Bre Turns Three

Breanna is in love with all things Toy Story, but most of all Jessie. So we planned her third birthday party with a western theme focusing on Woody, Bullseye and, of course, Jessie. I got most of the ideas from this amazing blog. Breanna got all dressed up in a pink cowgirl outfit thanks to Uncle Aaron and Aunt Amy. She had such a fun time with her friends and family!

The invitations

The cowboy hats and bandanas ready to go

The cake

The spread - Craig made the most amazing chili

Bre with cousin Kayley

There were rides on "Bucky the wonderhorse"

Pin the tail on Bullseye

Tossing the snake into the boot

Playing hot Mr. Potato head

Opening presents - She just adores her cousin Abby

Halloween and Fall Fun

We just love fall activities - even though it felt like we had a second summer rather then fall. The warm weather allowed us to get out and have lots of fall fun. We took a trip to Banducci's pumpkin patch and the kids had fun looking at the animals, picking out unique pumpkins and having a picnic lunch.

love that toothless grin of Abby's

Daddy & Bre being silly

We also celebrated Gammy's birthday.

For Halloween Breanna picked out a Tinkerbell costume from the different patterns that I showed her. It ended up being much more involved than anticipated, thankfully I found the wings at the Dollar store! She looked so pretty when it was all done, so it was worth it.

Ian was (& is) a chunky little monkey

Princess Tiana, Handyman Alex and Lissy the cat made an appearance later.

We all had fun trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.

Our Hello Kitty pumpkin - next year I'm doing a smiley face!

Eight months

Meant to make this post when Ian was 6 months but I blinked and here we are at 8 months!

Ian has been busy....

crawling (army style),

climbing and destroying,

giggling,

teething (7 in one month!),




teasing sister,



and charming Mommy every possible moment!

I love this little man!

2 hour tutu

Well it happened this week...Breanna asked to play dress up. I wondered when she would hit this age as my neice was always wanting to play dress up. I had this project in the works for a while and thought I had a little longer to make it, but all of the sudden she grew up on me! This was a very fun & short project. It was completed while the kids were taking naps, yea! Breanna just loves dancing around in it. It brings back memories of my cousin Cindy and I twirling around for hours in tutus.

So this is how it is done. I bought the top on sale at Kohls and the tulle on clearance at F&M. I cut 8 strips of 2 1/2 yards by 9 inches of the tulle. I staggered four strips of the tulle and then gathered it together (so it wouldn't all start and end in the same place). Four of the strips I sewed directly onto the bottom of the shirt and the other 4 I sewed onto the bottom of the shirt in the opposite direction so it would fluff up (see picture).

Then I added a few fabric flowers that I have been obsessed with making lately. The only thing I would probably do differently next time is use stay tape or don't use a rib knit, it just stretched too much. I am envisioning one with the #3 on it for her birthday.

Potty training and M&M math

Our girl is potty trained! We are definitely excited around here about that, since it seems like it has been such a long journey. Once she decided she was ready, we were done with diapers after a day and a half of potty training. She was so excited to fill up her sticker chart and get her new toy ( a Tag Jr. reading system...very cool). She is still putting stickers on and getting M&Ms when she goes. When we are out and about she keeps a tally in her head of how many M&M's we owe her. We give her 1 for #1 and 2 for #2, so once she had tallied up 3 (yes, she added by herself), she came back and grabbed four from the jar. I said, "No, Breanna, you get three, not four." She said ok and went back and grabbed another one! I like the way she does math when it comes to candy. We will see how things go when the jar of M&Ms are gone...I heard a certain little girl stopped going after the motivation was gone, but I'm not mentioning any names!

Oh and when she fills up her #2 chart, she gets to spend a day at the beach with Grammy. Those were her terms. Quite the negotiator!

Mammoth Vacation

Ok...time to play catch up! It's been a while! Every summer (well almost every year) my family goes to Mammoth Lakes for a week. We all stay together in one big condo and it gets crazy at times, but we always have fond memories. The weather was amazing and the views were crystal clear...these trips always makes me marvel at God's creation. Activities were limited and sleep was illusive with 5 kids, but we still enjoyed walks, the parks, golfing for the guys, shopping, some fishing, and lots and lots of great food. Here are some pictures...a lot, I know, but only about 10% of what were taken!

Carring an 18 pounder

loving the trolley ride

One of the fun parks

Ian 6 mo, Alex 3, Annalise 3 mo, Abby 5, Breanna 2 1/2

The "A" team

Waiting for the trolley ride

They love their Papa

My silly boy

The fourth of July parade

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