My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Surrounded by the Things He Loves

This picture pretty much says it all. I went to check on Matson and found him sleeping on top of his dog with his books sprawled out all around him. I think he is even smiling in his sleep. :) I'm sure he is because nothing makes this baby happier than books and animals!

And our happy news of the week is that Matson FINALLY sleeps through the night. It only took him 15 months but it sure is nice to finally be there! I had forgotten what it feels like to sleep for more than 3 hours in a row and it sure is nice!

Reflections

Kelsie won 1st place in the photography category for Reflections! Her entry was entitled "A Gallery of Diversity" and was a picture she took of crayons spilled out on a piece of paper. She received a trophy and ribbon at an Awards Ceremony this week. She was very surprised when they announced her name and was so excited! Her entry now goes on to the Regional Level for judging. Good job, Kelsie!

Here are the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners that were at the Awards Night. Kelsie is standing next to her friend, Brianna, who won 1st place in the musical composition category.

Here are the girls with their entries. Emily entered the visual arts division with a picture she drew and received a ribbon.

Emily's Birthday and Cheerleading Party!

Happy Birthday to our cute 7 year old! Your birthday was such a fun day and we had such a good time spoiling you and celebrating our happy, spunky little Emily! We decided to do a cheerleading themed party this year because Emily loves gymnastics and wants to be a cheerleader when she grows up! :) This is her megaphone cake!

I wasn't going to do a party this year but when I saw this idea I just had to do it. It was so perfect for Emily and I love planning themed parties! When I told Emily we could invite a cheerleader to come to her party she was SO excited. She couldn't believe a REAL cheerleader was coming for her birthday! It was really the highlight of her whole birthday! Here she is with her cheerleader guests. When her friends arrived we played a couple of games, then we handed out pom poms and megaphones and they decorated their megaphones with glitter and foam stickers with their names. They turned out cute! Then our special guests arrived. They took them outside and taught them a couple of cheers and then taught them to do some jumps, etc... and showed off some tumbling skills! Then we videotaped all the girls doing the cheer together. It was really fun! Emily was really serious about learning the cheers and was very attentive! It was really cute.

Here are the cheerleaders teaching the girls a cheer. Thanks to my cute cheerleader neighbor and her friend for being the stars of the party. They did a great job with the girls and entertained them for a long time. It was a really easy party to plan, thanks to them!

The birthday crew

Sorry this is super blurry but I love that it captured her, up in the air, practicing her jumps!

After her birthday party, we had a little family party and she opened her gifts from us. She has been begging for a pillow pet for over a year and was so excited to finally get her favorite one--the giraffe! She was so excited to get it!

She loves her pillow pet! Happy Birthday Emily!

The day after her birthday her best friend Lizzie invited her over to open her present and have a late night. She gave her pajamas to match her doll Kirsten. And Lizzie had a matching set for her and her doll. They looked so adorable and had a fun night giggling together!

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School Dedication

Kelsie is in the school choir and she got to sing at the dedication ceremony for our new school. It was neat to be part of the opening of the school. I was suprised when I arrived to see the principal I taught under at Grovecrest. She works at the district level now and was at the dedication for the special needs school that is attached to our school. I was so excited to see her as I respect her greatly and enjoyed catching up with her. She told me to call her when I'm ready to go back to full time teaching so she can give me a recommendation. I thought that was really nice of her. It never hurts to know people in high places! We love our new school and love being a part of all the first of this FIRST year!

Happy Halloween

Here are this year's costumes. I have great neighbors who lent me costume for my 3 oldest to wear this year and they looked adorable! I bought Matson's at a garage sale for 50 cents and it still had tags! On Halloween we hit the school parade in the morning, classroom parties at noon, and then headed to John's work to trick or treat. Then we rushed home to get ready for trick or treating with our cousins!

Drew and Julie came over for dinner and trick or treating with us. We got to meet our adorable new cousin Sterling and had so much fun trick or treating with Ellie (AKA Rapunzel)! The kids hit our whole side of the neighborhood and got TONS of candy! We loved having them here!

Cute Giraffe. Matson was so excited when he got his first piece of candy from trick or treating. He didn't know what to do. He started shaking and grinning and then sat right down in the middle of a cubicle at John's work and started eating it (wrapper and all). :)

A scary pirate. Carter insisted on being a pirate this year although I tried to persuade him to be a cute monkey. He wanted to be scary. His favorite part was holding up his hook hand and saying "AARRR")!

Pretty Felicity: A Colonial Girl. Kelsie was delighted when I told her my friend had a Felicity dress she could borrow for Halloween. She looked beautiful and spent a lot of time explaining who she was... :)

A peppy cheerleader. Emily was out practicing her kicks and cartwheels along the curb all afternoon. It was the perfect costume for her.

Happy Halloween!