a busy week . . .

We've had a busy past week - there was a death in the family which resulted in my husband's family all joining us for the week. Some stayed with us, and the rest nearby. The kids loved the attention from their uncles and grandparents and seeing their cousins. And we also got the wonderful news this week that Brad's only sister became engaged - this will be an exciting year for his family with two weddings and a baby due. Here's some pics of the girls goofing around with one of their uncles.

More birthday girl fun . . .

So yesterday was Elayna's actual birthdate so she got to pick where we went for dinner - and she chose BP's with Opa & Oma. She didn't want to order the kids meals, she wanted us all to share some pizzas. It was cute and the kids were great. When we got home, she got to open gifts from us - she got a Littlest Pet Shop house (to keep all those little guys together) and a doll sticker book. She's easy to please and loved them.

Today she's out on her first annual birthday lunch and shopping trip with her Oma and cousin Kristina (her birthday is 4 days after Elayna). She gets to pick where to lunch this year since it's her first time, and she chose a tea shop that puts on a whole tea party with little party sandwiches. She was super excited and is hoping to get some sparkly purple shoes that caught her eye a couple days ago. We'll see what she comes home with :)

I promised Chantel that we'd do something fun while Elayna was gone and Alyssa's napping, so we went down to the sewing room and she picked out some fabric for a dolly blanket, matching pillowcase and a little pillow. They turned out cute and have been entertaining her ever since.

Birthday money and a haircut . . .

Elayna got two special cards with birthday money from her great-grandparents for her birthday and since it was Brad's day off today, we went to go spend it. The biggest craze for little girls lately seems to be little toys with little accessories, little clothes, etc. So she picked out three little sets to add to her collection. They're cute but I'm sure glad that the two oldest girls will be moving to the downstairs bedroom along with all these little toys before the new baby is big enough to start finding them.

And since my hair was due for a haircut (it was getting way too thick again), I took the older girls along with me this time to get theirs done too. Elayna only wanted a trim but Chantel got quite a few curls chopped off. It looks cute and she loves it.

Elayna's Birthday Party

So yesterday we had Elayna's birthday party after school. Eight little girls along with my three made for a fun and crazy time. The weather cooperated so they had lots of fun playing in the backyard and then they also played all the old party games - pin the tail on the donkey, hot potatoe, and musical chairs. We had snack time, lots of play time, a craft, a pizza dinner, cake, and presents - not a dull moment. Here's some pics of the little monkeys:

a cute pic . . .