Tea Party

Brooklyn usually spends her days playing superheros, wrestling, shooting guns, and anything else her brother comes up with. There are times, however, when Brooklyn reassures me that she really is a girl :) They both go to school at the same time (different classes), although Brayden goes one more day than Brooklyn does. This has been great because it allows some girly time! I helped Brooklyn set up a tea party and she LOVED it! It was fun to see her get creative and play with her animals. Thanks Aubree and Jaycie for the birthday gift!

Samantha Marie Carroll

My sister Rachelle and her husband Sean had their beautiful baby girl on August 15. It's been SO fun having them live in our basement as they've gotten ready for their first baby. I've loved helping Rachelle get the baby area ready, answering questions, etc. Everything went well with her labor and delivery and now they have a baby!!! Samantha Marie Carroll. 7lbs 5oz, 20". It's so great to get my "baby fix" now that they are home and I can hold the baby all I want but don't have to get up with her at night :) Here's Brayden holding her:

SO beautiful!!!

Brooklyn's Birthday

What a fun day we had! We've been counting down to Brooklyn's birthday now for weeks, and she was SO excited it finally came. She woke up to all these balloons and a few presents to open up.

Brayden had to help, of course.

Brooklyn got to go to school on her birthday and be special leader. She was really excited to share her birthday with her friends. Here the kids are on our way.

I got to join her for the first part of class to do a spotlight on her. We talked a lot about Tinkerbell, did bubbles, showed her favorite games on the iPad, and let her show off some tumbling skills. We let each kids take a turn doing a somersault.

My cutie:

 After school we had a quick lunch and put the kids down for a nap. I spent the afternoon getting ready for Brooklyn's party. We went to an awesome park by our house and let Brooklyn and her friends play all evening. Here she is with grandma helping her:

 My mom came and face painted. It was the hit of the party! Of course Brayden wanted Spiderman. (By the end of the night he also had BYU and JAZZ on his cheeks.)

Brayden and Jordan:

It's kinda hard to see but Brooklyn got Tinkerbell fairy swirls with lots of sparkles.

Brynlee loved climbing up the slide and going down on her tummy.

Boston:

Brynlee and Mckinsley:

We got Brooklyn a Tinkerbell cake, of course.

All the kids loved helping Brooklyn open all her presents.

Brynlee kept busy.

My mom got her the cutest Tinkerbell costume. She LOVES it and already has plans to wear it for Halloween.

Brooklyn with Jordan, Aubree, and Jaycee:

The rest of the kids...Ty, Brayden, Jaxon, Paige, Boston, Easton, Jordan, Claire, Meg, Brooklyn, and Brynlee:

Our little family:

We love you Brooklyn!!! Happy 3rd Birthday!!!

School Picture Re-do

So I already took pictures of the kids' first day of school. Then I saw everyone else's first day of school pictures and realized that I blew it. The kids didn't have their backpacks on and they were standing in front of a blank wall...boring! So I made the kids go outside with their backpacks for another round of pictures on their 2nd day of school.

Reading Corner

I decided it was finally time to clear out a bunch of our toys from the toy room and turn it into a nicer "entertainment" room. We kept a few toys that the kids play with on a daily basis. I also put together this little reading corner with the kids new couches (bought for only $1.50 each!) They LOVE their couches and LOVE to sit and read their books. Even Brynlee gets in on the action.

First Day of School

Last week the kids started school. The first day I got to go with each of them for 1 hr to help them feel comfortable. Neither one of them had any problems. It's perfect because their classes overlap so we can carpool with our neighbor. Brooklyn goes to the first 10 minutes of Brayden's class, then Brayden and Ella go to the last 10 minutes of Brooklyn's class to make it work. These 2 LOVE that they get to start in the same class. They have been loving it all week!