Worn out.

How do you wear a HOLE in your sheets???  A BIG, thread-bare hole in the middle of the sheet.  Presley managed to do it in the 3 short years she has been sleeping in her bed!  And she is my SOUND sleeper.  This time around we are doing less expensive, but still cute sheets--hopefully they will last until she is ready to re-do her room (several years, right?).


From Target and they go nicely with the birds on her quilt.



Dressed for Easter.

In our Sunday best . . . Happy Easter! (not bad for 8o'clock in the morning)

Spring Soccer.

When I asked Presley if she wanted to sign up for soccer this season, I pretty much figured she would say "no".  But she surprised me and with wide-eyes and at an ear piercing volume, she said "YES".  So here we are at the first game!

Starting off with a bit of practice with her team.

Presley still takes any opportunity to wave to the crowd of cheering family.

Stella getting in some practice during halftime.

What a difference 6 months has made!  Presley kicked the ball 7 times (not counting the time she tried to kick it and instead kicked the head of a poor boy from the opposing team, who happened to be lying on the ground).  I think we will stick to the same "goals" as last year--kick the ball 10 times or more in a game and we all go for ice cream.

Lunch time.

What can I say . . . we get a bit distracted at meal time.  Stella loves to be "silly".

Legos for girls.

We have a BIG rubbermaid full of Legos that Chris had when he was a boy.  And yes, the girls are quite into building houses for their small dolls, and towers.  But nothing compares to the time they could spend building with this "new" toy . . . POP-BEADS!

Don't mind Presley's scraped up nose--she went face first onto the driveway.

So many colors!  And they work with the other pop-beads Presley has!

Stella likes making what she calls an "eel" .  A long, string of beads.

Building for sooooo long--what a fun toy!

Inspired from a gift that Presley received for her birthday from aunt Amber (a book of Critter Pop-beads, which she loves too) this set of pop-beads has all different shapes, colors, textures as well as parts for making rings, bracelets, and pendants.

This is the perfect gift to give--and I can't wait to give them to everyone I know.  Tami, not to spoil a gift surprise, but we already have a container of these for your girls to share for their birthdays!

A Day of Sun.

On the LAST day of spring break, we finally had some good weather!  I am talking short-sleeves, cropped pants, sun glasses--and even sun kissed cheeks and arms!  It was a beautiful day and the girls and I spent it at Red Butte Gardens, admiring the daffodils and marveling at how little else was out of winter hibernation.  At least the grass was greening up, and we were very happy to be outside running around.


Presley, Elle, Hannah, Stella.



Hannah and Stella.

 

Elle and Presley.

My girls with the neighbor girls (and very close friends, can you tell?!).  Purchasing a family season pass will probably put us here, together, a lot the coming year--not to mention perhaps a few concerts for us grown ups!

Five.

Here is my happy five-year-old just before her dad takes her away to run an errand while the surprise party guests gather.  Presley was so excited for her "surprise" party that she could hardly stand it--lunch with grandma, helping to decorate and posing for pictures were still not enough to fill the time until her party.

This is the last year she will be able to answer the question, "How old are you?" , with one hand.

Acting goofy with the cake.

Up on the ladder playing with the pom-pom flowers.

Next came the "SURPRISE" !  I am going to have to tease Presley when she is older about being so surprised at the surprise party she planned for herself.  I wasn't quite prepared and this is the best shot I could get of Presley when we all yelled surprise.

Presley ran around giving everyone a big hug--she was truly surprised and so excited.

Surprise!  A gift hidden behind the curtains--a scooter!

Beautiful cousin Kari getting loves from Stella (who did amazingly well with all the attention focused on the birthday girl).

One last shot before we dig into it!

Of course the cake was too big, but it tasted so good I am sure we will finish it off.  Tip : when you take the cakes out of the oven, IMMEDIATELY wrap them up tightly in plastic wrap, and let them cool/freeze this way.  It makes for a moist, dense cake.

Presents and singing with cake and ice cream finished up the big night. It was so fun to have all the family around to wish Presley a happy fifth birthday--thank you all for coming.  Added bonus, we have fresh flowers around the house for the coming week!

Garden Party Preparation.

This year Presley picked a flower themed party and she wants it to be a SURPRISE (funny, huh?).  So, my sister instructed me on the making of a rose cake and we got lots of fresh flowers and paper pom-pom flowers for decoration.  Too bad the weather forecast is calling for SNOW!

Here is what it took to make the cake:

Top tiers--chocolate and vanilla cake with chocolate cream filling--crumb coated.

Stored in the freezer until I put the tiers together and frost with roses--pink of course.

Supports in place--now to put them into place.

Stable but sooooo heavy--I bet it weighs at least 20 pounds (with out the roses!).

Ta-da!

Now for decorations and the surprise part of this party--besides everyone shouting "surprise" we have fun decorations and a game to play.

Pom-pom flowers.

Overhaul.

New look, new software, new camera knowledge (new lens soon, I hope) . . . I am behind but will be filling in the blanks soon. Here are the girls modeling for my photo class assignments.

Soft window light, manual settings, no flash--in the ballet studio, ready for class.

Road Trip.

A much needed trip out of our snowy, cold state!  We didn't quite make it as far as we had originally intended (California) but instead made a stop in Southern Utah to visit my sister Becka and her family for a day, and then on to Las Vegas for a short stay.

The girls didn't quite know what to make of Vegas.  Presley met Elvis and Captain Jack, but the highlight of the trip for the girls was a trip to M&M World to see the 3-D movie and get their very own bag of over-priced, but color specific M&M's.  Presley picked plain, Stella likes peanut butter, and my current favorites are the pretzel.


Posing with one of the life-size M&M's.

Watching the water show at the Bellagio.

Stella trying out water-wings for the first time.

Presley enjoying the waterfalls at the pool--the water is her favorite place to be.

Chinese New Year gardens at Bellagio.  Year of the Rabbit.

We stayed at the MGM and took several walks up and down the strip.  It was a bit colder than I had hoped but at least the sun was out!  I think we did all the "kid" things you can do in Las Vegas--swimming, Serendipity 3, water shows and gardens at Bellagio, the aquarium at Mandalay Bay.

Unfortunately out trip home ended on a bad note.  Presley ate a whole bad of Twizzlers in about 20 minutes--and about 20 minutes later threw them all up.  YUCK!