"B" is for Baptism

I stole this idea from my friend, Kiffon. (I love stealing people's good ideas!) For the week leading up to their kids' baptism, they give them a "special" cookie with a letter on it & discuss a topic that starts with that letter. Today's letter is "B" so we talked about what baptism means.We have lots of cousins here, so they all got a cookie as well.

We are so excited for Lexie's baptism & are so grateful for her desire to be baptized!

Ribbon Party

A Birthday Party

Tonight we had Lexie's friend birthday party. She started out wanting a science party. So, I figured out some things to do there. Then she wanted an art party. So, started to plan that one out. Then, lastly, she decided she really wanted a princess party. Quickly, we planned this party out. I was running out of ideas though of what to do since the theme was just princess, not one princess imparticular. So, I decided to do a variety of activities using a variety of princesses. But first, here is the cake. Thank you, Kiffon, for letting us use your castle cake set!

I guess it looks good enough to eat.

For the party we started out with each of the girls decorating tiaras. They loved this! Then we did a Cinderella relay where they had to put on an apron, scrub a bit on my kitchen floor, hula hoop/dance, count to 12 for midnight, pop the pumpkin, & match the shoe to the proper owner. They had a blast!

Next, we played pin the crown on the princess. (One of Lexie's requests.) We bobbed for apples for Snow White. They played tag while eating their apples & playing. Then we came in & decorated pillow cases for Sleeping Beauty & made hair bows for Rapunzel. We then did a memory game for Belle (since she is so studious).

Andrew was so funny bobbing for apples.

The girls all seemed to have a lot of fun & laughed way too much! I think the party was a success!

Happy Birthday, Lexie!

Handsome Boy

This is how he dressed for the day.

I love his fashion sense & am glad to see my other kids have it, too.

Our Petite Baby

I never would have thought that I would have to go in to the doctors for extra weight checks on my kiddos. The kids have always been 80-95% for everything until they got older & then have always been at least in the 50th percentile. Well, Liza is not. She is just littler. I knew that, but didn't realize how much smaller. I would laugh when people would tell me what chubby legs she had, knowing how small they were compared to the others. But, here are some pics to show you. Unfortunately, I don't have any of Joseph at 9 months, so we'll go with the 6 month pic & yes, he got bigger. But, Lexie is such a huge kiddo compared to Liza, it cracks me up. Oh, but before pics, we went in for Lexie's 8 yr old well check-up & Liza's 9 month. She is now in the 50% for height & 20% for weight (both down from 85% & 70%). So, the doctor wants us to come in & check her in a month. I told them she's started crawling & much more mobile but they still insisted. I know she's good, but she's just petite.

So, here are some comparison pictures.

I am grateful for all of my sweet, healthy kiddos, no matter their size.

Say Cheese!!

She was really excited to eat this croissant. Or maybe the croissant was going to eat her...

Lexie's 8th Birthday

Our baby girl is 8 years old! We had a great time celebrating today. Lexie was excited to see her presents & the birthday wall & reading the sillies on one of her presents. (Of course she had to read them.)

We went over to my sister, Becca's house for lunch & to play. Another sister, Mindy, was there traveling back home so it was a great time seeing everyone. We also had cake & some presents. As you can tell from the picture collage, she was thrilled!

Then we waited for Rick to get home from work & then dinner, more presents & more cake & then just played until bedtime.

Liza was excited when she finally got Lexie's gummy bears.

Joseph made this fun pop-up card for Lexie all by himself.

We surely love our sweet Lexie girl! She is amazing & we are so grateful that she is in our family! Happy Birthday, Lexie love!

Hula Hooping

So, Lexie got a new Hula Hoop for her birthday! She has been wanting one for years & I'd always forget until the end of the summer & they'd be all gone. So, this year we picked one up for all of the kids. They had so much fun trying it out.

They've totally got rad moves!

Here are a few videos of their awesomeness. Andrew & Joseph are a crack up!

I know we will be spending many a more nights hula hooping around here. :)

To Grandmother's House We Go

My cousin (& Rick's 10th cousin), Jayne, stopped to stay the night last on Monday on her way to St. Louis for a friend's wedding.

On Tuesday morning, just before hitting the road again, she asked if she should take any kids with her to see Grandma. At first, I didn't think much of it, but then all of the kids really wanted to go. Andrew got his shoes on immediately & was so ready! We tried to quickly pack up Lexie so she could go & then Joseph insisted he would be alright to go. So, we packed him up as well. Andrew was sad he couldn't go (he had his trip bag all ready & didn't unpack it for 2 days) but gratefully, our neighbor asked if he could come over & play. So, Andrew wasn't around when Lexie & Joseph left.

I can't believe I let them go! We all missed them terribly, but they got spoiled rotten on their trip & loved every minute of it! On the way out there they had fun in the car & stopped & took fun pictures! And Jayne even let them pick out gum & their own gatorade! (They still talk about it.)

They did fun crafts every day with Aunt Janae & Grandma everyday! They played lots, watched movies, went to the museum with Uncle Nathan & lots of other fun things!

Uncle Nathan even got Lexie a cake so they could celebrate her birthday early!

They came home last night & brought along my cousin, Jessie, Jayne's sister, with them. It was great getting to see both of them & chatting with them. They kids had a blast with Aunt Jayne & Aunt Jessie, as they now call them. They stayed for Church Sunday morning & we had lots of twinner looks going on (it was so cute)!

Thank you so much, Mom, Janae, & Nathan for taking such great care of them in Kansas & entertaining & spoiling them so well. And thank you, Jayne & Jessie, for taking such great care of them in the car & letting them watch movies & talking with them so much! They love all of you so much & every day since I've heard something about one of you & this trip. Thank you so much, Jayne, for offering to take them in the first place on this special trip! They had an absolute blast! Thank you all, so very much!