Lily's 5th Birthday

It's taken a little longer to get this blogged because I'm a crazy lady. Lily's birthday festivities were a bit more subdued than Connor's, but they've stretched out over a longer timespan so that's gotta count for something, right? We started things off with a family party with our Las Vegas relatives while we were there for Spring Break. It was totally fun and we were so happy to be able to celebrate with Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Darrel. Among the highlights...a beautiful new Sleeping Beauty dress from Grandma and Grandpa, you'll see it featured below. Back at home, we had a small family (Olson's included of course) "birthday dinner" with pizza and cupcakes and presents. Lily got the movie "Bolt" from Auntie and Michael, which she had been just dying for!! The next day we were off to our home away from home...Disneyland. We were there from opening to closing, doing anything and everything our little princess wanted and we had such a fun fun day. Auntie, Jane and Grandma Lori came and joined us for a few hours, that's about all the Janie was in the mood for. But it was fun while it lasted.

Lily got a "Birthday Fun Card" because we're annual passholders and spent her very own $59 on- a Baby Simba stuffed animal, a Sleeping Beauty toy that has a spinning/light up dress, and (this is my favorite) a sword and shield "just like Prince Phillips'"! She's awesome!!!! Half the time she's in love with Prince Phillip and the other half of the time she wants to be just like Prince Phillip. Anybody who doesn't know, Prince Phillip is the guy from Sleeping Beauty who slays the dragon and he's Lily's "favorite prince" her words, not mine.

They tried and tried, but it just wasn't meant to be...

My little hobbits, towards the end of the day.

I know she doesn't look like it, but she was dying to meet Pluto, she even waited in line. There's nothing Lily likes more than a stuffed dog, and I'm not exaggerating.

The face paint...so stinkin cute. It was only about 1/2 rubbed off by the end of the day, much better than I had hoped for.

The money shot. Lily, in her new Sleeping Beauty dress, posing with Sleeping Beauty. We waited in line for over an hour and a half to meet her, and Lily didn't even complain. That's true devotion.

Connor's Birthday-Part III (The End)

The birthday festivities came to an ending this evening with a small soiree we had at the house with all of Connor's best buds. It seemed like a small number of boys in our head, but what they lacked in quantity they made up for in quality (of loudness). Seriously, they had such a great time. They played some bizarre basketball game outside for about two hours and only came in when it was so pitch dark that you literally couldn't see the ball anymore. They ate pizza, chips, strawberries, cupcakes, ice cream, m&m's (all the good stuff). They played a little Rock Band and ended the night with a Mario Cart tournament. It was super fun and I found myself just feeling really grateful that Connor has such wonderful friends! I can honestly say that I'm all birthday'd out for now. I gotta gear up for the Lily in April. Here's some pics of the crazy boys...

I had to include this picture because I just love Andy's awesome dancing in the background. He was cracking me up. And Christian (singing) has definitely missed his calling in life, we're pretty sure he's gonna be a rock star!

The band getting ready for their big gig.

The traditional birthday dogpile. It never ceases to amaze me how much 9-10 year old boys love to pummel one another...whatever floats their boat I guess.

Andy taking Connor down, as he often does. Could he look any happier? How can you not love a kid that smiles like that?

Lily was so happy to be included at dinnertime. She loves Connor's friends so much. She spent the first hour of the evening trying so hard to get anybody's attention. She eventually gave up and went and watched Kung Fu Panda instead. From left to right, we have Lily, Christian, Connor, Andy, Kyle, Caleb and Rusty.

Connor's Birthday-PART II

Day 2-Devyn and I took the three kids to Disneyland/CA adventure. We actually spent the gazillion dollars and got annual passes this year. It's our first time getting the passes and we're all super excited to get the most out of them. The weather was perfect. The lines weren't bad. We all had a fantastic time. We got there around noon and left at closing (9:00). Lily didn't complain about being tired until we were walking out to the car. Jane was a perfect angel baby (as usual). All in all, it was a perfect day. Here's a few pics of the happenings...

I love it that it looks like Jane is waving. It's also pretty awesome that she has her zipper in her mouth.

They honestly couldn't be any cuter if they tried. I love them more than churros!!

The aftermath.

"C" is for Connor and, incidentally, cool. Just in case you didn't know.

Connor's Birthday-PART I

Connor's birthday festivities actually began the day before his birthday (3/10). He had a baseball game and we were in charge of snacks. So, being the awesome mom that I am, I made cupcakes for everybody. I even went the extra mile and put red/black Astros-colored sprinkles on them. They were adorable and delicious, even if I do say so myself, and I do. It's one of my goals in life to make homemade buttercream frosting as good as my friend Vanessa's. I'm not really close yet, but I won't give up.

We went home after the game and Connor opened his presents (cause Daddy had to work late the next night and he didn't want to miss it). The highlight of Connor's life thus far was opening his present from us, which was RockBand. He actually hugged the box. His auntie got him the book he's been dying for. Grandma Lori and Grandpa Jim got him some awesome baseball training cards, a cool drawing book, a magazine subscription and another unknown gift that hasn't yet arrived. Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Darrel got him a totally awesome practice tee and a bag of baseballs. He loved everything he got and was super grateful for it as well. Thanks all. Here's pictures of Day 1 of Connorfest 2009.

These babies were good! My mouth is watering now just looking at the picture.

King of the Derby and the Diamond

It's been a busy busy week for the Conman. He participated in his first pinewood derby on Wednesday night. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it and tell you that his car did well, but it was a mighty fine looking car. Connor went for the classic dragster model, which he painted midnight black. He refused to put any embellishments or ornamentation on it at all, proving once and for all (to anybody who wasn't sure) that he is definitely my son. He had a good time at the pinewood derby and we learned a lot. Watch out next year, cause our car is gonna kick booty!

In more optimistic news, opening day was last Saturday. And while the schedule of baseball season basically makes me a crazy lady, it is so fun to watch Connor play and I look forward to it every year. Connor is playing for the AAA Astros this season (yippee, no Dodgers again). He started the season out with a bang! He made the first out of the opening day game by catching an infield fly, we were so so excited! In tonight's game he walked to first at his first at-bat, then he stole second, stole third and stole home!! Then he hit a 2-run homer! Okay okay, it technically wasn't a true home run, it was a fly ball that didn't get caught and then got way overthrown at first. But he made it all the way home and he got the game ball from his coach! Regardless of circumstance it was an exciting game and Connor was on cloud nine. We can only hope the rest of the season continues along this way. I'll keep y'all posted.

Here's a few pics. Enjoy.

A Mother's Work...

So, the kids and I were piling into the car one day last week (and don't ask me which day because they all kinda roll into each other) to run some errands. We got inside and my bambinos started to argue over whether or not we should listen to The Shins (Lily) or Radiohead (Connor-although truthfully this was his 2nd choice because I didn't have the correct David Gray album in the car for his highness). Let me just tell you that I love love love that my kids love music, and I especially love love love it that they enjoy the same music as me (although this isn't an accident, I've basically brainwashed them since the womb).

Anyways, the argument continued for a few minutes and no agreement was reached. They both sat there for a second thinking about what to do and the conclusion that was reached was that since they couldn't agree on a cd, they would just sing "Book of Mormon Stories" instead. And all I could think was, "my work here is done."

Verbal Assault

Lily's new catchphrase - "This is a total disastrophe!" - awesome

Connor's response to Lily's new catchphrase - "Apparently, english isn't her first language." -snarky and awesome

I love my kids, they keep me laughing.