hazel is eight!!

 our sweet hazel is eight! 

a month or so ago she told me she's always wanted breakfast in bed

so we had to make it happen for her birthday

she loved it

she requested chocolate chip pancakes and hot chocolate

 i curled her hair for school and she wore the birthday dress i made her

 michael knew he would have to work late so he stayed home later than normal

to help with breakfast and we let her open her presents this morning, too

 a few of her presents she was most excited about

the junie b jones survival guide (even though she finished reading them well over a year ago)

 she's gotten into these 'lil woodzeez recently

and we're so glad because she hasn't wanted toys for a couple years

and these have sparked her interest

plus her sisters are excited to play with her, too

 a dress i made her that i don't think she likes that much..

 tic tacs, new pajamas, and lipsmackers chapstick

 a spirograph she's been dying for and already used a few times today

she asked me to bring her a happy meal for lunch and stay with her for lunch

which was a little easier said than done because of needing someone to watch the little three

but it worked out

i wished she didn't seem so uncomfortable to have me there...or hate me taking her picture

 but it's ok and she was happy i came

 even though it's her birthday she still wanted to go to ballet

it was the last day of the year and extra fun because she got to dress up in whatever costume she wanted and bring something ballet related for show and tell

she loved it 

 she requested spaghetti and meatballs for dinner

and loved it

 hazel asked me to make her a chocolate cake, too

i was happy to oblige 

hazel had a great day

i'm exhausted but she loved it

we sure love hazel

she is helpful and loving

and a peacemaker, an awesome second mommy,

she's smart and loves to read

happy birthday, sweet hazel fayzel

2016 spring ballet recital

this may have been a one time only event

all three girls were in a ballet recital

sadly they were actually in different recitals, eleanor in the matinee and olive and hazel in the evening

but it was fun for them to all do it

the ballet was hansel and gretel

the girls were in separate dress rehearsals, too

so we spent all morning there for that

we decided just one of us would go to eleanor's recital 

and the whole family would go to hazel and olive's

eleanor chose for michael to take her to her recital

she was a gingerbread girl

 she was in a sassy mood all day

and part way through her performance she spotted michael recording her

and made goggles out of her hands to look at him for a while

everyone got a kick out of it

 olive was a princess

she is a natural performer

 hazel was marzipan

this was her 5th year of ballet and she is fully committed to doing it forever 

i love her dedication and love of ballet

 eleanor was pretty spent after her recital and not very excited to stay and watch the girls

but we made it through with her and henry

and noah playing the tablet a bit

 michael got all three girls roses for after their performances

they loved it

 olive is always posing

 eleanor didn't want to be in the picture or hold her flowers

 noah took this one

 on the way home i had hazel and the boys

instead of going out to ice cream like we planned

we figured we'd better get eleanor and henry home for bed

so we went through the fixx drive through for cookies and soda

i love watching our girls dance

olive is definitely ready to switch to gymnastics

and eleanor is up in the air

but hazel will definitely keep going

either way i'm grateful to have them all doing it at the same time for one recital :) 

little tidbits

hazel's final project for her gifted program was a report on stegosaurus

she worked really hard on it and despite being really uncomfortable presenting to all of the parents

she did a great job

 a pepper and a ballerina

 the marshmallow matey's minus the marshmallows...thanks to eleanor

 we love meeting michael for lunch

 third place winner of the pinewood derby! an extra big victory after a rough year last year

 olive is getting really good at her bob books

we are so happy with the progress she's made

 eleanor gave her first talk in primary

 hand-stitching his diary of a wimpy kid puppet for his final book report

 michael keeps ripping all his shirts! they're all turning into short sleeved shirts

we should probably invest in elbow patches

 monday was crazy busy

i taught an older lady that the missionaries set me up with how to sew

hosted a playdate for a friend

and went to a friend's house to help with her computer

i watched the kids at the park while michael helped

 i love this girl's morning stretches

 my favorite shopping buddies

 michael came home for lunch yesterday

 he brought "taste of chicago"

 we bought eleanor the sunglasses that match her swimsuit yesterday

she loves them

 i love these divas

 i made this dress for hazel yesterday

i've been saving this fabric for something special

i think i'll give it to her as a birthday present tomorrow

 noah mowed the grass for the first time since we've lived here

the backyard is huge and hard to mow but he did the whole thing himself!

so proud of him

i like his cute assistant, too

 olive is pretty dreamy

she is her own person

she picked me this bouquet from the backyard

i love these kiddies