DADDY SAVES THE DAY!!

No scissors necessary!!! Thank goodness! Rylee came out of the bathroom with a comb stuck...and I mean very stuck...in her hair. It was wrapped in all sorts of different directions! I gave it a tiny effort and turned it straight over to Daddy! Thank goodness he is patient and likes a good project! The comb got cut, but we saved the hair! Yay! Oh...and yes...she said she learned her lesson! We've all done it haven't we?!

SPA NIGHT

Taylor gave her sisters a spa night a couple of weekends ago. It was so cute! She gave them both a facial and then gave them massages with lotion. After the massage, they both relaxed with cucumbers on their eyes and then she painted their nails and put flowers and makeup on them. Rylee and Morgan were so happy and spoiled that night! What a fun idea! Taylor did not want me to help at all, so I just observed and enjoyed their fun!

...I keep thinking Weekend at Bernie's...hmm...wonder why? :)

SPELLING BEE!!

Congrats to Taylor!! She took 3rd place in her school spelling bee today! She won her class spelling bee a couple of weeks ago and competed against 19 other students from 3-6 grades. She is only in 3rd grade and did an OUTSTANDING JOB!! (Of course I have to gloat a little!) We are so proud of her!

Here are the kids who competed. The 6th grader who won is in the red shirt in the middle

This first spelling bee stressed me out big time! Jason was just laughing at me! I think my competitive side definitely came out! Oops! Every time Taylor got up, I was so worried about the word she'd get and if they'd pronounce it right! I felt like a crazy mother bear today! Ya, I am crazy! Oh well! At least I was quiet about it!

When we walked in, the kids were all sitting on the stage. Taylor wouldn't even smile. I think she was pretty nervous. You would never know once she started spelling though. She started having a lot of fun with it. She got both words that we had practiced over and over that morning. She was pretty happy about that!

What a shocker!

We found out today that we are having another little girl to add to our house full of estrogen! Yay! I am very excited! We went to an ultrasound school and got a free one just to find out a week early. We are ridiculous aren't we? It was fun though! Now the doctor can confirm it at our "real" ultrasound next week! The bed was surrounded by ultrasound students who were all too afraid to try to see if they could get a good picture of the baby, so the teacher did it all. They were all joking around with Jason about having a boy and a couple of times we thought it might be, but it was just the cord in the wrong spot! Oops! Well, the joking all stopped and the room went silent when he said it was a girl. I think they were all staring at Jason to see his reaction! He did well and he is excited of course. A little deflated, but excited nonetheless! I'm happy he's taking it so well, even though he is so outnumbered. I think it is Karma for him being soooo girl crazy in high school and college! :) He did say that he is going to get a boy dog right after I have the baby! That got a few laughs and broke the tension in the room! Of course I am excited to have another little girl to snuggle and dress up! Jason still jokes that the girls are like my little Barbies. I will love having 4 little Barbies to get ready everyday! We love girls! We better! Most importantly though, the baby is healthy and extremely active! How could we ask for more than that?!

Halloween

This was a great Halloween! The girls got to dress up 3 times for different parties. They loved it! On Halloween night, we went to our friends Brian and Susie's cul de sac for a little party and trick or treating around their neighborhood. After every house that we went to Morgan would come running out yelling and jumping up and down, "I got candy!" So adorable! Morgan and Rylee didn't last too long. Rylee said, "Mommy, I think I have enough candy. Can I go eat it now?" So Jason stayed with them and Taylor and I went to a few more houses. It was fun to have that time with her. This is the first year Taylor dressed up as something scary. It was a fun change, once she got used to the green face! I just liked the cool black streaks in her blonde hair. It was so fun to do!

Our little Queen! She was in character all night! Imagine that!

Morgie loved being a butterfly! She even kept her antennas on! Can't believe it!

Jesse didn't keep hers on though! Oh well! We tried! She outgrew her bee costume! Darn!!!

...and the spooky witch Taylor! AHHHHH! :)

Taylor's Baptism

It is about time that I posted these pictures of Taylor's Baptism!! What an amazing day! We are so proud of her choice to be baptized. She felt excited, nervous and a little overwhelmed! The day could not have been more perfect! The Grandpas gave the talks and Rylee and Chelsea sang a beautiful song. Taylor looked like a little angel and she had so much support from family and friends! We had family who travelled from California and Utah just for this occasion. After the baptism, we came back to our house for a little brunch (including the yummiest cinnamon rolls). It was so fun to be with family and friends and we appreciated all the love that was shown to us! We are very blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people! And Taylor...thanks for being you! We couldn't ask for a sweeter little girl!

