Tis the Season

We really love this time of year around our house. 

My dad dropped in for the afternoon. It was really short, but really nice to see him. 

Last week we had our community christmas party that I got to be involved in planning. It turned out great, and I am really glad it's over. I just have another party tomorrow night, Ava's Polar Express class party the week after that, and Ava's 6th birthday two days after that. Tis the Season to party it up!! 

Santa came to our party and all the kids behaved themselves while sitting on his lap. Ava (who is a very caution/nervous soul) was a bit scared of santa. Stranger Danger! So I told her who it really was, and she was cool with it after that. "Besides Mom, you can totally tell his beard is fake!" 

Another thing Ava is afraid of is, The Grinch. She has refused to see it year after year. So this year, I had a plan. I bought the book and we read it. She liked it. Then, Twinkie (Our Elf on the Shelf) brought back from the North Pole, the old school cartoon version for the kids to watch. Before watching it, we had a Who-Ville Feast. Roast Beast (Rotisserie Chicken) WhoHash (Cheesy Potatoes, which on a side note, I have never made in my life, but I live in Utah now, so it's about time!) Who-Pudding for dessert and Grinch Punch. The girls were really excited. Then we watched the movie, and Ava loved it, and no longer has nightmares of the Grinch. Sweet Success!! 

And on a totally unrelated to Christmas note...

Ava thought that the Grinch lived in the furnace that is in the unfinished part of the basement. 

Craziness, my child, nothing lives in the furnace! 

Well, Riley and I were down there the other day going through things we have still not unpacked :) 

and I heard a funny squeaky sound (name that movie) 

Anyway, turns out something DOES live in the furnace after all! 

It was a MOUSE! Apparently this is to be expected when you live in the country. I had no idea.

Now to explain a bit. I was standing on a step stool while my studly husband investigated. 

The stupid mouse ran right under my feet, so keep that in mind before you judge me or call me names :)  And sorry it's dark. I was too freaked out to think about turning on lights and things.

Zoey's the Best Dog Ever! I think extra bones are coming her way this Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

It's Fall!

It has been a fun few months. It seems like September was so long ago....

So we will start there.

 

 Ava had a Fall School Carnival, and had a lot of fun. She got her face painted there (this happens to be a recurring theme throughout this post)

Then the Circus Came to Town! 

There was more face paint...

The Greatest Show on Earth

Where do they find these clowns?

Then we went to Cornbelly's to find our way through the maze this year. We made it out alive thanks to Ava's navigation skills! 

And surprise, surprise...more face paint!

Halloween came and the girls wanted to dress up like Tinkerbell and Rosetta. 

Riley and Isaac were in charge of the passing out of the candy at the trunk or treat, and they did a good job, too good. When I got back to the car Riley proudly announced he had been giving out handfuls to all the kids and got rid of all the candy!! I said, well good, however, we now have no candy to give to the trick r treaters who come to the house :) He made a trip into town to get more candy, poor guy. 

Isaac and I got to wait in line for about an hour to vote, behind a lady with the flu. I was freaking out thinking Isaac would get it because he's still too young for his flu shot, but luckily nothing came of it! 

The other day it snowed, and snowed and snowed. It was more snow than we got all last winter!! 

Riley took the girls out in it and they loved it! Viv was a little cold by the end :) 

 To say she LOVED the snow would be an understatement! 

Viv liked to be bounced up and down through the snow

I love this picture. When I was pregnant with Ava I always told Riley, I want a little girl that looks just like him, and I got it :) 

Viv is always up to something and always making us laugh

 Isaac's been hanging out, staying warm, and melting our hearts in the process. We love this little guy! 

And because the 3rd kid never has enough pictures...

 Isaac and I did a little photo shoot the other day. He had just woken up from a little nap on our bed was was just looking so cute with his sleepy face, I couldn't resist. 

I was the 3rd kid and noticed that my older sister had a bunch of baby pictures, my older brother had a lot, and well me, not so much. I always swore I would take equal pictures of all my kids, but alas I have come to the realization that is really is harder to find the time to do things like take a few pictures, so this is my attempt at making things right for Mr. Isaac, the 3rd. 

He's such a great buddy and I love having him around. I am totally smitten with this little guy!

Me too!

 Today my other baby grew up! What a week it has been :) 

I wan't as emotional about Viv, don't worry. 

Not because I don't love her as much, but because she has Ms. Dena, who I love. 

Ms. Dena was Ava's preschool teacher and lives just down the road. I know the routine, and that makes it a lot easier. Plus, Viv was driving me nuts this last week with Ava gone :) 

 I still think she's too young for preschool, but it's only 2 hours 2 days a week, and Viv is really happy to be a big girl like Ava. 

She was so excited to tell me all about it when she got home and show me everything she had done. 

It was really cute. 

This last picture shows you how much of a cheese ball this girl is...

This is her "throw your head back and laugh picture" 

I love you Viviann! I hope that you have a great year at preschool!

