Tuesday, February 22, 2011

The stress is over!

With Chad's Birthday, Valentine's Day, and Parties over and done, we are finally slowing down! It was fun but I am ready to stop the stress! So I hired a Maid! It was the best decision, seriously! She is awesome and so thorough! If you don't have one, for sanity sake get one! It was a necessity after buying a bigger house! Now I have plenty of time to just play with my kids and not worry about scrubbing things! Oh I also forgot to post some of the Valentine's day fun we had in my last post.

 These are the gorgeous earrings Chad got me, they match my ruby necklace he got me a few years ago.
 The essential Valentine's Day roses
 Oddly enough, even more than the earrings and the flowers, this card is what I would prefer for any occasion. I guess I am just sentimental. I have a hard time liking flowers because they just die. Expensive jewelry isn't my thing either, probably from my kids ripping it off me and my fear of loosing it. This was just perfect for me, lucky for Chad I am a cheap Valentine!
 We went out to dinner that night to Samarai 21. Apparently I was too enthralled with the tricky chef to look at the camera and smile. It was really fun and yummy! Afterward we went to get an Ice cream cone. It was a great escape for Chad and I to spend some great quality time together! Happy Valentine's Day Chady!

Cute Chase!
 Chase found these funny little glasses in the toy room that go to Mr. Potato Head and he insisted that they were his to wear ALL day long! He just makes me laugh so hard!

Haleua's Visit
 My Brothers and their families came to visit us over the weekend! So we went out to dinner, all 12 of us! How long is the wait for a party that big on a holiday weekend? 1 1/2 hrs.!!! Ya right! after shopping I was starving and ready to just go to Wendy's because everywhere we went the wait was the same and anyplace we tried to call didn't do reservations! We finally settled on the Olive Garden. I told my brother that whenever we go out to eat with Mom and Dad we instantly got seated! He said that's because Dad just tipped the Host $100 and they would do whatever he wanted! I thought why couldn't you have been there Dad? Ha, Maybe one day when I can justify tipping $100 to the Host I might not have to wait so long! ha ha
 The girls didn't seem to mind though, they were our entertainment! Emma was doing gymnastics and Taylor was singing! They also did a lot of hanging on people like monkeys too!
 They gave us a whole room to continue our chaos in
 That "cheese" just shows you the goofy people we were surrounded by
 My Bro. Chris and Jackie and my nephew Blake
 Jackie's twin, Jessie and her husband Brian
Uncle "Cwispy" buried in kids!

While us ladies were out shopping, the boys headed for some serious Jeepin'!
 This is the view from the mountain they drove on.
This was the mud covered Jeep. Not too bad, for a Jeep!

Sweet Tay...Cabriotti
Taylor was watching me read my emails yesterday and she laid her head on my shoulder and said "Mom you have got to get a picture of this, I look so cute I bet!" I said "ok Tay!" and she quickly corrected me and said " You mean Cabriotti? (her middle name) That's what I want you to call me now just to let you know!" I just died laughing! If it wasn't for my kids and their cute personalities I don't know how I could get through life! They just crack me up, especially when I least expect it!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Chad's 30th Birthday and Valentine's Day!

Chad's 30!!!!!!
 Since Chad was turning 30 I really wanted to make it special for him. In addition to the 30 days of birthday I chose to do a Surprise party! Here is the cute mid-life crisis invite I made since he had just bought a corvette...

