Avely's Easter Birthday

I have been working on this post for months. I can't get my pictures to post right side up even though they are turned when I download them.  So frustrating!!  I wanted to document our little Avely turning 2 in April and the Easter fun we had.  It was a rainy weekend but that didn't stop us from going to an Easter egg hunt and breakfast with all our friends.  After, we headed over to a cute store were the Easter Bunny was making an appearance.  There were also real bunnies, lambs and chicks which were the girls' favorite.  That night, Vance, Lisa, and Lincoln came over for a pizza dinner and some cupcakes.  I feel badly that Kayla had a nice party and I made a cake and Avely got some store bought cupcakes.  (I was still feeling really sick. Sorry Avely!)  We had a low key Easter as well with the traditional baskets and some friends coming over for dinner.  Here are some pictures (the ones that would work!) of the weekend:    

Our big two year old!

 Lincoln enjoying his cupcake.



Avely loves bath time.  She is not as cautious as Kayla and loves to climb and go down the slides at the playground.  She is very independent and likes to do everything herself.  She solves problems well.  She doesn't like to be left out and will say "And me, and me!" after everything anyone says.  She loves nursery, dancing, reading books, and doing everything her big sister does.



Presents!

.

 Avely wasn't scared in the least of the Easter Bunny which is a stark difference to when Kayla went to see the Easter Bunny when she was 2 years old!  I think the only reason Kayla went to sit on the Bunnies lap this time is because she wanted a treat from the basket.  I love how different they are!

Avely loves animals (especially dogs and ducks).

Easter fun.  The girls love wearing sunglasses!  If you look closely, you will see that Avely's hair is pulled back with a chip bag clip.  That sums up Daddy's hair doing skills.  We love having a man around. :)

January 2012

We had a pretty quiet January this year.

 We celebrated Jeremy's birthday. The girls loved decorating the house and eating cake.  We love you Daddy! (I made the cake from scratch and it was not good!  Totally buying Coldstone next year!)

Snuggled up a lot to keep warm.  (It was a mild winter but still the coldest we've ever seen)

Sweet sisters

And we even got some snow to play in!

It was quite cold out but they love it.  Avely starts to complain and wants to come in after 20 min or so but Kayla stays until her cheeks turn blue!



Some great pictures my friend caught of Kayla and Jeremy tubing down the little hill in our "backyard".



It was quiet but quiet was good.  :) 



Kayla's 4th Birthday

Kayla celebrated her 4th birthday last month! We can't believe how fast she is growing up. A few things about Kayla at Age 4:

• Kayla loves to play games. She begs me to play board games, card games, puzzles, etc. all day. (She's a true Murray gamer!)
• She really likes to paint. Finger painting is her favorite activity at preschool.
• She likes to draw on her chalkboard and loves writing her letters and numbers on it.
• She is still very cautious when it comes to the playground or any type of "risky" physical activity including riding bikes, bounce houses, etc. She is trying more new things though. If we can get her over her initial fear and she tries it, she usually sees that it isn't as scary as she thought.
• She loves to dance. She started taking a tap/ballet class last fall and is doing great. She has learned to do so many things so quickly. (It is neat to see her enjoying what I enjoyed so much.)
• She likes to dress up and always starts out her playtime by dressing up in a dress or skirt and her princess accessories.
• Her favorite color is purple. Her favorite princess is Ariel. (Even though she has never seen the movie).
• She loves to sing. Now that she is in primary, she is always singing primary songs. She also loves to make up her own songs that are usually to christmas tunes. (she really likes "Angels We Have Heard on High". We didn't even know she knew that song...?)

She wanted an Ariel party but we settled on an under the sea/mermaid party. She enjoyed the little party with her friends. We finished the fun day by going out and getting some pasta (her favorite). Her favorite part of her party was "all my people". She loves all her friends and enjoyed playing games and eating with them.

Kayla was too excited to give us a "good smile". She just wanted to see her friends.
And here is the whole crew eating their bucket lunches of starfish sandwiches, squid cheese, whale crackers, and ocean fruit snacks, yum!

I am so glad simple games like toss the fish, pin the fin on the fish and go fishing were still hits with kids this age!

Kayla loves to dance (suprise). After we ate, the kids broke out into spontaneous dancing together. So cute.

I had a lot of fun making sea themed treats!

Blowing out the candles

I wasn't going to make a cake but I am glad I did. It is so much easier to decorate one big cake opposed to 12 little cupcakes.

Kayla liked the cake but the cake pops were her and her friends favorite.

The stars of the party had to be the real goldfish. We gave them away to kids (parents) who wanted one at the end. We were left with 6, and as of this moment, we have 1 and 1/2 left. The little guy is still breathing but just kind of floating at the bottom...? We should probably put him out of his misery. The girls aren't really attatched to them. When the first one died, we went and "flushed" him and had the girls say goodbye. Immediately after, Avely ran out of the bathroom toward the fish bowl yelling "Again, again!" It was great. So I think once they are gone we are done being goldfish owners. It was fun for the party and I know Kayla thought it was super neat.