Spinkles gets a hair cut

Its about that time of year where Sprinkles is starting to get shaggy and needs a cut.  I suggested to Russ that we get her done professionally and then we could up keep her through the summer.  He agreed.  So our cute fluffy doggy went from this...

To this...

 

The girls were so excited to see that Sprinkles had bows in her "hair".  I admit she was pretty cute with them.  But she is a pretty rough and tumble dog and they fell out pretty quickly.

It really is fun having Sprinkles as our dog.  It is almost like we have two dogs.  Our nice furry winter dog who has the softest coat ever.  Then our Spring/Summer/Fall dog who is completely the most adorable weiner dog ever!  Lucky us!

Baby #5

Pictures...allergies...and warm weather!

Our life is quite routine.  Day after day is spent at home with me trying to not spend too much time sleeping on the couch.  Afternoons are spent with me trying to make some effort to keep the house from being a total disaster. The girls of course are wondering aimlessly around the house playing with things.

Today though I broke the norm and went to the big city with Bree and Charlotte.  We were in desperate need of professional pictures of Breanne done.  I've really struggled in getting pictures taken of the girls this year because our local portrait studio closed down.  I hate having to drive to the city get this done when I know I could take the pictures myself.  (I'm not saying I'm a pro, but my portraits are decent enough that I could be satisfied with them)  But I've also come to admit, I can't do everything just because I know how.  After driving an hour to get to the studio Breanne refused to get out of my arms for the pictures.  Seriously child?!  After much patience on the part of the photographer we were able to get a ONE cute photo of Bree.  I'll post that in a few weeks when we get them back.  When all was done, the little stinker refused to leave the studio.  She wanted to take more pictures!

Since I didn't get a morning nap I totally shunned the work that needed done around the house and took a nap while Char and Bree were taking theirs.  The big girls arrived home and we worked on some homework before we all went outside.  The weather has finally warmed up and is absolutely gorgeous!  The girls played while I wandered around taking pictures.

I had to go in pretty quickly though.  I thought it would be a good idea to take some pictures while sitting in the grass.  My allergies felt otherwise.  Allergies are really hitting us all pretty hard already and the season has just begun!  Allie, Char, and Bree all sound horrible!  Luckily Allie is the only one who has needed breathing treatments so far.  I think Char is just holding in there because she is on so many "preventative" medicines. 

2013 - list style

Hmmm...haven't been doing so well on that blogging every day thing have I?!  Oh well!  I felt kind of put out that I left 2013 behind with nothing to show for it.  I plan to get back to it someday....like that every happens...lol!  So I decided to do something about that.  I quickly ran through our pictures and picked out some of the things that we did in 2013.  To say that this list is long would be true...but it barely scratches the surface of all we did last year.  So if you don't mind reading...here is 2013 List style! (On a sidenote I started this post over a month ago.  Yeah that was a quick run through of things!LOL!)

January

• Breanne rolled over
• Charlotte and Breanne got blankies from Grandma Suzy
• Lily got "A" honor roll and perfect attendance.
• We played outside in the warm weather a lot.
• Russ saw his mission president while at a training in Houston...RANDOM!
• I started my 3 credit class to renew my certification.
• I kept creating LOTS of scrapbook stuff {Did this monthly but not going to put it on each month}
• Breanne began to laugh...alot!
• Lots of preschool and puzzles with Allie. 
• Went to the Houston Zoo

February

• Charlotte dances excitedly for baths.
• Charlotte is obsessed with dolls and glasses.  They go everywhere with us.
• Charlotte ate her first ice cream cone, before this she shared with me or Russ.

 

• Charlotte read books to Breanne.
• Girls sent homemade Valentine's to our family.
• Lily made reading team at school.
• Breanne tried solids and was unimpressed.
• We spent a lot of time having indoor picnics.
• Lily raised $100+ for Jump rope for Heart.
• More Breathing treatments for Charlotte.

• Practice hand washing for Allie to be ready for kindergarten.

•  Breanne at four months.

March

• Breanne played at the park for the first time.  Was very intrigued by the grass. Allie dug in the sand...as usual!

