Luck o' the Irish

I successfully pulled off my first, and possibly last, St. Patrick's Day party!  Matthew wanted to play Wii with his friends, so we decided to keep the party small so everyone could play and no one had to sit around and wait their turn.  The boys also had a lunch of mostly green foods and green treats, and then they went on a treasure hunt.  A little leprechaun left green clovers all over the house with clues.  They found their treasure: some gold coins and individual pots o' gold (chocolate coins and nestle treasure chocolates) AND their own goodie bags.  The goodie bags were filled with green Airhead candy, a can of Sprite, a green light stick, green mints, and I can't remember what else!  It was a fun day!

We finished off St. Patrick's Day with an authentic Irish meal: Corned Beef and Cabbage!  It did not go over well!  (Actually, the corned beef was moist and delicious, I just liked it left over on a sandwich better than plain.)  It was a busy weekend.  Next year, St. Patrick's Day at our house will consist of wearing green.  And that's it.

Corinne's First Temple Trip

Since Corinne is 12 now, she is able to go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead.  (click on the links if you have no idea what in the world that means!)  I went with her to be there for her first visit to the temple.  It was a great experience.  She jumped out of bed that morning (which never happens) because she was just so excited!  I am proud that she is worthy to go and that she loves the temple.

I admit I got a little teary eyed in the temple with her.  I was just proud of her because she is a good kid.  I feel very blessed to live close to the temple so she can go often.  I know that it will be a great blessing in her life.

Our Valentine's Week

The Saturday before Valentine's Day, I hosted a Valentine's Day party for Corinne and some of her close friends from school.  The girls had fun, and it was actually really fun for me, too.  They made a craft and played a Valentine's twister game I got from Oriental Trading.  I served a light lunch, and then we had pink cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and some chocolates for dessert. 

(Allison helped make the cupcakes and the chicken salad.)

 (above: all the girls lined up to use the hot glue gun- maybe I should have borrowed a second one to speed up the process!)

 (I love how Allison just scoots up a chair and joins the party.  She thinks she is just one of the girls.  Good thing all of Corinne's friends think she is adorable.)

I had to plan Corinne's class Valentine's Day party too.  We played a few games with conversation hearts, and then they passed out their valentine's and had sugar cookies.  Corinne's teacher doesn't like long parties, and neither do I!  At least not at school.  So it was short and sweet.

On Valentine's Day, I gave each of my kids a new book and a candy bar.  I also made pink heart shaped pancakes for breakfast, which has become a tradition at our house.  Tyson went to a gluten free bakery and surprised me with some cake pops, which is probably my favorite dessert right now.  It was a nice week.  Fun, but not too crazy!


As soon as Matthew found out that I was planning a party for Corinne, I got a big "That's not fair!". 
So......  on to plan a St. Patrick's Day party for Matthew and his friends!  (Lots of green food and playing Wii....done.)

I Survived...

...the winter of 2013!  (At least so far.)

The last month has been absolutely crazy cold with highs in the teens and 20's and lows below zero.  The temperature reading in the van at 7:30 am was usually between 0 and 4 degrees.  This went on for weeks!  We have also had a ton of snow, especially earlier this week.  The pictures don't even do it justice.  (We shoveled our sidewalks as much as three times a day because the snow just wouldn't stop.)

Shane was so happy to get out of the house even just for a few minutes.  He brings me his shoes every day because he wants to go "bye-bye".  Poor kid.  It is finally above freezing today, and the snow on the roads has melted.  37 degrees feels very warm when you are used to single digits.  We can't wait for spring!

Snow Day!

We had tons of snow all through Christmas Break.  This was pure powder.  It was the sparkliest snow I have ever seen.  It literally looked like it was snowing glitter.  We couldn't resist going out to play in it!  This was Shane's first time playing in the snow, and all he wanted to do was stand still and eat it.  It was pretty adorable.

Tyson and I stared at the last picture and we said, "How did we get so lucky to have four of the cutest kids ever??"  We are very blessed and grateful for our family.

Happy New Year to you all!

Family Parties

We had an extended Brown family party the Saturday after Christmas at an All-Star cheer and tumbling gym owned by Tyson's cousin.  Of course, this is absolute HEAVEN for Corinne.  All of the cousins had a good time running around together.

That night, we had our Christmas Eve dinner and get together with Tyson's siblings since everyone was finally healthy.  We had a delicious dinner, of which I ate way too much, and then watched some of Tyson's family's old home movies.  We had our cousins book exchange, and then opened gifts from Aunt Heidi.  She got all the kids new pajamas, and they were ADORABLE.  (Corinne got cute polka dot fleece pajama pants in all her favorite colors, Matthew got Mario Kart pjs, which he has lived in ever since, Allison got light blue pjs with baby penguins on them, which I am in love with, and Shane got Cars big boy pajamas.  Thank you Heidi!)

It was a fun day.  I am so grateful for our family and all the cousins we have so close.