Alejandro

As per tradition, we went ice skating on Christmas Eve.

Due to my preggo-ness, I had to sit out but Dale took one for the team and got on skates and helped the little kids.

Even though he had to help Ella a lot, that didn't make him too busy to entertain us with a graceful and stunning interpretive ice dance.

Enjoy this masterpiece set to the tune of "Alejandro."

Christmas Wreath

I went pretty low key on the outside Christmas decorations this year. Normally, I like to make some new decorations every year. The only thing I've had time and energy to do this year is this wreath.

I'm actually pretty proud of it. I made it out of coffee filters. I didn't intend it to be so huge and puffy but 90% of the crafts I make don't turn out the way I intended. It kinda reminds me of a big powdered doughnut. Maybe that's why I like it so much!

I added some doo dads and ribbon from Hobby Lobby. The metal "Noel" sign is from Hobby Lobby too.


A little birdie is staring at you when you come to my door.

One Year Older and Wiser Too

Wednesday was my big 31st birthday!

Last year I did not want to turn 30 at all. It's not an old age by any means but I was sad about not being in my 20's any more. I think I've mourned that completely and I'm now in it to win it. Let's do this, 30's!

Anyway, I had a way great birthday. Dale surprised me by taking the day off, getting a babysitter, and telling me we are going shopping all day for things I want. Just him and I.

So shopping all day we went but I ended up getting mostly things for the kids. I wanted some new items to add to my maternity wardrobe but trying on clothes when you are 7 months pregnant is not good for morale. I decided I didn't need my bubble burst on my birthday so I stopped looking for clothes and just had a nice time with Dale.

We spent several hours together with out being interrupted or having to talk over kid chatter and that is a wonderful gift in and of itself.

Dale did however, surprise me with this little number:


I had noticed it in a store called Contagious on Main Street in Mesa. Dale hunted it down and triumphantly gave it to me on the morning of my birthday.

"One Year Older And Wiser Too" is a line in a happy birthday song that the kids sing in church primary. I was thinking about this song the other day and I decided that yes, I do feel wiser over this one year.

One thing is I've gotten better about not setting unobtainable and unrealistic standards for myself.

Women can be their own worst critics and I'm trying not to feel guilty about the times when I don't meet the expectations I've imagined other people are holding me to.

I know you all don't really care if my house is clean, if my clothes are perfect, if my home decor is just so. These are all things that a lot of women have assumed that others expect them to be doing.

So guess what? Sometimes a take a nap on the couch in my messy house while my kids zone out on TV. Sometimes I run errands in my sweats. Sometimes I give up on dinner and get fast food. Sometimes my kids have messy hair. Sometimes my loft is absolutely covered in laundry for days. Sometimes I go out with no makeup. And I bet most other moms do a lot of these things too.

But for some reason I have trained myself to feel guilty about all that. In my mind I think I should be vacuuming in heels and pearls while a roast is in the oven because I've imagined that's what everyone else thinks I'm doing.

Am I still sometimes worried about what others think of me and my house and my kids and my clothes and my bank account and my car and my personality and my talents? Yes. But I'm getting better about reminding myself that as long as I'm doing my best it's okay and I can let go of these silly standards that I've created for myself.

Seriously, life is much easier and funner when I think like this.

So here's to the 30's. Not as young as the 20's but just as awesome.

Veteran's Day Parade!

Our girlies got to march in the Mesa Vet's Day Parade this past Thursday! This was Tabby's second year and Ella's first time. They both had fun and I was a proud mama! I kept telling my kids how fun it is for parents to get to see their kids do awesome things.

The only bad part of this great day was when the girls were waiting in the staging area and a car rolled over a full water bottle that had it's lid on. The water fired out like a rocket and was a direct hit on Tabby. All she heard was a loud BANG and next thing she knew, she was soaked. Poor thing. All she was worried that her wet pom poms would get water on the girls next to her.

Other than that, is was a perfect day.

Here are some pics of the girls before the parade started:






The preschool aged girls get to cheer from the trailer. Here is Ella waiting to start.



All the Dance Addiction girlies!


Here's our group that came to watch. We are all excitedly anticipating the dancers coming by!


Luckily, they weren't that far back in the parade order so it was a short wait!


Ella gave us a wave:


Tabby told her daddy that he better not yell super loud for her and go crazy. So of course he did. Here she is trying not to be embarrassed.


There they go!


Here's the video we took. You can hear Dale yelling like a fool.

Halloween

My favorite holiday has passed. A moment of silence please.

Out with spooky decorations and fun costumes in with turkey, shopping, and supposedly crisp fall air which has yet to happen here in AZ. It's still 90 outside! I should not be sweating in my house in November!

We had lots of activities to make Halloween fun. Pumpkin carving was one of them, of course.

Ella had her reservations about cleaning out the insides of the pumpkin. This surprises me because usually she delights in all things yucky.

Rex giving it a shot:

Tabby was all gung-ho about it:

When it was time to carve, the kids helped me pick out a pattern which ended up being a spooky owl on a branch. Gifted in the ways of carving, I am not. What started out being a pretty good looking owl ended up in a headless unidentifiable shape.

Yeah, no.

So I quit on the owl, got my sharpie, turned the pumpkin around and drew your standard 3 triangles and a mouth jack-o-lantern. You can even still see the black marker on this bad boy. That's how much I cared at that point.

Note the detail of the blood coming out of the corners of his mouth. Such fine craftsmanship. His name of course was Jerk-o-Lantern. And he was proudly displayed on our porch for all to see.

So now here's pictures one of my favorite parts of Halloween! The costumes!!!

Tabby was a dark fairy. She had originally set out to be a vampiress but the teeth were hard to work with so we ditched them and the dark fairy was born.





Rex won't ever let me make his costume. He insists on being the latest super hero. This is good and bad because it's fun for me to make my kids costumes but then again, so easy to just buy one at Wal-Mart and hand it to him to wear.

I am Ironman!




Ella Rose dressed in a flower fairy costume that Tabby wore a few years ago. She looked just as precious as I remember Tabby being.




I made Gunner a viking costume. It's perfect for him because he is a savage beast!



We had a fun Halloweenie roast in our driveway where we invited all our neighbors! Unfortunately, I didn't take any pics myself but my lovely neighbor Marcy did. I did what any friend would do and stole her pics to post them here.

Here youngest boy taking a swing at the pinata:

Chaos ensues when the pinata breaks:

My neighbor Janeice who is the master of Halloween costumes. Here whole family was Alice In Wonderland characters. She was the Mad Hatter. I WISH you could see how detailed her costume was!

Her oldest was The Queen:

And her youngest was Alice. I kept telling her how happy I was that she chose to dress up as me!

My girlies enjoying all the fun:

We share our driveway with our neighbors so it makes a pretty good place for a party.


Another fun activity was our church's Trunk Or Treat.

Tabby ran around with her friends the whole time and I barely even saw her.

Rex ate gobs of candy:


Ella kept returning to the cupcake walk:


And Gunner kept trying to pull his costume off:


So that's it! Until next year!

Boutique Pictures

A couple weeks back I was lucky enough to participate in a fun boutique!

After borrowing a few things and using some decor that I had around the house, I was able to assemble a pretty cute display.

The boutique was a success and I was able to raise money for a good cause!