Just a Wizard Girl, Livin' in a Muggle World

Our Harry Potter obsessed, little wizard turned 10 years old this month! Can you believe it? 

I remember so vividly the scary moments right when she was born, but I also remember how peaceful I felt when they placed her in my arms. Makayla has grown from a sweet baby, to an inquisitive toddler, to a funny and loving little girl, and now to an amazing, talented, sweet, and smart 10 year old. 

Makayla wanted to open a few presents before she left for school. She got a new shirt and the backpack she found on Amazon that she really wanted. 

Then we had her favorite cinnamon rolls for breakfast. 

"Go Shawty. It's my birthday. We gonna party like is my birthday!"

Makayla really wanted me to check her out of school for lunch. We played hookie for a little bit and went to Subway and then to Local Cookie Co. where they gave her a free cookie!

When Makayla got home from school we opened the rest of her presents. 

Caden gave her a Snoopy toy and a Harry Potter ticket. Awww... they love each other. 

Brynnie gave Makayla her lots of treasures from around our house. 

Mom and Dad gave her Harry Potter Legos, a toy turtle, bath bombs, and a new book. 

And.... the snow board she wanted!!! Just wish we had some snow this year so she could actually try it out. 

For dinner we went to Red Robin. Did you think we would go anywhere different? Nope. It's all cheeseburger love for this girl. 

The next night was her friend party. Makayla wanted to have a party at Classic Skating. 

She invited Avery, Lilly, and Kaylen. Caden got to invite Seth and Brynnli invited Addison. We had pizza, ice cream, and cupcakes. The rest of the time the kids were gone playing. 

They all loved it and had so much fun. I think they were all exhausted by the end of the night. 

If you thought we were done with the birthday fun, you would be wrong. Saturday we had another party for our wizard with all the other muggles in our family. 

We had medieval balloons (that was mom's mistake... why would they put medieval balloons right by all the Harry Potter decorations?)

We had butter beer, Bertie Botts every flavor beans, and cauldron cakes. 

Aww... I just love this little wizard (Makayla is sitting by me right now as I type this and informed me that she is not little... she will always be my little girl to me.)

We opened presents. Makayla got so many Harry Potter gifts. She got a puzzle, beads, tumblers. and bracelets. 

Then we sent the kids on their treasure hunt. It had all sorts of hard clues that they had to figure out. Some required solving a puzzle, some needed a mirror, and some needed the adults help because it was too challenging. The little kids lost interest after the first clue, but the big kids had fun. 

The last clue led them to their treasure bags. 

How cute is Mason with his Harry Potter glasses and wand. 

Oh, I just love her so much!!

We sang Happy Birthday and she blew out the candles on her cupcake. 

Its was a great few days celebrating our Harry Potter Wizard. 

In honor of our 10 year old, here are 10 things we love about Makayla: 

1. Makayla is so sweet and kind. She is always looking out for her siblings and friends. She is always trying to do the right thing and being the best Makayla she can be. She knows right from wrong and is always trying to do the right. 

2. She is incredibly smart. She does so well in school... all 4's on her report card. 

3. Makayla is an insanely fast reader. She has read all of the Harry Potter books at least 7 times. She can even read a whole book in one day!

4. Makayla is very athletic and a gorgeous dancer...if you could see her lyrical dance this year... she is so graceful! She is also an amazing tumbler and is working on multiple back hand springs and her ariel. Plus, give her any kind of ball and she can figure out how to play. 

5. She is a great cook. She has moved on from her Easy Bake Oven treats from last year, and now she is a pro a making brownies, cookies, and jello. She is so great to help me make dinner too. 

6. Makayla is a good friend. She has so many friends at school and around the neighborhood. But more than that, she is a great friend to Caden and Brynnli. Thanks to the pandemic, I feel like our kids have become such good friends. 

7. She loves treats. Oreos, candy, you name it. Sometimes she is not hungry for dinner and come to find out she has been sneaking candy all day. 

8. Makayla is so responsible. She always makes sure we are on time for things, she keeps Caden and Brynnli in line, and she always makes sure she has things ready for the next day. 

