Lizzie's 6th Birthday

Lizzie turned 6 years old!  We started the party by having Grandma jump out of box. That was the best surprise birthday present of all! Woo hoo!

The girls were so shocked- it was hilarious.  We just kept right on with the party events and Grandma jumped in to help.

Liz asked for Rainbow cupcakes so we hopped on Pinterest together and she picked these.  All her favorite things: Rainbows, suckers, and frosting!

 This was a Halloween Birthday party so ll it was a double sugar fest.  We got all those kids even more sugared up after decorating sugar cookies.

 We played a bunch of games like pin the nose on the Jack-o-lantern, mummy bowl, and monster ring toss.

 Penny and Wade a little side party of their own! cuties!

 Liz was so excited to have all these friends over.

 She got way too many presents for one little girl!

 She blew out her candles like a champ.  I wonder what she wished for?  Maybe a whole bunch of candy?  And look it came true.  At the very end they busted the spider pinata open!

Lizzie is one amazing 6 year old for sure!  She does so well in school, loves her teacher, is an excellent reader, and a sweet sister and helping daughter at home.  She is my go to gal for sure.  She loves "babysitting" Penny and helping with the cooking and cleaning at home.  She is so close to Julie- they are constantly playing together.  They are pretty obsessed about playing with their stuffed animals: Rainbow, Pearson, Mittens, Alex, and Leprechaun.  It is never ending games of imagination around our house.  Liz loves reading the scriptures and prays almost every day that her lil sis Penny will learn to read the scriptures too. This girl is pretty darn special and I'm lucky she is mine!  :-)Love her tons.

Halloween

This year Grandma came to visit for Halloween!  We carved and decorated pumpkins...

 We also had school parties!  Grandma went to Kindergarten to help with the party.

Lizzie adores her teacher, Mr. A!

You can't beat trick or treating with Ann, Elsa, Olaf, Grandma, and Dave!  It was a great Halloween!

Julie's Special Day in Preschool

Julie has been loving preschool this year.  The best part of it all is her loving teachers.  They are so sweet and good with the kids.  On Julie's special day she was SO excited to bring her lovey, Mimi to show everyone.  

 Other special day privileges include being line leader, giving the five minute warning, and getting to beat the drum!

 Circle time is so sweet.  They are sit in a circle and each child takes a turn saying what they like about Julie.  She got so many cute comments like, "Julie is a good artist, she has pretty hair, and she has a kind heart."  All true!

An extra bonus to this special day is that Lizzie got to come be a part of it!  She joined in the fun and got to have snacks, color, and hang out at her old school as an alum! 

Our New Neighbors

In September 2014 some new neighbors moved in and it has been the BEST!

 Not a great idea to live tooo close to family, you say? Maybe for some, but it really has been one of the greatest changes in our lives over the past year.  We get to see these guys all the time and it's super convenient and fun!  

 Game and movie nights are a couple of our favorites.  Combining dinner time is so easy too.  The best part, though, is seeing Penny and Wade interact.  They are so close in age and SO funny to watch as they steal each other's binkies and give hugs.

 These two babies are going to grow up like a set of boy/girl twins.  Future BFFs for sure!

 These guys really are the best  neighbors and we are so elated to be so close.  Now, if we can just get them on board to mow our lawn and take care of our cat....it will be perfect.

Julie Starts Preschool

 Julie started preschool this year and she adores the whole experience.  She has the world's best teachers there that are so kind and loving.  She is always full of smiles and she bounces into preschool.  One of her favorite parts is that she has her own private cubby that she can store her stuff in.  Every day she brings a little toy or trinket to show off to her friends and then puts it away in her little space.

After watching her sister attend all last year she is so happy to finally be there herself.  She has a friend at school named Peyton that she always talks about.  Apparently they have a lot of fun playing together.  Each day of school she always asks, "Is it my special day today?"  She gets very excited for that occasion!

Lizzie Starts Kindergarten

Lizzie started Kindergarten this year!  She is doing so well in school.  She is a top reader in her class and a little social butterfly.  This child has no inhibitions and has always had confidence talking to adults so when I pick her up from school she is often trying to make jokes to make her teacher laugh.

She doesn't even know how smart she is yet.  One day she came home and was feeling sad because there was a little boy who in her words, "Already knew how to read everything and could read better than her."  I assured her it was ok and that she should just continue practicing.  Later, I found out from her teacher that she is so good at it that she was the only one paired up with a first grader!  I was able to explain to her later that he was so good because he was a whole year ahead!

Family Photos

My three little treasures!  They fill my days, nights, and everything in between.  In this phase of life, their needs are all consuming and never ending.  And it's worth every moment!  There's never a dull moment at our house. These girls make me so happy.   

                                                      Jamie did such a great job with these photos!  Her talents are priceless! 

Julie cracks me up!  She is in this phase where she tries SO hard to smile and it shows. lol.

She did it!  That's the beautiful Julie smile we all know and love! ;-)

All three of my girls are little beauties!  Inside and out.

Just me and my love. You don't see us without kids very often.  But THIS is how it all began! haha.