I Can't Wait Until I'm 8 for then I'll be Baptized.

So handsome in white

Grahm turned 8 years old and made the decision to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  We are so proud of him and his decision.  Since we live on Okinawa he had the option of being baptized in the East China Sea.

We had a small intimate service.  The only people we had in attendance were our family including Grammy and Grandaddy.  Also, Uncle Malan and President Young were there.

Charlotte gave the opening prayer and we sang When I am Baptized (page 103) without any accompaniment, Grammy Miller lead the music.  Jayce shared a talk on Baptism.  He did a great job, he used a dirty penny as an object lesson and talked about the Savior and his example and its purpose.  Grandaddy Miller shared a talk on the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  It was amazing, I felt the spirit.  It was just our little group of 10 huddled around listening to the talks with the sound of the surf in the background and the sun slowly setting.

After that he was baptized by his Dad with John Malan and Jay Miller as witnesses.  After we had him wrapped up warm in a towel he was confirmed while standing there in the sand.  We closed with the song Choose the Right Way (pg. 160)  By this time it was hard to see the words and we were a little less musical sounding.  I gave the closing prayer.

It was an amazing experience and I hope everyone who was there will remember it and how they felt.  I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and to have parents who are wonderful examples to me and to my children of how to live the gospel of Jesus Christ.

After the service we went to Jack's Place for some Japanese Tepanyaki to celebrate.

Another Birthday!

Grahm turned 8 this year.  8 is a big deal for us and he was lucky enough to have his grandparents in town for a visit.  They helped make the celebration wonderful and last a few extra days.

He was spoiled rotten by everyone - Lego's, his own set of scriptures (a gift for when you turn 8), a camera, a rock collection, and so much more.

(I love Jayce's expression in these photos)

For the big day he wanted to eat Falafel (his mommas boy), ribs (to make daddy happy), edamame, fruit, and for his cake a giant cookie.  We were adventurous and made pumpkin chocolate chip cookie - he loved it.

Happy Birthday Grahm!  We are so proud of you.  You are one of the most thoughtful kids we know.  You will share everything you have even if it is the last one and you don't get any (you get that from your Grammy).  You are a awesome big brother to your little sisters and help me out when ever I need you to.  You are such a smarty pants, too.  We love you.

Birthdays!

In all the chaos of  family visiting, stomach flu, colds, and life we celebrated 2 birthdays.

Tennyson turned 2!  She is such a sweet girl with a large dollop of mischievousness.  We were lucky to have Grammy and Grandaddy visiting to help make the day extra special.  Only a few more birthdays and we will always have family around to help celebrate!

We enjoyed the usual toddler fare - fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and fruit.

After our Disney trip this summer Tennyson fell in love with Tinker Bell, so we found lots of Tinker Bell toys for her to have and a pair of PJ's.  Grammy and Grandaddy gave her some cute clothes that she desperately needed.  Her adopted aunt Lyndsey gave her a Tinker Bell and a Winnie the Pooh hair clips.

It was all followed by Raspberry Cheesecake, of course (Jason was picking!).

Tennyson keeps us on our toes.  She is the only one of 4 who ever has gotten into my jewelry box or junk drawer.  If she wants your attention she will get into things that are off limits until you start paying attention.  She is super smart and makes us laugh.  We love you Tennyson!

The Un-Birthday

We celebrated Charlotte's Un-Birthday this past weekend.  She is finally to the age of friend parties and I was excited to get to host a party at the beach.  When will I ever get the chance again?

Charlotte decided on a Mermaid themed party and there are lots of great ideas out on the web for Mermaid parties.  We used One Charming Party for our ideas and printables.  This made it a little easier to host a great party without access to Target, dollar stores, and Michaels (to name a few).

One Charming Party gives you lots of ideas for you party and easy instructions for any DIY projects.  They even provide a menu.  I didn't get to take any great pictures of the party before hand.  I didn't leave enough time before guests were arriving and for last minute changes.  We had hoped to rent a table and be entirely down on the beach.  However the beach was already prepared for the Typhoon coming on Monday and they wouldn't let us rent a folding table.  Oh, and tinsel glitter is my new favorite thing.  It makes everything look cool.

We made the sign, the sandcastle, we dried our own seaweed (made the house smelly) to glitter, and I saw these suckers on another party and thought they looked like sea glass and we had to make those too.

One thing about having the party at a different location is you forget things.  I had cut out and glittered the mermaid cupcake decorations, but forgot them.  So, only the green ones with white chocolate sand dollars were decorated - Oh, well.

