Decisions, decisions.....

About 3 months ago in anticipation of Ali's baptism, we found a beautiful white dress for her to wear. It was a little boutique that was going out of business so we got the dress for a really great price! When she tried it on at the boutique, it fit her perfectly but I also knew that if she grew at all, it would be too tight. I decided it was only 3 months away and it would be fine! The evening we got home from the Grand Canyon, something told me to have her try the dress on. When she put it on, I could see it was my worse nightmare coming true............. it was TOO SMALL! With only 3 days before the baptism, we had to rush out and find another one. Ali had such a great time in 'Elegance in White' trying dresses on that I had to take pictures of her in all of them. Here is a look at just a few, as she tried on about a dozen. This was my personal favorite........... not the one she picked. She would put one of the dresses on and go the mirror and twirl around and around, she said she felt like a princess. She would go back into the dressing room and say, "mom, this dress goes in the yes pile." I kept telling her that they couldn't all go in the yes pile that she had to choose just one! Needless to say, it was a long process!

And the one she chose is...............

It was a fun morning being able to take her to look for a baptism dress. She would have me text pictures to her big sisters to see what they thought too. She looked cute in each of them and this just made her even more excited for her big day!

The Grand Canyon

On Friday April 1, we decided that we would head out for the Grand Canyon in the morning. We were making final reservations that evening at 11 pm. We woke up Saturday and headed out for the 11 1/2 hour drive. As we arrived at the Grand Canyon, it was sunset! I had to stop to get a picture because it was so pretty! As we were driving through the canyon towards our hotel, it became dark quickly and we noticed this sign. Emily didn't see it but when one of us commented on it, she didn't believe that we saw a 'mountain lion' crossing sign. We kept teasing her, saying "oh, look... there's one over there" or something similar and she was so freaked out. On the way out of the canyon, I had to be sure to get a picture of the sign that caused her such stress!

My 6 beauties loaded up and ready to go! (actually, I think we were just getting out somewhere since Jace is out of his car seat)

Stopped for a photo and the Grand Canyon sign.

It was SO windy!!

Baylie got tired and Lindsay was so sweet to give her a piggy-back-ride!

Here's where we almost lost Kenna! Thank goodness Lindsay was there to help her back up - It was great posing on their parts, but I love that Kenna has the look on her face like something is really wrong!

Emily up on a rock!

It really is a magnificent sight!

Lot's of '1..2...3...wheee' for Baylie and Jace on this trip!

Baylie getting a closer look at the canyon bottom.

Lots of walking.......

and tree climbing.... they thought they had to climb the trees and yell for their pictures to be taken

It was a great spontaneous trip and I'm so glad we had the opportunity to go! At one point on the way home, it wasn't so great -

The nice police officer in Northern Arizona had Chris get out of the car to explain the ticket to him. He also told him that he only charged him for going 75 in a 65 instead of the real 82 mph he was going. Me and girls thought it would be so funny to snap a picture while he was out with the police officer....... one day he'll look back on this and laugh! The Grand Canyon was a beautiful place, the sights were breath taking. The kids travel in the car so well that it's fun to be able to go to places that we haven't before. What a great 4 days we had!!

Beiber fever

Last week I was able to surprise Kenna with something she had been wanting for awhile now. I sat on her bed waiting for her to come into her room to snap these shots. Here she is in total surprise as she walked in. It was quite funny, she ran in and out of the room. I'm not sure if it was in disbelief or what but when she came back in, notice her phone in hand, she was already texting her friends to share her excitement! The other kids were so excited too, they couldn't wait to see her reaction and were right in tow behind her.

She is still in disbelief - I actually got her a life size cut out of Justin Beiber! I swore that I wouldn't get her one but the opportunity presented itself and I knew how happy she would be about it, so against my better judgement, I bought it.

I did attach a note to Justin that said, "congratulations on your 'A' in honors history (she was excited to have brought her 'B+' up to an 'A')keep it there and in the rest of your classes so I can stay living here with you." I used him as an incentive for her to continue to work hard in her school work, it was really the only way I could justify making the purchase.

Needless to say, it was a huge surprise and she was beyond thrilled! I love being able to do fun things that will make my kids excited and this was definitely a good day being a mom! I still think this Justin Beiber cut out is a bit ridiculous but worth it for the surprise I was able to pull off!

Smarty Pants

This post is a little late but Baylie has finished her kindergarten skills book!! Everyone knows that I am NOT a fan of the skills book and although I know it helps the kids learn, I just really dislike having to be the teacher, I just don't have the patience for it! Here is the book with all the kudos from her teacher written on it and the medal that she earned for finishing. The skills book consists of 60 pages or skills that need to be passed off. Some of them are as simple as knowing your address, birthday, phone number and counting to 100. Where my lack of patience comes into play has mostly been on the rhyming pages. There will be an 'an' for example on the top of the page and subsequent words that end in 'an.' Baylie would be going along reading just fine, "van, can, ran, man, bat" What?? Yes, that was among my frustrations. Other pages are words that need to be read without sounding them out, like this one.

For each page that was passed off, they got to put a sticker on the back "chart" of pages, so they could see their accomplishment. For the past month or two, Baylie has had only 3-4 left to pass off. She would come home from school and I would anxiously ask if she passed off any skills because she was so close, only to hear, "1" or "no." The day finally came a couple weeks ago when she pulled out the skills book and showed me all the boxes had stickers on them!!!

Proudly showing her book and medal!

Way to go Baylie!! I'm so happy that this is over and I'm sure she is too! This is really my least favorite homework that ANY of the girls have had to do! I've saved this skills book in the hopes of getting Jace started on it early so when kindergarten comes around for him, my frustration level won't rise too high!

My baby girl turns 6

My sweet little Baylie turned 6 yesterday!! I can't believe how fast she is growing up. She had a great day and was even happy when she woke up (those of you who know Baylie, know she is not a morning person)! Here she is enjoying her breakfast of french toast!

Opening gifts was the real reason she was happy to get up and get going. She had been asking since the night before if she could open them.

Jace and I went to her kindergarten class to take treats to her class. Here she is wearing the 'birthday crown'

She also had the 'share sack' that morning so we got to watch her tell her class about the item she brought to share with them. Her teacher Mrs. Killpack is trying to get out of the picture and notice the happy birthday Bailey written on the white board?? Yep, she spelled her name wrong! Passing out the treats of brownies and kool-aid bursts

YUMMY!!

She wanted to go to 'chuck o rama' for dinner (I forgot my camera) so we all went and took grandma Jackson with us. We came to have birthday cake and ice cream.

The big girls told her that since she left two of the candles lit, that means she has two boyfriends. Here she is just before walking out the door to school, showing off her age!

Happy birthday to my sweet Baylie! She is such a good girl and a joy to have in our family!

Here are some random pictures of Baylie a couple days before her birthday. She was supposed to dress up as a pirate for a birthday party and Kenna took these before she left for the party. I love her big blue eyes and smile!

Showing off her fun side!

We love this girl!