November Little Things

November was a busy but fun month and now we are gearing up for the craziness of the holidays!

Lily helped her friend Annabelle celebrate her birthday. 

Parker said goodbye to his sweet friend Lexi.  Her family is moving to Florida and he is really going to miss her.  They met at Mr. Reed's Sonlight Express and then her family moved into our neighborhood when they were in kindergarten.  They've always had a special bond and I know he is really going to miss her.

I'm still going three times a week to Camp Gladiator and am loving it!  My trainer Dariana pushes me to accomplish things I didn't think I could do and I feel better than I have in years!

Someone brought a turkey to Eden's class and Eden was one of the first ones to touch it.  She has no fear when it comes to animals.

The kids were excited that Holland got to join my parents at Grandparents Day this year.

They always love having Grandma and Papa at Grandparents Day too!

Eden celebrated her birthday at school on Grandparents Day.  We brought donuts for her to share with her class.

Eden got these blow up bubbles for her birthday and the kids have been having fun with them on the trampoline.

We had a great Thanksgiving with Granna. Granstan, Aunt MerMer, Uncle Craig and Holland.

The girls always love snuggle time with Holland!

Granna taught Lily about the wishbone this year!

Because Aunt MerMer had to work on Thanksgiving Day, we celebrated on Wednesday, which meant we could be lazy on Thanksgiving morning.  We ate monkey bread and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade together.

After the parade, the kids convinced me to put up the Christmas tree!  Parker was a great help this year.

And with the tree up, we are ready to move into the holiday season!  It's been a great November but I know there is a lot of fun just around the corner!

Eden's 8th Birthday

Guess who turned 8 today? 

Yesterday, we had a very unusual birthday party for our birthday girl!  About a month ago, Eden told me she wanted a snake birthday party. After asking around, I got the name of a local man who breeds snakes and offers to bring them to birthday parties in order to educate kids about them. 

Some of the kids loved it and jumped right in!  Others were a little unsure and chose to just watch. Eden jumped right in- she was completely in her element and love every minute of it!  It was so fun to watch her go from one snake to another and not be phased at all!

Lily was not too sure about all those snakes. This was the only picture we got of her actually touching a snake.

Addison loved it but Ryan was pretty reserved.

And poor Aubrey wanted nothing to do with any of the critters. In fact, she spent most of the party in Eden's room as far away as she could get!

I was not a fan of the snakes but put on a brave face for a few pictures.

Even Granna took a turn holding one!

This is how I looked before my brave face... snakes just creep me out!

Parker wasn't a huge fan but was willing to take a few pics with his friends.

Grace and Luke finally got brave enough to pet the Komodo dragon.

The whole group

After all the little snakes had been passed around and then put away, they brought out the grand finale... an 18 foot long python!  It was huge and so heavy but the kids loved it!

All of the brave moms!

After the snake show, we let Eden open her presents.

And then it was time to cut the cake!  This is probably my favorite cake that I've ever made for one of the kids. It was one of the most time consuming cakes, but it was definitely worth it! 

Eden absolutely loved her cake!

Today we woke up and let Eden open her presents from us. 

She chose a puffy pancake for her birthday breakfast.

It was a great weekend celebrating our sweet birthday girl!  I'm pretty sure this will be a birthday she will never forget!

8 Years Old

My sweet, loving Eden-
     Today you turn 8! You are growing and changing so quickly and I love the young lady your are becoming!  Your hugs make me happy and your smiles are contagious! Here are some of the things I want to remember about you as you turn 8:

- You are still tall and thin. You are one of the tallest girls in 2nd grade. You wear size 8-10 clothes and size 3 shoes.  We are going to be sharing shoes in no time!

-  You are still very stubborn when it comes to trying new foods.  I keep thinking that one day you will agree to try a new fruit or vegetable but so far you are sticking to applesauce and an occasional banana.  You still love to eat beans, manicotti, peanut butter/honey sandwiches, nachos, eggs, yogurt, and cheese.

- You are a great student and love 2nd grade!  Mrs. Humphreys has done a wonderful job of growing your confidence and you pretty much think she hung the moon.  Your writing skills are developing so quickly and you love to write stories.  You are a great reader but still will not read long chapter books.  My goal for you is to finish a chapter book by the end of the year.  

- You took the spring off, but asked to play soccer again this fall.  You are still fairly timid on the field, but you enjoy being with your friends. You are going to start basketball in just a few weeks so I'm anxious to see what you think of such a fast paced sport.

- You are both a night owl and an early riser.  You are the last to go to sleep at night and always the first one awake in the morning.  You are often up before your alarm goes off and always wake up happy. 

- You are a loyal friend and many of your favorite friends are boys.  You always talk about playing with Carson, Cooper, and Isahi at recess and you tell me all the time that you want to marry Carson when you grow up.  Your other friends are Reagan, Grace, Alyssa, Tai, Sara, Meghan, and, of course, Addison and Aubrey. 

- You are beginning to embrace your curls and freckles.  You no longer ask me when you are going to start growing straight hair. 

- You are so loving and give great hugs and kisses.  You still will not let me leave your room at bedtime without at least one hug and kiss.  And you always tell me "I love you to the moon and back" as I'm shutting your door at night. 

- My favorite time of day with you is bedtime.  Maybe it's a bedtime stall tactic, but you become such a chatter box and want to tell me about everything that has happened during the day.  I treasure this time with you every night.

Eden, you are so beautiful on the inside and out!  I hope you will always know how much Daddy and I love you and how proud we are of you!  You are becoming more and more confident with each passing year and I know you will always be able to do anything you put your mind to.  Thank you for being such a blessing to our family! 

I love you to the moon and back, Mommy