Movin' Dirt!

My parents are doing some work in their yard. They needed to have some dirt moved to where they had moved an old retaining wall. Uncle Brian came over to move the dirt and asked Patrick to "help him".

Patrick loved it! They went up and down the hill several times until all the dirt was in place. They moved the bucket up and down, did donuts, and popped a couple wheelies to freak out Mommy! I was so proud of Patrick; the machine is very loud and Patrick did great! Uncle Brian did put the head phones on him to muffle the sound.

At the end of the evening Patrick helped Uncle Brian drive the Bobcat into the trailer and then chain it down. When Patrick came in he said (while holding up his arms), "Look at my big muscles! I chained down the machine!" It was hard work.

My favorite cousin, Karly, is expecting her first baby in May! While home in Michigan, my mom and I had a baby shower for her. It was a lovely afternoon tea.

Abby (friend of the mommy to be), Karly, and Aunt Jane (Karly's mom)

Mom and I made finger sandwiches, mini quiches, mini fruit tarts, scones, lemon bars, and mini sugar cookies.

We served several types of tea.

Isabelle joined the ladies. She was so grown up.

Karly received so many adorable baby girl clothes and necessities.

Now we just wait for that phone call in May!

It's our Birthday!!!

Year after year Isabelle continues to be the best birthday gift I've ever received! I love our special day together every year.

It's hard to believe that my baby girl is 10 years old! A whole decade! How did that happen?!?!? I'm always emotional on my kids' birthdays, but this one even more so. Each year I look at how Isabelle came into this world and sit in awe at how far she has come. Ten years ago if I thought about having a 10 year old it seemed so far and so out of reach, yet here we are! I told Isabelle not to blink because then she'd be 20. She looked at me, smiled, and blinked hard!


After school we gave Isabelle her birthday gifts. She's been working on that pogo stick ever since!

Isabelle wanted to go to Shaw's for dinner. It's been my favorite restaurant for 25 years and now it's a family favorite.

My uncles Steve and Craig joined us for dinner and spoiled us with a fantastic dinner and a special little chocolate cake (the best cake you can imagine).

It's always a treat to go to Shaw's. Isabelle had lots of shrimp! All the kids ate more in that one sitting than they usually do in a week!

We had a wonderful birthday together.

SlumberLESS party!

For Isabelle's 10th birthday we had a sleepover! It was great fun.

I feel so blessed to say that Isabelle has absolutely wonderful girlfriends. I love watching these budding friendships. Each and every one of these girls is kind, polite, smart, fun, and thoughtful. All but one of her closest friends was able to come to the party.

Top from left to right: Makyla, Jaci, Abbey
Bottom from left to right: Kiri, Ella Jane (joining the fun), Isabelle, Hannah, and Abby

We started the night with a little hoola-hoop competition (and some dancing).

Jaci and Abby (sisters) are both really good hoola-hoopers

But, Isabelle is the reigning hoola champ! We had to stop her at 5 minutes and see if anyone else could catch her. She once hoola-hooped for 47 minutes straight! Kevin thought he should have gotten first place (insert eye roll here).

I made this jumbo cupcake, which got lots of oohhs and aahhs. Isabelle thought it was great!

Time for presents!

We got a new Wii game called "Just Dance". Basically the player chooses a song and that song has a cartoon person dancing. The goal is to follow the steps of the given dance. You earn points by getting the most steps on-beat. The girls loved this game! It was great to watch. Ella Jane joined in on the dancing too.

Along with dancing the girls were singing and, of course, giggling!


Makyla and Abby

After dancing I sent the girls into the boys room with the door shut so I could get the two little kids to sleep upstairs (Jack was at a friend's house). They giggled, chatted, and painted their nails.

Isabelle and Abbey

Jaci and Isabelle

Isabelle and Kiri

At the end of the evening the girls settled down in the living room to eat popcorn and watch a movie. I actually went to bed at 9:30. Kevin shooed the girls to bed at 11:30. Would you believe that all the girls were asleep by midnight!

Daddy Daughter Dance

The kids' school hosted a Daddy Daughter Dance. Isabelle was so excited! She had heard that there would be a "surprise celebrity". She said to me, "maybe it will be Beyonce". Aside from awaiting the big reveal she was thrilled to be going on a date with her Daddy! I took her shopping for a new dress and Daddy got her a wrist corsage. Our friend, Malina, did Isabelle's hair. She looked so grown up!


The morning of the dance Kevin called me from the train to tell me that he was sick. Apparently he had been struck by the stomach virus that had been plaguing the house! He came back home and did his best to rest and get better. He told me, "this will be a game day decision". We explained to Isabelle that if Daddy couldn't get better then Mommy would bring her; it's not ideal, but we would make sure she wouldn't miss the big night out.

As the time drew closer Kevin was feeling better, but far from great. He decided to brave it. He pulled himself together and they went out. It was so sweet. Unfortunately, the wrist corsage would not stay on Isabelle's tiny wrist no matter how hard we tried; finally we pinned it to her little purse. Let's hope her prom date doesn't have the same problem!


Isabelle had a fantastic time with her friends and her Daddy. Below are Makyla and Kiri.

By the end of the night Kevin was doing much better. He avoided the food and punch, but did okay and had fun with his girl! Oh, and the surprise celebrity was a Michael Jackson impersonator who Kevin said was great! I guess he did a very realistic impression of MJ. The kids thought it was pretty cool!

Winter Wonderland!

6 kids + 1 daddy home early + 12 inches of snow = fun!

Last week we had about a foot of snow. While I wasn't too thrilled, the kids were. While Kevin shoveled the kids all went out to "help" and, of course, to play. We had Leah and Sam J. over also.



Leah and Ella Jane giggled the entire time there were out there. They thought it was pretty funny to try to walk in the snow that was past their knees at some points.

Sam, Jack, and Isabelle being goofy.

Weird Science!

Isabelle has done her very first science project. She looked at 3 different paper towel brands to determine which had the best absorbency and which held the most weight. For those of you wondering, Bounty was the clear winner! Isabelle worked very hard on this project. I'm proud of her.






She picked the colors and trim for her board. She wanted to be sure it "popped". I think it does! Her teacher really likes it. Isabelle did careful, precise, neat work. We won't know until next week what her grade will be, but I can already tell you that it will be an A!