Silly girl… always dressing up and jumping off of everything!
These are some pictures of Rose after we took her high pony tail down when we got home from going out to eat for my birthday with the Pond grandparents. (Thanks again, guys) She was workin’ it!
Play date with Emily (Ema-P) and art day with Malia and Susie!!!
We didn’t get as much reading done as I wanted to over the break, but we did enjoy these two books. Both Noelle and Anna Kate were awesome listeners and enjoyed these stories very much! Nothing flashy like our girls, but then again, you can’t read a book by its cover, now can you!?! 🙂
We had our annual PJ party with the Fearings and the Kellys on New Year’s Eve. Here are all the kids with their sparkling grape juice seconds before midnight!
Anna Kate and Landon have turned into quite the little buds… didn’t hear a peep out of them all night! Activity after activity, they just kept playing and playing so well together!
We can usually always find Rose playing in their play kitchen (with random shoes on)!
Noelle’s so cool! She found a dance-a-long on my computer (I don’t know how), and the girls had fun doing that for quite a while!
Here are all the kids this year: Rose (shoe change), Isabella, Layla, Macy, Noelle, Anna Kate and Landon (plus Logan below)
Man oh man, the Fearings make one cute boy after another!!!
I’m good without a boy until I kiss a face that looks like this!!! Oh well, at least I can love on these kids and then give them back for the hard work, lol!
Love these animal print crazies with all I’ve got!
Movie time!
I just love this picture of the kids all bundled up and ready to watch a movie!
That didn’t last long… back to kitchen time. What happened to the sink girls? Guess you don’t have to wash dishes, ha!
We let the kids jump as high as they can on New Years… it’s tradition! (for at least a couple more years anyway, then it will be Rose and Logan’s turn)!
Rose washed a Barbie in the sink and got all wet, so here’s outfit number 2… still remember Noelle in these pjs… she’s adorable and gets away with a lot because of it!
More jumping = Happy kids
Rose is about done!
She’s trying to hang on by being silly!
Saying night night to my buddy!
Color time!
Wishing Anna Kate a Happy New Year! She was here there and everywhere tonight so I wanted to grab her and tell her “Happy New Year!”
Noelle and I are pretty much connected at the hip! She loves a good party and can’t wait until next year. She’s our holiday queen, and my little buddy!
Noelle took the camera and took a picture of Mike and me right after midnight cuddling on the couch… she’s so thoughtful!
Rose walked over to Noelle and me while we were being silly for Daddy. She wanted in on the action, even though she was seconds away from bed time!
Noelle’s posing with our twizzler and m&m decoration/candy tradition we have each year to bring in the new year. Noelle reminded us about it the day of and said we couldn’t have new year’s eve without it. She loves traditions! Here’s Mike and my champagne! 🙂
Ty’s the best friend anyone could ever ask for… we’re so happy he’s happy!
Happy New Year, everyone! Hope your first week was off to a great start!
These silly girls had so much fun picking out their pjs and getting ready for our New Year’s Eve party! They spent a lot of time putting together these two outfits in particular, and came downstairs and said, “Mommy, we’re your waitresses, and we brought you a cotton candy margarita!” There’s nothing better than hangin’ with the Pond girls!
And all in the backyard… all the Pond girls were playing and moving about! I absolutely love this trilogy of pictures because each one perfectly captured their personalities right now… love each one as if they were the only one, no doubt!
So happy the girls were sharing their winter hats… so cute! Malia gave Rose her Step 2 play house that she out grew! Thank you SO much Zillman family! We have been wanting a play house for outside for forever!!!
Anna Kate lives in the world of pretend, so she will probably get a lot of enjoyment out of it too!!! Susie said Malia was too tall to even stand in it! She was such a big girl to pass it on!
The door bell and mail box were a huge hit! Rose and Noelle both look like “Big Foot” in the second pic… makes me smile… they were busy little bees out in the snow!
Of course, all good things must come to an end, and at our house, it usually ends like this! Hope you guys had fun seeing our holiday pics! Whew! I think I might take a break from blogging for a while… that was a lot. But my goal was to finish these pictures before the new year… about 7 hours ahead of my goal. Leaves room for another party tonight! Have a good one!
After we got home from swimming, we tucked Rose in bed and watched “Elf.” The girls loved it, complete with popcorn and Cherry Coke (my favorite combo)! Yes Rara, we brushed and flossed their teeth and even rinsed with Act. Okay, now that that’s explained, guess who got to have a sleep over on top of a sleepover!?! Our furry friend, Jax! The hotel Poppa and Rara were staying at was not “pet friendly,” but we wouldn’t have had it any other way. He was precious. The girls had a sleepover in our room, and although we brought Jax’s bed into our room for him, he went over to the girls, snuggled in between them and fell asleep. He was there when I took him out the next morning. That was the best gift he could’ve given!
Poppa and Rara invited us to their hotel to swim just as the kids were getting antsy on Christmas night. It was the perfect activity to let out some energy, and get out of the house, even though it was freezing outside. This was our first ever Christmas day swim! Spontaneous. Fun. All about it!
