Happy Birthday Penelope

To my dearest Penelope,
You are 5 years old today. I can't believe the time has gone by so quickly. You are so grown up now. Pen- there isn't a day that goes by that you don't make me laugh. You are the silliest little girl I know. Thank you for helping me smile every day. You are so sweet with your baby brother, and you play so nicely with your big sister.

Penelope I love you more than words can say. I will miss our time together when you go to kindergarten next year. You are a great help to me during the day. Thank you for being my buddy. You will always be my baby girl.

This year you have been a little obsessed with mermaids. You would tell me every day that you wished you were a mermaid. Every time you threw a penny in the fountain at the mall you would wish for a mermaid tail. I was watching Oprah one day and a little girl with mermaid syndrome was on. You started crying and got really upset because Heavenly Father didn't make your legs like hers. For Halloween this year you were a mermaid. For your birthday I made you a mermaid skirt and dress. I was going to make you a mermaid cake but you requested a "rainbowly" one instead.

Penelope- It has been a wonderful year. You are amazing! Thank you for the fun and crazy memories. I love you!

Love,
Mommy

December 2, 2004

Penelope's first birthday cake. December 2, 2005 (Penelope's 1st birthday)

Sporting a home made birthday crown. December 2, 2006 (2 years old)

Pen's favorite color was green. December 2, 2007 (3rd birthday)

Crazy barbie cake! December 2, 2008 (4 years old)

Home made felt crown and a "Rainbowly" cake. December 2, 2009

Birthday Banner

I made this birthday banner for Penelope's birthday and all the birthday's to come. It was so much fun I might make one for every holiday!

Happy Thanksgiving a little late!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. It was just the 5 of us. We watched the parade, ate a yummy breakfast & very yummy dinner, played at the park and decorated for Christmas. During dinner we asked the girls what they were thankful for.

Hannah is thankful for her family and friends.
Penelope is thankful for ribs (she is saying this while holding the turkey leg). She is also thankful for friends.
Matthew was not feeling his best on Thanksgiving and I think he was thankful for medicine. (at least mommy and daddy were)

I am thankful for my wonderful family. I have amazing children who make me smile every day. And I am most thankful for my best friend Nate.

Nate- Thank you for being there when I need you. Thank you for working hard for our family. Thank you for my beautiful children. It has been 14 years and if I spent every second of the day with you it would still not be enough. I love you!

Matthew's new trick is standing at the piano to play a few keys.

TO MY DEAR BABY BOY......

Dear Matthew,

This past week you decided to make a few changes. You no longer sit at a pile of your toys and play all day, instead, everything else in the room is more interesting than your toys. Your favorites are the stairs, the kitchen garbage & the speaker stands. I have caught you to many times to count as you were falling off the stairs. Matthew, I was really really hoping that you would not try and crawl until after Christmas. Your new found love of everything that is not a toy will make for a very interesting Christmas season. I wonder what you will think of the Christmas tree.
You have also figured out how to stand up in your crib. You were so proud of yourself the first time I walked into your room and you were standing at the side of the crib. Matt- I understand that you think your new trick is amazing, but in the middle of the night it is not. You need to figure out soon how to lay back down because I am sick of coming in and laying you down several times a night. If you just let go and fall I promise it won't hurt. You will land on the mattress- and you might bounce. Trust me- it might be fun.

I love you my sweet baby boy. Please stop growing up so quickly. I need you to be my baby a little longer.

Love,
Your Mommy

Penelope picked out this pumpkin- It was bigger than you

A new Favorite

A few months ago my sister in law sent me a link to this blog. I love it! I visit it every day and get great ideas! Check it out- You might find some good ideas too.

Happy Birthday Peyton

Bath Time

Halloween Fun!

We had a great Halloween this year. Hannah was Princess Leia, Penelope was a mermaid & Matthew was R2D2. We tried to talk Penelope into being something from Star Wars but she would not hear any of it.


On Thursday Penelope had a pre-school party. There was pizza, and lots of treats. Her favorite part was the costume parade.


On Friday the kids and I went to Hannah's school to help with her class party. She got to play bingo, make a bat mask and eat treats. Penelope enjoyed reading books in Hannah's classroom.

Yesterday we painted our pumpkins & cleaned the house to get ready for our friends to come visit.

Our good friends from Miami- Justin & Shelly Rydalch and their cute little girls Ava & Rya stopped by on their way through to California. We had a yummy dinner and enjoyed trick or treat fun with them. Check out our pictures.....

Matthew & Rya

We had a hard time getting everyone to look at the camera at the same time.

I bought these jammies at old navy for $1. They are 6-12 months and were pretty small. Matthew was very ready for bed.

Matthew's favorite part of Halloween was eating the wrappers.