Comps Weekend

So this past weekend was the big test that I mentioned in THIS post a little while back.  The test was up in SLC at the University of Utah early Saturday morning so I decided to stay in a hotel the night before because I was nervous about being late (this definitely helped my already high anxiety level).  At first the plan was for me to stay alone but then I decided that it would be fun for Keith and the kids to come too and make a little family weekend out of it.  We ended up staying a second night after my test was done and kind of celebrated having it over with.  It was really fun and relaxing, especially after a stressful few weeks of studying and preparation!

Here's how Isaac packed his suitcase.....toys, swimming suit, and diapers, check!

(at least he remembered the important stuff! hee hee)

Our hotel room at the Little America, not too shabby!

Here's Isaac on his own little "bed".....we were nervous about him falling off the hotel bed since he is used to sleeping in a toddler bed with a rail (and I wasn't sure how well the kids would sleep if they had to share) so we brought his little Cars couch that folds out in to a bed.  He was so excited to have his own little bed and kept saying "this is fun!" :)

Malea getting cozy :)

Family picture at the hotel pool :)  I love these guys so much!!!

Sleeping angel

After my test we went to the City Creek mall to eat at Cheesecake Factory.  The kids were excited to ride Trax :)

Isaac climbing on a huge rock, naturally.  That mall stresses me out because there are tons of water features and a stream that runs through the mall, which is very tempting for my son!

A HUGE horse dog that we saw at the mall.  The owner said he is a Newfoundland and that he was the "runt" of the litter (!!!!).  I have kind of a fear of big dogs that I try not to project on to my children, I didn't want her to pet it but I guess he was really sweet and tame.  Let's not talk about the fact that he could probably eat her!  It reminded me of the dog in the movie "Sandlot", lol

Malea got to use some of her birthday money at the Disney store and got an Anna doll to match her shirt :)  She was excited!

Cheesecake, mmmmmm :)

We also took the opportunity while we were there to take the kids to the Discovery Children's Museum at the Gateway mall.  We had never been before and they loved it!  There were so many fun activities for kids.  Plus we got a coupon off the internet where it was only $5/person after a certain time, which was even better!

Isaac loved playing in this little mini kitchen

We also took the kids to see "Lego Movie" but I didn't get pictures.  It was so funny!  Definitely great for kids and adults!  It was such a fun family weekend and I'm soooo glad to have my test over with!!  Now I'm just praying that I passed!

Birthdays!!

We decided to do a Frozen party for Malea's birthday this year and then realized that everyone else and their dog is doing Frozen right now too so it was almost impossible to find Frozen birthday supplies!  We went to different stores and checked online, and they were either out of stock or (in the case of online) they jacked up the prices to ridiculous amounts that we would never pay! (like $30 for a package of 8 invitations....yeah, no thanks!).  That meant I had to get creative with the Frozen theme and I think it turned out pretty well.  It required a lot more work on my part but I think it turned out cuter. I turned to Pinterest for most of my ideas which was probably a bad idea because there were SO many cute ideas and I just wanted to do everything!

I decided to make a lot of our stuff by using things off the internet.  I found this image and just put it in photoshop to make the invitation, I thought it turned out pretty cute!  And $0.28 a photo was a lot cheaper than $30 for a package of eight!

Since Malea's birthday was on a week day we decided to have her friend party on Saturday.  Traditionally we do a friend party and then a separate combined party for Malea and Keith with family.  We were originally going to do the friend party on Saturday and then the family party on Sunday but Keith ended up having to work so we decided to do them on the same day.  Note to the future me:  Don't do that again! (haha).  It worked out okay but I was SO exhausted by the end of the day and I woke up this morning with a birthday hangover (minus the alcohol, lol).  I felt bad because there were so many kids that she wanted to invite but there was just no way we could do it so I told her she had to pick five friends from her class and then a few neighbors/friends.  We still had a lot of kids but it was fun!

Party #1: 

Had to get creative with the Frozen stuff, I ended up making my own bag and using Frozen stickers for her gifts lol

I couldn't find a Frozen banner anywhere so I made me own, it took a lot of work but it turned out cute!  I ended up having to do so much of it by hand, I cut out the circles and then used my Cricut to do the lettering but I haven't used it for a while and I think the blade is a little dull so I had to cut them out by hand (it cut through a little bit so I could see the outline but I had to use scissors to cut it out all the way).  Then I had to use a glue gun to glue them on because nothing else would stick to glittery paper!  It was a labor of love for sure! (Ironically, a couple of days before the party I found a Frozen banner at Partyland, lol....oh well!)

Some ideas from Pinterest!  We played "Pin the Nose on Olaf" and I had carrots in a bowl for the "Olaf Noses" :)

Malea helping me with the treat bags

"Thanks for coming!"

"Melted snow"

Another labor of love, I drew this poster from a picture of Olaf off the computer....the game turned out to be pretty fun!

Did her hair like Elsa from the movie

I also borrowed some cute stuff from my mom to help with the decor!

The guests have arrived!

We started out by doing some Frozen crafts, I printed out coloring pages and little Olaf cut outs from THIS website

Pizza!!

Pin the Nose on Olaf :)

Present time!  She got so many fun new things!

Malea and her bestie Sarah :)

Party #2:

So after we recovered for a minute we started to prep for the next party that evening.  Once again, not planning on doing it that way next year! haha

Some cute snowflake cookies I ordered from Kneaders :)

Isaac fell asleep like this in between parties, he was pooped!

Pork barbecoa tacos for dinner, yum!

Caught this adorable picture of Malea snuggling with Grandpa Great :)  My poor Grandma has pneumonia and wasn't able to come :(

Daddy and Malea :)

So earlier at Malea's party, Isaac was so sad he didn't get a present so Daddy was so nice and went and got him a little something at the store so that he didn't feel left out :)

Malea with her cousin Sienna, two peas in a pod :)

Happy Birthday to two of my favorite people!  Thanks to everyone who made their birthdays special this year!

Now I need a NAP! lol!