bomb. Doesn't that sound like Douglas? A true romantic :).

Who proposed? He did. He came over one morning, made me breakfast and proposed. I have his proposal on tape. It was really sweet and I was very surprised. I had suspisions that he was cooking something up, but wasn't sure. We never went ring shopping or anything. He just picked something out and I loved it (luckily). Really, he could have given me a twisty tie and I would have been happy. It was about time!

Who has more friends? Him. D knows everyone and everyone likes him. I am probably closer to the friends I have though which is partly just because I have time to hang out and talk on the phone a lot.

Who is more sensitive? Me. Sometimes he gets sensitive and I tell him he is acting like me and he snaps out of it. D can't lie though so I have learned not to ask questions that I really don't want truthful answers to...example...yesterday I told him, "just so you know, I think I am going to cut my bangs again." and he replied, "just so I know, I probably won't like them." If you ask he will tell and that has led to many hurt feelings through the years.

Who has more siblings? Tie, we both have four. I have four brothers and he has two sisters and two brothers.

Who wears the pants? Depends on the issue, but probably more so me until he feels really passionately about something. But, truthfully, probably me.

Our wedding cake. We had really pretty flowers at our wedding.

Seriously, I have never seen temple flowers as beautiful as they were the day we got married. All the tulips were in bloom and there were hundreds of them. And, tulips are my favorite flower!
Oh, and I tag everyone, but especially Christian, all my cousins, Holly, Jen R., Sami, Bethany, Melanie, Sallie and everyone else.

and, of course, a few of P.

Blue eyed Bridget

There were too many cute pics I really struggled to choose. Here are a few samples...