Claire's 1st Dance Recital

This is Claire posing for a picture before her very first dance recital.  She's been taking dance classes at the gym {which works out perfectly for me!} and has been loving every minute of it.  The whole recital was about 2 minutes long, so they performed it 3 times.  The little girls were so cute dancing to music from The Nutcracker.....easily distracted, but so cute!     

And for your viewing pleasure, here's the video.....

The Princess Turns 4!

It's so hard to believe our baby is FOUR!  Where has the time gone???  

Claire requested a princess party and invited two of her cute little girlfriends over for an afternoon of fairy-tale fun.  

The party started with a Chick-fil-a lunch picked up by none other than Prince Daddy himself....

Then the girls decorated their own tiaras.  Scott wanted to get in on the action but they insisted that he was NOT a princess.  They did, however, tell him that he could be a guard....

Next was frosting/decorating their own cupcakes.  The more icing, the better....

The little princesses also made their own bracelets and necklaces to perfectly accessorize their gowns....

Claire got some cute princess gifts.....

and after her friends left, she sat down and gave herself a much needed pedicure, princess style....

Happy Birthday to our sweet little princess!  We love you!!!

HALLOWEEN!!!

I was determined to spend as little money as possible on our kids' costumes this year.  Mason decided he wanted to be the same thing he was last year, Logan and Brady wanted to be zombies and Claire wanted to be Rapunzel.  EASY!  The only thing we ended up purchasing was wig for Claire.  This year marks our most budget-friendly Halloween ever!  I hope the kids will be this easy to please next year.

This picture was taken before our ward Trunk or Treat......

and this one on Halloween night....

Mason as the scary Scream guy (again).....

Logan as a nasty-looking zombie (Scott was the makeup artist)....

Brady as a creepy zombie (He wasn't interested in the extensive makeup procedures)....

Claire as a sweet little princess (The wig was driving her crazy so I had to pull it back).....

Me as one lucky mama.....

A Momentous Occasion...

Our ward had its Primary program a few weeks ago.  I just had to snap a picture to document this very special day.....the only time EVER that all of our kids would be participating.  It was so strange for me and Scott to sit all by ourselves during sacrament meeting {and we enjoyed every moment!}.  

Blast from the past....

We were at my parents' house last night for a fun birthday celebration and my mom gave each of us a copy of this picture.  We must have been on our way to my dance recital (Don't you love the outfit?).  If I remember correctly, I was chit-chatting backstage (I would never do something like that) and missed my cue to go out for our performance.  I was so upset.  My mom was so sweet and got me a 7-Up from the vending machine to boost my spirits.  I'm sure she told me that everything was okay, but to me it wasn't.  I was mortified and wanted no part of dance after that.  Thus ended my young career as a dancer.  Who knows what would have happened if I'd stayed with it......I could have been a world-renowned dancer.  Those of you who've seen me play "Just Dance" know nothing could be further from the truth!

School Days

It's hard to believe that summer is over and we're entering schedule-mania.  Things always seem to get a little tense around the house towards the end of August and I can tell it's time to get into more of a routine.  I just wish we could ease in a little more slowly.

The kids were excited to go back to school, but Mason was a little anxious about starting 6th grade and going to middle school.  It honestly seems like I just put him on the bus and sent him off to kindergarten....oh, how time flies!

Here he is....a little sleepy because he has to leave an hour earlier than last year.  I've really been loving the time I get to spend with just him in the mornings and after school before the other kids get home.  He had a little trouble with his locker the first day, but has really adjusted well.  I couldn't be more proud of him!

Brady started 1st grade this year and is doing great!  His teacher is amazing!  We really lucked out.  Logan is now in 4th grade and this is the first year he hasn't had either a brand new teacher or a teacher teaching his grade for the first time.  He's a great student so I never have to worry about him....it's just nice to know his teacher has a little more experience this year.  

Last, but certainly not least....Claire started preschool!!!  I still can't believe that I get three whole hours to myself three days a week.  I hardly know what to do with myself!  She was more than ready to go and actually told me on her first day, "Mom, I'm not going to miss you."  And I don't think she did.  She's so excited to be going to school like "her boys" and is loving every minute of it.  

VA Beach

It's become a tradition for us to spend a few days at the beach every summer.  I'm always a little nervous (thanks to my irrational fear of sharks) but Scott loves it and is so good to play in the water with the kids.  I, however, don't usually get in much past my knees.  We had so much fun and I was much more at ease than I normally am.  It was a great weekend!

Claire loved playing in the sand although it kept getting in her "crack."  Yes, that's a quote.  What do you expect from the only girl???  She's a little rough around the edges....I guess that's what happens when you have three older brothers.

Brady was super-adventurous this year.  Last year, we could hardly get him to go in the water and this year, we could hardly get him out!  He loved boogie boarding and letting the waves knock him over.

Brady was getting buried alive by his siblings.  I love the look on Claire's face in this one....she's definitely got some spunk!

This isn't a very good picture, but we loved walking on the boardwalk at night.  (This was a sandcastle sculpture right off the boardwalk.)

We also ate some pretty good food while we were there.  We found a great little place called Mojitos that had awesome Puerto Rican food.  It reminded me and Scott of our trip there last year.

(tostones)

(Scott's meal....chicken and mofongo)

(My meal....shrimp and mofongo)

It was sooooo delicious!!!  I'm ready for another Puerto Rican vacation right now!