four

four is the number today...

my baby girl turns four today

...and she couldn't be more excited

she was so excited to show me four when taking pictures last Sunday afternoon

it really was the perfect day to take some pics of them outside

it has been awhile since I took a few pics of them and I think they forgot

that "mama goes overboard in how many she takes"

because I took a ton...
I mean a whole lot of pictures
{smile}

but we had the best time

lots of laughter

silly dancing

a bit of craziness and stress at some points during the pictures when Hayley decided she was done

"done taking photos mom"

completely done she said:)

I don't blame her because I'm the first person to jet when people start taking photos

As I was going through the photos in the wee wee wee hours of the night

 I liked around 67 of them

yes 67

some were of just Madison too
which I'll save for her birthday

because how can you not take photos of both of your sweet girls

anyhoo...

Hayley Elisabeth is four today

yes four

{I keep typing that I know...perhaps I'm in denial just a little bit

...thought you should know that}

 I feel a bit rusty at writing since it has been awhile

but I wanted to blog today

to celebrate Hayley

she is my sunshine

who has a true gift of humor and silliness that I just love

we dance silly all the time together

whether in stores

at home

or in the car

it's our fun thing we do together

to make one another laugh

Hayley loves to share her gift of making others laugh...especially with Madison and I

she makes us laugh all of the time

so when she is in trouble

she makes me laugh on purpose because she thinks I'll forget and let it slide

 and there it goes...I of course laugh and can't hold it in

completely not effective when you are trying to parent just letting you know

so when I have to get it together to talk to her
without laughing,

I start laughing all over again

and then its pointless and I'm not effective

she runs our house if you can't tell

on the way home from my grandparents a couple of weeks ago

she was so goofy and if you know Hayley this is a normal thing she says

and is so proud of the fact that she toots

yep I said it

 she started praying this prayer in the car on the way home probably 50 times

not kidding

so Madison's reaction was the best...after the 50th time

H: "Dear God...thank you and bless me for tooting because I'm a tooting machine"

so after about the 50th time in a row of her praying this prayer

M says: "Dear God...please have Hayley stop praying that!"

it was so cute

she calls herself the Queen of Tooting

and she even has a King of Tooting and his name is Parker

almost on a daily basis she reminds me of these titles that Parker and her have
{King and Queen of tooting}

I told her I'm going to remember this story when she starts dating 70 years from now
{yes they are not dating until they are 76 and 74}

 this week she's been saying..."and now I will be four just like Parker"

so you can see what is important in her world:)

what I loved most about that prayer...

she was just being her... silly, fun, and cute

but most of all a kid

Hayley brings so much sunshine and kindness to us

she always has a compliment and sweet things to say to Madison and I

I love her heart and all that comes with it

her favorite color is purple

although she loves yellow and red too:)

and as I brought cupcakes to her school yesterday

all of her friends asked imediately and without even thinking about it...

"are they all purple Hayley???!!!"
she said "yes, YES!!! they are"

Hayley is our sweet dragonfly

and we are blessed every day that we have her

she is fiesty

 most definitely independent

but she also has to be around people

all.of.the.time

she loves to go on a run with me and play outside

she loves her taekwondo class

Hayley is a summer and beach girl most definitely

with the brightest of blue eyes

She doesn't know a stranger as she talks to anyone she meets

especially the people that work at Trader Joe's

she was upset one day because she forgot to tell the checkout guy this last detail of what she was sharing with him and then goes..."what was his name mama? I forgot to tell him____" 

this was after being home 45 minutes she was still talking about it

my dad calls her NST

{non stop talker}

which is very much appropriate

she even told the dentist the other day she had 12 brothers and sisters

the hygenist immediately came out to verify with me

and I had a horrified look on my face when she asked me

that the hygentist laughed pretty hard at my reaction alone

she is so proud of her sister Madison

I couldn't ask them to be any closer...they are besties

everyday as we pick Madison up from school Hayley cannot wait to run up to Madison to give her a hug...it makes me smile

she is a lover of vanilla cake and vanilla ice cream

just like her mama

she loves my homemade macaroni with fancy cheeses

feta on her salad

 mahi mahi

{I think she likes to say mahi mahi more than anything}

and always is ready for dessert after dinner

{that's from her daddy}

I can't hardly wait until she wakes up this morning as I have her room filled with balloons above her bed {only like 10 but her room looks filled when they are all above her bed...
and yes they are purple}

four of the ballons have notes tied to them

about things we love about her

she has a new stuffed giraffe hanging by it's arms from her chandi

she loves giraffes and always her must see at zoos

her giraffe she got at the San Diego Zoo last year is named Gigi
so now she has one more to add to her collection of about 5 now

I can't wait to see her face light up when she sees all the balloons

because it has been so hard for me not to tell her what her surprises are
{I'm not great at holding surprises in and neither is Hayley}

Today is the day to make her feel so special

for all the specialness she brings to us

we are so blessed and thankful for  Hayley

she is our sweetheart and sunshine that is full of life

and today we are so happy to celebrate her

when I had the girls out taking pictures Sunday it started to rain just before we were done

and when I said I'm finally done taking pictures

this was their reaction:

I love you our dragonfly

Happy Fourth Birthday

Hayley Elisabeth

I always love you
I always believe in you
and I am always proud of you
xo

intangibles

I probably have lost most of you by now...

