It's Super to Be SIX!

Today, our boy Christian is SIX years old.  Wow.  I think I write this with every birthday, but, where has the time gone??  The days seem long but the years go by so quickly!  This not-so-little boy is wonderful in so many ways.  He is smart, affectionate, thoughtful, quick to help out, passionate about his opinions, funny, fun-loving, determined, and a terrific brother, son, and friend.  We love Christian so very much.  Here he is today, enjoying the spoils of his (a-hem) labors...

And then, here are just some random ones of this sweet, special boy in his "early" years :-)....{happy sigh}....

Happy Birthday, Christian-boy!  We love you!!!

Kari's Turn!

Who's the cutest girl in the gym?  This girl!

Last Saturday, it was Kari's turn to shine!  We all came out to see her perform in her gymnastics "spectacular!"  As my brother said, it was cuteness extraordinaire!

It was also super hot in the gym.  Thankfully, they had the little ones (aka "Big Dippers") went first.  Normally, Kari's class is in the smaller, preschool gym and they rotate through circuits and have a theme for each week.  To make it as familiar as possible for the little ones, they still set up a circuit and Kari hammed it up for everyone!  She had a BLAST.  It was so cute!

 After they were done, each of the children were announced and got a medal.  Kari had seen Emily and Christian get medals and applause for their activities, and now it was her turn.  She was very proud, indeed.

This picture just makes me laugh :-)

 Once Kari's performance was over, we got the heck out of Dodge (the gym was so warm!).  We snapped a couple of group shots and called it a day!  (I was smart and had hired a sitter while Juliana was at home napping, but Kari had missed her nap and was pretty beat.)

Thanks, everyone, for coming out on Kari's big day!  She was so happy and excited to hear her family cheering her on!

Piano Debut

Tonight Emily had her first piano recital!  She played "Brave Knight" by Vogel.  She was very nervous, but was very brave (just like a knight ;-)) and got up and did beautifully.  She learned that it was okay to make mistakes (no one plays perfectly all the time!) and overall it was a positive experience for her!  I'm just so proud of her work and effort.  (And she was just so beautiful up there!)  Great job, Emily!!!






Daddy wasn't able to attend (he was on a plane coming home from a trip to LA) but I was able to record it so he can see it tonight.  Isn't technology great?!

Emily sets such a great example; Kari and Christian wanted in on the piano action too!

And speaking of Christian...does he look a) angelic and happy or b) completely worn out and fresh off a tantrum?  If you chose option "b" you are correct!  We were late to the recital b/c poor Christian had a complete melt-down at dinner.  He had been at the zoo all day with Auntie Erin and Jeff and had even fallen asleep on the way home!  Sooo...combine the tired and the hungry and you have the perfect recipe for a major melt-down!  And, once this kid gets going, you just have to ride out the storm b/c there is NO distracting or calming him down.  Being borderline OC doesn't help the situation in the least.  Ugh.  Needless to say, I was grateful that we even made it to the recital in one piece and that he perked up while listening to all of the kids play their lovely pieces :-).

Mother's Day

It was a lovely Mother's Day!  Despite being woken up at 5:15 by a hungry (and come to find out sick) baby, I was able to go back to sleep until Cubby and I forced ourselves out of bed at 7:30-ish?? so we could get to church on time!  Cubby did get out of bed first and made me my breakfast favorite, egg in the nest!     The weather was lovely--sunny and springy!  

At church, the children all sang a darling (albeit waayy too short) song in church; it was Kari's debut and she did wonderfully!  And, the mom's got chocolates this year (score!).  Last year, we got plaques and it didn't go over quite as well.  Ha!

 After a relaxing afternoon, we headed over to my mom's house for a laid-back dinner (pizza!) and some lawn games--we felt very preppy playing croquet and ladder ball :-).