• We planted our garden.
• During Spring Break daddy built a playset for his girls.
• Spring Break playgroup with friends.

• Lily was in the ward talkent show.
• A leprachaun left us a Lucky breakfast.
• I began writing scrapbooking blog posts and getting paid for it. Like real money not just product. :D
• We went camping at Huntsville with many friends from our Stake.  

• Charlotte had a BAD asthma attack/allergy attack while camping.  Good thing we had electricity and had brought her nebulizer.
• Eater bunny left us some cool baskets.
• Sprinkles got her first professional haircut.  We took in a Shih-Tzu and left with a Dachshund.

April

• Breanne and Sprinkles are good friends.  Bree loves on her and Sprinkles lets her.
• i finished MY HUGE project for my class.  And got an A in the class :D
• We played at the park a lot.
• Breanne learned to crawl.

• Charlotte wore her first ponies in her hair.
• Russ and I had our 9th anniversary.
• Lillian is becoming a book worm!
• Started my 2nd class for my certification.

May

• Russ put together his coin collection.  It used to be in a shoe box. Now it is in a binder.
• We spent lots of FHE weeding our front garden.

 

• Went to the library more often.
• Went to the LEGO convention.  The girls were in HEAVEN...as was Russell.  If you have a child that likes LEGOS you should look into going to a convention near you.  It is worth the $$$.

 

• Breanne sat up in the bathtub by herself.
• I had an awesome Mother's day.  Spoiled rotten as usual!

 

• Lily showed of her SEARCH portfolio.  She loved this year since it was all about art.

 

• Lily got a black eye playing softball with dad.

• Breanne began to get curious.  She is into everything!
• I removed a tick from Charlotte's side.  EEEKS!
• Charlotte is obsessed with Doc McStuffins.
• We had lots of bubble parties outside.
• Breanne began to self feed.
• Allie always want to paint.  Huge step for her since she does not like getting messy.

June

• We went to the Galveston Sandcastle competition.  A favorite tradition.

• Lily received A honor roll and 100% attendance award.  Seriously, how did we accomplish that?!
• Lots of swimming in our kiddy pool.

• Playdates at water splash parks.
• Russ enjoyed Father's day getting new Legos and a old school Ninja turtle shirt.

• Allie had a Snow White birthday party.

• Spent many Sundays putting together Legos.

• Swim lessons for Allie and Lily.
• Charlotte got hand, foot, mouth.

July

• Watched firewrks at the mall.
• Allergy testing for Charlotte.

• Saw Despicable Me 2 in theaters.
• All the girls except Breanne got 5th disease.
• The girls enjoy dressing up Breanne.

• Charlotte found the novelty of chapstick.  All chapstick has to be hidden!
• Russ had a birthday.
• Russ and I wore mustaches for Easton.
• More swim lessons.

• Lots of dress up parties.
• More playdates at water parks.
• Allie and Lily got birthday bounces at gymnastics.
• I finished my class and received an A :D
• Russ traveled to Vegas for a conference.
• Art party for Lily.  She received a "fake" American girl doll from Russ and I.  She was VERY excited.

August

• Tyler, my mom and dad, and Russell's mom and dad came to visit....at the same time!
• Lily chose to be baptized!

• We tried to see alligators at a park...no dice.
• Went to the beach with the family.

• Noticed something on my back...more on that later.
• Lily got impetigo on her nose.
• Took the Galveston Ferry and saw dolphins. The girls were so excited to spend so much time with Tyler.

• Explored Ft...Travis I think. Played at the playground there.

• Went to the railroad museum. It was really neat.  The girls even enjoyed it.

• Said goodbye to our babysitter Cheyenne.  Poor Charlotte lost her best friend :(

• Played a lot of card games.
• Built indoor forts.
• I painted all the girls fingernails in preparation for school.

• Allie began Kindergarten...sniff...sniff.
• Lily began 3rd grade.

• Allie was admitted to the hospital for difficulty breathing.

