It Hasn't Been 5 Years, Has It?!

Oh, Lucy, we are going to cherish this last day before you turn the B-I-G 5.  For years and years you've acted older than your age, sassier than a teenager, and been smarter than the average Goose.  But, the day has finally come where we need to accept that you actually are growing up and becoming a big girl.  Your birthday falls on a Saturday and that's when the big party is occuring, so we took Friday to celebrate you family style.  We had a couple of presents for you to enjoy and then a family dinner to attend.

In this photo Lucy is wearing the flower girl dress that I wore in the wedding when my Dad married Rebecca.  That's a pretty old dress!

This year Lucy is into her "American" doll and her one request was an outfit (not pajamas this time) that her doll could wear and a matching one for her.  She's pretty excited about her gift.

 And with every new dress you need new shoes, right?!

 Lucy wanted to wear her new ensemble to dinner at Benihana.  She looks pretty grown up...with the bangs and fancy dress.  Where did my little girl go?!

 The kids love Benihana and we seem to eat there for quite a few family birthday dinners.  It might be the free ice cream and Buddha glass...or the onion volcano. 

Lucy doesn't like me to sing this (because of the words...not my voice!), but there is a Taylor Swift song that fits my mood on this momentous day.  "Oh darling, don't you ever grow up.  Never grow up.  Won't you stay so little?  Oh darling, don't you ever grow up..."

A Colorful Surprise

Pinterest has made me a better, more creative, and crazier mom.  There are so many fantastic ideas on there to fill the time I don't have, cook elaborate meals, and make a party look pretty spectacular with someone else's ideas.  This cake was one of those items.  I was searching on Pinterest to find ideas for Lucy's dress up party and I found this cake.  It was something that had to be made.  More for me than for Lucy.  Because, let me tell you why.  Rainbows are awesome.  Cake is good...especially one this big. And with a birthday coming up we needed a cake anyways, right? 

I couldn't really find directions on how to make the cake, so I kind of just went with what I thought would work.  I bought two cake mixes...white cake and a strawberry cake.  I thought that the pink cake would help to make the red, pink, orange, and purple layers.  I divided the cake batter into fourths and added food coloring until I got the desired color.  I put them into a round cake pan.  Mine were kind of big and I probably should have used a smaller diameter pan.  With the white cake I made the yellow, green, and two different shades of blue.  Next time I might make only six layers and then each would be thicker.  I baked them according to the directions, but shaved off a few minutes of the baking time.

 Once everything was cooled I set the purple layer on a plate and put some vanilla frosting on top and then layered the dark blue, light blue, green, yellow, orange, pink, and then red with the frosting between each layer.  This cake has a ton of frosting (if you so choose), but it kind of has to.  And if you're making a cake this decadent in the first place it's probably going to be quite sweet.  Just like the little girl I made it for.

Once I got it stacked (not straight) we added pink!  Lots of pink frosting (a can and a half).  I've seen a lot of designs for the outside that were cute, but this was the easiest at this point. I bought some Skittles and made a rainbow five and a little rainbow.  I also put Skittles around the bottom of the cake.

 I wanted the cake to be spectacular.  Really badly.  When we cut it open there were lots of oohs and aahs and even I was amazed.  The colors were very vivid and it actually looked like a rainbow.  People even said it tasted good!

Happy Birthday Magoo!  This was a milestone birthday, but I'd make you this again any day of the week.  And not just because I love cake.  But because I love you.

Twin Day

Instead of Blue Oak spirit day there was a twin day.  Tyler and Noah (a classmate) knew they had the same shirt, so they decided to be twins.  Little did they know how alike they would actually look!  Tyler said that for the rest of the year people were calling him Noah.

A Royal Tea Party

The weekend before her big celebration, Lucy was invited to a classmates princess tea party.  The girls were able to dress up in fancy dresses, jewels, and high heeled shoes.  Just what every girl wants, right?!

 The Princess and the Queen!

Happy 5th Birthday Gabriella!  Thanks for making their princess dreams come true.  

Now That's Bangin'

Sometimes I wonder if Lucy flips through my US Weekly magazines to look at the latest fashion trends.  We took Tyler to get a haircut (much needed!) and Lucy said she wanted bangs.  Out of the blue.  Zach said he didn't mind (guess he wasn't getting my mental message to say NO!), so we went ahead and took the plunge.  She seemed very happy with the bangs and looked cute.  But, honestly, she would look cute with dreadlocks.  Not that I'm hoping that's the next fashion trend...

Sleepover Galore!

Sleepovers are a relatively new thing to this family.  We've had the cousins stay over when it was needed, but up to this point we hadn't had a friend stay the night.  Well, the time finally came and Tyler's buddy Lucas spent the night.  They had on matching pajamas...and matching craziness, apparently.  They overindulged in video games and underindulged in sleep, but a good time was had by all.  Except maybe Lucy...

 Later in the month we had Joey and Anna come over to hang out with us because Auntie Michelle was on bed rest.  Baby Charlie was giving her a rough time and she needed a break!  The kids all wanted to be together, and since I wasn't giving up my bed, we set up Tyler's room to accomodate all of them.  Anna and Lucy cuddled up on some bean bags and the boys had the bed.  It took awhile to get four kids to sleep, but eventually it happened.  It didn't really stay that way for long...but for a moment it happened.

It was a good thing they stayed too, because the phone rang the next morning and we found out that Baby Charlie decided to be born!  This calls for a celebration...but maybe not another sleepover...

*As an addition to this post I'd like to show a picture of my sweet nephew that was born - Charles Lorenzo. Love him!

