little chef

Isabella has always been independent. If I take to long to do something for her it's not long until she does it herself. Today while I had my visiting teachers over was one such instance. We were going to make some cookies today. She got a cookie mix from a birthday party last night. Coincidentally the party was a "cooking party". I'll have to call Jalene later and thank her. When I finished with my visit I came in the kitchen to find Bella had started without me. She had a bowl, three containers of oil, and several measuring spoons in action. The mix looked like a very thick cake batter. I almost threw it away. Instead I decided to reach for my camera. I thought that since she added oil maybe we could salvage it. Bella put in an egg and I added some extra flour. I wasn't sure how they would turn out but we gave it a try. They looked like cookies!! I even tasted one. Not to bad Bella. Gabe was the biggest fan of Bella's new skill. He ate three of them. I think I'll have her make dinner next.

my growing army

Bella has now joined the ranks of the Turner ninjas. We figured her 5th birthday would be a time to start her in Tae Kwon Do. She has now had two private lessons and received her white belt. She is very excited and asks me every day when her next class is.

bibs are for the birds

Gabe has a serious dislike for bibs. Either that or he has a love of being messy. Either way it creates a problem for me. The other day I decided I was going to put a full apron on him. I made the mistake of only tying it around his neck. When I came over to take him out of his chair I found this.

He was going to make a mess whether I liked it our not.

Bella's Birthday Bash

A lot of kids like to have themes for their birthday parties. These are typically things they happen to be into. This usually works out to be a popular movie or toy that is fairly easy to plan around. Well, Bella really likes Short Round. This is one of the results of playing Lego Indiana Jones. I didn't even know his name was Short Round. She got a ball cap like he wears for Christmas because when Mariah asked for an Indiana Jones costume Bella asked for a Short Round costume.
So usually when I ask my kids what kind of cake they would like it's something that I can usually order at Wal-mart. Try ordering a Short Round cake. It's not something that is readily available. I would usually try to put something together myself but being in my first-trimester I am not feeling all that motivated. Luckily for me my good friend Haylie has an amazing sister in law. She makes custom birthday cakes and Scott usually has her make a cake for my birthday. I sent her a picture and working her cake making magic she managed to make Bella her Short Round Cake. Yay!

Bella got her Short Round cake and seems content with that being the only thing that tied into her "Short Round" theme. I couldn't even find Indiana Jones decorations. We got her a dozen polka dot balloons and that seems to suffice.
We had my family and Scott's family over for a skiyetti dinner. I am so grateful for my family and for coming to party after party for my kids. It feels like once July hits it's a monthly happening until January.
Bella loves her gifts this year and took opening them incredibly serious. She was very much down to business and even though she loved all her toys she showed very little excitement. She had work to do. Grandma Judy got her some clothes and some video games. Aunt Janie and Uncle Ryan got her a barbie. I think it may be her first one. Aunt Lisa got her some littlest pet shop pets. GrandMerry and Papa gave her a homemade bean bag chair, made by Grandmerry of course. And we gave her some clothes, a wall-e game and some Star Wars toys. Despite what everyone thought these were not for Scott. She really did want these for her birthday. It really was a great gift. All the kids play with them together. Uncle Adam and Aunt Danielle mailed her a card that she loved getting in the mail with a little money for her to go crazy with.
Presents got opened, food was eaten, and Short Round is no more. He was really good.

a bit about bella

Bella's spirit is still too big for her body. She loves to give kisses. She really loves to give kisses. She will kiss anyone. She is also an awesome hugger. She can tackle hug better than anyone I know. If I don't do something for her fast enough she'll do it herself. She loves Indiana Jones and Star Wars. She loves the Wii. She loves to play Lego Indiana Jones and Lego Star Wars on the Wii. Her favorite t.v. show is Star Wars the Clone Wars. Her favorite movie is Wall-e and Star Wars the Clone Wars. She loves to play with her Indiana Jones toys and her Star Wars toys. She loves Short Round and pretends that she is him all the time. She learned who he was by playing Lego Indiana Jones. She loves her Short Round hat the she got for Christmas. She loves pre-school. She loves Collin Hiller who goes to pre-school with her. She loves to play with her friends and always asked to play with Collin first. She is always quick to apologize for her wrong doings before resuming them. Her favorite food is spaghetti pronounced "ski-yetti". She loves warm hot chocolate. She does not like hot hot chocolate or cold hot chocolate. She still can not sit still for anything. She loves her brothers and sisters. She loves her mommy and daddy. We love her too.

Happy Birthday Bella

I have so much to say about Isabella. Unfortunately I am frantically trying to get ready for her party. I just wanted to say happy 5th birthday to my sweet little Bella. More to come.

my three ninjas

It seems like every time I turn around my kids are having a belt test. This one came so fast I actually forgot. Well technically I only forgot Mariah's. I remembered halfway though Mairah's testing time and right before Hayley and Jaden's. We raced over to the school and then realized we were an hour early for Hayley and Jaden's test. I was definitely not on my best game. However this turned out to be a good thing. Mariah was able to work in a private test with one of the black belt students and harmony was restored to the universe. I love it when my major goofs turn out to be no big deal. Mariah passed her test and they even worked her in at the end of the other class's test to break her board. Hayley and Jaden passed their test as well. However neither one of them were able to break their boards. This belt they have to break it with a reverse kick. Not only was it a more difficult kick but they had to do three boards all stacked together. Their master usually lets them try until they break it but decided to change things a bit and only let them try twice. The kids who didn't break it had to sleep with their boards under their pillows until the Belt Ceremony, two days later. At the Ceremony Master Myler had the kids get up one at a time and break their boards in front of everyone. I have never seen Jaden with a more intense look on his face. They did it! In fact they made it look easy. I was so excited for them it made me cry.

jumping over my roadblock

I have gotten very behind on my blog. This is for several reason but the biggest is that I just can't bring myself to blog about the trip we took the day after Christmas. I have tried and failed several times. I just can't do it. It is not that I did not have fun. My problem is really quite silly. You see I am pregnant. Why would that be a problem you may ask. Well, on the trip is when my morning sickness decided to kick in. So some of you might be asking what on earth that has to do with me not being able to blog about it. Well, the truth is looking at the pictures makes me queasy. I am feeling much better now. Thank you Zofran. Despite the fact that I have improved I just can't look at those pictures. So I am moving on. I figure blogging about trips is really for my own benefit anyway.

P.S. To those who are not on facebook and had no idea I was pregnant, well... now you know. Oh, and I am due August 20th.
I feel so much better now. Onward with the blogging.