The day of the party was hectic (like all parties are) and it was so difficult keeping it a secret from Chad!
 I used framed pictures of him at different times of his life for some unique decor.
 The kids added their decor help by using our Spongebob inflatable!
 We hung some cheesy "30" decor from the ceiling too.
 We also hung some from the chandelier in the kitchen.
 I made 42 cute party favors real quick for a fun snack for each guest to take home! They said... "Thanks for rockin' it at Chad's 30th Birthday Bash!"
 I took Chad out to dinner for a good steak and gave him "the judge" (another cool revolver gun he really wanted) and then we headed home, and to Chad's surprise when we all walked in....
 He saw our kitchen stuffed with good friends and family yelling "SURPRISE!" As you can see he was absolutely shocked!
 We sat down on the couch and gathered around to watch a DVD I made just for him...
 Here is part of the group enjoying the DVD...
 I loved seeing Chad's face and hearing his comments!
 I was so happy my 3 weeks of hard work payed off because he really loved the whole thing! I used "In my next 30 years" by Tim McGraw and a few other songs for his DVD. I didn't add the DVD on here because it was pretty long, but I did add some fun pics that I used to make it with...
Linda and Chad at 4 months old
 Chad's nickname as a kid was "Mad Dog Chad" I love this picture!
 This is him at Emma's age (7)
 This is his Junior year
 This is his Senior year
 This is my Senior year and the year we started dating
 This is obviously our wedding....It was amazingly beautiful!
 This was our first cheesy family picture once we had Emma.
 This is in Lander, WY...Our first home...
 This was that following Easter
 Chad's 27th Birthday
 Chad and his little buddy Chaser-Ace!
 After the DVD...we had to do cake next!
 Everyone was mingling while I got it lit...
 Not before Chad and I got a quick picture together!
 An encore of the DVD was requested so it played while we lit the cake...
 Chad's fabulous NON-HOMEMADE Costco cake (due to me getting sick 2 days before the party)!
 A close-up
 30 candles takes a while to light!
 So Chad stepped in to help me
 He also helped sing to himself, it was pretty hilarious!
 It took a few blows to get all those out!
 Partially my fault because I added the essential "trick" candles and they kept re-lighting.
 He was a good sport about it!
Finally he got them all out!
 He ate the first piece and helped himself to some of the refreshments I had sitting out. I passed out lots of cake and Ice cream to everyone. Then we visited with everyone that was able to make it to the party and handed out the party favors as the guests left. It was PERFECT!
 Thanks to my friend Chelsea for coming and being my photographer for the evening!
 And to Kally and Joel for being my party hosts at my house until I got there. I couldn't have pulled it off without their help and I really appreciate all they did! Also, I noticed looking back at these pictures that there are quite a few of the guests that managed to avoid being captured on film...you sneaky people! Those that were able to take time and come celebrate with us, Thanks to you as well! It was an absolutely wonderful party, so Thanks!
 The Birthday boy after the guests left in his favorite spot on the couch....
 I had this dumb hat I forgot to put on him for the party but he was a good sport and let me take a picture of him with it on anyways!
 This balloon bouquet was quite the hit at the party, every kid wanted to attack it! At the end of the night I let our 3 monsters demolish it. They were so funny! It was a an awesome day for my awesome husband. The End!

 Nap?
 Why is it every time I try to run errands before Chase's nap he ends up falling asleep early? He is so cute and peaceful when he sleeps though. I love it.

Happy Valentine's Day/CATS
 Emma LOVES cats! She got this cat at Pirate Island Pizza last week and won't let it out of her sight. That is until we went to the library, she set it down and we ended up leaving without it. She was so upset that whole night and so my friend stopped by there to see if it was found but no one had turned it in. A few days went by and it was Valentine's Day. She woke up and said a prayer at breakfast that she would find her beloved Cat. We hurried to her class so I could do her Valentine's Day party (Of which, I was so wrapped up in the party I neglected to take pictures! I know, so not me right?!) Afterward she still had a bit left of school and so I ran over to Taylor's preschool to help with her Valentine's party ( again, no pictures! I am so silly!). By 1pm I was partied out and completely content with the party day outcome! I was so glad I did it but so glad it was over! I got the girls lunch and decided that for dinner since Chad and I were going out that night for Valentine's day we should get a cute heart-shaped pizza like we always do from Papa Murphy's. As we were headed home we passed by the library and Emma asked if I would stop and check just one more time. So, i felt it was the least I could do. We went in and lo and behold...The CAT! Emma looked at me after giving a huge hug to her little cat and said "See, I said a prayer and I got my cat! It works mom! You should try it more when you loose things!" I laughed so hard,but I was so happy because she was happy and that is exactly what I strive for each day...to make my family HAPPY! Emma took this picture of the cat on the way home. (Sorry, this was a longish story, but I thought it was sweet!)

That afternoon, I also went by all 3 of the ladies I visit teach, friends, and families homes to deliver Valentine's Day wishes and none of them were home! I couldn't believe it! Where were you all? Hopefully out having fun doing the same thing we were! Emma loved these blocks so we took a quick picture before we delivered the last one! answer your door next year it might be a cute little giftie!

Dance pictures
 My cute niece, Kaylee (far left) asked me to come and take pictures on Saturday of her and he friends before the dance.  Isn't she gorgeous??!!
 My nephew, Brenden (in Black in the middle) was also apart of their group.
 These boys were so funny!
 I had them come meet me at the courtyard be the Pasta Factory for the pictures.
 I thought they turned out darling!

Art Class
 My SIL, Robyn, told me about an art class that was being offered at the Art Museum in town that she was taking her kids to. It was only $10 per kid and knowing that Emma and Taylor are super crafty (like their Mommy) I signed them up for it too! The theme was obviously Egypt. They made these cool masks and had a hieroglyphic card they wore around their necks. They also had special VIP passes made with their names on them and then they made more carvings in Plaster and colored them too. It was so cute to see all the fun things they made!
 They wanted their own individual pictures taken. This is Emma, in case her disguise was too good for you to tell.
 And Taylor was so silly, she ran up and down the hall with this huge mask flapping back and forth! It was too cute!