Happy Birthday JUDE!

Our little Juder-Bug is 1. Thrilled that he is getting older and more mature, he asked that we celebrate with a party. He, in return, showed us that he is a big kid now by crawling. He figured it out about 3 weeks ago, but has spent the last few weeks perfecting his technique.



Let the party begin! We invited some friends over to celebrate. This is one of Asher I just thought was so cute. He obviously loved the bbq'd chicken.

These are the easiest things ever and so darling. Cupcakes in a cone. Simply fill your cupcake holders with batter like normal (DON"T forget the paper liners), then put a cone on each one upside down and bake. The batter fills the cone enough to secure it and when you frost them they look like ice cream treats. LOVED IT!


...So did Jude. He downed the whole thing. I think he is feeling the effects of a bit too much sugar today!


The Ladies enjoying their treats


On Sunday we opened gifts, this would be Jude's favorite (thanks Emma, Ben, Erick, and Camille)!



Jude M.D. I don't know who liked the presents more: Eve, Asher or Jude. Jude is a genius (of course) and will be entering medical school this year (which is why we got him his own medical kit). Asher is our engineer (he will design and destroy train tracks), and Eve will be working for the CIA as an informant (she is very good at that).


This is just too cute. The buds!

Yo Ho! A Pirates Life for Me!

Eve had a birthday party to go to. It was a pirates and princess party and this is what she chose to be. She loves Disney's new cartoon 'Jake and the Neverland Pirates'. Izzy is the girl and so we made a costume that was as close as we could make it to Izzy's. The bag around her neck is pixie dust.




If you had told me 3 years ago that I would sew a bag with a pretty little flower on it I would have laughed. Me? Sew? HA!
...well, here is the bag...


...and the dresses that follow


(details of the butterflies I made up)


These were obviously not my 2nd and 3rd projects but I have made some progress in the last few years. I am going to do my best to improve, in hopes that someone somewhere might want to buy one of these lovely creations. The design is my own and so are all the butterflies sewn on.

This one is more of a pixie type dress so it is supposed to be shorter.

Family Time in Toronto

We went up to Toronto to visit with Mark's family. The weather was divine after the sweltering heat of Houston. The kids were thrilled to be able to play outside and not be bitten by fire-ants or get overheated from the 40+ weather. I am very disappointed in myself though, I forgot to take pictures of all the beautiful scenery that we saw. Next time I will do better. It is such a pretty place.


Alright! It isn't a real castle! Of all the beautiful old homes I could have taken pictures of, this is the one new and outrageously tacky house I did take a photo of. I don't care if I offend the owners, it is a castle in a subdivision (I doubt that is how they were built a 1000 years ago when this style was all the rage). That is right, this house is on about an acre lot in a subdivision with a small castle fort in the backyard for the kids. I feel bad for the people who bought and built around them, the value of their properties plummeted the minute this was built. Well, at least they will warned of an invasion if it ever happened. Note to self: Always make sure there are some building restrictions in the subdivision you choose to build in!




Day One: At the Park!
Jude learned to get up on his hands and knees and even did some token crawling!


Asher... he became one with the grass, falling into it with no reservations and no hands!


Eve spent the day chasing 'butterflies' (moths) with her cousins while we watched Jayden play a marathon of soccer games!


Day Three: Caledon and area. Mark grew up skiing and even competed up through highschool. This is his old club and we had to go back to reminisce. This was the only place that I took shots of the gorgeous rolling hills and forests around the area. The country-side around Toronto is so pretty. The trees are beautiful. The houses, amazing but very pricey (too bad).


We ended off the day by going for some ice-cream, which the kids greatly appreciated!



Day Four...or five...I lost count...: Splash-pad and Beach

Wherever you are, there is bound to be a spash-pad around for the kids to play at: Europe, China, Russia, Toronto...it doesn't matter, splash-pads are more fun than anything else you can take them to (perhaps they should consider getting one at the Louvre...).


The park was right by a beach on the lake (which great lake? I don't know, one of them...)
Jude took a while to get acclimated to the cold water, but eventually found it refreshing.


This time Asher not only got himself covered in sand, but felt it necessary to cover everyone else too...

...Eve was less than impressed! (that is Asher running away in the background trying not to get in trouble)

Mark, his sister (Melanie), his dad and the kids


...So after a couple of days I forgot to bring my camera and didn't remember again until the next weekend when we headed down to Niagara Falls to spend some time there. Even then, I didn't really take a lot of photos.

