I am in love..

with this cute face…

and this crazy face…

 

and this goofy face!

 

I love my little Valentines!

 

Oh, and this guy is a pretty dang awesome Valentine too!

China doll

Dec. 9

Hallie has been begging to take ballet lessons for a year.

I told her after she turned four, I would sign her up.

She started in September, and has had so much fun.

She had her first little recital on December 9, 2011.

Waiting to go on stage

I could tell she was nervous, but she did pretty well. She lagged a little behind, but honestly all the little girls kind of did.

I was so proud of her cute little dance. One of my favorite parts of being a mom is watching my kids do all their little “firsts”, and watching them have fun and succeed!

 

After the recital and watching the tap dancers, she decided she wants to switch to tap. Looks like next season she will be a tapper! I think tap actually fits her style more.

Brunch, thanks, & Family

Nov.24

We were able to host Thanksgiving at our house.

We thought a brunch would be fun..a little different and we could be done early. Plus, brunch foods are way better than dinner foods.

All of Ryan’s family was able to attend, minus Lance, Bethany and Rox.

Ryan’s cousins Muffy & Chris also were able to make it.

Only my parents were able to attend from my family.

We had some delicious food and were able to enjoy some good time with our families.

I love being with family, and I love hosting parties.

Ryan, I, and our kids are so blessed to have such wonderful family. We are truly grateful for all of them, and the support and love they give our family.

A little rice? No!

Nov. 20-

Evie tried rice cereal for the first time.

Not a fan!

(I may or may not have kind of gagged her with the spoon. That may have turned her off of the whole eating with utensils idea).

Eli @ 7

Eli is a very sweet and unique 7 year old. There are many great things I could tell you about Eli, but we will just mention a few highlights about him.

*Eli loves art. Any kind of art. Painting, drawing, coloring, cutting, gluing. Eli loves it. He loves to create!

*Eli really likes to play school. He we will go down in his Art room and play with Hallie for extended periods of time.

*He wants to be an artist when he grows up.

*He has lost 4 teeth.

*He has really gotten interested in chapter books, and likes to read them all by himself. He is in to Flat Stanley books right now.

*He loves to learn, and is always asking questions.

*He has had a hard time getting used to waking up at 7:00 to go to school (even though normally he is an early riser). Most days we miss the bus.

*He is kind of shy, but once he is comfortable with you he is talkative and rambunctious.

*He is a good big brother, and always wants to help me with Evie. And usually takes good care of Hallie too.

*Lately, he and Hallie have been fighting more. He has learned he likes to boss her around, and she has learned to stick up for herself.

*He is a Mommas Boy. He loves being right next to me, and always wants me to go on field trips and help in his class.

*Wednesdays are his favorite day at school- Pizza Day!

*He is always making me cards, and “love notes”.

*He can be very sensitive, and has such a sweet soul.

Love this kid!

Happy 7 years to Eli

This year Eli turned 7!

Everyone that knows me, knows I LOVE to go all out for birthdays. I love making my kids feel that they are the most special person for one whole day.

I love celebrating that I was able to have another year with my family members.

As usual Eli woke up to balloons in his room, his favorite cereal(Lucky Charms), and a small gift to open before school.

 

As a side note…He almost didn’t get his Lucky Charms. We love cereal in our house, and I always have many, many boxes in the basement, and was sure I had some Lucky Charms.

After the kids went to bed I went to get Eli’s box of Lucky Charms, and couldn’t find a box anywhere. I even looked in places that I hide them sometimes. Ryan was out of town for work, so I couldn’t run to the store because all the kids were asleep.

I didn’t know what to do.

Eli would be so sad without his Lucky Charms, and I couldn’t have a sad boy on his birthday…

Aunt Tiffy to the rescue!!

Tiffany went to the store, bought and delivered Eli’s Lucky Charms at 10:00 that night, so he could have them in the morning. She saved Eli’s birthday!!

I took him a kid’s meal from McDonald’s and ate with him at lunch. He gave me his excited, shy smile when he saw me.

After lunch I came back to his class, and helped out.

He had been begging me to come to his class to do Fairy Tale Friday. I found out that his teacher needed someone on Eli’s Birthday. I decided that would be a fun birthday Surprise for him. We read The Ugly Duckling and then made swan pictures.

He opened a couple more presents when he got home.

He told me he wanted to eat at Pizza Pie Café for dinner. He also asked if we could invite The Mangone side of the family to dinner. It was a last minute invite, but we were excited that Grandma & Grandpa Mangone, aunt Sarah, Luke and Mia were able to celebrate with us. We appreciated their support and love.

Eli got Star Wars Guess Who and paper clips(yes, he asked for them) from grandma and grandpa. A life jacket that wasn’t pink from grandpa. Sarah and Justin gave him a really cool color light up book.

The day after his birthday we had a Spy Party, and on Sunday we celebrated on the Teeples’ side along with Great Grandma Teeples’ birthday.

I think birthday number 7 was a success!