Sunday, October 30, 2011

Princess Party

A couple of weeks ago we celebrated Annie and Maddux's birthdays, and we did it princess style! Annie and Maddux were born six days apart, so it's been fun for them to have a couple of birthday parties together. This party was really fun. The girls had matching princess dresses and there were extra princess dresses for party attenders to put on when they arrived. We even had a couple of princes in attendance.

Here they are slaying the dragon! Matt was a trooper.

Here are all the party attenders (minus Evey who was napping and came late and Owen who didn't make the picture). Note Callie's expression, she should have napped like Evey. She was a "crankster" the whole party...no fun. From left to right on the couch: Lily (church friend), Callie, Josiah, Maddux, Annie. Left to right on the floor is: Sophie, Carson, Coleman (the Mathis twins), and Lucy.


We even had some grown up "princesses" make an appearance.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Apple Orchard

A few weeks ago we visited an apple orchard. This is probably my favorite thing we do as a family each fall. This was our third year going to an orchard. We've been to different ones each year. This particular one was really geared towards kids.



They had goats

and chickens

a little train the kids could play on

and, Callie's favorite thing...a big pile of hay to climb on. I seriously think we stood there for 30 minutes while she climbed up and down. The weather was gorgeous. It was a great, family outing.
Here is a video of her climbing:

Friday, October 21, 2011

Callie



Callie, I wanted to write this post about you right before your baby brother gets here. You are over 2 1/2 now, and I wanted to remember the things that are uniquely you. Here goes...
-you sure have personality, you are dramatic with high "highs" and low "lows"
-you are so excited to be a big sister and you talk to the baby in my tummy all the time
-you want to do EVERYTHING yourself and unfortunately you tend to whine if every detail doesn't go your way
-you are, and have been since you were little, such a clear talker. you have a big vocabulary and say surprising things all the time
-you love playing w/ your friends
-as of late you love babysitters. the past couple of times, you've basically pushed us out the door
-you can initially be shy in unfamiliar settings
-we know you are comfortable when you start talking a mile a minute
-you are basically either whining (which is no fun) or talking non-stop. I'll take the talking!
-you love being a helper and I think you'll be a great one w/ your brother
-really good at remembering names and faces
-oddly enough you're really good at recognizing mini-vans (or any car for that matter). You can tell the difference between a toyota sienna and a honda oddessy from a long way off and you point out every single one we see on the road!
-you love dancing w/ daddy to christian rap
-you always remind me to pray for daddy and other people
-you are not a tough girl
-you are detail oriented and particular
-you still don't sleep in a predictable way
-you still love to sleep w/ your lovey

I could go on and on. I just wanted to jot these things down to help us remember what you are like right now. We love you so so much and are thankful to God for the gift you are to us.

Friday, October 14, 2011

My discipleship group and "K" is for Kite

We took the girls to the park the other week to attempt to fly a kite. It was our day to talk about the letter K. There was absolutely no wind, so our attempts to fly the kite were in vain. I don't think the girls knew the difference. They loved running alongside Samm as she ran with the kite. It was still a lot of fun, plus we had kiwi fruit and kool-aid for lunch. Also, note how warmly everyone was dressed. We have had perhaps the nicest fall ever in Minnesota. The weather has been amazingly warm (well that is until 2 days ago). It's been chilly and windy for the past couple of days, but we cannot complain. We had so many days in the 80s in October and that just never happens. We'll take it.


Just thought I'd throw up a picture of our d-group this year. It has been such a privilege to be able to lead these girls (along with Holly) two years in a row. From left to right it's Brittnee,me,Emily,Brielle, Allie, and Holly.

Wednesday, October 05, 2011

H is for horse!

It has been so fun getting together with all of Callie's friends once a week to do a "letter of the day." About 2 weeks ago we were scheduled to do the letter H. Annie's Grandma has a friend that has a horse. Her friend graciously agreed to let us bring the girls out to their house (about 20 miles out of the city) to see the horse. All of them were a little shy at first to ride the horse, but when Annie's Grandma offered to ride with them, they all wanted to give it a try. Today Callie and I went on a scavenger hunt in the yard, looking for things that start with the letter L. The most exciting thing from that was collecting leaves. Too bad every "letter" day can't be as exciting as H was!