Auntie Tashi and Uncle Ty!

We were so happy to have these two come and visit us!  The whole time went something like this, "Auntie Tashi!  Watch this!  Uncle Ty!  What this!"  It was wonderful!  The girls love their auntie and uncle so much!  So do we! :-)

Christmas Prep

Red Robin with the family (I just love Cate's enthusiastic face, Jeez LOL), pictures with Santa, and a little bit of shopping.  Oh!  That's why the face, I just remembered.  We left the shoe store without her precious Sofia tennis shoes.  She actually got really sad, but se la vei! ;-) 

 

First Snow

It snowed only 1 inch, but it just happened to be on late start Friday, the last day before Winter Break began, and it was still coming down.  We got a snow day!  I was so happy to have the girls home and cozy with us.  Bronwen and Ava stayed out for a few hours, but Cate came in the moment her boot fell off and her socks got wet (understandably). ;-)  She got in a nice warm bath as mommy kept her company.  LOVE~

 

Selena Gomez

During the summer I felt like crying because Bronwen and Ava's favorite singer, Taylor Swift, was in town, but we couldn't get tickets.  I literally found out less than a week before she was coming, and at that point tickets were over $150/person.  We just couldn't swing it.  So...when I found out that their next favorite singer, Selena Gomez, was coming in November, I jumped at the chance!

 

We had the most memorable time.  What makes my heart so happy is that Conrad and I got to take the girls to their first concert.  I feel blessed that we love our girls so much and get to experience these "firsts" with them. 

 

Thanksgiving

After almost 6 years of living out here, we finally went down to OR to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family.  It was so wonderful and all I kept thinking was that I wish we had done it sooner.

 

Dance

Bronwen and Ava doing their fabulous hip-hop moves, while Cate and I chill in the lobby.  What a cozy, cozy life! :-)

 

Christmas Crafts :-)

I take Cate to an arts and crafts class every week and we always get to do the cutest projects themed around the holidays.  I wanted my big girls to get to participate in the action too, so got the traditional gingerbread house kit and fun "Santa Going Down the Chimney" cupcake set.  The cupcakes were delicious and I got to toss the house out the next day LOL!  That was disastrous! ;-)

 

Ava's Birthday

In all the excitement with the holidays, I got behind on updating our blog! :-)  

Ava's birthday was amazing!!! :-)  

For several months she'd been asking for a parakeet.  We told her she had to wait until she got a little older.  Wink - wink! ;-)

To get her present, we told her it'd be a surprise, so she needed to wear a blindfold.  We loaded everyone in the car (Bronwen and Cate were blindfolded too because we knew Cate would yell, "We're at Petsmart!"  LOL!

We got there and walked into the store, straight in front of the parakeets.  We took off the blindfold and yelled, "Surpise!"  She picked Thunder, a cute parakeet.  Unfortunately, I have to add an update -Thunder died within two weeks of us getting him.  What's funny is that when she picked him I said, "Are you sure?  That one looks sick."  I called it. :-(  But, I'm happy to say that we have since gotten two more parakeets, Lilly (or Willy, as Cate says) and Melody, that are a few months old and are happy and healthy.  The next day we went to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 with our neighbors, Betsy and Jacob.  On her actual birthday, Cate and I went to her school and brought cookies for the class.  It was wonderful!

I'm so proud of my special little girl.  She is my heart with feet and a genius.  

I love you, my miracle baby! :-)  I'm the luckiest person in the world to be your mom.

Happy Veteran's Day

Bronwen's grade held a Veteran's Day Assembly the day before yesterday.  They sang many songs and did a great job!  There was even a slide show with veteran's from the school (I submitted Conrad and his grandfather, Victor Armijo's, photographs).  At the end, they had all the veterans in the audience stand up and receive a white rose.  It was pretty sweet.  I could see how proud Bronwen was of her daddy.  :-)

Halloween Fun

My best friends in the world.  My family. :-)

Spooner's Pumpkin Patch

Cate's preschool had its annual field trip to Spooner's Pumpkin Patch.  Since Bronwen had a field trip to the zoo with her class, I kidnapped Ava from school, so she could come with us. :-)  We had an awesome time looking at all the pumpkins, seeing some animals and eating our sacked lunches.  Cate and Ava's favorite thing was to do the duck races.  It was so fun!  I can't wait until next year!

There are several times a week when I just sit and look at the girls, Conrad and Charlie and am so happy to be a stay at home mommy.   I like the fact that I get make Conrad lunches and take care of the home stuff while he's working hard at Microsoft.  I love getting to say goodbye to the girls each morning and wish them a wonderful day, "Fulfill your destiny!", and then scoop them up when they get home.  I know they're fed, they're comfortable and they're together.  I love getting to spend time with Cate and Charlie during the day.  Charlie is sheltered from the rain, gets to go on walks with Cate and me to the park almost every day, hangs out with us whether we're in Cate's room playing Barbies, in the living room reading stories or in the kitchen, doing everything else.  I tell him he's so lucky that he's a stay at home doggie. :-) Life is sooooooo short, and I don't mind waiting a little bit until I can work full time.  These are the things that are important to me and I am thankful for this job as Mommy. 

Conrad's Birthday!!

It's no secret that Conrad LOVES TLC's show, Amish Mafia.  I admit, it's actually pretty good (it's not like that stupid other show, Amish: Brave New World -yuck!).  For his birthday, the girls and I wanted to surprise him with his birthday cake.  We had some cowboy, horse, carriage and fence figurines laying around -everything we'd need for an Amish Mafia cake.  Bronwen and Ava painted two of the cowboys in Merlin and Lebanon Levi attire and Cate painted the horses.  We had Conrad sit at the table and cover his eyes.  He loved it! :-)  It was the perfect evening!  Conrad, happy birthday my angel.  I'm so happy you're in the world and that I get to spend my life with you.  

Love,

Your Chelle

First Day of School! :-)

We now have a fourth grader, a second grader and a preschooler in the house!  Oh my goodness! :-)

One of the best things I think Conrad and I have done as parents is that for every first day of school for the past five years, each of the girls have had both parents walk them to their new classrooms.  I told Conrad what an amazing tradition that he's started for future generations to come.  I can totally picture Bronwen, Ava and Cate telling their husbands, "You have to take the morning off to take the kids to their first day of school.  It's the tradition."  Lol!  I'm feeling very blessed that all the girls have amazing teachers this year.  <3 p="">

Concert Time!

My wonderful friend, Corina, invited the girls and me out to a free concert at the Tukwila Community Center.  The singer was called, "Caspar Babypants."  I remembered seeing him on a flier at the Renton Rec. Center at some point last year, and I thought, "Why not?"  We loaded up a comfy blanket and went.  The music was catchy and he sang the song, "Stompy the Bear," which Bronwen found on Youtube, so that was fun to be able to sing to something live!  Little did I know that "Caspar" is actually Chris Ballew, two-time Grammy nominated lead singer for the band, "The Presidents of the United States of America."  What a treat!  We had a great time, bought two of his CDs and a children's book he coauthored with his wife and ended the afternoon playing at a nearby park.  Loved today! :-)

Our New Boat~

When we first moved to WA, Conrad said, "We'll get a boat, so we can take it out on the weekends."  Meet "Challenger," our new boat! :-)  It makes me so happy for the girls to see their parents go after their dreams, no matter how big or small.  We had a beautiful time out on the water!  We packed sack lunches, swam in the open water and successfully launched and docked the boat.  Hooray!!!