Catch up

I've only been blogging for a few weeks, and I've already hit my first blogging slump.  Like, when you just don't have a chance to blog and so much happens that it becomes overwhelming to go back, so you just put it off even longer, so even more stuff happens...  

We've just been enjoying our Idaho summer over here.  It got extremely hot for a couple weeks, so we got used to being inside a lot, or if we ventured out it was to go to the splash pad.  We dared to take our littles to the Boise Music Festival in 105 degree weather.  I'm not sure if it was the smartest move, but we had fun and no one suffered from heat stroke.  We drank LOTS of water, kept the kids cool with wet cloths, stayed in the shade, and took off as much clothing as possible.  This year's lineup included The Plain White T's (brought me way back to my high school/college days), Shaggy, Redfoo (Loved it!!), Nick Jonas, and Rob Thomas. 

We also went on a short vacation to Grandma's house in Rigby over the fourth of July.  We had tons of busy fun with Grandma, uncles, aunts and cousins.  Cody's mom lives on the most beautiful property right on the river and it feels like a vacation home.  While we were there, we enjoyed floating the river, fireworks, backyard swimming, a parade, a carnival, and eating so much we were never hungry.  Everly got to spend the entire time with her cousin who's the same age.   They didn't get along as well as we'd hoped this time, so there was a lot of crying and drama.  We're hoping it's a phase that will pass before the next time they get together.   We were all happy to have so much quality time with family, but we were also happy to end the crying and fighting and come home to our comfortable place.

Other than that, we've been doing the usual stuff: playing in the back yard, eating macaroni and peanut butter sandwiches, reading books, taking naps, making messes, cleaning up messes, doing laundry, baths, coloring, play-doh, parks, doing time-outs, riding bikes, etc...

Oh, and Everly's been wearing nothing but her "jingly skirt" around the house every day. :)

I have a 4-year-old

Why does four seem so much older than three? This year has flown by because of all the changes our family has been through.  My tiny baby has turned into a big girl over night.  A small part of me is trying to hold onto that little bald baby, but a bigger part of me is excited about the girl she's becoming.  I love watching her grow and learn new things, and I adore the person she is.  This morning I watched her overcome her fears and frustrations when she discovered how fast and far she could ride her new bike.  I couldn't have been more proud in that moment, as I ran down the street in my flip-flops trying to keep up.  She's curious, smart, and she really cares about things.  If it doesn't make sense to her, she must find out why.  When she makes a mistake that hurts someone, she is truly heartbroken.  She's taking her sisterly responsibilities very seriously, and teaches her sister about life.  Ev has embraced books and loves to practice her letter sounds.  She sounded out her first word the other day with no help. 

So we had a perfect fourth birthday yesterday.  I was feeling guilty about not having a real birthday party with her friends (why? I don't know,) so I smashed as much fun into the day as I could.   I stayed up late the night before making a birthday shirt for her.  We went to breakfast at Krispy Kreme.  She said they were the best doughnuts in the world and enjoyed watching the "factory" through the window.  We stopped at the party store to pick a birthday crown, then went to play at Aunt Janna's house for the morning.  Everly loves to visit Aunt Janna and Uncle Brett ("the boy one") and was very excited to go. They played on the trampoline and the tire swing, looked for fairies in the "woods" behind their house, went in the tree house and played with toys.  It was the perfect thing to do that day.

 Cody came home early and we went to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner.  We ate too much pizza and had enough tokens to play to our hearts' content and then some more.  Everly was very busy and excited. 

Then we came home to cake and presents.  She got a lot of fun gifts that were perfect for her.  Sidewalk chalk paint, bubble gun, water gun, clothes and accessories, crafts(glue, paper, things to glue on paper,) a Dora fishing pole, earrings, and a bike.  One of my favorite parts of the day was the treasure hunt she had to do to find her bike.  She said, "This is so fun.  It's funner than all the things!" It was a perfect day for my cute girl.  She was smiling and making up birthday songs about herself all day. 

Daddy Day

On Cody's first Father's Day, I made him to go the park to pose for pictures with his daughter.  I adored those pictures and decided to keep doing them every year.  It's become one of my favorite traditions.  I just love to capture my favorite people in a picture I can keep forever, and it's fun to look back and see how our family has grown. 

2012

2013

2014

I especially loved this year because Anneliese was so little.  We didn't leave the house, but we still did it!

2015

This year, we went to Eagle Island State Park to take our pictures (coolest place!)  It's beautiful there and there's so much for the kids to do and explore. 



 Anneliese has recently discovered kisses, and she loves to give them away! (open mouth, of course)

 And then I had to take a gazillion pictures of my kids, because they are so beautiful.