Happy, Happy Birthday Girls...

So, what's a girl (or two) supposed to do when her birthday happens to fall on the same day as a baby cousin's blessing? You take that birthday out of town and live it up as best as you can!! Our little twinsers turned 7 this past weekend, and they got to celebrate their birthday down in (semi) sunny San Diego with family! Here are the birthday girls on their last morning as 6 year olds...

Doug and I decorated the outside of their doorway and into the hallway with streamers and a banner. We covered both their bedroom floor and the hallway floor with a LOT of blown up balloons...our girls love balloons. Even Mac was super excited when she woke up on the big day...she sure loves her older sisters.

 

 

 

We had to be at a baby blessing early Sunday morning, so we decided to go down on Saturday and spend the night in a hotel. The girls absolutely LOVED it...you would have thought we were taking them to Disneyland! Here they are on their special day, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after staying the night in their cool, posh hotel room (they thought it was pretty awesome...dad even showed them the "right" way to jump on the very bouncy bed) 

And here is little Miss Aiden enjoying her birthday dinner at Ruby's on the Oceanside pier...

  

And birthday girl Reilly (notice the cute little flower crown? That was a gift from her uber-talented Aunt Cynthia....SOOO cute, right?)

  

And we all know how my girls love making silly faces...some things don't change with age

  

Despite the chilly winter breeze, Aiden and Reilly wanted to eat their meals outside, on the rooftop deck. So of course, we obliged...and enjoyed the beautiful view! We all got a kick out of the starfish that (somehow) ended up on the roof of the tower. Do seagulls normally stash snacks away for later?

 

   

     

  

   

   

 

And, even though the milkshakes at Ruby's were pretty tasty, no birthday is complete without cake...and cake is just what we had to finish off Aiden and Reilly's birthday.  

 

 

It is hard for me to believe I am the mother of two incredibly sweet, smart, funny, loving, sassy pants, beautiful little 7 year-olds. I have learned so much from these two girls, and I know I will continue to learn from them in the many years ahead. They are my heart and soul. And even though we have the occasional rough day, I am so glad they are quick to forgive their imperfect mother for all the mistakes she makes. And believe me, the mistakes are frequent. I'm not sure why these two chose me over all the other amazing moms out there there to be their mother, but I am very grateful they did. I love them more than they understand, and I hope I have done right by them these past 7 years.  

Happy 7th birthday baby girls!! I love you Aiden! I love you Reilly!

In-Class Birthday Celebration - Aiden

We are getting close to the twins' birthday, and today was Aiden's special day to celebrate in class.

Unfortunately her teacher was (still) out sick (poor thing!), but instructions were left for the substitute so we were still able to par-tay! For birthday celebration, each kids writes a special letter to the birthday girl/boy saying what they like about that person or why that person is special. Each page is then bound together and the birthday girl/boy gets to go home with a custom-made birthday book. I'm not sure if Aiden was happier about the book or the fact that she got to color the cover, either way, she was one happy (un)birthday girl. At the end of it all, everyone sings happy birthday and then Aiden got to pass out special birthday goody bags to her classmates. Talk about a fun way to make this (soon-to-be) birthday girl feel very, very special!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to the birthday celebration, Aiden and Reilly's class had a Thanksgiving celebration today. I had volunteered to bring veggies, and what better way to present them than as a veggie turkey! Gobble, gobble little ones... 

In-Class Birthday Celebration - Reilly

Today was Reilly's special day to celebrate her birthday with her 1st grade class. Unfortunately, her (fun and amazing) teacher was out sick, so Roo was (more than) a little bummed that she wasn't going to be there. BUT, Mrs. Pfister being the amazing substitute that she is, helped to make the afternoon special for Reilly. Roo received her custom birthday book, made entirely by her classmates (Aiden wanted to help read some of the pages of to Reilly), and she got to hand out a special birthday surprise to all of her friends. It was a super fun day...and she is now one day closer to turning 7 years old (YIKES!).

 

 

 

  

  

MIA...again

For anyone who might still be looking at this dearly neglected blog of ours, I just want to reassure that yes, we are still alive and well. I am sorry for being so absent and for not filling you in on the happenings of our little family. There is not a day that goes by without me thinking "you know, I really need to get caught up on the blog. I haven't journaled in "X" number of days/weeks/months"...but, as you are well aware, that long overdue update has yet to occur. Well folks, that is something I plan to resolve RIGHT now...even if it means I have to stay up all night, I WILL get some updates posted on this blog.

Stay tuned for the upcoming blog blitz!! Here's a semi- recent photo for stopping by...yup, those are my [silly, crazy, goofy, always-entertaining, beautiful] girls!

Just Call Me Little Miss Smiley...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Ribbon Week...

For this year's Red Ribbon Week, the girls' school focused on being drug free as well as living a healthy lifestyle. Each day the students were given a different theme that they could dress up for (red shirt day for being drug free, sweats day for getting out and exercising, team jerseys for team work/working together, etc.). To go along with the themes, the students were also given a special homework assignment that reinforced the topic of the day. All week, we have discussed healthy eating choices and how we can live a more active lifestyle. More than once I got called out by the girls on a not-so-healthy decision (such as my Dr. Pepper habit), but it also helped the girls to better understand why I (try to) always have both fruit and vegetables in their lunches, and why I don't allow them to have sugary juices and sweets too often. It has been a very educational experience for all of us, and hopefully this week's focus will help us all remember to make healthier choices.

I didn't get pictures of all the days, but I did manage to snap a few on jersey day. We aren't super fanatic sports followers, so since we didn't have "official team jerseys" the girls opted to wear some old jerseys from Doug's sporting years. They LOVED them...and looked awfully cute sporting their Dad's old tops.

 

 

  

Fall Festival...

Tonight was the annual fall festival at the girls' school. They were super excited and couldn't WAIT to go. This year, Aiden decided she wanted to be a vampire and Reilly opted to be a ghost. The girls really, REALLY wanted store-bought costumes this year but it simply wasn't in the budget. SO, after making a trip to Goodwill and the clearance fabric bin at Walmart, these are the costumes we came up with. 

 

 

Aiden kept telling me she wanted a long, fancy red dress. I found one at goodwill for $5 and simply had to remake/alter the top and the straps to get it to fit my little girl. I also found the cape at goodwill for a dollar, and the belt was made from some trim I had in my fabric stash. 

 

She seemed pretty happy with the final result.

 

Reilly was very specific with her costume wishes this year. "Mom - all you have to do is get a white sheet and cut holes out for the eyes. It's been a little chilly in the evenings and I didn't have any spare white sheets, so I bought enough clearance fabric to double-layer and create a more form-fitting ghost costume than the traditional charlie-brown-sheet-over-the-head. I also used some scraps of black lace to fill the eye holes so they could be larger and help with air ventilation. 

  

Reilly thought it was great that didn't have to smile for all of the photos because, as she kept saying "You can't see my face anyway, Mom...so it's okay if I don't smile."

 

Mac didn't don a costume for the Fall Fair, but she was awfully cute in some festive tights and an old pumpkin tee (Reilly's favorite, as previously documented HERE)

 

Even with vampire teeth and fake blood, I really do think I have the cutest little "ghouls" around!!