The past two weeks have been full of hustle and bustle for
the Nutt House. Our week started off
fairly normal with school, various kids’ activities and Family Home
Evening. Then, on Wednesday, our week
was kicked up a notch with a surprise visit from Aunt Alicia. While us grown-up Nutts knew of her plan for a surprise visit, a couple of younger Nutts did not. Alicia very strategically picked the timing of this visit so that she would be here to celebrate Kaden's birthday which was a special treat in itself. When Alicia and I went to pick Kaden up from preschool, his reaction was
priceless. He jumped out of his hiding
spot and cried out, “Aunt Alicia!” Kara
then repeated the excitement when we picked her up from school when she literally
jumped up on Alicia and received a piggyback ride to the car. Alicia’s arrival mixed up our week (Kaden
opted out of attending the Father and Son’s campout that weekend) but brought
loads of fun and excitement.
A very elated Kaden who had the lesson for this week's FHE chose to spend the evening playing Mormonopoly
I love that this is how Kara ends her school days... hand and in hand with friends *Though the casual toss of the backpack to mom so she can be carefree with her friends isn't my favorite component
Prior to the fun with Aunt Alicia, I was blessed to attend
the Kindergarten Mommy Makeover event in Kara’s class. While I knew bits of what would take place
during the event I still found myself overwhelmed with emotions throughout the
experience. Right from the beginning
when Kara along with the rest of her class sang, “What a Wonderful World” while
flipping the pages of a book they had made for their mother’s, to the next
slideshow presentation where each child expressed why they love their mothers,
to the gifts of a hand painted shirt and jewelry box, to the makeover. This special hour with Kara will always
remain a treasured memory in my heart.
After the presentation, Kara was excited to start decorating the jewelry
box together. While we worked on this I
was able to observe how her mind works as she carefully thought through where
each jewel should be placed, the design she wanted to create and how she wanted
the box to be perfect – which it absolutely is.
After we were done crafting Kara was eager to start on the makeover
where she started by painting my fingernails before moving on to do my makeup for the day. Unfortunately, time did not
allow her to do more to my hair than just brush it and we had to pass on the massage
station before we shared a snack and with an overflowing heart, I hugged my
sweet girl goodbye and left her classroom.
Kara said, "I love my mom because she give me cuddles"
So grateful to be the mom to this amazing gal
Working together on my new special box
So focused to make sure everything was just right
My final beautiful look
Having Alicia here has been fantastic! The kiddos enjoyed
her presence at their activities, having her pick them up from school and all
the other little moments that may seem insignificant but to two little Nutts
and their momma were everything. Kara
loved having Aunt Alicia do her hair every morning for school and in turn
getting to play with Aunt Alicia’s hair.
Kaden loved getting to play and share stories with Aunt Alicia and both
little Nutts enjoyed cuddling up with Aunt Alicia for scriptures in the
evening. Alicia was amazing (as always)
and rotated where she slept each night so the kiddos could both have sleepovers
and the presence of Aunt Alicia in their rooms.
Alicia is an astounding individual – she rocks as an aunt, she’s a
superb sister, a fantastic daughter and has a capacity to forgive, to give, and
to love like Christ must have had. I
have and will always look up to Alicia for size of her heart and how giving she
can be... Alicia said she needed this
visit for her, well, truth be told… I think the Nutt House needed this visit as
much or more so than Alicia needed it!
Post Jiu-Jitsu fro-yo trip!
Kara loved all the hair that Aunt Alicia had to play with
Attentively listening as Aunt Alicia reads scripture
Kaden got out game after game after game during his special time to play with Aunt Alicia
Alicia’s presence meant that we made an extra effort to
maximize every Nutt-y minute that we could.
This meant that on Friday where Kaden didn’t have school instead of the mountains
of housework or laundry waiting to be tackled we headed off to one of his
favorite museums – the Halle Heart Center.
Kaden eagerly showed Alicia around – introducing her to the hearts of
other animals, how to shop for a heart healthy meal, the ever riveting movie on
healthy eating, and the rest of the fun that the Heart Center has to
offer.
The amazingly large giraffe heart
Score for healthy choices! *Now, if only he'd really eat that healthy all the time
Captivated by the movie
Golfing with platelets
Move over Jr, a new driver is on his way
My future fireman Seriously, this IS what he wants to be when he grows up
After finishing up at the Heart Center we made a dash back
toward home to pick up Kara before our next fun outing – this time to the
Legoland Discovery Center.
