Christmas 2011! The Year of Princesses!

Payton gets a DS...just what she wanted!

Aly wanted a flying magic horse...and that's just what she said her Barbie horsie was!

New Christmas pj's from Nana and Papa!

Payton in her Tangled outfit complete with hair playing her DS

What is it??? A new vanity for our room?!?!

I got a new jewlery box!

Princess dresses!

Payton likes Papa's egg nog!

Auntie Kristin painting the girls' nails

The girls playing with their new vanity in their room

Christmas Is Coming!

Aly all ready for her first ever Christmas program at preschool.

Payton posing with Santa...she is so excited for Christmas to come!

Church Christmas Program 2011: Jesus Christ is Coming to Town!

Christmas Fun with the Girls

Every year the holidays get even more fun with the girls. This year they remembered the decorations and ornaments from last year, helped Daddy pick out new Christmas lights and they loved getting to tromp through the tree farm to find the perfect tree...Aly found about 100 "perfect for me!" trees! :) I can't wait to see their excitement Christmas morning!

There's Snow!

Aly and Mommy worked hard on the first snowman of the season. Aly named him "Frosty".

Happy Halloween, 2011!

Snow White and Cowgirl Aly go Trick-or-Treating for only 40 mins before giving up and eating candy instead :)

Icky!!!

Wook at all those seeds in there, Mom!

It's Football Season!

Happy Fall!

Payton Ties her Shoes!

Payton came bursting out of school today all smiles. She yelled, "I've got exciting news, Mom!" then dropped right to one knee untied her shoe and tied it all on her own. We've been working and working with her and I guess having 25 other kindergarteners in her class helped! She's learning so many new things so quickly...it's awesome!

Yee Haw!

Aly is loving preschool! The theme this month is cowboys/cowgirls. She was so excited to dress up today! Check out those awesome sparkly red boots! :)

Aly Starts Preschool!

Aly is finally ready for her turn having a first day of school! We went to open house today, met her teacher and unloaded all her supplies. She had plently to tell Ms. Denise about her summer and announced that her big sister is in Kindergarten but that's ok because she's doing fine. :)



Iowa State Fair, 2011

Payton and Aly loving their ice cream break in the shade.

Payton on a very big horse. She thought she was cool stuff!

Aly on "Jake" the horsie.

Have you ever seen cuter farmers than these two?!?

 

That's how you eat a corndog!

"Wook at all my stuff from the farm, Mom!"

Payton is a Kindergartener!

Payton was so excited and so confident going to Kindergarten this morning! She's grown up so much since those days of 3 year old preschool where I'd have to peel her off me crying and stick her to the teacher. I'm so proud of her and know she's going to have an awesome year!

I'm not sure how it's possible my baby is starting Kindergarten but it is! She starts this coming Monday and she is so excited! She's informed me it's no big deal and she'll make friends, lots of friends, so I can stop talking about it. :) I'm so excited for her and her new adventures!

Happy 4th of July!

A parade, pool time, sparklers and fireworks...we had a great 4th of July!

Payton is 5!!

Payton had an awesome day celebrating her 5th birthday! She picked her favorite place for lunch and invited 3 girlfriends to join us. We filled our bellies then headed to the pool for 3 hours of fun. A quick trip home, change out of our suits, then family came over for pizza and cake to make the day complete. She got the Pillow Pets, Squeenkies, princess items and lots of other gifts she really wanted. She is one month away from starting Kindergarten!!!

Adventureland!

After 100 questions and having to remind them 50 times princesses would not be there but they'd love it anyways...we had a blast at Adventureland! Anything with a steering wheel was ridden at least twice. By far the most favorite was the Frog Hopper that simply bounced up and down. Aly laughed so hard she could hardly catch her breath. Payton fearlessly attempted a roller coaster with Mom and Dad but discovered it was not as much fun as she had hoped. After tears and lots of "I don't ever want to do that agains" we decided it's good to try new things even if they are sometimes not as great as we thought they'd be...kinda like certain vegetables. :)

Cheerleading and Dance

Payton has already had a busy summer! She loved tap dance class every Monday night for 6 weeks. They learned a routine and performed it on the last night. She also had a great time at cheerleading camp last week. In just 3 mornings she leared several cheers and even a stunt. Aly was hooting and hollering at Payton during the performance and even learned a few cheers herself. Their favorite was "Move it, Move it!" of course :) Next is swim lessons for both girls and Vacation Bible School in July!

Payton's Last Day of Preschool

Payton started the year as a timid 3 year old and ended as an outgoing 4 year old! We are so proud of her and know she'll make an excellent Kindergartener!!!

My Little Runners

The girls thought it'd be fun to run a "real race" like Mommy. So we hit the track. Payton did almost 2 full laps before needing to walk and Aly had a blast trying to keep up. They looked so cute in their Nikes and were so proud of how hard they worked. Mom was a little proud too :)

Mother's Day Preschool Program

Payton was a total rockstar at her fabulous red carpet Mother's Day performance! They sang several songs from movies and even a little Lady Gaga. Very cute :) I couldn't get over how old she looked standing up there and what a beautiful girl she is turning into. Time goes so fast!

Happy Easter 2011!

Our Baby is a Big Girl! Happy 3rd Birthday, Aly!

It's hard to believe 3 years ago today my baby girl was born! She was stubborn and took much longer than her sister to arrive in this world...she tried coming out backwards but that wasn't working out very well for either of us. Since then she has been a constant source of laughter and joy. Alyson sings more than she talks, skips more than she runs and can light up a room with her goofty toothed smile quicker than anyone I know! We love you, Aly! Happy 3rd Birthday!