January Roundup

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 Brenna has surely grown over the last year (well...maybe not physically but in other ways!).  I doubt she would have stepped foot on a stage in front of a crowd of people one year ago.  But she made up her mind that she would be brave and since then, she isn't so painfully shy. 

 

Not shy at all actually, just super excited about performing the songs she has been working so hard on.  They all dressed in white as snowflakes.

 

With red scarves and mittens. 

 

We have lots of inside days here, so we make the most of it.





 

We had so much ice and snow on our street that we decided to utilize it.

Happy Kinlee watching the action.

 

She is so proud of herself when she walks on her walking.  Probably because we all enthusiastically cheer her on.  Kinlee also started clapping her hands and shaking her head to say "No."  We think it is the cutest thing ever. 

 

 

It was warm enough one weekend to finally set up our trampoline that Santa gave us.  Kempton stayed out in the cold the entire time to help Daddy. 

 

Brenna tried to help but only made it a few minutes.  Then spent the rest of the time watching out the window with baby sister.



 Their first jump!

 

And first flip!  I am so excited for hours and hours of fun on their new outside toy. 

 

Averie had a cheer performance for University of Wyoming's men's basketball.  It amazes me at how fearless this girl still is.  I would have been terrified to get up in an arena at that age!  I'm so proud of her for being so brave.  She and baby sister were in their matching Wyoming cheer uniforms.    

Can you find her?  She is third from the left with her pom poms up.  She got every move right, cheerleading has been so good for her coordination and balance. 


 

Averie was in charge of the lesson for FHE (family home evening) and chose the topic "genealogy."  I have to admit this is not my favorite topic (yet), so I encouraged her to call her Grandma Perriton (who is the family history buff and devotes much of her life to it) to do a little research. 

 

She also asked if she could look through my keepsake bin and found a few treasures.  This is the hat that my Great Great Grandmother Florence (I'm not the only Flo...she's where I get my namesake) wore to my baby blessing.  And look at the hat box...love it.  Averie also tested Daddy and Mama to see how far back we could go on our family tree.  We need to study up because she was thinking we could do a lot better than we did!

 

Little Brenna Rosie

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Five years ago our little Brenna Rosie was born into our family. 

First thing in the morning, we opened presents from Gran and Grandpa.  She loves her new additions to her dollhouse, a Grandma and a Grandpa along with the laundry room.  She immediately went to her room to play with them. 

She lucked out with no school on her birthday.  Although she loves school, it was the perfect opportunity for Daddy to take day off so we could travel the distance to her one and only wish, a visit to the Build-a-Bear Workshop.  We had the perfect day together as a family and the weather was ideal in Colorado.  That in and of itself was worth the hour it takes to get there. 

 

Her beloved pink "bear" went missing a while back and she has been so very sad about it.  She didn't have to think twice when she saw this pink bear.  Everything she chose was pink.  Pink hat, pink outfit, and pink shoes!

Our next stop was to a restaurant of her choice.  Much to my dismay (but to everyone else's delight), she chose Golden Corral.  Mostly because of the all-you-can-eat cotton candy of course.  Don't blame her on that.  Cotton candy is one of my secret pleasures. 

On our way back home, we stopped by Grandma and Grandpa Perriton's house to celebrate both Grandpa and Brenna's birthdays.  We ate dinner with them and then opened presents. 

 

Once again, Brenna got spoiled by both of her Grandmas!  

5 things I love about this five-year-old:

 

1) She is delightful.  Always happy, smiling, giggling, positive, silly, and says hilarious things.  Cale and I always cracking up at her comments, she is very witty.  And it's even more funny because she has a tiny voice.

 

2)  She is very affectionate.  With hugs, kisses, and lots of praise.  She gives me a self-esteem boost every day as she tells me I'm a good Mommy and she loves me.  She tells me she wants to be a Mommy like me someday.  Always showers me with compliments and loves.

 

3)  She is easy to please and adapts well to change.  If things don't go her way, she quickly moves on with life. 

 

4)  She is sweet yet spicey.  She knows how to stand up for herself and doesn't put up with nonsense.  

 

5)  She has a sensitive spirit and when she does get in trouble it breaks my heart because she feels so bad.

 

The day after her birthday we celebrated at preschool.  I brought individual vanilla icecream with gummy worms.  She wore her new outfit from Grandma and was all smiles as the center of attention.

 

 

 

 

Kinlee enjoyed the visit too.

 

Our little Brenna Rosie is such a joy.  Happy birthday tiny one.

