November 6 - the Birthday Day

Nov. 6 is a big day in our house - it's both Jason and Lily's birthday! Unfortunately for Jason, most of the attention goes to Lily but being the great dad that he is, he is just fine with that. :) This year Lily had preschool on her birthday so she got to have a special party at school, and I took her favorite chocolate brownies for her to share. To make sure Jason got equal attention, I planned to meet him for lunch but went early to his office and thought I'd make sure everyone knew it was his birthday (something I know he likes to hide at work) - so I showed up with balloons!! Now everyone knows. We had a favorite foods dinner - spaghetti (for dad) and McDonald's chicken nuggets (for Lily). I created a cute Strawberry Shortcake (what else?) birthday cake, but made sure to put candles on for dad. There were lots of presents and one older sister that realized she like her own birthday (and the attention it gets) more than Lily/dad's day. Learning to not be the center of attention is not an easy lesson for a 5 yr old. But we had a fun day as a family...and look forward to a bigger one next year when Lily turns 4 and dad is 40!!

Lily - dressed for school.

 

Dad and Mia.

 

Lily cannot wait to open her presents!

 

The birthday buddies, and their cake.

 

Lily's Pre-Birthday Party

I cannot believe November is already here! I had all intentions of not making a big deal of Lily's 3rd birthday, and just having a simple family dinner; however, in light of family events this past month I decided to savor each and every birthday of my sweet little girls and quickly put together a party for Lily - after all, this could be the last 3 yr old party we have! :) So, after a little thought of what Lily likes best (laying around in her PJs, watching Strawberry Shortcake and eating pancakes) - Lily's Strawberry-themed "Pancakes in your PJs" party was created. And, if I may say so myself, a great success!! I kept in small, inviting only a few close friends from church and school. With the different flus going around this time of year a few had to miss it, but actually 5 little 3 yr olds was perfect. With a yummy breakfast, fun games (egg relay and pancake toss), presents and decorating cupcakes the little ones stayed busy and Lily smiled the whole time!!

Lily - dressed in her PJs and ready for her party.

 

The birthday candles on her pancakes.

 

Time to open presents!!

 

Her friends (I didn't get the picture fast enough - some already had changed out of their cute PJs).

 

It was so much fun - I kept watching Lily and not believing she is already 3. I hate saying "time flies", but it really does. We just love our Lily bear.

Meemaw's Birthday

We were excited to have meemaw (my mom) visiting this year on her birthday. We spent our time together eating and shopping- what more could a bunch of girls ask for?! Mia, Lily and I made birthday signs to put all over the house and a chocolate cake for her special day. We love her!! We missed having pop-pop here, but they will both be here with us for a Texan Thanksgiving! I cannot believe next week we have 2 more birthdays - Jason and Lily.

The girls after bath - ready for presents and cake.

 

Meemaw and Mia

 

Meemaw, mom and Mia

 

Blowing out the candles!!

 

more Halloween

OK, here are a few more photos that I forgot to add...

Jason and Dan - the dueling bbq masters

 

Check out that great group of kids - eating dinner, but dreaming of candy!

 

Jennifer and Annie

 

Russ (the birthday boy) and Kelsey

 

Halloween - the after party

We simply adore the neighbors/friends we have on made on our cul-de-sac!! Spending Halloween together is so much fun, and each year it just gets better. This year we had a bbq dinner before it got dark. Then the kids hurried to get dressed in costumes and start trick-or-treating, but after the candy buckets were full (I had to carry Lily and Mia's buckets because they got too heavy) and feet were sore (I did get smart and bring bandaids for blisters this year) - we all sat around a fire and enjoyed the cool weather and Halloween treats. We had the Wii projected on the big screen outside so the kids could play Rock Band and keep us entertained with their singing. It was a wonderful Halloween - the girls (and mom and dad) had a blast being with their friends! We ended the night with some Pepto before bed for Mia - she simply said, "I ate way too much candy!" But that didn't stop her from wanting more first thing Sunday morning. We love Halloween!!

The scary (silly) dads - Jeremy, Jason and Dan

 

Lily and Mia with Kelsey - their favorite next-door-neighbor/babysitter

 

Mia and Lily playing the drums.

 

Mia and Stephanie

 

Happy Halloween!!

I used to pride myself in finding unique Halloween costumes for my kids. That was part of the fun of this holiday for me. I had successfully "encourged" my girls to avoid being a princess/fairy for Halloween for years - they had never questioned my suggestions for costumes...until now!! This year our house was all about Barbie THUMBELINA! Mia decided a few months ago that she wanted to be Thumbelina, but I took the opportunity to show her lots of other more creative (cuter) options, with no success. We ordered the one she chose, and once Lily saw Mia's costume she wanted to be Thumbelina, too. Mia made it clear she would be ok with that as long as Lily's costume was different. So I began my search for yet another dreaded tacky costume for Lily, and I found one she loved! Then, lucky for us, Houston had the coldest Halloween in years so we got to wear long-sleeved shirts under the costumes - really adding some glamour to the look. :) However, once dressed and ready for the big night I have to admit, we had the cutest Thumbelinas ever!!

You might not be able to tell, but in the pictures of Mia we have smiles that quickly turned to tears as she realized her friends were gathering outside and her mean mother was making her stand next to her little sister and take pictures. She was so sure the neighborhood was going to give away all its candy to her friends as she stood taking pictures. One day she will thank me for all the photos I made her suffer through...but it will be a lot of years from now.

Lily - our littlest Thumbelina.

 

Mia - our sassy Thumbelina.

 

Thumbelina sisters!

 

The gang - ready for trick-or-treating.

 

Soccer Season

I have been a slacker mom -- not only have I not gotten around to posting to this blog lately, but Mia's soccer season is almost over (just 3 games left) and I am just now starting to take some pictures. Mia has loved her team this year, and she has been playing very well. It is crazy the difference one year can make - last year the kids clearly had no idea what they were doing except running back and forth and occasionally kicking the ball. This year the game has clicked and watching Mia play is really fun. So, here are some photos of how we spend part of each Saturday these days...on the soccer field.

Our soccer star, and cutest girl on the team!!

 

Mia in action.

 

Go Mia!!

 

Water break (and time to smile for a picture).