Happy St Patty's Day

Ashley's Birthday Party

Ashley had her birthday party tonight at our house - she had pink and black decorations. The girls played Minute to Win It games, ate pizza and junk food galore. They stayed late and watched a movie after the party ended. My neighbor Heather gave each girl Glitter Toes. It was a hit!

Girly Bathroom

We even jazzed up the bathroom with pink and brown polka dots, a Pretty as a Princess sign above the door, polka dot clock, cute picture frame (that still needs to be filled), rug, and a really cute earring holder that Kourt made at Girls' Camp last year.

Ashley's Room

Ashley went with bright blue with damask accents. It turned out really bright and cute. Of course the focal point is a giant chandelier over her bed that is oversized for her room, yet somehow so fitting. We still need a few black bins and of course some irridescent beads to hang down the inside of her closet. Very cute, very Ashley.

Fixing the Girls' Rooms

We've been working on the girls' rooms. Kourt is still a bit undecided about what she wants, so her room hasn't been done yet, but Ashley and Grace both decked their rooms out. Grace went for Pink - bright fun colors, butterflies and flowers. So very Grace. There's a big wooden sign on on side of the room that says "Princess" and another small sign above her closet (with boas and dress-up beads) that says "Princess of Everything." That about sums it up.

There's a young woman in the family

Well, Ashley turned 12 - yikes! She is so excited to be so grown up, in young women's, graduating from elementary school soon, shaving her legs, wearing dangly earrings, etc.

We did baptisms for the dead this week - Kevin baptized both of us. So neat. It was cold and rainy, so I didn't pause for great pics, just the idea that we were there.

My Funny Valentine

Ashley left Kev and I cute Valentines Day goodies. She made roses for Kevin out of giant Snickers bars and she bought a basket of sweet things for me and the dollar store. When Kevin came home from work, he had a bouquet as big as a rosebush - beautiful - so as not to be outdone by Ash :)

Christmas 2011

Ashley's dance - Ash is really becoming an accomplished little dancer. She takes 4 classes 6 hours a week and she got her point shoes this year. This is her Jazz company and ballet recital.

Family Christmas photos

New Time-Consuming Hobby

One of my new hobbies: My friend, Amy, and I made jewelry and did a couple of boutiques over the holidays. It would be really fun to have time to make it into an actual business.

Flashback to Fall

I feel like I've let life get ahead of me this year. I've been picking up some side projects and part-time work, which means my social networking and blogging have fallen by the wayside. I miss the fun of documenting our year on the blog, so here are a few updates in a nutshell:

Pumpkins from our garden, a few neighborhood kids, Ashley as a Halloween gypsy, Grace as a fairy princess.

You can click on the collage to see the actual photos better.