Brenna's Pillow Pet Party

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Brenna's idea for her birthday party this year kind of threw me for a loop.  I searched for ideas and came up empty handed.  With how popular pillow pets are, I thought for sure there would be something out there to help me.  No such luck.  So this is what this Mama came up with.  And it seemed to be everything she dreamed of.  Good thing my girl is easy to please!

 There are lots of pillow pets around here, but I was relieved when she requested the ladybug.  This seemed manageable (if by "manageable" it means working until the wee hours in the night).  I got really excited after Cale came into the kitchen to check out the finished product and started doing his high-pitched laugh.  He said some really sweet things to me, making me even more excited for Brenna to wake up the next morning to this:

 

This year I bought a helium tank (at Walmart) and filled the balloons myself. 

Soooo much easier and definitely worth it.  Each kid got to take a balloon home with them.

 

All of Brenna's guests brought their pillow pets (look at this pile!) and dressed in their jammies too.  They were such great kids the entire time, making it so much fun for me to play with them. 

 

 

 

We sang "The Pancake Man" and then enjoyed making our own for lunch. 

 The kids thought it was so funny that we were having breakfast for lunch.  Who heard of such a thing?  I mean, breakfast for dinner is reasonable, but for lunch?  So silly!

 

We played musical pillow pets, where the only boy in the group won. 

 

We made sleeping masks so that we can all get our much-needed beauty rest. 

We decorated mask-shaped foam with foam stickers, jewels, and tied with a ribbon. 

 

{I fed paper bags through the printer and held with mini clothespins.  Bags were filled with mini sugary cereal with spoons attached, flavored milk straws, eggs and bacon made out of pretzels, white chocolate, and yellow M&Ms.  Not shown but included were twisty straws and a sheet of brightly-colored stickers for each child.}

 

And here is the birthday girl, beaming from ear to ear, after being a gracious host and center of attention at her very own pillow pet party! 

 



Coo at 9 months

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Kinlee is definitely the center of attention around here.  We can't get through anything serious (family prayer, disciplining the big kids, church, etc.) without giggling at something she is doing.  Since her birth, we've had many-a-conversation with the big kids about how "there is a time and place to be serious, and a time and place to be silly."  But there's no use.  She is just too dang cute and such a ham, and she knows it.



 

We can tell her mind is moving a mile a minute, she is trying her hardest to keep up with big brother and sisters.  One evening after watching Brenna wear her princess crown, I observed Kinlee's determination to be like big sister. 

 

 

 

 

 

At nine months, Miss Coo:

 

*Has the cheesiest crooked smile, melts my heart every time.

*Kicks her left leg when Daddy holds her in his "arm chair".  It's similar to a puppy wagging it's tail.

*Knows her name.

*Crawls super fast, especially when we say "bath bath!"  Daddy loves to give her a bath, and doesn't let Mommy do it!

*Is still into everything.  It's much easier to empty and load the dishwasher when she is napping!  She is especially into Brenna's dollhouse.  If I can't find her for a few seconds, I can always count on her to be in the girls' room playing with the dollhouse. 

*Loves to explore the house.  I have learned to shut every single door so that I can keep track of her and make sure she doesn't hurt herself. 

*Is very adventurous.  You love to rough house and play games.  She knows them so well that she will initiate the game that she wants to play.

*Screeches in excitement when she sees someone she knows.  I help in big brother and sister's classrooms and she gets soooo excited when she sees them.  And can't contain her excitement if Daddy comes home for lunch.

*Recently became shy around people she doesn't know.  She will just stare at them with her big brown eyes.

*Repeats Daddy with "Dadadadada"

  *Eats everything offered (Loves what we have for dinner when we mash it in the food processor.  Definitely prefers that over packaged baby food).

*Is petite with a grown-up face and lots of hair.

*Is a good little napper, will nap in the morning for 1 1/2 hours and then in the afternoon for several hours.

*Is walking with a walker, stands up on everything and uses just one hand to balance.

*Pretends to choke for attention, she will cough really loud.  Mommy is so paranoid about choking and runs at her beck and call.  I'll reach her and she will do her big cheesy grin. 

 

 

 

Family Professionals

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My sister-in-law over at Chelsea Peterson Photography  (check out her locations) took our family pictures.  She did a beautiful job and I love them.  She has an eye for photography, is quick, and somehow gets everyone to cooperate.  Here's a look at her work.  There are so many good ones I can't choose which one I like the best! Hence the fact that I haven't yet gotten any of them blown up for my home.  I seriously can't decide.  

The baby is even smiling!

 We took pictures of the whole Peterson clan on the same day. 

My cute parents.

This is an amazing picture to me.  How is it possible that not one of these children under the age of eight are crying?