February Instagrams

 2.1.13

2.2.13

Looking for her shadow. #happygroundhogsday #yayforspring

2.4.13

#dollarstorecrafts #cutiepies

2.5.13

Emmy celebrated her 1/2 birthday at preschool today 

 2.5.13

This does not even do it justice! #nofilter #idahosunset

2.7.13

Valentine package from Grammy!

 2.10.13

The blessing & curse of 1:00 church. #napat6pm #butimlovingthesnuggles

2.10.13

Avri begged for a turn to hold Claire too. #precious #suchagoodbigsis

2.16.13

Happy girl after a fun party day! 

2.18.13

Cold trip to the park, but so nice to get outside!

2.19.13

Happy 6th Birthday to our beautiful Avri!! #ourbabyisgrowinuptoofast #loveher

2.19.13

Preschool field trip to #thepopcornshop.

2.20.13

Poor little lamb. She conked out on my bed while I was getting ready,

 and has been asleep for over an hour. #sick

2.22.13

Getting my hair brushed while she talks my ear off.

#shemademesingtherapunzelsong

2.25.13

Gotta love making fruit loop necklaces! ;)

2.26.13

And this is how Miss Avri shops.

2.27.13

Loved meeting their new cousin! #babyshaylee

Spaghetti Feed

James is serving as Class President this year, and as part of his responsibilities he has been working as the Co-Chair of the ISU College of Pharmacy's 20th Annual Spaghetti Feed. It is a huge fundraising event that supports a local Make-A-Wish child. There was a great turnout and the event raised over $20,000 for a sweet little boy and his family!! There were silent auctions, a live auction, raffles, and of course dinner. Our group won the bid for an authentic homemade Mexican dinner at the Dean's house. Woo hoo!! James and his friend Carter were hoping to get the guided fly fishing trip, but the bidding was way out of our price range. ;) It was such a fun night and I was so proud to see all of James' hard work be a success. Next year he is the Chair of the whole event, so everyone be ready to come support!! :)

 Three cute little ladies ready to eat some spaghetti!

Ave and Em got their faces painted.

I just love these pictures of Emery coloring on my bed this sunny afternoon...

Love the tongue sticking out....she's extra focused! :)

This last post wraps up the rest of Avri's birthday festivities!! For breakfast we had a special treat of donuts! Avri opened a few of her presents including a new outfit and shoes, and a scooter!!! She took a quick spin on it before we headed off to Emery's pre-school field trip. We toured The Popcorn Shop. The kids got to see how the popcorn was made and got to sample it. It was fun to have something extra to do during the day. Avri took her scooter out a couple more times, and we made a cake that afternoon (Which was a total fail! I tried to do a two-layer round cake, which really isn't that hard, but we were in a hurry to decorate it so I didn't let it cool all the way...trouble! Avri was so sweet about it, and when I complained about how ugly it was she reassured me that it was beautiful to her and she thanked me for making her day so special. Awwwww. Such a sweetheart!) We met James for dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then came back for the sad little cake and Avri opened her other two presents.

Family Movie Night

Last night we threw together a little Family Movie Night for the girls. I was planning to do it another night and be a little more prepared since I found all these cute ideas on Pinterest, but we decided to just do it. The girls love Peter Pan, and our copy was ruined so we bought the new release and surprised them with it. We had Pirate Ship Pizza, Pirate's Gold (corn), and Smee's Potion (pop). The girls loved it and it was fun to do something a little extra special. I'm excited to do another one...maybe it can be a monthly tradition. :)

 (Emery fell asleep in the car and was a tad grumpy when she woke up, but only for a bit ;) And Avri is a goof!)

Happy 6th Birthday Avri!

Happy 6th Birthday to our beautiful Avri May! She is such a light in our family and we are so blessed and grateful for her! Avri is...

*A great helper

*Eager to learn 

*Is learning to read and spell, and is great at Math (Grandpa Norris would be so proud!)

*A wonderful example and big sister

*A sweetheart, and tenderhearted

*Always striving to make good choices

*A cuddler. She often asks if she can "snuggle"

*Sure in her testimony that she is a daughter of God

*Patient and forgiving. And this Mom is so grateful for that!

*Great at remembering details

*A night owl. Bedtime is a joke around here. It's as if she doesn't know what's coming, even though it's happened every single night her whole life!!

*Such a goofball

*Responsible and loves to act and be treated "older". Sometimes I have to remind her to just enjoy being a kid!

*Fun to tease. I love it when she suspects she's being teased and says, "Are you for real?" (usually with her hands on her hips). She also enjoys teasing...she gets that from her Dad who got it from his Grandpa Jones. :)

*Imaginative

*Anxious to try new things...unless it's food--that is like pulling teeth!

*Currently crushing on Justin Bieber....man they start young!!! ;)

*A great little artist. We are quite proud of all her masterpieces!

*Always up for a challenge or new adventure
*So excited to lose a tooth. She has been waiting for "forever"!!! ;)

*A music lover

*Dramatic. That girl can turn on the tears and overreact with the best of them. Luckily, it doesn't happen too often.

Birthday Questions:
What’s your favorite color? All of them!

What's your favorite animal? All of them!

What's your favorite book? The Tinkerbell one, Cinderella, Llama Llama

Favorite food? Hawaiian Haystacks (maybe because we just had them for dinner)

Least Favorite Food? Pineapple

Favorite movie? Enchanted

Favorite song? "I Feel My Savior's Love"
Favorite part of the day? School

Where is your favorite place to go? A park

What's your favorite thing to do? Play "house"

What are you good at? Drawing Pictures, Playing Cards, Saying "Thank You"

What do you want to be when you grow up? Lots of things. Cowgirl, ballerina, singer, dancer, and Musketeer.
Who is your best friend? All of them, pretty much!

What makes you happy? When I get presents, when I get hugs and kisses, when we go to the beach

What makes you sad? When Daddy's gone

What’s your favorite toy to play with? All of them!
What was your favorite thing about being 5? That I learned to ride my bike without training wheels.
What are you most excited about for being 6? That I'll be bigger and I'll be really good at doing everything!

 {Adorable pictures of this cutie pie by my sis-in-law Nicole, iotamaker}