Candid Daddy Daughter Dance pics...

Here is my crew after they got all ready for the dance. I love Betsey with her cocked head...that means she feels super (thoopah) pretty. Ruby has such beautiful hair, and she let me add some curls. She likes to wear it back pretty much 100% of the time, but it is so pretty down. I love that Alice got her hair cut because I think her hair is best at just this length. These pictures don't do the cut justice, but she's so beautiful! I let Betsey wear her Easter dress because it was a special night. I love the dress, it is by Kate Quinn, I think her Plum Bunny line. Love it so much!!

The dress twirls.

The dance was really well decorated and put together. There were 450 or so people there this year! Crazy! So fun!!

Playing Pretend...

One of my favorite things about being a mom is witnessing pretend play. It is so fun when around 2.5 or so they start getting really into it and I have to say, it is still cute, though a little surprising when you witness it thrown your almost eleven year old. 

Yesterday, my kids blew up about a dozen balloons. First thy were just batting them around, blowing some big and some small. Then they took sharpies and wrote names on them and they became their children. Next, Ruby borrowed my cell phone and ran upstairs to call Alice on the home phone so they could arrange for their like aged children to have a play date together. It was pretty cute to overhear, they were giddy with this plan. You have to chill and play it cool as a mom at this point or they will get self conscious and stop playing openly around you. Me: totally disinterested while pretty much stopping all else to listen in. Later, I found this schedule for play dates. 

So I was communicating with some of my homeschool friends on Facebook about doing a lake day this week since the weather is supposed to be super nice again. Ruby read over my shoulder, "we are going to lake wilderness?!?!?" So excited. She loves it there. I said, "yes." Then she said, "when?" I said, "Thursday morning." She said, super worried and disappointed, "Alice and I can't because our balloons have a play date Thursday!" I have to continue to keep it cool. Take it seriously. "Oh, well could they meet at make wilderness?" Ruby, "mom, we have like seven balloon children." Me: "you're right, we can't take them to the beach, they would blow away. I guess reschedule?"

This is "Angry Bird." The others have names like, Jenny, Kate, Emily...and Hailey and Emma too.

Easter Eggs and Cookies

We had gorgeous weather for Easter weekend, but we also had a TON of work to do...of the nesting variety, and I wish I meant nesting for our baby, but it was more like the kind of nesting you do for your young chickens...ahem. Anyway, that evening, we finally got around to doing some easter stuff. We dyed eggs and the kids decorated cookies with frosting for the Bishop and their primary teachers. It was fun!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Did a quick run to the studio one morning for pics to use on the kids' valentines. Kelly and the boys came down for the fun and we got some cute stuff. The concept is that I glued dove chocolate hearts over the balloons in the pics...so it was cuter even on the final, but I didn't take any pics of those.

Ruby wouldn't have wanted this to be the one, but while she was goofing around with different poses, I got his and thought it was kind of perfect for valentines.

Alice may look like she's posing for a centerfold if you look at this too long. Oopsie! She was wearing a shirt, really. Thank goodness for pants, or it would be really scandalous. The innocent, sweet expression on her face is perfect!

Can't get enough of these three faces together! Ahhhhh! I love having three daughters...sisters are awesome! I envy their love for each other!

Kelly and Danny's youngest, Eli. Kelly kissed him all over with red lipstick, he looked so cute! He was actually pretty sick, but you'd never know it looking at these pics!

 Aksel is such a first born kiddo. He's a pleaser and was very willing to pose for the shots, love his cheesy smiles, not to mention the ever perfect curly hair. HIS HAIR! Love it!

 Maddox pretty much looked like the love's-lost-valentine in all his shots. It was comical. He wasn't having it, but I still love this shot.

 The three boys together! So cute! Even Maddox can't frown when he's got his brothers with him!

Trimming the Tree...

My girls...

I got out to take some pics of my kiddos in the leaves this fall. I like to do this if the weather allows. Often the fall leaves are all wet and nasty from rain, but occasionally we have a dry enough spell to get some good, fluffy leaf pics. I didn't intend on using this shoot for Christmas cards, but I never got around to doing another shoot...so I had no choice. They are pretty cute though! We did this in like fifteen minutes at Pierce College by our house.

My girls are so thoughtful and talented and clever and beautiful and fun and silly and sharp and witty and compassionate and goofy and a million other things. I just love them!

Spa Day in the Family Room. Ruby's idea...

My kids are not small thinkers when it comes to filling up an afternoon. It is exhausting to tow the line between letting them create and explore and mess make and just plain wishing I could flip on the TV and have a clean house. One of today's messes...a spa in our already messy family room.

Anyone think a tub full of water with a 2 year old splashing in it is a good idea for your carpeted family room? Anyone?

Apples work in a pinch if you don't have cucumbers (in this case, we had three cucumbers but they weren't consulting me!).

The only way we talked Betsey away from the foot soak was to promise her a massage on her own towel. Here she is awaiting her apple eye treatment.

Once Betsey's massage began, there was no moving onto Alice's massage...immediate squaking would result. 

 

Sister slumber party...for two months!

It all started with Ruby inviting Alice to a five night slumber party in Ruby's room. The fun has not ended, though talks of them having to share a room someday did lead to Ruby sleeping alone for a few nights...she doesn't want us to think room sharing is an option! Alice is so happily sleeping on Ruby's floor...and their AG dolls are happily set up for their own slumber party next to her on the floor.

 

 

snow, SnOw, SNOW!

Snow. We have had a LOT of winter snow this year! This was from the biggest storm which went from a snow storm to an ice storm. I haven't ever seen an ice storm before...so I went out and took a bunch of pictures of everything covered in thick ice. The ice storm brought on wide spread power outages. We didn't lose power at our house, but Chris lost it at work (yay!) so we were able to have him home with us most of the week! Oh my. How cute is she in her snow suit. It was such a continuous chore to dress her because she always wants to do what the big kids are doing. Also, we've been saying it since the moment she was born...but this girl has some big lips! Where did they come from!?

Ruby has bibs that fit her, but she was more interested in the color of her bibs than she was in the size...so notice her jammies hanging out around the top of her boots. Super effective!

 

 

The ice storm really caused some long-term damage. All the roads were covered in fallen trees, some were shut down for days because the workers were unable to work in conditions where trees were falling...one had a tree fall on him in the early stages of clean up and he died, so then the effort had to wait until it was safe again. My aunt was driving in Kirkland a week or so after the storms were over and an tree fell right on her suburban. She was lucky to escape with her daughter uninjured.

 

We lost NINE trees from our front yard!