Our baby is 3!!

 Avery is officially 3! 

We had a crazy day of traveling, football and baseball practice and school starting the next day we didn't do much celebrating. We did have brownies and sing "Happy Birthday" to her before we went to bed.

 She had a hard time blowing out the candle. 

(Yes she has no pants on - that's how it goes when it is the 4th kid!!)

 Talking to Grandma and Grandpa Redding on the phone and trying to get all 3 fingers up!

 Avery got money for her birthday from both sets of grandparents. 

What 3 year old gets cash?? She did!

I'm thinking she is easier to let her pick out what she wants.

The day after her birthday Avery, Zani and I went shopping.

We first hit the Disney Store. The obvious choice since Avery loves anything Mickey or Minnie Mouse. Avery picked out a stuffed Mickey and Pluto right away. Then we found princess jammies. Of course, Zani thought it was her birthday too so she got jammies too. Then we went to Ross and went through every shelf of toys we could find. We ended up getting a princess cash register and a tinkerbell cell phone. Then we had to go pick up Caden from his first day of 3rd grade! The girls had fun birthday shopping and had a hard time just picking a few princess items.

 Being silly in their new PJ's.

Happy Birthday to our Avery! We love you so much!!

Avery's funny ...

The other night I finally cleaned out Alexandra's room. It was overflowing with toys - and after watching a few episodes of Hoarders - it was time to clean up. I did it while Zani was taking a nap so there was no protest of toys that should be gotten rid of. I threw away one bag of toys/junk and have another 3 bags to donate. 

While I was clearing out Avery and I found this baby doll that 

was purchased by my mom at Wal-mart for $3:

This is the following conversation I had with Avery after she picked up the doll and took off it's hat:

Avery: "It's Tim."

Me: "What did you say?"

Avery: "It's Tim baby."

Me: Started laughing because I figured out why she called the baby "Tim."

A perfect resemblance of her daddy's bald head! 

Tim still doesn't believe me that she said it - but it was quite hilarious.

Avery

This little girl will be 3 at the end of this month. She is our biggest sweetheart; coming up and giving Tim and I hugs & kisses without being asked. It melts your heart.

She is also very shy and does not like any attention pointed to her. 

Here is an example:

Last week we went to Utah to visit with family for the week. We went to Liberty Park with Grandma Redding and our cousins on Wednesday. We were riding the rides (which have been there since I was a young girl). Avery got her turn on the little cars. She was happy at first and enjoying herself.

 

 Then we all started waving and cheering for Avery as her little car passed us.

Then her expression turned to this:

She was so embarrassed! Her expression turned from smiles to a frown and wouldn't look and anybody, just the ground. Poor little girl. Saddest face ever!

And then she has a big sister who LOVES the attention:

We have two little girls who are opposite in every way!

But we love them both the same.

Miles @ Camp Loma Mar

Miles had the opportunity to go to a week long education camp with his 5th grade class.
They went to Camp Loma Mar; May 16-20.
Playing Ga-Ga ball.
He bunked with his buddy Brock.
They got fed well and did some school work.
He dressed up crazy for the "Barnyard Boogie" on Wednesday night.
I think Miles enjoyed the dancing.
His 5th grade class.
At the tide pools.
He said he had a lot of fun.
He told us that he didn't even miss us because he was having too much fun all week.
I'm glad he got to go. It was a great week.

Straight Hair?!?

This week at preschool was "career week." So today they had a few cosmetologists come in and style the kids hair. I knew that they were coming so I didn't do Alexandra's hair before school -- I just combed through it. I thought that they would style her hair and make it curly.

But when I picked her up it they had straightened her hair! I was shocked. They said it took a little while to do it. It makes her look older.

Alexandra is 4!

I have a bunch of posts that I have started but never finished. So I am going to try and update -- because the girls are napping and the boys are actually playing nicely and not beating each other up. Another reason is the house is somewhat picked up and cleaned. It hasn't been like that for a while -- maybe month(s)??

Alexandra celebrated her 4th birthday in March. She is very into birthdays and loves singing and dancing. She got a Build-A-Bear Cheerleader from Grandma and Grandpa Doll. (While we were visiting them in Chicago, Grandma Doll took Alexandra into a Build-A-Bear store to entertain her while the rest of us were eating lunch -- Big Mistake. Alexandra didn't want to look, she wanted to BUY a bear. So Alexandra got her bear in the mail from Grandma a few weeks later.)

She also got a "Tangled" dress (she calls everything related to the movie "Tangled" and not Rapunzel. She is carrying around the purple roses that Tim got me for my birthday 3 days earlier.)
I also decorated her birthday cake.
I think she liked her purple cake and blowing out the candles.
Talking to Grandma Redding on the phone and telling her that she is "4."
Alexandra is very talkative and friendly. She loves to talk to talk to anyone who will listen to her.
Happy 4th Birthday to our Zani!!

Dining Room is Finished!

We (mostly me) finished painting the dining room Friday night/early Saturday morning. (I went to bed at 4 am). It looks so nice. We could actually have guests over again! We need to put the trim around the bottom and one day scrape the ceiling. But at least there is no more ugly hole/drywall.
The boys want us to paint their room next. Their color choice: Orange and Black. We'll see...

Alexandra starts preschool {finally}!

Alexandra started preschool last Tuesday (Feb. 22)! We have been talking about it forever and she could hardly wait to start. She got to go for 2 days in December for a special Christmas activity-- and that was just a big tease. She couldn't wait to go back. She goes to the Clayton Valley HS (that is where Caden plays football and she will tell you that) preschool program where the Child Education students are her teachers. She goes 4 days a week for 2 hours each time. (I have been getting a lot of errands done while she is at school. It is fabulous.) She has lots of art projects that she has completed and she has learned how to trace her hand onto paper with a crayon. Her teachers love her curly hair and her charisma.

She was so excited to go, I couldn't get her to hold still for a picture.

Cheez-its in Cups

This is what happens when little girls have big brothers:

They eat their crackers out of cups...

My 2 Cub Scouts

The night before we left for Chicago; the boys had their Blue & Gold Banquet. This was Caden's very first cub scout activity and it was Miles' very last cub scout activity. So I thought I would take a few pictures of them in their shirts. (Why can't they just try and smile at the same time??)
Miles walked over the bridge and was welcomed into his new 11-year-old scout troop. He is very excited to be out of Cub Scouts!
Miles' wall decoration for the activity:
And this little girl is a Choc-A-holic. She loves anything with chocolate (minus any nuts or peanut butter.) We couldn't leave that night until she ate all her chocolate cake.