Mommy/Daughter Date

This past Saturday both Rachel and Evelyn decided they wanted to get their ears pierced and dad wanted no part in that so we had a nice mommy/daughter date going to Claire's and going the deed.  Evelyn was up first and didn't even cry out when they poked her ears.

 Then Rachel's turn

 Proud new owners of earrings, stickers, and suckers

 And what trip to the mall with only the girls be complete without at least going into Charming Charlie's to browse.  Browse is the key word and not too long or else mommy gets a headache.

Now that Elizabeth has decided to wear her earrings again and the other two are on an earring kick, they're trying to peer pressure me to get mine pierced.  They don't know how stubborn their mother can be and if I've held out for 33 years, I can hold out at least double that.

Winter Break

Since we are on a traditional schedule this year, we just got the two week break instead of five and I'm not complaining.  Eric took almost the whole break off with us and we tried to get out and do some fun things.  Here's what I took pictures of.

Wings over the Rockies Museum and their fun kids math exhibit.

 Don't let the missile overhead fall on you!

 Tour of Hammonds candy factory.  Do they look like little kids in a candy store with those grins?

 That's a lot of sugar!

 Ice Skating at The Pond at Southlands.  It was a beautiful day and the girls did improve their skating skills from last year but we still didn't make it all that long at the rink.

It also snowed a decent amount so we went sledding but now it's back to the grind of school for these kiddos!

Christmas 2013

We had a nice low-key Christmas this year, just the way we like it, especially after all the craziness that seems to precede it.  They wore their Christmas dresses to church the week before and actually had fun with the photo shoot (not the case for many years running).

Christmas Eve after the birthday celebrations we did our Christmas piano recital and nativity before opening presents from family members.

On Christmas morning the girls slept in to a good hour, loved their presents, ate a yummy breakfast, and watched a movie before heading over to Aunt Lisa's house for dinner and hanging out.

 This little one is a music lover so I may never be listened to again with those white headphones in.

 We're going to try volleyball out this spring.

 Yoga DVD, serenity now!

 A pooping reindeer.

 Blankets from Grandma to represent their likes and a butterfly pattern on each to remind them of our outing to the butterfly preserve in Santa Barbara last year.

And yes, we love the movie A Christmas Story.

Welcome to the Double Digits

I can't believe it's been a decade since I became a mom and our Christmas Eve baby blessed our home. How is it that in a blink of an eye she has gone from this pretty baby

to this beautiful young woman?

 

We went against Carlsen family tradition for Christmas Eve dinner (spaghetti) and had meatballs and gravy with Elizabeth's favorite food of mashed potatoes.  Eric made a yummy strawberry shortcake for dessert and I think she liked it as the plate was licked clean.

 Presents!  I think this has been the most used present ever, a Kindle Fire HD.  She is such a book worm and will stay on her Kindle all day if we let her and now I don't have to worry about her running out of books before I make my weekly library run.

 Happy Birthday to my wonderful Elizabeth.  I few things that we love about her.

• Elizabeth is full of life and brings much laughter into our home.  Eric and I say when she leaves the house it will be too quiet.
• She is full of questions.  Sometimes they're the good inquisitive kind that we like to foster and use the great phrase from my mom (or any parent for that matter) "go look it up" and sometimes she just tries to get my goat but I love her for it.
• Her love of books and learning.  I think she has the most AR points in her class for books read and now we need to fill in on nonfiction middle grade reads.
• Great sister.  Elizabeth really tries her best to be a good big sister and it helps a lot as she finds common ground for the younger two.
• Many talents.  Elizabeth has done theatre with her expressive nature and continues to learn the piano.  I have found that she is very motivated to practice the piano when the reward is playing Minecraft.
• Sensitive nature.  She still cares deeply about animals and the environment and can also sense when someone is sad and give them a hug.

We love you Elizabeth and even though we aren't quite ready for the tween or teenage years we look forward to the adventure.

We Like to Party

Christmas seems to be a time of a lot of recitals, parties, and birthdays.  We had a little of each.  First up was Evelyn's Nutcracker recital with the small ballet studio she goes to.  I love how excited she got to dress up and wear makeup and all the girls followed her lead in the routines.

Next was Elizabeth's birthday party.  Since I'm not the best at throwing parties (they seem to stress me out) I only do one on the even years starting at age six for the girls.  This year we had a very low key party which ended up being a family outing plus two of Elizabeth's friends.  We went bowling, did laser tag and arcade, ate pizza and had cupcakes.  It was a fun three hours at Brunswick bowl since the girls didn't want to leave.

Then there were the parties at school.  It was interesting to see the different dynamics between classrooms.  Elizabeth's 4th grade class had pizza and a ton of cupcakes and goodies (no pictures and they just ate at their desk), Rachel's 2nd class went healthy with fruits and vegetables and did a craft, and Evelyn's kindergarten class had ice cream sundaes and had a few crafts and games.  Thankfully they were all at different times so I could go to each without having to pick and choose which is my favorite daughter.