Happy 4th Birthday Miss Alyssa!

Our baby turned four.  Yes she did.  And we made it as special as we could!

Alyssa had a wonderful day at pre-school with Ms. Julie.  It was her VIP day so we arrived with cupcakes and poster in hand.  Ms. Julie sprinkled her magic and Alyssa felt like a million bucks for the day!

PARTY ROCK in the HOUSE today!

Alyssa wanted to sleep at Grandma Barbie's house so she and Jaxson spent Friday night there while Taylor, Austin and I worked on her party.  Taylor and I might not be Martha Stewart-fancy, but we were sure proud of the cake we created for little sissy!  

 Alyssa LOVED it! 

 We began our party with coloring at the table.

 Then it was time for our activities.  We had a limbo contest.  The little kids LOVED it!

 (and the big kids too)

 We had several balloon games:  keep it up in the air while the music plays and then we did some timed ones.  So fun and cute!

 After our games, we did our activity.  We painted window art for our bedrooms.  The kids also loved this activity.

 About 90 minutes into our party, Aunt Jenny and her family from AZ showed up!  Here is Taylor with little Preston.  What a sweetheart.

 Oh, slow down time!  She is growing up way too fast!

 Dad insisted on a picture with his baby.  Love our mechanic-Dave!

Not too many people are taller than our poppie!  He was obsessed with Dan's height and asked if I would take a picture of the two of them so he could see where he stacked up to Dan's height.  What you don't see is that I took this picture, standing on a chair. :)

It was such a fun, amazing day!  We are grateful for our Alyssa.  She is like a warm fire--where we all gather around her and want to be close to her.  She is our little ray of sunshine and happiness.  Happy Birthday precious girl!  You are loved more than you will ever be able to understand.

Friday After-School Fun!

 After school on Friday, I took Jaxson, his friend Sam and Alyssa to Trafalga for a few hours.  I'm not going to lie.....we had so much freakin' fun!  While Jax and Sam played laser tag, Alyssa and did the miniature thing, rock climbing and messed around with a few games

 And then I broke down and bought tickets to bowl.  And bowl we did!  We ended up bowling three games and had the greatest time!  Here she is- my little bestie!

 After we got home, Jax went outside to help the dog eat.  Seconds later, he came bursting back into our home yelling that someone was letting lantern off from the park.  Jax can exaggerate a tad but what he was saying was so interesting, I had to run out to see what was going on.

So glad I did.

There were tons of beautiful lanterns being let into the air by a small group of people in the park.  It was like we were in the movie "Tangled".  Someone had the idea to get into the cold suburban and drive to the park for a better view.  So we did.

So glad I did.

It was even more magical!  The kids were nuts over it too.

 Last, before we went to bed, Taylor told Alyssa she wanted to have a "Sisters Sleepover" including nails, make-up, hair and fun dress.  I am very lucky to have these two little princesses in my life.  Love my little girls.

Move over, Martha Stewart!

I made this cute little Valentine tree.  I only burned off 3 fingers but my kids' raves about the "heart tree" made me think I was the new Martha Stewart (only not prison-bound).

Happy 1st Birthday to Tilly and Bryclyn!

 Our favorite Cedar Hills twins turned one last week!  Their aunt had the same birthday so it was a triple birthday!  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the evening:

 Dana and big brother Landon.

 My little Klein!  He is the spitting image of his 2 year old brother!

 Pretty, beaming mama with her 1 yr old baby doll!

 Yes, Austin, you are the number 1 six year old in the world!

Can't quit taking pictures of Klein!

January Blues and Ambitions

January got off to a GREAT Start for our family.  The kids were so good to be patient with all of the projects we had/have going on in our home.  Here are two faces I can't live without:

Dave surprised me some projects completed with Uncle Bob from LA.  A new faucet in my kitchen!

 I painted part of our 1/2 bath a pretty green.  Love the contrast with the antique white walls.


Taylor and I enjoyed a Mommy/Daughter Date with each other.  We went out for a burger and then to a movie.  I LOVE this girl.  What a little beauty!

Snow, Snow, Snow

My favorite January snack (thank you Pintrist).  Cottage Cheese, avacado, tomatoes, cucumbers and cracked pepper.

SICKNESS IN OUR FAMILY

During the 2nd week of January, our family got hit super hard with illness.  In fact, I was the only person not to get both strep and croup.  In a 24 hour period, I had 3 visits to the pediatrician's office.   Alyssa first and then Taylor and Jaxson all tested positive for strep and croup.  On our 3rd visit, Kimberly wrote both Austin and me out prescriptions for when we would get strep.  It took Austin about 7 more hours to get it.  And me?  As stated, I made it through!

Baby girl at the doctor's office

My Life as a German Teacher

One of the very most rewarding moments of my ongoing career has to be the sheer number of former students who continue to receive mission calls to Germany or choose to live there for a time.  Almost weekly now, I have students coming in my classroom to visit me.  And here is a picture of the most recent:  Matt Little!  This kid is amazing.  His sense of humor was incredible and he was super smart.  And when he walked through my classroom door, wearing Lederhosen and all, I couldn't stop smiling!  We had the greatest visit and spoke German the entire time (of course).  I went home and started searching for German programs to get my own kids into.