Four Years Later

Then - Nov 2006

Now - Nov 2010

I am still learning everyday.  I will never stop learning.  Four years after having Haylee, I am still learning her quirks, her moods (yes people, I will admit it - SHE IS MY DAUGHTER and SHE HAS MY PERSONALITY) what makes her tick, and how to raise a daughter, not only for survival, but how to keep her on the right path and to be happy, healthy and productive.  Haylee is an amazing little girl.  I look at her everyday and can't believe that she is mine, I can't believe that she came from me and from my husband.  I can't believe how amazing she is and how lucky I am to watch her grow and explore the world.  She is so smart, and has such a personality.


As in my last post, she is independent and is voicing her opinion more and more. We let her pick the "theme" she wanted for her birthday party, and what else could it be? Of course - princess themed! We got princess invites, princess favors, and to make it all come together, we made her a castle cake. She asked us if she could invite friends from her preschool to her party - not just girls, but BOYS too! Yikes - is she old enough to have boys coming to her birthday party? Turns out, she is, and she had a blast. We played pin the horn on the unicorn, and then as a fun craft/goody bag present, I found canvas bags, and let the kids pick out an iron on picture, and then color that picture once it was ironed on. I think the kids had a good time doing it, and all 7 of the 4 year olds left my house without fabric marker on their clothes!

The whole day was such a success!

The Princess and The Hulk

As Haylee gets older, she can voice her opinion and (usually) gets what she wants.  This year was no exception when it came to picking out her Halloween Costume.  For those who haven't been shopping for a 4 year old Halloween costume lately, you can either be some sort of bug (lady, bumble, etc) or you can be some sort of princess/fairy.  Haylee chose to be Cinderella.  The costume we bought we a little big, but with a little help from Grandma Denning, we got it the perfect length.  

Carter, however, was oblivious to what Halloween is and what it actually means to dress up (aside from how annoying the hat that mom is forcing him to wear is).  

They both looked adorable.  We headed to Mom's house on Saturday so Grammy could see the kids and they could see their cousins.  On Halloween we had my good friend Erin, Matt and their son Landon up to do some trick or treating.  We then headed over to my friend Tiffany's block and did some trick or treating there.  Surprisingly, Carter did great - I think it's because he had big sister Haylee and Brynn to follow! 

Punkin Huntin

I love going to the pumpkin patch to pick out the biggest pumpkin I can find. This year was no exception...we go to the pumpkin patch off of Riverdale - it's great, you find your pumpkin, and then head off to the playground or the petting zoo. They also have two corn mazes, but it has been so windy the past few years, that we have yet to embark on that. Here are some pictures from the pumpkin patch. We let Haylee and Carter pick whatever pumpkin they wanted!

We got home and it is Daddy's job to carve the pumpkins. Mine is to clean them out, and he carves...Carter was fascinated by the pumpkins and loved sticking his hand in the pumpkin to feel the "goo".

Here are the kids sitting by their carved pumpkins!

Gymnastics

Haylee has been asking for a few months to do gymnastics, so we signed her up at the Rec Center. She LOVES going to gymnastics!

Here's a video of Haylee doing the balance beam!

I think we might have a future Olympian in our family!!!

Tiny Town

There is a place in the foothills near our house called Tiny Town. It has a "village" to include houses, shops, school houses, etc from the early 1900's that are all child size. The kids can't go into most of the village, but there are a few houses that they can go in. They also have a train that gives you a tour of the whole village. Byron and I, although we are natives, have never been to Tiny Town. We thought it would be fun to take the kids and "G.G" - my grandmother up for a day trip. We packed up a lunch and headed to the hills. We had such a good time. The local fire department was there and had their truck set up, and had a hose set up to put our the flames in a house. Haylee had such a great time putting the flames out of the house!

GG and the kids driving the fire truck.

We tried to get a picture of GG and the kids sitting on the train, but that was towards the end of the day, and the babies were tired, so we were unsuccessful in that!

Race For The Cure

For the last few years, Mom, Erin and I have done the Race for The Cure. Because we found out a dear family friend was just diagnosed with Breast Cancer, my dad, older brother and his girl friend joined in on the race this year. Here are some pics from the day!

As always, Erin and I ran it and then went back to pick up the walkers. It was pretty cold in the morning, but the kids were good sports and had a good time too!

What I learned in Preschool

Haylee started her second year at Little Lights this Fall. She loves going to school and according to her teachers, is a good kid, likes everyone to be included in what is going on, and will finish a project that they have started when most of the kids are bored and moving on after 10 minutes. Her coloring is fantastic, and I am pretty sure she is artistic like her Daddy.

Here are her 1st day of school pics from this year.

A few weeks ago they were learning the story and song of 5 Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed. Her brother loves it when she sings the song, and I was able to catch some of it on video!

Enjoy my two little monkeys!