Ballet Pictures and Cookies

Emily had her dance pictures this afternoon and she did so well. We put her hair in a bun and some "light" makeup and she was ready! Here is a quick shot of her outside before we went in. I'm sure I'll get some better pics at her recital in May. I can't wait to see how the professional pictures turned out. She looked just like a real ballerina! She makes my heart smile ;-).

Since Em spent the night out tonight and daddy doesn't get home until later, Allison and I made some red velvet cookies and we'll do the frosting centers in the morning. Here's my sweet girl after making the "heart" cookies and getting ready for bed.

More Outside Fun!

The weather has been PERFECT so we stay outside all day, every day when we can. Here are some fun photos from 2 days ago.

The baby boys taking a ride in the circle!

Ethan is such a happy boy when he's outside!

I think boys look good in pink Barbie jeeps! Drew is really a good driver ;-)

Our little guy loves getting and giving kisses to all the neighborhood dogs (and then kissing mommy which is very gross - HA!).

Princesses of the day: Snow White and Ariel. These two are such sweet friends.

Neighborhood Fun

We had another gorgeous day today so we played outside all afternoon with our sweet neighbors. The third children were napping but came out and joined the fun later. We will miss the Rushtons when they move this summer!

Emily and Anna

The 3 girls having a snack.

T.R.O.U.B.L.E.

Bubbles with Little Bo Peep

Princess storytime

Individual pics of the kids (minus Anna)

Emily

Allison

Ethan

Conner

Drew-Boo

Birthday Roses

Here are my beautiful roses I got the other night while celebrating my birthday for the 3rd time! They are so pretty!!

Purple roses....my FAVORITE!!

Here's how Bella feels after spending all day outside!

Kiel/Chalmers Cousins

The Chalmers came to Birmingham for the weekend to surprise Gia. We spent all day Saturday at Gia and Pa's house. The kids enjoyed playing in their "new" backyard. It was so nice to relax on the patio while the kids ran around. All 6 kiddos were there, but the majority of the pics are of Emily and Ryan. Those 2 are inseparable and had the best time playing "mommy/brother." We loved spending time with all 5 of the Chalmers, just wish they lived a little closer than 8 hours!!

Emily, Ryan, and Ethan

Bestest cousins

silly boy...

Singing to their own tunes ;-)

These two love each other SO much!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sweet sisters enjoying the weather and heart suckers!

Happy HEART day! It's been a wonderful day! I enjoyed my birthday all weekend with all my valentines. Mark and I went out Saturday night - dinner and a movie. We saw Just Go With It and we have never laughed so hard. I was crying during half of it. I wonder how many calories are burned during 2 hours of non-stop laughing! Last night we went out to eat with my family and of course we ate too much. Nana made a cake that was out of this world. I guess my camera was acting up but none of the pictures that were taken came out. I'm so bummed, but Papa got some on his camera so I'll try and get them from him. Today, Mark surprised me and took the day off from traveling and he took the kids to school AND picked them up. I got a mani/pedi this morning and a free starbucks (since it was my b'day) and then a massage this afternoon. That is my perfect day! Only bad thing was that Mark had to leave this evening for his week of work. But it's a short week for him; I'm already looking forward to him coming home!! Hope everyone had a wonderful day full of love!

Movie Night

One night last week I was so exhausted and it was so cold outside that I decided it would be a movie night. The girls decided on Mary Poppins - a house favorite! Allison fell asleep before Mary Poppins even had her interview ;-). I took her to bed and came back downstairs to this. Ethan had crawled into the chair with his biggest sister and was just watching: quiet and still. I'm still wondering how that happened!!!!! I thought my E and E looked so sweet sitting together. And Ethan looks almost as big as Emily. Where did my baby go??

Superheroes and Princesses

I took Allison to her friend's birthday party last Thursday morning. The birthday boy loves superheroes, so that was the theme. All the boys dressed as superheroes and the girls were all dressed in their favorite princess costume. My little Tink was the cutest!! ;-) Grayer's mom did a fantastic job. She even made capes (with their initials on them) for all the kids to decorate. She is so talented. Allie B. had such a great time. She is still talking about it.

Here she is with Grayer, the birthday boy.

Super Allison!

close-up of her 'A' cape

Open Ballet Class

Parents got to observe at ballet last week. I took Nana for an extra pair of hands to help with the other 2. Emily was so cute and so excited to perform for us. The girls also got their recital costume this day and they gave us a sneak peek at their dance ;-)

Love all the pink tutus!

Sweet ballerina. Such determination! I'm so proud of her.

They were missing half the class; but these girls did great!!

Em with her friend Mary Elizabeth.

More Snow!

Last Tuesday night (Feb.8) we got about 2 inches of snow. Just snow. Real snow. No ice. It was a wonderful change to not have ice everywhere closing down the city. The kids were so excited to wake up to a beautiful white blanket covering the ground.

This picture was after about 2 hours of snow.

about an hour later.

snow tree

The next morning: my Valentine bow on the mailbox.

Wednesday morning on our way to school.