winter recital

what a graceful dancer she has become. we just love watching her so much!! my favorite part this session was watching her little hands, she's been working on perfecting the ballerina hand....i totally remember doing that too when i was little:)

o' christmas tree...

 the idea of walking around outside in the crisp fresh air, with the scent of pine passing by my nose, singing christmas carols, talking about our day, working together to find the "perfect' christmas tree, sounds so ideal....then, i wake up and realize that my kids are fighting, my husband is anxious to get back to work, no one is having fun, and we've become the family that you feel bad for at these kind of places. yep. that happened;) alteast we have a the lovely tree!

cribbage

while the girls were playing at the grandparents, ryder found his place amongst all the older boys (dad, grandpa, and the uncles), he loved it. they tossed the footfall, talked "guy" talk, and played many rounds of cribbage….which, ryder caught on very quickly, and became the "cribbage champion of thanksgiving 2013"!!  i've asked him to teach me, and he said "ah, mom, i hate explaining things, it's just too tiring"…..ha, tell me about it ryder:)!!

we love our family!

we had such a lovely time visiting with the mangerson clan, for thanksgiving. quinn loved being around all the girls, and there's nothing better than a house full of little girls giggles:) we are just so thankful to have such an awesome family. love you all.

the PARTY!

we had so much fun with our friends, and just feel so blessed that we have these people in our lives, and that we can simply head to our local park, which has awesome fire pits, and trails running everyone for the kids to frolic in! what a life. what a beautiful life!!
(the picture on the top is truly one of my favs!!)

good morning six year old

we woke up early, as usual (thanks to ryder, of coarse), and let quinn enjoy her day! she got her own sketch book, pencils, and pencil case from jesse (which both kids LOVE!!), and i put together a box of dress up stuff (like old school style, from a thrift shop), gloves, clip on earrings,  and a super fancy hat. ryder made quinn her own pokemon book and gave her some trading cards (which he then took back...he's still working on the whole "it's your birthday today and i will let have a wonderful day because i love you, and i will not sabotage this day due to this silly thing called jealousy"). ha....siblings! regardless, quinn still found everything wonderful in her day, and was so sweet and loving to us all. i love taking a moment or two, to be reminded about the day she was born, what a miracle it was! i love this girl so much.....she gives my life so much joy! i can't believe she's six!!

four day weekend/birthday celebration

every october, right around quinn's birthday, the schools take a long weekend break (th/f), and we get to have a fun filled weekend together, which is usually filled with birthday fun for our little quinn! this year, for her birthday bash, we decided to invite some friends to a local park for a bonfire, scones, and warm apple cider. so, for the invite we put together some leaf bouquets and wrapped them up with a scroll (the kids called this "the hidden message") and tied with a bow. quinn hand delivered each one to her special friends. it was so fun!