Beautiful Girl

I don't know why, but Hailey has really changed this last year. She's gained about 10 pounds and grown 4 inches! She just doesn't look like a "little girl" anymore! She is such a sweetie and is maturing so much. We are definitely in new parenting territory though with this age and stage. Somehow having her go sit on the steps for discipline feels a little ridiculous. So we are learning new older kid strategies.

She's really into watching iCarly and Victorious lately. LOVES to watch those two shows. Also loves to go online especially to the American Girl website. Also loves to turn the music on really loud and sing and dance. She is often leading the other kids as well as the random friends and neighbors and cousin over here in her own version of American Idol or Dance With the Stars or something. Each gets their turn to perform and then everyone votes. Depending on who wins/loses and the current mood determines if the game goes on or if someone bursts into tears and runs from the room. Oh yes...new territory in Hoeferidian. ☺

Cinnamon Roll Baking 101

We made cinnamon rolls today. Can you guess which ones Avery and Alex made?  I LOVE these pictures of their little hands taking such care to make their very own rolls. They each did a pan! Karis did some too even though she is home sick today. And we saved some dough for Hailey to do when she gets home. Yummy!

A Fun Visit

I don't know how I manage to take pictures of lunches and lizards and all kinds of other random things, and then when people are visiting for a couple days totally forget.....but I do! So we had Grandpa Hoefer, Auntie Deb, Uncle Craig (Deb's twin) and Auntie Ellen come and visit last week. Craig and Ellen live in Florida so we rarely get to see them. It was soooo fun. As you can see the kiddos adore them and all the attention. Unfortunately though, these are the BEST photos I managed to take. Ummm...yes....the kiddos were in rare form! It was a quick visit but we packed a lot in!

-Scott took them all to the Hot Springs somewhere in Idaho
-Deb and Ellen and I took Avery to the Woman's Show. It's a little tradition for Avery and me and she was thrilled to have her aunties come too. Avery and I even got feathers in our hair!
-Deb painted the girl's nails
-We roasted marshmallows
-Ate yummy cupcakes from a cupcake shop
-Lots and lots of coffee was consumed
-Lots of chats and laughter
-Out to breakfast at JoeMama's! Love that place!!
-Movies made by the girls on Ellen's camera. She will be sending me a link so I will post them. Hilarious!

It was a great time and totally inspired us to find a way to go to Florida sometime to spend more time with them and all their kids and grandkids too!!

Another Fun & Fairly Healthy Lunch!

I am so inspired to make good lunches this year because the girls eat almost everything I send them. I have them bring home their left overs so I know how much they are eating, so that I can pack the correct amount. One of their new favorites are tortilla roll-ups. I either used flavored cream cheese or lunch meat/mayo/shredded cheese, and roll up the tortilla and cut it in pieces. I am also trying to do different veggies in different shapes. They thought these carrots were great with the ranch dip. And then some apple sauce and a little trail mix for a treat!

The Five Year Old!

Avery is so excited to be five! We celebrated her on her real Birthday by having Emmett and his parents over for pizza and cake! It was a great time. Avery was insistent on cutting and serving her own cake with a Mickey Mouse cake cutter Grandma had given her. She did a great job. She was thrilled to receive lots of jewelry and Minnie Mouse items for her Birthday. She has worn her new shoes almost everywhere and her tutu from Grandma many places also! She is such a sweet girl. So smart and so observant. So determined and spirited. We are so blessed to have her!

She now weighs 34 pounds!!!! Which means that since her surgery she has gained 5 pounds! So happy. We are finally getting to take her off of Whole Milk! Wow....what will I do without Whole Milk on hand in the fridge when I cook all my Pioneer Woman stuff?? I think she was in about the 20% for weight. Her BMI is still 5% so I was a little confused by the whole thing and forgot to take the card with the facts from the Dr. Oh well....all I know is she is gaining weight. The unfortunate thing is that she still has to be in a five point harness car seat. Alex is only a pound more, so he does too. Just never thought I'd have 5 year olds in carseats!

Another Lunch Idea

In my effort to make lunches a little more fun this year I am trying to come up with creative things. This lunch I called, "Peanut Butter Dippables". As you will notice all of the items are things that could be dipped in PB! Now aren't you so impressed?!

Hot Cocoa Girl

Every.Single.Morning of Karis' life, she gets up and has a cup of Hot Cocoa. It is something she loves. It is the first thing she asks for when she wakes up. Every.Single.Day!! So I had to blog about it!

Avery's Lizard Party

For the first time, Avery decided she wanted to have a "friend" Birthday party this year! I asked her what the theme should be and she declared "lizards". Hmmmm.....I thought....that could be a tough. But, it actually worked out really well! I found some lizard foam crafts and lizard sun catchers to paint, some lizard tattoos, and some little lizards for the kids to play with. And the best part of all was Hannah and I dressed up her lizard and she performed tricks! Check out Hannah's blog for the cute pictures she took during the party!

http://hannahnoel.typepad.com/hannah_says/

Homemade Lunchables

So the girls LOVE lunchables.....especially the pizza kind. This year I have been inspired to make lunches a little more fun. I occasionally buy lunchables, but frankly there isn't enough food in one to fill up my girlies, so I have started making my own. That way I can add a little more food, make it a little healthier, and save on cost! Here is a pizza one. I took pita bread and cut it in circles. Put pizza or spaghetti sauce in a little container, and then used silicone cupcake liners (finally a use for them....too much clean up to use for baking for me) to put in the toppings. The girls love them so much and since I give them at least 6 crusts, they are not starving an hour later!

