Kate's 3rd Birthday

was also waaayyy back in October! This girl is hilarious. She is strong-willed, sweet, sassy, opinionated, loving and a true girly girl. She ONLY wants to wear dresses. When I get pants out, she is outraged. When it's time for pajamas, it MUST be a nightgown. She also has an opinion on how I fix her hair. Wait, am I talking about a 3 year old or a 13 year old? Gesh. Although she has a strong fashion sense, she is actually very loving and kind. She adores her brothers and wants do whatever it is they're doing. Her feelings get hurt when she's excluded from their "boy" play. As she gets older, she's understanding their lingo more and more and she's getting left out less and less. 

Kate is really into Disney Princesses, especially Elsa and Anna from the movie Frozen. She loves her babies, animals and kitchen stuff. She enjoys reading and coloring. We are working on getting better with puzzles lately. (I need to learn patience in this area). Kate recently started dance (ballet and tap), which she loves and is a hoot to watch (more on that in another post). 

Three year check-up stats:

Height  - 39 inches ~ 81st percentile

Weight - 35 pounds ~ 79th percentile  

Luke turned 6 . . .

waaaayyy back in October. I have been terrible about blogging. Six is a big year for Luke. He started kindergarten, playing soccer, learned to read, add, subtract and formed friendships on his own. He is having a fantastic year so far (now that he's half-way to 7 I can say that with confidence!). 

Luke is super smart. He is a fantastic reader and he amazes me everyday we sit down to read together. He absolutely loves Legos. His favorite card game is Go Fish, he would play it all day, every day if I would comply. He loves playing outside with our new neighbor friends and is anxious to start riding his bike without training wheels. Luke is just a sweet, fantastic kid and we are so lucky that he's ours. We love you, buddy.

Six year check-up stats:
Height - 44.5 inches ~ 21st percentile
Weight - 44 pounds ~ 31st percentile

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!!! I am spending the day lazily hanging out with the kids. The boys have already put together their new Lego sets, Kate is joyfully playing with her new Elsa and Anna Frozen dolls AND we've been sledding. As I type this blog post, I am listening to them laugh and color with their new crayons. It's been a great Valentine's day so far. Now I am just waiting on my honey to get home and it will be perfect. Happy mama, indeed. 

Child Labor

I put 'em to work around here! Kidding. Evan has been begging me to let him go out and shovel. So I semi-bundled them up and let them loose on the porch. I stayed warm and toasty inside and snapped a few blurry pictures. I am so over this snow. I know the kids love, it, but I'm looking forward to the warm up this weekend! Happy kids!

Baby's . . . Kate's 1st Haircut

Kate recently had her first haircut. I have been dragging my feet on this. When Kate was little-bitty she had some super crazy hair. All different lengths, curls on the sides, long rat tail-like look in the back. It wasn't pretty. It was suggested that she get a hair cut on several occasions by family members, but I refused. NO! She's a girl, it will grow out. That was my mantra.

Well, I stood my ground and grew out it did. My word. The girl (in my opinion) has amazing, envious (by me) hair. It's long, amazing in color and curly just at the ends. Sigh. However, it began to look crooked and kinky in the back, so it was time for the much dreaded and fearful haircut. My goodness am I a rookie? My boys had their first haircuts before they could even sit up on their own (thank you for that Lin . . . amazing skillz). 

So it was a whirlwind day at my sisters (thank goodness she works form home!) the boys, me and Kate all in one day. Whew. Exhausting. Well let me tell you . . . this sassy gal was super-duper excited to get her turn in Aunt Cara's chair. She did great. I may have shed a tear when her first ringlet fell (no worries, I snatched it up and put it in a bag for safe keeping), but it was time. She now has beautiful layers and it looks great, but she did lose the curls I was so desperately hanging onto. They are still there, but not like before. I am okay. She loved it and her hair is healthier now. Amen. 

I like to sew. . .

I love to sew, actually. I don't seem to do it as much as I used to. After the move I have taken a little break. I'm ready to get back to it. I love photographing Kate in dresses that I've made. She loves it too. Maybe not the picture part, but the girl loves a new dress. She's usually a good sport. The point is for me to be creative and I get to do that. It may not happen as often as I would like, but I enjoy it to its fullest when I do. 

Florida!!!!

So . . . we took the kids to Rosemary Beach . . . back in October! Gesh, this post is long-overdue. As always, we had an amazing time. We are even debating a Spring Break trip (5 weeks from now!!!). 

Evan's 1st Day . . .

This picture just makes me smile. Evan started pre-K in September. He is loving it. He moved to a different pre-school this year and I was so nervous. We were very happy with his old school, but with the move it just made sense to switch and find something closer. I couldn't be happier. His teacher is amazing and adores Ev. The class size is super small and I think that is perfect for him. He is making friends and learning so much. He loves going to school and is always eager to share what he did that day. I AM NOT READY FOR HIM TO START KINDERGARTEN. Sorry but it's true. I want more time with my babies that seem to be growing way too fast. Seriously. Too fast. Ok, back to Ev. He's happy, I'm happy. It's bliss. 

Luke's 1st Day . . .

Holy smokes was it really 5 months ago that my sweet boy started kindergarten!?!? Wow. Time flies. Looking back at these pictures makes me realize how much Luke has changed and grown in those short 5 months. The morning/day went off without a hitch, no tears were shed. From Luke or me, surprisingly. And now that we are 5 months into this school thing I can say that it is quite lovely. Don't get me wrong, I miss him while he is gone, but he loves school and is thriving. He is learning so much, so fast and has the best time. I am so excited for him and I love how excited he is each day. 

Christmas Tree Farm

We have lots to catch up on, but I'll get to that eventually (This is our family journal after all!). This past weekend J and I took the kids to a tree farm to cut down our Christmas tree. I have NEVER done this before and it seemed like an idea out of the movies, ha! The weather was unseasonably warm, which made for the perfect day to run through the "woods" in search of the "perfect" tree. 

The sun was a wee bit too bright for Ev, so I loaned him my sunnies.

We ended up finding a bigger tree for the living room and let the kids pick a small tree for the kitchen. Hilariously it was small and light enough that they were able to carry it themselves. I absolutely love Kate's face in this photo.