Andrew's 5th birthday

Andrew had a great birthday.

He started off with a breakfast of cinnamon rolls, hash browns and mangos.

  He wanted to open all his presents but only Mom and Dad were awake and Dad had to leave so we let him open one.

 He got the City Starter Kit with the fire truck, ambulance and his favorite = the skateboarder.

We built everything before we headed to Taekwondo class.  His friend, D, was meeting us there so he could join the class.

After class, D and Jacob from class came over for cake and ice cream and some play time.  The kids were all great and had a good time.

D and his family stayed for most of the afternoon to play.  Jacob had to leave to go to school but I am trying to talk his mom into homeschooling.

After D left, I sent the kids to their rooms for some quiet time before Grandma and Aunt Trish came over to continue the birthday celebration.

For dinner, Andrew had picked Cheddary Broccoli Soup.  His new favorite soup.  Grandma brought bread and I had made 2 cakes - chocolate and pineapple upside down cake.

Andrew got to talk to Cappy and Nana on the phone and Uncle Mait and Aunt Jenny skyped him. He was thrilled so many people remembered him on his birthday.

After dinner, he finally got to open up all his presents.  More Legos!

 Look at that excited face.

 He got a card that he could actually blow out the candles on so we all had to try it.

 After presents, we had cake.  Andrew wanted his orange belt on  his cake.  Cairn and I did the best we could but I think our frosting was a little too soft.  Andrew still loved it though.

6th birthday and Girl Scout camp

This morning, everyone was up early - there was a lot of excitement to be had.  Skylar was ready to open her presents right away.  I had them out for her since we wouldn't be home tonight and we wanted to open presents with Dad.

Yes, I even let her have cupcakes in the morning.  We had to sing to her right?

 Andrew and Cairn gave her a pet rabbit for her new American Girl doll - it had a bed and carrots included.

 From Cappy and Nana she got 2 new dresses that she loved and her most prized gift...

 Saige - her newest American Girl doll.

 Family portrait - Skylar, Saige, and Lily - her first doll.

After presents and breakfast, we got on with the day.  I had to finish packing for 2 trips - Girl Scout camp and our trip to Mount Rushmore.  

As soon as the orthopedic office opened, I was calling to see if I could get Cairn into the doctor today.  No such luck, she must wait until Monday.  She will be allowed to go to Girl Scout camp though.

Grandma stopped by to give Skylar her birthday present too - more American Girl doll items.  Skylar was in heaven.

Finally, it was 3 PM and the troop started showing up to head to camp.  

We had a fabulous time at camp.  Cairn had a lot of fun and only had tears a couple times when she couldn't participate in an activity.  Mostly though she could do whatever we did.  The troop cooked dinner Friday night - hot dogs, tator tots and salad.  For dessert, I brought more cupcakes so that Skylar could celebrate her birthday with everyone.  Then we played games until bedtime.  The troop stayed up late (past 11 PM).

Saturday, we started off with a flag ceremony before breakfast, learned a new craft, played games led by older Girl Scouts, bleach tie dyed some shirts, then headed to lunch.  After lunch, we had clean up chore in the dining room, more crafts, and a visit to the farm.  Then it was dinner time.  It was a little cloudy, cool and looked like rain so they moved the campfire inside.  So we went and sang songs and then headed back to our cabin to make smores.  The girls were exhausted and quickly fell asleep by 10 PM.

Sunday morning, we woke up to head to flag ceremony and brunch.  Then we had to clean our cabin from top to bottom before we headed to closing flag ceremony.  Finally, it was time to head home.

We arrived to a street full of parents waiting to pick up their girls. I had backpacks and crafts to hand out.  All the parents wanted to make sure their girls had a good time and then it was quiet.

But not for long, because we had to get the car unloaded and then reloaded for the next adventure...

Happy 4th Birthday Andrew

Andrew turned 4 today.  This year we are only doing family parties and special days.  So Andrew chose everything we did today.

First, we had chocolate chocolate chip pancakes.  Then he opened his presents.

 He got some Hot Wheels and a Hot Wheels track.

 He got some new Lego's, some construction trucks, a soccer ball and a train shirt.  We spent the rest of the morning playing with all the new toys.

For lunch, he asked for tofu salad sandwiches and chips and had Aunt Trish and Grandma come over for cake afterwards.

Since the weather was nicer (no snow, still cold) we went to the mall to get Crocs for everyone.  Andrew liked that idea.

After Crocs we had pretzals, checked out the animals at the pet shop and stopped by the American Girl store.  By the time, we got home it was time for dinner.

