Megan is Four!

{MEgan loves to bake so of course she had to bake her own birthday cupcakes!}

Megan wanted to have another tea party for her birthday so I decided to grant her her birthday wish.  It wasn't as elaborate as last year but we got tea set and had some friends over to play and drink apple juice and eat tiny pb&j sandwiches.

Megan is a princess...a dancing princess that is. 

She loves to dance and looks forward to her dance class every week.

Megan and her brothers decorating their own cupcakes.

Megan received an "Anna" doll, Ariel castle and a dress for her 18" doll and a dress for herself, of course!

We went California Pizza Kitchen for her birthday dinner since she requested pizza.

*Who is your favorite person in the whole world? Ella- Cuz she always be happy and she always be good.
*What is your favorite color? Blue. I love all the colors. (I thought pink was your favorite.) I love pink too!
*What is you favorite television show? Cat in the Hat (??)
*What's you favorite outfit? a church dress...the lellow one.
*What sport do you like the best? What is sport, Mommy?
*What song do you love? Frozen..."Let It Go"
*What is your favorite cereal? Chocolate Cheerios
*Who is your best friend? Alli and Kayla...they're sistas.
*What do you want to be when you grow up?  A Lego advisor (designer). {This is what her brothers want to be.}
*What is your favorite book? A princess book. {5-Minute Princess Stories}
*What are you really good at? I'm good at closing my eyes when I'm in my bath. {??? She is a good little dancer too.}
*Where do you wish you could go on vacation? A movie feeater cuz I love movies.
*What would you buy if you had $1000? A dress-up dress.
*If you could have a wish, what would it be? A real unicorn
*What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Strawberry
*What do you like to do with your friends? Play dolls
*What do you hope you'll get to do before your next birthday? Get a bike

As you can see from this birthday interview, Megan loves all things girl and she is a ton of fun.  She loves to play dress up in her various princess costumes and wear her plastic jewelry.

Her attitude is "girly" as well.  She can be sassy and lovey all within a few minutes.  She tells us "no!" on a regular basis and likes to be in charge whenever possible (especially over her brothers :) 

She usually insists on having Mommy put her to bed at night. 

She loves cereal (shee-o), PB&J and snack foods.  

She has become a picky eater. 

She loves to bake with Mommy and lick the beater.

She refers to the daughter when shes playing dolls or house as "the Sweetie". I love it.

 Just some random, sweet pics of Megan from the last year.

HaPpY bIrThDaY to my little princess. 

We love you so, so much!

Another Ella First

Ella's first Facebook post. We are so proud. 

Beary Cute

We went to Build-a-Bear a couple of weeks ago and spent way too much money but with results like these maybe it was worth it.

I could not resist the idea of surprising them with a visit to Build-a-Bear. No reason to. Nobody's birthday. No holiday. Just because. They were thrilled. And truth be told, so was I. I've been wanting to take my kids for years. 

So now we have Fluffy, Polar and Jasmine (her name is always changing) living (and sleeping) with us. 

She's One!!

Oh my baaaybyyy,

I will tell you right here and now that this past year has been theee fastest year of my entire life! Wow! I know I say that a lot but I just can't believe my baby is numero UNO!

We took a TON of pictures during Ella's party. Enjoy.

PaRtY goers.

We had an ice cream bar with cup cakes.

Some of Ella's grandparents.

We were all so excited to see how Ella would react to her very own cake since she is such a foodie.  She didn't disappoint. She loved every bite.

Face first!

Maxwell decided he needed some cake as well.  

 Ella is a good sharer. :)

Noah doing his best Mexican pinata impression.

All clean!

Some things about Ella {by her big brother, Kyle}

(1 year old)
What Ella likes to do.
She likes the light.
She likes to climb up the stairs.
(She started climbing up stairs when she was about 10 moths old and learned to crawl down a month or two later.  We can't keep her off them.)
She likes dogs.
(She says "dah,dah,dah..." over and over while signing dog on her chest.)
She likes to play with me.
(She loves her big brother and will dive out of my arms to get to his.)
She's always hungry.
 (Not much more to say about that. The girl loves her food.)
She likes to walk with me.
(She is a sucker for anyone that will take her for a "walk".)
She likes to talk.
(She is a funny talker and likes to make sounds at the back of her throat.)
She likes to crawl.
She is very funny.
She does not like eggs.
 (The only thing we've found that she will reject.)
She likes to scream.
 (She screams when she is happy and/or mad.  None of my babies have been so LOUD and thats saying a lot. My babies have all been noisy.)

Ella has been a sweet happy baby.  She has been fun since she is more open to strangers and likes to do things on her own. Not as much of a mama's girl.

Disclaimer: I realize that there is not one picture of Ella's daddy in this post. I feel very bad about this...

 We love him still.

Lots of Firsts

My tiny men are off to start another year of school. It's is very bittersweet for me. Noah will be starting his FIRST day of FIRST grade and his FIRST day of all day school. Kyle will will be starting his FIRST day of third grade and both both boys start their FIRST day at their new school. 

Both of them were pretty nervous and Kyle said his stomach felt funny (Mine too, Son. Mine too.).

I pray everyday that they make friends and are happy at school. I love these two angel boys so much and nothing makes me happier than to see them enjoying themselves and feeling confident. 

Good luck, boys!

He's Official!

Kyle was baptized bright and early July 6th, 2013 at 9:00am in the Hunter West Stake Center. 

He very much looked forward to his baptism day.

Kyle and Hayden Loader

Kyle and Kylee Soholt

Fresh from the font.  He seems happy.

I let Kyle choose who he wanted to give a talk and he chose Julia. She did a great job too.

We had a brunch right after at the church's/ pavillion. Most of our family was there (even the Schroeders. Can't believe I didn't get a pic of Kyle and Will. :( We also missed the Tracey Hind family.) 

We gave Kyle a journal and had everyone write a message at the front for the baptism boy. 

We are so proud of Kyle and his decision to follow the example of the Savior and to be a great example to his younger siblings.  What a spectacular kid you are, Kyle!

Last day of School (and Orchard Elementary)

First Day of 2nd Grade

   

Last Day of 2nd grade

Look at how much my big guy grew.
Kyle did very well in school this year.  Ms. Barber could not say enough good about him.  HE had a bit of a rough time enjoying school though.  I felt he wasn't challenged enough. I'm praying next year he will get a teacher that can engage his smart little mind.





When the bell rang at the end of school many of the kids were cheering and clapping. Not my Kyky. He was long faced and melancholy about leaving his school of three years.

 First day of Kindergarten

Last day of Kindergarten

Noah not only grew physically this year but he grew a lot academically.  His ABC's are stronger and he is reading some.  His teacher always said Noah is a sweet boy that likes to daydream.  Adam says that Noah reminds him of himself.

Noah too was sad to leave Orchard Elementary. He just kept saying how much he was going to miss his friends.

The kiddergarten did an end of year program which I always enjoy.  They did a slide show asking the kids what they wanted to be when they grew up. Noah's answer? A Lego designer. Pretty good considering some of friends wanted to be dog walkers and waiters. :)