Happy 4th Birthday Harper

My Dearest Harper Ann: Where has the time gone? I can't believe you are 4 years old. You are growing into such a beautiful young lady. I will never, ever forget the morning you were born. I am so PROUD of you and how you have handled the last year of your life. Harper, you simply amaze me every day. I was worried about how you would make the transition from Oklahoma to Minnesota but you have done beautifully! You have taught me that's it is okay to step out of my comfort zone-Harper you will strike up a conversation with anyone and I wish I had more of that in me. The way you pray is such a gift each and every day-you talk to Jesus so naturally and you tell him everything about your day-so precious! You are my go-getter, my fighter, my miss independent, my miss personality, my social butterfly, my sympathetic giver, my nurturer, my "big" helper-you and your sister are my pride and joy. Every day, you have to have an agenda and love to know what you are going to wear (some days, I even get to pick it out). You were your emotions on your sleeve and we all know what you are feeling at that very moment. Oh my, you have started to develop quite a temper-sometimes it's a little unmanageable but other times, it's quite amusing to listen to you. We are still trying to figure out what form of discipline works best for you. Daddy and I have tried so many different things-maybe one day, we will figure it out. I decided to interview you for fun and your answers are quite hilarious. FAVORITE COLOR: Pink FAVORITE FOOD: A cake FAVORITE TOY: A microphone FAVORITE THING TO DO: Play basketball FAVORITE BOOK: Brown Bear, Brown Bear FAVORITE PLACE TO GO: Target WHERE WE LIVE: Minnesota FAVORITE DRINK: Juice FAVORITE MOVIE: Cinderella FAVORITE TV SHOW: Dora FAVORITE FRIEND: You, which is mommy HOW OLD DO YOU THINK MOMMY AND DADDY ARE: Mommy-5, Daddy-6 FAVORITE LETTER: "A" because that's what Adeline starts with FAVORITE SONG: "Twinkle, Twinkle" FAVORITE BIBLE VERSE: Be Kind and Be Safe FAVORITE NUMBER: 1 because I'm not going to be 1 anymore FAVORITE PLACE TO EAT: Chili's FAVORITE PRINCESS: Belle I don't have your stats from the doctor because I am waiting to take you and Adeline on the same day for your well-check appointments. You are wearing a size 8 or 9 in shoes, size 4 T shirts and dresses and 3T for pants and shots. You are very picky when it comes to what you wear-you LOVE to wear your comfy pants and you LOVE to create your own outfits. Some days, you have a crazy sense of style but you look adorable, no matter what you wear. Before we moved on October 21st, you were attending Mother's Day Out at the Early Learning Academy at FUMC 3 days a week. When we arrived in Minnesota, we waited until January to put you in preschool. You now attend Son Shine Corner Preschool 2 mornings a week. You instantly made friends and everyone there loves you and adores your sweet spirit. Daddy and I just got a progress report and you are doing fantastic-you are at or above age level on everything. You love to spell words, count really high and do anything that involves a craft. I can't wait to see what this next year will bring our family. You are such a delight and I am so HONORED that God chose me to be your mommy! Daddy and I are so proud of you and love you more than you will ever know! Love, Mommy

They Say It's Your Birthday

Today is Harper's birthday. We had a wonderful day. Peter took off and we had lots of fun being together as a family and celebrating Harper's 4th birthday. I will let the pictures tell the story from today.

Good morning Birthday Girl!

Birthday donut with a candle

Oh No, I'm 4

Beautiful birthday girl before school

Miss Sharon and Harper-her class was getting ready to celebrate her birthday

The Birthday Girl in her birthday crown

Her class singing Happy Birthday to you

I love how her teachers make a big deal out of birthdays. We were asked to send pictures of Harper as a baby, outfits she wore and her favorite toy. In this picture, Harper is showing off some outfits she wore as a newborn

Putting the date on the calendar in her class

Eating popsicles...Harper got to bring a special treat to help celebrate her birthday and she chose popsicles.

Harper and her wonderful friend Katie (they are both standing up)-the height different between these two cracks me up and Katie doesn't even turn 4 until July.

Birthday lunch at Wendy's

Peter and I got Harper a soccer ball, cones and soccer camp. Here Harper is showing off her new pink soccer ball

Running in the hallways. It was cold and rainy today so we played soccer inside

Who needs a professional soccer picture when you have this?

Adeline enjoyed playing with the cones...except she liked to wear them as hats

Birthday dinner at Chili's

Harper's birthday cake

I was a little ambitious this year when it came to her cake. I made 4 different layers all different colors.

All smiles-she had been waiting to eat cake all day

Eating her cake

This is what the cake looked like on the inside

Adeline also enjoyed eating the cake

Overall it was a wonderful family day. Harper gave me the best compliment tonight. She was talking to my mom and said "my mommy makes the most beautiful cakes in the world." It melted my heart for sure.

Let the Birthday Celebrations begin

Harper turns 4 tomorrow and her birthday celebrations have started. We have planned a big joint birthday party in Tulsa in a few weeks and Harper keeps talking about it. I hadn't planned on doing multiple parties this year, but it happened. Birthdays have always been a big deal to me and I guess I have worn off on my children. About a month ago, Harper and I were talking about her birthday party (joint with Adeline's) in Tulsa and then she said, "What about my birthday party in Minnesota?" The thought of a party in Minnesota hadn't even crossed my mind but I decided to make it happen...why? b/c I always love a reason to throw a party. We decided to invite a few friends to the Plymouth Community Center (they have inflatables for the kids to jump in) and bring some cupcakes.

