We had our first little quick visit with Santa this week! The Horton girls came with us, and we had a blast!

Cerly, Brylee, Noelle, Anna Kate and Rose… cutest pyramid ever!

Audree, Santa, Brylee, Tanna and Cerly all bundled up!

The girls love dress-up and play dates, and Noelle’s friends play so well with Anna Kate and Rose.  I’ve gotten bad about not taking pictures when they dress-up and have play dates, but I’ll try to do better.  Dress-up is a daily ritual in our house, and every time Chloe comes over, she loves to join in the fun!

I love these sassy diva looks… girls are so much fun!!!

Two days a week, Rose and I get to hang out one on one…  It’s so special and important for both of us, and we love it!  As she was helping me with some last minute shopping this week, we took a break to ride the carousel.  She loved every minute of it… I had a feeling she would!  There’s a perfect age for riding the carousel.  If they’re too young, they will scream the whole time and if they are too old, they’ll complain it’s boring.  As for Rose, the timing is just right!  We’ll be doing much more carousel riding now that I know she’s game.

The girls (minus Rose because she couldn’t eat all of the candy) had a blast making a gingerbread house with Mike!  They did this on Saturday morning while I slept in… thanks Mikey!  It was so fun to see what they came up with all on their own!  They swore the example of the gingerbread cookie on the box cheated, because it was so pretty and the kit didn’t come with a smaller metal piper that they needed to make theirs perfect too.  They also said the box gingerbread picture used more candy than they were given, which wasn’t fair.  They were super competitive with the picture on the box, and I was cracking up.  They are sooo mine!  I just smiled and said, “I like yours WAY better!  It has personality plus!”  Love.my.family.

Last week, Rose had a blast at story time!  Mrs. Peggy is so great!  She read a book about Santa riding over Texas and put little stars on the map as he rode over the different cities as she was reading the book.  She brought a carrot to show the kids what the nose of a snow man is made out of and had delicious cookies for snack time.  Rose did try to escape to the play room once, but we’re getting the hang of it!  You gotta start them early, even if you don’t think they are listening… they are!  Anna Kate will sit for 30 minutes at a time and listen to me read chapter books to Noelle.  I credit it all to faithful story time attendance with Mrs. Peggy where Anna Kate learned to listen!  Thanks, Mrs. Peggy!

*Anna Kate is at school during story time now… I’m a little sentimental that Rose is my last baby at story time!  All of these chapters end so quickly!!!

I love love these cutie pies!  You may have noticed, but Rose’s shoes are on backwards, which is totally perfect!  Even better, I didn’t notice until I saw these pictures on the computer… no telling how long she wore them that way!  That’s just our life right now; crazy busy, rollin’ with the flow, doin’ our thing, trying to have fun amidst a whole lot of deep thinking.  These girls are beyond anything we could have ever imagined, and we are crazy about each one as if they were the only one. 

Anna Kate is my comfort child!  She is always ready to give me a hug and afterward she’ll ask, “Do you know why I just hugged you?” and I’ll say, “No, why?” and she’ll say, “Because I love you!”  She is coming out of the terrible 2s that goes into the 3s, but it wasn’t that bad.  Her brain wigged out on her, and she has had tantrums with the best of them, but it was all expected, and we gave her time and space to work through the norm of her age.  She’s always been so easy.  I give her the credit for us having enough energy to attempt a third child.  She was a perfect baby (our only one without colic), and she’s always been a sweet snuggler, now more than ever!  She still loves to be rocked, and when we get her in bed, she loves for us to lay with her and talk about letters.  We do this every night.  I can’t kiss her enough!  She’s witty, funny, and a very good girl.  We are proud of you, Anna Kate!  You’re awesome!  Love ya!

Rose is coming into her own these days… to say the least.  Right as one comes out of the funk, the other is moving right in behind her.  But she’s so stinkin’ cute that it’s so tough to stay consistent, especially the third time around.  She’s been given a lot more grace, but she’s had to deal with a lot more action around her too.  Rose knows how to stand her ground and defend herself and her territory (toys, blankets, anything she has first).  I love her spunk!  I never worry about her being too sensitive or standing in the back wondering if everything is going to be okay.  She’ll be the one right up front and center, working it out.  On the other hand, she’s so grateful, friendly, and appreciative for everything.  Rarely does she not say, “Thank you, Mommy!” after I change her diaper or “Thank you, Daddy!” when he puts her in her high chair.  It’s amazing!  When we run errands, she’s waving and blowing kisses, engaging everyone she possibly can.  This little girl has put more smiles on people’s faces in a given day than I do… she has a special gift of openness and friendliness.  I think she’ll be our one who will be able to talk to anyone about anything.  I’m just so excited to watch her grow!  Baby Rose, we love you to the moon and back! 

I started cleaning out some of Noelle’s kindergarten folders today and came across this picture and sentence… I loved it last May when she brought it home, and I love it even more now that she’s spelling everything correctly (wow, how quickly that happened).  It says, “If there was no TV, I would have a das paradey.”  Her illustration is so cute too!  I love the rug design, our living room fan, her crown, high heels and signature eyelashes! 

I’m so thankful for you, Noelle.  Always have been.  Always will be.  You are so innocent and happy, totally care free and alive!  One of my favorite things in the world is to watch you do your thing during our dance parties.  Thank you for bringing us so much joy!  Everything about you is contagious!  You are one of my very best friends in the whole wide world!  I love you, Bella!

Last week was very busy for Anna Kate at school!  They visited the science museum, fed the ducks, and made homemade blueberry muffins!  Mrs. Paula was so disappointed her camera battery died right after they got to the museum, but I am just so thankful she is always taking pictures of the kids; it’s amazing and so is she!!!

 n

You go girl!

Pictures by Mrs. Paula

We moved Noelle’s kitchen into Rose and Anna Kate’s room this weekend… Noelle was ready to pass it on in exchange for Anna Kate’s desk.  It was an awesome trade, and the littles have been busy cooking all weekend.  It’s like Christmas just to move toys around!