Zachary’s BE-LATED 4th Birthday Post:

Yep, 4 months LATE, but definitely worth the WAIT!!! :)

Zach turned 4 back in May on our vacation to California.  It was such a fun things to celebrate on our vacation & I hope looking back on this he knows we did things “SPECIAL” on that day … just for HIM!!!

Before we left we had several people come & give him presents, so they would miss his ACTUAL birthday.  First up was his primary teachers who gave him a balloon, a special cup, 2 awesome cars, & lots of yummy candy.  Then Grammy & Grandpa Madsen came to give him an awesome ball tosser/catcher sticky thing.  {which we had a BLAST playing with this summer}  Next Grandma & Grandpa Fergy came delivering his final pre-Birthday gift --- a magnetic guy dress-up doll & a DARLING outfit!!!  He was one spoiled boy & he hadn’t received gifts from US, yet!!!  Thanks to EVERYONE who made him feel special with all your gifts!!! We left for our vacation & had plans of going to the beach ON his birthday cause he LOVES the water, but due to weather reports we went the day before … for this reason we had a lil pre-birthday giving of gifts right there in the parking lot of the beach … cause you can’t give dinosaur sand molds the day AFTER going to the beach!!! May 23 was his ACTUAL birthday & boy did we CELEBRATE …. good times!!  He opened a few more present before getting his BIGGER gift from the closet of our hotel room …..  A neighbor had lent us a 2-wheeler bike once Zachary learned how to ride Emma’s.  It was SUPER nice to have each of them have their own bikes to ride around on bike rides & such, so we decided Zach needed a bike of his own for his birthday … no training wheel & ALL!!  He LOVED his new bike & mastered even getting on & off all by himself just THIS summer!!!  He is one quick & determined learner …His life theme is: anything SHE {aka EMMA} can do I can do BETTER! We went to a park & played & rode bikes.  It was a lovely day, so via Zach’s request….. we went swimming in Aunt Ashley’s pool.  It was a short swim & then we headed back to the hotel to rest up & shower to get ready for a night full of fun!!!

We surprised all of our kids by taking to Chucky Cheese.  They had NEVER been and it was fun to watch their eyes light up as they really realized ALL that this fun place entails!!  We watched the “KID” come out in us all …. Ash, Luis, Alan, & I got to play plenty of games too!!!!! 

It was such a blast to play away all our coins & then redeem the tickets for rink-e-dink prizes …. oh the JOYS of being a KID!!

The day was FULL of surprises … just when Zach thought he had hit the HIGHLIGHT of the day we headed back to Ash, Lu, & Ra-Ra’s house to celebrate with a SPIDER MAN ICE CREAM CAKE …. Zach had seen this cake earlier in the week as we went out for ice cream with the Moreno’s …… he FELL in love & said he wanted it for his birthday, but when his actual day came he NEVER said a word about it …. As Ash & Lu went to get it, so it could be a surprise …. they informed them that they had sold that cake just 1 hour earlier!!!  AGH!!!  Well the kind people at Baskin Robin whipped up another one in no time flat & all was well after all!!!!

Thanks Ash & Lu for letting us eat saturated blue dye cake at YOUR house!!!!  Thanks for helping us with ALL our surprises & thanks for sharing the remarkable birthday with us!!!  My kids …. well Emma & Zach … have asked if they can always celebrate their birthdays in California & Chuck E Cheeses!!!

 

& just like MOST nights ENDED in California ….. We carried ALL our sleeping “BABIES” straight up stairs into their beds …. EVEN OUR not so Lil 4 Year OLD!!!

GOODNIGHT …. SLEEP TIGHT …. BIRTHDAY BOY!!!!!

Here are SOME things about Zachary that I wanna remember:

{feel free to skip on over …. these are for ME!!!}

-He has the kindest, sweetest heart!

-He almost ALWAYS thanks me for any meal before anyone else, but almost never clears his dishes.  :)

-He is all boy & loves ANYTHING & EVERYTHING that might shoot, protect, & fight away bad guys!

-He still will snuggle up close to me whenever he gets a chance

-He doesn’t takes naps, but when he HITS the pillow at night …. HE IS OUT …. TOTALLY WORTH IT {for me}!!!

-He gets his feelings hurt & is afraid to ask people to play with him ---- EVEN COUSINS!

-He calls me his “SWEET BABOO” --- & i can’t get enough of it!

-His favorite colors are blue & green

-He is the precious lil soul of our family who prays with all his heart, and forgets to bless Emma, but prays for another baby.  :) {nope, NO announcement!!!}

-His nicknames are: Zach-a-roni, Buddy, Dude, Zach Attack, Zacharias, Zachary Dachery, & Z-Man.

-He LOVES all food EXCEPT my homemade mac n’ cheese with bread crumbs on top … lil’ stinker --- it is the BEST STUFF EVER!

-His favorite food is PIZZA --- OF COURSE!

-He loves to LEARN & gobbles up when I sit down with him to teach him how to write letters/numbers.

-I would have to say his favorite activity is watching movies/playing on phones …. darn you technology …. its such a battle to make sure he doesn’t do this ALL DAY LONG!

-His favorite movies is: Kung Fu Panda or Monster House

He is my LOVEABLE lil Teddy Bear & I love that his cheeks are STILL so kissable … just like the day he was born!  He is TOTAL boy, with a side of sensitive & I just adore having him around.  He’s always happy to go shopping as long as the store is ONLY food & has a FUN sitting cart.  He loves going to pre-school & couldn’t WAIT to start it this fall!!!

Our family is so blessed to have such a SMART & SWEET Son/Brother in it & I love him to pieces as his Mommy!!!

