Keeping Up With the Joneses

Mason got to attend cub scouts for the first time yesterday on his birthday and was so excited! The night before I overheard him praying: "I'm so excited for scouts. Thanks for letting me be in it. I'm kind of nervous about the car race (pinewood derby). Please help me not be so worried." Fortunately it lived up to his expectations and he can't wait until next week.  Mason wanted a Minecraft cake for his birthday. This is what a cake looks like on the game Minecraft.  I made a lemon cake with lemon cream frosting into a cube with 4 layers of a small square cake pan. Hannah made the fondont. The brown is a delicious chocolate fondant. Mason was thrilled and had to have his friend Daniel come look at it before we could eat it. Hannah and Ari stayed for dinner and we had (at Mason's request) fish, shrimp, sushi, endame, and rolls with butter.  We then opened presents. We got him a Minecraft shirt and a little Minecraft Lego set (yes, we are feedin...

Mason's birthday is tomorrow (the 25th) but we had his birthday party with friends Friday. He's been planning a Minecraft party for a while now and was very happy with how it turned out. I learned my lesson after last years' Robot Party where there were way too many kids, and this time I only allowed him to invite 8. I think the number of kids and their age made a big difference and the kids were delightful, polite, and everyone seemed to have a good time. The only bad part was that my iphone camera was dirty or something and took TERRIBLE pictures, so I can't really document how cute it turned out. We put together a quick creeper door. The tape didn't show in real life. Dumb camera.  At first I was going to make these creeper masks for all the kids but decided it was too much work and too expensive (to print the paper). So I made one that the kids used as a blindfold for pin the tail on the Enderdragon.  I made cupcakes and Hannah made these awesome cr...

Marshall had some free flights we needed to use, so we decided to go to Disney World for a few days without the kids. We wanted to go somewhere warm but with something to do so it ended up being a great vacation. At first I was having a hard time because I was feeling so guilty for not bringing the kids, but after seeing families with small kids struggle and walking our feet off, I realized that Disneyland is a much better choice for our family and so I could just enjoy the fun time. Here are some quick pictures. Marshall posing with the Lego Hulk At Hollywood Studios they asked for volunteers and when no one else volunteered I said I would. They introduced me. . . Had me sit in a chair. . . And then splashed 300 gallons of cold water on me. Fun.  In China at Epcot. I think Epcot was my favorite park.  An elephant from the safari through Animal Kingdom  I think these pics of us on roller coasters are funny.  Another one. ...

I haven't said much about Myles for a while and had some pictures I wanted to share. Myles brings so much excitement to our family. While the other boys are content to play for hours by themselves, Myles needs constant entertainment and excitement. Aside from computer games and Plants v. Zombies on my ipad, he loves playing Monopoly, Battleship, and counting his money. He is OBSESSED with math and the easiest way to keep him entertained and challenged is to print out 2nd and 3rd grade math worksheets and leave him alone to complete them. He LOVES kindergarten and comes home everyday telling me everything he learned. He especially loves music and every few days he is singing a new song that he picked up somewhere. He and Max have developed a great friendship over the last few months and he has learned to be appropriately gentle with Max. Whenever Max is upset, Myles knows he can get Max to laugh by fake-tripping and Max thinks it is the funniest thing ever. I've said before t...

Today was one of those increasingly rare Saturdays when we woke up with no plans for the day. So after taking turns sleeping in, we decided to head up to Scheels in Sandy. We had heard good things about it, but also that it was really crowded over the holidays, so we hoped that it would be better now. And it was! We got there around 11:30 and planned on being there for about an hour and then going out for lunch. But we soon discovered that there was much fun to be had, so we ended up staying 4 HOURS! Fortunately they had a deli so we could re-fuel (Marshall had an elk meat sandwich--yuck!). Here are a few pictures: Mason and Max did a game of mini bowling. Of course with them, it is more like throwing and hoping it goes forward.  Myles loved it.  Mason did a virtual sports game and tried football, soccer, and basketball. He was pretty good! Lots of animals to pose with.  Myles has brainwashed the kids into liking guns. So they had to try the shooting r...

Last week I was feeling ambitious and thinking about taking Myles and Mason to Disneyland for the weekend (leaving Max in Delta and Marshall home to work). I figured with Monday being a holiday we could leave Thursday, be in Disneyland Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and drive home Monday. So I told the kids the plan, expecting them to be excited. Nope. Immediately they asked "but I thought we were going to Delta!" I tried to reason with them that we could go to Delta another time but go to Disneyland this weekend. Nope. They cried. They whined. They complained. So we went to Delta. I guess I can understand why they like Delta. Grandma lets Max eat popcorn for breakfast on his own little couch while watching cartoons on the tv. Mason and his cousin William stayed in bed ALL DAY playing Minecraft on their computers. I finally dragged them up for some food at 2 PM, then they immediately ran back downstairs and played until bedtime.  In addition to his own ...

A few weeks ago Mason got a gift certificate for Pizza Pie Cafe for doing well in school. He insisted that he just wanted to go with me and NOT his brothers. Finally we talked him into the whole family going but he and I sat at a different table on the other side of the restaurant. Mason with his pizza. He thought he was so grown-up paying for the family to go out for dinner. Little did he know it still cost us $25 even after his gift certificate :) Marshall and the other boys enjoying their meal.