DURHAM MUSEUM OF LIFE AND SCIENCE

I’m obviously WAY behind on my blog posts because this fun little playdate happened back in February. Better late than never.

My good friend Chelsey invited us to go with her and her kiddos to the Museum of Life and Science. The kids had so much fun. The girls stuck together like glue, Landen and Peter of course wore themselves out, and the babies were such good sports throughout the whole day.

The kids loved the butterfly area. They were all able to hold butterflies on their fingers. Landen wasn’t quite as patient though… when he wanted that butterfly off he’s smack it off his finger. Poor thing, good thing they have a short life span anyways.

And Alana… worn out!

MIA’S 6th BIRTHDAY

Mia turned 6 this year!! We told the girls this year that we weren’t doing birthday parties, however we did do something special. This year I was able to go to Mia’s Kindergarten class and hand out treats. We brought Mia’s favorite yogurt, Cheesecake yogurt with graham cracker pieces to stir in, and chocolate chip cookies. The kids of course scarfed it down and while they did I read them a story. The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman. We love this story about this woman’s 7 children who will only eat one thing. Then on her birthday they all get up and make their favorite food consisting of 2 eggs, oatmeal, pink lemonade, bread dough, apple sauce, and warm milk. They all end up getting frustrated and throwing it into one big pan and into the oven. It turns into this beautiful delicious cake. The mother is overwhelmed and so happy that the children didn’t forget her birthday. It’s really a sweet story.

 

After school, I brought the girls home and her special friend, Clementine, that Mia has been really wanting to have over. The girls played all afternoon and had a blast! We of course did cake and presents with pizza for dinner. We cannot believe how big and responsible Mia has gotten. I can still remember her clinging to my leg while I forced her to go to Primary and Ready to Learn (preschool). She was so shy and apprehensive. She has blossomed to be such a beautiful, sweet young lady. We absolutely adore Mia and are so grateful that we have been blessed to have her in our family for time and all eternity.

 

This is The BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE EVERRRR!! You can find this chocolaty addiction at Harris Teeter. My parents introduced us to it and have been hooked ever since.

LOOK WHO’S 6 MONTHS OLD

SHE IS!

AND SO IS SHE!

DON’T YOU JUST WANT TO EAT THAT FACE!!

Alana Hazel has been in our family for 6 whole months now!! She couldn’t be more perfect and beautiful if she tried. I get stopped when we are out in public ALL OF THE TIME by people who tell me how beautiful she is. I couldn’t agree more. Here are some of the things that she loves:

• Her brother and sisters. She watches them intensely all of the time.
• Playing with her daddy and getting little tastes of whatever he is eating (especially if it has sugar in it.)
• Being held by her mommy and screaming when mommy walks away.
• Solids!! This baby was BORN to eat.
• Bath time. She has always loved the warm water and it used to sooth her as a colicky newborn.
• Tummy time. She is very calm and can play on her tummy for almost 45 minutes.
• Grabbing her passy and then throwing it over the side of her carseat, shopping cart, anywhere on the ground will do.
• NOT sleeping through the night. This is something we’re constantly working on with her. She’ll wake up at 2am or 3am and then again at 6am. This baby does not want to be away from mommy and mommy is paying dearly for it.
• Loves attention. She’ll screech and scream for it.
• Pulling hair.
• Pulling her own hair.
• Kicking. When she gets excited she kicks like crazy.

We obviously LOVE this baby girl and are so blessed that she is a part of our family.

 

 

BAKING COOKIES WITH GRANDMA

While we stayed at Grandma and Grandpa Alo’s the kids got to watch TONS of movies in their theatre room, play games non-stop, and bake cookies with Grandma. Grandma Alo bought special edible markers where the kids could test out their artistic skills on the cookies. I love the concentration on their faces while they create their masterpieces. (Sorry, Landen has no pants on in these pictures. That’s just how he rolls.)

Alana snuggled her puppy while watching her brother and sisters.

CHRISTMAS 2011

The wait is over!! Yes, we did celebrate Christmas this year. And YES it was in December. And YES it is now February and I’m blogging about it.

Christian and I were a little worried about Christmas this year since neither of us have jobs. However, we have been immensely blessed this whole year and Christmas was no exception. It helps that we have such great kids and they would be excited for new socks if we made it exciting enough.

We started off by going out to Grandma and Grandpa Alo’s for a few days before and after Christmas. We had Christmas Eve out in Raleigh with my parents and had a fun dinner with them. We decided instead of making a big dinner that the kids would most certainly underappreciate, we went with an appetizer themed dinner. Buffalo wings, Mexican sausage dip, fresh fruit, etc. It was really good and way easier. We headed home that evening and rolled up to Baity Hill to see this:

We couldn’t even get past all of the fire trucks and ambulance's. Apparently someone’s dryer caught on fire (in a different building) and they brought out all the big guns. I do kind of love that their fire trucks are Carolina Blue. We ended up walking to our building and moving our car later. As tradition, we let each of the kids open one present on Christmas eve.

And set out Santa’s gift from us. Since we didn’t have time to bake something when we got home we thought it would be a good idea to make sure Santa kept up with his dental hygiene. The kids were very proud of themselves.

Christmas morning certainly did not disappoint. Instead of boring you with all of the details I’ll just put up a few of my favorite pictures of the kids expressions. Kalea (as always) is calm and collected. Mia get’s excited. Landen… well, he just takes the cake.

    

If you know Landen at all, you know this kid is OBSESSED with Mario Brothers. He got both Mario and Luigi for Christmas along with Donkey Kong, Toad, and Yoshi. This boy was in H*E*A*V*E*N.

     

We woke up a certain baby girl a little bit early for her taste. She was none too happy and certainly not impressed by Christmas morning. She went back to bed pretty much immediately after she opened her toys.

Ok, I’m over this. Time…. to… roll… over.

Christian and I weren’t left out, we both got some new clothes and I got a new bag which I’m in love with. Not to mention a fancy new waffle iron and a SEWING MACHINE (which I have absolutely no idea how to use). And Christmas would not be complete at UNC without new attire.

After a delicious waffle breakfast we headed out back to Raleigh. We headed over to my parents to stay for a few more days. The kids were spoiled rotten by their Grandparents. Here are a few more pictures to overload you with.

We’ll start with Alana first this time since she went last last time. Grandpa held her most of the time and helped her open up her presents. I love how she and her new puppy are checking each other out.

Anything involving jewelry and beauty Kalea is ALL OVER IT.

Mia has been asking for 2 years for Gogo. Last year she asked for it and we explained that it was SO expensive it would be one of her only gifts if that’s what she wanted to have for Christmas. She burst into tears. It was really sad. This year Grandma got her the “pet” of her dreams. Lucky girl!

Mario Backpack. Landen. No explanation needed.

Then we headed over to the Simpsons where mass chaos erupted. We would expect no less from Christmas at the Simpson home. We got a big group shot with most but not all of the cousins that were there. Great memories for the kids!

(GUESS WHICH KID IS MINE)

And of course a silly shot.

The kids always get a big box with it loaded with treats from Grandma and Grandpa Simpson. This year it contained a family calendar, tons of snacks and goodies, and an Eternal Marriage book to keep Christian in check. Just kidding.

And of course it wouldn’t be complete without lots and lots of FAMILY.