Sleepy Girl

Lily has given up naps. (sniff, sniff)

 

As much as I hate losing the hour of down time during the day, I hate trying to put a three year old who isn't tired to bed every night even more. 

 

Even though she is not taking regular daily naps, she is still 3 and there are days that she just wears herself out.  About once a week, we find her taking a quick power nap to get her through the rest of the day.  The most common place that she falls asleep is in the car, but she's also been known to take a little snooze on the couch or in chairs around the house.  Sweet, sleepy girl!  I just love her so much!

Eden's 5th Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Eden's 5th birthday with a princess party at Jumpin' Apes.  This is the first party where Eden has invited some of her own friends from preschool to come and celebrate with her.  She was so excited that all four of her friends were able to come.  With her birthday being so close to Thanksgiving, we never know who is going to be able to come.



We took a few pictures before we left for the party.  It always amazes me how different these two girls are from their looks to their personalities.

The first hour of the party was spent jumping in the bounce houses.  The kids all had a great time running back and forth between all the bounce houses.

 

 

 

Then we moved into the party room for cupcakes and presents.  I decided to make a cupcake cake this year so that it was a little easier to serve.  For the second year in a row, Eden requested a princess cake.  I thought it turned out cute!

 She got a little shy when everyone sang Happy Birthday to her, but not enough to make her cry.

 

Eden had fun opening all of her presents and got lots of neat things to keep her busy this week while we are out of school!

It was a fun party and we are so thankful to all of our friends and family who came out in the cold to help our sweet girl celebrate her birthday today!


Eden and her friends from preschool (Reagan, Zoe, Sara, & Grace)

Five Years Old

 

Eden,
You are so excited to be turning five today!  You proudly show all five fingers on your hand to anyone who asks how old you are!  And while I'm excited for you, part of me is also sad that another one of my babies is getting so old.  It's hard to believe that next year I will have two kids in school.  The past five years have flown by so quickly but the one thing that has stayed the same is what a precious, easy going, beautiful girl you are!  I wish I could slow down time, but since I can't, here are some of the things I always want to remember about you as you celebrate another birthday today:

- You continue to be tall and thin.  You weight about 40 pounds and are still the tallest girl in your preschool class.  You wear size 6 clothes and size 11/12 shoes.

-One of the reasons that you stay so thin (other than good genetics) is that you are a horrible eater!  You have a handful of foods that you love but if it's not one of those few things, you usually won't eat it or try it.  Other than apples and applesauce, you won't eat any fruits or vegetables.  You could live on beans (refried mostly) and request bean and cheese nachos for almost every meal.  You also like pinto beans and black beans.  You like yogurt, cheese, cereal (Fruit Loops), pancakes, black olives, nuts (especially pistachios), spaghetti, and chicken nuggets.  You also have your daddy's sweet tooth and never turn down cookies, candy, or ice cream. 

- Your favorite toys are still cars and you ask to play with them daily.  You also like to play Ninja Turtles with Parker.  Another one of your favorite things to do right now is pretend that you are a kitty cat.

- You love anything that is creepy or crawly.  Roly polies, worms, and lizards are your favorites.  You are not afraid to pick anything up and you are very good at catching the geckos that find their way into our house.

- You are starting to read and ask to read me a story every night.  Parker showed no interest in learning to read at this age, but you are so motivated to learn new sight words and practice your rhyming words.  Last night, you read Go, Dog, Go to me with minimal help.  It's so exciting to watch you reach this milestone.

-You love to give us a "thumbs up" to let us know you are happy about something.  It is your signature move right now!  It doesn't matter where you are or what you are doing, we can pretty much count on getting a thumbs up from you! 

-You love Lily, Aubrey, Addison, and your friends at school, but your favorite person in this whole world is still Parker.  You love playing with him even though he sometimes drives you crazy!

- You have really started coming out of your shell over the past few months.  You still have moments of insecurity and we still have to reward you for not crying when you go places, but you are much more willing to try things in new situations lately.  For example, when we went to Main Stay Farm a couple of weeks ago, you were the first cousin to try the zip line even though you had never seen it before.  In the past, you would have either refused to try it or backed out at the last minute.  I'm so proud of the new confidence you are showing.  I pray that you continue to grow in this area, especially since your preschool Christmas program is only a few weeks away!!

-You never let me leave your room at night without giving me a BIG hug and a BIG kiss!  I look forward to it every night!

You are so beautiful Eden, on the inside and out!  I love your curly hair and your freckles but not as much as I love your sweet, loving spirit.  Our family got very lucky five years ago when God decided we needed you as our middle child!  I pray that this would be a great year for you and can't wait to celebrate with you today! 

I love you to the moon and back, Mommy

Mainstay Farm

The Saturday after Halloween we took all of the kids to a local pumpkin patch called Mainstay Farm.  I had been to the farm several years ago on a school field trip and have always wanted to take the kids.  I had heard they had added some activities since I had gone, so I thought it would be a fun place to spend the afternoon.  Plus Addison, Aubrey, and Ryan were able to come with us so I knew they would have a lot of fun!

Usually this time of year, people come to Mainstay to pick out their pumpkins.  But because it was the weekend after Halloween, you could bring your old pumpkins and watch them get smashed.  The kids loved watching them bust into lots of pieces. 

I was surprised when we arrived at how much there was to do.  They have added so many things like a zip line and huge trampoline to jump on. We stayed busy for over three hours and they never got tired.  We started out in the new kids area that included a slide, small zip line, tricycles, and a duck race. 

 

 

 

Next up was the giant trampoline and the huge swings.

 

Ryan lost interest in the trampoline pretty quickly and decided that digging in the dirt was much more fun!

The zip line was next and the four bigger kids loved it!  I was so proud of Eden.  She was the first in line and showed no fear!  I assumed she would get scared and back out at the last minute but she ended up loving it and riding it over and over again!  I think this was the favorite activity of the day!  Even the grown ups got to take a few rides on it!

After zip lining, we took a hay ride up the hill.  At the top of the hill, the kids enjoyed pedal cars, a huge wooden maze, and a giant slide. 

As we were leaving, we let the kids play in the barn filled with hay for a few minutes. 

We all had a great time at Mainstay! The weather was perfect and I'm pretty sure the adults had just as much fun as the kids!  We will definitely be making this a yearly fall tradition!