August Birthdays

Angela and Ashley's birthdays are one day apart, so we celebrated together. Angela got breakfast in bed on her birthday. Emily got it ready all by herself, including buying the candy bar ahead of time and wrapping it up. What a lucky girl!

Clip on earrings!

Angela turned 8 this year, so she got her own scriptures in preparation for her baptism.

Yummy chocolate mousse cake! She has my love of chocolate!

I took some pictures of her outside.

Emily helped Ashley open her presents.

She got a pretend make up kit and she knew exactly what to do with everything.

My sister-in-law Ashley helped me make this cute flower out of fondant for my Ashley's cupcake. That way I didn't have to make two cakes. It worked perfectly.

Blowing out the candles.

When I told someone the other day that I have 4 girls, they smiled and said exclaimed, "You are so blessed!" and I thought, yes I am. I am so blessed to have 4 wonderful girls!

Dance Recital

Emily and Angela took tap this year and had a great time. Their dance was to Lollipop and Candyman and it was so cute! I was so proud of how well they knew their dance (no looking at the teacher this year) and they smiled and performed well the whole time.

 This group of girls has been in the same dance class for 3 years now and they have become great friends. They are sad they will be in different classes next year.

 Their aunt Melissa was in town and it was so fun that she could come to the recital.

Angela's School Music Program

Angela made a cute farmer in her school music program. She did a great job playing the xylophone.

Spring Piano Festivals/Recital

Emily and Angela both participated in a Piano Festival in April. They were very well prepared, played very well and received the highest rating, a Superior. I was a proud mom! It was Emily's 3rd year and 3rd Superior, so she received her 1st Gold Cup and played in the Gold Cup Recital. Emily has really improved this year, she is playing more musically and it is fun to hear her playing pieces I remember playing as a kid.

They also had their Spring Recital which they also played well at.

The Gold Cup Recital

Receiving her Gold Cup

She actually got 2 Gold Cups, one for Solo and one for Theory.

How many stuffed animals/dolls can you get around a table?

At least 19! I came home one day and found the girls doing a tea party for their dolls and stuffed animals. The picture doesn't really do it justice. There are even some on the bottom bunk of the doll bunk bed that you can't see. They play so creatively together. Sometimes for the whole day, it is quite amazing.

Sky High

On a day off of school in January, I told Emily and Angela they could each invite a friend to go to Sky High, a new trampoline jumping place I had heard about.  I bought our tickets the day before online and was glad I did because when we got there, there was a 2 1/2 hour wait to get in if you hadn't prebought. But the girls had a blast! Loud music, kids everywhere and a warehouse full of trampolines, what could be better than that? I was sort of wishing I had bought a ticket too. I saw some moms getting a serious workout.

Nutcracker and Piano Recital

I took the girls to see the Nutcracker last minute, I bought tickets just 2 days before. It was a mistake to take Nicole, she couldn't hold still for more than 30 seconds at a time, but we had fun anyway.

Emily played a solo and a trio in her Christmas recital.

 The trio was adorable and they played so well together.

I didn't get a photo of Angela in her first piano recital, so here's a short video.

Angela: All I want for Halloween . . .

is my two front teeth!

Angela lost her two front teeth on the same day, a few days before Halloween. I think the new ones will be in before Christmas, so we had to change the song a bit.

Soccer season has begun

Emily and Angela are both playing soccer again which is keeping us really busy, but they are having a great time. They're both improving in their skills and agressiveness.

Before Angela's first game.

Here's Emily, no that didn't turn into a goal unfortunately.

First Day of School

Whew! I'm done with the summer posts. The girls all had their first day of school on different days. Angela had a high fever the day and night before school started, so she had to stay home, so disappointing for her! And Nicole's preschool started the next week.

Emily-4th grade
Her good friend Ally is in her class again-3rd year in a row!

Getting settled at her desk. It turned out to be nice to only take Emily that morning because it wasn't so rushed getting both kids to their classrooms and I could stay and see her classroom for a few minutes. Her teacher went to the same high school as me, the same year as my sister and remembers her. Emily thinks that is so cool.



Angela-2nd grade

Nicole is in a co-op preschool with 5 other friends her age from church. We have it in our homes, rotating every 2 weeks. She was so excited about it and she loves it! She packed her backpack with a water bottle and snacks when Emily and Angela were getting their's ready and then it was so hard for her to wait another week. It was so cute!

Angela Bday continued

Angela had a party with friends at Papa's Pizza. She wanted a puppy theme, so we made a puppy paw cake with fun colors.

This group of girls had so much fun together!

This is a little ferris wheel they have inside the play area. We had assumed it would run during the party and were disappointed to find out they only run it in the evenings. But we convinced them to run it for us for a little bit and the girls were so excited! Everyone wanted to ride with Angela, it made her feel special to have all the girls waiting to have a turn with her.