happy birthday to you

this little girl just turned 4 today. FOUR? has it really been that long? what a sweet addition to our family she has been. she is smart, spunky, funny, stubborn, a GREAT helper, silly, sweet, happy, etc. i can't imagine our little family without her. she's my little buddy all day long, and she is the best big sister to greyson. she says now that she's 4 she can ride all the big rides at disneyland. and she showed me this morning how much bigger her feet are than last night. i love this girl!!

i was supposed to teach preschool at my house last week, so 2 days before i decided to have her preschool friend birthday party instead of preschool that day. (2 birds with one stone right?) she insisted on a monkey party this year. i found everything super duper cheap online, so monkey party we had! the pinata was fun, until the hang-tag broke off. i finally had to just rip it open and sprinkle candy all over.

 let the girls make monkey cupcakes. fun and easy.

  cute friends. (one cute little face from AZ would sure make this pic complete!)

 greyson has just basked in the glory of all the wrapping/tissue paper this last week!

 found this super easy idea in place of streamers. plastic tablecloths cut lengthwise. a buck a piece...and super cute!

 with nate being on call today (on her bday) we had our little family birthday outing last night. emma chose lowe's extreme airsports...this place is so stinking fun. foam pits under everything. and YES i was too chicken for this trapeeze. not such a big fan of heights. of course caitlin was up there going on it over and over and over.

 flip

 seriously this girl shows me up! she climbed almost to the top and then free-jumped into the foam. crazy child.

 emma the little spider

 nate mid-back-flip

 faceplant

 awwww-dwey-son. lubb you.

 happy birthday sweet girl! may this year bring you all the joy and happiness you so deserve!!

 i think we have a problem. this kid won't crawl, but on his rear he'll scoot his legs around to get where he wants. tonight he was almost doing the splitz trying to get a toy. funny kid. i'm ok with my baby being immobile for a bit longer. i just want to freeze him at this stage forever!

dance dance dance

the girls had their first dance competition on saturday. and when i say competition, i mean all. day. competition. phew. it was stressful (for me) and exhausting (for me). they had a blast and did GREAT. took 1st in 2 dances, and 2nd in the other. such talented girls. now on to my soapbox: do i think girls this young should compete? NO. do i think they should be at dance NINE HOURS A WEEK?!! no. they wanted to audition for company this past summer, and they made the team. so we signed up not knowing what all was involved. and how many millions of dollars it takes to have two girls in a dance company that competes. so anyway, we've learned our lesson, but i just didn't have the heart to pull them right before competitions. and they really do love it. but we're not doing this again next year. (don't mention that to their teachers!!)

 waiting to go onstage for 99 red balloons

 down by the banks...

 chit chatting away. love these little girls!

 ouch.

 nate was at a retreat, i wish i had 10 hands. i had to video and try to take pictures at the same time. i wish i would've gotten the lift they do with abby in this dance, it's amazing for girls this teeny.

 one of the many RIO lifts

 att. it. ude. un-suh.

 waiting to go on for RIO. this little production is pretty dang good. all the hours at dance have paid off for this one for sure.

 so fun that they can be in the same company

 trying to lift someone almost the same weight...ha

 having a little fun after a long day at competition. you girls did AMAZING! 

[disclaimer: i know a lot of things on my blog are repeats from my facebook posts. i have some peeps that blog, some that facebook, some that do both, and some that do neither. have to cover my bases. :o)]

enough.

 of this

 and this

 and him NOT doing enough of this

i want this back.

please get better soon buddy! i don't know how much longer my sanity can take it...

my boys

love these two.