Lucy, Three!

We parents always decorate, at least a little. 

Good morning, Birthday Girl!!!

Lucy is all about hand-on, messy play. 

(Her mommy is trying to let her make more messes...)

She got sidewalk chalk paint, a bubble gun, a sparkly tutu, binoculars, a preschool workbook, and birthday money (used to buy a new doll bed and doll clothes).

As I'm sure you can imagine, these were incredible for my dance-loving, creative 3-year-old. 

My silly, sweet, creative girl loved having a birthday! 

We went to Pizza Ranch for supper a day early, and she was sung to by the girls' softball team who were doing Tip Night that evening. 

Lucy turned bright red and crawled onto my lap! She was happily overwhelmed by the attention!

The evening of her birthday, we had tacos while we watched Frozen.

We ended her birthday with chocolate cake! The candles were blown out faster than I can blink. I think it was a most anticipated moment!!

 Lucy is a friend to all, but naturally shy. It is a huge step out of her comfort zone to talk to strangers. She pushes Ava to be more daring and explorative, and Ava encourages her to obey boundaries, and do "big girl" things such as drinking from a lidless cup or emptying the dishwasher.

She is so sweet with Olivia, but definitely can be bossy big sister. If Olivia does something that Lucy disapproves of, she will grab Olivia's heels and pull her away from a situation. I can always count on Lucy protecting Olivia, but it will always make Olivia angry. :-)

Lucy recently had her first ride on an escalator, and also got her first big bike.

She knows most of the alphabet, can count to 20, name most shapes and colors, and is learning her numbers. This fall she will be ready to jump into full preschool work.

She says "restaining" wall, "sank you", and is only just starting to say a proper "L" sound. (It's still usually replaced with a "w" sound.) 

I love my May Day baby! She lights up our home with her singing and silly antics, and keeps us on her toes with adventurous, and naughty, decisions. 

Happy Birthday, my darling Lu-Lu!

The Life We Live

We play games.

Ava is very good at winning.

 We do school. Ava is somewhere between preschool and kindergarten.

She can write the alphabet, knows letter sounds, 

does simple math, reads simple words, and can skip count by 2 if she thinks about it.

She helped make sandwiches one day, too!

 

 

 Olivia got a new high chair for her birth

 

October Review

  Hello again! It has been busy around here, and blogging hasn't been strongly on my mind.

Thanks to social media, it's fairly easy to post the occasional photo on Facebook.

However, not all of my readers are Facebookers, and so I really am sorry for the lack of posts on here.

Okay, so here's a recap of October. (Did anyone else feel like that last month went really, really quickly?)

I introduced the girls to pumpkin smoothies. Big hit!

 

 Olivia learned to sit up all by herself, and had her first little pigtail. Although, she was really mad at me for pulling her hair. Poor baby...

Olivia has also figured out which toys are her favorite. 

Lucy is 2.5 years old. Her fashion sense expands every day, and she is now potty trained. Can I get a WOOT WOOT?! I really adore only having one in diapers right now.

Seriously, how fabulous is her smile?! I adore her little grins and giggles and coos. She is completely darling!

I took Ava shopping one day. Just look how grown up she is! 

(Sorry, this is a sub-quality phone picture.)

 All three. This day they all ended up in purple and teal. 

Actually, they frequently dress similarly without even trying.

AH, more cheese!

Scott has started taking the older girls out on breakfast dates. 

They adore their time with daddy, and are always asking when it's their turn for a date again.

I frequently hear them play-acting going on a date. Sometimes with daddy, and sometimes with each other. It's pretty cute, and I'm working on not hyperventilating over the thought of them actually being old enough to have a boyfriend. (Be still, my heart!) 

Anyway, these are great experiences for how a gentleman treats a lady!

By now I'm sure you realize that Babycakes is totally adored, right?

We finally finished the patio! Mr. Wonderful planned this well, and has laid it well. 

The drainage issues are resolved (we've had some rain to help test this), and the aesthetics really can't be beat! It's our new favorite spot to spend an evening.

So, with that, I'll leave you with a cozy fire to warm your brisk autumn day:

Next up: "Maybe she'll post in November, about November!"

Happy Friday!

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

August in Pictures {1}

Welcome to August!

Wow, another month that flew by.

Time moves so quickly; my greatest thought is that I make the best of every minute I have.

Here is the first 2 weeks in pictures:

 Babycakes is very playful! I think you'll see that throughout this post.

Lucy uses crocs as boats for her play people. Ha!

 What a great big sister!

Ballerinas!

Five Months Old!

This is how you spend an afternoon with Mom!

Daddy's shirts for bed. Love!

[More to come!]