Good Bye School HELLO SUMMER!

THE GIRLS BOTH HAD A GREAT YEAR IN SCHOOL THANKS TO THEIR AMAZING TEACHERS!
Here is Hailey performing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" for her class and their families. She is so stinking cute. She actually has a really pretty voice too!

Eliza's class did a 'mini society' where one of their assignments was to come up with their own business. Eliza chose to do caricatures since she loves drawing. Here she is drawing her teacher "Miss A". She was very successful and made quite a lot of "golden bucks". Go Liza!

REASON #1 WHY WE LOVE SUMMER: BIRTHDAYS!

Hailey chose to have a Pajama party (no sleep over involved) with her friends. We had a bbq, decorated purses (which became the goody bag), played some indoor and outdoor games, and Eliza made each of the girls a cute hair clip with their choice of flower, ribbon, and gemstone for the middle. Wow can those little girls have fun!

Eliza's party (the very next day!) was much more low key. She invited her 3 best friends (best school friend, best church friend, and best neighbor friend). Eliza chose to have a mall/slumber party. First I took the girls to the mall and they each got to buy something for $5. Then we had pizza @ home, decorated purses (which also ultimately carried their 'goodies'), made flower clips, and had a sleepover. It turned out really fun!

REASON #2 WHY WE LOVE SUMMER: PLAYING OUTSIDE!

Here are the girls playing out in our yard on the slip and slide. I LOVE having a yard! After being in an apartment for so long with kids this is something I really appreciate..the girls too!

Splash park!! One of the parks near our home has a new splash park that the girls just love. We had a horribly hot week a couple of weeks back and this really came in handy. Ava goes crazy running through the water. She keeps saying "Water..Fun.." She's starting to put more words together so that's been fun. I love that girl so much.

Here's a nice action shot of Hailey. You go girl!

Eliza with her friend Lindsey (whom she has spent every waking moment with this summer..she lives right down the street. It's been great..they're like two pea's in a pod!)and her sister Sydney.

REASON #3 WHY WE LOVE SUMMER: SLEEPING IN!

Isn't this picture precious? Ava is such a snuggler. It's sweet and cute, but now she prefers to sleep snuggling up next to us in our bed rather than next to her baby in her own bed. Yes, this has become a problem that really needs to be fixed. I know how to fix it..I'm just dreading it!

Anyway, summer's been great! I love having the girls home with me (most of the time) and so far we've kept pretty busy and had a lot of fun in the process..with more to come!

My trip to Utah

Here are a few pictures from my recent trip to Utah in May. Shane had Memorial weekend off so I jumped on the opportunity to fly out BY MYSELF! and spend some time with my family. Here's my sister Emily and her husband Ryan with their new baby girl Annie. She's so sweet.

MMMmm Out for chinese food at the Mandarin. Mom, me, Dad, Ryan, John, and Em

Dad with Caleb, Isaac, and Mckay at Caleb's soccer game

My brave sister..mother of 5!!

I was able to spend some much needed quality one on one time with my parents. It was wonderful. I love them so much.

Thanksgiving pics

My little brother Matt and his wife Chrissy traveled from Des Moines, Iowa to be with us on Thanksgiving. Zach and Tirzah and their girls also joined us. Good times were had catching up with each other, the girls making jewelry with Aunt Chrissy, playing Blokus, and attempting to moisten up the turkey by letting it bathe a while in a pool of gravy (oh well...Thanksgiving side dishes are my favorite anyway..who needs turkey really?) Thanksgiving is always the most difficult holiday away from family so I loved having them here!

Zach, Tirzah, Chrissy, Matt, Erin and Shane

Me with my girls Liza bear and Hailey bug

Tirzah, Sarah, and Zach

Matt and Chrissy

Hailey, Kayti and Sarah at 'the kids table'

Eliza and Anna

10 Random Things

I've been 'tagged' for the very first time in my blogging career! My good friend Hilary (whom I love and miss dearly :)) challenged me to write ten random things about myself. So even though it's very unlike me to do something like this..I thought what the heck! Plus I feel extremely honored that Hilary would pick me. So here goes....

1. I hate being the center of attention. Whenever I know that all eyes are on me my face always goes red.

2. I love watching cooking shows and painting shows. Two things that I would love to be able to do really well.

3. I prefer hand, arm, and face massages over a back massage.

4. My fears are spiders(although I've had to overcome this fear somewhat since my husband is never home to kill them for me..I have to take matters into my own hands), water (when I don't know how deep it is, also fear of my kids drowning), and car accidents-or one of my kids getting hit by a car.

5. I used to walk in my sleep when I was a kid...frequently. Sorry mom and dad!

6. I never forward e-mails..especially when the e-mail specifically tells me to forward it to X number of people. I refuse. I know..I'm such a rebel.

7. I always sleep with a pillow between my knees. I started doing that out of necessity when I was pregnant and it's just become a habit. I can't sleep without it.

8. I really want to learn how to play the guitar. It's one of my favorite instruments. Eliza and I just picked up a 'learn to play guitar' book from the library and have since mastered 3 chords! Well, maybe not quite 'mastered'. But I am really determined to learn. I love music...it is something that I've always been passionate about.

9. I have a habit of picking at my eyebrows. I'm sure one of these days I'll regret this when I have to start drawing on my eyebrows with eye liner.

10. I'm a very indecisive person. I don't like being in charge and I don't like making decisions. Having too many options overwhelms me.

Alright..that wasn't so hard. Thanks Hil, good times were had!
Am I supposed to tag someone now? (sorry-I'm still new at this)
If so..I TAG Jen, Chrissy, Nanette, and Mom.

My little artist

Back in September Eliza had the opportunity to submit some artwork to the Oakland county "Arts, Beats, and Eats" festival. Children from schools all over Oakland county were invited to participate and were given several different themes to choose from. Eliza chose three different themes: 'What I love about Michigan'(Picture of the beach and lighthouse in Ludington, MI-Painting), 'Pop Culture' (Picture of Phineas and Ferb-Pastels on black paper), and 'Nature' (3-D Bumlebee sitting on a paper flower).

Eliza was selected as one of the winners for her "What I Love About Michigan" painting of Ludington! She won a $25 gift card to Target and her painting was displayed in the Oakland County Executive Offices. Pretty cool, huh?!

I'm so proud of my Liza Bear. She really is such a smart and creative girl. Congratulations Eliza! We love you!

10 Years

Shane and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary on August 18th. 10 years! I can't believe it. We were able to go on an overnight getaway (thanks to Zach and Tirzah for watching our girls) to a cute little German town here in Michigan called Frankenmuth. It was so much fun to spend some time together, just the two of us. We haven't done that in years. I'm so grateful for Shane and for the life we have together. There's no one else I'd rather share it with.

Still catching up! Cory and Angie's Wedding, July 2009

We had such a great trip to Utah in July. The main event and reason we went out was for Shane's brother Cory's wedding. Cory married an incredible girl named Angie and we all just love her. The wedding was beautiful and we loved being with our family and friends. I was also able to celebrate my 30th birthday while we were there which was so much fun. I had a spoil day with mom and Emily-we went out to lunch, shopping and pedicures! It was a great trip. Here are some highlights..