I love the paper straws.  I wanted to make sure everything was essentially safe if it was blown out to sea or down the beach.  So, we packaged their food in small paper bags and then in a bucket.  Lunch was Peanut Butter and Jelly Fish sandwiches, crab legs (carrot sticks), sea cucumbers (sliced cucumbers), deep sea pearls (blueberries), gold fish crackers, and sea weed juice (purple crush).  Of course they didn't eat much.

After lunch we played games.  Dolphin, Dolphin, Shark! (Duck, Duck, Goose).  Water Relay, we used large shells to run water from one bucket to another - girls vs. Grahm (Grahm graciously lost - with a little bit of my help).  Sea Shell Dig.  We collected shells from various beaches to provide the girls with great shells to find and not broken fragments.  Flip-Flop Hunt.  There is a cute message that you read to the girls and then they are given one flip-flop and they have to find the match.  And some Limbo.  Jayce was our DJ (he is growing up too fast).

We all ended up a little too burnt, tired, and happy after a day at the beach!

Happy Un-Birthday Charlotte!  I hope you had a wonderful day and know how special and amazing you are.  You are so sweet and tender hearted and always have a smile.  We love you so much.

Double Digits

Jayce did have a Birthday a few weeks ago.  He has hit the double digits - the big One Oh!  The big day was shared by two other major events, which made the day extra special and extra crazy.  Of course his biggest request this year was books.  He added over 5 books to his collection and I think finished all of them by now.  A few new clothes for the summer and a remote control helicopter.  The helicopter did not survive 20 minutes of use before it was busted.  We thought maybe we should have supervised a little more, so it was replaced and that one was busted in record time.  Jason then spent time using parts from here and there to give him a more play time before they both went in the trash.  Live and learn, I guess.

For food he requested: grilled Salmon with a dill sauce, fresh tomatoes, deviled eggs, giant pickles, raw green onions, fresh mushrooms, oven roasted potatoes and cheese biscuits.  For his cake - Shakes!

Happy Birthday to my Jayce!  You are one unique kid.  

-You love to read and are developing a fun sense of humor. 

-You love anything Greek or Egyptian.

-You are busy writing a book, or is it 5.  You are planning on being an author when you grow up.

-You have an awesome imagination and love to create whole new worlds in your head. 

-You like to draw, especially dragons and fighting scenes.  You plan to illustrate your novel.

-You occasionally refer to yourself as a "ginger", you are proud of your red hair.  You think you are more Irish than you are. 

-You excel at anything you decide to.  

-Your favorite food is seafood.

-You wish we could move to Idaho now.

-You want to do what is right, a great example to your brother and sisters.

-You are the best big brother and are such a great help to your Mom and Dad.  

You are one amazing person.  I know things are not always the way you want them to be, but life is still great and I love spending it with you.  We love you and are so proud of you.

She's One!

My baby is One and walking.  Technically a baby, but so big already.  I miss the days when she would sit and snuggle.  She probably had the worst First Birthday ever.  She spent her day crying for Mom as I prepared and hosted 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9 year olds and taught them cool Science.  Then on the day we designated for her cake and dinner we decided last minute to run to the Aquarium and on our return home she ended up sick and blew out a diaper all over the car seat.  We kept her up too late trying to finish dinner and presents.  Next year will be better, I promise.

For her Birthday she received a Little People Ice Cream Truck (Which was very distracting because it wasn't wrapped.  She didn't want to unwrap anything.), bath toys, cupcake toys to add to the kitchen, and her Corolle Doll.  She has been trying to steal Charlotte's and it has been causing problems, so she was very excited to get hers. 

Can you tell by the one picture that she was tired and not feeling well?

 The kids thought the rainbow cake was super cool and it was kind of fun to make.  Maybe we will do it again.

Tennyson you are the busiest of all your siblings.  You are the most curious and determined.  You keep us on our toes.  We are so proud of you and love that you are apart of our family.  You still demand to be held by Mom most of the time and only give kisses when the mood strikes you.  If someone tries to steal a kiss you get angry (hope you feel that way at 16).  You love to play in the water (toilets are acceptable).  You like to get into your brother's Legos and you smile and run when you get caught.  Love you tons, Little Miss.

Mad Scientist Birthday Party (again)

Yes, I did a Mad Scientist Birthday Party a little over 2 years ago for big brother.  This time it was for Grahm and since it was Halloween I was able to get excited about decorating.  You will be surprised to know I didn't buy any new decorations.  My Mom sends my kids a creepy box every Halloween (they love it as much as Christmas) and so I am well stocked in creepy items.

