Wednesday, November 30, 2011

A cactus, hair, and a side of art

My strange little man pretending to be a cactus that shoots things out of it's mouth...

Ashleigh let me practice different hair styles on her. She's so cute! Love playing with her hair.






I found a website that teaches drawing. Ashleigh drew this donkey pinata. She didn't like it because she says it looks like a horse/duck. I think it's really good, especially considering she's never drawn a donkey pinata before! :-)

Monday, November 21, 2011

Happy birthday, Ashleigh

I'm way behind on my blogging...oops.

On November 5th, Ashleigh turned 9 years old. It's a momentous birthday for me because it means she only has 1 more year until she is in double-digits! :-) I need to start planning now for her big 1-0 birthday party!

We took some pictures of her the night before she turned 9. Isn't she cute?!?! I love my Ashleigh so much. She is my constantly sweet and loving child and she is my companion and my friend. I've said for years that she is very much like her aunt Quinn and I love that so much about her! Like Quinn, Ashleigh knows my moods and my habits and she shows me she loves me even when I'm in a bad mood.
Ashleigh is so artistic and crafty and loves doing anything having to do with those things. She is dramatic, but not a drama queen. She has so many expressions and loves to take pictures of herself and the world around her. She is friendly to everyone and will always give someone the benefit of the doubt. I don't even know if she knows how to judge people yet. ;-) She is open and honest and kind and energetic and loving and respectful and happy and wonderful!
Ashleigh is an amazing big sister!!! She loves her little brother so much and is patient with him when he annoys her. She is such a little mom to him and takes such great care of him anytime we need her to help out a little. And Preston worships her and wants to do everything that Ashleigh does. I've told Ashleigh that can be a blessing and a curse...she needs to be mindful of his little eyes watching her as she grows up so she can be a good example to him.
Ashleigh is incredibly smart! She loves school so much. She is an awesome reader and does so well in Math. She's so helpful in school and her teacher just loves having her in class. She's a friend to everyone in her class and knows to stay away from bullies or generally mean kids. She has already decided that she doesn't need those kinds of people in her life, but she'll still be kind to them if they talk to her.
Ashleigh is so obedient and respectful. With new people she comes off as shy/nervous, but with in minutes she's warm and friendly and respectful. She gains more and more confidence daily and I can see her blossoming and coming out of her shell all the time.
Ashleigh is my pride and joy and my rock star. I see so much of myself in her and I see so much of her dad in her. She is the most wonderful daughter in the world and I am SO proud of her and I absolutely love being her mom!!! I feel like the luckiest person in the world that she is my daughter.

Ashleigh and I started a new tradition this year...a date to Starbucks in the morning on her birthday. :-) I asked Vanessa and Liliana to join us too for this first year so it was a mommy-daughter date.


In the early afternoon Bridget came over and we all went to the Kids Club indoor jungle to play. Vanessa, Adam, Liliana, and Korbin came too. We haven't been there since before we moved to Utah and Ashleigh was about 3 so she didn't really remember it, but she and Preston both loved it so much!!! Nick had a lot of fun playing in the jungle too! It was awesome!



Then we went back home and while Ashleigh hid, Bridget and I hid Ashleigh's presents. She looks so cute here patiently waiting for Nick to get back with the pizza so she could find her gifts.



Her gifts...after the party was over I realized that I forgot to hide 2 more gifts so I just gave them to her instead.

A hairbrush from Preston
Crafts

A DVD she wanted

gum balls for her....
gumball machine
more crafts
Scented lotions
Art supplies

Nick hijacked the gift and card from Gma and Gpa Call
Another craft
Gift from gma and gpa call--Barbie from the new Charm School movie
*Love*
I think that's a CD
And another CD
a personal stereo/boom box. :-)
A digital Arts and Crafts Studio. This is an awesome gift! She loves it!!!
She also got a gift card from gma and gpa Ballard-not shown, because she got it and opened it the day before. We have yet to go spend it. She and I need to go on a date to do that soon! :-)
And finally a couple of videos from her birthday. It was really special having Bridget over for the whole day. Ashleigh really appreciated being able to spend the day with her cousin and best-friend.

It was a wonderful day. I love my Ashleigh so much!!! She is such a joy to me and to her whole family and she is truly a blessing to us!

Happy Birthday, Ashleigh! Love you SO much!!! :-)

Then & Now

My kids with their baby pictures taken when they were born. It's amazing how much they have changed in a blink of an eye and I didn't even notice the changes. I love them more than my own life!


Monday, November 7, 2011

Finley's bday

My niece Finley turned 2 on Nov 1 and we went over to celebrate with them. Emily served a yummy dinner and then we decorated cupcakes, sang happy birthday, and I gave Finley our gift for her--gumball machine and gum. (she asks me for gum nearly every time she see's me, so I thought it'd be a good gift) Finley is such a doll. I love spending time with her and I'm so glad we are living close to the Mooney's again! :-)





Later that night Preston dressed up with some of daddy's clothes and made this funny face...so I took a picture. :-) Love that boy.

Happy Halloween

Since Halloween was on a Monday Nick had to work and missed out on all the fun! I took the kids trick or treating by myself which actually turned out to be pretty fun. We drove to the "rich" Felida neighborhood near my parents old house. I figured the kids would get bigger candy bars that way, plus I know the area and trust walking around alone there.

The kids had SO much fun!!! I told Preston that we could only go to the houses that had their outside lights on so as soon as he'd get his candy at one house he would run to the sidewalk and look at the next house and then yell "Lights on, lights on" if we could go there next and he would run up to the door...Ash was having a hard time keeping up with him. It was hilarious!

Ash dressed as Lucy from the Chronicles of Narnia, and Preston was a fireman.

As soon as their buckets would get full they'd empty them in to a pillow case that I brought along and they would go get more candy. They ended up filling their buckets 3-4 times. We got a ton of candy.

After 1 hour they were all done and were ready to head home. Here they are with all their candy. :-) I can't believe they got so much! wow.

It was such a fun night. I'm glad that Preston isn't scared to go anymore and I'm glad that Ashleigh has patience with her impatient brother. :-)