3!

My little Allie Gal recently celebrated her THIRD birthday! Hooray! When did those 3 years fly by?

Look at this sweet little baby girl.


And what a difference one year makes- my goodness:


And this just sums up Allie (and two-year-old's in general) perfectly:


In the weeks leading up to her birthday, whenever I asked Allie what she wanted she just said that she wanted blue ice cream. I better enjoy simple requests, they probably won't last long! But, I must say that I was NOT going to buy a whole tub of blue ice cream, that sounds appealing only to a 3-year-old. So, we went to Maggie Moo's (to spend the most ridiculous amount of money on a single scoop of ice cream) where we all could choose our own flavor. The day had been crazy and we didn't even make it in there until 9:30 at night. On the way over, Allie crashed in her carseat. As soon as we parked, Jacob whispered to her to see if she was ready for ice cream, and that little lady popped right up and was headed out of the car in no time! She won't miss a chance for ice cream! Of course the ice cream color of choice changed to green by the time it was all said and done. Thank goodness- the blue was the brightest blue I have ever seen and I instantly saw myself in a nightmare trying to get the stain out of Allie's clothes. Mint green was a lot more tame.

Her actual birthday was on Sunday and it was so fun to spend the day telling Allie "Happy Birthday!" and watching her just smile and love it. Here is her ice cream-shaped cake that managed to have little chunks taken out of it before we even got the candles lit.


Her sister was more than happy to help blow out the candles. All 3 of them.


She got lots of great little things for her birthday- thank you Grandmas and Aunts! Here she is sporting a little (or not so little) tutu from her Aunt Nicole. Prima Ballerina!


We love you Miss Allie Rae! My how you have grown.

Ninas

Obviously one cute little dude has gotten most of the attention around these here parts lately, so thought we'd give a rundown on what my little ladies have been up to:

For the 24th, our little town does a fun hometown parade put on by the Stake. Jacob was determined to hook up the pony cart to ride in the parade, and was just as determined that I accompany him to celebrate our pioneer heritage. Despite my initial hesitation, it was fun! Kenna decided that she wanted to ride on the float with the Primary kiddos, so Allie rode with us and helped throw out candy. Ty man just camped out in his car seat between my legs and took a happy snooze.




Kenna has a great little determination about her that is so fun to watch sprout out at times. She's been watching the neighbor kids ride their bikes around, so a few weeks ago she asked her daddy to take the training wheels off her bike. I'll be honest, in my mind I was predicting tears and much frustration. However, I gotta hand it to my little tike- she took matters into her own hands and within a few days and just a minor fall or two, had mastered riding on two wheels! She is oh so proud of herself and loves to ride. It's so cute to watch an itsy little thing whizzing past on an itsy little bike. Way to go Kenna! It's hard to get a good picture of a moving target...


Last Saturday we took the girls to a little reservoir they have here in town.

It was really fun. For 45 minutes.

Just as we unpacked the cooler, the picnic basket, the camp chairs, the towels, the cameras, the car seat with the baby stroller and then started to enjoy, it starting raining. Hard. Party over. We'll be sure to make it back, though.


This week a Primary friend had a "tea party" and invited the girls over. They were so excited to go! So they each chose a little dress up and spent the afternoon playing like princesses. Aaah, a quiet afternoon for mom. The only downfall? The quiet afternoon didn't include a nap. Beggars can't be choosers!

My little Kenna had her first soccer practice last night! I told Jacob now I'm an official soccer mom. He reminded me that now I just need a van! Hmmm, guess I can't quite fill the role just yet. Maybe I can get a great bumper sticker to stick on the back of the ol' sedan. I'll keep working on that...

She looked so cute in her little soccer garb that completely drowned her. We didn't even attempt the shorts. I'm afraid my sewing skills have met their match. We may have to save them for soccer that is 3-4 years down the road. She has 3 other cute little girls on her team and it was so fun to watch her. I think she liked it. Fortunately there was a playground next to the soccer field that occupied Allie during practice.


And of course, after a long hard day of playing in the summer sun, it's nice to just lay in bed and fall asleep next to your best buddy. Sometimes ya just gotta share your bunk.