Carlee's 4th Birthday

My baby is turning Four!  

I asked Carlee what she wanted to do for her birthday.  She said that she wanted an Anna / Elsa cake and a piñata.  So that's what we did.  We had all of the family plus two friends over for cake and ice cream.  We surprised Carlee with a princess bouncy house that for the first time ever she LOVED! (In the past she wouldn't play in bouncy houses, but she thinks they are pretty great now that she's older.) And we hit down a princess snow white piñata that was as big as Carlee. 

 She got some really great gifts from her cousins and friends.  But i think her favorite gift came from her Grandma Brown.

What do you think?

I loved watching the kids play and have a great time together.  

Funny Story: When the kids were out of the bouncy house Aunt Cindy and Aunt Karen went in to jump.  Cindy started banging into the sides and pulling down the top of the house.  Carlee caught her.  She started chewing Cindy out yelling that she needed to STOP BREAKING HER BOUNCE CASTLE!!! Cindy was a little scared because Carlee was dead serious.  Apparently you don't mess with the bouncy castle . 

Halloween

This year we had a lot of fun with Halloween Costumes.  The older girls fell in love with the new Descendants movie and so Rebecca dressed up as Mal and Sara dressed up as Maleficent.  Rebecca posted a picture of herself on instagram and one of the main characters in the show commented on her photo.  It surprised her and made her day all at the same time.   

Carlee has been planning since February to be Fiona.  She started watching Shrek the Musical on Netflix with her sisters and fell in love with the show.  She sings the part of young Fiona and is super cute.  In August she started letting Chad and I know that dad was going to be Shrek and mommy was going to be donkey for Halloween.  Lucky me.  I got to be the donkey.  At least the masks were cool.



Everyone is growing up and so Halloween was different this year.  The girls went to a dance.  Jake hung out with some friends and watched a movie.  Joey was at home playing a game on the computer and Carlee went trick or treating with her cousin Natalia.  (Joey did trunk or treat at the church, but I guess everyone else is past the days of knocking on doors for a treat.) Crazy to think that all my kiddos are growing up.

The Pumpkin Patch in Marana

On Friday I had the pleasure of going to this cute pumpkin patch in Marana with my cousin Clarissa and two very excited little girls.  I love pumpkin patches because the colors of fall are everywhere you look.  This place was no exception and had not only a huge pumpkin patch, but trains, rides, jumping pillows, a petting zoo, play structures, and all kinds of food and fun for kids.

I'm not sure what was more fun for Carlee.  Petting the horses or jumping on the huge pillows.

 After we'd had enough fun playing we ventured out to find the perfect pumpkin.

We ended up carrying out 6 pumpkins (two of which were rather heavy), two apples, and several jars of homemade jam, salsa, and honey.  I'd say it was a successful outing.  

Fall Break

For Fall Break this year we went with the Billings and Shannon to Disneyland.  Joey's birthday just happened to fall the day before we were planning to leave, but he had already decided not to have a party, so we weren't trying to figure out how to do both which was nice.  He is saving up for an iPad mini and so cash was all he wanted, not to mention, going to Disneyland with his good friend George Billings all week was kind of a party anyways.   

Grandma went with us to Disney on Tuesday.  Carlee and I hung out together with Grandma while all the older kids took off with the Billings and Chad.  

After 3 days at Disneyland we all needed a break.  Becca and Shannon wanted to stay at Grandmas and sleep, but the rest of us decided that a trip to the beach sounded even better.  

 There was a strong side current, but as long as dad was willing to keep an eye on things I didn't mind letting the kids play in the water and boogie board through the waves.

What a fun escape.

Becca's Sweet 16

Rebecca has been planning her sweet 16th birthday party for a year now.  She knows that this is the last big party we will be throwing her and so she wanted to have a Masquerade Ball.  

 She convinced her cousins and a few of their friends to dress up as maids and waiters and serve her and her friends during the party.

At 6pm the guests began to arrive.  Everyone was dressed up.  Most had masks, although many of them ditched the masks early on, and the fun began.  

Dinner and drinks were served in the kitchen.  We had planned to celebrate outdoors, but some gray clouds made Rebecca nervous and so we moved everything inside.  Virginia was our Mocktail drink maker, and the kids did an excellent job of feeding and taking orders.

At the end of the meal, we had cake and ice cream, followed by presents in the front room.

 Then it was on to the dance.  Justin DJ'd the event and the kids had a blast.  Dancing was fairly constant for about an hour and then during the last hour kids floated between the dance floor and the comfy couches we had moved into our living room.

At the end of the night I asked Rebecca. . . "A year of planning.  Was it worth it?"
Her answer. . . "Yahhh."