Andrew asked for nachos for dinner.  Aunt Trish and Grandma stayed for dinner.

Andrew wanted to Skype with Uncle Mait but we couldn't get his connection to work so we Skyped Cappy and Nana and went to bed.

Andrew said he had a great day and was very happy when he went to bed.

I can't believe he is 4.  Everytime I looked at him today I wanted to cry.  He is growing up so quickly and becoming such a wonderful little man.  What happened to my baby?

Andrew is working hard on improving his speech. He always corrects himself when I remind him of certain sounds.  He is such a good listener, better then the girls at his age.  He so wants to please.

The 1st of 3 Birthday Parties

Cairn went to the doctor today for her 8 year old check-up.  She is 4 feet and 4 3/4 inches tall (95%ile) and 63 pounds and 9 ounces (74%ile).  We talked about her sleep patterns - she needs more sleep which we are working on.  We also talked about hormones and puberty.  no signs yet.

After her doctors appointment we went home to get ready for her first of 3 parties this week.  

Cairn loves Red Robin so of course that is where she wanted to go.  What does she like there?  The milkshakes.  So since I know that isn't anything else she will eat I made pizza beforehand for the kids and myself.  They also had some quiet time before so they were slowed down a little before heading into the noisy, smelly and very stimulating restaurant.

We got to the restaurant and met up with our guests.

Aunt Trish

Grandma Bonnie

Skylar came with us of course.

Dad and Andrew

After eating, we had our cupcakes that I brought from home.  I made vanilla cupcakes with lemon frosting.  I put the cupcakes into the shape of an 8 and put an 8 candle in the middle.  Cairn helped frost and decorate her cupcakes.

 After cupcakes we opened a present from Grandma, a new charm bracelet inside a pretty hat box,

 and a couple cards.

It was a nice party and the kids were great.  Feeding them beforehand at their regular meal time and having some quiet time helped squash some negative behaviors.  We left before anyone lost and everyone left happy.

Happy 5th Birthday Skylar!

Cairn woke Skylar up early this morning so she could get to unwrapping presents.  Here are the kids helping Skylar open her gifts from Cappy and Nana and Mom and Dad.

 A pretty new dress that Skylar loves!

 New fairy princess pj's.

After opening presents, we had chocolate chocolate chip pancakes, took showers, cleaned the house and decorated for the party and then Skylar had piano class.  After piano we returned for the party.

First, they colored Rapunzel pages until everyone arrived and had met each other.

Then we changed rooms and played charades.  It is fun to watch the older kids perform versus the younger ones.  The older ones really get into it and perform big movements and can think of many ways to represent their item but the younger ones do things small and can only think of one way.  They will repeat the same movement over and over so I had to ask questions to get them to guess the right answer or we would still be playing.

 After charades we went outside to play with the parachute and play with bubbles.

Then we came inside for our magic show performed by 8 year old A.  First, she made a nickel much much smaller and then while she cleaned up she found a rather large nickel

 Here is the audience as A performs her magic.

The second trick involved the kids learning how to divide.  First, the large die.

 Then it was divided into very small dice.

The third trick was Skylar got to pick a color and then A guessed it.

 Just handsome Andrew!

 The last trick was putting scarfs into a bowl and they magically changed into lollipops.

After the magic show we opened present while we waited for the ice cream to soften.

Skylar got a necklace making kit.

 A stamp set

 A game called Headbandz and a paint book

 and a sticker book.

Then we had cake, ice cream and fruit.  I didn't get any pictures of the cake since I was carrying it to the birthday girl.  After cake, everyone left and we spent time playing with her new toys.

Skylar asked for angel hair pasta for dinner and we worked on finishing up our cake and fruit.  Ice cream we  will save for another day.

Skylar is growing up to be such a wonderful child.  She is sweet, thoughtful and caring.  She can encourage just about anyone to try with her soft and soothing voice but she can also be super stubborn.  She doesn't give up easily unless she is tired.

She knows how to read 10 sight words such as all, are, is, you; and can read CVC words
She can count to 49,
She can recognize her numbers to 29,
She can cut a straight line,
She can write and spell her name correctly,
She loves art,
She is a natural piano player and easily learns new songs,

She loves to play make-believe with her sister but loves to play games with her brother.
She is slight and delicate but super strong.
She loves books.
She will sit and work through puzzles for hours - she now works on 100 to 200 piece puzzles.

She is a wonder and I still love to watch and admire all her talents everyday.  I love you BB!