Thanks Zachary for showing me ample amounts of kindness EVERY day & how to be truly polite!!!

Love ya …. BUDDY!!!!

  

The WiTcHeS are out … HEHE

Oh how I LOVE fall … October … & EVERYTHING that follows!!!  One of the wonderful things about October is the WiTcHeS at Gardner Village!  I LOVE this trip & so does my kidd-o’s!  They ask about them ALL YEAR LONG, much how they’ve talked about “WHAT THEY WANT TO BE FOR HALLOWEEN” all year long!!!!  I remember this trip others years maybe being COLD, CHILLY, BLISTERING HOT, but not many like this time …. PERFECTLY PLEASANT!! {I guess that’s what happens when you hit the witches escapade late September while OLDEST child is off-track.}   I loved how my sweet children “DANCED” & “Hola'-hooped” with the witches, upon my request OF COURSE!  It was such a fun day with them --- Thanks Mummsy for coming with us ….. it’s ALWAYS more fun when Grandma comes …… or “Grandpa as Kye calls her!!!! {gosh I love that kid & his antics of life!!}

{My 3 lil potty-trained witches by they “Potty Training” witch …. as Kye called her!}

{hula-hooping …. CLASSIC!!!}

Blogger Woes ....

I have truly tried blogging for 2 days straight & what to my wondering eyes should appear .... NOTHING!!!!!
....... 5 HOURS ...... Long, Torturous Hours Yesterday & NOTHING!!! Ugh ..... Blogger Bugs!!!!
Soooooooo ---- hopefully you'll get to hear from me SOON. Cause I have so much to catch up & & soooo much to say!!! :)
{don't worry --- I have been writing in my journal like mad lately --- well really since I stopped blogging. Sometimes being able to do things in my bed makes it more appealing!! :) Yep, I love being in my bed at night .... Not sitting on a hard computer chair. Remember my tailbone incident --- Yesiree it STILL hurts!!! :(}
Until blogger on my computer cooperates you'll have to suffice with a few pics, probably 1/2 cut-off cause for some reason my phone does that, for now.
Thanks for "listening" to my RANT!!

My life ***

My kids are my life! It's not easy to be a Mommy, but it's worth it as most of you know!
I've had a hard couple of weeks. My partner in crime has been outta town & I feel like it's been a struggle to keep a Happy Mommy Face on!
I feel like somedays go FABULOUS & other days are epic FAILURES with ms screaming during situations that I later regret.
Can I say that I have been Potty Training too ... All by myself! It's gone well in staying dry! But not in staying poop free & that's my struggle now ... But I'm proud at how AWESOME he's done at staying dry so quickly!!!
I love these kids & seeing all these random pics of them makes me realize how completely LUCKY I am to be THEIR Mom!!! I'm honored, I'm happy, & at times over-whelmed, but really when all is said & done & they are tucked peacefully into bed I wouldn't trade THIS Mommy thing for ANYTHING!!!!
I TRULY AM OVER-JOYED TO HAVE THEM TO MAKE ME BETTER!
I LOVE MY 3 MUSKETEERS!!! :) :) :)

Syracuse Days

During Syracuse Days they had a carnival. The kids saw it being set up ALL week long as we took Emma to school. {we are year round, so yes we STILL had school during this summer celebration!} I thought we'd go & kinda planned to, but the night before it opened I was talking to some friends about it & found out that it was $2-$3 per ride!!! OUCH! That's a RIP-OFF!! Plus they were talking about how scary the people are & the rides are creaky/scary too. Needless to say I DID NOT wanna go anymore, but of course my kids still did ... Sooooo opening night came around & Alan & I thought up a sneaky plan. :)
We explained to our kids that the carnival costs a lot! So they could chose to go ride 1-2 rides each, get NOTHING to eat, & come home for the night OR we could go to a MOVIE together. Have TREATS, POPCORN, & SODA, bur it was there choice. :)
Well luckily they chose the movie!! {hehehe, it was kinda sneaky/rude, but oh well!}
Kye made it through his first MOVIE!
The next day we went to the parade & then rode bikes down to see fireworks that night. It was such a FUN bike ride there & back! Our kids did awesome riding around people & cars & we were all Soooo glad we weren't stuck in the traffic! The fireworks were well worth it & I don't think Zachary or Kye stopped talking the ENTIRE show. :) It was Soooo cute!!! I love sharing the excitement of things in the kids eyes!

Black Rock

Randomly one week Alan informed me that I needed to find a babysitter for Saturday night. I was excited, but wasn't really sure he was going to plan anything, but lo & behold he DID!!! {after all he DID loose the bet about the NCAA final game :)}
He didn't tell me what we were doing, but he just drove & drove out towards Tooele.
We went repelling to Black Rock when we were engaged, so it was FUN to go back & reminiss.
We got MANY repels in & then I got out my phone so I didn't get any shots of me, but oh well.
It was SUPER windy so it felt like we were at the beach repelling which made it that much more romantic. {I've NEVER seen the Great Salt Lake have ANY waves, let alone waves big enough to boogie board like that day! It was CRAZY!}
Thanks Baba for planning such an AWESOME date!!! Love ya!

Johnny Rockets

All spring long Alan worked on building Utah's 1st Johnny Rockets in Farmington. It was stressful for him, but he loved it too. It's always fun to see the "ground-up" process of these types of things.
They had FREE day the day before they opened for workers & family. It was BUSY, CROWDED, but FUN!
We let our kids order WHATEVER they wanted & were glad that once the "bill" came we DIDN'T have to pay it!!
Zachary always suggests going there, but we haven't made it back ... Yet!