Avery's 5th birthday was on the 22nd, but I was waiting to post for her until we had her princess birthday party on Saturday.
Here are some of the pictures from the party:
Coloring princess posters
Pin the crown on the princess
Making beautiful necklaces
And the Princess with the cake
Happy (belated) Birthday Avery!!
Avery is such a great daughter and sister. She likes to clean her room and help take care of Maren and Ryan (I'm constantly telling her to stop carrying him!). She loves to give 1,000 kisses, be read to, and cuddle. She always keeps me guessing with either being shy or incredibly friendly and outgoing and independent. She loves to sing and has nearly perfect pitch. She loves to tell jokes and wrestle with Dad. She also loves to draw and play games. She is a fun part of our family!
Posts will be out of order this month, sorry. Here is a quick rundown of our trip to Illinois. More stories may follow.
Number of Firetrucks at our house the night before: 1 (and 1 ambulance and 1 police car)-Avery had croup and was struggling to breathe and I may have overreacted. But, come on, she's my kid and she couldn't breathe!
Number of times we left on time: 0
Number of miles on our van from the trip: 3,461
Number of days driving through tornado warnings (it was a little different for us Desert Dwellers): approximately 3
Number of storms during which we prayed that the tornado wouldn't touch down right where we were driving because the rain and hail and green sky were scary: 1
Number of states we drove through: 8-Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado
Number of animals we hit while driving: 2
Number of times we were kicked out of the Abraham Lincoln venues: 2-Once after 3-year old Eliza pulled the fire alarm and once during the tour of Mr. President's house when our children were unruly. But the man did it so nicely, we wondered if we actually had been kicked out. We had.
Number of times we had to have our van serviced: 3-Once after driving through a flood in the dark when Dustin hit a median and popped a tire. Once for an alignment needed after the new tires were put on. Once in beautiful Laramie, Wyoming after our serpantine belt broke and left us stranded. The picture is the flood we drove through and the Pizza Hut where our van rested with its popped tire until the next morning when the nice service people helped us. In the dark we couldn't see how flooded it really was. Number of pieces of pizza Dustin ate at the All-you-can-eat pizza place in Independence: approximately 14, plus 2 cinnamon rolls, 1 salad, 3 pieces of dessert pizza and 1 ice cream cone.
Number of pictures Grampy and Grandma took of my cute kids: my guess is around 300
Number of children Grandpa can fit on the scooter with him: 3
Yesterday was Maren's 3rd birthday. She gave us a special gift for her birthday. She has suddenly decided to be potty trained. About a week ago she told me she wanted to wear panties and she has been ever since. She is doing so well! This is really not how I imagined potty training could be. We've been prepping her for a long time, telling her that when she is 3 she can be a big girl. I'm sure it helped to see Avery and cousin Eliza do it.
Maren is such a fun little girl. She is very loving to all of us and smothers us with hugs and kisses. She has a fun personality and we love her smile. She is also a thoughtful child and she gets an extra sucker for Avery every week in nursery. She regularly thinks of other people. One time we were on our way to Ogden to see my sister. Maren had a piece of chocolate and decided she wanted to save it for Jen. I watched her in the back seat, staring at her candy, then slowly opening it and holding it in her hand, then smelling it, then just taking a little lick, then sucking on it and spitting it out back into her hand, then taking a little bite, and finally she gave in and ate it. She wanted to share it so bad, but her two year old-ness couldn't resist the beckoning of the chocolate (I know my 29 year old-ness couldn't, so who can blame her). Even with me in the front saying, "It's OK, Maren, you can eat it" that candy lasted about 15 minutes, which for a two-year old was like an eternity. We love you Maren!
We literally have something every week for the rest of the summer, so I should break all sorts of my records on how often I will post. This post is playing catch-up from a couple of weeks ago when Avery had her preschool program. She absolutely loved her teacher and learned a lot this year. She can read (short words) and write her first and last name as well as count by 10's and do many other important 4 year old things. She kept telling me she would be too scared to say her part, but she was brave and did it. She is about a foot shorter than everyone in her class, but her teacher assured us, she is very smart and ready for kindergarten (even if she doesn't look like it).
Yesterday was mine and Dustin's seven year anniversary. We celebrated by staying in a hotel in romantic Laramie, Wyoming with our children. You can blame it on our van that broke about 25 miles outside of Laramie on the way home from our Illinois trip. The gift for seven years is copper/wool. I gave Dustin a CD with a squished Kansas penny attached. He gave me some Coppertone sunscreen and a candy bar with copper paper. I guess that kind of romantic celebration is the difference between your first year anniversary and your seventh. Oh well, we'll take romance where we can get it. Even if it is surrounded by three children, my parents and tornadoes in Laramie, Wyoming.
