Happy Birthday Brooke!

My baby turned 2 today.
And oh what a fun-filled two years it has been!

Photo taken by her "Papa"...{close to her most favorite person on earth!}

This girl came to us smiling and has never stopped.
She is the happiest thing on earth and
we are all in a better place because of her.
Nothing but pure joy I tell ya!
Should I stop? I really should.
I'm jinxing myself, I know.
Okay, I'm done, but seriously....

Thanks for being the happy, energetic, loveable
"toddler "(sniff, sniff) that you are.
You truly are such a blessing to ALL of us.
We love you!

Ellen

January, 6th 2011

Our fun, fabulous friends we got to enjoy it with

{hard to tell I'm excited to be there...pretty sure you can see all 28 teeth!}

Ellen was hilarious,
Lex was a super-star dancing for the crowd,
Scott and Jeff looked hot in their pastels together-he he ;)
and I was just loving it...ALL of it!
So much fun!

Oh, and while we were there...may as well pay this a visit


and this...

{This one's for you, Em!...(the above one)...
or the below one too. Whatever works :)}



How we love a quick get-away once in awhile.
And great food.
And Scott and Lex.
And good conversation.
And the beach.
And the late mornings.
And our kids that much more after a little break.
And our family who stayed with them.
Oh, and Ellen for the invite...sort of.

Birthday Boy

Just need to give a shout out to our dad/hubby and say a

big, huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! (37, really?....he, he)
Here are a couple things the kids had to say about their dad today:

"I love dad. He plays lego's with me, he really loves lego's. I like that he is my coach in all my sports and teaches me how to play. My favorite is when he does crazy-hugs at night with us and we climb all over him. He tells the best stories at night. My favorite are the ones he tells us about him and Aunt Jen. I like his prayers in Dutch. I like to play catch with him. I like to watch football with him. Go JETS!! I love dad, he is the best dad in the whole world!"

"I always love when dad does crazy-hugs. He always gets us crazy at night and makes us laugh so hard. I like to ride on his back and try to stay on and I like when he takes me to bed on his back. I like to play Hello Kitty with him. He teaches me to play new games on the wii. He lets us have movie night, with popcorn, when mom is teaching yoga. He talks in Spanish (it's dutch, sweetie) and I think it sounds funny. I love him and love to make cards for him."

"I love my da'den. He chases me and I run to mom to save me, it's a fun game and I laugh my head off. I love to snuggle with dad in the morning. I like to take all my toys to him while he is working, trying to distract him...it usually works. I like reading books with him, he is very animated and makes the stories very interesting. I too like crazy hugs at night, especially when he sticks me in the laundry bag and hides me. He's a fun dad and I love him so much!"

We hope your day brings you a fraction of the
joy you bring us on a daily basis.
We love you!

Miss Personality

Just goin through my 500 different folders of

"events needing to be blogged" and I came across these gems...

Uh...was she on one this day or what??

Tyler's turn

Yes, December is full of celebrations around here and we love it!
{For the most part} ...

So, Tyler turned six. I'm not sure why it feels like
six is so much older than five to me but it does.
And it is hard to believe I have six year old!
CRAZY....
Tyler is our sweet boy.
He is so aware of emotions, especially
in others. He is the first one to pass out a hug when needed and
let me tell you, with two little sisters around,
they are needed!
He is a typical big brother: protective, bossy, loving, teacher,
teaser, comforter, example, etc.
{Love the pajamas?? This is just a perfect BIG brother picture of him}

We are so proud of
him and his desire to be good. He has a love
for life that is contagious and we feel blessed having him
in our family.

His top 6 favorite things right now:
*school-loves, loves, loves it!
*playing legos-he is so creative with them
*anything to do with friends-he is our social one {although
I'm sure Brooke will give him a run for his money}
*having movie night with popcorn
*playing sports-favorite right now is basketball
*going on vacation-takes after his mom on this one!

Happy Birthday Buddy!

Where was I??

That's right...my little preschooler. Well, what do you know, it just happens to be her birthday as well {I knew if I waited long enough I could cover two events in one post :) }

As far as preschool goes....
she loves it...can't get enough of it.
It is a good day when it's school day!
Here are a few pictures of her first day of school.
{What a poser!}
Onto the birthday.....

What a sweetheart our little birthday girl is.
She feels us with so much happiness and we feel extremely blessed to have her in our family.
Some of her top favorite things:

*Tyler and Brooke
*playing dress-ups with her friends
*dancing and singing
*doing her hair and putting mom's make-up on
*going on vacation
*sleeping in Tyler's room
*helping mom clean {one of my favorites!}
*loves to color and draw
*playing outside
*not wearing her coat when it's freezing outside

She truly is our girly-girl. She doesn't like to take her bows out until she has
brushed her teeth and the day has officially come to an end.
{Uh, not so sure where that came from}
Here are just some random pictures that show a little of her HUGE personality that we get to enjoy daily. How did we get so lucky??

Happy Birthday cute Kate!
We love you!

Kindergarten

My BIG boy started Kindergarten this week.
He was so excited,
which made ME so excited,
which made for a little less tears shed
by his emotional mommy :)

(He asked if he could pick the "first day of school lunch"
and make it himself.
He really milked the whole first day of school thing
...you would have thought it was his birthday!)
(Tyler with his friends Diego and Max waiting for the bell to FINALLY ring!!)

Really, I do love that he has such a great attitude about new
things. It makes the whole "letting go" thing much easier.
I'm such a wimp!

For journal purposes I need to write down some of the quotes he
has said throughout the week so I don't forget them...or so I
can have him read them when the "newness" wears off!

"Is today school? Yes! I seriously thought this day
would never come?"
"Can I just go to school for the rest of my life, everyday?
Because I really do love it so much."
"It's okay mom, I can just walk home by myself now...I have
like a million friends that can walk with me." (nice try, sweetie)
"I just can't wait to go meet all my new friends!"
"Mom, guess what? I sit by the cutest girl in the whole class!"
(This one killed me! This boy cannot already be girl crazy!)
"You are going to ask me how school was, I know.
Well, it was even better than yesterday!"

I would say it's safe to assume he has enjoyed the first week of school, wouldn't you?

Now, onto my little preschooler....