The Martin Family

9.14.2011

Rylie's ladybug party

The invite

The birthday girl

The food

(just ignore all those ugly pizza boxes)

Ladybug strawberries
(mini chocolate chips)

Ladybug watermelon

(thanks mom for the yummy salad and watermelon)

All our ladybug guests!

We played a couple of games.

#1 Throw the ladybug on the leaf.

#2 Find all the ladybug spots.

Blowing out the candles!

Opening presents!

Darling clothes from Aunt Rayne & Uncle Tom.

Rylie LOVED all her new clothes, especially the cheetah cape, boots & purse!!

Gma Martin made some adorable outfits for Rylie's favorite doll, Dora! Gpa Martin found a cute little purse to store all those new clothes.

(Dora in her wedding dress) :)

Megan & Daniel gave her Dora goggles, bubble bath and a bath book. She loved it.

Gma & Gpa Fenton gave her a Cinderella set. She loves to talk to all her little princess friends. She has such a great imagination. I love to spy on her when she is playing!

Rylie loves Aunt Elisabeth!

We missed you Alex.

After the party, Rylie was changing into her pjs and pulled her dress down around her waist. She took one look in the mirror and ran to get her new goggles. She screamed, "I want to be a mermaid." I thought she would put her goggles over her eyes. I was wrong!

Finally, after all the kids were asleep I started to clean up. As I was taking out the trash I spotted a REAL LADYBUG in our house! I have never seen a ladybug in our house before. What are the chances???

8.31.2011

Happy Birthday Rylie!

Rylie is finally 4!

She has been anticipating this day for quite sometime.

Ryan was out of town so her actual bday party will be later, but we still celebrated!

It started with a birthday bouquet from her Aunt Rayne!

They were beautiful and so personalized in color choice.

Thank you!

{Dru and Liv received "back to school" flowers!}

Then blueberry birthday muffins for breakfast.

Only a couple fell. :)

Her first present was a Dora sticker book.

We then met Dru and Liv at school to have lunch!

That was FUN! I think I am going to make that one a tradition.

We even played at recess for a bit.

{I have a pic but my it never loaded for some reason.}

Then Gma Kathy, Gpa Steve and Aunt Kim called and wanted to take us out to dinner to celebrate some more! Rylie chose Artic Circle close by. They even brought candles and gifts to make it a real party.

Perfect!

Thank you!

The girls got shakes and Owen enjoyed a few ice cream cones.

Rylie, I love you!

I love her thick, gorgeous hair.

I love how you make friends everywhere we go.

I love your infectious smile.

I love how you make our whole family laugh. {hard!}

I love all your silly faces.

I love how you love to read.

I love how you love to cuddle.

I love all of you!

8.23.2011

First day

Dru started the 3rd grade yesterday.

How do I feel about that? Hmmm. I am not sure.

She is turning into a mature, kind, responsible girl.

She was excited to start school, but it wasn't the same crazy, over

the top excited like she was for all the years previous.

It kind of makes me sad. She is growing up.

But then it makes me really happy and excited. She is growing up! It has been so fun to see her learn and experience new things. And, have I mentioned how helpful she is? I am definitely going to miss her ASKING me if she could help. She is the BEST oldest sister/child. I am anxious to see what this new school year brings.

This is Dru. She is super cool.

{"cool" is her new look}

This is Liv. She is super cute and fancy.

{cute and fancy are still her style}

Olivia had a meeting with her new teachers on Monday. She felt a bit overwhelmed with the French teacher. The Dual immersion program will be interesting!