Decorating for Christmas

We always start decorating for Christmas a little early in this household because we love it so much!!  This year, all 3 girls had a lot of fun helping with the Christmas tree.  It even became a little dance party at one point.  :)  And of course all 3 wanted to help with the star on top of the tree.

Emma's Field Trip to Riley's Farm

Emma already had her 1st grade field trip and it was to Riley's Farm this year.  I loved that we were able to go during the fall because it was so beautiful!!  We had a lot of fun together.  She was able to learn about colonial times and got to: sweep out a cabin, make candles, make butter, make apple cider, learn how to garden, play games, pet animals, and go on a wagon ride.  My favorite part was the apple pie I was able to bring home which was delicious!!  The last picture is of her and Ben.  Ben is in her class for part of the day and has a lot of disabilities.  Emma loves him and she is really good at being his friend. (Proud parents!)

 

Maddie's Thanksgiving Performance

For Thanksgiving, Maddie's preschool gave a cute performance as both Indians and Pilgrims.  They dressed up as each of them and sang adorable songs.  I love moments like these with the little ones!  Maddie sang loud enough that we could hear her and she could not stop smiling that adorable smile because she was so excited to perform for us.  Unfortunately for us, when they sang the Pilgrim songs, the little girl next to her kept throwing her arms out and blocking Maddie.  Jacob and I both wanted to yell at her but we maintained our composure....barely.  :)

Halloween!

We had a lot of fun for Halloween this year.  First, we enjoyed our awesome ward party.  They had great food, a costume contest, chili cook-off (I got 2nd place!) and jumpers and games for the kids.  The girls had a lot of fun there!  Then, we were able to go trick or treating in our new neighborhood with our new neighbors.  We especially enjoyed this because it was the first time that we were able to actually go trick or treating in our own neighborhood.  We only had to walk a couple of streets for about an hour and our buckets were full!  We are so happy with our new neighborhood! (I didn't get any actual pictures of us trick or treating...oops!)

Halloween Pumpkin Carving

This year we had a lot of fun carving pumpkins with the girls.  This is not my favorite Halloween activity but luckily my husband is stellar and takes care of the hard parts.  This year, Emma actually drew on her own face (if you can't tell!).  However, Daddy did cut all of them out because I am not ready for that yet! While Daddy cut, the girls colored some Halloween pictures.  The girls had a lot of fun doing this and I am so happy we can make memories like this together. (By the way, I love Kenna's complete interest in the pumpkin and utter lack of interest in the camera!)

Random Pics

Every once in awhile I have to post some random pics of the girls because they are so cute and funny.  Here are a few:

My silly girls playing dress up.

 Riding the horses at Tom's Farms.

This one Maddie was going up to her room for "rest time" where she can read books or play on the Ipad.  She obviously was pretty tired and didn't quite make it through without falling asleep.

Emma's 6th Birthday

This week we got to celebrate Emma's 6th birthday!  She got to do a couple of fun things.  First, she had both grandma's and MB and Nathan over for her birthday dinner.  Then, she got to go to school and have donuts with her classmates.  Then, she got to donate a book to her school and got recognized for doing so.  It was especially cool because she donated a book that her Uncle Mike and Aunt Doo wrote and illustrated.  Then, she finally got to celebrate at Chuck E Cheese with her friends!  Funny story, on the way to Chuck E Cheese the cupcakes didn't quite make it.  They melted all over the place and then fell over and got all plastered together.  So when they sang Happy Birthday, Emma willingly pretended to blow out a candle on a piece of pizza.  Such a trooper!
Ten things about Emma now:
1. She has a newfound love for chicken salad with italian dressing on it.
2. She is doing exremely well in school and loves it.
3. She loves to play with friends and hates the "drama" the 1st grade girls already have.  She just wants to play!
4. She really likes to color and draw and will make a card for anyone!
5. She loves to play with our new neighbor Aiden.  We are only one house apart so they yell at each other to come play from their playhouses.
6. She is a great big sister and really helps mom out with her little sisters.
7. She can shower all by herself now and will even wash Maddie.  I love it!!
8. She eats A LOT so she must be growing.  She literally eats as much as I do at meal times.
9. One of her favorite things right now is our Friday Night movie and popcorn.
10. She keeps me on my toes and makes sure that we do Family Home Evening every Monday Night.