Grandma Trudy, Hayli, Emily, Laurie, Chelsea, Me, Rylee and Tay

Christine, Rick and Connor

Grandpa Larry and Grammy Gloria

Our little fam!

Aunt Shannan

Grandpa Bob

Tay and the boys! Connor, Kyle, AJ Parker, Logan and Britton! Cute Cousins!

Tay and the girls! Hayli, McKayla, Aivree, Chels, Kelcie, and of course her sisters!

Tay, Aivree and Hayli! So cute!

Daddy, Tay and Morgie!

I love this picture of Taylor and her Daddy!

Imaginations at work!

The girls have been getting along sooooo well lately! They have been complete angels! I don't know how I got so lucky! There have been days that they just play together all day long, uninterrupted and you can just feel the imagination and creativity flowing from them. On days like this, I try to leave them alone to just create and have a blast! I just enjoy being the audience! Here is Morgan getting the full hospital treatment in Taylor's bed. You can tell Morgan is completely in character!

Rock Star Day

Friday was Rock-N-Roll Day at school, or as my girls wanted to call it..."Rock Star Day". So, we dressed them up as "Rock Stars" and had a blast doing it! We accessorized, krimped hair, streaked hair, teased hair, and put makeup on! They were in heaven, and I enjoyed being their personal stylist! Think we are ready for the big time? :)

My new favorite story! Thanks Mindy!

Taylor's 8th Birthday

My little Tay Tay turned 8 years old on July 27th!!! I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday! She has been an incredible kid from the start! Couldn't ask for a more sweet, beautiful girl on the inside and the outside! She is always so obedient and is such a great friend and big sister! We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE having Taylor in our family!!! Taylor is sooo excited to be baptized on September 26th! She has been preparing and learning her Articles of Faith! We are very proud of the good choices that she makes. Taylor is always turning to her Heavenly Father in prayer when she needs support. She already has developed that relationship and I know that will get her through all the craziness of life. She already has amazing faith and is such an amazing little...oh....oops! I mean big girl! :) She'll always be my first little baby though! :)

Taylor was very serious about her wish this year! She sat and thought about it for about a minute before she blew at the candles! I hope it comes true for her!!!

Auntie Shelby and cute Ella

Daddy being Daddy! I think Morgan took this picture!

We had a "Sing Star" party in the theater at our apartment complex! Here is Jaden, Tay and Lacey singing their hearts out!! All of the kids loved it...and I did too!!! I'm a huge Sing Star fan! In the theater, we could blast it as loud as we wanted and sing at the top of our lungs and it didn't bother anyone! Yay! Gotta love apartment life right!!!

Symphony Day at the Park

The Austin Symphony puts on "Symphony Day at the Park" every Wednesday in July. You only pay 50 cents per kid to get in and it is worth way more than that! We walked in to this amazing outdoor amphitheater through bubbles and music and were greeted by clowns and given free slinkies and balloons! It was so magical and fun! We loved it!

The theme of the show today was "Teddy Bear Picnic" After the show, they had a teddy bear contest for the biggest, smallest, etc. Rylee's "Grape Juice" teddy bear, (held by Morgan in the picture above) won for "Most Colorful" teddy bear. I am not sure if Rylee was more excited or if I was! So here is proud Rylee holding her new FAO Schwartz boy teddy bear with adorable pajamas! Rylee said that Grape Juice and this bear are getting married in the morning!! What should I wear to the ceremony?!!!

Here are the girls with their cousins Jaden, Jenna and Ella and London
Apparently, nobody wanted to look at the camera, but that's ok! This picture shows just how crazy it can be! :)

There was a instrument petting zoo there where the kids were able to touch and try any instrument they wanted. Pretty amazing! What a great idea!

Is this a sign of things to come?!

Taylor was focusing very hard on the cello!

Beautiful Aunt Summer and Baby London watching the show!

The performance was by "Cowgirl Sue" She sang the cutest songs and had the kids participate in every one of them. They absolutely loved it! The weather was perfect and even though they were in the sun on stage, we lucked out with perfect shade! The whole setting was incredible!

This is a yellow puppy dog...in case you were wondering!

The morning ended with face painting. Puppy dogs or kittens...tough choice! We had some of each! After the symphony park day was over we took our blanket and had a picnic in a cute gazebo with all the girls! This was a great morning!