My Girls have grown and their taste in clothing is a different as their hair colors. I was shocked beyond belief today when we went shopping for dresses for the Father and Daughter dance. All three girls picked the exact same dress and they were all excited to be matching! I quickly paid and left the store before they had second thoughts.

Inside I was anxiously awaiting seeing all three of them in the matching dresses. The way the three of them looked was adorable and as expected I did have some heart melt.

Last night I throughly check through Annie and Kimberly’s hair for any trace of lice and didn’t find any. Today I went and bought some preventative shampoo just to give us another way to prevent it from attacking us. Along with that I told the girls how important it was for them to not share jackets and to not touch the hair of their classmates.

Hopefully all of this will work and we will be lucky enough to not become hosts to those little buggars.

Finally they are coming around to having me fix their hair in the mornings. This morning they asked me to do some braids and pony tails. It isn’t much but I welcome their desires. (On a side note: I can’t do fancy schmancy hair styles anyhow so pony tails and braids work for me.)

This morning I had to sit on my hands when I saw Mimi. Kimberly had done her hair for her and they were both so proud of it. Kimberly had pulled it back in a simple pony tail at the base of Mimi’s neck and had put a headband around her head to secure the extra little hairs. It was a cute hairstyle and wonderful that the two of them had worked together on the hair, but I would have loved to have been able to comb through it once and put it back. So many lumps and bumps in the pony tail.

It is nice to see them finally more concerned about the appearance of their hair.

The troop worked hard to sell nuts and chocolates in order to support those in need. I am proud of their efforts.

We all have a couple from our childhood that we look back on and wonder, “wow, really?!?” Now they offer all kinds of photographs and different angles but I just go with the standard photo so that I can get a good gauge of how they are growing and changing each year.

Paul’s Preschool Photo

Madeline’s First Grade Photo

Kimberly’s Second Grade Photo

Annie’s Second Grade Photo

I love how cute they all are. I explained retakes to Annie but she didn’t want to have her photo redone because her earring was so shiny. Crazy girl. Now we know that one day she has a picture to look back on and wonder, “wow, really?!?”

Oh the humanity!

This year we used items from our dress up or our friends dress up that we could borrow and wear for Halloween. At this point I get the feeling that this is going to be one of those things the kids talk about when they are older. ” . . . remember the time Mom made us wear recycled costumes . . .” I can just hear it now.

Oh well, guess there are worse memories to recall.

She toyed with the idea of having a bright pink and zebra birthday party but changed her mind to another Halloween Costume Birthday Party. So we got to planning. The Brown Family got dressed up and we got to partying.

She wanted bobbing for apples at her party.

Pin the stem on the pumpkin game, which Annie and I handmade together.

Pass the gourd around game. (Played like hot potato.)

And a piñata.

All her friends came dressed up as many different things.

She had a costume contest with some great winners.
Scariest went to the vampire
Prettiest went the Jasmine
Most original went to Fancy Nancy
Most creative was a tie for Bat and Crayon

She had pumpkin pie instead of cake.

Her friends gathered around her and sang Happy Birthday to her as she tried to blow out 8 relighting candles. Which contributes to the smokey nature of this photograph. Note to self: 8 relighting candles creates a lot of smoke.

The traditional birthday photo with Mom and Dad.

This year we changed our tradition a tiny it to work Annie’s birthday better into the extremely busy schedule of Halloween weekend. We had her birthday dinner on “labor day.”

She requested salisbury steak (which she calls big meatballs), mashed potato and canned peas. Grammy made her pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese icing. They were super tasty and Annie loved the relighting candle.

Since the next morning would be busy with party prep we had her open her presents that night. She liked the DS Mommy and Daddy bought her, along with the Webkinz her sisters gave her, and Littlest Pet Shop Paul gave her. The gift that got her most excited for her birthday was the HUGE cat pillow pet Grammy gave her!

When she woke up she came to see me in the morning. I wished her a Happy Birthday and she said “Thanks Mom. I always like for you to be the first one to wish me happy birthday.” Such a sweet and gentle lady.

The afternoon of her birthday she wanted to go to Pita Jungle for hummus and pita bread.

Happy Birthday Annie Girl. I love you lots!

8 years ago today I spent the day in labor.

Most the moments weren’t as glorious as this one, but thankfully there are no photos of me without an epidural clinging to the side of the bed.

It was a brisk day up there so we all wore long pants and brought sweatshirts.

We picked perfect pumpkins.

Pretended to drive tractors.

Pet animals in the petting zoo.

Took a hay ride and ate kettle corn.

Found our way through the corn maze.

Took pictures next to the cut outs.

Measured ourselves.

