Happy Birthday Bella!

Happy 6th Birthday Bella!

Andrew get's a letter every year on his birthday so I figured it was only fair for you to get your own letter. :)

We celebrated tonight with Jen, Grevin and Zoe. I made the "people" cupcakes but since you can't have people food I bought you doggy ice cream from the store. Yes, they make ice cream just for dogs, who knew!! Jen couldn't stop laughing the entire time you ate it and I'm pretty sure she is looking into checking me into the nut house.

You are still my little girl and love to snuggle. I will let you sneak onto the couch sometimes and you will lay so still hoping that no one sees you and tells you to get off! You are the best snuggler! I was hoping that since you are getting older, you would start to settle down but you still think you are a Jack Russell. My nick-name for you most days is wild, crazy dog. But, I know you are just excited to see us.

I tried taking pictures of your birthday today but trying to take a picture of a dog and a 3 1/2 year old is impossible. This is the best I could get. I took the liberty of adding in what I'm pretty sure you are thinking:

"Do I really have to wear this thing on my head?"

"Seriously, we are really doing this?"

"Fine, you can have one picture.  Happy now?"

Grevin was very nice and brought you a birthday present.

Checking out your ice cream.  You loved it!!

So embarassed...

We can no longer walk near the bra section at Target. Back story....Andrew loves to push the buttons on the top of the lids when he gets a drink when we go out to dinner. Back to Target now....A few weeks ago, we were walking down the aisle and to get to the children's section, you pass by the bras. No problem, we've been down this aisle a million times before. This time, Andrew reaches out, leans over and starts poking the bras. I tell him he can't do that and quickly move farther away. Fast forward to earlier this week....we walk down the exact same aisle and Andrew is asking (very loudly, he has no concept of a quiet voice) "Mommy, I have to go push the buttons! Mommy, let me push the soft buttons!" Seriously!! Where does he come up with these things?

Family Fun Sunday!

This weekend was perfect for Family Fun Sunday! The weather had been gorgeous all week (some days getting close to 80 degrees!) so we went over to Howarth Park to walk around and play. Andrew did great walking the trails and exploring. His prize at the end was to play in the park and then go on a quick train ride. Andrew's favorite activity = climbing! See for yourself....

We're in Tahoe again!

Each and every time we go up to Northstar, I am so grateful. Great full to Oma for allowing us to use the condo and grateful for our friends who make our vacations into memories that will last forever. This was Grevin's first trip skiing and he had a blast. Andrew and Grey went to ski school the first day but the second day we took them up on the mountain (don't worry, we stayed on Bear Paw the entire time!). One of my coworkers told me about a guy that did private lessons for a lot less than Northstar so we met up with him and Andrew had his first private lesson! It was perfect. Frank took Andrew up on the chairlift and Andrew loved it. By the end of the lesson Andrew was able to snowplow by himself. He's still working on turning and stopping but we saw a big improvement this time. The rest of the trip was spent with the usual: sledding, hot chocolate and lots of goodies. Jen and I even got to have a mommy break twice and go up to the village for cocktails. It was a perfect trip and we can't wait to go back up again. We just need more snow!

Tahoe Time!

Rain and snow, we saw it all this trip up to Tahoe. We went up with the Donnell's to get some skiing in and enjoy the weekend. We were a little worried because it rained the entire first day that we were there. For those of you who have been skiing with me before, you should know, I do NOT ski in the rain. But....Northstar was doing free mommy, daddy and me ski lessons so I had no choice but to suck it up and get wet! It was totally worth is because we learned a lot of great tips to help Andrew learn how to ski and now I can say I skied in the rain and I don't have to for 10 more years!! Saturday, the weather changed and it finally snowed! Brian got his first experience of skiing in the powder and after a few runs, we decided that having a cocktail might help our skiing a little. :) None of the runs were groomed so it made skiing down the mountain challenging. We had a great time though and we were just happy that it was snowing. All in all it was a great trip and we can't wait until we get to go back up in two weeks! This is turning out to be one ski filled winter!

They didn't have magic carpets when I was learning how to ski so I was a little hesitant about it.  What happened to the good old fashioned rope tow?!

Andrew on the other hand was an expert!  Notice his water proof rain jacket?  That is because it was RAINING!

Brian rode up the carpet too!  He tried to get out of it but the instructor nicely reminded him that the lesson was called mommy, DADDY and me.  :)

So happy it was snowing on Saturday.

Andrew and Savannah playing in the snow.

Andrew's snow angel.

So excited there was enough snow to ski back to the condo!!

Andrew loves shaking the snow off the trees

Shannon and Savannah

Brian, Andrew, Bobby and Savannah

So funny...

I love the stage that Andrew is in right now.  He says whatever is on his mind and will tell you exactly how he sees things.  Here are a few of my favorite moments from last month:

• When I was going to hang up the Christmas stockings, Andrew got upset saying that his was broken.  It looked fine to me so I asked him what was wrong. His response "It's empty, there are no presents inside."
• Andrew is petrified of automatic flushing toilets.  It makes going in public restrooms very challenging.  As much of a hassle it is I love what his reasoning is.  He will tell you (at a loud volume in the bathroom) "Mommy, it's going to flush my cute little butt down."  We've gotten a few laughs from neighboring stalls with this one.  Perhaps I call his little bottom cute too much!
• He loves to sing and will make up words to Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snowman.  He sings the chorus correctly but will make up words for the verses.  I'll need to get this one on camera for the full effect.
• A proper party must have a cake.  Andrew went to a Christmas Party at daycare and when I picked him up I asked if he had fun.  His response "No mommy, it wasn't a party.  There was no cake."

I'm sure I will think of some more later but those are my top favorite from the last month.

Happy New Year - 2012

Happy New Year! We hosted our annual "European New Years Eve" this year and every year it gets better and better. Andrew was really into it this year and was asking all day when the party was going to start.  He loves it when his friends come over to play.  The extra bonus was the Barna's were in town and were able to come over and celebrate with us too.  Allyson has an embroidery machine as well so I was able to get some tips and tricks from an experienced person.  It was a great party and we all had an amazing time.

 Happy Scott with his beer.

Happy New Year!

It was impossible to get a picture of just the kids so I gave up.

Outside throwing snappers.  I let them do the streamers inside but I drew the line at little explosives in the house.

Poor Zippy.  Andrew begged him all night long to "go high"

I'm pretty impressed with our group picture!

Zoe and Alex learning to be domestic.  :)

Someone (Zippy) thought it would be a good idea to teach the boys how to jump off the couch.  At least I got a few fun photo's from it.  Explaining to the boys this morning that they couldn't do it again didn't go over so well.  I told them when they go to Zippy's house, they can jump off his couch!

Happy New Years!  The boys with their champagne (sparkling cider)

How do you tire out three boys who have had cookies, cupcakes and juice?  Have them run laps around the house....

Grevin

Andrew

Brewer

Cheers to you and your family.  We wish you all a happy and healthy 2012.  We are so blessed to have such amazing family and friends.