September

• Breanne and Charlotte spend lot time playing together.
• Breanne claps hands.
• Allie is released from hospital.
• Lots of blood testing for Allie.
• Playtime outside enjoying the "cooler" weather.  By this I mean low 90's high 80's. LOL!
• Breanne decides she likes to eat dirt.
• We did a lot of art projects together.
• We had an Avatar party at a friends house to celebrate the beginning of Season 2 of The Legend of Kora.
• Lily cuts of her LONG hair for shoulder length hair.

• Allie got her first hair trim EVER.

• I noticed the spot on my back had gotten larger...
• Lily gave herself a hickey on her forehead
• Bike rides for FHE.
• Breanne learns to walk!
• Dermatologist removes the spot on my back to do testing.
• Breanne gets a swing for her birthday.  Completely in love with it!

October

• Daddy gave lots of laundry basket rides to the girls.
• Lots of evening spent in the backyard...the girls playing...Russ mowing the lawn...me trying to keep Breanne out of the way.

• I started to work out at the gym every day again.  The girls love to go the the kid area there.
• Spot came back with poor results...not quite cancer but close enough they were concerned about it.  Decided to more aggressively remove it.  10 - 15 stitches on the inside, 10 - 15 stitches on the outside.
• Pajama day and dress what you want to be day at school.

• Charlotte has new obsession -- trains.

• Went to the local pumpkin patch.

• Girls ran in the Monster Dash.  Allie somehow got stuck with the big kids and ran the whole thing!
• Painted and carved pumpkins.

• Made spider cookies.
• Trunk or treat and trick or treating on Halloween.  Lily - princess. Allie - Raspberry Torte. Charlotte - Strawberry Shortcake. Breanne - Spider.

November

• I am going INSANE.  Breanne is into everything and soooo super stealthy about it!

• Daddy lets the girls do his hair sometimes.

• Tried to go the Christmas Light Parade but it was too cold.  It was actually snowing! We did manage to get our yummy fair food though :D

• Lily and daddy play chess.  Lily spends the rest of the month trying to teach Allie and Charlotte how to play. LOL!

• Had a nice Thanksgiving here at home.

• Bought our Christmas tree.

December

• Everyone got flu shots in effort to keep Charlotte healthy.
• Allie cut a chunk of her hair because it was "bothering her"  Good news...you couldn't even tell.

• Watched the Christmas devotional. 

• Wrote letters to Santa.
• Found out that I was expecting Baby jones #5.
• Found out that I was allergic to the stitches inside of me.  Medicine for now...shots when I get cleared from my doctor.
• Picture day at gymnastics. 

• Hot chocolate on cold days.  Texas should not be this cold! In the 20's and 30's if you are wondering.
• Allie found my lipstick and used it all over her face...nice.
• Lily and the other 3rd graders sang at the city Christmas Festival. We saw Santa there too! Breanne was mad at us for giving her to a strange man.

• I tried to make Christmas goodies for friends.
• Russ got the flu even with his flu shot.
• Charlotte had a BAD asthma attack.
• Breanne had RSV again!
• Charlotte, Breanne, and Allie all had breathing treatments...at the same time!
• Breanne loves popcorn -- discovered on our Sunday Christmas movie nights.
• I got a Silhouette for my birthday. YAY!!!
• Breanne had her first ice cream cone.  Would not let anyone get near it.  Funniest thing to watch!
• Had to get THREE ultrasounds to find out if the baby was ok.  He/she was...just very tiny.

• Russ and I bit the bullet and got iPhones. The girls love taking pictures with them.

• We cancelled cable.  We now have no TV except netflix.  Best decision EVER!
• Cookie the Elf came to visit.
• Enjoyed a quite Christmas at home.

• Charlotte got Doc Mcstuffins dress up and doctors kits.  Everyone and everything is getting a checkup!

• Charlotte got crazy sick again!!! She spent several days sleeping on our floor as we tried to combat her asthma.
• Played Headbanz for FHE.  Crazy fun game.

• Celebrated the new year at 8:00 with strawberry shakes.

Well there you go.  Our year in a nutshell.  There were quite a few big events, and quite a few small events.  Overall our year was stressful, happy, and crazy busy.