Harper designed her cupcakes. She requested strawberry cupcakes with pink 4's (which also look like h's) and purple sprinkles. I have to say that these looked a whole lot better before we left the house. Harper wanted to carry the cupcake carrier and all of the cupcakes were flipped upside multiple times, thus reason for the scary looking cupcakes. When Harper saw the huge mess of cupcakes, she started crying and saying, "oh no, I ruined the cupcakes, I can't turn 4 now!" It was a tad dramatic but it was super adorable. I have to be honest, I am a sad she is turning 4-she is turning into such a big girl!

All the kids

Adeline and Rylan

All Smiles-she was so happy to be spending time with her friends

Notice how the 3 oldest are looking at the camera and the 3 youngest aren't paying attention...

Begging to go jump

Adeline and Adah

Sisters are down for the count

P.S. Tomorrow, Harper gets another party at school and we will be celebrating her birthday as a family tomorrow night-spoiled-I think so!

St. Patricks' Day 2011

Happy St. Patrick's Day (a few days late). This year, Harper went school and not very many people were in green so she was disappointed. Of course, I took pictures of the girls before Harp went to school.

It's so hard to get a good picture of her smiling and looking at the camera these days.

St. Patty's Day night, I tried to be "green" for dinner but it didn't' turn out too well. I made green fried chicken, green mashed potatoes and green beans. The chicken looked disgusting and didn't taste very good. So much for my creativity!

Candyland anyone?

This year, we decided to do a joint birthday party for the girls (since their birthdays are only 3 weeks apart). I was trying to think of something that both of them and their friends could really enjoy so I came up with a CANDYLAND ADVENTURE.

For some reason, since my girls were really little, I have made their birthday invitations.

Front of the Candyland Adventure Invite

Back of Candyland Adventure invite
I also decorated wooden frames from Michael's with DOTS candy

I made the DOTS picture frame and then I needed a picture of the girls to put in the frames...here are the girls enjoying their lollipops!

Flip Flop-tastic

I saw some adorable flip flops on a website about a week ago, Harper also saw them and said "I want some of those" so I decided to make her some. I went and bought a pair of plain pink flip-flops from Old Navy and today, I bought some ribbon and glue and voila-adorable "bling" flip-flops.

What do you think?

If you are interested in buying a pair, let me know!

Seasonal Confusion

*Sorry for the poor quality picture-it was taken with my phone*

Last night, we all went to run some errands and this is how the girls left. They did not go into the stores, they just rode in the car.

Harper was wearing a sleeveless dress, shoes and a snow hat, while Adeline had on a t-shirt, pants, boots (no socks) and a snow hat. Both girls are so ready for spring but also confused about this Minnesota weather. We are excited because it is supposed to be in the 50's later on this week.

As we were leaving the apartment, we did see a lady in the elevator and she started laughing hysterically at them-what can I say? They love to be creative and make a statement with their outfits.

The Not So Fun Neighbors

I have been hesitant to write this post but today, I decided it was time. Time for me to vent...We live in an apartment and we love living in an apartment except for our neighbors-the neighbors that connect to us-especially in Harper's room. It's not like we had fabulous next door neighbors in Tulsa (in fact, I couldn't even tell you the names of our next door neighbors in Tulsa). All that being said, poor Harper; her wall touches the wall of a very loud teenage boy who got a VERY LOUD keyboard around Christmas. He plays the stupid thing non-stop. About a month ago, I had Peter go next door (around 9:15pm) to ask them to turn it down because we had a child trying to sleep. Peter and the mom agreed that 9 was the "shut off" time. Most nights, he plays that stupid piece of machinery up until 9:01. He also plays it as soon as he gets home from school, which is around 3...um, right in the middle of nap time so guess who can't sleep? The keyboard is played all weekend-all hours of the day, all day!

Harper is the kindest, most friendly 3 (almost 4) year old little girl. She greets everyone in our building and asks them "where is your apartment." Harper loves to make conversations and meet new people. Back to our "not so fun" neighbors. We see the mom every so often. Of course, Harper greets her with a smile and a "hi, How are you, where you are going, where do you live?", which are her normal conversation starters. This mom acts almost scared of Harper. She practically runs from her-barely speaks to her, never answers a question, and rushes to her apartment and almost slams her door.

Disney Princess on Ice

We had the privilege last Saturday to go watch/see Disney Princess on Ice. Once again, this is one of the perks of Peter's job because we got to sit in one of the suites at the Target Center to watch the show.

The girls looking at some of the beautiful costumes.

Loving the "real" princess.

Harper showing us her Disney Princess on Ice "flag"

We were trying to get Adeline to smile so Peter said "Smile, show us your teeth." and this is what we got....I love her!

Cheesy picture so I will leave her alone

Adeline was either watching the show or running around the suite

Mommy with her princesses

Blurry picture of Cinderella's entrance. This was Harper's favorite part because she is obsessed with Cinderella right now.

Harper was all smiles when it was over. She said "WOW-that was great! I loved it!!"

Oh and the girls had an outfit change at intermission-they were tired of being in their itchy princess dresses. Good thing, this mommy was prepared and bought a change of clothes, in case they wanted to change clothes.