Noelle was full out swimming in the big ice cold pool… she’s totally unpredictable! Like the time when she was in preschool, dressed like a princess, and was the only kid (boy or girl) who would hold a pet tarantula. The moms were like, “I didn’t see that coming!” I never do!
The hot tub felt so good!
We kept taking the littles to the big pool to cool off… it was freezing, but they loved going back and forth!
Anna Kate was teaching Rose how to splash!
Anna Kate was practicing holding her breath underwater. This was the first time she’s ever been brave enough to even try it. I think this is the first blurry picture I’ve ever put on the blog, but her pride is priceless… just had to post it!
Here she is once my 7 year old camera stopped acting up on me (lol)… Rose and her crocs… what a total crack-up!
My sweet neon beauty! Her matching swimsuit with the littles was too big right now… hopefully it will fit by the summer. I got her a 6 for next summer even though she will be 7, but right now at 6 1/2, she is a true 5. Although Anna Kate is about to be 4, she is a true 3T. Rose is about to be 2, and she’s a true 18 months. They all were born in the same season and grow at about the same pace, so it makes buying and passing clothes down really easy. (I’ve done a lot of after Christmas shopping, the best time of year to shop the sales, so I guess that has been on my mind… but not for long! I’m about to work on consigning all of the girls outgrown things to keep making money so I’m never spending very much on their clothes!)
Thanks for letting us have a total blast at the hotel, P&R! That’s what it’s all about!
We were so excited when all of the grandparents arrived for Christmas lunch! Both sets of grandparents gave Noelle fashion books and design kits. They know her so well!
So here’s the part where I HAVE to brag on my husband. Whenever Mike cooks, the entire house fills with the most amazing aromas, and we know we’re in for a treat! Today, for the first time ever, he attempted Beef Wellington, and are you kidding me? It was the most amazing dish I have ever tasted in my life. Each bite had a million flavors, and it was the first time I ever consciously slowed down to enjoy each bite a little longer. I know that sounds crazy, but it was that crazy good. Food is a big part of our spiritual act of worship and is something we have embraced at our church, sharing meals together. It’s important how we fill our bodies, and we do it every day. It’s a huge part of our lives, and when I post pictures of food, I’m posting pictures of what I want to remember… our senses help us remember our days… and I don’t ever want to forget a thing about our celebrating!
Noelle made place cards for all of us for lunch. She used everyone’s official names. It was very sentimental for me because they were my Granny’s place cards that she never got the chance to use. I found them in a stack of stuff to be donated and had a special feeling they would be important someday. That was before Noelle was even born. The holidays are a sad time for many because our loved ones we’ve shared Christmases in the past and made Christmas memories with are no longer with us. If you can imagine the pain my girls will feel when their grandmothers are gone, that’s the pain I feel for my Granny, and the pain I know many of you share with me for your loved ones. It’s bittersweet, because we are so thankful to God for those from our past and at the same time, are grateful to have the opportunity to share Christmases with a new generation. It’s just a place card, but it’s so much more than that, because I will ALWAYS have a place in my heart for my grandmothers!
Back to the food… here’s a close up of the Beef Wellington (Mike stayed up way late Christmas Eve night cooking while I was working on gifts; it was fun team work getting it all done)… Everyone contributed to the meal, and we were so grateful. Kay Kay and Grand Papa brought the green bean casserole, desserts and champagne. Poppa and Rara brought the fruit salad, dinner rolls and wine. Thanks everyone!
The only thing I regret about this picture, that I know I’ll look back and laugh about later, is that we didn’t use our china. We have 12 place settings of really pretty china that we’ve never even unwrapped from our wedding almost 10 years ago… the story is we were too tired to unwrap them this year, even though we finally have a house to host in… something to look forward to for next year!
Kay Kay and Grand Papa gave Anna Kate her red boots to complete her outfit and a pocket Jessie to put in her purse! These pictures seriously melt my heart. I’ll treasure this memory always! I’ve been wondering what she’d look like all dressed up like Jessie for months… she’s so so cute and sweet!
I think this is why we didn’t have the energy to unwrap the china, but I’m not sure… she should be happy… she has on sissy’s shoes!
Okay, in all fairness, it was getting close to nap time, but this present from Rose’s Pond grandparents got her out of her tantrum. She’s one sweet little baby who we know is “just teething.” That’s what we say anyway… no seriously though, she had a little fever and runny nose, I think that’s been her problem… for the past month or so! I keep going back and forth, teething or terrible “2’s” we love her with all of our hearts and couldn’t live without her, no matter what! I mean, look at those eyes!
Noelle loved her design kit from Kay Kay and Grand Papa. They also made a cute little coupon with money to buy her first grade year book, which she’s been begging for. So sweet! N was the only one to go out and brave the snow as it surprised us on Christmas day. It felt like 70 the day before and after, but on the 25th, we had a white Christmas! So magical!
