{isabella's 4th birthday}

yep, its true. My princess is 4. Izzy was looking forward to this day for a very long time. It was especially nice having the Lakes at our home to help us celebrate it, along with all the Anderson family. She had a muffin in bed with a candle in it and then got lots of goodies throughout the day, namely a brand new bottle of Tabasco sauce which goes great on Sabe and Izzy's midnight snacks of quesadillas. The Dora bubble bath set was also a fun surprise from daddy's trip to the store for more rice krispies :)
Olivia and McKenna did such a great job decorating the kitchen, complete with a little "Izzy shrine".
Now, don't laugh at the cake, because I am not skilled by any means in that department. I do watch "Cake Boss" and am smart enough to know that you should always build the base of cakes with rice krispie treats. So thats what I did and I think I totally spared Snow White from tipping over. I made a bunch of cupcakes because I thought that is what everyone would eat. Much to my surprise, everyone ended up going crazy for the cake, but I'm pretty sure it was the buttercream icing that was so good.
It was so sad when everyone started singing happy birthday to Isabella because she started crying and felt like they were all screaming at her. I guess she was right, but opening up presents completely made up for it. She loved every minute of it.
What a fun day....

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{jaxon's 10th bday}

Well, my little guy is 10 years old now. Its so hard to believe how fast time goes by and how you find yourself realizing you really don't have much time with your kids before they leave the house.
I've said a million times before, but Jaxon really is a special kid. He came to us with a very kind heart, a gentle way about him, and a lot of love. He is especially good to me and is always asking if I want the last creme soda or if I want the big, soft blanket for the couch instead of him :)
I truly believe he will still be giving me hugs and kisses in front of his friends when he is a teenager and I just hope that he has all the happiness in the world. I look forward to every stage of his life. He is full of so many great things.
For his birthday, we went to the local pizza/wings joint cuz this kid LOVES chicken wings. It grosses me out, but oh well. Sabe and Julia joined us with lots of fun gifts.
Sabe and Jaxon left right after dinner for Jaxon's first basketball game. Jaxon gets to play on the Seahawks, which is really cool because Sabe's mascot in high school was the Seahawks!
On Friday night, we took all the boy cousins to the movies and then they came home for cake and a slumber party. They had a really great time!

{trick-or-treat 2}

As always, we went to Waterford Village for our trick-or-treating. It is the best. Not a lot of candy, but so storybook-like.
Each the school decorates a home for each class based upon different themes. This year it was books that had come to life in movies. Charlie and the CHocolate Factory, Harry Potter, Charlotte's Web. It was awesome. Our kids really had a great time, and Jaxon cannot wait until he can just run off with his friends like Olivia does!

{trick-or-treat}

This year, Isabella picked out her Snow White costume literally the first day Target got their shipment of Halloween in.
She knew exactly what she wanted to be, and i was just happy it wasn't Elmo again.
As October moved on, Izzy wore the costume at least once a day and it started showing some serious signs of wear. We even found a wig online that was just perfect.
The day came for the preschool costume parade. I had no idea what I was in for. Out of 70+ kids, my child was the only one having a meltdown. The wig was itchy and her red, sparkly shoes kept coming off. So we got a few pics of the wig and after the parade was over, she started having some fun. Spider cookies and games took her mind off it.