I HaTe ScHoOL

 My Baby Girl grew up today...BIG TIME! 

I officially hate school. 

She was a champ. She was so excited to see her friends from PreSchool and wear her new clothes. 

I can't stand that she's gone. 

She decided on a heart theme. Heart shirt, heart earrings, heart shaped french braid. She's our little Diva. 

I haven't stopped crying yet.

But I guess it isn't all about me....

Here she is at the Bus Stop with Miss Dewie. They are off to conquer the world together.

 Ava, Dewie and Kayln

Here She is getting on the Bus. She waved good bye and blew me a kiss. What a sweet baby I have. 

As we were walking out of the driveway to the bus stop, she looked at me and said, "I'm really going to miss you mom." It broke my heart 

She had to make a poster all about herself to bring to school today.

Lollypops= She loves to play CandyLand
Picture of her riding her scooter
Picture of her dressing up
Lego girls are her favorite toy
Picture of Ava, Isaac and Viv
Mint Chocolate Chip is her Favorite ice cream
Chronicles of Narnia is her favorite series of books
Loves popcorn (air popped with real butter is the only way she likes it) haha
The Lorax is her favorite movie
She loves to bake cookies and cakes and when she watches TV it is usually Cake Boss.
A picture of our family.
She wants to be a gymnast when she grows up. (Thanks to the recent Olympics)

I was putting in some laundry the other day when we were making this and told her to just start by writing her name somewhere on the paper. She yelled to me in such an excited voice that she did her little 'a' like a grown up! I didn't know what she meant, so I came in the kitchen and looked and sure enough, the little 'a' was just like how I write them. :) I hope her kindergarten teacher doesn't hate me too much for teaching her bad writing habits already. haha

And the rhinestones are because she loves to sparkle.

I am an anxious nervous reck. I can't stop thinking about what she's doing and hoping she isn't too scared. Noon can't come soon enough! Her class at school is only 14 kids, 8 of which where in her preschool, so that helps make things a little less scary. Her teacher, Miss Thomas seems great, and Ava really likes her.

I hope for my baby to keep on sparkling. I hope she learns and grows. I hope she remembers that I love her. I hope she remembers who she is and what she stands for. I hope she loves school and learning. I hope she knows how special she is. I hope she will help others feel special too. The sky is the limit for her and I hope she knows that. She is such a great girl, and we miss her terribly.

I love you Lots Ava Belle

STOP SINGING!

You know sometimes when you are doing something that you know drives someone else CRAZY, but you keep doing it anyway because your inner 5 year old is just too persuasive, and it entertains your other 5 year old...

Well this is one of those times. 

Viv HATES when I sing. 

She hides, screams, and tells me to stop over and over again.

Good thing I don't sing much. 

July Madness

 For the 4th of July the girls helped make some cute shirts. Here they are modeling them...haha

 Isaac went through a "hair falling out by the handfuls" stage...We referred to him as Uncle Fester

 Riley had a little too much fun with the sparklers this year. There was a fireworks restriction because there were fires burning all over the place in Utah. So we stuck to Sparklers and Pop-Its! Riley actually lit an entire pack of sparklers at once and it was so hot they turned bright red. 

We were pretty thrilling to be around, let me tell you :)

 Isaac is growing like a weed. He lost all his hair except for a nice yamika on top and mullet on the bottom. With a little help from the trimmers he was evened out in no time, and now it is all growing back in nicely. 

 Ava and Isaac are really great friends. Ava loves to help with Isaac and sing him songs and talk to him. He loves her and always smiles when she's around. It's cute to watch such special bonds being made.

 Avas growing up too fast, as well. She starts Kindergarten this month and I am not ready. I'm freaking out a bit thinking how fast time is flying by. I want more time with my baby. She's a really great kid, and I love having her around all day. She's excited and ready to go, of course, but I'm pretty sad about it. I didn't think I would be, but I am.

 We had a Cedar Valley Bike Parade and Ava ride her scooter in it. 

 Viv had a little help from Daddy. 

 She was popping wheelies in no time!

  

Chris and Camille (Our friends from Coeur d'Alene who live down here now as well) came to take part in the neighborhood parade with their girls. 

It's kinda tiring getting pushed everywhere on a scooter :)

 Here's the whole gang making the loop and heading back. 

 Ava on the way back was tired, but she made it! 

 We blessed Isaac. It was really short notice and figured since we didn't know when we were moving we would just do it that Sunday. We are spontaneous like that :)

 All the guys: L to R Freddie, a wonderful neighbor of ours; Jason, Riley's Uncle; Wyatt, Riley's brother; Riley and Issac; and Brian and his son. 

 The whole gang

Then we went to Draper days parade! 

Viv and her cousin, Alexa chilling with some candy.

Viv was pretty shy at first, but once she figured out what was going on she knew the drill. She scored with a ton of candy and it was hilarious to watch her just run out and back over and over again. 

 Love my girlies. 

It was a fun July and hopefully August will be filled with lost of time at the pool and more house projects.