Little Z Turns 4

On the same weekend as Em's bday and K's recital, we had Z's bday. Yes, it was chaotic! Good chaos, if that exists. :-) Her Nana always creates these themed parties and this year it was cowgirl...with a pony!! Yes, that pony was the only way I managed to convince K to wear jeans. She began by telling me that cowgirls wear tights under dresses and after we looked up cowgirls on the ipad, she agreed that none of them were in dresses, but that she could be a cowgirl in a skirt. I had to pull out the ultimatum...no jeans, no horse ride. It worked. Whew!

But then, having just won this battle, Em decided to grace us with her presence after only a 45min nap.   It was not pretty...

She wanted to wear her pajamas.

If you don't have girly girls, thank God in heaven for your blessings!!  We spend at least part of every single day arguing over clothes (now that it is winter, that is - summer was such a nice reprieve since we all agreed skirts and t-shirts were great).

Well, okay, maybe it's not that bad...when they are cute, there is just no beating it.

When Em listened long enough to realize there were ponies and chocolate involved for all who cooperated, she magically felt better.

At the party, Z stayed true to form.  She was perfectly happy and smiling, until she became the center of attention.  Then, you guessed it, she scowled at all of us.  She cracks me up so much!  She even does this in school if you catch her off guard and ask her a question.  :-)

Yep. singing happy birthday and still scowling.  Look at that, cold shoulder and all!

No more scowl so I had to throw it in.

So I went for the side shot.

And then went back to my posers.  They had smores for cake since Z is allergic to dairy and can't have cake anyway.  I am going to steal ideas like this soon.  January, in fact.

All right, so the highlight of the entire day, the horse.

Em was so happy she was getting the unabashed, "oh, ah, she's sooooo cute!" from virtually everyone.

I mean, how can you resist that face?

G-Bear

Z wasn't going to go but did finally take a ride, as long as her mom was with her.

Seriously, after K got in line three times and rode, I don't know how much, with a giant grin on her face, I had to say out loud, "I'm still not getting a horse!" just to remind myself that no matter how happy my kids were, it can't happen.  :-)

Little J

We even got to put on matching scarves and hats.

Em looked like a bank robber but thankfully it also doubled as a bib since she was more than thrilled about her access to two tables worth of food.

Last but not least, I cannot believe I have not introduced you to the newest member of our clan.  A has a little sister...AG...she is almost six weeks now and perfectly healthy.  PTL!

I think that gets me caught up on pictures.  Emily was supposed to start school today but since the paperwork didn't come through, we have orientation tomorrow and then she will start next week.  I might keep her out though until after Thanksgiving so she doesn't catch anything she can take with us over the holiday weekend.  We are assured by more than one source this will be the sickest winter we have ever had and Em will likely miss more school than she makes it to.  I understand that she will be exposed to every single thing coming around but it is not very reassuring to hear others predict her demise and it certainly doesn't motivate me to send her to school either!

Oh well, they only read her medical report, not how many times God has saved her.  I'm the one who has that report in the back of my mind.  In fact, we were sick less on her second winter I didn't try to control anything than in the first winter when I tried to control everything.  It is far more relaxing to just roll with it and life is certainly more fun!  We can only end up exactly where God wants us this winter so it's best not to borrow worry from tomorrow, and I'm not going to!

Have a great day!  God Bless!