EMILY

So here are Austin's adjectives to describe Emily.

E Extra special
M Marvelous
I Imaginative
L Literal
Y Young


Oh she just melts my heart. Emily is one of the sweetest little girls you will ever meet. She has the most infectious smile and is always happy. She is shy at first, but once she lets you in the girl will talk your ear off. She has such the imagination. She loves to pretend she's a horse, or a dog... or really anything. She loves to play, write, draw... she's not much into movies. She loves to talk about getting older and getting married, but not wanting to kiss any boys. She picks up a lot of things from school - perhaps the funniest thing she said last week was that Justin Beaver loves Lady Gomez.

Emily is such a girly girl. She picks out her clothes most morning and sometimes she puts together some interesting concoctions. There's a pair of white tights I have hid and thrown away a countless number of times... but they magically appear on her legs some mornings. She's also about doing her own hair now. She loves to wear bows, headbands, anything to accessorize.

Emily is truly quite the helper. She likes to keep things tidy and help cook. I feel bad because she is always asking to help and most of the time I turn it down... I need to do a better job of including her in those things.

Emily and her sister half the time are the best of friends... the other times they are fighting. They do have a special connection though, and I hope they continue to have that bond as they get older.

Party Fun

My twinkies are turning seven!

They really wanted a sleepover this year. This was our first attempt at a bigger sleepover, and maybe our last. Haha, only kidding! Whew it was a lot of work though! We initially told each girl they could each invite 5 friends. After thinking that over, we decided 3 might be a better number.

Don't feel sorry for Austin that the girls were chasing him and picking on him. I think he secretly enjoyed all of it.


We started off playing pictionary

and then did a scavenger hunt.

The weather really screwed up my plans for our scavenger hunt. It was nasty outside, rainy and cold. So we had to move it inside. At the very end of the hunt, we placed a lot of clues throughout the house that led them to their final prize.

A personalized flashlight!



It was Abby's team vs. Emily's team.... but everyone got a prize in the end.





After the scavenger hunt, cake, and presents... onto the movies. Two Barbie movies and Dolphin Tale.

Some of the girls fully intended on this being an up all night sleepover. At around 1:00, I was up there every 5 minutes telling the girls to settle down and go to sleep.

The next day they ate donuts, played, did some makeup.... and went home.

That same day you would never know that any of it had happened :)

The perfect pair

Do you recognize anything different about Abby from the picture above vs. the picture below?

Something she would only do if she got a treat?

I swear she would do almost anything for sugar.

Abby is loving her new ears!

Her sister came for "moral support." Emily swore to her it would only feel like a pinch. Then as soon as the guns were pointed at Abby's ears Emily screamed, "Abby, it is going to hurt so BAD!" I should have left her at home.

COLE

The other night Austin went to bed, and instead of going to sleep he worked on some adjectives to describe every member of our family. I thought it was cute. I'll start with Cole.

C Crazy
O Oversized
L Likable
E Extraordinary

Oh my gosh. I laughed so hard... especially on "oversized." He is right on though!

I'm pretty sure Cole is weighing in around the 35 lb mark. He was over 30 at his 18 month check in November. All our kids were chunks when they were little, but I think Cole might have them all beat. He really doesn't walk much when we're out. He runs. And fast!! He has the funniest little run too, everyone laughs as they see him coming. I think they're surprised a kid his size can run so fast. And if you have to carry him, you get a pretty good workout.

This poor child doesn't have many pictures taken of him. He loves being outside and kicking the soccer ball like big brother. He doesn't like going to games... especially during nap time. He constantly tries to run on the field and pitches a fit when you carry him off. Not embarrassing at all. He loves parks, especially ones with slides and swings.

He pretty much imitates anything his siblings do... like trying to do a headstand.

You would never know Cole is a 4th child. I think he thinks he's an only child. He gets completely jealous and upset if anyone is sitting next to me besides him. He'll cry, scream, kick... do whatever he can to move that person. Maybe that's where Austin got the "crazy" part. The other kids remind him that I love them too and he's not the only kid in our family... haha.

Cole loves baths! He can stay in there for a good hour and not get tired of it.

James, myself, and Cole went on a date the other night. Not much of a date when you have to bring an almost 2 year old, but the older kids had parents night out at our gym. So it was nice to go out to dinner which we rarely do. Cole was happy as long as he had an ice cube in his mouth.

Little man finally got all his crazy hair cut off last week. It looks cute here, but the second we got in the car he started messing with it. It looked like he had a mohawk by the time we got home. I still can't get it to lay flat on his head.

Austin summed it up quite nicely, we do think he is pretty extraordinary. :)