The invitations were tucked inside small vials or test tubes.  They were simple and included things like "Testing Begins at"  "Lab Location".  The party favor bags I made .  I printed the logo I made on brown paper bags.  For how to print on lunch bags click here.  I will attach the pdf file for the print at the bottom (if someone has a picture they know is okay to use and distribute I would love to place it in the pdf file).  To add to the feel of the "Lab", I taped black plastic (garbage bags) over the walls.

For the experiments we:

1.  Franken-Bugs.  We made bugs with our Creepy Crawler Machine.

2.  Insta-Snow.  We learned about polymers.  You can read more here.

3.  Foaming-Snow.  You microwave Ivory soap (has to be Ivory).  Explained here.

4.  Hover Crafts.  You use a CD, bottle top, and a balloon.  Explained here.

5.  Tympanic Torture Device.  Could be really annoying.  Explained here. 

6.  Jello-Petri Dish.  I explained this using temperature and molecules.  Then every time they were getting too wild - I would have my molecules freeze.  We put smarties in our Jello to be our "growths".

7.  Film Canister Rockets.  Vinegar and Alka-Seltzer in a film canister and the lid pops off - be careful of eyes.  No pointing at anyone.  They can pop pretty hard.

8.  Diet Soda/Mento Geysers.  Explained here.

For refreshments we served:

1.  Abby Normal Cupcakes.  My awesome neighbor hand created each of these fondant brains.  I love how they turned out.

2.  Arsenic Cider.  I am in love with layering drinks.  The Sisters Cafe has a nice video how to.

3.  Cryo-Cream (sorry no pic).  Mint-Brownie Ice Cream.

My favorite decor for the party was the china cabinet.  I filled it to make it look like a specimen cabinet you see in labs.  Essentially I found creepy things, put them in jars.  Then added water and food coloring to them.  I wanted to add dust and cobwebs, but at some point you have to be done.

Here are a few pics from the party.  The boys were literally this wiggly the whole time.  I am glad that they had fun.   Here they are decorating their hover craft.

Playing with our tympanic torture devices.

You will have to find a picture of a spider or skeleton hand on your own and add it.
Mad Science Treats

Mad Science Goody Bag

If they live until 7 do I get to go to Heaven?

Grahm celebrated his seventh Birthday!  We celebrated as a family and then had a big Birthday bash for friends the following weekend.  It was fun.

He made off with a microscope and accessories (explains the face), Nerf gun, How to Pin Bugs book, and a coat.

 Ignore the Diet Coke in the background and the awful picture (it really makes the Torte look gross).

My 7 year old.  How on earth did he get this big.  I was just throwing a 7 year old party for his big brother.

I like the idea of taking a picture with the Birthday kid - so we started the tradition.  Well see if I can remember or get it done with each one every year.

Grahm you are super sweet.  You share better than anyone I have ever met.  You notice when people are in need and you are quick to respond.  You have lots of energy and love to laugh and smile.  You are good at sports and excel at everything you try.  You just started Gymnastics and are loving it.  You love Legos, Nerf guns, science, reading, running with you Dad (Mom is too slow), Star Wars the Clone Wars, primary, hugs, and so much more.  You are a good big brother and always try to help with the baby and you play really well with your bother and sister.  You are a blessing to us and a joy to have.

Un-Birthday!

Late as usual, we fainlly got our act together and celebrated Charlotte's Un-Birthday.  She wanted to have a Tangled Party and she wanted dress-up clothes.  So we had us a pink party - the only thing I wish I would have done is have the guests wear pink.

The crown broke the next day, but she loves the shoes.

Yup - this is the favorite dress.  She also has a new tutu with petals inside, a poodle skirt (I made with leftover fabric from one of the coats I made), a fairy costume (the boys broke the wings the next day), an ice princess dress, and others that still have not made it in the mail.

I saw a recipe for pink lemonade cupcakes.  We tried them and no one really loved them, so we wont be making them again.  Basically you add pink lemonade concentrate to a white cake mix and add lemon to butter cream frosting.  Plus - my kids still don't eat cake.

The for the highlight of the night.  We headed to a beach and Jason launched the lanterns.  It was windy and so a bit tricky - next time we will wait for a calm night.  We had an audience, it was fun and magical - I hope she loved it.

Looking forward to more pink parties.  Happy UnBirthday, Charlotte!  We love you!

Gifts from the heart

These are some of the gifts that I received from my 3 oldest.  They are my favorite gifts.

While Jason and I were finishing up the dinner prep before my Birthday dinner, they were running around and rummaging through their treasure stashes.  They also spent Sunday producing an amazing number of drawings.  I am so lucky to have children who were so excited about giving.

Jayce and Grahm found items that I can craft with - a ring to fix, buttons, beads, and shells.  I love the tattoos (I was asked if I would wear them, so I had better put them on), rocks and fossils.