Matt's birthday party had we!

You can imagine how proud Brandon was when Matt claimed he wanted to have a Star Wars themed birthday party. Both Brandon and I had a great time planning this party. Here are the invitations I made... I made Jedi vest out of brown felt and a rope to tie with and Brandon made light sabers out of PVC pipes, pool noodles and gray electrical tape. I gave Brandon the idea, but he perfected it, he was pretty particular about how it had to be done.

I wore my Princess Leia costume (oh sorry, no pictures) and Brandon wore his Han Solo. I did a training session with the kids, although as one kid (a Star Wars fan) pointed out that Princess Leia does not use a light saber or use the force. Like Princess Leia, I had no idea what I was doing, but the kids were all really excited to practice the moves I taught them anyway. Like a chop and a spin (true Star Wars lingo). Then we had a visit from Darth Vader.

Each kid took a turn to fight him.

Then we played "Master May I" (very similar to Mother May I). I was surprised that so many kids could be so good and excited to play. Only Matt's friend Rachel (far right) didn't know it was Brandon and was a little nervous to get closer. Brandon, uhhh I mean Darth Vader would say "All Padawans with blue light sabers take two giant steps, etc..." and they would say "Master May I?" and Vader would say "hhooooooo phoooooooooo yes you may".

We also had lunch, a pinata and Popsicles (no cake for Matt). A lot of the time the kids were just running around the yard fighting with their sabers. 20 kids with light sabers may not have been the best idea, but we only had a few minor incidents. Matt got a ton of fun gifts from his friends and I think fun was had by all. By the time is was over I was so tired (partly because I got up at 6am to run 9 miles, my half marathon is this coming Saturday).

Look who's 5...

I cannot believe that Matt is 5 already. He will start kindergarten in a month. For his birthday we all went around as a family and told him what we love most about him. Here are some of the things we said... We love how much he loves his sisters, so much he can't keep his hands off them. He is so smart. He is so kind and generous, always sharing with others. He has a lot of energy and loves to run, play and laugh. We love having this special boy in our family.

Catch up on two months

So, most of you already know that I am pregnant. I am almost 18 weeks and have been really sick for the past 12 weeks. I've had only a couple of good days in those weeks, most have been pretty bad. I have spent many days laying on the couch yelling up the stairs at the kids. I have also been know to pay Kate to entertain Matt, it actually works really well. Today we had a great lesson in Relief Society about keeping a journal and I have been inspired, despite how I am feeling, to recommit to my blog. So here is an update on the kids for May and June. Warning-this may be long and boring to most of you....

Matt had his 4th Birthday on May 17th. We had a little family BBQ at Grandma and Grandpa's. Matt got a lot of gifts and was excited about every one. His favorite present was from Brandon and I, we got him his first bike.

Because of Matt's food allergies he cannot have a regular cake and requested a Jello Cake instead. (His first birthday I made a dairy free, egg free, wheat free cake and no one would touch it).Right now Matt is obsessed with Spider man. He loves everything Spider man. Grandpa Kirk got him a Spider man swimsuit and it is the only one he will wear.

In early June both kids took swim lessons. Kate really didn't care for them, but Matt went from being hysterical when water got splashed on his face to going completely under. He loved swim lessons and when they were over asked over and over again for more. He is currently taking private swim lessons from a teenage girl in our ward. It has been so hot and we have been in the pool almost everyday and both kids are swimming so well now. Brandon offered to take them anywhere they wanted to go on a daddy date if they would swim across the pool, something we thought would take all summer for them to do. Last week both kids did it and Kate got to go get ice cream and Matt chose Chuck E Cheese. I am so proud of how brave they are at learning to swim. If you knew how scared they were a few weeks ago you would be impressed too.

Kate only has one more week of Kindergarten left. Recently she won an award for being a good writer. She wrote out all the words to a song they were learning in school, including the humming part and gave it to her teacher. That is why Kate was given this award and the Principal ask Kate to sing it for everyone and she did it in front of all the other Kindergarten classes and all their parents.

I am sure many other things have happened, but these are the most important. I will try to be better at posting from now on.