Last night I actually did a quick blog visit looking for something on my blog

I wanted to find

and then I also found a post that i did 2 years ago this month of a video

when my youngest was 1 1/2

and I cried

that age is so sweet and I just miss it

even though I love the ages both of my girls are at right now too

it was just a reminder of how time just flies by

often before you want it to

I really miss posting on my blog

yes, I've said this before

but I really realized it more than ever last night

I miss reading my friend's blogs

I miss the connections I made with all of you

I miss many of things

but I just had to take a break from writing

sharing

posting

I just needed to live life for my family

some things are hard to say...

this past year has been wonderful for so many of things

but it also has been an extremely difficult year for my family too

that's hard to say

not just my immediate family

but also in my extended family

 and if I would have written

it would have been painful for me

that's why I stepped away

and of course because lack of time as well

I've really been off the wall busy with my family, kiddos, my business, etc.

I just couldn't make my blog a priority

 I chose to focus on other things

and I am happy with that decision

I wanted to look at my life and still appreciate the wonderful blessings

that I have no matter what

because I have so many blessings

that I'm just so thankful for

anyway,

I want to get back on track with sharing...

so as most of you know

Christmas is in my top 3 holidays of the year

the giving and celebrating family/friends is my favorite part of the year

and it also means that I have guaranteed time that my hubby is in town too:)

we have already had some wonderful christmas celebrations

a couple of weekends ago with my in-laws

this past weekend was Christmas with our friends

and i made pumpkin candied cranberry tarts

yes, I made tarts for the very first time
I loved it!

and I'm still pretty darn excited about it
although, it took me forever

I may just be going through a tart phase now
they are just so cute and pretty

obviously, I'm sidetracked with my tarts now

which I do plan on sharing the recipe because I loved it

both of the celebrations were wonderful

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays

it has been that way since I was a child

my sister and I always, always loved it

Miracle on 34th Street

and we would watch it almost on a daily basis

{almost}

yes, I've talked about that movie a lot on this blog in the past

my sis and i would watch it so much when we were younger

that I think my parents had to buy us 2 vhs tapes:)

we would literally wear this movie out:)

yes, "I believe"

and that only makes sense if you have watched the movie

So...

as I was going through my blog last night
I was reminded of my favorite quote in my very favorite Christmas movie

Miracle on 34th Street

I thought I would share it once again

 I took some Christmas photos of the girls yesterday afternoon

it was a blast

we had lots of fun

smiles

silly faces

dance moves to celebrate at the end of our little session

we all celebrated
the girls were great

actually fabulous

and wonderful

{that's because they were bribed with freezy ice pops}

we don't know how to get through a photo session without bribing in our family

just so you know...I am not above bribing to get photos :)

i almost put this picture on my virtual christmas card just to be reminded of all the silly things the girls and I do together

hopefully you will love this quote as much as I do

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

"Someday you are going to find that your way of facing this realistic world just doesn't work, and when you do, don't overlook those lovely intangibles. You'll discover those are the only things that are worthwhile."

and I found that quote true so much of this past year
hold on to those intangibles

Thank you everyone for your patience

and thank you to my fabulous friends that over the past couple of months kept asking me when I was coming back with my blog

it was just nice to hear your sweet words to me

it didn't go unnoticed

Happy Holidays!!!

"Whatever is good,

whatever brings you joy...

May it be yours during

this magical season and the

throughout the coming year."



in love...

i was in love with the day's events on Easter

it was relaxing

 full of smiles

laughter

and a day of really "being"

in every sense of the word

I enjoyed waking up early

since the Easter bunny fell asleep the night before

without filling and delivering two baskets

{that would be moi}

and since I needed to prepare and hide two special baskets

it was my usual early morning

...a very fun morning, however

it was a day where the girls woke up and enjoyed finding their baskets

with 'hot and cold" directions

they decorated their bunny cake

and I bet you never had a bunny cake

with marshmallows, skittles, and jelly beans on it before, eh?

at least I made the cake with applesauce instead of vegetable oil

although i'm sure that didn't even make a difference in the end

with the amount of sugar probably consumed

we ate a very yummy breakfast

and made it to church all before noon

came back home and dyed 'marble' easter eggs

okay so one just looks marbled

i called the rest 'spotted'

it was a morning where we really didn't rush

maybe had moments of rushing

but not our usual running out the door 15 minutes late

we were actually on-time and not even trying

amazing how that can happen

 it was just so nice to know we had the entire day

to celebrate what Easter was all about

it was full of friendly competitions

Easter egg hunts

with my parents and our family

okay...maybe it was seriously competitive

because all of us are so competitive with games

but that's just our kind of fun

{smile}

 we all laughed at one another

the best egg hunt to watch was between my dad and bobby

hilarious

literally my mom and I were about falling off the couch laughing

it reminded me of the days when I was younger

and we'd have family competitions

with my parents, sister, and I

it was so fun to see Madison and Hayley enjoy those competitions like I used to 

we enjoyed one another's company

decorating graham cracker houses left over from Madison's birthday party

and of course...

we had "best house"

I will say my idea of smashing mini white marshmallows

to look like shingles on my house

was a darn good idea

{if I do say so myself}

{chuckle}

I loved that the girls enjoyed the holiday of Easter

but more importantly

they never lost the true meaning of Easter

I was in love with our Easter Sunday

and i hope yours was as much enjoyed

xo