Aubrey is 6!!!!!

Aubrey turned 6 on February 6th, yep that's right her golden birthday!!! It sure was golden! What a week of birthday celebrations we had. Her day was PERFECT! She was very excited that her peach tree had blossomed pink flowers just for her and that it was rainy and stormy all day (her favorite). 

Aubrey decided back in January she really wanted her hair cut short.  We set up an appointment with my hair lady right after New Years.  Well when we got there my hair lady had her baby there and while she was putting her in the car seat she dropped her.  Yes it was horrible and needless to say my hair lady was very distraught so we left and stopped at super cuts because we just "couldn't wait".  We told them we wanted a short bob (like what she had when she was younger) and what we got was just a little trim.  Aubrey was very disappointed when no one noticed her new do.  So for her birthday I set up another appointment with my lady.  I was SHOCKED!!! My lady kept going shorter and shorter.  I was pretty upset!  I told her a short bob and that I trust her well I learned not to say that again.  But than again it's cute, very stylish and Aubrey loves it so that's what maters.  She gets a ton of compliments and is very happy.  I'm getting use to it I just miss her longer hair to play with.  The great thing is it's only hair and its growing back actually pretty fast.  Okay back to her special day...It was a Thursday and since I have been volunteering in her class once a week since Halloween I had asked her teacher 2 weeks in advance if I could come in that day and she told me no! I was shocked yet again! She did say I could come in the last hour of school to pass out cupcakes (I guess that is the protocol, but I wanted more lol).  Ms. Stapp likes to be in control and not told what to do?!? It was a bit strange since I thought we had a good thing going oh well!  It's Aubrey's birthday and who would want to go to school that day anyways and I wanted to be selfish and spend the day with my princess.  So we played hooky and it was GREAT!!! 

We all went in and woke her up to the Birthday song.

 Checking out her Birthday door.

 We let her open one gift in the morning and Carter opened his table prize.

 Every since the night at Girl Scouts when they made rubber band bracelets Aubrey has wanted to make them at home and to teach me.  It was a great first gift to open because we had fun all day making bracelets.

 Enjoying pink pancakes.

 After breakfast we dropped Carter off at preschool and headed to the nail salon to be pampered. 

 We also did a little shopping and then picked Carter up and met up with dad at McDonald's for lunch.

 After lunch Aubrey, Carter and I went to see Frozen for the second time in the theater.  It's been a long time since I have gone to a movie twice in the theater.  So worth it!! We love that movie!! 

 When we came home we danced away to the Frozen soundtrack and played with balloons while we waited for dad to come home.

 Here are the bracelets she made just that day!

 Yay daddy's home, Gift time!!

 After gifts we drove up to Modesto for dinner.  

We went to John's Incredible Pizza and had a blast!!!

 Rides!

 Tons of games!

 Bowling!

 Aubrey was excited to try bumper cars so her and I did that but half way through she was crying so the nice ride attendant stopped the ride for us.  Aubrey was upset because she didn't like bumping into me, so sweet!  It was pretty loud too.

 We got home around 10pm!!! and still had the cake to do.

 I just love this picture.  It really captured the moment.

What an amazing day!!! I feel so blessed to call Aubrey my daughter!

Aubrey, you are the sweetest most special little girl daddy and I could have ever asked for.  You make us laugh all the time.  You are so smart and so artistic.  Daddy and I are very proud of everything you do.  We feel so blessed that you choose us to be your parents. Thank you for being ours! We love you!!!

 Happy 6th Birthday! 

January 2014

I can hardly believe the first month of 2014 is over! January was a month of trying to get back on our schedule and lots of fun activities at school. That first week back at school seemed like it would not end! I sure missed our lazy p.j. days at home.  Friday the 10th was teddy bear day at preschool and it was snowman day at kindergarten.  I helped out in Aubrey's class that day. 

Saturday the 11th we went bowling and it was so much fun! 

Monday January 13th Carter was super kid.  That also was the  preschool night meeting where I got my jobs for the semester.  I'm super excited for my planning days, Valentine's week and Dr. Seuss week!  I also decided to take a semester off of  planning class room parties.  My special project this semester is pulling out the books for the week themes for 8 weeks, super easy!  Why have I not done this job sooner!

Friday the 17th I helped make these penguins in Aubrey's class.

Thank goodness for Martin Luther King day on the 20th.  We needed a long weekend! I was happy that Aubrey learned all about this holiday and the importance in school.  I was surprised that I was having this conversation with my five year old.  She knew so much and she said the sweetest thing, "Mommy I'm so happy that I live in today's world where everyone is equal and the same.  It makes me sad that people treated other people different because they had dark skin." She also mentioned how she couldn't understand why people would be mean to people just because of their skin color, "what if they were really nice people?"  I have always taught my kids to love everyone and you could see that she really struggled with the fact that this was such a hard thing back then.  But she understood that it's not like that anymore and she was grateful for that.  I'm happy they teach the kids all about this and that they read books and made her understand about this time period in our history.  

