Until I post our trip....

here is some pictures of my kids ready for our "adventure" to California!
(you can cry with me as you note Miss M's super short locks; I just keep muttering to myself "it will grow, it will grow" again and again when I look at her and want to break down and cry)

Miss M's B-Day Princess Party

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the little "princesses" that came to Maddie's party. She loved having all of her friends there and reminds me every day how fun her party was.

First we started off taking pictures of all the princesses decked out in their gowns and Miss M gave each friend a wand and a [pretty] purple necklace. We let Maddie open up one present the morning of her party (even though her actual b-day is Sept 9th) and it was a Belle dress with pretty Belle shoes. She was ecstatic to put it mildly. She started screaming with excitement and kept saying "oh thank you, thank you." She had her new dress on within minutes and wore it the entire day. Thank you Disney, for making my four-year olds dream come true. :)McKinley & Maddie
Cassidy, Sara, & Maddie
Emma, Maddie, & Peyton

Delaney, Laney, & Maddie

Makenna & Maddie

After pictures and a few games of {Duck, Duck, Goose}, it was time to decorate tiara's and get their finger/toenails all painted. We split up the girls into two groups. I had LOTS of help at the party including: my mom,, mother-in-law, and three sister-in-laws: Jo, Esther & Abby that all joined in and helped with nail painting, crafting, baby watching {Eli}, toddler chasing {Robby} and general crowd control.

Maddie even snagged my lipstick and put in on herself and a few friends so they could all look "fancy" for the party.

My sister Lori insists that her daughter Kaylin doesn't like getting her nails painted...I beg to differ; she LOVED the way they looked and kept showing them off like a little rock-star!

This was my first attempt to make a giant cupcake cake and I have to say that it turned out rather well and the cake must have tasted good because it was completely gone before nightfall. I think next time I won't frost the lower half of the cake however

Four candles for my four year old girl

After tiara's were all complete, we HAD to take a picture of the finished product. I have to admit, these girls were pretty much the cutest things I had ever seen. They were made up of preschool friends, playgroup friends, and a cousin. Maddie sure loves having so many fun friends to play with in our neighborhood.

Top Row: Laney, Delaney, Makenna, Kailey, and Peyton

Bottom Row: Cassidy, Emma, McKinley, Ryan, Sara, & Maddie

(not pictured: Kaylin, little bro Robby, & Charity)

the girls showing off their freshly painted nails

After pictures we played a fun game of pin the tiara on the princess and everyone picked out a lollipop after their turn. This was followed by good old present time. Lastly we sang happy birthday to Miss M and handed out cake and ice cream to eat on the kitchen floor. The girls ran around afterwards until parents arrived to pick them up. Maddie loved helping me put together goody bags before the party and handed them out to each girl as they left.

What a fun busy day it was. I have to admit it was quite the relief once every child left and I could clean up the house. It is always fun to have a birthday party, but also nice to be able to check it off the to do list and move on with life! Now on to California, Disneyland, and the beach next week for her actual birthday!

Birthday Invite

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Her

Majesty, Princess Madison of the

house of Toronto requests your presence at

the celebration of the 4th year of her birth,

at our castle: xxxxx S. xxxth Dr;

September 5th, 10am-12pm, Wear

your favorite princess attire; RSVP

to her mother, Queen Tiffany, at

(xxx) xxx-xxxx; gowns, crowns

and castles too, nothing short of a royal

celebration will do!

Rainy Days

Last Saturday we experienced a CRAZY rainstorm that Robby took full advantage of. We were in the midst of preparing for Miss M's birthday party and the next thing we knew Robby had escaped the house. He was full of smiles and sopping wet. What to do? Why strip him down to the diaper and let him roam the wet world with an umbrella in hand. Slightly white trash, but we couldn't resist this delicious moment. The result= he was in little boy heaven

I would NEVER let this happen

.......or so I thought. I have always heard the stories other moms have told where a certain child takes a swipe at some scissors and then massacres part of their hair. I always have told myself that I would keep all scissors away from children and that I would watch my kids close enough that it would never happen in my home.

Apparently I was sadly mistaken. I have also always told myself that hair is the one thing that grows back and that I would let my kids choose any sort of haircut without emotions coming into play. Again, I was mistaken.

And I also try to never lose my temper with my sweet kids and normally do a fairly decent job at this, no MATTER what they do. For a third time. I was mistaken.

Unfortunately, Miss M DID get her hands on a pair of scissors and DID massacre a big chunk of hair on the left side of her head, I DID start sobbing as I had to cut her hair SHORT and I DID lose my temper with her---which was immediately followed by me spending a good deal of time reassuring Maddie that she was still loved and everything WOULD be okay.

