I meant to post this weeks ago and just realized I never did. So, it's a Wednesday but I'm going to go ahead and put it out there now 😳.
1. Life has been crazy and I have struggled to keep up lately. Last March I started a small business/hobby doing mostly vinyl decals. I never imagined people liked decorated cups so much but I sure am glad that they do. This has been such a fun somewhat creative outlet for me and a way to earn a few extra dollars for the family to have fun on. The Christmas season was overwhelmingly busy...and I'm thankful for that. However, I mostly failed to cook, clean, do laundry and make lunches (lots of lunchables) for about a month. My family complained that they never saw me unless they hung out by the cutting machine. I'm just about all caught up and am glad to be back to normal life!
Due to the above I have done a terrible job at keep up this blog for my family. I will attempt to catch up a bit here and plan to post separately on Christmas...hopefully soon.
2. Back in September we took this little bit to NYC. It was such a fun trip. She and I trapesed all over the city. We went to the Museum of Natural History, some shopping, Central Park, Madison Square Garden, out to the beach to visit my high school bestie, the Disney Store, subway rides and a few fun restaurants. In the evenings Neal would be with us and we took her to the top of the Empire State Building, to eat at a café where they sang Broadway tunes, Grand Central Station and in the photo below we are at the Broadway production of Aladdin.
This was really sweet time with our littlest. There was a bombing while we were there as well as a knife slashing and shooting outside of a store we were in. So parts of this trip were really unsettling for me. But I am really thankful for this time with her and the experience of NYC that we have gotten with both of our girls.
3.This one lost her 4th and 5th tooth! She has fun stories for all of them. Different fun dogs/people that she loves have assisted in pulling her teeth...Mr. Pickles, her kindergarten teacher, Gigi, Pop Pop and her 1st grade teacher.
4. She asks me daily if I can eat lunch at school with her. This is one of her favorite things. She is definitely a quality time girl and eating lunch at school with her means so much to her. I need to carve out time for this more often.
5. How cute are these lemonade saleswomen? They wanted to contribute to the profits at our last garage sale so we let them sell lemonade. They had a blast!
6. This one won a character award for Joy. She exudes joy and I am glad she was recognized for it.
7. Everyone in our family is riding their bike now!!! Reese and I rode to a park nearby and had dinner one evening and below that is Ella riding while I went for a jog. I am so glad we can all ride and seem to love it.
8. For the 3rd year we took a fall family camping trip with friends. Each year seems to be a little more fun as the kids get older and can do more. We have decided that the food plan we have done the past few years is perfect and we will probably stick to that plan every year. Our kids love being outdoors and look forward to this fun trip.
9. This picture below is a photo booth at the girls' dentist. They again had to have cavities filled. I promise they brush twice a day but we cannot seem to keep cavity free. They tell me that it is probably genetic as they have really deep grooves that they get from their dad but I wish I could keep them from having to do this again.
10. This is the most snuggly dog I have ever known. I'm thankful for the time I get to spend around my house since quitting full time work and that I'm able to take a coffee break on the couch every once in a while and have this crazy dog lay all over me.
11. Reese won a ROAR award! She has wanted this so badly for so long. This award is for character and I am so glad her school emphasizes the importance of character. She (as well as her whole family) was so proud and wears her shirt often.
12. Ella is so brave and decided it was time to get her ears pierced. She was pretty nervous but she didn't even cry. When it was finally time to switch her earrings she was so excited and without any hesitation chose "the big diamonds".
13. We had our annual friendsgiving as well as our friends Christmas party. This year we did our Christmas party in our pajamas (or most of us did). I think this may be a new tradition (we may have to buy the Owen's some pjs though). I love these people and love having so many fun traditions/events to look forward to with them.
14. Every year we go out to dinner for Neal and Jill's birthdays, they are a day apart. This year may have been my favorite. We ate good food, drank good wine and laughed so hard. It was a really fun night with special people.
15. Reese had her 1st sleepover with her friend since itty bitty Reagan. She was so cute packing her bag and telling me all of the things she needed, like 3 outfits, 3 pairs of shoes and a water bottle...I gave in to the water bottle but had to remind her that she would be there for less than 24 hours and she needed to pack a bit less than she was planning. She had a fun time but came home and told me she may not be quite ready for sleepovers and that she missed me. She said she would try it again when she's 8. I'm totally fine with that and was happy I was missed!
16. This dog loves his girls.
17. New Years was spent with some special friends and all of the kids. We had a lot of fun with this group and we rang in the New Year at around 8. Oh how things change once you have kids (not that I ever made it to midnight pre kids though).
