..36...

McPhie celebration season has come to an end.

Gwen, Drake, and I all have birthdays in July, and then in the first couple of weeks of August is our anniversary, then Ryan's birthday.

Ryan's birthday came on a Friday.

Fridays are trial days.

So we sent him off to trial with a yummy waffle breakfast.

I got Ryan this watch for his birthday.

 But in typical Ryan fashion, he wants to exchange it.

Maybe for this one...

or this one.

Which one do you like better?  I thought about the light wood one, but thought it might get dirty.??  So here's some advice if any of you, for any reason, give Ryan a gift for any occasion, give him a gift card.  I still try and give him gifts, but they are just about always getting exchanged.  

It's okay.

Well he had a good trial (won on one count, lost on another; but he knew that one would be tough).  We celebrated with dinner and The Wolverine.  

It's a good one.  Even though Hugh Jackman was not in very good shape for it.

Not.

Yes, I just said "not".

Then we had family birthday party on Sunday.

 And I was too lazy to put 36 candles on the cake, so we had 3 candles + 6 candles.  It equals 36 in candle math.

Oh yah, and here are the kids with their As You Wish paintings from our family anniversary date.

Drake's hair is awesome

 Oh, and here's Drake's self portrait on the wall in school.

Notice the robot/lego arm, and the gun arm.
But no legs.
I love his creativity!

Happy birthday Ryan.

...7...

My baby is SEVEN!

Family party the night before the big day.

Drake requested a pinata, and picked this one out.

 Mason trying to hit it was so cute!

 I didn't get a very good shot, so you may not be able to tell, but that would be a Lone Ranger cake.  I felt so bad.  It was crunch time for bar study, and I was planning on just buying a cake from a store.  But then when it came down to actually doing it, I couldn't.  I had to bake a cake, but took a short cut with a Lone Ranger Lego set on top.  He was stoked.  Phew.

 That night I kissed my sweet little SIX year old boy good bye forever.

I cuddled that sweet baby boy so hard!

And in the morning, he magically was my sweet SEVEN year old baby.

He slept with his new Lone Ranger set.

This may be his favorite present of the day.

The Lone Ranger silver mine. 

If you haven't noticed, Drake loves the Lone Ranger.

And he LOVES Legos. 

 It turned out to be one of the best days of bar study I had.

These two sat quietly at their table working on that silver mine for hours!

If only I could have purchased a huge expensive Lego set everyday to occupy them.

When you don't get a b-day party, you get to go to Perter Piper Pizza

Drake's birthday was up in the air.  He chose going to Jack's house in California and going to Legoland with him over having a birthday party.

The problem with that was we were planning on Ryan taking Thursday and Friday off for our trip, but then last minute Ryan had a trial that looked like it was going to go for Friday, so he wasn't able to get Friday off.  But then Thursday he found out it wouldn't go.  Ugh!

So we packed up fast and hit the road.   

These boys were so happy to be together again!

 So were these boys.

 Unfortunately, I had to close myself off and study the whole trip, including while the dads took the kids to Legoland.

It better be worth it.

I better pass the bar for missing out on this.

 At least I got to see my sister.  Tara and I are due only days apart!

This happened before, and our boys were born on the same day... maybe it could happen again?

Curleyhair girls 7 months pregnant.

Happy birthday buddy.

We love you!

...32...

More nights than not, this boy wanders into our bed in the middle of the night.

So I wake up like this.

I'm so blessed, not only because of this cute boy, but my nose swells up when I'm pregnant.

 And I guess since he's hijacking our bed, he feels the responsibility to make it.

 Drake had a primary teacher in our old ward who made the kids these "Drake was here" heart bean bags, so they could give service and leave it behind.

It's the cutest thing ever.

I love it!

I had a birthday.

I don't have any pictures of it, but my friends took me out a couple of days later and spoiled me with a new Coach purse.

Can you believe that!?

 So I'm 32, which I didn't feel like that was old, until I thanked my mom for birthing me 32 years ago.  That just sounds crazy.

At least I'm a nice round number, that is divisible by 4.  For some reason, I love numbers divisible by four.  It just makes me feel good.

While I'm "studying for the bar", I figure I might as well have some bread rising.

I think I've got my white bread down!

So yummy!  My house smells so good right now!

 This whole bar thing is a joke.

How am I supposed to study when I'm home with kids out on summer break?  I feel like I study 12 hours a day, but get done what I would be able to do in 4 hours if I were at the library.  :(

And finally, I'm 28 weeks!

That's officially 3rd trimester.

there's a baby in there!
I still can't believe it.

*baby's the size of a large eggplant (2.25 pounds)

*if I have to wear clothes, they better be stretchy

*the baby is very active, and the kids LOVE to feel the baby move

*I finally bought the first item of baby clothes, that only leaves everything else to acquire!

*I've gained 20 pounds so far...

My reduced sugar/salt diet started out well, but after a couple of birthdays with excuses to eat cake and ice cream for weeks, I'm off the wagon.  I need to get my act back together!

And now, back to studying!

...9...

My baby girl is NINE!

