That one week...

Oh the first week of April...Such a fun/stressful/exhausting week. Luckily Easter is later in the month this year otherwise I might have had a nervous breakdown.

We celebrated Tanner's birthday early with the Daugherty's on Saturday so Levi could be there. I made Hawaiian Haystacks and Strawberry Shortcake.

 Conducting everyone for his birthday song. 

Our Eight year anniversary was on the first. I began the morning telling our children that my zookeeper friend asked if we could keep a baby elephant in our backyard for a little while. I immediately regretted it when I saw the excitement on their faces. Mariah was practically squealing. I tried to let them down gently by telling them that they would have to clean up a lot of elephant poop but it didn't phase them one bit. After I told them it was all a trick and explained April Fools to them Chet asked, "But do you really have a friend that is a zookeeper?". I don't know whether he was more disappointed about the elephant not being real or the fact that I don't have a zookeeper friend. Honesty is the best policy friends.

The next day was Tanner's actual birthday and we got to go on the first date that we have been on in over a year. It was glorious! I am so grateful for my sweet Young Woman Jordan who was willing to come watch all four of my kids. We went to a little Japanese restaurant for Ramen and Sushi and then went to a cafe and got Gelato. The day before, the boys and I had picked out fancy cheeses for Tanner's birthday so after we got home and put the kids to bed we tried out our cheese. Thats as close as we're going to get to traveling the world right now.

You can see how excited I am about that Gelato...and it totally met my expectations. 

Mariah and Chet gave Tanner birthday cards and they are so adorable. 

 Tanner had everyone fill out brackets for March Madness so Mariah's picture showed Tanner winning the tournament. 

 Tanner was a jockey and a soccer player in Chet's drawing.

Chet apparently thinks Tanner's hands are massive.

Leading up to her Birthday Mariah kept talking about how excited she was to see the house all decorated first thing in the morning. So I stayed up way too late but her happy face made up for the lack of sleep.

Chet made this popsicle stick unicorn and girl for Mariah. He was super excited to show her that the legs could move. 

Mariah was super excited about having a Spa Party with friends. She decided that it needed to be an all girls party and made sure to let some of her boy friends know that she was so sorry but she wasn't having any boys at her party...bless her heart. We decided to not have anyone bring gifts but Mariah still wanted to give them gifts. Chet and Austin stayed downstairs during the spa part of the party and watched a movie but made me promise to come and get them before we ate the pigs in a blanket, cake and ice cream; because food is everything to those two.

I gave the girls hand treatments and then some of the girls did face masks and relaxed for a while, maybe sixty seconds. After their masks were washed off they painted nails, put streaks and glitter in their hair and put on some makeup. Then they all dressed up in princess dresses and danced around the house. 

 These girls were way more excited about the yogurt face masks and cucumbers than I thought they would be. 

 Party girls

Mariah requested a spa cake and when I looked up ideas on Pinterest I almost had a panic attack and had to close out of there fast before Mariah had her heart set on some complicated cake. But she had her own idea of what she wanted and was super happy with how it turned out.

After Tanner got home from work she opened her presents. She got a bunch of books, some more clothes for her doll Chelsea and a pretty nightgown.

That night we got pizza and wings and watched the new Mary Poppins. I love celebrating my children on their birthdays; their joy and excitement makes me so happy. 

We finished off the crazy week with General Conference and Mariah's dance recital. Mariah and I spent the whole day at the theater where she got to perform her dance in two performances. Her little hair piece fell out the first performance but she handled it like a champ and kept dancing. She was so excited to wear her costume and get to wear makeup. We are sad to leave Artistry House. 

 Once she got that costume on, she was twirling all over the place. She could barely handle herself when she stood in front of the bathroom mirror waiting for a stall. She definitely doesn't have self esteem issues. 

 The kiss was completely her idea

Who knew Don Knotts was such a little guy? He was born in Morgantown, WV; now you know. 

That morning before conference Tanner took the boys to a gun show and then picked Eliza up at the theater and they all went home and then came back a few hours later to watch Mariah's second performance. She couldn't wait to show the boys her costume and Chet couldn't wait to show her the gun lock he got at the gun show and tell her about the fun snacks they had during the first session of conference. It was pretty cute. 

On Sunday we went to the Daughertys to have crepes and waffles and watch the morning session and went on a walk at the Botanical gardens and then went home and finished the afternoon session. Thank goodness we can listen to the talks later. It was just what my soul needed.