January Birthday Madness #2 a.k.a Emmy turns 14!

After checking Simon's birthday party off the list, it was time to focus on Emmy's big day.  She surprised us by NOT wanting a party at all.  I think she hurt some people's feelings last year by not inviting them to her awesome party in Ogden, so she wanted to avoid all that.  Her only request was that we include her new friend, Parker, in some of the family celebration, so we invited him to come with us and my mom to her birthday dinner at Bonsai.  He's a cute, personable kid and impressed us when he shared some questionable forms of sushi with Zach.

Birthday streamers.  I was so excited to find crepe paper streamers with a pattern.  It's getting hard thinking up new ways to hang streamers every year, but it's a tradition I love.

For her actual birthday, she and I had what I termed "Emmy and Kelly's DAY OF FUN!" (said only as Janice from the TV show "Friends" can say).  We spent the day at the mall spending her birthday cash, having lunch and getting our nails done.  At one point, she said this was the best birthday ever because she got her mom to herself for a whole day.  It NEVER happens.

I took pictures of about everything she tried on...  And speaking of fashion these days - what is up with the silk blouse from the 80's trend?  Everything she picked up I think my mom owned 30 years ago.  No offense, Mom!

Lunch at the Nordstrom's cafe

While we were at the mall, her friend Abbie was decorating her room so that was fun for her to come home to.

Here's a snapshot of Emmy at 14...

Her loves...

...ballroom dancing.  She is getting really good!  Her studio is going to a competition in Idaho soon and she has had to learn the quickstep, cha cha, tango, samba and the swing.  She is dancing in ballroom heels now which is an adjustment she painfully is getting used to.  

...Les Miserables.  We went to see it at the VIP theaters over the holidays with my mom, sister and brother-in-law.  She LOVED it and hasn't stopped singing since.  I bought her the Broadway soundtrack for her birthday so it is always playing in our house.

..."Pitch Perfect", also a birthday gift.  We have fun watching this together.  Such great music!

...a certain boy named Parker Goudie.  I keep sticking to my guns about not "dating" or having boyfriends at this age, but I can't stop her from liking one boy and them liking her in return.  So then what do we call that?  You can't say, "No! You can't like him!"  So basically we are just avoiding the term but it's happening anyway.  I'm afraid this will be the norm for her.  Her personality is magnetic and when one boy goes away, there's two more waiting in the wings and she enjoys it.  I would have, too, at her age.    

...her friends - Abbie, Mcahl, Natalie, Jaxynn, Alarie, Liv, Alize, Kaylee, Darshan, Parker, Jeffrey, Alex, Alek, Ryan, Tanner, Bowen to name a few. 

...Ed Sheeran - an Irish singer/songwriter who she is going to see in concert next month with Abbie and Natalie. 

...singing and playing the piano, sometimes at the same time.  She hasn't had lessons in a LONG time so most of what she is learning is by ear, but she does pretty good that way.  Some songs that she sings and plays really well are "Fix You" by Coldplay, "Almost Lover" by A Fine Frenzy, "Mad World" by Gary Jules.  She is trying to teach herself "Clair de Lune" but I'm afraid she will get stuck when she hits the second page and it really gets difficult.

... and of course her family.  She has very different relationships with her two brothers.  Simon drives her crazy most of the time because he is jealous whenever I give her any attention whatsoever so he acts out against her.  She loves to spend time with me, but Simon makes sure that doesn't happen very often.  Zach's playful "picky" nature tends to drive her crazy most days, so he's not feeling the love very much from her these days.  When she's in a great mood though, he's her best friend.  

January Birthday Madness #1 a.k.a. Simon turns 6

Simon turned 6 on January 4th so we literally had just celebrated two major holidays before gearing up for his celebration.  We went to Italian Village for his birthday dinner (he originally wanted to eat at Little Caesars!) followed by a friendly game of family laser tagging - SO FUN!  He had never been before and I think it was perfect for him.

Emmy decorated the bathroom mirror with window markers.  They lasted until the first shower and then the condensation made the words a runny mess.

He decided to have a party at Classic Fun Center on $2 Tuesday which kept it pretty affordable.  Each activity is only $2/kid, so we told the kids (10 of them to be exact) they could do the bounce area and the Blast Zone where they shoot each other in this big arena with foam balls.  That part was so much fun.  They probably would have liked to stay there the entire time.

Simon is really into Minecraft these days.  That was the theme for his invites,

his birthday door streamers,

his cake which looks like this in the digital blocky world of Minecraft...

...and my re-creation of it in the real world!

It was my first time working with fondant so I was really worried leaving it until the last day.  Turns out it's not so hard, but the cake underneath didn't taste all that great.  Good things kids aren't too picky.

Birthday guests included Matthew Kirkham, Coco Baldwin (his favorite girl in the world right now), Carson Milne, Andrew Larson, Jackson Ketchoyian, Josh Johnson, Jonah Jensen, Emma Lindsey and Adam Lindsey.

Some things I don't want to forget about Simon at this age:

Favorite color:  Blue for BYU.  I've indoctrinated him pretty good considering he's surrounded by friends who's families are big Ute fans.

Favorite friend: Adam Lindsey or Adam Dansie.  Both boys are older than him but they share a love for video gaming so the age barrier doesn't matter much.

Funny habit:  He has started playing with his hair constantly, twirling the hair above his eyebrows.  He doesn't even realize he's doing it.  His hands are sometimes greasy and dirty so his hair has taken on a different look and feel lately.  And whenever I am near, my hair is in his hands.

Favorite books:  The Captain Underpants series and The Fly Guy series.  We read every night before bed.  I read a book to him (usually 2 or 3) and he reads his book to me that he has to pass off the next day at school.  He has become quite the little reader.  I am so amazed at how quickly this monumental task has been achieved.  Even though it isn't his favorite thing to do (it actually physically exhausts him sometimes), he is progressing really quickly.

Favorite thing to do with mom and dad:  Wrestling!  Every night, we have a "wrestling appointment" on our bed.  He was asking for it constantly and it really is tiring, so to put him off a day or two, I would tell him he had to make an appointment and the next available wrestling appointment was usually at least 2 days away.  Along with wrestling, he and I have been doing the "airplane" a lot and getting really creative with it.  I think I'm going to put him in gymnastics because he seems to be a daredevil and has a lot of energy to get out.