Kyler's 4th birthday

We knew that with Kyler turning four, he needed a real friend birthday party! He chose a dinosaur theme, so I made this volcano cake with dinosaurs in front of it.

And he knew exactly who he wanted to invite. We were actually a little surprised by his guest list because it didn't include a couple of his best friends. His list included all of his more mellow friends! We didn't complain about this though!

This kids loved making these dinosaur masks. I had picked these up during the Target Halloween clearance, and they worked perfectly for the party!

Creating a boy-themed party was just so much fun!

 I've done so many princess parties, that it's nice to change it up a little!

Some things about Kyler:

-He has great hair! It looks good long or short because of all the wave in it and it has a great texture. However, Daddy demands it long and mom prefers it short. So, we are compromising with summer long/winter short! Haha!

-Kyler has a very big personality. With his quick wit, verbal strengths, and clever thoughts, he keeps us on our toes and rolling on the floor laughing. 

      Some examples, "Mom, we are all special, right?" "Yes, Kyler, we are all special." "Well, then because we are all special, we all deserve a treat!"

      And, every time we drive by 3M he says it's where we get stuff for free (like Post-its) and that's why it's called "Free M".

      At Sam's Club, he asked if he could sample the "hashtags" aka hash browns!

      I wish I could remember more!

-Every move he makes is purposeful, determined and focused.

-He has learned to "feel" the music with crazy uninhibited dance moves! It's hilarious to watch!

-He knows all his letters and letter sounds, his left from his right, and I didn't teach him any of it. He picks things up so quickly! He also loves counting things. 

-He is a mama's boy and loves to snuggle.

-He is still a great napper.

-He is still in his crib, mostly because he hasn't been evicted, but also because he's such a great sleeper that we didn't want to rock the boat. He is fully capable of climbing out, but he always patiently calls us to come get him when he's awake. I think this is a result of habit/routine more than anything. Because when we put him in his crib for a timeout, he climbs out before we even leave the room! When he's tired, he gets manic, so him being a great sleeper has been a great blessing!

Thanksgiving

We had such a quiet Thanksgiving this year, we didn't take many pictures! Ellie's school class had a special feast that she shared with Dave and I! This is a pic of Ellie and her buddy, Hailey.

We spent our first married Thanksgiving without extended family! After our plans fell through last minute, our dear friends invited us to celebrate at their new home. It was a wonderful meal in a beautiful house! The Jacksons were wonderful hosts! We also enjoyed it with our best buds the Ponczoch's. I actually didn't take this photo, but found it on my phone long after Thanksgiving! I am guessing Aubrie or Ellie snapped it. At least we have a record of Thanksgiving 2013!

Star Wars

Our current family obsession is Star Wars -- fueled by Dave showing them 5 of the 6 movies in the past couple weeks.   The obsession, however, has been taken a little too far at times. One night while I was away, I received a text message of this picture of Dave!

And then later this picture! I actually don't know which kid that is! I see pink socks, so I'm thinking Teyah! Apparently, she was using her Jedi powers to clean the living room. Obviously, that didn't work so well! Dave loves that the kids now understand the cultural references to Star Wars. And now, all Kyler wants for Christmas is a 'life saver' aka lightsaber.

A Wicked Halloween

While watching "Wicked" with Dave, I got the idea to have our family take on the "Wicked" theme for Halloween. This decision came about a week before the first party, so it was an extremely fast put together! We realized that Dave's getup, made him look like any and all of the male Disney characters, because without the rest of the family, people asked if he was Flynn Rider, Robin Hood, Prince Erik, etc. Hopefully, as a collective group, he looks like Fiyero during his college days. And, I of course, was Elphaba, Wicked Witch of the West. Unfortunately, the face paint was difficult to work with and didn't quite give the right look.

Kyler, the flying monkey, is the costume that took the most work. Sewing costumes is fun for me. I just wish I decided to do these things farther in advance! My house was a disaster that week!

Teyah's costume was recycled from when we did the "Wizard of Oz" theme five years ago. I had sewn this costume for Ellie when she was three! Teyah was thrilled to be Galinda, the Good Witch.

Aubrie took the most convincing in participating in a family theme, but as soon as she saw the green dress at Goodwill, she was sold on being an "Emerald City" character.

Ellie already wanted to be a witch, so this theme worked perfectly for her. We found the socks at Party City, and Dave crafted a wheelchair out of the bike stroller wheels, weight-set bars, a small chair, and a toy ride-on car! This turned her into the perfect Nessa Rose (Wicked Witch of the East). But when it came down to it, Ellie was too scared to use the wheelchair as a prop -- much to Dave's dismay!

I hope the Wicked memories will be worth the cost of a week of craziness I invested into this!

Grand View Vacation

When we found out that Grandma was going to be in town for our Fall Break (MEA), we knew we needed to plan something special. So, we booked a couple nights at the Grand View Lodge in Nisswa, MN.

Our friends had been there many times and raved about it, so we thought we'd see for ourselves what a beautiful place it is.

The Fall weather had broken just the day before we left, but all things considered, we still had flowers, decent temps, and beautiful Fall leaves.

This, along with the fair, made us feel true Minnesotan -- going up north to a cabin! Notice the view out our window! This picture doesn't even do it justice! It was stunning!