Pony Play Date

Today my Mops group went on a little field trip to see some Ponies!  Avery and Alex loved brushing the ponies and petting them! It was very hot and sunny so my picture quality is terrible. But it was still a good time. Scarlett (Avery and Alex's friend) and her Mom Tami came in the Hoefermobile with us, so that made it even more fun!

Avery's Lost Tooth & Her Lizard

So Excited to lose her tooth......had to be photographed with her lizard!!

Avery lost her first tooth this week! I think 4 is a little young, so I was surprised that it was loose. It was a little traumatic for her when she realized it was loose.  At first, she wouldn't even eat. I of course started to panic and say things like, "Just eat Avery! It's going to be loose for weeks, you can't not eat!" But then SuperDad or as Andrew refers to him "The Saint" got right next to her and in a very calm voice told her that when he was little he was worried about the same thing and he just put his food to the side of his mouth and was able to eat just fine. After that, she ate just fine.

Well on Thursday the tooth was just hanging there. Hailey tried to help her pull it out which resulted in panicked crying and asking for Daddy. I can not handle pulling teeth. EWWW. I can barely look at loose teeth without gagging! When I was a pregnant First Grade Teacher it was pure torture!! Anyway.....Scott came home to the sobbing child and said, "Let me see if it's ready". And then put the tooth on the counter. All sobbing stopped as she stared in amazement and then grabbed the tooth and ran around the house telling everyone with excitement that her tooth was out! That's a big deal around here let me tell you.

She put the tooth in a glass on the counter and had money in it the next day. "Look," I told her, "the Tooth Fairy came!" Avery looked at me and whispered, "It's not really the Tooth Fairy. It's just Daddy. But we pretend it's the Tooth Fairy." Is she really only four?!! Actually in one week exactly she will be FIVE!

Cousins!

These pictures are after their first day of preschool. Avery and Alex are soooo excited that their cousin Emmett is in class with them. We aren't sure yet if the teachers are as thrilled. Apparently, even though it was the first day, the boys established that they were unable to stand next to each other in line without playfully wrestling each other to the ground. Also, Hannah is thrilled, because A&A report everything that goes on at school to me. Like at coloring time when the teacher said to draw whatever you want and Emmett chose to draw a "toot". (Not like a horn tooting.....the unmentionable kind.) Also there is a "mean boy" who dared to take Emmett's dinosaur. We don't know the boy's name....just "mean boy".

On a serious note, it has been such a blessing having Brent & Hannah here. This is the first time we have lived in the same town as family (besides a quick year in OR with Rachael).  It is so nice to have them close by. We hang out so much that it's almost like Emmett is another Hoefer child! In fact, when he was here last week and declaring, "I am the GUEST!" in an effort to get a Hoefer child to comply with him, Hannah declared, "You are not a guest when you are here every other day!" It was cute. Also I need to get some pictures of Karis and Emmett up. They have quite the relationship going. That's a whole other blog post though. Let's just say complete adoration and leave it at that for now!

First Day of Our Last Year of Preschool

How can this be? This is our 6th year having kids in preschool....and the last! Wow! Next year is Kindergarten! Avery gets the prize for going to preschool the most years! Three! The girls just went one year and Alex will have gone two after this year. I hope they have a great year. They will go three days a week for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Wish it was a little longer, but that's OK. We aren't planning on doing the extended care this year  unless I decide we need it. They are so easier than they were last year and play so well that they are just going for educational and social purposes this year as opposed to last year where I really needed a break.

Cousin Emmett is in class with them so that is so fun!! I hope to get some pictures at pick up of all of them together. Avery wasn't too thrilled once we got to school, so it wasn't exactly a Kodak moment. (Hence the reason she is going to preschool! Independence is hard for her, but I think this year is going to go much better.) Anyway.....here are the little cute twins......oh how I love them!!

Peaches, Grandma, and Birthdays!

Grandma came and visited last week....and this is the only picture I have! We were so busy canning peaches and going to Great Harvest Bread store (Mom's favorite place), and of course the mall, that I didn't even take out the camera until the last night! We had such a great time with Grandma though. The kiddos love to have her come and even better was her Birthday was here!

I had picked 150 pounds of peaches the day she came, so we spent everyday canning, freezing, making peach butter or jam. We just did a little each day and it was soooo nice to have some help with it! That's a lot of peaches to process. We also went to the mall, downtown, to Big City Coffee, The Cheesecake Factory, the pool, and of course Fred Meyer. It was a great time. Hard though when she left. Sobbing children, especially Karis, who still tears up about it. But we just look forward to the next time she comes. The kiddos have the best Grandma and we have the best Mom ever!!