3 on the 3rd!

My baby...

grew up too fast and is now a big 3 year old.

Some things about Ashley at 3...

-she talks really well and loves to boss us all around
-she has a great imagination and loves be a mommy to her dolls
-she still favors mom over dad, but will give us both the best hugs
-loves to play on the computer and has mastered using the mouse by herself
-likes to sing and dance
-has been potty trained for several months now and caught on fairly quick
-LOVES nursery and joy school
-can play really well with Katelyn and can argue really well with Katelyn
-says "scritchpures" for "scriptures, and "skabetty" for "spaghetti"
-favorite shows are Olivia, Little Bear, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates
-very afraid of bugs, our tortoises, and dogs
-favorite foods: most fruits and veggies (yea!), beef jerky, waffles, hot dogs, pizza, and pudding


Her birthday was on a Sunday so we had a quiet family party with cinnamon rolls for breakfast.
Opened presents(her one request for a present was a pink chair with her name on it, you can see it in the background). She also got the Tangled movie, which has been watched every day since her birthday, a cookie play set, and a doctor's kit.
She has wanted bunny cupcakes for her birthday since her last birthday. When she was 2, our friends had a big Easter party and it happened to be on her birthday. She thought the party was for her and has talked about it often throughout the year. So she wanted to have bunny cupcakes this year because she thought she had a bunny party last year. :)
My attempt at bunny cupcakes...
We spent the rest of the day watching General Conference and playing with her new toys. She seemed to have a great day and kept saying "thanks" to all of us.

We love our cute girl and are so grateful she is part of our family!

(I realize that I have been a horrible blogger lately and birthdays are about my only motivation to blog. I need to go all the way back to October and document some things, but it seems so overwhelming. But it needs to be done so I have some journaling done for that time of my family's life. Hopefully I can catch up before Easter or maybe I should say Memorial Day. :) )

4 Days of Celebrating

At our house we just do big birthday parties every other year starting at age 4. On their odd birthdays they get to choose a fun activity and invite 1 or 2 friends. So this was Luke's off year for a big party, but I think he still had a fabulous birthday, if I don't say so myself. :)

FRIDAY
The girls and I took Krispy Kreme donuts into Luke's class. I have not had one of those donuts in forever and forgot that they were so yummy.

SATURDAY

We let Luke take 2 friends to FlipNOut (an indoor trampoline place). They had a great time and were all red in the face from jumping around for an hour. McDonald's ice cream sundaes were the treat after the fun at FlipNOut.
Later that night we went to Red Robin as a family. Luke was so surprised when they came out with his free sundae (that's right two sundaes in one day :) ) and started singing to him.

SUNDAY (His actual birthday.)

It has become a tradition for the kids to come down in the morning on their birthday and see how the kitchen is decorated. I love the "right after you wake up" pictures.Opening presents...money from grandma & grandpa, double sided light saber, kinex, and a remote control dune buggy from us. A lego game and Star Wars lego vehicle from friends.

My attempt at a double sided light saber cake. This was Luke's request for a cake. I'm not sure I met his expectations. :)

We had Luke's boy cousins and his aunt and uncle come for dinner, cake, & ice cream. Tacos were the requested dinner by the birthday boy. I love this group shot of the cousins for many reasons...the placement of the blue balloon, Katelyn's fruit punch moustache stain, Ashley's helmet along with her ladybug Halloween costume.

MONDAY

There was no school on Monday and that was probably the best birthday present for Luke. He loves a day off from school and it works out that he usually gets a day off close to his birthday.

Seven

That's how old my oldest turned today!

Happy Birthday Luke!

Has it really been 7 years since I held this sweet baby in my arms and kissed those chubby cheeks?