Kara and Kaden were so excited to share Legoland with Aunt
Alicia. Kara was quick to scoop Alicia
up and guide her into the Lego Friends area while lately Kaden has been all about
the racecar building area. When Kaden
builds a car, he swings dramatically from one side of the scale to the other –
never landing on middle ground. Kaden
either builds a very basic car consisting of just wheels and a frame, which
usually brings him speed or he builds large elaborate vehicles that are heavy
and not stable which couldn’t beat a snail in a race let alone another car, but
they are creative and can turn into anything imaginable. In addition, if Kaden hadn’t thought of it,
just give him 30 seconds and his vehicle will include it. After a little free playtime the kiddos
briefly showed Alicia the Space area before it was time to leave and work our
way back toward Kara’s school for Gallery night.
Always eager to show off his happy place
Peek-a-boo I see the two of you
So proud of both cars he had built
Eyeing the Master Builder's Star Wars creations for the upcoming Star Wars weekend
Three very happy people!
At Gallery night, I was worked at the book fair for a bit and after we
sought out the piece of art that Kara had created and was waiting for us to
view on the walls of the school. The art
teachers had worked with all the students in the school to have a piece of art
hanging for display on this special evening when the school was open to families
to view the masterpieces. Each class was
given a theme or famous artist after which to do their own art piece
after. Kara’s class was “self-portrait”
and I couldn’t have been more proud of Kara’s portrait. This little lady is turning into quite the
artist on many different levels of life.
Our whirlwind of an evening didn’t stop there; we celebrated all the day
had brought us with a trip to Great Gadsby to introduce Alicia to a cake
shake. The Nutt House was anxious to get
to Great Gadsby as they had strawberry shortcake cake shakes, they had sold out
the weekend before, and we were eager to try them. Fortunately, we were not
disappointed. Great Gadsby wasn’t sold
out and the strawberry shortcake cake shake was AMAZing! So decadent but so light at the same time…
the perfect treat! *Especially when
there are extra people to help finish it off!!
Standing next to her self-portrait
Kaden opted for the Cookie Dough Shake
Delish!
So big and ohhh so good!
Kaden’s birthday this year fell on fast Sunday and we didn’t
want him to miss his birthday breakfast so instead of enjoying it on his
birthday we started our Saturday with Kaden’s breakfast of choice – blue Mickey
Mouse pancakes.
My favorite ever goof-ball
After breakfast with the
boys not away camping Kaden elected to take Aunt Alicia out to Odysea Aquarium
and Butterfly Wonderland for his birthday.
Kaden and Kara both stuck to Aunt Alicia like glue sharing with her
every exciting creature they saw. From
the turtles to the crocodiles, from the sea otters to the penguins, the clown
fish to the sharks and everything in between the little Nutt’s and the big
Nutts were pleased to share this family favorite location with Aunt
Alicia. Not only was it a treat to
introduce Alicia to our favorite aquarium the kiddos were excited to reveal to
Brent some of the changes he hadn’t yet seen at the aquarium such as the floor
level viewing areas, the toucans, and the sloth. While all of this was exciting, the water
play table remained a highlight for Kaden and finally getting to see the fairy
basslet fish was a bonus for Kara. Not
only that, but Kara who had read a couple books about jellyfish was excited to
share her knowledge with Kaden and the rest of us when we visited the jellyfish
area.
She followed this one turtle all the way around the tank just staring at it the entire time
Touch pool fun. So glad the kiddos are both willing to touch, explore and learn!
Kaden *and dad* could spend hours right here at this one exploration station/toy and it's okay as I love watching their minds at work while they are here
So many clown fish
With the purple and yellow fairy basslet fish
Sharks!!
I BEGGED him to let me buy him this but he said no! :(
After wrapping up at the aquarium we took the short walk
over to Butterfly Wonderland where we spent time learning about and observing
the butterflies. My poor little Nutts,
they so badly wanted to a butterfly to land on them, even Kara who in the past
has been afraid of butterflies landing on her!
The kiddos wore bright colors, Kara applied perfume and Kaden used some coconut-scented
lotion before we entered trying to lure the butterflies there were. Did it work?
Nope. Not at all. In fact, the only Nutt who had a butterfly
land on them was our big Nutt, Brent. He
could have cared less if one landed on him or not, but the butterflies chose
him this day and though slightly deflated the kiddos enjoyed Butterfly
Wonderland and left with happy hearts ready for the final adventure of the
day. A birthday party for Kaden’s good
friend, Noah at Peter Piper Pizza. The
fact the kiddos knew what was in store for them helped immensely when it came
to getting them to leave Butterfly Wonderland as they both, especially Kaden
wanted to stay until a butterfly had landed on him.
