Sofia turns 4!

Sofia -- our sweet Sofia -- the minute you came into this world, 4 years ago, you brought with you such a wonderful spirit and such a joyful presence about you. You continue to make us laugh and smile everyday. You fill our hearts with such happiness and love. Happy Birthday, Angel!Sofia woke up before the crack of dawn -- literally at 5:45am and had all of us out in the family room to open up all her presents from us by 6am! She was so excited. Hello Kitty was a major theme for gifts this year. A Hello Kitty CD/Radio Player, Hello Kitty paint kit, Make your own Hello Kitty doll, Tinkerbell Pajamas, Sponge Bob pajamas, and Sponge Bob big color pages.







Sofia's party was at Jump and Bounce -- a ton of fun for 17 or her closest friends! :-)
We had the whole place to ourselves from 10:30 - 12:30. Jumping, Pizza, Cake, Presents....what more could a 4 year old ask for? It was awesome -- even the parents enjoyed it!



Sofia with Isabella and Sophia Rossi -- friends from Montessori Central


Natlie Well-Dutton as SuperGirl!


Audriana had to take Grandpa and Aunt Kristi down for a ride!

Sophia Thompson and Hannah -- Sofia's school friends.

Audriana and Ryan

Sofia and her best buddies in the world -- Audriana and Maria!

Even Daddy had some fun!

Aunt Kristi really knows how to make our girls smile!

"Happy Birthday to You!" When everyone was singing to her, she had such a sweet little look on her face. She just smiled and a sense of pride lit up her face. Very cool.

Natalie Wells-Dutton, Isabella and Sophia Rossi, Kaitlyn and Justus Kiki, Maria Bennett, Jake and Justin Meadows, Ryan, Noah and Micah Sandberg, Chelan, Grace and Zachary Wear, Hannah, and Sophia Thompson (Hannah and Sophia missing from picture because they didn't want to be in).

Halloween 2009!

We have many great rituals and traditions in our family, and Halloween is no exception. So....after Sofia's big birthday party, we all geared up for our big night of Pozole soup and Trick or Treating with friends and family. I always make a huge pot of my chicken and veggy soup (my version of Mexican Pozole) for the adults and get hotdogs and chips for the kids. Sid, Joye and Maria Bennett come over, as well as Kristi, Mike, Jenny, and Lisa, Scott, Ryan, Noah and Micah Sandberg. Mom and Jay usually come, too, but this year they were down in Connell for Jay's sister's 90th b-day party. The kids have fun getting into their costumes and then we head out into the neighborhood for some trick or treating fun. It is always a very fun evening.

Here's the crew -- Audriana was a Robot, Ryan was Darthvadar, Maria was a Dog, Sofia was a Kitty, Noah was Dash, and little Micah was a sweet Tiger! They were all so cute.
Oh yah.....Martin got the hysterical laughs of the night when he came upstairs dressed as a Hawaiin Tourist (thanks for the costume, Mom!)!

Ready to go! Micah is not in this picture because he had to get his tiger diaper changed!


Audriana and Daddy created her Robto pants with Sharpi markers. Great job guys!


Maria looks a lot like her doggy, Rosie! So cute, Maria!

Have you ever seen a cuter Kitty?!

Oooohh......scary!

The Birthday girl!

Checking out the loot.....

Mullen Rd Halloween Party

Mom and my little Vampire (isn't she sweet?)

I took the day off and got to have a lot of fun today just doing Mommy things! I still got up early, but the difference today was that I got the girls ready for school and took them both to school today. I also got to join Audriana at noon today in her cafeteria for lunch -- which was really fun. Man the kids eat fast! I had barely eaten my sandwich when they were cleaning up and raising their hands to be excused for recess! So much for a long and leisurly lunch with my daughter. :-) Audriana was "table washer", so as soon as all the kids at her table had been excused for recess, she had to get a damp rag and wash the table down. I'm always so proud of her -- even when she is taking her responsibilities so seriously! After lunch I ran a quick couple of errends, then was back in Mrs. Soderquists classroom by 1:45 to help a few other moms get ready for the classroom Halloween party. The kids all got into their costumes and the party began. We had 4 centers.....one to guess the number of candy corn in a jar (winner announced at the end of the party)....one to do pin the spider on the web....one to make ghost lollipops.....and one to feel scary "monster guts" (cold spaghetti) and "monster eyeballs" (peeled grapes)! It was fun because I got to be in charge of the monster guts and eyeball table! The kids had a ball trying to guess what it really was! :-) After the centers, they sat at their desks and got to eat some popcorn and other treats. Charlie won the jar full of candy corn...he guessed 157 and there were 158! Wow! The kids in her class are very sweet and I had a lot of fun just being a mom today!Mrs. Soderquist's 1st grade class

Patrick and Audriana

The Circus comes to our house.....