Paul was the only still young enough to ride the mini tractors.

Annie and Kimberly were even brave enough to dance on stage!

We waited patiently for a train ride.

And had some delicious apples!

Perfect day. Perfect weather. Perfect family.

Annie did a phenomenal job at the dentist. We had talked a lot about how to handle her fears and she performed like a champ.

When it was all over Annie was surprised that it was that easy. Annie tends to be like me and she got a little overwhelmed once it was done and tears came to her eyes. She said she knew she could do it and was proud of herself for doing it.

I was proud of how easily this appointment went. Unfortunately, in true Annie form she is pretty freaked out by the fact that her face is half numb. She keeps poking at it and whining about how uncomfortable she is. UGH! I am hoping the medication wears off soon.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great having a pool in your own backyard. You can act on a passing desire to go swimming and we control the chemical balances, keeping it nice and gentle on the eyes. On the other hand, you miss out on the melting pot that is the public pool. I think it’s important to get to one at least once a swim season.

We take them down to the school the next day and get them settled into their classes. Since we now have two second graders and one first grader there really isn’t any clinging and everyone goes happily off to their classes.

Once Bill and I get home we create their first day cakes. This year we colored them with each girls favorite color. Kimmie’s was purple.

Annie’s was pink.

Madeline’s was yellow.

When the Girls arrive home from school we have the cakes set out and we sing “Happy First Day to You”. We replace the words birthday with first day and sing it to the tune of Happy Birthday. The kids make a wish for the school year and they blow out their candle.

This year I borrowed an idea from a friend and did a Girls Night out for the kids in each class. On Friday night we hosted girls from Annie and Kimberly’s 2nd grade class. It was so nice and easy to do, we served pizza, fruit, veggies and homemade cookies. The girls swam and screamed and bonded. We did the same thing for Madeline’s 1st grade class the following night. The kids had such a wonderful time I know we will continue this tradition.

The school year is off and running. Paul and I are at home adjusting to the quiet. (Paul doesn’t start preschool until the end of the month.) I know the kids are going to grow and change so much this year, just like every other year. So many memories will be created and cherished.

Hard to believe we have two 2nd graders and one 1st grader now! The years certainly are flying by.

I took that time to drop my own coin in the fountain with a special wish for each girl. My wishes and hopes revolved around a successful school year for them. I wonder what their wishes were for.

When we left home I told her I was taking her some place special for her snack. I took her to Jamba Juice. This little lady loves smoothies and was overjoyed to find a place that just made smoothies. She ordered the Razamataz smoothie and loved that she got a big one all to herself.

She wanted to go to the mall so we went there.

- We browsed Hallmark and she read and listened to the Hoops and YoYo cards she loves.
- We strolled around Claire’s for a very long time while she debated between a million different earring choices.
- We held hands and strolled through the mall.
- We went into the candy store and she told me about all the candies she likes.
- We went to the pet store at the other end of the mall.
- Annie got licked all over by a doberman pinscher.
- We went into the game store and worked on a puzzle together for a good 20 minutes.

_ We walked around Bath and Body works and she got to try on some lipgloss and some sparkle spray, which she says makes her look like she is wearing a disco ball!
- We walked to the mall “cafeteria” to get lunch. Annie’s choice today and she wanted Panda Express. She also insisted that I call it the cafeteria not the food court.
- We ate our lunch together and she tried on a pair of her earrings.
- We drove home together chatting the entire time and she tried on a different pair of earrings.

It was so neat to have this time with Annie. She tends to go off on her own and not demand attention. Sadly, sometimes that means she doesn’t get as much as those who are clamoring for it, though, she doesn’t mind at all.

Annie is becoming such an amazing girl. The things she thinks about or does are so interesting to me. It is always clear that she is like her father but when I have her alone it is even more clear to me. Being alone with her is as comfortable as being alone with Bill. She makes me smile and laugh.

She plays out in the ocean getting tossed by wave after wave until she can’t take it any more. Then she rushes up the beach and tosses herself onto the warm sand and covers her self in sand. Over and over the same routine occurs. She can’t seem to get enough of it.

When she isn’t playing in the ocean or laying in the sand she is digging her hands in the sand looking for mole crabs. She enjoys collecting them, name them, playing with them, and then setting them free.

This child can’t wait to get to the beach each day and whines a little when you drag her off in the afternoon. Certainly a beach baby, so much that she is already planning for next year!

“NO!” ~ Mommy and Daddy in unison

Yup, we are back at Seal Beach. On our first stroll down the beach this afternoon Annie found a fish head. She thought it would be a good souvenir. Sometimes I don’t even know where this child is coming from.

So I told her I would take a picture of her with it and she could keep the picture.