Alex's 9th Birthday

I know this is very late...sorry Mom.  Here are some highlights from Alex's 9th Birthday.  The day before her birthday I hung nails on her wall above her bed.  She had posters up there already so I just put the posters back up so she wouldn't see the nails.  Then while she was sleeping that night I went in and hung some elephant pictures I printed and framed for her room (she loves elephants).  She was very surprised in the morning.

Brad brought her home a bouquet of flowers after work which made her day.  Then we had a pizza party with family that evening, it's so nice to have lots of family around to celebrate with!



Johnny was very excited about his gift for Alex, a big rotating disco light.  It was a hit at the party.  She also got teensiest pet shop, a fashion drawing book, fairy chapter books, "high" heels, her own suitcase, a new purple soccer ball, paint by number posters, and a new pink scooter.

And Christmas is just around the corner.   :o)

She helped me make rainbow cupcakes, delish! 

Kind of funny that we all wore Alex's favorite colors for her birthday and she picked out a blue and green outfit for herself.  Another year older, but still my baby girl.  Love you Alex!

Family

I am thankful for my family!

Derby...Part 2

 Painting the Mystery Machine took a lot of patience.  Alex did a great job with it though and she was very proud of what she had created.  The girls made derby hats for them to wear at the race and fancy ties for their Dad's to wear.  Alex came home with two awards!  One for "the most mysterious" and one for "the Dad's favorite".  The girl's favorite was the one with all of the Littlest Pet Shop on top.  :o)  First place went to the Oregon Ducks car and second place went to the BSU car.  Go figure...  I wish I could have been a fly on the wall with my camera that night.  I will have to check with her leaders to see if they have a picture of all of the cars.  So much fun!

Daddy Daughter Derby...

Alex and Brad recently went to a Daddy Daughter Derby for Activity Days.  When the girls were told of this upcoming activity Alex came home with the car kit and said "Dad, I want to make the Mystery Machine!"
My computer was getting upset at me for wanting to post so many pictures at once so I'll post more pictures shortly.  These are of Brad and Alex getting her car sketched out, cut and sanded.  Alex was really nervous but she had faith in her Dad and gave it a go.  So cute!

Better late than never..right?

For Halloween this year Alex was a Hula Girl.  She wore a dress that my grandma brought back for me, from Hawaii when I was Alex's age.  Johnny was a fierce little ninja.  Monday night is not a good night for Halloween.  We had school that day AND on Tuesday so there really wasn't any time for pictures or partying since they had school the next day.  We did make it to their Nana and Papa's Trunk or Treat Saturday though and then to our's Monday night and they made the rounds around the neighborhood.

This year we used powertools to help us clean out our pumpkins.  It went so fast, I'm loving the person who invented the pumkin gutting drill bit!  The kids chose their pumpkin pattern and Brad and I carved them.  Next year I think I'm going to have them pick patterns that they can try carving themselves.  Most of the fun is in the creating!  Alex helped scrape away the rough edges once her's was done.

Monday was freezing and the kids insisted on going to the trunk or treat without many layers on.  Of course they were frozen after just a few minutes and so they raced around the cars collecting their candy and then sat and ate it in the car for the rest of our time there.  They quickly added more layers once we got home before going around the neighborhood.