It is hard for me to believe it's been 7 years. Now I have a handsome, fun, smart, and good 7 year old boy who will sometimes still let me give him hugs and kisses.
(7 years old, holding his newest Star Wars lego vehicle)

7 things about Luke
1. Loves legos and puts them together so quickly.
2. Loves to play the Wii (favorite games right now Lego Batman, Lego Star Wars)
3. Still a picky eater, but loves pizza, tacos, quesadillas, and jello.
4. Tries really hard to do what is right
5. Great student (enjoys math & science the most)
6. Likes Star Wars & Tron
7. Really likes practicing karate moves with his Dad

I love my Luke who is so patient with me and teaches me so much!

We can't forget Ashley!

Once a week Ashley goes to joy school/play group with 5 other kids for a couple of hours. I had them at my house last week and they are all so cute! Ashley loves talking about joy school and thinks she is really important that she has a "school" to go to each week.

(Do you love that couch in the background? It is up in our playroom and someday it will have a nice slipcover. Someday!)

While all the kids were playing upstairs Ashley put on her apron and "cooked dinner" in her play kitchen. Then she decided she would read a book to the "class". It didn't matter that no one was listening. She just loves being a "little momma".

Katelyn's turn

Preschool has started and she is sooooo excited!
I might be a little excited too! She goes to preschool in the afternoon and Ashley still takes a nap. I am looking forward to some quiet afternoons until Ashley decides to give up on her naps. I will enjoy it while I can. :)

About 3 weeks...

is all that separated Luke's kindergarten school year and the beginning of 1st grade. I guess that's what happens when you are in year round school and you get the track that takes a couple weeks break in June and then you are in school until August. (That was a really long sentence, but I don't feel like fixing it. :) ) So here is Luke graduating from Kindergarten...
We loved Luke's kindergarten teacher! She was an amazing teacher and so fun. The graduation was so cute, complete with walking in one at a time, singing some fun songs, and then receiving their kindergarten completion certificates. My mom happened to be here visiting during this time so she was able to attend and that made it extra special for Luke.


And now here he is on the first day of school as a first grader!


This week has felt like the longest week ever. Katelyn really misses Luke. The afternoon is especially long for her because that was when she and Luke would play while Ashley naps. I'm sure it will be easier next week when she starts afternoon preschool twice a week. But despite the long week, Luke has had a smile on his face everyday after school and says things are going well. He likes his teacher and says that lunch, recess, and PE are his favorite parts so far.

Crayon/Color Party

I mentioned in my previous post that Katelyn loves to color, paint, and draw, so I thought it would be fun to do a crayon/color themed birthday party. It turned out to be such a fun theme!

the invitations

the front door sign
(it bugs me that the crayons and the "happy birthday" are crooked, but I didn't have the time or energy to go back and fix it)

the cake
(got the idea off the internet)

the take home "bags": little bucket, pack of crayons, coloring book, a little candy, and a crayon eraser
(this is a great time of year to do this theme because all the school supplies are such a great deal)

Katelyn added her own little touch and drew a picture for all her friends that came and then I wrote a little thank you note at the top and helped Katelyn write her name.

The Activities:

While everyone was arriving the kids did some coloring.

After everyone arrived I read the book "The Crayon Box That Talked".
Then we played a few games. I didn't get pictures of the first two games which were running relays while holding a large inflatable crayon and throwing the inflatable crayons through a hula hoop. These next two pictures are from our made up version of freeze dance. On the invitation I had asked the kids to wear their favorite color shirt. So we put on some music and let them dance, when the music stopped they ran to the color of card stock that matched their shirt. Then we mixed it up a little and had them run to a color that didn't match their shirt. They had so much fun with this game. Ashley felt like she should run to pink because she was wearing a pink skirt.



Then Katelyn opened her presents and loved everything she got.
We finished off the party with some cake and ice cream. Then they just played with toys until it was time to go. All of the kids were so good and Katelyn was a happy birthday girl!

I just had to add this last picture of Katelyn in her princess dress. She has been asking for a Sleeping Beauty dress for a long time. She finally got her wish and has worn it almost everyday since. She had a great weekend full of celebrating with her party on Saturday and then her actual birthday on Sunday. My mom was able to be here for Katelyn's birthday and that made it extra special.

Our 4 year old princess!