Lucy's Lego Birthday!

This year Lucy's birthday was especially great, because Logan got the day off work! Yay! Lucy chose to go to the aquarium again this year. It was so much fun. And we were so happy that Marmie came with us!

Lucy wanted a lego birthday, and she decided how to decorate the cake. I love how she has her own ideas about things.

Lucy added the lego candy herself.

We had a fun party with Marmie, Papa, Caleb, and Grandpa (Grandma was out of town -- we missed you!). Lucy is so loved. I'm so grateful we live close to our girls' grandparents!

Lucy was not thrilled we made her take a family picture. :)

Saturday was Lucy's lego birthday party!!! I let Lucy decide what invitations we should make. We found the idea here. They were pretty intense, but I love them. Totally worth the effort.

It was Lucy's idea to write "Everything is awesome" on the back.

Lucy helped me make a lego banner for our living room. It turned out super cute. We had the idea to write "Lucy" on the dots instead of "Lego." Lucy wrote most of them herself. :)

The party was so much fun. First, we let the kids play with the giant castle blocks while we waited for everyone to arrive. They loved building the towers, but they especially loved knocking them down.

Then we let all the kids build cars out of legos (thanks, Caleb for letting us borrow your legos!), and raced them down the track (putting my old college research poster to good use). ;) They did a great job. It was fun to see the different cars they built.

Next was the lego pinata! All the credit for this goes to Logan. I was about ready to buy one or just put some crepe paper on a cardboard box, but Logan took the time to paper mache it and cover it with crepe paper. I think it turned out amazing!

Next, by Lucy's request, we played pin the head on the mini-fig. I doctored up this printable so the kids could draw their own faces. I think it was my favorite part. So cute!

Next presents, and then decorating cupcakes! We used yellow frosting and had m&ms and licorice to make faces for their little cupcake mini-fig faces. It was fun -- plus who doesn't like decorating their own cupcake?

We also drew different faces on all the places. The kids loved it.

For the treat bags we gave the kids lego candy, lego stickers, and these cool lego necklaces. They were a huge hit! All in all, we had a wonderful time. Whew! Now I'm done with birthday parties for at least 6 months! :)

Kaya's birthday party!

Kaya lucked out this year. She basically got two birthdays. Monday morning, she woke up early and opened a few presents. 

Trying out her new scooter!

After breakfast was her pirate birthday party! We had so much fun at her party. And, since Lucy had a pirate party when she was three too, this party was super easy to plan! :)

Jake, Izzy, and Cubby!

Fun with her mateys!

I let the kids decorate their own treat bags while we were waiting for everyone to arrive. Kaya immediately made her's into a cat puppet!

Not pictured is the tickle shark game, ice cream sundaes, pin the eye patch on the pirate, and the treasure hunt! Sorry second child, way less pictures for you. ;)

After the party, and lunch at Wendy's we went to the zoo with Grandma and Grandpa!

Then, after Lucy's soccer game, and a yummy dinner, we had ice cream cones and presents! What a wonderful day!

 On Kaya's actual birthday, we were in Vernal, visiting Dinosaur National Monument! We were so lucky to be there with Marmie, Papa, Caleb, and Grammy. Kaya LOVED being the center of attention, and was a great sport during our super long day of hiking.

 She was even cheerful when we didn't have dinner until 8PM. Here she is with her nutella and strawberry pizza for dessert. The owner even put a candle on it. So nice! We had a wonderful week celebrating our three year old!

Oh, and it's worth mentioning that a couple of weeks after turning three, Kaya got her first haircut! We may have had to bribe her by letting her watch a show, but yay for no more straggly hairs! :) Thanks, Grandma!

Lucy is FIVE!

Favorite food: Two things -- mashed potatoes and rice

Least favorite food: Avocado
Favorite color: Pink
Favorite TV show: Peg + Cat 
Favorite movie: The Lego Movie
Favorite book: The hide and seek penguin book
Favorite song: Everything Is Awesome

Favorite Toy: Legos!

Favorite church song: Reverently Quietly 
What do you like best about church? The songs!

What is your favorite thing to do with Kaya? Play games

What is your favorite thing to do with River? Play with her with River's toys
What do you like to do? Play with legos and playmobil
What do you want to be when you grow up? An astronaut!

Lucy is such a sweetheart. Although seemingly less interested in River than Kaya, Lucy will run and help River if she hears her crying, and often tells me that she loves River so much. Lucy is so imaginative -- I love eavesdropping on her when she's playing. She loves to build, plus she's analytical and a literalist -- she's a future engineer! She is doing Upstart preschool (online), and loves telling people she is learning to read. On Sunday we asked her what she talked about in Primary, she said, "I don't know. But I sure do listen!" :)

And per Lucy's request there are NO pictures with Kaya, and NO silly faces. :) We love our opinionated little girl. 

River's Four Month Stats

(Lucy's, Kaya's)

Weight: 14 pounds (40%)
Length: 25 inches (65%)

Favorite Song: The Owl and the Tanager (by Sufjan Stevens)
Favorite Book: "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" (mostly she just likes when I recite it to her)
Likes: Lucy, Kaya, sitting up, sucking on her fingers, kisses, books, being tickled, when I throw her into the air
Dislikes: Being ignored, church, her carseat, missing her nap

River is a great baby! We love her big big smiles and crazy hair. She is much quieter than her sisters were, but is starting to coo more and more! She started laughing much earlier than Lucy or Kaya (just after two months) and giggles when we change her outfit.

Proof that she occasionally gets upset. :)

This picture just cracks me up!

Kaya's Birthday Interview

Can you believe Kaya is THREE years old?

These are her answers:

Favorite food: Chicken pot pie (she always says this, but doesn't really eat it when I make it. Go figure. She still loves avocado!)

Least favorite food: Pie (she really isn't a dessert girl -- something she definitely didn't get from me!) 
Favorite color: Purple
Favorite TV show: Jake and the Neverland Pirates
Favorite movie: Penguins of Madagascar
Favorite book: The big Jesus Book, that has a handle on it. 
Favorite song: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Favorite Toy: My toy frog that we have -- the purple one! 

Favorite church song: I Like to Look for Rainbows 
What do you like best about church? I love to play with my nursery friends at church!

What is your favorite thing to do with Lucy?  Play bingo

What is your favorite thing to do with River? Play with her, with toys! I like to do frog jumps with River!

What don't you like to do? I do not like to do...hit with somebody else. I do not like to fight! It's probably not good to fight. 
What do you want to be when you grow up? Astronaut

Kaya is such a sweetheart. Often during the day she comes up to me, gives me a big hug, and says, "I love you so much, Mommy!" She is so sweet with River and is happy to help me with her. She loves to give River hugs and kisses, and always says, "River loves me so much. And I love her so much!" 

I took her into the cemetery behind our house to take her pictures. She was very excited and kept saying, "take another picture of me, Mommy!" :)

I told her to make a "mad" face. 

Dancing!