Happy Birthday Annaliese!

Look who's FOUR! I can hardly believe it myself! Kermit and I are both having a hard time grasping this one.

We had her birthday party here at the house. Once again this year she wanted a Valentine themed party. Easy enough! It turned out darling, and she just loved it all! Everything was hearts, hearts and hearts. We played toss the heart bean bag, pin the heart on the cupid, and decorated graham cracker houses with conversation hearts, chocolate and other goodies. Very cute! We had special miniature cupcakes topped with lollipops in them that she helped to make. Also very cute. The very best part of the whole party was when she blew out the candles. At first she was a little hesitant...(she's our cautious one)....it must have been scary to have the flames right there in her face.... but after some reassurance she blew out the candles one at a time. SO CUTE! "I did it! I did it! LOOK! I'm four years old now! Look I grew! My pants are too short! Look my feet grew! I'm four now!" She was so happy! It was magic to her! Just precious and unforgettable!

Annaliese was thrilled to spend her birthday with her friends. She LOVES them. She often will comment on how lucky she is to have so many friends. "I sure do have a lot of great friends" she'll say out of the blue.

Kermit and I soaked up every moment of the weekend with our birthday girl. If she weren't so darn cute it would be a tough one to swallow. She's a darn cute four year old for sure!
Life is good! It's good to have a four year old. Love that Birthday Girl!

Won't you be my Valentine...

The past few days Annaliese has been singing non-stop, loud and strong "Oh won't you be my Valentine, my Valentine, my Valentine. Oh won't you be my Valentine, my Valentine today" (the tune is Muffin Man). Today I went to her class for a Valentine's Day party. Very fun to see her so excited. Her teacher said that she was dancing all around just bursting with excitment before the party. I got to watch her decorate some cookies, make a Valentine for her dad & pass out all the Valentines that she made for her classmates. She really did just love every second of it! As we were preparing to leave, I was kneeling down getting her backpack situated, when out of the blue she came from behind. She gave me a HUGE bear hug around the neck and said, "Mom, I love you sooo much! Happy Valentine's Day!" and gave me a huge kiss right on the cheek and just kept on hugging me and hugging me.
Yes, that put me on top of the world. I love that child. Love her to bits! She really really really melts me.

California New Years Pictures.....

I did it! All Christmas & New Years pictures posted before Valentines Day....okay not BEFORE Valentine's Day but not AFTER Valentines Day! An accomplishment! Okay, I just thought of some more pics to post! Coming later tonight! Stay tuned!

Sea World

The trip to Sea World was a huge hit in our book! Crowds were light, weather perfect, kiddos perfect! We started off the day with the big Shamu show. Shamu will always amaze me. How those giant creatures can be trained blows me away! Annaliese is now a HUGE killer whale fan! The twins were also thrilled. A great time was had by all. The dolphin show was another huge hit but even more so was being able to see the dolphins up close and personal! The kids LOVED that! I think the dolphins liked the attention too! Very fun! Highly recommended for a fun non stress vacation day in Southern CA.

Pictures from Christmas in Chicago

Christmas 2007 Recap

I made a promise to myself that I would get the Christmas posts done before Valentine's Day....Whew...getting down to the wire here! But here we go!

Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday! I love letting the the celebration begin as early as possible, on the day after Thanksgiving and continue the festivities on in to they new year! This year we spent Christmas here at home! I love this town when everybody clears out! It really is like living in a small town with all the greatness of the big city! We were able to visit Zoo Lights, Winter Wonderland and The Field Museum with hardly any cowds (We had the field museum to ourselves!!!!) IT WAS AWESOME! Parking was open everywhere! Traffic was light! Church meetings were small and almost family-like! I love this place during the holidays! I think it is the best time to be here!

Christmas day was especially fun. It was the Christmas I have been dreaming about for the last 10 + years....one where I have little children in their footy pj's excitedly running down the stairs to see if Santa has been there. The morning was perfect! The girls loved their stockings, loved their dolls and the train that Santa set up around the living room. All day long they played and played, happy as ever! It was a perfect day.

We headed to California to visit my family from the 29th to the 4th! WhaHoo! What a fun time! I love just being with my family, just hanging out being together! I haven't lived near home since I as 18 (so 7 or 8 years now, he he!) and have always known that I'd probably always live far away to have my own family. But now that I have 3 little ones....it is much HARDER to be away. (I could go on and on, but I'll save that for my own personal writings and not bore you to tears.) All I can say is that I love my family and was so glad to be able to spend time with them for the holidays! Happy New Year Links (that includes Ellsworths), WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!

Some CA highlights: Lost luggage (again, thank you Southwest), Mission Inn Lights, Sea World, Game nights, Kareoke, FOOD, Movies, March AFB Museum, Family Photos, In N Out, park, naps, candy houses, great old army trunk, cool kiddy tool set, Cooking class gift card, matching PJ party, good times!