My Emma is 8!

Emma lou is 8!  Wow!  Can it be true that I have an 8 year old?!  Just amazing.  I love this girl.  She is truly wonderful.  She is so gifted and friendly and fun.  She is a joy and an uplifting spirit in our home.  

Her birthday was on a Saturday this year, but on Friday, I went to her school to bring her lunch from McDonalds and eat with her and her friends in the cafeteria.  She seems to be popular with her friends... but maybe that was just because she had french fries to share... haha.  :)  I left some cupcakes with her to share with her class at the end of the day.

Most of Emma's birthday was filled with friend party prep and celebration (which I'll post separately).  We were wiped out from that, so in the evening for Emma's birthday dinner, she picked out her own Papa John's pizza and dessert (extra extra cheese pizza and cinnamon sticks!) which we had delivered.  Easy Peazy.  Emma opened up her presents after dinner - she got cute clothes and a new bigger bike!  Grandma and Grandpa Szymanski contributed to the cost of the clothes - Emma has been really interested in new clothes lately!  She wants to be cute!  :)  She must be growing up...

Modeling her new cutesy shoes...

Claire wants to be a big girl too...

That evening the kids rode around on their bikes outside - it was dark, but Emma was excited to try out her new bike.  She's so big!  

You know you're in Arizona, when you are able to comfortably ride your bike outside at night without wearing pants :)

The next morning we did a fun belated birthday breakfast since the day before we were so busy with party preparations - Emma requested chocolate chip waffles (covered in chocolate syrup and powdered sugar!)

We went to Emily's house for a fun Valentines themed dinner and to celebrate Emma and her Uncle Peter's birthday.  Emma got some great gifts from her Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents - she even got a life jacket! So she can safely enjoy the canoe we got for Christmas :)

Aunt Emily made a delicious and pretty birthday cake!

Emma pulled a fast one on Uncle Peter and blew out all the candles slightly before he could get his chance to help out... oh Emma...

Babies love cake too!

Happy 8th birthday sweet Emma!

Valentines Day 2013

Happy Valentines Day!  The kids woke up to see their doors 'completed' - 14 valentines - I put the final one on their doors the night before...

Emma and Becca were both excited to have Valentines parties at school - we made these...

For their teachers - "love juice"

Oh, the classic heart shaped pancakes... they just never get old to the kids...

When Becca got home from school, she immediately emptied out her Valentines winnings...

More heart shaped food for lunch...

Ben and Emma had special lunches too that I made for them that morning :)

Sweet Claire bear...

Round 2 of Valentine feasting when Emma got home from school...

Ben brought home goodies too!  He gave the girls chocolate bars, and Jake a chocolate cigar!  :)

And for ME from my sweetie!

Yes, I'll admit it... we overdue it on the sweets on Valentines day - after dinner, we played THIS amusing Valentine card game as a family, while sipping on Valentine floats... with red vine straws!

Ben and I went out on a Valentines date the following night.  We had an amazing dinner at Fogo de Chao and then went to the Sugar Bowl for dessert... I'm full...

Hearts, Parties, and Tiny Dancers

I say this all the time, but I love February!  One of my favorite things to do each month, is change out the dishes in the hutch - I love the red and white!

The red mailboxes always make their annual appearance on the 1st of February...

I tried a new thing this year - putting a heart on the kids door for every day in February leading up to Valentines Day... each heart says something I love about them....

Getting Valentines ready for school parties...

Jake loved using army men for his valentines- we found BIG army men guys at the dollar store!

Idea from HERE

Jake had his preschool Valentines party the day before the holiday.  Jake is such a character!  I love seeing this guy with his friends at school...

I had Claire with me- she wasn't the easiest to have at Jake's party, but she loved finding a little chair in the corner to lounge on and eat candy

Participating in a letter matching Valentine activity...

Handing out his valentines...

Becca started taking dance classes with some of her cute friends a few weeks ago - I picked up the girls when dance class was over and had them over for a little playdate afterwards...

We did a Valentine photo scavenger hunt - I just typed up a list of things they could find around the house and I had them use my phone to take pictures of each thing.  The girls took turns coloring in the hearts as they found each item...

The girls decided that "something huggable" is Natalie!  haha... so sweet...

As their prize for completing their scavenger hunt, they won cupcakes... I went to take a picture, and they gave me goofy kissy faces...

Chinese New Year!

It's the Year of the Snake!  Grandma Dangerfield has the best collection of dress up clothes - I love seeing the kids are dressed up for the holiday!