Friday, August 28, 2015

Birthday Breakfast with Daddy

In honor of this little Miss turning 5, her daddy took her out for breakfast at IHOP.  He did this with Ella on her birthday, and I think it's a beautiful and special tradition to take the kids out for a daddy daughter breakfast date on their special day.  So here they are, enjoying a delicious breakfast and some great company on a very special morning!




It's great to be 5!



Our Amelia begged to spend her birthday at Chuck E. Cheese this year, and really it's a great place to have a birthday.  The kids have so much fun playing all of the games, and I'm not exhausted trying to plan an over the top party that seems to be the rage these days (and after doing a few of those myself I'm all about keeping it simple).  All of the kids had a great time, the adults did too.  And my sweet beautiful Amelia had the best time of all!

... except for maybe this guy, who thought he was big enough for some of the games:)




Amelia was very specific in her request for a cake.  It had to be "Frozen", and it had to have Elsa, Anna, and Olaf.  So this is another one of those things I like to keep simple.  I either make it myself (and I mean just a box cake and none of this crazy pinterest stuff people do), or a cake from Wal-Mart like the one below.  The kids LOVED it!  That's all that matters.
Alex on the carousel
The birthday girl, sassy and smart!



It's present time!




So that was Amelia's 5th birthday!  She loved it.  We loved it!  It was simple and sweet.  We love this sweet girl with all of our hearts.  She is such a huge blessing in our lives.  She is very helpful to her mommy who is often overwhelmed.  She is the extra set of hands I often need.  She always wants to be helpful and she is kind and compassionate.  She has brought me so much hope since the day she was born.  She is a joy in our lives!  Thank you Heavenly Father for entrusting this precious daughter into our care.  She teaches me every day about love and giving.  I don't know what I'd do without her!

Whoa, Whoa, I gotta go... BACK TO SCHOOL!


Here they are!  Without further ado, the most beautiful girls on the planet in their back to school photos.
I have to keep this photo only because it is exactly how Ella felt about going back to school.  Don't ask me why second grade is not super exciting, she's been this way every year (hold back the enthusiasm some kid).  But we got her laughing and got the next photo.
... much better

And THIS little girl was beyond excited to start school as a big Kindergartner!  She is a cutie pie!

 Seriously this kid needs to model.  In my unbiased opinion... love that dimple. I can't believe this sweet baby of mine is off to school!
 The cuteness cannot be contained!

And here it is, the big yellow bus, taking my kids off for their adventure in learning!  Here they are with our friend and neighbor, Liam, who is also starting Kindergarten. 

Fingers crossed and prayers said that school year 2015-2016 is going to be a great one!

11 months and counting!


This rock star is 11 months old today!  He's walking, talking (he knows what he's saying even if we don't quite understand it yet), and climbing up a storm.  He is so full of love.  He makes my heart swoon with those big brown eyes and his six teeth grin.  His laugh is infectious and his charm is without limit!  11 months of pure joy is what this little guy is.  I can't believe he's almost one.

Summer in Review

Here's a short re-cap of summer 2015 (after our vacation to Texas and Utah).  Sorry to say I was not diligent about doing this along the way, but with three kids I barely keep everyone breathing.  Truthfully the only down time I have is either when Alex is napping or asleep for the night, and my "to-do" list is usually so long and overwhelming I'm either frantically trying to get a million things done or I've just given up and I'm napping with him.  Then at night it's precious time with my husband, so blogging goes to the bottom of the list.  There are so many times I've wanted to share a random thought, but unless it was recorded in heaven it's not happening here.  Blogging is really therapeutic for me, so I hope I can move it back up the list slowly as I start to feel like I've got things more managed now that school is back in session.  But enough yapping, back to photos from the summer.  These are in no particular order.

The girls enjoyed lazy days in their pjs, playing on the playground at my friend's house.
Alex has grown even cuter if that's possible.  He started walking in July just shy of 11 months.

 More "monkeying" around at the playground, this time not in pj's


Amelia enjoyed some play dates with her friend from pre-school, Myles.  Here they are getting ice cream at the Carousel (ice cream place in town) and at the library.
We all loved the library this summer.  Here the kids are outside the library on a hot summer day.  I read TWO whole books (pretty good considering three kids I think), and the girls always love the summer reading program, not to mention story time and the free cookies from Great Harvest for coloring pictures at the library.

 On days I had to work they went to Miss Becky's.  But they had lots of fun there too.
 Alex is sporting his new mohawk look and I have to say he's pulling it off like a champ!
 We went swimming at Miss Becky's pool on days I was off, and on days I worked Miss Becky would take the kids if her husband was home to help.


We got to use our fire pit one night and did smore's in the backyard with Miss Becky and her family.  The kids loved playing and laying on the blanket.








My friend, Kristin, came into town with her kids and of course we took them back to our favorite ice cream place for a cool treat on a hot day.  Here are my cute girls at the Carousel... again!

 Look at all those cute kids filled up on ice cream


 So we took them to the park to get some of the sugar out of their system.



And random selfies because, well, because why not?



Alex has started having solids and he LOVES. HIS. FOOD.  It's serious stuff when this kid sits down and eats.  He's a happy healthy little man.

Also, he climbs everything.  Examples include but are not limited to climbing in my dishwasher, climbing on his toy car (see below), scaling and climbing the baby gate, climbing the stairs whenever he gets a chance, and climbing onto the table if chairs are angled just right.  Also, he does not like being taken down from whatever he has climbed on.  Busy, busy boy!

We rode bikes.  Here the girls are on the walking trail in town.  There's a train caboose there that's fine to climb on and explore.



The girls enjoyed going up to Skyline Drive with their papa, who took them on a pony ride and then a short nature hike.  They LOVED it!  No pictures on the ponies, but here are a few from the trail.


 I don't know if you can see them but they are both inside this hallowed out tree.
 My two peas in a pod!  Papa also took them to the fair but I didn't get any photos of that.  Needless to say their papa spoils them rotten, but they had a wonderful time!

And then, before we knew it, school was around the corner.  After fun days of swimming, hiking, going to the fair, playing with friends, and playing Minecraft, all of the sudden it was back to school night and time to meet the teachers.  And my sweet precious little Amelia is getting ready for Kindergarten!  Seriously, how did this even happen?  It's very exciting but my heart aches a little all at the same time.