Janie Jane

My little Janie turned 4 on Sunday- where does the time go? She has grown up so fast. You can tell she's the baby in the family- she gets her way most of the time and she'll do whatever it takes to get it. She is always cracking us up with her faces and the things she says. Her hair is finally getting some length (hallelujah!) and she's excited for the day that I can put it in a braid or curl it. Today was her first day of preschool and she couldn't have been more excited. Every day for the last month she would ask "Am I 4 yet? Do I get to go to school yet?" and today I was able to say YES to both! I love you Janie girl!

A birthday for the books

Derek really outdid himself this year. I definitely underestimated him! I was having a good day- a homemade breakfast from my parents, pedicures and lunch with friends- then off to Modern Steak for dinner with Chris and Candice, or so I thought. Candice and Chris were running late, so Derek called the restaurant to see if they would hold our reservation(but really he was talking to himself). He told me they would only hold it for 10 minutes and they already had a 45 minute wait time without a reservation. We would never make it on time! He seemed really frustrated that it wasn't working out and suggested that we go to St. Francis instead because they could probably get us right in. Since I'm so easy to please and I always love St. Francis, I agreed to go there and decided we could go to Modern Steak another time. So we get to the restaurant and I still don't have a clue. The hostess played it very cool and it seemed she was seating us as a table of 4 until we walked upstairs where everyone else was waiting. I'm usually not one for surprises, but this was the best. I got kind of emotional- it's so nice to feel loved!

The menu- this may have been the best meal of my life. (P.S. If you haven't been to
St. Francis yet, you must go!)


The quiz that Candice compiled- I've never laughed so hard in my life.
The answers: 1. C 2. C 3. D 4. B 5. B 6. A 7. D 8. All of the above 9. D 10. B 11. D

Beautiful peonies, tulips, and roses in fun vintage jars lined the tables.


I'm sure glad there were only 3 candles on the cake instead of 30!

I'm so grateful to be surrounded by wonderful family and great friends. I think 30 will be a very good year. ;)

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday to my favorite 5 year old boy!

Six

Clara's another year older and I can't believe she's 6 already! Where does the time go? I don't know what I would do without my sweet Clara girl. She's so full of personality, my best helper, and a great big sister to Clay and Janie. In some ways she's still my baby- she still likes Derek and I to walk her to her classroom every morning and give her a hug and kiss, she still likes to snuggle, and she doesn't know about Hannah Montana yet (thank goodness!). Yet in other ways, she's growing up too fast- she always wants to wear make-up (for real), she's already reading Junie B. Jones books, and she has her first childhood crush (Carson B.). Just the other day she said to me, "Mom, this is what I told Carson today at school. Knock knock. Who's there? Mary. Mary who? Mary me; I love you." I really hope it works out because she's going to be crushed otherwise. Becky, you can't move away okay? :) Happy, happy Birthday Clara! I love you more and more every day.

Janie's Birthday

Janie turned 3 last Saturday and with my dad's birthday being the day after hers, we decided to celebrate with dinner at St. Francis in Phoenix (it's a new restaurant that Derek's involved with- it's AMAZING!). She got to open a few presents and she LOVED when we sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She is such a sweet, funny girl and our family would not be complete without her. We love you Janie Jane!

29

This is a late birthday post, but I had to document such a fun weekend! My day started with these gorgeous peonies (my fave!) from Derek followed by shopping and lunch at California Pizza Kitchen with Mom and Candice. Derek and I went out to dinner that night. I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but the food was excellent and they had a magician that was so, so good.

Candice has been making me wait until now to go to Olive and Ivy, one of her favorite restaurants. So we got some friends together and she reserved the White Room for brunch - AMAZING! I'm just sure they were thinking of me when they decorated that room. I had a cinnamon roll center (which is deceiving because you think it's really going to be the center part of a cinnamon roll, but really it's a gigantic cinnamon roll that tastes like the center- best thing ever; and we ordered 12 of them), vanilla bean yogurt with berries, and a breakfast sandwich with eggs, cheese, bacon and avocado- yum. Then they brought me a fun dessert with my name and everythin'. Thank you to everyone who made my day so great! It was a wonderful birthday !

Birthday Boy

Clay turned 4 yesterday and he chose to celebrate with hot dogs, hamburgers, and chocolate cake (with Transformers on top). Some things about Clay:
- He has a major obsession with Transformers
- He has amazingly long eyelashes
- He loves to swim
- He loves anything chocolate (a man after my own heart)
- He is very tidy- he's great at cleaning his room and everything has to be in JUST the right spot; I can't imagine where he got that trait!
- He's one of the most mellow boys I know- A couple of weeks ago my mom said "it's so funny- you have Clara (dramatic), and you have Janie (super dramatic), and then there's Clay." And I knew just what she meant. He's such a sweet boy and I wouldn't trade him for anything. Happy Birthday Bud!

Five

Clara's 5 today! We celebrated last night at the park with family. We had hot dogs for dinner (Clara's request) and Candice made an Ariel cake (also a request). Her present from Derek and I was a new puppy (Shadow died a few weeks ago). I don't think she realizes yet that he won't be a puppy forever, but for now she's having so much fun with him. The kids decided to name him Prince. Thanks to everyone who helped make her day so special! Happy Birthday Clara! Love you lots!

Janie's Birthday Fun

For Janie's birthday Candice and I took the kids to a gymnastics place that has open gym every Friday and the kids absolutely love it!

I am definitely investing in one of these roller coasters- it was by far the kids favorite!

Candice made this little book for Janie with pictures of our family- could she be any more creative?

Every Sunday we go to my parents house for dinner so we had another little party over there. She made out like a bandit!

Janie

Happy Birthday to my sweet Janie Jane! I can't believe she's already 2. She's looking and acting more grown up every day. Some things I love about Janie:
- Her sweetest little voice
- Her big round belly
-She LOVES to let me do her hair (which is finally long enough to do ponies!)
- Her chubby cheeks (both sets)
- She is very polite and loves to say thank you and you're welcome
- Her obsession with bugs
- Her ability to keep up with Clara and Clay and do everything they do

We are so blessed to have you in our family Janie girl- we love you!

Here's Janie's rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
(She only got halfway and then realized I had the camera so she wanted to see)

Girls

We've had a fun couple of weeks! Kelli came down for the weekend and we celebrated Candice's 30th birthday with some good food, shopping, and lounging. Mason and Amanda also flew in from Florida (their new home for the next year at least- Mason is going to law school in Jacksonville) so it's been fun having them here and getting to spend time with them. Yesterday Candice, Amanda, and I took Clara and Maya for their first pedicures and we probably should have waited a little while longer because they loved it a little too much I think! Clara's already saying "it's okay if my nail polish scratches off because we can just go back to the store and get more put on!"