Happy Birthday, Anna

 It is so fun to be the birthday girl!!!

 Everyone sings to you,

 You get to make a wish,

 And eat cupcakes!

 And get presents.

 Yeah, it's good to be the birthday girl.

I love you, 5 year old Anna!!!

xoxoxo

Birthdaeosaurus

He wanted a dinosaur cake.
He also wanted dinosaurs.
Two birds:
one stone, er, cake. (This is the point where you would get to make an joke about my cooking ability, if you knew me in high school.)
Don't all of my little singers look so cute? (I am not biased.)
They weren't technically on his birthday-present-wish-list, but I knew they would have been, if he would have thought of it.
Here are the rest of the birthday dinosaurs. I got them at Walmart, all except the giant velociraptor.
He hasn't ever seen the movies, but somehow, perhaps through gut instinct or thousands of years of male evolution, he knows that Star Wars is awesome.
I love you, Elliot!

NINE

Dear Molly,
Stop! NOW! Before we get to double digits.
p.l.e.a.s.e.... pretty please, with sugar on top?
No more growing. It's not cool. Really.
Love, Mom

Molly turned 9 today.
We had a lovely birthday party. She requested ladybug cookies instead of cake. (I'm not brainwashing my children against cake just because I don't happen to like it. If they find a cute recipe book with alternative party food at the library, and I bring it home and ask which is their favorite, that's just coincidental.)
I'm pretty sure all of her wishes came true.Anna gave Molly a stuffed animal. (Molly has had this cute pink bear since she was born...but Anna's too young to know that. It's the thought that counts, right?)
Jill gave her a beautiful ring which she made herself. It bears the inscription "Love". It's good to have a sister who is also your best friend.
Molly also received some rollerblades from Dad and Mom. She tried them out right away, but discovered that the sidewalk is harder than it looks. She'll be amazing by next week, I'm sure.
We were very lucky to have our only Smith cousin in town to visit. Baby D is very handsome, isn't he?
I'm not biased just because he looks so much like another handsome Smith boy who shall remain nameless until next week.
I love you, Molly!

Happy Birthday Jill!

She had ice cream (with candles of course).
She had a crown (made, with love, by Molly).
Barbie and Rapunzel made an appearance.
Looks like 7 is going to be a good year!
I love you, Jill!

Anna's Birthday

Anna turned 3 on Dec 16th. She had her first "friend party". It was a simple & fun. She invited over two cute little friends, Natalie and Isca. They wore dressups. They danced.
Anna bonked once during the dance and cried. What birthday party is complete without a few tears from the birthday girl?
They had a tea party. With mini cupcakes.
We sang and Anna blew out the candle.
She opened presents.
Molly, Jill, and Elliot joined us for the tea party as well.
I love you, Anna!!

Elliot's Birthday

My boy turned 4. (A month ago).
Yes, we had leftover cake from Molly's baptism. But it still tasted good, so don't judge me! :)
He got some awesome gifts...
that he totally loves.
(He actually got lots more than these, but my pictures are all blurry! He just won't hold still!)

Elliot has already made progress, one month into his 5th year. He is now riding a bike. (No, not without training wheels.) The thing about Elliot is, he figured out last summer that he was alot faster on the scooter than the bike. So he never bothered learning to pedal. Well, this summer I encouraged him to learn and he actually picked it up pretty quick. His secret was, he figured out that pedaling is easier if the bike is already going (less inertia), so he would always start by going downhill (our drive has a gentle slope). He is funny, but he gets the job done!
I love you Elliot!!

Now, in totally unrelated news, I have been doing alot of sewing lately. I have made 4 baby quilts and a dress for Molly. The dress for Molly I will have to post later because it is in the laundry, but here are the baby quilts:

For my VT Erika
For my neighbor Holly
Two for the Youth Service Auction in our ward.

And now, while the kids are at Grandma's house for a week, I am sewing like crazy to make two twin quilts for Molly and Jill. And some curtains. You might say this sewing this is a little bit of an obsession for me! :)

Eight is Great

What a wonderful and busy week we had. Molly turned 8 on Friday and we had a big birthday party for her.
Everyone was there!
She got some awesome birthday presents. (Not pictured is the new, bigger bike mom and dad got for her.) Grandma Jody got her an American Girl Molly doll. She has been wanting one of those for a long time.
Grandma Nancy and Grandma Killian got her six cute outfits for her doll.
Aunts Katie and Sarah got her a beautiful CTR locket.
Then on Saturday her dad was able to baptize and confirm her a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We were so blessed because nearly all of our extended family was able to be there. Even lots of great-grandparents and second cousins! Here we are with our Smith side (we missed you Jason and Kristin!)
Our Phillips family pictures will be coming soon...since we had everyone in town we decided to do a professional family portrait. I can't wait to see how it turned out! :)

Here's our little family on the happy day. Don't you love Molly's beautiful dress? I know she did. It definitely had twirl factor.
I am so proud of my girl and the good choices she is making. She has a wonderful testimony and she loves her Heavenly Father. She is a good example to her brother and sisters. I love you, Molly!