MIlaBelle at 3

MilaBelle turned 3 years old on November 9th Things she loves are...

Pretending everything, like doing her stuffed animals hair.

She adores Hendrix
Dancing and Singing all the time. She loves when her friend Katelyn comes over to play.
She got a carebear cousin:SwiftHeart for her birthday and carries her everywhere.
She copies almost everything Hendrix does. He's a great big brother. He'll let her pick CareBear and Strawberry Shortcake movies, he'll get her 'last drinks' before bed. He enjoys having someone hang on his every word.

Since more cousins have moved back into town, she can't get enough play time with them.

She loves drawing. She's getting really good too. She can trace letters and numbers wonderfully. She owns several coloring books and has to bring them with her wherever we go.

She's a healthy eater, loves tomatoes and cucumbers best. Here she is helping herself to some veggie chips we bought on her birthday from Trader Joes. She's a great grocery shopper, very helpful and will only ask for one snack for her efforts (usually veggie chips or goldfish crackers)

With her Best Friend.

Question: What's your favorite Color?

Answer: PINK

Q: What's your favorite Toy?

A: PINK TOYS

Q: What's your favorite Day?

A: SUNDAY Q: Why? A: I LIKE NURSERY

Q:What's your favorite Food?

A: RAMEN

Q; What's your favorite Movie?

A: PRINCESS

Tofurkey for Me and Tofurkey for You!!!

This was Mike's 2nd Thanksgiving as a vegetarian. Last year we tried Whole Foods Cranberry and Wild Rice Roast (not worth the price) So this year we stuck with the classic Tofurkey Roast stuffed with rice and breading. A vegan gravy, homemade spicy cranberry sauce and homemade mashed potatoes. We coated the tofurkey with paprika (which Mike says smells like Thanksgiving) Salt, pepper and thyme. It was much better basted with spices than plain.

I think next year we'll roast it along side some carrots, celery and potatoes to add even more flavor. The kids loved it and we had leftovers for days.

I've worked Thanksgiving for the past 10 years so we usually celebrate before or after the actually day. Although I miss seeing my family, I enjoy making tons of money, hanging with my Mimi's friends, happy guests, and Mimi's pumpkin pie. It's Thanksgiving to me.

Halloween 2010

Hendrix and MilaBelle trying on Mommy's costume for fun.

Our Truck or Treat at Church had great games for the kids. Here's Peter Pan golfing...

and tossing..

Leah was very proud that she put this costume together. She may not know how to sew yet, but she's pretty handy with some hot glue and pins. Hendrix looks awesome. MilaBelle and him were both excited to have coordinating costumes.

MilaBelle was beautiful TinkerBell. She has loved Tinkerbell for quite some time now. She wore this dress nonstop for two days.

The kids got a lot of loot at the party.

Mike helped run one of the games: Donut on a string, always a classic.

Our little Princess

10th Annual Halloween Party -Yuma Style

For the 10th year in a row my brother and his wife threw their Halloween Party, they are still in Yuma so it was there for the 3rd year. It was tons of fun. There's always amazing food, awesome treats, great games and of course the Costume Contest, that Mike and I take very seriously. Mike, me or both of us have won every year and Mike has won every category. (Funny, Scary, Best Couple, and Most Creative) This year was no exception. We worked really hard on our costumes, Mike is so creative, artistic and great at constructing something from nothing. We won Most Creative!

We were Lego Men - I was Lego 'Shaun of the Dead' (the zombie killer) and Mike was a Lego Zombie. These costumes only cost us $10 a piece and some of the materials consisted of a laundry basket, pringle cans, an oatmeal container, an over sized shirt and a cardboard box.

My brother usually goes for the funny - and totally pulled it off with Papa Smurf ...

Tamara is always inventive and came as the lady from the movie "The Birds"

Our friends who started coming with us to the parties about 5 yrs ago came as Publishers Clearing House winner and prize giver. Very original Bekah and Tyler!

This super sweet couple is also hoping to adopt; here's their adoption blog site:

http://www.tylerandbekah.blogspot.com/

We invited Tyler's little bro, Chase and his new wife Lauren to come along, and they were totally up for the costume challenge with their Kramer and Elaine outfits that were spot on.

We had a wonderful time and are already planning the next two years of costumes.

It's the party of the year.

A Post about MilaBelle BY MilaBelle

That's MilaBelle. That's paint, it's my paint, and it's gonna dry. My paint is going to do this (acting out shaking her hands so the nail polish will dry)
Oh, that's paint on my feetees. I don't have paint on my toes anymore, you took it off.

I'm playing with blocks. I'm building a cake.

I have a stroller with my baby and I'm holding Hendrix's lunchbox. That's my baby!

I'm wearing my shirt and my shoes and my pants. I buy those shoes at the store.

(This is MilaBelle's $6 outfit from Love Child)

A post about Hendrix BY Hendrix

Me on my birthday. There's balloons everywhere. Daddy put the wrapper things around my bed. And I'm 5!

I like my cupcake cake.I love the cupcakes.

I'm gonna blow the candles out.

Me playing with my blocks I got for my birthday from Oma and Grandpa Britt

Hendrix starts Kindergarden

Because this is our firstborn starting school we documented everything....

First light...

Waking up...

Breakfast...

Backpack on, and ready to go...

The ride there...

The walk to class...checking out the playground...

Standing just outside the door

Sitting next to his pre-school friend Liz...

The beautiful sky as we drove away, one child less...

Having breakfast with MilaBelle... this is a tradition we are going to adopt for our family. It was great to spend time together and talk about are sweet boy.

I did most of my crying the night before as Mike gave him a Father's blessing including remembering the values he has been taught at home and that his parents and Heavenly Father are proud of his good choices and that he can always remember that he is loved when he's sad or scared. I also am very confident that we have taught him well. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to be home with him these past years. I am thankful to Mike for working hard so I can have this time to be with our children. I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for being the perfect example of a parent and mirroring our parenting to match His.