Daddy Daughter Date Night

Rylie was so excited for her big night out with dad. The parks department puts on a Daddy Daughter dinner and dance that is so fun for both girls and dads.

Rylie chose the dress that she thought would twirl the most when she spun around. We curled her hair and got her all dolled up for her big night out.

Brian surprised Rylie with her very first coursage. It was a wrist coursage with three pink carnations to match her dress. This brought huge smiles and a big hug for dad.

Love this picture!

Rylie, Hannah and Rachel

Getting together before the dance to take pictures of the girls and dads.

Back to front: Lilly, Ashley, Hope, Kira, Hannah, Rylie, Montana, Rachel and Hailey.

Hope made these cute name cards for each of the girls and put them at the table.

Rylie and Hope

Dinner consisted of chicken, potatoes, beans and for dessert, ice and brownies. Yum, Yum!

Dancing the night away.

Winter Break

I've decided that whoever started "winter break" (for those of you who don't know, it's a week long holiday in the middle of February) should be shot. They obviously did not have kids or they must have had a lot of money to fly to Disneyland every year. What is the point of winter break. It seems like the kids just got back to school from Christmas break and they have spring break in another six weeks. Do they really need one in Feb.?

So I awoke this morning to a loud screem by Rylie. It is 7:00a.m. and they are already fighting. I am so excited to get out of bed today! Austin was up a 6:30 this morning (no sleeping in for my kids)and the rest were up by 7:00. The arguing and fighting continued for most of the morning. We headed out for a few hours and things calmed down a little. We returned after lunch and invited some friends over to hopefully help the day pass a little faster.

The friends did help but now look at my house. A mess in every room. And I get to do this again tomorrow. Lucky me!

It's Colin's Birthday

On February 13th my special little boy turned 5. I tease him that he is my love baby because he was almost born on Valentine's Day.

Colin started talking about his birthday last fall and we would tell him that his birthday was after Christmas. So once Christmas was over he started asking quite frequently when his birthday was and we have been having a count down since Feb. 1st. Brian and I were saying that we don't remember our other kids getting so excited for their birthday. It was really cute.

He started his b-day celebration a few days early at preschool. He got his b-day crown and brought donuts to share with his class.

Colin (and all the kids) were up early on the day of his birthday. It was almost like Christmas. He was so excited to open his gifts so we had to do it before Austin left for school.

Colin's favorite gift was Lego Batman for the DS.

Brian took the day off to spend with Colin but then he had to make a trip to Bellevue for work and Colin did not want to go so Brian took Sienna with him and I took Colin out for a birthday lunch at McDonlad's. It was fun to have a Colin/Mom lunch together.


When we have a family party the birthday boy or girl gets to choose an activity to do and where to go for dinner. Colin chose bowling and IHOP. He had been telling us for weeks that he wanted pancakes and sausage for his birthday dinner. Great choice since all the kids love breakfast.

Colin likes to run and slide on his knees when he throws the ball.

Colin's Indiana Jones cake.

Happy Birthday Colin! Your enthusiasm for life brings joy and many blessings to our family. We love you!

My first 5K run

Okay, so I finally tried my first 5K run last Saturday. One of the teacher's at Rylie's school is fighting breast cancer and so the community sponsered this run to help raise money for her treatment. I have been wanting to try a 5K for awhile and thought this was the perfect opportunity.

It was a nice sunny day, blue sky, no rain. I start out thinking this is going to be great. Soon young children and old men are passing me by. I am huffing and puffing and thinking, wow, I am still out of shape ( I have been running about 3-4 times a week for about 6 months). Of course I was pushing about an extra 100 punds (stroller + 2 kids). I had a great time and am proud that I finished and wasn't dead last.

I think I would like to try another one, this time with no kids!