Tea with Ruby

We always love our outings with the Bell girls.

This time we went to see the Evergreen Ballet perform “Tea with Ruby” in Bellevue. They liked it, however the consensus was they prefer some talking in their performances. It was geared to young kids, but all music and no dialogue. There were many whispers from our girls about whether anyone was ever going to talk. But they did love getting to see the dancers after the performance.

And Andrea and I love any excuse for a fun photo shoot.

Kyla and Hailey did an excellent rendition of what the dancers did in the performance. Obviously they aren’t opposed to photo shoots.

Love these girls.

Note: Symantha was at a volleyball tournament, and Molly…. well, she is 2 and not quite ready for this yet:)

Variety show

The Girly Girls, plus one more friend from school, chose to participate in the school variety show. There was much talk and debate about different acts that Hailey and Symantha wanted to do, but they settled on dancing. This was a relief, compared to some of the other possibilities they were coming up with:) Symantha was worried that she would have a repeat of last year, if you remember the forgetting the lyrics episode, but the performance went wonderfully. They completely choreographed and planned this out all by themselves, and I was pretty impressed! Hailey was the only second grader, the others were 5th and 6th graders. The older kids did a really good job of including her.

So, for the family and friends who had to miss it and asked to see it, here is the performance. Alice recorded it and there are some wiggly parts as she tried to get the best view, but it gets steady for the second part.

Sym and Hailey Variety Show

Credit to Hailey for the perfect bunny ears in this pic:)

Under the Big Top

I am finally getting around to editing and posting Addison’s Carnival birthday party pics.

I loved this party. I loved planning it and finding all the cute things that go along with this theme. I loved that Addison finally had a big birthday party at our house instead of at the bouncy place (for the third time). I loved that we could have 17 kids come here and play together. I loved how the cousins, sisters, aunts, friends and other family could help out in different ways. It was all so fun. So prepare for just a few (or more) pictures.

             

Thanks to all our family and friends who helped out in so many ways to celebrate Addison’s fifth birthday!

Addison turns FIVE

January 24, 2012

My sweet baby is five. I can’t believe it. Not so much a baby anymore.

Two days before her birthday, Addison had a fever of 104.5. So sad! She was much better on her birthday, but still not 100%, so she didn’t go to preschool. I tried to make it a special day for her anyways. Nana had brought over birthday pajamas the night before, and she woke up to all sorts of fun decorations and presents.

After the girls were off to school, we went to have our fingers and toes done together. She had never done this before, and it was really fun. They even had a tv with Team Umizoomi on in front of her.

From there we went and bought her new tap and ballet shoes for the class she just started. And had a special lunch, at her choice of restaurant, Burger King. Then, home for a good nap (which she still does almost every day), and a relaxing evening at home with her choice of dinner, pizza. Pretty easy choices for mom:)

Oh, how we love our Addison Kate.

Stay tuned for birthday party pics, I am sorting through LOTS of them.

February ten on ten

Haven’t done this in a while, but I felt like taking it on today. A photo an hour for ten hours, fun glimpses of every day life.

{1} Good morning gray {2} Working on valentines {3} Zoning in on tv {4} More valentines {5} Posing {6} Having some fun in Junior worship {7}Yay for getting to go outside {8} Beauty parlor {9} Return of the chore chart (their request!) {10} movie night

See other tens here

Symantha’s Baptism

December 30, 2012

A pretty special day for Symantha and our family. Symantha has been asking us to be baptized for a long time, and we have held her off because she is still very young and we want her to understand the commitment she is making. We have been studying the Bible, praying, and talking a lot with her about this decision, and Derek had her write out why she wants to be baptized. She wrote this completely on her own and I was very impressed that she read it in front of the whole church! We are very proud of the person that she is becoming. Although she struggles sometimes, like we all do, she has such a good heart and she genuinely wants to live her life for God. I love that we have this on video – sorry it took so long to post it:).

December Highlights

Yes, it’s mid-January. Yes, Christmas seems like eons ago. But I couldn’t let it pass without putting some of my favorite pics on here. Get ready for most of our December events all in one post.

Christmas tree hunting

Snowflake Lane

Seeing Santa

Kids Choir Performance

Christmas pj’s

Annual Girls Christmas Breakfast

Christmas

                                       

Happy birthday, Jesus

The cousins made mistletoe on paper, tied it to a stick and surprised Grandma and Grandpa while they were standing for a picture. Pretty cute.