Gwen wanted to do her birthday party a little early this year since come the first of July, most people head for the hills.  So we did it the weekend before, and it worked out great.  Other than the garbage disposal eating my frosting tip.  :(

 She wanted a sleep over, but since those are not allowed according to the McPhie statutes, we had a late night instead.  All her friends came over in their jammies to make pizza, eat cupcakes and watch a movie on the big wall of the playroom - movie theater style.  

 Gwen decorated the play room herself.  Well with the help of Drake.

And Drake.  Oh boy.  I wanted him to go watch a movie with Gigi and Papa during the party so he wouldn't have to be around all the girls, but he refused.  He wanted to hang out at the party, and play.  What a nut.  

 So her early birthday party was a super success, and it was nice to not have to worry about a party on her actual birthday.  

So the night before I cleaned the house and got presents wrapped, balloons blown up, house decorated, and then went in to kiss my 8 year old Gwenny good bye forever, and found her like this.  It killed me!  She has her unicorn tucked in under the blanket and is sleeping with a little hat pinned to the top of her head!  Oh I cried, and cried.  As much fun as it is to see her grow up, I want to preserve my little girl just a while longer.  

Last picture of Gwen as an 8 year old.

But the next morning, I found a gorgeous 9 year old Gwenny! 

 Then we had a day of doing what she wanted!  

That meant no bar study for me, pedicures for the girls (Drake really wanted one, and has asked for one on his birthday in a couple of weeks),

I am UGE (silent H)

 Lunch at Olive Garden!

 The kids were fuh-reez-ing!!

This was how Drake waited for our lunch.  While he was confined, he certainly was not quiet.

 We had a fun giggly lunch!

We ended the night with a family party at the Collard's house (since our air conditioning decided to go out the night before), and ate German Chocolate cake at Gwen's request.  

  It was a super fun day, and I'm so happy to have gotten to spend it with my little best friend!  She passed out on the way home!

Christmas in July

July is a crazy month in the McPhie home.

The kids and I have our birthdays, hence the Christmas in July feeling, and we are at the peak of swim season.

Gwen was so excited that her friend Kate came back to Arizona again this summer.  So they decided to do a duet together for synchro.  They did a cute little routine to a Taylor Swift medley and got first place at regionals!!

Then these little cuties also did a team routine to The New Girl In Town from Hairspray.  Since they couldn't have their hair all big like in Hairspray (because their hair has to be put in a bun and then covered with gelatin so it doesn't get messed up or move in the water), they went for a big hair bow.  

These girls got second place for their team routine!

(I think, I can't remember, isn't that horrible?!)

So on to the birthdays.

Gwen kicks off July with her birthday on the first.

This was a big one, our little girl turned EIGHT!!

She wanted a "Brave" birthday party, so we rounded up her girlfriends to go see Disney's Brave.  

Now you have to know Ryan to know how excited he was for this.  But let me try to explain.  McPhie.  Scottish name.  Ryan served his mission in Scotland.  Ryan LOVES Scotland!  So he was relieved that Disney finally created a Scottish princess.  

To add to the Scottish excitement, he took the afternoon off to help with Gwen's party and accompany the girls to the movie... in his kilt!!

Gwen and Drake loved it!

Some of the girls thought it was weird.  

"Why are you wearing a skirt?  Boys aren't supposed to wear skirts."  

Ryan quickly let them know it was NOT a skirt.

Seeing the movie, and the men in their kilts helped.

Look at cute little Drakey, being the ladies man.

Gwen's actual birthday was on Sunday.  A FAST Sunday!  And cute little Gwenny was all about fasting since she was now eight.  So we had her birthday cake that night at Gigi and Papa's.

Part of turning eight in the LDS church is reaching the age of accountability.  That is the age when children can be baptized if they choose.  Gwen definitely wanted to be baptized and counted down the days.  

Look how sweet they are.

The baptism was beautiful and afterwards our Bishop asked me to bear my testimony.  Umm, okay.  Maybe he doesn't remember I can hardly do so without bawling.  You see I'm very emotional when talking about my gratitude for my Savior.  Couple that with my admiration for Gwen and the good choices she's made and being surround by so many loved friends and family members.  I was an emotional mess.

I hope Gwen knows how proud I am of her!

Next was my birthday.  It was pretty kick back, but just how I wanted it to be.

I got to hang out with my kids during the day, go on a date with Ryan that afternoon, and hang out with my family that night.  

Then later go out with my girlfriends who spoiled me and took me to Jesterz for a hilarious night!

It totally looks like I have a bald spot in this shot!

Next up was Drakey boy's birthday.

He was asking me how many days and hours till his birthday ever since Gwen had her birthday party.  So it was his turn to have a bunch of boys over and play with light sabers, water balloons, water squirters, beat a pinata and eat junk food.  

 He had a good time.

 Apparently I didn't get a picture of Drake's birthday cake, but it was cute, you'll just have to trust me.  It was a Lego cake, with a red, yellow and blue lego.  And it was super yummy.  Again, you'll just have to take my word for it.  ;)

Here he is getting his 6 pancake.

He was so tired!

And so we survived most of our family's birthdays, swim is over and summer is winding down.

School is just around the corner, but until then, I will squeeze every bit of fun out of what is left of the summer!