6 years old

 So our oldest is 6 years old.  Here are a few pictures from her birthday a little over a month ago and some pictures that I thought were cute of her.

 Here she is 3 months old

 Here she is now.  Man she has grown up and is as beautiful as ever.

 So for her birthday we met Grandma and Grandpa for lunch and to go bowling.  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for such a fun day.  She had so much fun.  Our son however did not like bowling so much.  I think he was a little overstimulated and not sure of the new experience.

 After using the kid ramp for the bowling ball a few times she chose to throw it on her own.  She also bowled for her brother.  Ironically she got the exact same score for both and came ahead of her Mommy and Grandma.

 Our son liked hiding here and even found a drawer and tried to hide his bowling shoes in the drawer so he couldn't bowl.

 So proud of herself.

 Me and our baby.

 And the wind up......

 I got a picture with him smiling.  Of coarse 2 seconds after taking this picture he was upset at me for taking his picture.

 I am impressed with my husbands way of getting speed and gently setting the ball in the lane with little noise.  When I throw the ball no matter how much I try it always makes a sound that says I am not experienced in bowling.

 Grandpa is a serious bowler.

 My son saw the dog and ran up and hugged him.  He was happy to see the dog even if he was not happy to bowl.

 She wanted to hug him but when she got up there she turned as if to sit in his lap.

 Our baby and her Grandparents.

 She wanted a Barbie Ice Cream Birthday Cake all year since she saw a picture of it once at DQ.  When we got there they had nothing Barbie.  So we bought the cake and had them write Happy Birthday on it and then went to Target and got a small Barbie to put on top.  Since we don't buy presents on Birthdays we will gladly do this for them.  In our house Birthdays are all about the experience and time as a family.  I tried to talk her into a cake that I could make at home but this is what she wanted more than anything.  After all you kill two birds with one stone this way.  Ice cream and Cake in One.

 The Birthday Girl Picture.

Here she is a month before her birthday.  She loves to be Pretty.  I love the innocence and happiness in her face.  I hope to raise her to always be confident and feel loved and safe.

 We built a sled hill which she looked forward to all year.  This is just a couple nights before her birthday and since there was no school the next day we let them play for a little bit. 

Christmas 2012

So we had a nice Christmas.  We did one gift from Santa and one gift from each member of the family.  It was nice to have it not be so overwhelming.  And the kids seemed happy.

Here they are in the pajamas I made for them this year.  It was fun to have them match on Christmas morning and they loved that they looked like Christmas presents.

 I made my son a big boy quilt for his new twin size bed.  He was so excited to see it had Thomas on it.

 This is one of the best moments was seeing them say thank you to each other for the gifts they gave.

 So our oldest told me that she wanted Real Fairy stuff this year.  She would tell us what she would do and all the wishes of others and her own that she would grant.  When we told her that Santa may not be able to get her Real Fairy stuff but he could give her stuff that looked real.  But she felt that was inexcusable because since Santa is a magical being it only made sense that he could get magical stuff to give to her.  Well we were at the store one day and she saw these Princess art/craft packs and said she wanted them more than anything.  I asked her if she wanted them more than Real Fairy stuff and she said yes.  SCORE!  So we got them because it saved us from disappointing her.  On a side note she has asked me the Santa question.  We have discussed it.  I told her that he is as real as she believes he is.  That if you stop believing in him he stops bringing you gifts.  Which is what my mom told me.  I asked my daughter what she thought and she thinks it is us.  But she still talks about him as if she believes in him and well that is ok.  I feel this is something she will understand more and more as she gets older and she will process it in her own way.  And when she talks to me I will never lie to her.  Childhood passes to quickly I don't want to make her worry about all the grown up things yet.  Everyone has a way of experiencing, expressing and living magic in their lives.

 Baby girls first Christmas.  She got this from her big sister.

 This was a LED flashlight my son picked out for his Daddy.  My husband gives great reactions and my son ate it up knowing his Daddy loved the gift he gave him.

 This was the gift I got from my son.  I needed a new pair so this is AWESOME!

Isn't this cute!  She brings everything to her mouth.  But loved this glow worm.

 Another great reaction from my husband from for the gift from his daughter.

 Gift from us, a new scooter.

