Happy 4th Gabriella (aka Mallory!)

Mallory has been anticipating this day for quite some time! She's finally four. I don't think the change from three to four was as dramatic as she was expecting. On the eveing of her big day after all the hoopla was over, we asked her how she felt about her day--she replied that even though she was four, she was still little because she couldn't pick up eli. She also informed us that her wish didn't come true as she blew out her candles, because her wish was that she would be eight. She's trying to grow up way faster that we thought! You'll see her in the above picture with her favorite gift, a Gabriella wig from Megan. She thinks it's the living end and now wears it while surfing her favorite HSM clips online. She cracks us up.

We did have a little party for Mal as 4 is our kids first year to have a friend party. Minor problem: no friends, yet. A little girl lives across the street in Mallory's primary class and i asked her mom who the other girls were and we headed out to invite 5 little girls we'd never met. What a way to get to know the families in your area! Everyone invited showed up along with cousins, Alli and Kate.

She wanted a chocolate party... like her friend emma barker from colorado, so thank you brook for all the great ideas from which to copy:) We made chef hats, finger painted with chocolate syrup, played boula boula with a Hershey's bar, decorated cupcakes, and of course, dipped all sorts of goodies in chocolatewe sent them home on a chocolate high and with a goodie bag for later. It was good for Mallory to get to know the girls a little better and for matt and i to get to meet their parents and try to start making friends ourselves.

To finish up, some Mallory @ 4 tidbits that I'll want to remember. 1) Her normal body temperature is abnormally high. She always is telling us she's hot and we find her uncovered every morning and sometimes in just her undies as she's shed her pjs in the middle of the night. She never keeps socks or slippers on her feet in the house because she says they keep her too hot and she wears her swimming suit year round. i've had them hidden for a while but we pulled one out to go to the rec center last week and she's had round the clock guard on it since. 2) she now has 3 blankets she drags around the house. her #1 favorite, "camo" (isaac's old army blanket from when he was a baby), her silky baby blanket that we found while packing up in denver, and most recently she's added her old #1 plaid blanket, uncovered while unpacking here in SL, back into the mix. I know it's way over the top but the have to stay in the house and i'm too tired to fight with her anymore over them. 3) she still sucks her two fingers and rubs "camo" fuzzies on her nose to get to sleep. she makes the most awful sucking noise and it drives both matt and i bonkers. neither of us can sleep when she is around 4) She loves to bear her testimony in FHE and does it 3 or 4 times each monday. by the time she's old enough to do it for real, she'll have it down. She has to talk into the mop handle for it to count though. 5) She loves Primary! she's only been a few weeks, but she goes like a champ and has so much fun. she comes home and reports on her class just like the older two and i think she's the only sunbeam that knows all the words to "scripture power" and can bam her scriptures in her lap on cue. that may be all she's picked up from family scripture study as of yet. 6) She's my little bud and helper all day. Although she's the third, she feels like the oldest while megs and isaac are at school. She helps with her jobs (her room, bathrooms (with help:), and mopping) and running errands for me around the house (hey mal, run go get me...a diaper, a rag, eli's socks, eli's milk out of the fridge, wipes) She's a great runner! 7) She is picky eater extrordinare. I never thought I would have a picky eater because I'm too much like my mom and would MAKE my kids eat. That worked for Megs and Isaac, but not so for Mal. She has a will that isn't easily broken. We've given up the fight and and let her snack (mostly healthy stuff) all day. 8) From head to toe, she is all girl. Pink, princesses, high school musical, dresses, fairies, barbies, dolls, tea parties, you name it, she loves it. And we love her! Happy Birthday Sweetie!

valentine tradition

valentines day and sugar cookies. these two go hand in hand in our home. mallory was on me all day to make them so we (the two little ones and i) threw together a batch to decorate when the older ones made it home from school. it was as if eli had died and gone to heaven. during the mixing, he couldn't get enough of the dough (i know, i know, raw eggs, whatever...) but when the frosting and sprinkles made their way to the table, he had found his true love. he quickly cast aside his (now) frostingless cookie to eat the white stuff straight from the knife.

the older ones know to get as many sprinkles on before the jar gets removed from the table and you are left using whatever excess spilled over onto your paper plate. sprinkle ration, it's what i do. for those of you who have asked but i've negleted to give you my recipe...here it is

Best Sugar Cookies (and i might add, they really are the best)

1/2 c. butter 1/4 c shortning 2 eggs 1 c sugar 1 t vanilla swoosh almond extract 1 t salt 1 t b. powder 2 1/2 c flour cream fats and sugar. add eggs, vanilla, almond. mix well. add dry ingredients. bake at 400 for 8-10 min (don't overcook--until the edges are just about to brown). greased cookie sheet. (i usually triple this batch)

golden butter frosting

1/2 c butter 2T milk 1/2 t vanilla another swoosh of almond 3 c powdered sugar

the secret is in the almond--isn't it always?

ahhh! we've landed

our life in turmoil and transition is officially over as the guys came to hook up the internet yesterday and we now are up and connected back to the world. hip hip hooray! i've missed you, blogging world. brief update: we found a home we love, kids back in school (all-be-it year round, we're adjusting), eli back in his own bed, access to all things preschool for mal, a ward where we can lay low for a while, family in nearly every direction, and a half hour commute. we're starting to feel better about this move, ok i'm starting to feel better about this move.

a couple of changes since i was last in touch. #1: little isaac got glasses. the shcool nurse in colorado caught that he has lazy eye so we took him in here and yep, we're now a family with vision issues. i can't believe it! matt had just signed us up for health insurance with zions and of course, we didn't foresee this little bump, and we opted out of vision coverage. dagnabit! megan has been in a right fit of jealousy over her brother getting glasses and not her. i can totally see her failing her next eye test to see if she can't get lucky. not so sister

change #2: i cut my hair short and went back to brown. i was due for an image change and what better time than when you move. no one where you were has seen you and no one where you're going has seen you either, just in case short brown hair doesn't work for you. i'm not saying short brown hair doesn't work for me, but you'll notice that there's no attached photo :) i just have to remember to take a picture on the one day a week that i actually do my hair, and since church was canceled last week because of snow, it's been a while.

i'll post pictures of the house once we get everything hung inside and the outside gets unburried. well, maybe. it may not ever be picked up enough to take a picture to post so you might just have to come visit. mallory and i have a tea party or 17 every day so i'm sure you'll be a welcome guest to join us whenever your schedule permits.