Road trip!

The road trip to Grandpa and Grandma's house in Indiana this time was special... because Kayla came along! My grandparents are such important people in my life and I want Kayla to know them. My mom and I have done this quick one-night road trip before, but this time I thought it was time for Kayla to be part of it. She took it alllllllll in.

Kayla gets a little emotional when we have to leave on road trips (this being only her 2nd road trip) because she doesn't like the thought of leaving anyone behind, but I wanted her to know how special this opportunity was just for her and I. We had a fun Mommy-Daughter bonding trip just as Khloe and Daddy got the same opportunity. Kayla said that she was glad she went, she was sad to leave their house when the time came, but she was excited to be home with Daddy and Khloe. And Kayla and Khloe did miss each other! They were both so excited and happy to see each other. They kept hugging and telling each other how much they missed each other. It was special to watch them express their love!

But, I have a problem. GRANDMA! I know you're reading this down there in IN! We forgot to do something! Do you remember what it was? We forgot to take our "Four Generation" photo! We kept telling ourselves not to forget, but here I sit at home without the photo. We have to keep saying "Oh well, next time!" so I guess I have to say "next time" again. Let's not forget next time! Thanks for letting us stay with you!

Dear tooth fairy

Another one - finally! - bites the dust. I say finally because that tooth hung in there (i.e. dangled) for over two weeks. Waaaaay too long. During her Valentine's Day dinner she finally decided it was time to pull it out.

"I'm going to need a BIG piece of paper because I'm going to write a really long sentence to the tooth fairy."

She said she was "so so so so excited" to put her pillow, tooth, and note under her pillow. She woke up early, running into our room, excited to show us that her note was answered (Yes! The tooth fairy will bring her a wand by her birthday!) and three dollars in quarters. She needs a REAL magic wand (not like the fake one she got for Christmas a year ago) so that at her birthday party she can show everyone how she can turn into a fairy for just one day. 

Happy V Day!

 Thanks for the Valentine stickers, Kristi!

 Valentines Day party at school

We had a wonderful Valentines Day around here! I love Valentines Day, because it's all about pink and sparkles and sweets. The girls had surprises waiting for them downstairs on Valentines morning, which is exactly how I should have phrased it to Khloe, but instead I said "There's a special treat for you downstairs! Do you want to go see?" Khloe opened her HUGE card and after inspecting it, she held it up to her mouth and asked "Can I eat this Mom?" 
Me: (Laughing) No honey! It's a card!
Khloe: (Obvious disappointment) Yeah, but can I eat it?
Me: No you can't!
Khloe: (Clear disgust) Well then, WHERE'S MY TREAT??!

Valentines Day might have started out a little disappointing and anti-climatic to Khloe, but I think the heart-shaped waffles topped with sprinkles might have redeemed it.

We invited neighbors and friends over to decorate sugar cookies with us since today kicked off a four day mid-winter school break!

Kayla decided on the cookie shapes - hearts, rabbits, baby chicks and flowers - and helped me cut and bake them.

Khloe much prefers the frosting and sprinkles over the cookie.

Hope your Valentine's Day was special too!

First true love

A little girl's first love is always their Daddy. It's who a little girl first wants to marry. In fact, maybe she's even created a wedding ceremony in her living room to officially marry him. Daddy's are Prince Charming, and every little girl loves to whirl and twirl around the house with their Prince spinning and dipping them. Daddy's can save the world. Solve all problems. Fix anything. Are stronger than a house. Know all. There's not much a Daddy can't do, really if you think of it. (Well, okay maybe a few things. They sometimes have a hard time finding matching outfits for a little girl in her closet. They are technically challenged with putting in hair ties. And sometimes Daddy's have been known put a little girl's outfit on backwards). But other than that, they can do anything!

A Daddy will shape how a little girl creates future relationships with boys in her life. I should know. I was once a little girl with a big, strong, funny, confident, loving Daddy. He created a wonderful environment for me growing up and showed me how a girl should be loved and respected. This Valentines, Kayla got to go on her first date with her first true love, her Daddy. I was happy to share my Valentine with another one of my Valentines!

On Monday, Aaron wrote Kayla a note (her first love note! I'm saving it forever!) asking her to go on a Daddy-Daughter date with him. She immediately checked the "yes" box, wrote "I love you" on it and hung the note on the fridge where it stayed all week.

Kayla looked forward to her Daddy-Daughter date all week. We discussed the outfit she would wear, almost daily - a special new gold dress. Even Aaron wanted to make sure he coordinated to her dress. Aaron and I decided that they should go to a restaurant that wouldn't be too packed with couples on formal dates, where a reservation wouldn't be needed and wouldn't have a special menu. The perfect place to take a 6 year old is... Garfields! Yes, it's in the mall, but the restaurant has paper on the tables that you can color on! and there's a candy store around the corner that was going to be a stop on the date. Sounds like a perfect evening to me!

Finally Valentines Day rolled around on Friday and Kayla asked me, "So, what's this 'date' thing all about?"
Me: Well, a date is about spending time with a person who is special to you. That's what people do that love each other, they spend time with each other and a date is a way to do that.
Kayla: So, what are we going to do?
Me: You're going to have fun! You'll draw pictures, play games, tell jokes, eat, say funny things, talk...
Kayla: What are we going to talk about?
Me: Oh I don't know. Whatever you want!
Kayla: Oh, okay!

Note the details of her outfit: she asked to borrow some of my jewelry because mine "is more special", so I let her borrow a strand of my pearls and she added her own ring. She even received a yellow rose wrist corsage from Daddy. She was in awe. She looks so pretty and beaming with happiness! What a lucky girl to have such a wonderful Daddy!

She'll always remember this first date. It was a success! Always Daddy's little girl. Happy Valentines Day to my three sweet Valentines!

BYOSS

A fun-filled weekend with our best friends! Friday night Kayla took Addison with her to a 1st grade PJ Party at church. They had a fun time and then Addie spent the night. On Saturday we continued the tradition with the 2nd annual BYOSS! And on Sunday, Kayla spent the afternoon with 12 of her closest friends celebrating Madison and Marisa's 7th birthday. Mrs. Raymo is either an angel or a brave soul - or both. On her precious weekend day off she spent it with some of her students hauling them from the pizza party at her house to the YMCA for a swim party, successfully keeping an eye on all of them as they had fun swimming for 2 hours. We have one tired girl from all this weekend friend fun! And one sick girl on the mend - Khloe was the first in the family to fall victim to sickness this winter. I hope that's all the sickness we have in our house the rest of this winter! We're ready for winter to be over!

We love this family! Friends like this help make the winter more fun!

 Emma! Making a snow angel

 We trudged through knee deep snow - literally - to go sledding with 7 little girls for the afternoon. At 20 degrees and with no wind and sunshine, it felt balmy! The adults had just as much fun sledding as the kids! We capped off our sledding with an "up north" bonfire. 

 Seven little girls (minus sick little Khloe!) enjoying their sleeping bags and a movie. There's an 8 year old and 7 year old in the group already - how did that happen?! 

Couldn't ask for a better time with life long friends!

Snow day

Yes, another snow day. We've had six snow days between Jan 6 - Feb 6! I think that's got to be a record. And most of those were "too cold to go to school" days. We're officially OVER this winter!

Favorite

Khloe: Mama, you're my momma!
Me: Yes, you're right!
Khloe: And dadda is my dadda. And Kayla is my sister.
Me: Yes, and who is Tikky?
Khloe: My cat!
Me: And who is Kristi?
(Pause)
Khloe: My favorite!

Oh Koh-lee. You're my favorite.