Happy seventh birthday Amelia Rose!

Seven. I can remember being 7! I was 7 when I changed schools, met my best friend Lori, and we had central air installed. And now, my sweet Amelia Rose is turning seven. Soon, very soon - like 4 days soon! Yikes! I loved six, it was a great year. First grade, first sleepovers, budding mathematician, social butterfly, yes six was good to us. Be gentle 7, my girl is changing day to day. Bring her good luck at school in reading and math, in friendships and even at home. Some days are rough, bringing trials and tears, and others are great yielding laughter and giggles. We'll take more of those if you don't mind. We celebrated Amelia and her 7 years with a small party. Here are some pics. I love hearing her laugh and seeing her happy. I surprised Amelia by inviting two friends to go to the show. We had burgers and fries and watched the movie Monsters University! It was a cute movie and Amelia had a lot of fun with her friends Ella & Makenna!

 On Amelia's actual birthday we let her pick what we do and where we eat. It was hotter than hot this year, so we lucked out when she announced we should go bowling!! yes! for lunch Amelia picked Steak-n-Shake. We wrapped up the day with some strawberry cake and dancing!

Moving up, from daisy to brownie

It was a quick 2 years, but Amelia moved up from a daisy to a Brownie tonight. Our great park even had a bridge they could use for the ceremony! 

horseback riding!

i just loved this - it was a a lucky shot! 

Happy 4th birthday Lucas!!!

I love tradition. Love it!! And birthdays are a big tradition for me. Traditionally, we celebrate with the kids on the day of, and have their party on the weekend. Lucas birthday will always be tricky. His birthday is August 18th. In Illinois, we start school around this date. And Lucas' dad is a teacher to boot. See how it just got trickier? Yeah. Since Lucas isn't in school yet, it's not too bad, but I'm sure it will be one day soon. This year, Lucas wanted a red party. A red cake with all things red on it - Spider-Man, Otis and fire trucks! So I made it happen.  We invited friends and family over and celebrated my sweet boy turning FOUR! Happy happy birthday to my big boy! You are the light of my love and the love in my heart!!!

happy sixth birthday amelia!!!

 

we can come out and play!

 

all the great dancers get flowers.....

 

boogie shoes

 

girls just want to have fun

 

last dance class

 

Watch out Mia Hamm!!

My Mia Rose is a natural! i was really impressed with her soccer skills, especially since she was barefoot and has never played! Just wait till I get her shin gaurds and some cleats!

 

crawl, walk, ride

 

ready to splash!

 

I love a good splash pad! We will travel far and wide (in st. Louis) to visit them! Imagine my surprise when I found out we had one here! In Illinois! What! Excited doesn't cover it! My neighbor Melissa told me about it. We went today and it was two thumbs up! It is a new park, the pavilions are spacious and close, the bathrooms are nice and there is a ton of WATER! Can't wait to go back again!

nightly entertainment

 

gateway grizzlies

 

Amelia's school recently participated in the American heart association jump rope for heart. Since she participated and raised over $100, we got to go to a gateway grizzlies game! Nana and pawpaw joined us, which thrilled us all! The kids love their grandparents and spending time with them! We had lawn seats, which were crowded, but fun! The weather started off hot, but by inning five, we were rained out! Boo! We all decided to meet there for more ball games this summer. The players were super personable, taking time to say hi to all the kids. The prices are very reasonable too! we will definatley be going back.

meet the machines

 

For the last two years, I have heard about meet the machines. I always had to work, but not this year! I took amelia and Lucas and it was SO fun. The kids loved all the big construction equipment, getting to see it up close and sit on some. Amelia also got to ride on a mechanical lift that was 3 1/2 giraffes high! Lucas said, no mommy, I no ride on that! The worker said he was a smart boy!

Amelia Rose, girl of mine

Amelia Rose, age 5
she is funny, sweet, sassy, independent, determined and oh so lovely on the inside and out. I love love love this girl of mine.  

 

fun with bubbles!

Had some fun playing with the bubbles last night! the kids loved it and it made for some fun shots!!

 

Summer, we can see you!!

This week was filled with parties and fun days! We started off with a party for our friend Tyler! He turned three! We celebrated with him and his family. It was a hot hot hot day, but we stayed cool and still had fun! On Friday, I had a surprise free day from work, appointments and such, so I took Lucas out for a mommy and me day!! We went to the zoo! We love love love the st Louis zoo! It is an outstanding zoo. We were able to see the baby lion cubs, the zebra and the giraffes! They were all out playing and running about. We rode the train too! It was super fun! And now you are up to date on us!! Life is great here!

Meetings and such

April 29th-May5th

Amelia had her last daisy meeting. While I think she enjoyed it, I hope next year holds more activities and crafts! I think that would make her enjoy it even more! Her leader this year was Amy, and next year will be Leanne. She did earn about half of her petal patches and was able to memorize her girl scout law for her center patch. After her smock has all it's patches. i will come back and post a picture of it!

On the 6th we participated in our 3rd march for babies!! Nana Kathy came and walked with us. The kids enjoyed it and we all got some much needed exercise! Unlike last year, we walked around edwardsville instead of the middle school track. While that sounds like a great idea - i had worked the night before and wasn't really prepared to walk a 5k that day. Had I not grabbed Lucas' stroller, we would have made it to the front of the school to wait for the others to return!! Amelia did really well, especially since i let her leave in flip flops! I hope next year to plan better and raise more money!!