Miss Maisy Lynn

A little over a week ago, Brad and Vicky welcomed their 2nd baby, Maisy Lynn.  She's SO sweet... we (ESPECIALLY my kiddos) are all crazy about her. 

Who knew Jack would be so sweet?  When Ruckus was born, he hit him in the face.  Now that he's a little older, he sings sweetly to Maisy and uses the words "precious baby" in his songs. 

2nd Annual Black Friday Family Fun Day

Last year on Black Friday, we decided not to shop, but to have a fun day full of surprises for the kiddos.You can find last year's events here. 

Well, it ended up being SO much fun and the kids loved it, so it's our new tradition. :)  

Same thing this year... we didn't tell the kids where we were going, so each stop was a surprise.  

First stop was the Museum of Transportation.  We got to see and go inside lots of trains. 

(Jack wanted nothing to do with Santa)

Then, we went to lunch at Fitz's in the Loop.  The kids got to watch them bottle their famous Root Beer. 

We had planned to do a scavenger hunt at the St. Louis Art Museum, but Kate started to feel kinda icky at lunch and we decided to skip it.  Not sure what it was, but after about an hour, she was fine and ready for more fun. 

We drove to St. Charles for our next surprise.  They put on an old time Christmas event on Main Street.  It was the first night of it for the season, so we went to see the tree lighting.  

The kids were loving all the people walking on the streets in old time clothes, the Christmas carolers, and Santa. So, we ended up staying down there for a couple hours.  We drank hot chocolate and went in some of the little shops.  

After St. Charles, we took the kids to Hobby Lobby to each pick out a new ornament for the tree.  Quite the experience!  They each picked out a gaudy ornament made of the thinnest glass ever.  And BOTH of them dropped and broke their ornaments in the store and had to pick out new ones.  Geez!

After the ornament fiasco, we took them to a drive through light display and then visited one of our favorite houses that puts on a CRAZY light show at Christmas.  

Another fun Black Friday Family Fun Day in the books!!  

Kate's 6th Birthday & Party

For Kate's birthday (almost a month ago!), Mark and I had a big plan to take her to American Girl after school.  She isn't the type of kid who gets attached to things (dolls, Barbies, etc.), but she has been talking about getting an American Girl doll for over a year.  She was even saving up her own money for one.  

We finally felt like she was ready for one (they are quite the investment), and let me tell you... she loves this doll.  

We didn't tell her where we were going, so she was super surprised when we pulled up to American Girl.  She chose a "My American Girl doll" (a doll that has characteristics similar to her... blonde hair, blue eyes, etc.)  

We let her choose an extra outfit for the doll, as well.  Since then, we have been back with gift cards, her own money she had saved up, and she got a lot of American Girl stuff at her birthday party.  She named her doll "Rileigh", and she is one well dressed doll.  My best friend, Megan, even made Kate and her doll matching pajamas. So cute! 

After getting her doll, we had her birthday dinner in the American Girl Bistro.  It was a really fun experience!

Kate had decided a couple weeks before her birthday that she wanted to get her ears pierced. I wasn't quite sure if she would actually go through with it.  So, after dinner, we ventured into the mall.  She picked out a pair of Hello Kitty earrings, but was very clearly freaked out by the whole thing.  (I had prepared her a lot in advance and told her that she could wait until she was older if she wanted to.)  

She started crying in the chair and then just kinda lost it.  She jumped out of the chair and was crying saying she didn't want to do it.  We took her out of the store for a bit and talked to her.  She wanted to do it so bad, but was so scared.  After some coercing, she sat on my lap and went through with it! 

Her tears turned to a smile after she saw her new earrings in the mirror.  (But, it was a little traumatizing.)  

The next day, we had a Rock Star party for the second year in a row. Ha! She wanted to do that theme again and since we were inviting her school friends who had not been at her party last year, we went with it.  Tons of giggly (and loud) girls, lots of fun! 

All in all, I'd say she had a WONDERFUL 6th birthday!!