Eden's Birthday

We has had a month-long celebration for her birthday, lucky girl!  We started off with a scavenger hunt bright and early in the morning!  Eden opened up a Frozen Barbie set, Poodle Purse, Anna (from Frozen) dress and dress-up skirt from Grandma Ruthanne, and Gymboree outfit from Grandma and Grandpa Scott!  We spent our day at Jumpin Jax and McDonalds then she was off to preschool for the afternoon.  After school, we made our own cupcakes with way-too-much candy!!!  So, yeah, a super healthy afternoon snack, then homemade Mac and Cheese for dinner.  Eden requested that for her birthday dinner, then decided she didn't like it, but not to worry, we had more cupcakes!  She sure is a cute little rascal and really loved her special birthday and all the presents she's had trickling in ever since (picking out her own Mermaid dress-up, crown, and stuffed kitty in a pumpkin), $5 from Aunt Andrea, and a Cabbage Patch Doll from Grandma Kat)!

Eden's 5 Year Old Photo Shoot

Our sweet little Eden turned 5 at the beginning of September so of course we took some pictures.  We headed down the street to a house with a beautiful garden on both sides of the sidewalk.  Eden took some beautiful pictures, showed me her dance moves, then decided she was over the mosquitoes so we were done.  

Eden loves to have things just right:  her tummy needs to be full, she needs to be just the right temperature and it always helps if she has blankies and whatever her special toy of the day is (recently, they have been her purple swim suit, froggie purse, and/or stuffed kitty in a pumpkin.)  She is introverted just like her daddy.  Once you get inside her bubble, she will say sweet things to you, watch out for you, and tickle you to show she cares.  She is girly-girl to the core  and loves dolls, princesses, dress-up, Barbies, Polly Pockets, but she can also surprise me by picking up bugs and other gross things.  Eden has great questions that show she is really thinking about things.  Eden is just full of surprises and our family would not be the same without her!

Here are some of her favorite 5 year old things:

Color:  Purple

Food:  Brownies (that she won in the Bertha Barber Carnival Cake Walk last night!)

Drink:  Halloween Drink

Animal:  Elephant

Show:  Jessie

Game:  Mini Golfing

Thing to make:  Brownies

Thing to wear:  Swim suit

Friend:  Kayley Cory

Place:  McDonalds

Song:  Frozen Song

Restaurant:  Pizza Hut

Thing to do as a family:  Go to the Zoo

First Day of School

It's been a while, but I have not forgotten about blogging!  We have been busy moving, getting settled in Bellevue, and ripping this house apart to make it cute.  Of course, everything has been taking longer than I would like, but I have decided to stop worrying about it, enjoy my girls, and finish one project at a time (who cares if the garage is filled up with dressers to be refinished.)

Let's start at the beginning, we moved here on Saturday and school started on Monday. Milan goes to Bertha Barber Elementary, which is just a half block away.  There is only one class per grade so it's teeny-tiny.  So far, it seems to be a good fit for us....Milan's teacher seems realistic and nice, Milan is prepared academically and never seems to have any problems making friends.  Milan really wanted a Messenger Bag this year so that's what we got and she kind of let me pick out her outfit (I bought it for family pictures that didn't happen.)

Dave is going to dental school at Creighton.  The first week seemed relatively easy, especially since the A/C was out and they let them come home early for a week.  After the first week, things have gotten pretty intense/stressful/crazy!  Of course, Dave is hard-working and smart so he has been getting good grades.  I am incredibly proud of him.

Eden missed the kindergarten cut-off so she started preschool at Head Start.  Since Eden hates change, we had a rocky start with preschool.  She really really didn't want to go, but then had fun at school and came out gleaming after-school.  After a couple of weeks, we got into our routine and I'm glad that she has something special to do.  She picked out her pink maxi dress and Rapunzel backpack all by herself!

I thought Cora would have a hard time with the girls in school, but we have a great time hanging out and playing while they're gone.  She always seems to be game for my undivided attention :)

Rocky Mountain National Park

We went to Rocky Mountain National Park on Monday.  To be honest, it was not our best family outing....it ended up pouring while we were there so we were stuck in the car for longer than we thought.  Girls started bickering and Dave was exhausted so he didn't love the arguing.  But, we did ride the one cent horse at King Soopers, see beautiful views, run into some "reindeer" and hike a short little trail.  A for effort.  

Worn Out!

This picture is from just a couple of days ago when we went to Fort Collins to meet some friends for a birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese.  Milan ran off with her friend Addi and they split all their tickets.  Cora was led around by Braelynn and loved riding the Barney chu-chu and the attractions where she got pictures of herself.  Eden was a great little sharer who shared her tokens with all her friends then she and I played everything together.  Eden was so excited and I really enjoyed our time together.  Afterwards, we went to Diary Queen and Cora found the perfect nap spot right on the bench in the restaurant.  We have been running around and having a great summer together, but honestly, we are all a little worn out.  

Dave took 70% of our belongings to Omaha last weekend because we didn't think it would all fit in our trailer in 1 load.  I sent most of the girls' toys and they have been very creative with their 1 box of Polly Pockets.  They have made a tent and pool out of construction paper, used old vertical blind slats for all sorts of projects and games, and read a lot of library books.  Moving is always a little crazy and I am very excited to be moved in our new house and spending more time with Dave.

Breckenridge

We have been exploring Colorado's mountains as much as possible before we head to the Midwest.  We just went to Breckenridge and it was beautiful!  We started off playing in the water, which meant that I spent my time holding on to Cora for dear life and chasing her around the ice-melt water.  I wasn't too disappointed when the girls were ready for a walk.  We walked around the river trail and local gardens, stopped for some treats, rode through town on the horse drawn carriage (happily yelling and waving at everyone on the street), and barely missed the free Gondola ride because of the pouring rain.  We had a great time with our friends the Eatons and Fairchilds.  

Peter Pan Park

Yesterday we tried a new park with our friends the Eatons.  It started off super hot so the kiddos hung out in the splash pad and fountain (it said no swimming so they just reached over the gate and played, which is technically following the rules, haha.)  A storm rolled in and cooled everything off, which made the park great.  Cora headed right out to the middle of the playground in the rain and started dancing and singing "Let it Go!"  Sure love those little ladies.