 So I'd mentioned before that Juliana was sick.  Well, she's had a cold/cough/teething thing for the last 3 weeks.  I'd even taken her in last Thursday to have her ears checked and make sure they weren't infected.  (And, they were fine.)  Sunday morning rolls around and she feels a little warm.  I just figured it was more teething stuff.  She was scheduled for her one yr well-check Monday morning and so when she was still running a temp Monday morning, the doctor checked her ears once again and, low and behold, both of her little ears were infected.  Poor girl.  She's been on her antibiotics now and, hopefully, by tomorrow, Juliana will be back in action (and not so whiny and clingy--ahhhhh.....).

 Hurray for great weather!  (AT LAST!!!)
 

It was a beautiful evening and it had been a beautiful day.  Each of the children had spontaneously come to me throughout the day telling me how much they loved me and they hoped I had a happy Mother's day.  I loved that the most.  The snuggles, the kisses, the hugs.  My children are wonderful blessings.  A lot of work, oh yes, but I think that's why I appreciate them so much.  The more work something is, the more rewarding it is when you can step back and admire all that's been accomplished!  Being a mother is not just something I do when I can fit it into my schedule.  It is my schedule.  My kids are smart and silly and sweet and feisty and so stinkin' cute!  I am extremely blessed and I openly admit it!

New Grin

This "little" guy is growing up waaaayyy too fast!  Christian proudly proclaimed that Mother's Day was his best day ever because he lost his first tooth!  It's been loose for a couple of weeks and he finally got fed up and asked Daddy to pull it out after church.  And while he was hoping the tooth fairy would bring him $40, he ended up settling for $1 (but insisted upon Mommy and Daddy "talking" to the tooth fairy so he could keep his tooth--blech :-)).  Congratulations, Christian!!

Part Deux

Be warned...this is a long post.

For Juliana's "party" (family over for cake and presents), I did a doggie (and polka dot) theme.  She LOVES dogs, and I love polka dots!  I kept it simple and really liked the way the decor turned out.

Below are the birthday cakes I made!  Yup, I made them!  (Can you tell that I'm pretty proud of my cakes?)  Well, thanks to my friend, Cara, they turned out lovely.  Cara was my guide and after I emailed her various cakes that I liked, she helped me to pick one out that I could actually do and then she told me what materials I needed (which, thankfully, wasn't much!).  Now, I won't be the next Cake Boss, but it's a big step up from my usual sheet cake with too much frosting.  And, not only were they cute, they were delicious and Juliana knew exactly what they were and loved looking at them!

 So, here comes the present opening pictures....

 Along with Grandma Karen and Grandpa Harvey, we had Great-Gma Carolyn and Great-Gpa Stan, Auntie Erin, Uncle Kyle and his girlfriend Chelsie, and also Juliana and Kari's favorite babysitter, Maggie.  (Maggie comes over once a week while I go up for reading time with Christian's class.)  Juliana was thrilled to see Maggie!

 Juliana was so happy with her gifts--mostly books and shoes.  But, she did love her little stuffed doggie, and her water and sand toys too.

Kari and Christian also liked Juliana's new animal book :-).

 Kari wanted Juliana to stop so she could bestow some sisterly love.  Aw......

 I love Juliana's face in this picture.  We were all singing "Happy Birthday" to her and she was so tickled to be the center of all the attention!

 How do you explain how to blow out candles to a one year old??

 Now here's the moment I was waiting for...does she dig in or make a face??

 A little bit of a face...

 And a little digging too....

 Daddy helped her feel more comfortable eating her cake.

 But then she decided to follow in her siblings steps and stay as clean as possible.  *Sigh.*

 It was then time to head outside!  Maggie is so much fun and the girls all loved playing on the trampoline with her.

 Then, Great-Gpa Stan took a turn!

 Not too shabby for a 70-something :-) guy!

 And here's just a few more shots of the birthday girl, trying out her new swing!

 (Below is a close up of one of the new fancy pairs of shoes she got--she insisted upon putting them on immediately.)

Good times.  It actually seemed to be one of our more successful evenings with the whole family!

Happy Birthday, sweet Juliana!  We sure do love you!