Rae's 5th Birthday!

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Rae who was going to turn 5. She wanted to have a party. She decided to have a fairy tale party and invited her 20 friends to dress up in costumes and come to her party. They all had a lot of fun and lived happily ever after.

Yes.... I am crazy! But thanks to awesome friends and the best mother in the whole wide world... (yes, thats you Grandma Doris), the party was a total success.

Rae wanted to be a mermaid, it is hard to tell how cute her costume turned out in these pictures. We had a lot of fun just making her costume!

When the children all arrived, we split them up into 6 groups of 3-4 kids. Then, we rotated them through the different "stories" where they did crafts or activities.

At "Cinderella", they made wands and crowns. At "Hansel and Grettle" they made gingerbread houses. At "Jack and the Beanstalk", they planted their own bean and decorated their plant pot. At "Peter Pan" they made telescopes and eye patches. Jason played "Granny... granny.... granny....WOLF" after the Red Riding Hood story. And Vincent had the kids act out "The Three Little Pigs" and "Goldie Locks".

It seem like opening presents took forever. Imagine that! She is lucky to have such sweet and thoughtful friends. Her favorite gifts are her digital camera and her MP3 player. Thank you Grandmas and Grandpas!
All in all, it was semi-organized madness. The kids all had a super fun time and I think the adults are just happy that we survived it. Most importantly, Rae had a blast!!! Thank you all so much for your help!

Rae's Dance Recital

Rae's first "real" dance recital was tonight. These girls could all just stand there and do nothing in their cute little costumes and all of us parents would just oooo and aaaah. I hope the video works out okay, make sure to pause the music on my blog first so that you can hear the music she is dancing to. I am sorry about the crazy lady yelling at the end of the dance. Some mother was really proud of her little cutie. Just a little loud.

Rae was so excited to have Grandma Doris and Grandpa Brian come. And of course, she and Bailey were more than happy to pose for a few pictures together.

I love my boys!

What can I say? I just can't get enough of my 3 boys!

Vincent's Country Project

Vincent spent an incredible amount of time putting together his country project. He chose Monaco and he learned a lot about it. He wrote a two page typed written report, made note cards, a web, this awesome poster, and an oral report along with the power point on the video. Then, I made some baked brie and creme brulee to share with the class. He definately did a fantastic job and I was soooooo way proud to be his mother!

Enchanted.

Michelle and I took Rae and Bailey to see Enchanted last Saturday. We thought it would be fun to dress the girls up. They got lots of comments on how pretty they looked. Michelle made the cute tutu's and head bands. The boys went to National Treasure. They didn't get to dress up. I don't think they felt too bad. It was a fun day!

Have you seen this bearded girl?

So, shortly after Christmas, Rae came downstairs saying that her princess barbies were all in prison in the castle and that Cinderella was dead. I just kinda laughed it off until Ben came downstairs and asked if I'd seen Rae's barbies. He said it was a little disturbing. This is what I found. (Be aware the following video may contain images some may find disturbing. Caution is advised. J/K) I guess it just proves that she loves her brothers and hangs out with them a LOT! Anyway, Rae also thinks it is cool to have a beard, she pulls her hair into a pony on her chin. It actually almost looks real in life. :)

I am so lucky to have such a great family! I mean, how many almost 16 year old boys can you get to sit on Santa's lap just for the picture? Man, I must be the most special momma in the whole wide world!
We always have a fun time at the "Santa Symphony". I am so happy that my kids are learning to love music the way I do. They are always such good sports about going to things like this with me, it never hurts that they get to dress up in costumes (Halloween) or see Santa. Vincent is always great about sitting on Mr. C's lap. One more chance to relay the message about the skate board he wants so badly. Raeannen is a little shy about Santa still, but will always flash her smile at the camera. The last picture was after church on Christmas Sunday, just had to throw one more of them together in.