 His Santa gift.  Our son is funny he is learning how to pray.  In fact one day in November he started wanting to pray all the time.  Most of his prayers went a little something like this,  Please may I have Hiro, Spencer, Gordon, Harold, James, Percy, Rocky, Flin and Cranky.....Nourish and strengthen our bodies in the name of Jesus Christ...Amen.  Ya we have a little work on teaching him to pray and ask Heavenly Father to bless others in their trials and thanks him for his blessings.  But it is also a lesson to remember that we must also pray for the things which we would have the Lord bless us with.  Their is a reason our Savior asked us to be as little children.  To be so trusting that the Lord will bless us with our needs and some wants.  We will try to help him expand his prayers but I hope that he will never lose the ability to turn to his Father in Heaven and ask for blessings in his life.

 My gift from my daughter.  This is great for a busy mom who has little time to take care of herself.  Now I can make a smoothie and have breakfast no matter how busy my morning is.

 Checking out her stocking.  I think it is funny that my husband looks more interested than her.  Oh well.  There is always next year.

November

 Another blog that just takes care of one month.  Since I know that you my few readers would like me to get to more current things.

So in November my husband invited us to his works Open house to come check out the new building that they had moved to.  It made us a little sad to have him work further away because he used to come home for an hour during lunch and spend time with us in the middle of the day.  We were spoiled and we loved it.  But that time is over since gas would make that not a practical option all the time.   Yes we could move closer; however, it is not what we feel is right for us.  However it was fun for the kids and I to see the nice new building with lots more room and a much better situation for them to grow.  We had fun seeing Grandpa come check it out as well.  My husband loves the company he works for and believes in their product.  He is so excited for this change and loves to involve anyone he can in what they feel is a great opportunity for them.  The coworker in charge of food and doing most of the arrangements did a fantastic job and the food was amazing.

 Just a couple fun pictures of me with the girls.  My oldest loves having only girl.

 Also now that my husbands arm had healed enough he finished our fence.  Even the picket fence in the front yard.  It looks so nice to have no holes in any fence line we have.

 

This was our dog for one month.  We adopted him right before Halloween and loved him.  It was the hardest decision to let him go.  I had been thinking about a dog for a while.  I knew what my husband wanted should we get one and he was the perfect dog for us.  Except I am allergic to him and we have a small house and no garage.  It gets too cold in the winter here and when everything was weighed in the balance an amazing dog like this deserved a home where he could be warm and comfortable without any resentment from his owner over something he had no control over.  It broke our hearts and my son thought he had a brother in this dog.  We felt he belonged in our family.  We were not able to take him back to a shelter.  That seemed cruel and we didn't want just anyone to adopt him so we talked to our friends and family and found him a home with someone who loves him has no allergies to him and can take care of him.  We miss him so much and I still feel like a failure as a mother and human being for having to give him away.  A hard decision I never thought I would have to make.

October

Ok I am going to do this whole month all at once.  Mostly because it is easier and it will give me a chance to catch up faster.  October was a lot of fun.  We went to the pumpkin patch, the Shopping Center's Halloween party close by, made a couple costumes and Trick or Treating.

The Pumpkin Patch the kids picked their own pumpkins.

 

 They tried to push the cart together because they think they are big and strong now.

 They played in the straw maze with Daddy who looks very pregnant with our baby staying warm inside the giant coat he is wearing.

 I even got a picture of me with the kids.

 Some pictures of the Merida costume I made inspired by the movie Brave.  We bought the wig at Target but the rest was all my design.  This wig made me think Little Orphan Annie more than Brave though.

 Here she is pretending to have a bow.

 Love this action shot of her running with her pink socks.  The best part was knowing that she was happy and loved the costume.  It was fun to make a modest Princess dress for once.  When my daughter wants to be a Princess I either have to alter the style of the dress or I have a limited few to choose from.  So whether you are a fan of Brave or not just know I appreciated a modest Princess.

 My sons favorite game with his Dad is stealing his hat and wearing it or hiding it.  

 And he look all too cute being a little punk. :0)

  Here the Kids are doing a craft at the Shopping Centers Party.  They had a Costume Contest for the kids.  Just so you know they didn't even take a second look at any of the costumes my kids wore.  They looked more at Harry and Ron costumes that stood by my Merida costume.  Oh well there is still satisfaction in knowing that in my daughters eyes the costume was perfect.

 Talking with Cinderella

 Here is the little bumble bee costume I made for my baby.  Seriously how cute is she?!

 On Halloween we got together with the neighbors and we ate soup and then went Trick or Treating.

 As you can see my son was Thomas the Train again this year.  I had plans to take him to the local Train Park and get pictures with him on their unused tracks but I failed to do so.  I had hope to make him something but when he wants to be the same thing as last year you just go with it.

 Some Trick or Treating action.