Briella is 3!!

 

This darling girl just had a birthday. 

I wish everyone could have a Briella in their house because she is such an absolute joy. She is EXTREMELY talkative. It's non-stop conversation with her. She is so funny too. The stuff this girl comes up with is priceless. 

She loves: her brother and sister, baby dolls, singing, dancing, running, eating, dressing up. Bubble Guppies, eating just about every kind of food imaginable, and having 5,000 stuffed animals in her bed with her.

She hates: going to bed, being left out of things and cleaning up.

Happy Birthday Berber!! You sure make life fun!!

Our tiny dancers

Both of the girls were in dance this year, and of course they loved it. Briella took a Leap and Learn class and Avery took a Hip Hop/Jazz. For their recital Avery danced to "Puttin on the Ritz" and Briella danced to "A Pirate Says Arghh" from the Backyardigans. It's becoming glaringly clear that these girls love the spotlight!

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Avery!

I have lots of stuff to catch up on - but this couldn't wait.

Our Avery girl turned 5 yesterday!

Avery is an absolutely darling, kind, compassionate, silly princess who is so much fun to be around. She is extremely social, loves taking care of people, loves to help me with the laundry, will gladly go shopping with me whenever, loves dancing, movies, every color in the rainbow, singing, laughing and being the center of attention.

We love you so much beautiful girl!!

Nothing says springtime...

like tulips!

All about James

James has had a pretty eventful week. It all started with his first Pinewood Derby competition. When he brought home his kit a couple months ago I had a serious talk with Ben about how this was James' car...not his :) He bought a book from the Scout store called "Pinewood Derby speed secrets" that had lots of different plans. James picked the one he liked best and they got to work. James helped him every step of the way, from cutting to sanding, to painting, even sanding down the nails that held the wheels (Ben will have to explain that one). I thought they were going a little overboard. I was concerned that James wasn't going to do well and that his whole experience would be ruined. We had a conversation about how winning wasn't everything and how we should cheer everyone on. Boy did I eat my words later!

There was some fierce competition going on. There were 49 cars and 6 heats for each car. They had this crazy cool track that recorded the time and speed in mph. James was up first and I was shocked that he came in first. That car was FAST! Each time his car raced I was nervous and then excited as he won every one. My dad and Ben were keeping track of the other races and felt like James was keeping up pretty well with the leaders. After everyone raced they took a little break to let the computer calculate the results. While we were waiting they gave out awards to everyone based on what their car looked like. James got the award for being "the Holey One" (his car had a hole in it).

Then the moment we were all waiting for. My dad felt that James was in the top three, I still wasn't sure. They announced third place - not James. Second place - not James. At this point I looked over at my dad in disbelief...there is not way my little boy took first place overall. Sure enough, he did! I wish I could have captured his face that moment, I have never seem him look so happy or proud. 

The next day James had his first baseball game. Again, I was nervous because he had been having some trouble hitting during practice. I don't know if it was the confidence running over from the night before or just his sheer talent but he hit the ball each time on either the first or second pitch. He was unstoppable! He even got to play catcher which was the cutest thing ever.

I just got an email today from James' teacher that he is getting an award next Monday at a school assembly for self-discipline and integrity. James makes us proud every day but I had to brag about his stellar week!

Do you want some free stuff?

My sister is having a giveaway over at her Sport Princess blog. If you love soccer and pink then this giveaway is for you! There are lots of ways to enter so go check it out!

Go here and good luck!

Conversations in the car

Briella: The sun is in my eyes!
Me: That silly sun.
Briella: Yeah, he's silly. He's smiling at me.
Me: The sun is smiling at you?
Briella: Yeah, he's cute.

(While driving Avery's friend home from preschool)
Avery: Hey, do you want my mom to put on a Tim McGraw song so you can hear his voice? He is so handsome and his voice is like silkiness.

They totally get their silliness from Ben.

Happy Birthday James...again

Since James' birthday is so close to Christmas, it is almost impossible to throw him a party and have all his friends there. I've found that having it a month later makes things a lot easier.

So he wanted a Harry Potter party and after some thought I decided, what better to entertain a bunch of kids than a magician!!

The kids had a blast and it was totally low key on my part. I wish I could have videotaped how loud these kids were laughing the whole night. I think the favorite part of the night was when he made the bunny appear.

 The Potion station. We let the kids mix up whatever potion they wanted. 

Their choices:

Sleeping Potion (blue raspberry Kool-Aid)

Dragon Tears (Hawaiian punch)

Extract of Pituitary (orange Kool-Aid)

Excitability Formula (lemonade)

Bloodworms (gummy worms)

Mandrake Root (dried pineapple) 

and Exploding Spider Eggs (Pop Rocks). 

I can't even tell you how many cups they all drank. I'm sure they were all in a sugar coma all night.

The cupcakes - the funniest thing about these - when I told James I was making wizard hats with the "Harry" scar on them he wanted me to do a REAL wizard's hat and put a crescent moon on them. He even had to direct me on the proper way to draw them!

Happy Birthday James...I hope it was a fun night for you!

These girls are going to be stars

They came up with this song on their own!!

Cousins!!

Since we live far away from Ben's family, the kids rarely get to see their cousins on that side. We finally got to see all of them in December!!

James and Beck

Avery and Daphne

Jasper, India, Arabella, Briella, York, Avery, James, Finn and Adelaide

As soon as we put Briella on York's lap, she lost it. She wouldn't even calm down with James. So we had to give her her own special seat.

 

Ada and Avery

These kids all got along so well, I wish we lived close!!

I still can't believe I did this

Before

After

Pros: It's a heck of a lot easier to brush, wash, braid, etc.

Con: She looks so much older!

I know it doesn't look like a lot, but after going 4 and a half years without a single cut, it was a huge concession for me.  Is it bad that I didn't let them cut an additional 4 inches off for Locks of Love?