Daily Schedule According to Elena

Elena made a book about her schedule back in November. I love her original ideas. Here it is, page by page:
5:00 Dad leaves for work
7:00 Elena yawns and gets out of bed
7:30 Breakfast
8:00 PBS kids: Cat in the Hat
9:00 Babar is on TV (They get to watch 3 shows total)
10:25 Lunch (She has afternoon kindergarten)
10:30 Catch the bus
10:40 Ride on the bus
1:00 Learning at school
2:20 Come home from school
(Things speed up in the afternoon.  I guess she was tired of detailing everything)
6:00 Dad comes home
8:00 Bedtime

It was November once...

We are so lucky that Dan's awesome job has a work retreat for all the residents and their families every year. We started the weekend bowling, then enjoyed some amazing food, had fun at the resort pool (indoor), attended Prom Night 2012, and did some other stuff, but it was 5 months ago, so it doesn't immediately come to mind.

Oh my gosh!  How cute is he?!  He still looks just like this, but with a teensy-tiny bit more hair.

Prom Night was the theme of the dinner/dance this year.  Most residents dressed fancy (prom style), but I'm married to Dan, so we went as a nerd couple. :)  It had been a while since either one of shopped at Goodwill, but it was a lot of fun.  Macklemore would be so proud.

There were a few others who were super cool like us (ha!) like Lars who you can see in the white wig below.  He and his wife cross-dressed and their kids wore clown wigs.  Hilarious!

Apple juice and orange juice at once!

The view from our room.

Elena played on an all girls soccer team in the fall and she had a lot of fun. She's currently in ballet at the rec center which is fun and fabulously inexpensive.

Fast forward to Thanksgiving:  Elena and my mom made these awesome turkeys and place cards.

Playing in the leaves!

The day after Thanksgiving it was time to set up the trees.  The pink one was relocated to Elena's room once it was decorated.  The green one is our main tree - the same one I bought at a drug store for $20 our first Christmas.  Someday I'll buy a big, prelit tree that doesn't need each branch individually placed.  I think I say that every year.

Jonah is 1!

We celebrated my Leap Day babies birthday yesterday.  I love this boy!  He is so laid back and sweet.  He gives the best hugs and kisses and loves to play with whatever his brother and sister are using.  They both adore Jonah who goes by the following aliases:  Jonah J, Jonah Bolona, and Gushmite, Mr Man, Baby Boy, etc. Check out this nose-crinkling smile!

 Elena was decorating the front room by herself and came up with this idea. It says: "you are 1 Jonah":

 He had a lot of help in the morning opening presents

 Classic Jonah face.  I love it!  I think that the popcorn popper was his favorite gift.

Party time!  Three of my friends have boys about the same age as Jonah, so while the bigger kids were at school, we had a birthday party.  It's kind of crazy that I grew up with either the mom/dad of each of these cute babies.

Jonah is obsessed with everyone else's hair since he doesn't have much.  It was total coincidence that they are both wearing yellow shirts and gray pants.

 Cupcakes with animal crackers on top.

 He didn't look so excited as we sang "Happy Birthday".

 Yay for cake!

 

 

 Playing in the hallway with Grandad.  It's so nice that he and Granny were able to come even though I did middle of the day party. Kevin had a lot of fun too because each baby has a 3 year old sibling that came along.

Abuelo and Abuelita sent a package with toys for Elena and Kevin as well as Jonah. My mom put them to bed last night because I had a church meeting and when I came home, they were both curled up with their gifts.  Kevin put his new car back in the box before bed for some reason and Elena is hugging her new pink bunny.  Kevin is sleeping on the floor under Elena's loft bed.  He loves to do that for some reason.

 

Elena's 6th Birthday

On her actual birthday (January 17th) we celebrated at home with cookies and a few gifts from me and Dan.  She got a package from her grandparents in Utah and opened their gifts too - she loves her new Hello Kitty hoodie and desk set, but I didn't get a picture of them apparently.

The next day, we had a family party at Chuck E. Cheese (her choice).  Do you know that you can just show up with your own cake and decorations and they don't care?  We took a table right in front by all the people that paid for their Chuck E. Cheese themed parties and set up our "Tangled" tablecloth and plates.

She got a book from Aunt BB

And a watercolor set from Granny and Grandad

It was so great that Dan was able to join us after work - he actually made it there a few minutes before us.

Jonah had some fun!

Jackpot!  In the end, she had over 200 tickets and she couldn't have been more thrilled with the little party favors she chose at the ticket counter.

 The next day (Saturday), Elena got to go see the Broadway version of "Beauty and the Beast" with her aunt.  It was a very special afternoon.

Also, earlier in January, my mom won a raffle at the nearby children's museum for this bedroom set!  It included the bed, dresser, and rug that you can see here, plus a bookshelf and a table Elena is using as a desk.  Amazing!  Kevin loves to sleep underneath in his sleeping bag. :)