The Goals of a Four-Year Old

We finally sat down and made some individual and family goals for the year. Blake explained to Kayli what a "goal" is and then we asked her if she had any. Here is her list of things she wants to learn to do in 2009:

• Laundry (This was honestly the first thing she said!)
• Cook
• Read books
• The games on her laptop
• Clip her toenails
• Help Bryce eat his food
• Drive (we told her this one would have to wait a few more years)

Blake and I just had the traditional "go to be earlier", "workout more (for Blake)", "eat better", "do Family Home Evening every week", etc. I was quite impressed with Kayli, though. But she frequently has that affect on me.

The THIRD Post About Kayli's Birthday

I figured this title would be pretty self-explanatory. (Meg, I'm glad you got the last one. I did it for you and Jennifer. But maybe Jennifer doesn't know that one? Sad.)

Anyway, Kayli really wanted to have a birthday party with her friends this year. We sort of did one last year, but it was with the playgroup. So, I mustered up the energy to be a good mom for a couple hours and put one together for her. There aren't a ton of kids around here that are her same age, so we kept it pretty small. She chose a "Horse Party", so here we go:

I started my morning with cake decorating! This one wasn't as hard as some of the cakes in the past, but I did have to frost a lot of cut edges on the cake and that's so hard! The kids were pretty pleased with the final product.

Gotta give this guy a little more recognition

Kayli picked the horse theme months in advance, so I kept expecting it to change. Then she told me she wanted a pinata like her friend had at his party. So, when I found a Strawberry Shortcake Hot Air Balloon pinata on major clearance, I got it.

Little Side Story: When I told Blake that I bought a Strawberry Shortcake pinata, he seemed very confused and kept asking how they made it. I couldn't understand why he was confused and kept just saying that it was Strawberry Shortcake in a balloon. Finally, I realized he thought I was talking about a dessert, and he realized I was talking about a person. I guess he'd never heard of her. Shocking! Anyway, I got a good laugh out of it. Back to the party...

Fortunately, our guest were a little late because I decided (at the very very last minute) to make our pinata look like a horse. I drew the nostrils and then, thankfully, Kayli had the idea to make it match the cake. I'm really not an artist, so I didn't have a clue where to go after the nostrils. Kayli is such a lifesaver!This was the only game I remembered to take pictures of. The kids were pretending to be horses and had to push the apples across the room using only their noses. They were really good at it and had a lot of fun! And we moms had a good time watching.
But the apples made them hungry, so we took a little snack break for apple slices and trail mix. Not exactly horse food, but I thought they'd enjoy that better than oats.Blake got home from being a referee for church basketball just in time to hold the pinata. I tried to get a good picture of Kayli, but the kids were too excited.See the ribbons at the bottom? It was the kind where each kid pulls a ribbon and one breaks the the pinata open. But we thought we'd let them all take a few hits at it with the bat first. How much fun is ribbon pulling?Here's what the pinata really looked likeThen we told them about the ribbons and before I could get it organized, someone had pulled all the ribbons except the ribbon. So, we let them give that a tug and then the mayhem began.At first, Kayli was more interested in opening a lollipop than her presents. If you've been reading this blog and the sidebar quotes from the beginning, then you know that Kayli loves lollipops.But she had a pile of fun presents, so it wasn't too hard to distract her. She got some really great games, toys, and a book. We all enjoyed them all weekend long. Thanks everyone!Cake time! It took a few tries to blow out the candles, but eventually she got it. Do you see the horses on her shirt? I was really pleased with myself. The hair is a different story...
Thankfully, my friend took over with the camera during the gift opening and she got some really cute shots, including this one of my little man devouring his cake. Thanks, Amy!

Still Walk A Lot, But I'm Not Eating as Many Sandwiches

Well, we've mostly been busy just doing the same old same old. But we always enjoy that stuff.

See the TV in the background?

Blake is such a great dad. He really wanted to watch the playoffs, but I was making dinner. So, being a good daddy, he said yes when Kayli asked to turn on her dancing music and muted the game. She of course, had to get dressed in proper dancing attire and then told him he was her prince. She often insists that Bryce be her prince, but this time she told Blake that they were his "two princesses". Bryce is a lucky lucky little boy.