The lighting and scenery was just too perfect to not snap lots of pictures!

Matching braids!

We love being with Grandma!

The lake was gorgeous too. We can't wait to go back in the summer, so we can enjoy the lake amenities too.

Crazy kiddos doing the "fashion pose"!

Kyler loves the 'ninja stance.'

We took a lot of walks, played a lot of games, watched movies, enjoyed the resort amenities like swimming, S'mores, and games. It was a great chance to just be together and relax!

The coldest day there, we took a boat ride, and the guide let all the kids take a turn driving. Kyler thought this was pretty cool!

I snapped this: my favorite picture of all time! Teyah had enough of the cold wind on the boat. She complained of her eyes being cold from the wind, so I loaned her my glasses. It was all just a bit of a sensory overload for her  -- cold wind, layers that included a life vest, noise from the boat, and the rocking of the boat was a lot for her to handle. But, she hung in there! Their faces in this picture say it all!

The resort had a fun Fall festival that included a pie eating contest! The girls, Dave, Grandma and I all participated. Of course, the winner of it all -- my cute husband with the huge mouth! Haha! He even won a gift card! The kids enjoyed the pumpkin carving, bag decorating, and hot cocoa and treats! This was a perfect weekend in a perfect place! We made great memories and had a much-needed recharge!

Best Hubby Ever

For Mother's Day, my sweet husband bought us tickets to Les Miserables AND Wicked! I was so surprised and felt so spoiled!

I had never seen Les Mis and was so excited to finally see it. I loved it! Our tickets were so perfect -- just 10 rows deep.

And if that wasn't enough, we had FRONT row tickets to Wicked! I loved being able to look down and see the orchestra! And, we could see the details of the actors' make-up. Sometimes they would look right at us!! It was so much fun! I'm sure it was a once-in a lifetime experience; I just loved it so much!

What a wonderful husband I have!!

The slipper fits

Aubrie has been taking dance lessons for seven years, but his year is a special year for her because she started pointe shoes! This picture was taken her first time ever going up on pointe, while her teacher Cheryl checked her shoe sizing. The verdict: the slipper fit!

Her ballet instructor is extremely detail-oriented and gave all the girls precise instructions on how to care for the shoes, how to sew on the ribbons, and break them in. The girls were so excited and nervous!

 The other big jump with ballet this year is that now she dances where the big kids do, at the studio downtown. To me, that means more rehearsals and more driving! But, for Aubrie, that means not only pointe shoes, but contemporary class, new teachers, new friends, more parts in the Nutcracker, and a new level and intensity of ballet! Because of this, she hasn't stopped bouncing and smiling since she started ballet this Fall! My two ballet dancers are so cute--they are definitely cut from the same mold!

1st Day of School

Fifth grade for Aubrie -- one more year until middle school (oh my goodness, are you kidding me?).

Third grade for Ellie this year.

First grade for sweet Teyah!

Teyah has a new teacher this year, named Mrs. Dobbs.

And Ellie also has a new teacher named Mrs. Larsen.

Kyler had a first day of two-day-a-week Joy School.

I'm biased, of course, but what a cute boy!!

Here's his Joy School crew for the year: Lexie, Jordan, Kyler, Rui, Benson and Lincoln. Kyler is the shortest and third oldest. This is my eighth year in a row of teaching Joy School!

If we are taking a million pictures, we might as well get a foot shot. Speaking of feet, Ellie who is four pants' sizes smaller than Aubrie, has almost the same size feet as her. I hope that means there's growing hope for Ellie!

My kids need to stop getting older! Life is just flying too quickly!

The soccer star

Ellie started competitive soccer this year. But, because when she started she was only seven, this meant she 'played up' with the kids a year older than her to what's called U9.

During her Spring season, she was the leading scorer. In fact, her coach told her she was only allowed to score 2-3 goals per game. Ellie never quite understood the purpose of this request, but she certainly developed as a complete player, and her confidence soared.  Enjoy this highlight video (you will need to click & watch in Youtube)

The Spring/Summer season lasted until July. At that time, she needed to 'tryout' for the next season. We went around and around about whether or not we should have her play up again. The tryout process became an adventure! The club we thought she was going to play for ended up not having enough people for a team, so during the very last minute, we raced across the city to attend another tryout -- all the while, Dave and I were wondering why this was such a big deal when she's only eight! When that tryout didn't go well, she decided to try for her same club that she had already been playing with. The drawback with this club is that the first day of tryouts was on Sunday. Ellie has chosen to not play soccer on Sundays, so we got permission to attend only the second day of tryouts. We realized that her chances of being allowed to play up and make a top team were basically impossible with her missing the first day of tryouts. But, Ellie was so resolute that she didn't want to play on Sunday and that she was just going to go give it her all and hope for the best. 

She definitely did just that and had an amazing tryout. With all odds stacked against her, she not only was allowed to play up, but she also made the top-level competition team with those girls! This girl sure is good at soccer and she definitely loves it!

One of Ellie's Fall season highlights is winning the Coerver indoor tournament in a shootout! This was her first experience in a shootout, and it was a nail biter for all of us, but so much fun! Ellie's biggest disappointment was the prize of a T-shirt, instead of a trophy!