Birthday and Christmas!!!

Melia turned 5 a few weeks back. Crazy! We had a small family party for her and she soaked up every second of the attention. She loved having her cousins at her Princess/Barbie party. My sister made an awesome Barbie cake for her. We also had a pinata for the kids. It wasn't one of those swing the bat or stick and hope no one gets hurt ones; it was a pull string one. Each child pulls a ribbon until one of them releases the trap door and the candy comes pouring out. They loved it.

She will be heading to kindergarten in the fall. This is exciting and bittersweet all at the same time. My time with her will be much more limited, but I am excited to watch her grow and learn so much. We are debating doing school of choice for her and sending her to the full day kindergarten program in the district that I teach in. Our home district offers 1/2 day, which means on the days I work she would spend her afternoons in a day care room. On the other hand, I will have to drive her to the school on my days off. We are still mulling it over, but we are leaning towards the full day program. She will love learning and making new friends and I would rather have her doing that, than sitting in daycare. Decisions...decisions :)





Beautiful Girl!!!

We had a wonderful Christmas. I love that time of year so much. Time off work for Chris, much family time, the house is decorated...it is almost my favorite time of year, taking a close second to laying by the pool on a hot summer day :) We were very blessed with many incredible gifts and had much time to relax and enjoy each other. Here are a few pics :)












My mom and dad made these GORGEOUS doll houses for the kids for Christmas (they actually made three one for my brother and sister's kids too.) The detail work is amazing and the kids LOVE playing with it. It will be a life long cherished gift.





I made many homemade gifts this year and this was one of my favorite projects. I made all our kids and many of the kids we love aprons and chef hats. They looked adorable :) My nieces are great models.