Family Pictures

Over Thanksgiving weekend we had some family pictures taken by Rohan Beal in Old Town Sacramento.
It was really nice to visit with Rohan, since we haven't seen him in 5-6 years. We originally met him when he served a mission in our ward at church in 2002, but he is originally from New Zealand.
Thank you Rohan for the wonderful photos!

Science Fair 2011

Science Fair.
A dirty word in my book.
Never a fan of the Science project. Maybe its because I'm not blessed with those curious genes that want to know how things work.
So, imagine my surprise when Bubba VOLUNTEERED to do a science project.
Yes, it was optional.
I think his willingness to do a project might have been due to his BFF doing one.
Who knows.
All I know is it was due the week before Christmas.
Worst timing E-V-E-R!!
Of course Bubba didn't really give us the right timeline and we thought it was due AFTER Christmas break.
Its Monday night:
Bubba: "Mom, my project is due Wednesday."
Me: "What project?"
Bubba: "My Science Project."
Me: "You're doing a project?!"

I go get Luke who tells me he helped Bubba put together a "proposal" earlier in the month and it was approved.
BUT the experiement was not yet done.
Oh sweet. Let me guess what we will be working on until Wednesday?!
The bottom line is the project got finished and Bubba really had a good time with it. He competed against other 4th graders and I think he got a second place ribbon....so he was thrilled.
I have to give big props for Luke's patience and willingness to help Bubba with the whole thing.
Yay for me. :)
Bubba's project: "Does the color of a candle determine how fast it burns?"

The girls are all reading quietly while waiting for the judges to show up. Not the boys on the other side. :)

 

Bubba even got to sit next to his best buddy during judging.

Pictures with Cousin K

The kids have one cousin on Luke's side of the family and we all love to visit with her when we have the opportunity.
A week before Christmas we invited her over to the house and we took some pictures we could give to Grandma and Grandpa Hogue for Christmas. We hope she can come over more often!

Yo Gabba Gabba Live

Little Miss Wiggy is a big, big, big "Yo Gabba Gabba" fan.
Its my fault.
The show comes on Nick Jr. right before bed time and sometimes I would lay in my bed with her and just flip on what I could find that was age appropriate. Turns out, Yo Gabba Gabba was the winner.
I actually really enjoy the show. I want a job where I can just dance, sing and act silly. There are some good artists that perform and we all catch ourselves singing along or trying to find the songs on ITunes.
When I found out "Yo Gabba Gabba Live" was coming to town in November I really wanted to take little Wiggy. Luckily we got some cheap tickets last minute and were able to go. Bubba wasn't interested in going, so he stayed home with dad. I took Wiggy and Tubbs to dinner and we headed to the show. We had a great time...of course.

Helping her get her shoes on since she was desperate to go!

The Shower

Bubba isn't one who voluntarily gets in the shower. You need to usually tell him to shower each morning/night.
When I found this picture on Pinterest it's Bubba to a tee. He will stand in the shower, with his head up against the glass until the hot water runs out. When he steps out, his hair is still dry.
His favorite thing to do in the shower though is play with the bar of soap. I put a new bar in there and within one day he has a hole drilled through it. Within a few days it will be slowly demolished into 3-4 pieces....which always gets me fumed and threatening. Nothing changes. I put a new bar in there and the same thing happens again.
At least his hands get clean.

Early Christmas with the Baer's

We were lucky to be able to head to Roseville early in the month and spend an early Christmas with my family. We normally visit for a few days over Christmas vacation but made the trek early this year.
It was a three day weekend for us and it was busy. We drove up Thursday evening and got home Sunday afternoon.

A few year's ago my parents were asked to be Mr. and Mrs. Claus at their ward Christmas party. My mom made all of the outfits by hand and even made a Buddy the Elf costume that my youngest brther Bert wore for a few years. They are quite popular. This year my nephew Cooper donned the "Buddy the Elf" costume and had a good time.

While we were visiting this weekend we attended a ward Christmas dinner and another ward's pancake breakfast with Mr. and Mrs. Claus. It was quite entertaining.

Grandpa Baer adopted a beagle named "Rufus" a week before we got there, so we were all very anxious to meet him....especially Wiggy. They became fast friends and played together all weekend.

We also picked the right weekend to visit since it was the Big Baer Christmas party. All four of my dad's siblings were there this year so we had lots of cousins to visit with. It was lots of fun...and we took lots of pictures.

My mom made all of the younger grandkids Christmas vests/dressses too. So we got all of the kids dressed up before the Baera Christmas party and snapped some pictures. There were two two-year olds so it was a little unpredictable. But....we were very thankful for the time and effort Grandma put towards the adorable outfits.

 My favorite sister-in-law Lindsay! :)

 

 

The Big 3-5

I found this quote recently:

That being said, There are things I love about my birthday and there are things I dread.
I love hearing from friends and family. Its so nice to be remembered and thought of. In my head you like to think the people you are care about think about you from time to time. But a birthday gives them a reasonable excuse to tell you they are thinking about you. I love the phone calls, the phone texts, the singing of "Happy Birthday," messages on Facebook, and the emails. I wish everyday was like this. I wondered who I would hear from next.
My day started shortly after midnight with text messages from my mom and dad. I wondered what they were doing up so late....or early....but it was nice.
When I left for work there was a balloon and Sephora bag on my front porch. I could wake up to these treats everyday!

Luke's parents called me before 8am and sang a duet for me. Very nice!
No one at work knew it was my birthday, so it was just business as usual. Work-work-work...and more meetings. I was happy to leave and head home to the "party." :)

What do I find on my porch!?
A Sweet Surrender bag and cupcakes from Luke's parents!! 10 cupcakes! I guess that meant I had to share? Or could I manage to consume them all myself?!

In the bag was a cute beret. The boys thought I was silly taking a picture for the giftor, but Wiggy loved the hat. She stole it as soon as she could get close enough to swipe it.

After a few cupcakes were consumed we headed to dinner at BJs. A lot of food was consumed! I think we tried one of everything.

For dessert the kids had mini-pazookies and I had the beignet with ice cream.

This is how the meal ended. Wiggy spilled water on herself about 15 minutes into dinner. We took her shirt off since she was shivering and put on her jacket.

After we got home from dinner there was ANOTHER delivery: See's Truffles.
My friends know me so well. It was another nice treat. I was just contemplating if I should shove one down in addition to all my other birthday treats today! The answer was of course...yes.

My last birthday treat was today: a gelish manicure and spa pedicure with my dearest, oldest friend. It was soooooooo nice! I was glad the manicurists took a long time so I could sit and chat with her next to me in the spa chairs for over two hours.
Happy Birthday to me! 35 is looking pretty good so far.