SEVEN!

This is boy number two, Garen Fielding Sorenson. Gosh, I love this kid! I mean, look at that face, how could I not? Since he was tiny, people have always remarked about the twinkle in his eye and his big smile. Lots of people call him Smiley. Our family however frequently refers to him as Harry. When he was a year or so, his hair started to get curly and was out of control. Jared started calling him Hairy as a result. I changed the spelling, because I can. Garen is not your typical kid. He does not usually request "toys" at Christmas and birthdays. He likes 'real' things... like tool boxes, vacuums, the Touch-n-brush, flash lights, calendars... any practical life thing. Garen reminds me of Thomas the Tank Engine... you know that phrase he always says, "I'm a really useful engine". That's Garen, he likes to help and feel needed. He is Grandpa's assistant whenever anything needs fixin'.

The only thing he told me that he wanted for this birthday was a tool that has an extendible arm and a neon green pad on the end, it helps you reach your windshield to clean it (perhaps you've seen the infomercial). I also over heard his big brother "helping" him come up with a list of toys for his birthday... funny that all the things on Garen's list were things that big brother wanted! ☺

Instead of getting him another tool, we asked him if we could surprise him with something. He liked that idea. We got him a DS i. He was really excited and has enjoyed taking pictures with it and setting the alarm to wake him in the morning! ☺ It was fun for him to get this "extra cool gift" before big brother did since he is often the 2nd hand recipient of Jake's old stuff.

Jacob and Oakley LOVE Star Wars and play it all the time. After 7 years of hearing Jake talk Star Wars incessantly, the bug bit him too. Garen, just in the last month or two, as taken to light sabers and action figures. This is pretty huge since he really doesn't do much playing, per say. Oakley knew just which guy to get Garen and insisted that he give it to him for his birthday. I took this the morning of his birthday... the 3 boys, for now, are so good about playing together. I love this picture!

SHOW ME THE MONEY!

Garen likes motorcycles. He likes to display them more than use them though. I let the kids decide what their cake will be each birthday, and they help me design and decorate it. We had lots of fun with this one. We used marshmallow to make bumps in the track and covered them with icing. We also dusted the icing with Nestle Quik, for dirt. He asked that the cake have some fire on it (that made his pyro-dad proud). We rolled out orange, red and yellow Star Bursts and shaped it into flames. His name was also in Star Bursts. I love my kids birthdays! I have so much fun with them making cakes. We always have the family over for their birthdays. Birthdays are something we really look forward to. I also love that all my kids were born in warm months, that way we get to enjoy the out doors. The parties are always on our screened porch. It's a fun tradition.

I
I can't believe my guy is 7. He is so special. Garen is my buddy. When no one wants to go to the store or run errands, Garen always wants to go. He always helps me carry my bags. He also is the first person we go to when we've lost something. He always knows where we left "it". He is funny, and smart and loveable! I am so grateful that Heavenly Father gave me this wonderful little boy. I am so blessed to have him in my life! Happy Birthday, Harry!

For My Peeps

After reading my friends' comments regarding my wedding dress fiasco, I decided to humor them and put the dress on again... just for my readers (wink). Thankfully, the dress came on this time without event because, remember, it's ripped.

I used the self-timer mode and took these pics myself. They are SO AWESOME! I hope you picked up on my sarcasm. I even tried to pull a few Tyra poses, but sheesh, modeling's tough. I had McKay running in and out and included a few of him. He kept hugging me and stealing my shoes. Embarassingly enough, my face does not show the humor I felt while taking these. In some I look serious. I assure you, I wasn't.

I also got a better look at the rip in my dress. It is along the seem, so maybe someone could repair it and get some use out of it. Consignment here I come!

Loves!

Mare

Oh, The Irony.

In my husband's closet, because mine's too full, there is a white garment bag. It often spills out of the closet and keeps the door from shutting snugly. It's my wedding dress. I, just like any other girl loved wearing it and kept it thinking that my own daughter might, by some slim chance, want to wear it for her special day or even just play in the darn thing. But, you all know I don't have a daughter... that's a mere fact, no contempt implied.

I also have held on to the dress in the hopes that someday I might be able shed the 'baby weight' and wear it myself one more time for kicks and giggles. Fortunate for me, after lots of hard work, I am now the same size I was then. Since accomplishing this, I had thought intermittently about trying it on but in the business of life, it just got put off.... Until my friend posted something in her blog about having just accomplished this same monumental task. She tried on her dress again and even posted pics on her blog. She looked beautiful! She inspired me.

After reading her entry, I was almost giddy. At that moment, all my kids were running around the house, it was close to supper time. It was just not good timing, but "Seize the Day", right? So off come my clothes (sorry for the visual) and out comes the poofy dress.

I go to unzip it, but the zipper is a bit stuck at the bottom, yet undeterred, I step into it and begin trying to get it over my hips. Roadblock! I quickly find that these hips aren't what they used to be and that the dress wouldn't be slipping over them. The next option is to try taking it over my head. This is the part where you should wish that you had been a fly on the wall.

I begin to try and pull the thing over my shoulders. It was soooo close. I just knew that if I wiggled and tugged a little more, I'd get it. So, wiggle and tug I did. And then I was stuck. It was hung up just below my arm pits and wasn't going anywhere. Couldn't get the dang thing on, couldn't get the dang thing off. Picture it! My arms are stretched over my head and the dress is stuck on my bust. By this time my 6 and 4 year old are in the room sitting on my bed asking tons of questions. "What's that you're putting on Mommy?" "Why are you wearing it like that Mommy?" "Why are you laughing Mommy?" And all the while I'm dumbfounded that I am literally 'stuck' in a mass of tulle. I then call my oldest in to try and rescue me by monkeying with the zipper. He tried his hardest but couldn't do it. With no other choice, I just have him yank the dress hard, till I'm free. Of course, it ripped, but at that point, I seriously didn't care. Despite the rip, I was able still to zip it up and get it on. I headed straight for the mirror. But guess what. SO NOT WORTH IT!!! While it fit, I was utterly disappointed. It wasn't nearly as pretty as I remembered , and though I thought I chose a classic style, it was really outdated, not to mention the stain that was on the boddess. It was really, pretty ugly!

Ha! I laughed my way through the whole event and laugh now while re-telling it. I've thought about selling my dress but with a stain and a rip, who would buy it? I've thought about throwing it away, but that just seems wrong. I'll probably take it to the Goodwill or something. Don't tell my mom though. She'd kill me.

The moral to this story: If you're thinking about trying on your wedding dress to make yourself feel good for being slim again, DON'T DO IT! Instead, keep it in the bag, and preserve the memories you have of yourself in it on your wedding day! If you want to feel like a princess again, go to the spa and get a facial!!!