Ollie turns 5!!!

We had our traditional birthday pool party for Oliver last Saturday.  Since Leslie and Lily (my nieces) also had birthdays this month that we had not yet had a chance to celebrate, we did a combined birthday party for the three of them.  We had his best friend/cousin Liam spend the night before and they just played and played until bedtime and got up and played and played some more.

The water was COLD and it was only around 80 or so outside.  The kids braved the water more than the Blythonian parents. 

This post will just pretty much be pictures.  Deal with it. (Don’t tell Colin I used that phrase – it was banned from our house about a week into summer).

Now tell me all those pictures didn’t make you smile! 

The next day was actually his birthday and, fun fun fun STAKE CONFERENCE (when you get to go to church and sit in hard chairs for two hours with no Primary!). 

Ollie got his big present from us after church, along with his present from his brothers.  Chad put the bike together during quiet time and he rode it all around the downstairs for about an hour, telling me over and over again how much he loved it.

I love it when they all have a chance to show their love to each other, and Ollie really eats it up.  At one point I saw Gabe give Ollie a hug out of the blue.  Ollie beamed and walked over to me and said, “Mom. Gabe just gave me a HUG! First time ever!” with a big double thumbs up. 

I let him choose what we had for our back to school feast, which I will post about next.

First birthday here and here, Second here and here (that video kills me), Third, Fourth.  I think I am going to cry.

Does he look horrified?

Gabe had a very loose front tooth for awhile.  It was quite the tooth – he had a cavity eat away part of it when he was only two.  We got it filled in, but the filling came out, leaving it crooked and jagged. .  The tooth behind it was pushing it forward, adding to it’s wretchedness, and we affectionately called it “snaggletooth.”  Every time that snaggletooth flashed at me, my fingers ached to reach out and just snatch it out of his mouth.  He actually let me pull one of his teeth out a few weeks ago, but this one had a little root on it that made it a little painful to wiggle, and the tooth in the back was already giving it less wiggle room.

 

 

When we went to visit Levi and Audra, Audra felt the same pull that I did – let me just yank it!  She talked Gabe into letting her use her tried and proven teeth pulling technique.  It didn’t work the first couple of times because the jagged edge of his tooth was tearing the dental floss she was using and he was just left with bleeding gums.  So she braided the floss, and offered him two dollars to try again.  His response? 
A quick nod and, “Let me get a paper towel.”

Here is what happened next.

Hanging with Mom and Dad

Last week when we went to Olive Garden for Colin’s birthday, Carina fell asleep in the car on the way home, ruining her bedtime.  She was up quite late with us, a very rare event in her life.  She had our full attention and loved it.  Chad doesn’t get to see her nearly enough during the week, so he loved it too.

Carina already knows to to fit into our family – she teases us like crazy.

Lately, while I prepare everything for a diaper change, she swipes the diaper real fast and then takes off running and laughing.  She always thinks it is hilarious to stand on the edge of the couch or the stairs and act like she is going to walk off.  It drives Ollie crazy and he runs over, grabs her to protect her from falling, and yells for me every time, all while she lets out her belly laughs.  That evening she was pulling that stunt with Chad, going so far as to step over the edge, knowing he would grab her.  Notice her little sunburn from the park that morning.

Here is a little video of Chad teasing Carina back.  She is blurry, but you can tell by her face that she gets a little freaked out for half of a second.

Carina’s birthday dinner

We had a birthday dinner for Carina on Sunday.  With Levi and Audra recently moved and Sabina and Liam in Argentina, it was a smaller gathering that we are used to, but I know Carina felt the love.  She basically did whatever she wanted to do, and it was hard to even get her to sit still long enough to open her gifts.  At one point she even just stood up and walked into the computer room while all the boys kept opening her gifts.  I did some butterfly decorations in sunset colors – pink, red, orange and yellow.  We had wraps for dinner and red velvet cake for dessert.  It was simple and pretty short so that the birthday girl could get to bed.
I can’t tell you how much that little girl was oohed and ahhed over all day.  She definitely had a day in the sun, and Chad especially could not stop talking about what a cutie she is.  She is lucky to have grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who all adore her. 
She got her own little cake and it was the most entertaining part of the evening.  Watch her eat it in the video below and how she insists on having her new doll with her the whole time. 

Here are some pictures from the day.




Two things my mom did that really meant a lot to me:
She showed up with sandals that she found for Carina at Goodwill that not only matched the outfit I already had on her perfectly, they were the perfect size, and had butterflies on them. 
She took the time to decorate Carina’s bags, very cutely, to match the whole theme.

I can’t tell you how many times I have thought about my mom since having Carina – the kind of mother she has been to me and how much I want to be that mother to my daughter.

Nativity Slideshow

For my niece, Elizabeth

One year older and wiser too!

Gabe had a very good birthday last Thursday, even though it was busy. He had his piano lesson in the morning, and then he got a special surprise from Grandma and Grandpa Coleman - money to go shopping at Target. He was so thrilled by that and very decisively chose a remote control car and a flashlight. Then we went to McDonald's for a Happy Meal. As soon as Colin got home from school, we went to Red Robin. Straight from there we went to soccer practice, where he had mini cupcakes with his teammates. A good day for a five year old.

Here is a video from Red Robin. It cracks me up because it is classic Gabe - refusing to even smile, but willing to endure so he gets his sundae.



Last night we had the family over for his big birthday dinner. Here are a few pictures from that.