When Mikayla asked me, I told her that she could get her ears pierced when she decided that she was ready for that responsibility (and the pain). Several months passed, until she decided she wanted to go for it when she turned 7. So, as a birthday gift from Grandma Cori and Papa Craig:

Before (with a few butterflies)

..and After
She wanted her friend, Paige, there with her for moral support. The two of them giggled the entire time we were at the mall.

Now, we have 8 weeks of cleaning 3 times a day. We'll see how that goes!

Happy Halloween!

My darling girls all ready to go trick-or-treating:

It was so fun having Grandma Cori with us this year!

My little troublemaker

Aubrey and I have been having a lot of time alone together now that Mikayla is in school all day. It's been really nice to sit and play just the two of us--and she definately keeps me entertained with her funny little jabber (I'm lucky to get a word in edgewise).

Yes, I sure do love my Aubrey-girl, but lately she has been giving me a run for my money. Here's the proof:

Nice. But she wasn't done yet. I cleaned her up and sent her out of the kitchen so I could clean up the floor, so she decided to head upstairs and...

get out every game she could reach. Honestly, this wouldn't be so bad if she would then play with them for more than 5 minutes.
Then, not too long ago, she decided to mix the powdered sugar with the flour. Not sure what she was trying to make, but here's the lovely result:


At least she tried to sweep it up before I found her :)
Thanks for keeping me on my toes, Aubrey!

My little first grader

I've been neglecting my blog this summer, but this is too big a moment to ignore. Mikayla was so very excited to start school and here she is on her first day:

This year she has the greatest teacher--Mrs. Johnson. I am so impressed with her...and the best part?? She doesn't believe in giving 1st graders homework! Just daily reading :) Aubrey and I took her to school for the first day (it's a long story), and it was a challenge for me to get a picture with just Mikayla. Aubrey wanted to be a part of every one. You can see her little elbow in the picture above, 'cause she thought she was in that one too! Here they are together:

I felt a little emotional leaving my daughter in the care of another for the whole day, but it was Aubrey who cried on the way home! Those two are such good friends (most of the time).

Our summer was pretty layed back. We spent a lot of time in the backyard doing the usual: swimming pool, sprinklers, trampoline...and playing with all the neighborhood kids.

But we also took a lot of day trips--and spent nearly every Monday night at The Gardens!

(This was taken the evening of "Christmas is July" at Thanksgiving Point. Mikayla was happy to get cozy with Santa, but Aubrey had a tight grip on me and wouldn't even look at him).

OK, let me explain this clip below. I took the girls to yet another activity at The Gardens--This one was a giant slip-n-slide. The video I have of Mikayla is long and boring--but this guy (that I do not know) gave everyone a great show:

Such a great summer--

The things we do for our kids...

Last night we went to the Thanksgiving Point annual summer jello fight. Mikayla has been looking forward to it since school got out, so we packed some sandwiches and headed off. I had no idea what to expect and as it turns out, we were very unprepared. It was one of the funniest/strangest things I have ever seen: Boys and girls, men and women all digging into buckets of jello and throwing it at eachother. It was hilarious! Mikayla and Aubrey were a bit timid, but they got in there and got a little messy:

Aubrey decided that she did not like it, after all. You can't really hear her, but she's crying "No like it!!" and I am backing up from her to keep her from putting her sticky little hands on me :)

The best part is that afterwards, they turn on the sprinklers and everyone runs around and rinses off. Too funny.

I, of course, stayed a safe distance from all the craziness and just used the zoom on my camera. Wouldn't you?