Ok, so some of you know that Audriana is not the most imaginative girl -- she is more likely to focus on fact and actual events, as oposed to fiction or make-believe. So you can imagine my surprise when she called me at work yesterday afternoon and wanted to know when I would be home.

It went something like this:
Audriana: Mom, what time are you going to be home tonight?
Me: Oh, about the same time, maybe 5:30 or 6...why?
Audriana: Because Sofia and I have a surprise for you" (said with much enthusiasm).
Me: What kind of surprise, Audriana? (said with matching enthusiasm).
Audriana: We are getting ready for a Circus!
Me: Wow! What do you mean a Circus!? A Circus is coming to our house?
Audriana: That's all I can tell you, Mom. I have to go now because we have to get ready!
Me: Ok, babe, see you tonight!

I just had the biggest smile on my face, because she's really never gotten so excited about something like that -- let alone, something that she has imagined and created! Her friend Maria does a lot of this, and even Sofia does, but not so much Audriana, so I was very excited to get home to see what she had done.

When I got home, they had put all 900 of their stuffed animals (ok, a bit of an exageration) on the couch to be "the audience" for their circus performances. Audriana told Sofia to get the hula hoop ready because she was going first. Sofia was so excited. Audriana announced a big welcome to everyone that came to the circus and then announced "Sofia, the Hula-Hooper"! Sofia did some hula-hooping, but got frustrated when she didn't do very well. Then Audriana announced herself and as "Audriana, the jump-roper". She jumped rope for a while and then decided to hula-hoop with Sofia. It was very cute. Martin and I clapped with excitement (as all good audiences do). What a fun night!

Goooooooaaaaaaaallllllllllll!

Our Audriana is such a SOCCER SUPER STAR! She has really improved her game and is playing with thought and technique. She likes to dribble the ball down the field and her offensive game is strong. She is really trying to pass the ball more -- mainly because we are yelling from the sidelines "Audriana, pass the ball!". This girl can focus and deliver on the field -- she made 10 of the 12 goals that her team scored this past Saturday. Go Red Tigers!

We were surprised to see Audriana's friend from Montessori, Lauren, on the oposing team! They both hugged each other and said hello, but then the game began and they did a great job of defending each other's goal side. Nice job girls! Caroline, another friend from Montessori, was also on the oposing team with Lauren. How fun!

Sofia can hula-hoop, too!

Well, after Audriana got a set of 3 hula-hoops for her birthday, both of the girls have been spending hours trying to get that darn hoop to circle more than once around their little hips. Audriana caught on pretty quick....but, you know.....she's 7. Well, Sofia is still 3 (almost 4!), and I really appreciated her tenacity to keep trying -- even though I knew she was probably too little to "get" how to keep that hula hoop going. Well, today my little one proved me wrong! She did it! I think she was just as surpised as we were. We were jumping up and down yelling "yah, Sofia! You're doing it!". The look of pride on her face was priceless. I have a feeling that this little one will continue to surprise us with the things that she will do in her life. What a free and happy spirit she is! I got some video -- sorry that it is so dark (I guess I need a new camera!).

Hula-Hooping!

Survivor Night = Uncle Mike Night!

Just a quick post -- about the love for an Uncle! There's no doubt about it -- when Uncle Mike comes over, the girls go bezerk! They love him so much -- mainly because he is the kind of Uncle that actually plays (and plays hard) with his Nieces. They love it. Many times I cringe because he may be playing "too rough" with them -- but actually, I am so grateful that my brother has such a great relationship with my girls. They so adore him -- and he adores them. You can tell. He laughs with them, he builds forts with them, he plays legos with them, he plays soccer and jumps on the trampoline with them. They love it when he goes outside and watches them ride their bikes, and they love it when he chases them around the house - always catching them and tickling them until they can't breath anymore. We love our Fall tradition of having Uncle Mike and Aunt Kristi (whom they adore just as much!) come over for Survivor night. We have dinner together and then all watch the show together. The minute he walks in the door, they yell "Yah! Uncle Mike is here!". The grins on their faces are wider than I've ever seen -- the joy in their faces and voices tell me the huge amount of love they have for him. For a few hours, while he is here, Mom is forgotten. And that's ok.......I'm willing to give the reigns over to him.....just for a little while! :-)

Audriana's Pottery Painting Party!