Then it turned into a wrestling match. It looks like the princesses won.

Big News!!

Kayli is now potty trained at the night. Yay! We told her she could go to Chuck E. Cheese's when she filled in her whole chart for staying dry through the night. So, we were all set to go on Monday, while Blake had the day off of work. Then Kayli took the initiative and set up a sledding date with her best buddy at church. She said she'd rather go sledding with him than to Chuck E. Cheese's. Yay! I am really not a fan of that place.

So, we met his family at a nearby hill Monday morning.

It was a super slippery hill and the kids needed help climbing up every time

It's been a while since I've done this, but Bryce seemed excited to go so we hopped on

I can't do this sort of thing without screaming. It didn't help when we flipped around backwards.

Kayli decided it looked too scary when she got there and that her behind would suit much better

Blake made her go down with him. Doesn't she look delighted?

These guys are only a few days apart. They look so cute all bundled.

This is how they spend most of the sledding time, though

I just can't get enough of that little face! Do I really have to let him grow up?

Since this was technically her day to celebrate, I was a little worried about Kayli having a good time--especially when she decided that sledding was too scary! But with little Joe there, I really had no reason to worry.

She finally agreed to go down the hill with him and the sled flipped over! Amazingly, she came up smiling--but still refused to get back on.

Can you see how happy they are together?

Meanwhile, Blake reverted back to a 12-year old.

The kids had a blast even though they were all completely covered in snow by the time he was through with them.

He's so strong

Eventually, we all got pretty cold so we headed back to the car for some yummy hot cocoa! Yay!

Let's Do This Thing!

That is me getting pumped to finally finish the holidays and get caught up with my blogging!

The day after Christmas was oh so exciting. My dad and Blake replaced the battery in my car (it died a few days before Christmas. I was extremely blessed because it almost died while I was out at night--a very very cold night with the kids, but instead waited until it was conveniently parked in front of our house). Weston, Kayli, and Bryce watched "Sleeping Beauty" (Weston might have been pretending to read, but I know he's a Disney princess fan at heart). My mom, Megan, and I decided to have another go at yoga. That was bad news for our Christmas tree. I fell backwards while doing Happy Baby and broke it. Sniff sniff. Farewell to our $15 tree from Walmart that we got as a young married couple.

After such an exciting morning, we decided to really spice things up and go Duck Pin Bowling. I tried really hard to get a good photo of it, but they had those black lights, so it was just tricky. Basically, for those who are unfamiliar, Duck Pin bowling is similar to regular bowling but the pins and balls are smaller. It seems easier, but it isn't. You actually get three tries, instead of two.

I'm not sure why they are headed in opposite directions, but they really enjoyed this type of bowling since they could easily carry the balls around. We usually just had them roll all three balls one after another. They took about five minutes to make it all the way down the lane. Kayli was surprisingly good at this sport!

We all had a great evening of bowling. But at one point, Megan and my mom had a bit of an accident. I was watching and I'm still not sure what happened. Megan got severely injured. I have a great photo of that, but I'll spare her. I hope you're feeling better, Meggie-Pooh!

After bowling, we split ways and those who don't live at our house headed back to New York. Then my parents packed up and left for my grandpa's funeral. Megan and Weston headed back to our house a couple days later. They did some sight seeing in Boston. We played games at night (we did a lot of game playing while everyone was here for Christmas too). And then we braved a winter storm to drive back to my parents' house for New Year's Eve. You saw how that trip went. I kept asking Blake if we should turn around, but he really wanted to "conquer" the snowy roads. Yes, he is so macho.

You might be wondering why we would endanger our lives to travel to my parents' empty house? Because long ago we set up plans with our awesome friends to hang out while everyone was in town. And they are truly awesome, so we weren't about to let a little flurry disrupt our get together.

And it was totally worth it

We've known the Rawlings for forever. For. Ev. Er. They are pretty much like family. We've lived in three different states together. Well, not together in the same house, but in the same state at the same time. So, while everyone was "home" for Christmas, we needed to see each other. It was even more exciting this year because Julia got engaged and I still hadn't met her fiance!

