on last week’s pics. bowling. finally made it in. 🙂

this is in hollywood.. she looks so hollywood with the wind in her hair, dontcha think? 🙂

i know this one is blurry but i love it so….. he looks like my little boy still here…

kira and her friends chose this polka dot theme when they went to the dance last week. that’s my skirt! i can’t believe we can share clothes now.

a few years ago kira was into these toys.. littlest pet shop (?) and i thought to myself.. she is going to be sooo over those in a bit.. she was at that age where she wasn’t playing with toys much… i am so glad that someone else has found them and loooves them so much. 🙂

and one that caleb took of me and the birthday girl.

and since i hate mondays so much.. i am glad i don’t have to start the week like i normally do.. kids are off and we are going to soak in one more weekend day. 🙂 yay!

i’m using the excuse that daddy had to go out of town after breakfast to post all these photos. 🙂
so it started off with breakfast at a schmancy hotel with elsie flinging fruit off her plate in every which way. nice.

then the first round of candle blowing while daddy was still around. caleb blew it out. elsie could care less. but look at her dive into the cupcake! go els! 🙂 looove caleb’s face as he’s watching her go at it. ha!!!!!

some cute shots around the hotel while we were waiting for grandpapa. this one cracks me up.

then the farewells. grandpapa and jude going back to australia. daddy going to texas.

everyone leaves and it’s just me and els. a quick run to target and to get some balloons. which she LOVES. hold them, let go, laugh. repeat. over and over. until one pops and she is then terrified of them.

in a matter of hours, there are a few naps, a trip to the PO, the schools to get the big kids and baseball practice. home again to have cupcakes with the siblings. 🙂 the cupcake and candle thing strikes a memory and she is happy. 🙂

always has to have her feet crossed like this when eating. always.

atta girl!

while looking over my 200 photos i took today… i realized.. i changed her clothes 3 times today. (i don’t usually do that. i let her grub up whatever she’s wearing for the whole day–less laundry, ya know?!) that i get a lot of photos with her fingers in her mouth. i get a lot of photos with her and everyone else.. i think i had 3 of me and her.. which is a bigger number than usual. not much though… considering i birthed the child. 🙂 and after so.ooo…ooo many photos taken to get THE birthday shot for my records… it’s this one i loved most. bright, shiny, lovely and SOOOOOOO happy in the bath. birthday/schmirthday…. she was ready to hop in my bed and have snuggles.

if you read through that entire post, thanks. 🙂

quickest year of our lives…off to a birthday breakfast with grandpapa and jude… will be back later with lotsa piccy’s! 🙂

ha! i have neeevvveeeerrrr liked mondays. today is no exception. trying to wrap my brain around the beginning of the week… my head is spinning.
recap of yesterday:
we attempted, very stupidly, to go bowling at this cool place here.  it’s been awhile since we’ve been.. and of couuuuurse we chose this sunday to go.

bad move. baaaaaaad move.

gold guys that day. oscars. duh. whhhhy didn’t we think of that? the whole street was closed.

we didn’t even get to see anyone famous. except the caveman from the geico commercials and sugar ray. lol.

so off we went to starbucks. someone turns one this thursday. 

someone is totally fascinated by dogs. she says woof woof, which sounds like woo woo. and i kid you not.. i woke up to her woofing this morning. 🙂

and someone lost their two front teeth and also made it to the american league. 🙂 🙂 🙂

it looks like we have a full fledged middle schooler in our house. 🙂 miss kira won a spot on the sixth grade ASB (Academic Student Body (student government)). 1 out of 8 spots. and her best friend won too. she is so giddy and we are so proud. she is SUCH the school spirit rah rah kinda girl/academic achiever/natural born leader… they picked a good girl. 🙂 aaaaaaaaaaaaand. heaven help us… she’s going to her first school dance tomorrow night. with a gaggle of girlfriends of course! 🙂

about 11 years apart. i hope hope hope they stay close as they grow up. i always thought i would have liked a sister.. but i am too much of an introvert.. she would have wanted to hang out and stuff. 🙂 LOL i did just fine with my cousins living in different houses. 🙂 these two are so sweet. all kira wants to do is hug and play with her. finally, elsie is starting to enjoy playing now. and yesterday we picked kira up from being gone all weekend, and elsie greeted her with a ‘hi sissy’… ok more of a ‘hiiiiii thi-thee’ and of course, it melted kira’s heart.

when he was around 2-6 cameron used to be a BIG creator with leftover household items. i would save my scraps and he would make amazing things with them. but since he’s grown up and found video games, his creations have been put on hold. i used to wonder what i would do with all the stuff he made.. where would i put it.. do i HAVE to keep it??? now.. every so often, cameron will come to me with a new creation and it makes my heart melt. no longer do i ask myself those questions, but i want more, i secretly hope this is the door opening to his creation making again.

this is his new buddy…made out of scrap foam, striped paper clips and brads. soooo extraordinary to me.

got this cute love tray from target and filled it up with yummies for the kiddos. 🙂 i got this cute card from caleb. he totally doesn’t know what he’s talking about but i will soak it up anyways. 🙂 (rach- do you love how he spelled rachael? LOL)

and miss els for daddy’s val day presents. 🙂

we just don’t get it. fingers almost always in the mouth. more lately because we think she is teething. i can’t seem to get past how germ-y it is, how it’s not good for her teeth, and how her fingers are raw and when they are miraculously out for a period of time.. they are soooo dry and cracked compared to the rest of her super soft hand. i know it’s her comfort. i know i have to get used to many, many photos with  her like this. i know it’s a phase.. she won’t be in college and still sucking her fingers. 🙂

relaxed, giddy, celebrated. 🙂

Caleb is the boy that almost always see’s the cup half full…and when the milk spills, he plays in the puddle instead of complaining about it.  he’s the 3rd child who never quite embraced being the "baby," and so adores his sister who makes him feel important and big brother-ish. he is one moment dueling cameorn with a lightsaber, and the next singing along with the Backyardigans with little elsie. he knows that God exists but wonders why he can’t hear his voice. he’s our extroverted homebody. he’s our ball of nonstop energy and chatter who still likes to sleep on the floor next to our bed. he’s our boy who considers his siblings his best friends and still thinks his dad is stronger than superman. and now he’s also our six year old, caleb robb.