Brandon's 'Nature Men'

 

 

 

 

Brandon spent the night at my parents' house a couple weekends ago and the next day they all went outside and made these Nature Snowmen.

Logan's Show Choir

 

 

 

 

Logan is in full competition season now with his Show Choir. They got Grand Champion at one comp and second place at the next. He is doing a great job with his solo this year in "Boogie Shoes". It is fun to go and watch these things and remember when Barry and I were in it.....and my sister, too!

My parents went Saturday and Dad took some great pictures.

Birthday party

 

 

 

 

It was all about princesses and pink here on Saturday. Anna had some friends come over. All princesses and one prince...Justin, of course. We read the Princess and the Pea and the kids had to see if they could feel the pea under their mattress, too. (pillows and a tennis ball)We made lots of crafts, had a royal dessert and tons of fun! Boy was I tired after all that. That night my parents and Julie and her fam came over to celebrate Ash and Alijah's bday, too, and Anna's.

On Anna's birthday, I did Chinese New Year in her class. My mom helped, too. I did a craft rotation and we fisnished the day with a feast of Iveny and Ricky's yummy sweet and sour chicken. The kids LOVED it. I was so proud of the kids for trying something new and they loved it. It was fun!

A week of parties....OVER!

Birthday girl is 6!

 

 

 

 

How is it possible that Anna is 6 years old now? I am in denial! Such a big girl with such a love for life! She loves everything to eaat and she now weighs a whopping 38 pounds. Last month she never stopped eating and now she isn't eating much again. She is probably about 46 inches tall. She loves kindergarten, but still loves her time with Mommy! She adores her big brother, Logan, and loves Brandon so much that she annoys him constantly. She loves her one on one time with Daddy, too! She is a biggest crafter I know and mess maker and a super duper reader. What a blessing Anna is to all of us. We cannot even remember life without her.

She was a bit puny on her birthday and had to have her candle on her own special piece of cake. We are both kinda icky,but antibiotics are kicking in now!

We will continue to celebrate this weekend with a few friends over here for a princess party. Of course Justin will be the only prince at the party!

Valentine's Day hunt

Each year since Logan was little, we have done a Valentine's Day hunt. Sadly, my 5'9 almost 14 year old son felt too old for the hunt and was gone at a friends house. Anna and Brandon still enjoyed the clues that Barry did and like the little prizes. I couldn't really get into the spirit of the holiday this year after going to Disney and I wasn't feeling well that day.

Disney Trip!

Click on collage to make it bigger.

 

 

 

 

We had a wonderful time at Disney World. We had some rain, some sun, some cool weather and some awesome weather. The kids enjoyed every bit of it. Anna summed it up on our first night. We were on the Dumbo ride at Magic Kingdom and the fireworks started going off all around us. She said that this was the most amazing life ever. It was very sweet and so perfectly said on the 5 year anniversary of us getting the phone call that there was a baby waiting for us in China. I wish I could have frozen that ride forever. The look on her face as I looked back to her riding with Barry in their Dumbo was priceless.

Brandon conquered a few fears and rode a lot of the roller coasters. I think there was only one he didn't ride this time. Way to go B-Ray! Brandon had a blast and was such a trooper the whole time. He still enjoyed meeting some of the characters and getting autographs, but it seemed to wear off by the end of the week. He was very excited to trade Disney pins with cast members. I was smart and ordered 20 pins for $20 total from Ebay before we left for Anna and Brandon to split between them and they had a blast trading. They each bought one pin and since those were $10 each, they liked getting new pins everywhere we went for free.

Logan did a great job on the trip with his feet. He got a wheelchair only for one day at Epcot since it is so big.He was a typical teenager at times, of course, but he was a complete trooper with his feet. He has been wearing night boots to stretch his achilles and gastrocs and they must be working! YEAH....finally an answer and relief.

I was sick a little at Disney and that really stunk, but I kept on going. We had some really great meals at different places this time and the kids enjoyed eating with the characters and at all the different resorts. If you aren't familiar with the Disney Dining Plan and are going to Disney, check it out! Of course, I don't want to eat anything for a week, though, but we had some great meals.

So, after planes, monorails, busses, trams, good food, good times, we are home and exhausted from all of the Disney Magic

Disney