My oldest...

...isn't a baby anymore!

JK turned 11 on December 28th. Since she's a Christmas baby, it's always been tricky on birthday party years to get the party done after Christmas. So we decided to party hardy a couple of weeks early this year!

We do big parties for the 5th, 10th, 16th and 18th birthday years. We missed doing JKs last year, since we were new to the area and didn't know many people yet. So this year was her "make-up" party.

JK invited 3 of her closest friends to "JKs Perfect 11 Day Spa". So there were 7 giggling girls at the house! Wow!

We did egg white facials ("ew, gross!"), manis and pedis (Billie painted all 70 toenails!), and enjoyed a movie with chocolate milkshakes!

The night was a hit!

I still can't believe that she's 11. I know that I say that every year with each girl, but it's true. We have just a few precious years left with this sweet girl, and then she's out taking the world by storm!

We are so blessed to be her parents!

Some videos...

...from LB's meet a few weeks ago.  It's hard to believe that she's only been in gymnastics for 3 years!

Beam...scored 8.6

Bars...scored 8.0

 

Vault...scored 8.4

Floor...scored 7.9

Since August...

...we've had a lot going on!

LB turned 9 on September 3rd! Her theme was the movie "Ramona and Beezus", complete with a perfectly appropriate birthday cake! I can't believe that my second born is 9! We are so blessed with LB's life, and anticipate watching God use her in a mighty way!

We made our 3rd trip to Gatlinburg with our best friends, the Murphys. We had an amazing house with a dining table big enough to hold all 12 of us for dinner! The kids ages are 10, 10, 9, 9, 7, 7, 5, and 2.5! The last trp we took, three years ago, the youngest 2 weren't with us yet...it was great to have JuJu and EG along for the ride this time!

 LB had her first gymnastics meet in September as well. It was small...just inner squad, but she did well for her first time in the spotlight. We had fun watching her do her thing.

October found us purchasing an annual pass to the zoo, and visiting it 3 times already!

 We've started doing Disney movie theme dinner nights. We do them every other Friday night, and it keeps us in the Disney mood...which may or may not be a bad thing, considering how badly we want to go back to the "World"! Our first movie was "Tangled", followed by "Finding Nemo", then "Toy Story 3". All food is movie themed and so much fun!

Since Halloween fell on a Wednesday this year, we were a part of trunk or treat at AWANA. JK was a girl from the 80's, LB was the Chiquita banana lady, AA was a girl from the 70's, and EG was Fancy Nancy. They had a great night at church, and brought home entirely too much candy!

That brings us to now...Thanksgiving weekend. LB had a big meet two weekends ago, and did a great job! She improved in every event! We are so proud of her and the hard work that she puts in at the gym every week.  AA was sick this week from Tuesday through Thursday, so we had a low key time at home...just the 6 of us.  She's better and back to her old self, and we are so thankful!

Family photos were 2 weekends ago, taken by yours truly! No posting of those pics yet! You'll just have to wait!

We made our way to the children's museum this month, and are enjoying our annual passes there as well!

Happy Birthday...

...to our third born daughter!

I can't believe that AA is 7 already!  Jeesh.

Dear Time,
Could you please slow down?  Thanks.

Signed,
A Mother of 4


Moving on...

AA decided to have a Silvermist theme for her birthday this year.  We don't do big blowout parties every year, so this year she was allowed to invite a friend and their family over for dinner and cake.  The friend that she wanted to invite is actually one half of a set of twins!  These three girls are a hoot together!  AA is always in the middle of the two of them, and they have so much fun together!

Here are pics from the evening...

Another game...

...of catch-up!

Life is busy as usual!  We are back in the swing of things with school, and are about to get back to our normal activity routine (though LB hasn't had a break this summer!).

 We had a field trip to a chocolate factory...which was a yummy field trip!  We saw the biggest Buckeye ever!  AA lost another tooth...busy, busy tooth fairy!  We had family night, complete with glow bowling in the hallway...and I'm proud to say that I won!  (Me?!?  Competitive?!?  Never...)

July 20-22 saw us with a quick weekend trip to Chicago.  Billie had been once and the girls and I had never been.  I'm sure you can guess the main reason for our Chicago get-away...The American Girl store!  There were no dolls purchased this time around...not by Billie and I anyway!

AA turned 7...but that will be a separate post!

So here's a plethora of pics...the month in a nutshell!

And our trip to Chicago...

 JK saved up for her Bitty Twin all by herself!  I'd like to introduce you to baby Sam!  

The Tooth Fairy...

...is kept fairly (no pun intended) busy around our house!  With a total of 80 teeth to lose around here, she might as well just move on in.

AA has lost two teeth and the top two are pretty close to coming out!

So bring on the money, Tooth Fairy!  (And bring your suitcase while you're at it...we have a lot more teeth to come!)

I am blessed...

...to have the best man in the world as a father to my daughters!

This man has risen to the challenges that the past 18 months have brought to us.  He has worked his tail off in some not-so-desirable jobs just to keep us from depending on others for our food.  He has worked and provided for us in the way that a man is supposed to work to provide for his family.  He has done all of this without complaining.

This is the kind of man that I want my girls to marry.  A man that will take care of them without thought of himself.  A man that will honor the Lord first.  A man that will do whatever he has to do to keep his family afloat...spiritually, physically, and mentally afloat.

Yep.

A man like the one that I was blessed to marry.  A man like the one that these girls are blessed to call "daddy".

We love you Billie.  We are blessed beyond measure.

Recital 2012...

...our 5th dance recital!

JK did a fabulous job as she always does!  It always brings tears to my eyes to watch her dance.  We will be heading to a new dance studio this fall and she is excited about the possibilities for her there, as are we!

Here are a few pics from after her performance.

JK, you're growing into a lovely young lady and a beautiful dancer!  Keep on dancing sweet girl!

                                     

Ice cream trucks...

 ...are one of the best things about summer!