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| To commemorate Taylor's 5th birthday, I had a sweet friend take some photos of Taylor. I already know my baby girl isn't a baby anymore. And looking through these photos reinforces what a beautiful child she is...inside and out. I think we will need to increase the dating age from 25 to 30. Ha! |
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| Monster Jam | January 28, 2012 |
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| Landon was tiny next to the gigantic wheels on the monster trucks. |
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| Hank and Ryland checking out the tires. |
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| Quick photo opp before the preshow started. |
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| We actually go to sit on one of the quads to be racing in the preshow quad wars. |
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| Taylor and Landon had their turn too! |
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| Landon's priceless expression as the main event starts. |
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| The main event starting off with the monster trucks racing. |
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| The whole experience was pretty incredible. I'm really not sure what we liked most...hanging out in the pits, the preshow quad wars or the main event. All five of us were in awe. Since we had never been before, we really didn't know how loud it would be. Honestly, the only drawback of this event was the noise level. We came prepared with earplugs that helped out tremendously, but our 2 year old would not wear them and I was the most concerned about him. I would recommend this event for anyone over the age of 3 and not younger. We are so excited about this event, and the kids are already asking when they can go back. This was such a fun family experience! |
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| This week was really all about Taylor and her party. But I also wanted to include a couple other points of interest. One is a flyer from our church on the new sermon series called "Distinctly Different". The series just started and we are already learning a lot from it. This second thing to make memory of is that Ryland uses the potty exclusively...as long as we keep him naked. As soon as the pull-up or underwear are on, all potty training has ceased. So when we are home, he runs around naked. Sound normal? Ha! |
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| Taylor had a special birthday party here at our house. She selected all of the "girls" who she wanted me to invite...mainly friends from school...and said boys weren't allowed. She made a concession for Grandpa and Daddy and her brothers. She did request that the brothers stay in their room during her party. I told her that was not an option. She cracks me up! |
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| More photos from her party and a copy of her inviation that I made. We rented a princess bounce house to go with the party's theme. Taylor specifically asked for an Ariel party. She said no to Barbie and no to Hello Kitty. My girl knows what she wants and usually gets what she wants. We might need to work on that ;-) |
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| On the backside of the invitation, I included her birthday cards and sewed them in a page protector. My dear friend Carrie and her daughter Elly made Taylor the sweetest cake ever. It was an ocean cake with the mermaids sitting on the beach (crushed graham crackers). It was perfect! |
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| Tickets still available at http://www.monsterjam.com/Events/2012/01/28/Phoenix,_AZ/ |
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| Week 2 had a few fun activities. The first was taking our Wyld Life team (and kiddos) to Anthem's Wyld Life club to check them out. I got some great photos of Hank and Ryland participating in the games and an adorable close-up photo of Landon. |
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| Saturday was Elly's 6th birthday party so Taylor and Landon went and enjoyed themselves...especially the cupcakes. Elly is the one of the sweetest friends that Taylor has! |
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| Saturday night we took the kids to Glendale Glitters for their closing night known as GLOW. They had several grounded hot air balloons and rides like the ferris wheel. We took the kids on the ferris wheel for the first time and they loved every second of it. They had no fear at all. |
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| One of the hot air balloon owners asked if me and the kids wanted to jump in and check it out. Ryland gave me the death grip every time they lit up the balloon. It was quite loud and intimidating but a great experience. |
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| A good week...Hank had Monday off from work, the kids went back to school, and I only had to work one day this week. I have been working way more than normal and it was nice to have this slower, shorter week to transition back into reality. I've also decided it's almost time to potty train Ryland. I think he will be ready in a matter of weeks. That means no more diapers in our home! On New Year's Day, we went over to my in-laws for pizza and games. Carol taught us how to play GOLF, the card game, and it was simple enough for Landon to play too. He loved it! I think he definitely has the "gaming" gene from me. |
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| Almost every night this week, we drank up the sparkling apple cider I had bought for New Year's Eve. The kids loved it...especially in their own plastic champaigne glasses. Ryland liked it a little too much. Ha! We also had our dear friends, the Widneys, over for dinner one night. They are good company always! Landon came down with a little something so he wasn't able to attend a classmate's school party with his sister Taylor at a local tumbling center. Taylor sure had a great time! |
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| Christmas Day started off our week. We spent the morning at home slowly opening gifts and then getting ready to head to my brother's house in Chandler to celebrate with the rest of my family and enjoy Christmas dinner together. It was a great day indeed! |
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| The rest of the week included Hank giving Landon beginner lessons on the boys' new drumset; Hank trying out his new BBQ; and having friends over from church and making smores in the backyard firepit. Hank was off the full week and it went by entirely too quickly. 2011 has come and gone and now I am preparing myself for another round of Project Life. Here's to hoping that 2012 is one of our best years yet! |