9. She is funny. She loves to tell funny jokes, she is learning sarcasm from her dad, and how to give a funny face to make us laugh at just the right time. 

10. She brings so much joy and light to our family. We are so lucky she is part of our family. We love watching her grow up and figure out her likes and dislikes. We love our girl and can't wait to see what the future brings her. She will do amazing at anything she puts her mind to. 

Welcome to January 2021

Welcome to the new year! I sure hope 2021 will be better than 2020. I hope we can still have all the fun family time that 2020 brought us without all the stress of a pandemic, earthquakes, riots, toilet paper shortages, masks, and political unrest.

The new year didn't start out great in our country. On January 6, 2021 Congress was finalizing the electoral college vote count for Joe Biden. An angry mob protesting the results of the election stormed into the U.S. Capitol. The Capitol was placed under lock down and lawmakers were evacuated. Protesters broke into the capitol and caused a lot of damage. It was scary to watch it all unfold on t.v. Eventually the mob left, but 5 people died and about 140 people were injured. Just when you thought things would settle down, right? 

Then on January 20, 2021 Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States with Kamala Harris as the first woman Vice President. Regardless of who is in office or which side you agree with, I hope our country can put our differences aside and come together. We are, after all, one nation under God. We try to protect our kids as much as possible from all the unrest going on in our country. Little kids don't need the stress of trying to understand why people hate each other and why life outside our home seems so unsettled. 

Here's a few things we have been up to this month: 

Hey, remember me? I write the blog book. 

January has been filled with popcorn and movie nights. We love hot chocolate around here. 

We went ice skating as a family and had so much fun! We went to the Kearns Olympic Oval, which is where a lot of the 2002 Olympic game events were held. We skated for hours until we were exhausted. 

Makayla and Caden caught on pretty quickly and they were off. Brynnli needed a little more help. Either me or Tyler would hold her hand and help her skate. A few times she almost took me down with her. 

But by the end of the day she was a pro and could go around all by herself! 

Painting our bird houses. This gets me so excited for spring.

Have you met our 90's teenager? Her name is Brynnli. 

Teenager on minute, and Doctor the next. Makayla didn't feel great one day, so Brynnli got out her doctor supplies and took care of her. 

Hey guess what I got? I Louis Vitton purse! I have been wanting one for a while and since I work now, I saved up my money and purchased one. I love it. It was so expensive, but so worth it. Tyler snapped this picture as I was waiting for him. Louis suits me. 

Chillin' like a villain. 

I took Caden and Brynnli to the trampoline park one day. They had a blast running around.

Caden got a new haircut. Handsome boy. 

Makayla drew on her arm. Although we don't approve of drawing on herself, her picture of Harry Potter is very good. 

Makayla wanted to get her nails done for her birhtday, so she got to go to Denise. She chose teal and pink with palm trees. They look so great!

Some times I am just blown away by our kids' talents. Pencil in nose. 

Caden was so excited for cookies that he waited patiently by the oven until they were done. 

Just doin her afternoon work (watching Peppa Pig) with her Dr. Pepper. 

I am so happy, surprised, and grateful our kids are still in school and still able to participate in dance and tumbling. There are so many kids in the U.S. who haven't been back in the classroom for almost a year, but I am so glad our kids are able to go to school everyday because they really thrive in the classroom. 

Just because I always want to remember things here's the updates about Corona Virus. In November researchers announced the release of the Corona virus vaccine. In December 14, 2020 the first person in the United States received the vaccine. Through January hundreds of thousands of people have received the vaccine. Because of the vaccines, is seems like our numbers in Utah are slowing. At the end of January 2021 there were 346,624 people who have had the virus, 1,665 have died, and 310,692 people have received the vaccine. Right now people who are over 75, or in a long term care facility, or are front line workers can get the vaccine. Soon they will have educators and people over 65 or with underlying health conditions get the shot. Most people have to get on a waiting list and wait for a few weeks before they can get it. The CDC is hoping that everyone in the U.S. will be able to receive the vaccine by the fall.