Hook 'em horns!

Just kidding. I don't know what I'm doing. But I love the look on Kayli's face. She is a big fan of Laura and Julia's choices in husbands. This is Laura's.

This is Julia's

So, we enjoyed a yummy dinner together and then did some Karaoke. At dinner, Kayli said she wanted to sit by "the new boy. The one in the red shirt." So, he won all of our approval. We're so happy for you, Julia!

You can imagine how beautiful this trio sounded

Bryce the Plumber

Kayli wanted to sing along with every number. The Rawlings were very kind and let her.

We like to hum when we Karaoke. Or we're starting a word that starts with "M" or "B". We sang, "Earl" by the Dixie Chicks. So, you can figure it out, if you want.

Bryce thought the mic was super tasty

Laura and Julia did a lovely rendition of "Elvira"--complete with choreography!

Isn't she cute!

There were several other numbers, but I either didn't get pictures, or I got very unflattering pictures. Suffice it to say, it was a really fun evening. And if dinner and Karaoke weren't enough, we ended the evening with some bizarreness on Youtube. Yeah, we know how to party.

The Rawlings left early so kids could go to bed. Megan, Weston, Blake, and I rang in the New Year while playing lots of games. We watched the ball drop on Weston's computer and then toasted the New Year with some Martinelli's. Yay!

The next morning, after everyone crawled out of bed (6 AM for Bryce), we headed outside to enjoy the new snow.

We each pulled the kids around the yard several times. It was a lot of fun, but I'll spare you all the photos.

Kayli decided that Daddy needed a turn

Would you believe they're trying to make a snowman?

To their credit, the snow was most un-packable. So, really they are going above and beyond. But it is the most unconventional way of making a snowman I've ever seen. And that is as far as they got, unfortunately.

Bryce is not a big fan of snow touching his bare skin. That was kind of an unavoidable experience with the sledding, so he was very happy when Daddy pulled the slide out for him.

Are we there yet?

No. This is the part where I really should start a new post. But I didn't think of that until after uploading all the photos. So, take a deep breath and keep reading. The end is coming.

Next stop: Kayli's Birthday!!

My parents always took us to lunch on our birthday and I loved how special that made me feel, so I decided to start the tradition in our family. We visited the Rainforest Cafe with Blake's mom last year and Kayli LOVED it, so we decided to head back. She was so excited!

A Daddy's Girl through and through

We were seated in the elephant section, as you can see in the top left corner.

This is Bryce and I looking at the HUMONGOUS elephant right next to our table

Kayli was so proud and pleased when they brought her her own special dessert and sang to her!

We asked a girl to get a picture of us and the HUMONGOUS elephant. I guess we should have specified that we wanted the whole elephant.

There it is!

Then we came home and opened presents!

And ate cake. I love love love that face. She's made that ever since she was a baby, so it always reminds me of when she was a baby. I miss that little baby!

She will be getting a custom made birthday cake, just like every other year. But that will happen for her birthday party that still hasn't happened. I was just going to make her a simple cake in a 9x13, but the morning of her birthday she told me she wanted a flower cake. Normally, I wouldn't give into this whim, but she had been under the notion that her "horse cake" was for her real birthday. I felt really bad about not explaining that to her, so we compromised. I cheated and bought those sugary decorations at the store. And the cupcakes are arranged in a flower. True to her easy-to-please self, she was happy with it. Phew!

Make a wish!

The first Saturday of the year, the Primary had a pajama/breakfast activity for the kids to meet their new teachers. This is the only picture I took. Not very flattering of my darling, but you can tell they were having a lot of fun. She is so excited to finally be in Primary. She missed the cutoff last year by two days. So, she's by far the biggest and the oldest in her class. She's kind of sad that she still doesn't get to be in her best friend's class (he's two months older), but she loves singing time. I think that makes up for it.

Blake's mom gave her this beautiful dress for Christmas. I tried to get a good picture Grandma can see how cute she looks in it. This is the best I got. I'll keep trying!

Bryce's "freesing" face

Apparently, I didn't make the bath water warm enough the other night. It was kind of chilly by the end and Bryce looked up at me and said "Freesing!"

Ahh... The End!