Ice Skating Into the New Year

When we got home from Tahoe City it was just about time to get back to routine and school schedules, but not before we had one more day of good times.  Grandma and Grandpa were still in the house, Zach was back to work, and Mom had the day off to watch the kids.  The kids wanted to try their hand (feet?) at ice skating.  There was a little rink and carnival about 20 minutes away, so we decided to give it a go.

We arrived and the place was pretty rinky dink with some old skates, but who are we to judge?  None of us had ever done this before, so maybe some worn in boots would be better.  Not really, but we were trying to be positive and excited about this!  Tyler and Lucy both enjoy rollerskating, so they had the balance part down.  Tyler put his on and took off...no bucket of help from Mom!

 Wait...time for a picture!

 Lucy did a good job for being 4 and nervous.  She used the bucket quite a bit and wasn't a fan of landing on her bottom...it was cold...but she kept at it and did alright.

 Even Mom gave it the 'ole college try...

 We had to rest our toes after about a half an hour, so...picture time!  The bucket Lucy is sitting on is the one she used to push herself around.  It's a good technique and she'd go back and forth between using it and then trying to skate on her own.

Tyler did really well and I was proud of him!  Lucy did a great job too...minus the tantrums.  My feet were thankful when we decided to call it and go eat lunch.  It's no joke when they say ice skating hurts your feet!

Tahoe City...Here We Come!

This year Zach's parents rented a cabin in Tahoe City (one of our favorite places!) for the week after Christmas.  We were able to stay until New Year's Day!  So, we got ready to set off on another road trip!  The kids had gotten gift cards to Old Navy for Christmas, so we spent them on some clothes, one of the items being these techno hoodies.  You can plug an iPod into the pocket and listen to music through headphones in the hood.  Greatest thing EVER!

When we arrived at the house/cabin the Carr family was off at a ski lesson so we explored while we waited for them to come home.  We found the COOLEST tree swing that made you feel like you were swinging over the lake.  It was scary and exhilirating at the same time.

The house had a family room with games and a TV and many places to sit.  Who knows why the floor was a favorite spot?!  This was a good place for the whole family to hang out and relax after dinner.  Well, that room and the hot tub!

Lucy was excited to show off her Christmas present of matching pajamas for her and her doll.

The sleeping arrangements for the kids would have been great...if Tyler and Lucy hadn't been scared of sleeping on the other side of the house.  We arranged and rearranged and ended up with kids in our bed still.  But, in this picture it looks like they are all sleeping well.

 

On the second day in Tahoe we decided to try and have the kids take a ski lesson.  There wasn't ANY snow in Tahoe.  We chose Homewood (Zach's new favorite) and they had a small hill for learning, but it was pitiful looking at the ski resort without any snow.  The kids were not pitiful looking at all, though.  They looked AWESOME!

 I never miss an opportunity to take a family photo :)

 Lucy...the snow bunny

 Tyler is pretty hard core!

  We took the Carr Family to Commons Beach (another of our favorite spots) and the boys took the kayaks out on the lake.  The kids had fun throwing rocks and making splashes.  It was a gorgeous day.

 And here's another family shot!

 On New Years Eve we made some cocktails and watched the Eastern time zone fireworks and ball dropping.  The kids had fun going wild, but from the looks of this picture the adults weren't that excited about a new year?

 This has to be one of my favorite pictures of ALL time.

 Our family was leaving the next day, but we took one last chance to enjoy the Tahoe outdoors.  It was another gorgeous day and we find a trail off the beaten path.  A little too off, though, because we saw bear poop. :/

 Tyler is the kind of the hill!

 Our little gang

 She's a stinker

  Grandpa and his grandkids

 We look like we're posing for a picture here, but we're actual huddling together and hiding from a bear.  No, really...

If there's any way to start a New Year, waking up in Tahoe is probably a pretty good way.  Here's to 2012!



Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  This holiday is one of the favorites in our family.  The tradition and the decorations and the love and reason for the season make it so important to our family.  Everyone loves to pick out and give the perfect gift to each family member.  Mom loves the matching pajamas.  Dad loves the breakfast.  The kids love Santa.  He's WAY more favored in our house than Mom or Dad...

This year Tyler received the coveted Nintendo 3DS.  He couldn't have been happier.  Well, he could have been...but Santa didn't buy him a TV for his room.  Good...he must have gotten the letter that Mom and Dad sent.

 This year Santa changed things up and instead of putting the gifts in front of the tree (which worried the kids for a second) he put them near the stockings.  At first Lucy didn't even notice the baby doll bicycle that she had asked (no...begged) for.  She walked right past and went for the stocking.

 But, once she saw the bike she was quite happy!

 So happy, in fact, that she did a cute little happy dance.

 It just wouldn't be right if the kids didn't have coordinating pajamas!

 And coordinating Angry Birds hats!  We had gone to San Francisco at the end of November and the kids kept seeing these hats at the street vendors and they wanted one.  We had talked about buying them for the kids, but then it started to rain for the duration and we never got down to buy one.  Luckily, Dad had a chance to work in the City before Christmas and he picked up a couple.  The kids loved them! 

 The kids were finally able to give the gifts that they bought at the Kris Kringle event at school.  They did a great job and felt so proud of themselves.

 They were appreciative of what the other person had picked out for them.  And they actually showed it lovingly!

 Lucy really had a great time with her new doll and it's bed.  She received new pajamas and just HAD to put them on too.

 Our normal Christmas Day routine would have been to head to Grandma Donna's house for dinner, but with her absence this year we had everyone come to our house.  My mom and sister's family came, as well and Dad and Rebecca...and their four dogs.  It was quite a group!  And maybe a new tradition in the works?

Well, the Guthmiller family wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year!