Our Princess

Wow...I just LOVE this little girl! She was VERY excited for the Daddy-Daughter dance this year. She went 2 years ago and loved it, then last year she was going to go but got sick, so when this year rolled around and I asked her....she was THRILLED!

She and Dan met up with another friend and their daughter and they danced the night away...or, the 2 hours that it lasted. :) It's fun to see this girlie side of my daughter. She even asked me to curl her hair. If you know her, you know this is HIGHLY unusual! This is the same girl who wants me to pick out her clothes every day for her, who doesn't care what I buy her to wear, or what I lay out for her to wear. To see her with her hair curled and showing us how her dress 'twirls' when she dances was adorable. :) I'm so glad you got to enjoy this special date with daddy!

Miss. Alayna, you are a beautiful princess, but you are also very smart! We had your parent teacher conferences earlier this week and we are soooo proud of you. You are an amazing reader (you were 4 or more levels ahead of the highest reader in your class so your teacher found 1 other kindergartener from the other classes that was close to your level to read with), though we are very proud of how you are doing academically, we are even more proud to hear from all the teachers that you are a great example for your classmates and that many of them look to you for leadership and listen to you. I did find it comical to hear that a little boy who sat next to you had a messy desk and you told him that it's not good to have a messy desk because then you can't find anything, so you taught him how to keep his desk clean...and he listened! Keep up the great work sweet girl! We love you more than words could ever say....

Our own Jack-o-lantern

He had a SERIOUSLY loose tooth that fell out last week...that makes another hole in his mouth. Since taking this picture he lost ANOTHER tooth! He now has at least 3 gaps in his mouth. His new trick, drinking water without opening his mouth because the water just goes through the gaps. :)

The things kids say....

Yesterday Setharoo and I went to the grocery store to get a couple things. We got in the door and I got him in a cart and then one of the grocery guys came over to see if he'd like a sucker. He's a nice older gentleman that often times has a little treat in his pocket for kids. Anyway, Seth said "YES!" and gave him a big hug, and then because candy isn't a common thing in our home, Seth assumed he was getting the sucker as a reward and said, "I got my big poops out in the potty!" The gentlman looked at me and asked, "What did he say?" Ummmmmm....."that he uses the potty"...I just wasn't going to repeat it, but inside I was laughing!!

On Your Marks, Get Set....

Every day when I need Seth to go upstairs for a rest, or go somewhere quickly I say, "let's race". He loves racing me (though I let him win each time) and since he can't resist a race there's no complaining about going upstairs for a nap. Anyway, today when we raced upstairs to the bathroom, he sat down and said, "Mom, I'm like Lightning McQueen and you're like Mator because I'm super fast and you're not so much."

A Memory Like A 3 Year Old

At the end of November or beginning of December Seth asked me when we could go to the zoo again. I told him, "when it gets nice out again". Today as we were leaving the grocery store and it was above zero with no wind I said, "isn't it nice out today buddy"....his response...."does that mean we can go to the zoo?"

Birthday Celebration!

In just a few days my pretty little girl will turn 6! This past weekend we got away to the cities to enjoy some family time and celebrate Alayna's birthday. Instead of a crazy friend party at our house she opted for a hotel stay and a visit to the American Girl store in the cities. We were able to get a free hotel stay and then with gift money she got for her birthday she enjoyed picking out a couple things. Our gift to her was a dessert date (eating a meal was too spendy and isn't dessert the best part anyway?!?) for just the girls at the American Girl Cafe. She had a BLAST and it was just what she wanted. She's not a super girlie girl, but she loved her special day!

Here are a few pics from the special celebration...

The girls were up early Saturday morning wanting to go...the mall didn't even open until 10am so they decided a fashion show for their dolls would be the best way to pass the time. :)

In the van and ready to go!!

After spending her birthday money we were ready for dessert!

2 pretty girls enjoying their girlie time!

Hailey and her doll Ruthie

Alayna and Kit

They each chose the 3 mini ice cream cone dessert with sprinkles. Alayna got a birthday candle in hers and then the staff came to sing Happy Birthday.

The dolls got their own tea cups with pink lemonade in them as well as whip cream with sprinkles dessert...the girls enjoyed the dolls food and thought it was hilarious to be eating it for them.

After dessert we enjoyed a couple rides and were ready for the next part of our weekend adventure! Friends, family and swimming!!

Baby it's cold outside

Since everybody has been talking about the weather I figured I might as well also. It's cold out!! REALLY cold out! -20 with a windchill of -35 or lower is just indescribable...I'm thankful it hasn't been horribly windy though.

Our vehicles haven't had issues starting (thank you!), but if a vehicle could whine about having to start, I'm pretty sure ours would. They don't sound happy when they start.

Our doors on the house haven't frozen shut, but they make very loud horrible squeaky noises when we go in and out of the house. Like fingers on a chalk board...eek!

My poor husband hasn't had heat in his van all winter. This happened a year or so ago too and though we had it fixed, it apparently wasn't permanent and we're not sure if it can be fixed again or not. He has a short commute so it's not the end of the world, but when it's THIS cold, by the time he gets home he's a Dan-sicle! Today I'm staying home so I offered him my van since it's just unbearably cold! Not sure if that was a good idea or not...going from a van with no heat and various other issues to a van with heat, heated seats and auto-start....I'm wondering if I'll get my van back!! :)

Things I'm thankful for this year during this nasty cold spell...I finally listened to advice from friends around me, saved my pennies and bought a pair of Emu's (like Ugg's) and they are amazingly warm. No cold feet for me!!! I also finally bought a WARM winter coat. It seriously makes all the difference. Warm feet and a warm body has made this winter more survivable for me than most. Considering I've lived here for more than 10 years, maybe I should have made these purchases a while ago. :) I'm not a trend setter, that's for sure!

Next week we will hit a high of 20 ABOVE zero...considering some of the lows this week we are looking at a 50 degree or more difference! HEAT WAVE! :)