Here are the buddies after waking up one morning (a second shot of the bear that is so cute and cuddly).




Our Maid of the Mist!


View of Rainbow falls on the Maid of the Mist boat. The way to see it! Just don't mind getting wet.


Sporting the Struk cowlick!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

It's amazing how much fun my birthday is now that my kids plan it. Eve made herself and me each a crown and I got a wand. I had to wear it during dinner and dessert. She even got up early with Mark before he left for work and decorated the kitchen as a surprise for me.




We got some good cuddling time with the kids and had to take some shots to prove to them when they are older that they did like to be with their parents. I am going to soak it all in before they think they are too cool for us!!!

Asher is sporting his BYU jersey in honor of the game (I had to force him into it. The kid is so particular about what he wears. Now that we have visited his cousin Jackson and he so kindly let us borrow some of his clothes that are too small, all I have to say to Asher is:"Jackson's shirt. Do you want to wear it?" and he willingly puts it on...I use it a lot wether or not it is Jackson's shirt...)



Good cuddling time!!! Oh how I love the snuggles!


Worn out from who knows what, Mark taking a catnap with the Juder-bug.

Happy Birthday Mark

Mark quickly realized that as much as he thought it was fine he didn't have a party for his birthday, his kids NEEDED a party for his birthday. They had counted down the days until his birthday only to be confused that we weren't having a cake or decorating. Well, Mark quickly changed his mind and the kids and I spent all day decorating the kitchen table. Rockets, cars, and flowers were made and hung on the light. Pennants were strung and cupcakes were iced in anticipation of the birthday festivities. I think he was glad he relented. I know the kids were well pleased with the whole affair.
I don't know if you can tell but Eve was in charge of all decorating. She had been given some stickers at the grocery store and insisted we use them as decorations for the cupcakes. Needless to say, all the cupcakes had toothpicks with 'Kroger' stickers on them. To give you an idea of Mark's trust in my decorating skills, he thought I did it and wondered what it meant. I thought is was very obvious that it was Eve's idea!




It is still tough for Mark and I to figure out how to take care of our lawn and the kids. We usually pop a movie in, set up treats on the table and try to get the work done as fast as we can, checking on them occasionally (our house has tons of windows so we can see them all the time too). But last Saturday Jude was sick of waiting for me to put him down for his nap and fell asleep like this. Eve was devastated when I took him up stairs to finish his nap. She was quite content having him sleep on her for a couple of hours.



I just love to get great shots of the kids. I don't know what made Asher smile like this, but I am glad I got the picture.


We haven't had any pictures of our little kiddos up on the wall and we hadn't had a good family photo since Eve was barely two, Asher still a bun in the oven. So finally, after driving Mark crazy with my talking about it, we got photos and frames for his birthday (I know I am so thoughtful, I get him what I want for his birthday). Mark's sister Melanie took our family photos and with only 15 minutes for the photo shoot she came up with some amazing shots. I hope the copies of the family photos are big enough to see... We picked up a few extra frames and since our kids are so gorgeous, we plastered photos of them all over the place. Mark is worried it is too many, but when your kids are as beautiful as ours you gotta do it!


So, if you cared (which Cammie specifically asked for) here are the photos we developed. Please just go ahead and skip this if you are not interested, it is only pictures of the most beautiful kids in the whole entire world:)

We got the first two photos developed and they are the 8x10s on our wall... for anyone wondering they are from Kemah (who knew, right?)! I love the sidewalk!!




This one I got as a 5x7 simply because I love it but it didn't look right as one of the big ones. It isn't on the wall (that would be a bit crazy having THREE of the same family shoot) but it is on our shelf, still a lot, but since I don't care no one else should).


Eve's is a 5x7 on the wall


Asher's is the other 5x7 on the wall


Jude's is the 4x6 on the wall


We did a beach picture of each of the kids for the wall and this is the final one, of Eve. 5x5



THis is the one of all the kiddos that is on the wall as a 5x5


This is the buddies 5x5


Then we got a couple of frames for the shelves and fireplace mantel. A double frame for Jude and Asher...




..and our prima ballerina on her own


FInally, we have an individual baby picture up of all our kids. It took a while but Jude's is now on the shelf too.


That is it!!!! I am now off to make decorations for a baby shower that I am helping with. I got some great ideas from one charming party (blog) and from a friend of mine (Sarah), so we will see what I come up with. I am going to take pictures because I am sewing the decorations (which will be given to the mom to decorate her baby's room). Wish me luck!