Things to do in 2009 - Updates

We've done some of the things on our to do list!

Lauren's
#10 - Jump in a bounce house (bounce day at summer camp)
#12 - Build a sandcastle (Memorial Day at Mark Twain Lake)
#15 - Participate in the summer reading program at the library (we've joined!)
#29 - Have a birthday party with friends

Aidan's
#8 - Build a sandcastle

Find the original list here

Family Birthday Party

On to party # 2 of the day! We had our families over for Lauren's birthday around 3. We had dinner, opened gifts and had cupcakes and ice cream. It was a nice time, but by the end of the night, I was exhausted! Enjoy the pictures...

Lauren's Mama Judy, Papa Renny, Aunt Alisa, Aunt Tricia, Uncle Chuck, Aunt Anne and Uncle Jerry all went in to get her this adorable house for her birthday.

She is so excited!

Lauren and her Great Aunt Tricia - they share the same birthday!
Oh boy, a princess nightgown!The boys - Hayden and Aidan!

Princess Party Time!

For Lauren's 4th Birthday she wanted to have her friend over and have a "Princess Party." So four of Lauren's friends came over - Charlotte, Ashley, Kayle and Ella. We had a dress up time at the beginning of the party where they could try on different princess dresses. We had necklaces, tiaras, rings, bracelets and magic wands for all the girls. We had different stations set up where the girls could do a foam princess project or could get tattoos. Here's some pics from the start of the party...

Getting Kayla a beautiful ring and bracelet!

Making pretty foam princess signs

Charlotte's Tattoo

Aidan "I want to come to the princess party!"

"Can't I get a princess tattoo?"

Then came the big surprise - Lauren didn't know, but Cinderella came to her party! Imagine how surprised she was when Cinderella rang the doorbell?

Lauren immediately changed out of the Snow White dress and into her Cinderella dress!

Cinderella read a book to the girls, taught them a dance, sang a song, taught them how to curtsy and wave and made them all official princesses. I think the girls (and the moms) had a great time!






After Cinderella left we had cake, opened gifts, did a pinata and played a game. I think Lauren and the girls had a great time and Lauren will remember this birthday forever!

We still had one more party to go this day! Next post, the family birthday party!

Dance Rehearsal and Princess Decorations!

June 6 - Today is Lauren's party, but first we had her dress rehearsal and pictures for her dance recital. We had a mini meltdown at the start of the day - she hated wearing the makeup, so most of her eye makeup ended up running underneath her eyes (which you'll see in the pictures below!). But she ended up doing great in the dress rehearsal - next week's the recital! Here's some pictures...

On to the party! What a crazy day! So yesterday me, mom and Aunt Anne decorated the house for the party - here are some of the adorable decorations!

We had a princess cake for the kids party and cupcakes for the family party.

Next post - the Party!

Summer Camp and a First Bike

June 1 - Lauren's first day of summer camp. Her school holds a summer camp, and the early childhood teachers take turns teaching each week. This week is her teacher from this year, Mrs. Steckler, so that has made things easy!

June 4 - I can't believe Lauren is 4 today! We brought Dora and Boots cupcakes to school today which she was very excited about and then tonight Shawn and I gave her some gifts. First was a bag with some little things - a Princess notebook, Princess blanket and Princess swim goggles (see a theme here?). Then she got her big gift - a Princess Bike!

Seeing her bike!

She hopped on and started riding right away - no fear at all!

Lauren loves her new bike!

And Aidan seems happy with his "Dora" tricycle hand-me-down!

Last Day of School & Memorial Day

It's been a while since I've posted, so I have some catching up to do!

Friday, May 22 - Today was Lauren's last day of school - I can't believe she's already finished her first year! Here we can see how much she's grown...

First Day of School - Last Day of School
I think someone's legs have grown! That's the same skirt!

So I took this day off work because they had a closing ceremony at her school and then a picnic. The closing ceremony was so cute - each of the classes sang several songs and they each got a certificate for completing the year. Lauren's class sang "My God is so Great", "ABC's", "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Humpty Dumpty." Here's some pictures...

She's spotted mommy and is quite excited - did I mention she's quite the performer?



She got the cymbols for one of the songs!

After the performance we went to the lawn for a picinic lunch of hot dogs, chips, cookie and juice box (all of Lauren's favorites!). Here's a picture from the picnic and with her teacher from this year, Mrs. Steckler - we just loved Mrs. Steckler!

It's amazing how much Lauren has learned this year. She knows her ABC's, can recognize and write most letters, almost can write her name, she know what letter all of her friend's names start with, has learned about God and Jesus, can count into the twenties, has made her first friends, sang in church twice, has started taking dance and gymnatics. It was a great year!

One final picture in front of the school (her medal is from her running in the Race for Education - thank you to everyone that supported her!)

After the picnic we packed up and went to Mark Twain Lake for the weekend. I didn't take any pictures (I know, bad mommy), but we had a great weekend. We went to the beach on Saturday - which both Aidan and Lauren loved. This was really Aidan's first time in the water at the beach and he couldn't get enough of it! All the kids loved riding around in their cars - Aidan even figured out how to make the cars go - scary! We had a great weekend!