That Monday we decided to hang at home and work on Valentine's day stuff.  The kids and I did a science experiment with candy hearts which was really fun and I think I will use on my planning day at the preschool.  It was called dancing hearts and they loved watching them dance.

 We did some crafts.....

 and played bingo.

The next weekend Titi came out and I didn't get any pictures!! I can't believe it! We had fun eating out, shopping, watching movies and making a test birthday cake for the big Lalaloopsy party coming up next Saturday.  It was nice very to have her out. 

Spencer has been such a great help to me this month!!!! Back in December he got a big promotion at work and we are so proud of him!! He is now a project manager Engineer! He is amazing and so smart.  With this promotion means salary and means that he works even more then his usual 40 hours a week plus his teaching job.  He has had to work a couple of Saturdays which has been hard but he still has found time for us in his very busy schedule.  I love him so much and so grateful to have him as my partner.  Tuesday January 25th was my extra day at preschool and I had to be at the airport so awesome daddy filled in for me! It was P.J day at school and they looked so cute!  

 I guess the other dad there was working in the kitchen and he set of the smoke detector and everyone had to go outside.  When Carter sees this picture he calls it the emergency picture.

 They had a really fun day!!

Friday January 31st was the 100th day of school! I got to volunteer in the classroom.  Aubrey loved wearing her hat and got really good at counting to 100 in 10's.  She really is a 100 days smarter.  She is writing sentences and can read all the Dick and Jane books, lots of Dr. Seuss books and is starting in level 2 reading books.  We are very proud of her.  Her math skills are amazing and she gets bored with the homework every night.  She is a smarty!!!! 

Friday night was the Girl Scouts Father Daughter Hoedown.  How cute is that?

 I just thought this event was the cutest thing ever!! They had a great night.  Tri-tip, beans corn on the cob, rolls (Aubrey says the best bread ever) and lemonade for dinner.  They took pictures and danced the night away.  Aubrey and her friend Kendall even started a dance train around the dance floor.  Aubrey is loving Girl Scouts! Cookie time started on the 12th and made it to her goal with pre-sales! She was determined to sell 190 boxes so she could get a stuffed animal fox and she did it.  The cookies come in on Feb. 13th and that's when we collect the money and distribute the cookies so that should be fun! I'm a little worried about having 190 boxes in my house! I'm going to need to really restrain myself! 

Christmas Break

Christmas break was awesome, fun, great and wonderful but way too short!! Christmas on a Wednesday this year was a bit strange and kind of cut the week in half but we were grateful to have the Friday before Christmas week and the Monday after New Years off too.  Spencer took the week of Christmas off and it was perfect! We love having him home.  We played, played and played.  Carter loves driving his new truck in the empty lots across from us.  

Oh no is this a glimpse into the future?!?

 I'm happy it's all learning games! They both love playing on their "oPods."

Friday December 27th my family came down to Merced and we all went to the Dinosaur museum in Madera.  It was really cool.  The kids just loved all the hands on activities, especially the dig area.  

 The whole family got into it and we found all the fossils.

 Since Titi's birthday is New Years day we decided to celebrate that day and went to the Spaghetti Factory for dinner.

Here is us enjoying eating out another evening that week.  I think we must have eaten out every day on vacation it was great!  (It made it hard for me to get back into the swing of cooking again!)  Thanks Gaga for the gift card!

 Titi came and stayed with us December 30th and 31st.  We had a nice morning at the zoo.  We always love when she visits us!

 New Years Eve night we had plans to go to our friends house for dinner and a party but our poor friends daughter got sick so we had to reschedule.  We did a mini party at home and played WiiU, watched movies, had cream puffs and apple cider.

 I love ringing in the new year with these cuties!!

New Years day we took down all the Christmas decorations :( and organized we manged to sneak out and play at the park and have a yummy sushi lunch that day too.  

January 2nd the kids and I went up to Sonora for a few nights.  We went on a big hike with Papa, played a lot, went shopping, went to music time with Nana and ate lots of good food.  It was tons of fun.  I didn't have the camera with me for everything but I did have it at this cute diner were we had lunch.

 Carter's new favorite thing is mustard?!?! Or as he calls it yellow stuff.  Every day for lunch he just wants bread and yellow stuff.  I always sneak a piece of turkey on there too :)

 After our mini vacation we were back to playing at home.

Great 2.5 weeks! Now back to reality! We hope you all had a great break.  

We are excited about 2014 and the fun things ahead of us! 

Happy New Year