What a perfect and fun idea for a bunch of 7 year olds! They all did really well and I think everyone had a very good time. Polka Dot Pottery on NW Blvd was the venue. The guest list included: Carson Estes, Nikki Hindman, Alfred Parker, Justin and Jake Meadows, Natalie Wells-Dutton and Maria Bennett. It was funny that everyone (except her cousin, Natalie) was from her Montessori school -- she didn't invite anyone from her new school, Mullen Road. It was really nice to see the kids again, and I know Audriana loved being around her old friends again. Everyone painted and their creations were amazing. Top it off with a Cupcake Soccer Cake and presents......the day was perfect!

After the party, Martin and the girls and I drove over to Mom and Jay's house for a homemade spaghetti dinner. Audriana gave mom the best compliment that she could have ever received -- that Grandma's spaghetti was even better than the Old Spaghetti Factory!!! Wow! Mike and Kristi came over, too, and Audriana got to open up her presents from them. Uncle Mike gave her a Star Wars Clone Trooper bobble head, some Carhart clothes, and some Bakugon things. Aunt Kristi gave her a set of 4 walki-talki's, and Grandma and Grandpa gave her clothes, books, a Spiderman movie, and ....hmmm...something else, but I need to get my list out to remember! Audriana had a very full and busy weekend, but she still found time to read 4 full chapter books! Every time I turned around, she was reading -- I love to see that! I hope her love of reading continues throughout her whole life.

We love you, baby! I know you're not a baby anymore, but I still love calling you that. You are everything a mom and dad could dream of -- kind, gentle, thoughtful, peaceful, loyal and loving. Thank you for bringing us so much joy and seeing life through your little lenses. You are a wonderful big sister to Sofia and we can't wait to experience another year as you continue to grow into the beautiful young lady that you are!

Happy 7th Birthday Audriana!!!!

She began her birthday weekend by having dinner Friday night at the Old Spaghetti Factory. We have gone there every year since she was a baby. Lisa and the boys joined us and we all had a good time - even though we had to wait almost an hour just to get sat! Note to self -- don't go to that restaurant again on a Friday night at 6pm!!!! It was fun and Audriana was excited to get to open her first present -- a Star Wars Lego Set from the boys! Awesome! She spent about 2 un-interupted hours on Saturday morning reading the directions and putting some of it together! That girl can focus! At around 10am, we got in the car and met up with Joye and Maria and headed up to Greenbluff to get organic apples and to visit Harvest House and the Pumpkin Festival. What a perfect fall day -- very chilly, but soooo sunny! Awesome!

She's 7 (well, tomorrow!)


Fun times!

Lovin' the apples -- Spartans, Red Delicious, Cortlands, McIntosh....oh my!

Thanks for taking our picture, Audriana! You big girl!

After Greenbluff, it was off to the Village Cinemas at Wandermere for Natalie's b-day party!

We saw the 3-D version of "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", but the girls couldn't resist getting a quick pic of them with Alvin and theChipmunks (which is one of their all-time favorite movies!).


Waiting in line with their movie goodies -- once inside, they will get their 3-D glasses.

Whoa!! This is cool! Audriana is reaching out to grab something out of the air -- gotta love those 3-D effects!

After the movie, the kids got a personalized tour of the projection room. Very cool! Audriana was more excited to see "how they make the movie appear on the screen" than the movie itself! She's so inquisitive when it comes to that kind of stuff!

Ok....so after the party, it was back home to make Audriana's birthday treats for her class at school on Monday. Ever since our friend and neighbor, Jamie Christensen, made SUSHI for the kids, Audriana has wanted it to be her b-day treat. Ok....it's not real sushi.....it's made from rice krispy treats, gummy worms, and fruit leather by the foot. It was so fun making this with her. Luckily, little Sofia was so tuckered out after Greenbluff and the b-day party, that she was sleeping, which made it easy for Audriana and I to whip these up realy quick. We even made enough to take a plate to Sunday school on Sunday!

The finished product -- fishy sushi, or candy......you be the judge! :-)