My heart
and.. the reason I'm slightly crazy
I think the butterfly was attracted to his sparkly personality
My serious men
One of these people is happier than the other
She is an amazing sister and phenomenal aunt!
Kaden's butterfly picture
After the birthday party we trudged our way back home where
we put two very tired little Nutts to bed then with the help of Alicia, who has
taken cake decorating classes it was time to start working on Kaden’s birthday
cake. After deciding we were getting him
car tracks for birthday I decided to make a racecar track birthday cake but
wanted to make sure, it didn’t overlap in style with his previous construction
vehicle birthday cake so thanks to Pinterest and Google Images I found several cake
images that I wanted to use. After
attempting to share my semi-creative vision with Alicia, we got to work
decorating the cake. While the cake didn’t
turn out just as I wanted I was still pleased with the results, in large part
thanks to Alicia and her frosting piping skills. Not only did Alicia help me with the cake,
but after that was finished, she was good enough to blow up all the balloons
for Kaden’s bedroom decorations (that I just barely at this moment realized I
didn’t get a picture of this year!). How
very appreciative I am for all of Alicia’s help with this and everything else
she did during her visit!
Thank heavens for her skills!
Finished cake
On his birthday, Kaden was happy to share the birthday celebration
song with his friend Noah who is older than he is by a whopping 3 days. After returning home from church Kaden did a
quick clothing change so he could start in on opening his birthday presents. Kaden was elated with all of the Hot Wheels
car tracks and the fancy track pieces and cars that mom and dad gave him as
well. Not to mention the car tracks that
included a few building bricks (similar to Legos) that Grandpa and Grandma game
him… clearly we were in harmony for his birthday. Kaden had enjoyed creating one car track
after another and filling up entire rooms with his tracks. However, it was the Lego Captain American
airplane from Aunt Alicia and the Lego City police set from Kara that Kaden
proudly took for his first sharing day after his birthday at school. Kaden does love his new car tracks, but Legos
are and for the foreseeable future, will remain his first love. As his mom, I am glad he has a couple
different avenues for his imagination to explore and dive into.
Love the birthday boys in their bow ties
One excited boy ready to open his presents
Lego Captain America!
With his birthday loot
Thank heavens for a multi-tasking Aunt who can build a car track while having her hair done
After presents were finished and some playtime was over it
was time for Kaden’s birthday dinner. As
requested, we enjoyed a dinner of homemade pizza, fruit, and soda. Once dinner was over it was time for birthday
cake. All the worrying I did over the
cake not looking quite right or being designed perfect washed away as soon as
Kaden saw his cake for the first time.
He didn’t see any flaws, simply an act of love and lots and lots of
sugar that was all meant for him.
Birthday dinner
The cake
Make a wish
Hmmmm, how to get the candles out
Teamwork
This describes Kaden so very well. My now 5-year-old loves Legos, he gravitates
to them like a magnet to metal. Before he’s
even had breakfast most mornings Kaden is in building something new. Kaden has a sharp memory and a keen mind for
building and engineering. Kaden enjoys
math and is starting to gain a true love of reading, thanks to Captain
Underpants. Kaden loves sugar, especially chocolate. The kid even loves the word "chocolate". Kaden is a good friend but
he just as easily will play by himself as be bothered with others. Kaden isn’t one to hold still for long and
look you in the eyes but his words are always sincere. My sweet tender 5 year old is just that –
sweet and tender. He is sensitive,
loving, and always willing to stop to give his mom a cuddle. He won’t let anyone have his precious blue
blanket, but he will share it with you.
Kaden is happy. Genuinely happy,
the kind that radiates from his eyes, to the tone of his voice, the way he
moves and more. Kaden is a special
spirit, one that has taught me that my way does not always work and I have to
be willing to budge and change as much or more than I can expect it of
him. Kaden has taught me patience. Over and over again, he has taught me
patience as he always does everything at his own speed and attempting to rush
him will only result in frustration for all parties involved. Kaden isn’t as competitive as Kara is but
under the right circumstances, he can be competitive too. Kaden is a goofball like no other. He isn’t afraid to be himself and on a daily basis,
Kaden teaches me more than I am sure I could ever teach him. Simply put, Kaden completes our family. The Nutt House is like a Lego creation – we all
have our role to play and the Nutt House wouldn’t be complete without all of us
and I thank our dear Heavenly Father for allowing us to be a family not just
here on earth but forever and always.
Happy birthday my little man.
Always know and always remember how loved you are!
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