Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve Morning: We celebrated Greg's birthday and built gingerbread houses at Gramma's house.

This is serious work!

In the middle of gingerbread house construction we stopped to sing to Greg.

Happy Birthday Greg!

The finished products:

Krayon Kids - Christmas Play

The Krayon Kids Theater was putting on a Christmas play (musical) that I thought my girls would like, so mom and I got tickets... and Little Miss Charlotte got to come along too.

It was such a cute show... Merilyn and Charlotte loved it! Ali enjoyed it, but since it was a surprise and we didn't tell her where we were going, she was less enthusiastic. (Note to self: Let Ali in on the surprises...)

Olaf was there!

The girls with Olaf, Elsa, and Anna.

Merilyn and Charlotte got their picture taken with the cast of the show, and of course, with Santa!

After the show there were all kinds of crafts and activities for the kids to do. The girls made several ornaments and Christmas crafts. There was also milk and cookies with Mrs. Claus! Everything was so cute! I was very happy that we decided to come to this production... even with a pre-teen that wasn't super chipper. :)

Civil War 2014

We got a sound beating... not a surprise. :) But, still a fun excuse to get together and eat.

Halloween 2014

All of the cousins together for a photo shoot. After this, Gramma took them to Salty's for brunch. Any kids dressed in costume were half price. :) Later, all of the girls went trick-or-treating around Casey and Greg's neighborhood for a couple of hours. After that, Ali and Meri took a few laps around our neighborhood as well. It was a good night!

 Merilyn - Pinky Pie (from My Little Pony)

 Alison - 80's Girl

Volleyball!

It's been a bit of a rough start for us in middle school this year, so I was very surprised that Ali wanted to go out for volleyball. (Thrilled!! But, surprised!)
It has been a learning experience for all of us. I don't think I've watched a volleyball game (and definitely not more than one game) since my friends played in high school. We (Mom, Casey, and I) spent the first whole game telling each other all of the rules! :)
Ali is getting better - and more confident - every week. She's really enjoying herself and I've been loving watching her play!

I am so proud of Ali and her decision to try something new. Change can be scary... and this has been a year with lots of changes. I'm SO proud that she stepped out of her box, took a chance... and stuck with something completely new to her! :) Love you!

Meri's Birthday

September 2014

Daddy's traditional birthday donuts in the morning!

Miss Meri is now 8! She had her family dinner (on the 16th; the date of her birthday) at Olive Garden. Shocking, I know. I really don't know how the Olive Garden trend got started...
Grandma Sandy made a cake per Mer's request. Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Yummy! :) Another request was for the My Little Pony to be on top of the cake... but the tail could not touch the frosting!

Her party with friends was on the Saturday after her actual birthday. She had several friends (& cousins!!) over for a painting party. I suggested she call it an "Arty Party", but she did not like that idea! lol! :)

They all picked a picture they wanted to paint. (I had a few picture ideas for them to choose from.) They loved painting! Their *portraits* turned out so great! After was sang happy birthday, we all decorated our own cupcakes. They were on little paint trays and the paint spots were filled with different toppings and sprinkles. The cupcake creations were quite amazing! Later, there was present opening and play time. It was a great day!

That evening, Kristen and Luke came over for pizza and more play time. It was a full - FUN - day. Happy birthday sweet girl I can't imagine our lives without you!! xoxo

Back to School 2014

September 2014
Merilyn started 2nd grade this year! She was pretty excited. :) It was helpful that she "knew" her teacher... Ali had her in first grade. Grammy and Mer had gone shopping for the *perfect* first-day-of-school-outfit, so she was good to go.

I love this photo that Travis has started taking of the girls walking to school. Although, if I'm going to be completely honest, it breaks my heart a little bit. :)

Ali got to join Daddy this year for the first day festivities because she started a day later. And, speaking of Ali... her first day of middle school was a half-day so she (and Daddy) didn't think that needed a "first day photo". No first day outfit either, as they were told to be extra comfortable for the day. So, I was hoping for a first day picture on the 2nd day... but no one remembered. Bummer. Oh well!