I tried to get a reason out of her, as to why she would cut off her beautiful blonde hair. She kept telling me through tears that she didn't know it would cut so short. She literally has a huge chunk that is maybe 2 inches long at most.

One positive to this whole mess: she managed to crop her hair right next to/behind her left ear, so at least I can sort of flop her hair over that spot. And I guess another positive: she waited until after her birthday party to cut her hair. Now it is on to short hairdos and mainly hair down to cover the butch job.

After all...hair does EVENTUALLY grow back....right?

Can You Believe It?

He has been officially "army" crawling for about three weeks now.

Now I don't have to vacuum anymore...Eli is happy to eat anything and everything off the floor for me instead :)

My Preschooler

Miss M started preschool in August and absolutely LOVES her teacher, Miss Tanya. She has all girls in her class and most of them live just a few blocks away, so it is so fun for her to go to school with all of her friends. She has already learned the letters A, B, & C and loves to point them out to me in books, on signs, pretty much anywhere she can find them. She is also getting very good at writing her name. We couldn't be proud of our little lady and I know Robby cannot wait for the day when he can be "big" like Maddie and also go to school. :)

(Maddie is still in a dress or skirt phase of life. She always tells me that she needs to wear one of those things so she can look "fancy")

Straight from a 2 1/2 year old

"Mommy, you ootiful (beautiful)"

"I don't like it, no more little trees (broccoli) pease"

"I need to go potty" (haven't even started potty training, just copying the big sister)

"I ick mommy, hold you"

"bess (bless) mommy, daddy, ma-ee (maddie) and I-E (eli)"

"this water is icky, now I want juice"

"I hun-ree (hungry), I neeeed food"

"No go bed, I not seepy (sleepy)"

"I want to pay (play), no go home" (every time we drop off Maddie at preschool or playgroup)

"I want to help mommy, let me cook"

"let me do it, aw (all) by MYSELF"

I LOVE this BIG, little guy. He is saying the funniest things now. I love how much he loves his daddy- the world seriously revolves around his daddy, I love his big hugs "with arms" that he gives, I love his teasing little personality, I love how he tries to tickle me and then runs away laughing hysterically, I love that he is obsessed with trains, cars, and balls, I love how he will softly pat the baby and smile and say "I soft", I love how he wants to cook with me and always wants to help, I love how he will spend 20 minutes vacuuming the floor for me, I love how he has to have his special lion and "bankie" (blanket) in bed with him every night, what can I say....I am obsessed with each of my kids, including him!

swimming

Oh, what do you do in the summertime, when all the world is green? (or in our case, scorchingly hot and more of a brown tint, rather than green)

Do you fish in a stream, or lazily dream on the banks as the clouds go by?

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Is that what you do? So do I!

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Oh, what do you do in the summertime, when all the world is green?

Do you swim in a pool, to keep yourself cool or swing in a tree up high?

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Is that what you do? So do I!

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Oh, what do you do in the summertime, when all the world is green?

Do you march in parades, or drink lemonades or count all the stars in the sky?

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Is that what you do? So do I! we sure love our summers...even in Arizona. There is something magical about this time of year; for some reason I feel like I can have lazy days reading books around the house, go swimming pretty much every single day to keep nice and cool, eat ice cream and otterpops WAY too often, fill myself to the brim with super yummy chilled watermelon on a weekly basis, watch my kids turn to a beautiful shade of brown right before my eyes with white little bums, & meet up at McDonalds with my sister and talk while the kids run around like crazy and feel their belly's full of french frys. Aahhh, I LOVE it! Now that school is back in session and Maddie has entered the "preschool" stage of life, I am smiling back upon some of the fun times we have had this summer.

my favorite niece, Kater bug hanging out in the pool

now who wouldn't want to play with such a fun little guy!

Sanctuary at Camelback Mountain

A few weeks ago, we were able to attend the wedding of our good friend, Preston. It was neat to look at them in this blissful moment and reflect back upon that time oh so long ago, when we also made that same commitment to one another. Preston has been waiting so long for this to happen and we couldn't be happier for him. I have so many fun memories of Preston, including the time I went to Peru with Jesse, Preston, and Danny (yes I know...me and three boys :) We are so excited for him to FINALLY take this big step in life and wish him all the happiness that marriage brings!

Another exciting part about him getting married was the FABULOUS wedding reception/dinner at the Sanctuary at Camelback Mountain. The view was gorgeous, the food delicious, decorations were elegant, and of course the company was the best! We were lucky enough to even bring our sweet boy with us for this fun date night. He was so good as always and fell asleep during the wedding video and then slept in his carseat for the remainder of the evening. We enjoyed catching up with Dan (formerly known as Danny to ALL of us :) and his cute date. Maybe at some point we will venture back out to Scottsdale for dinner again, but for now this was MORE than enough!