2018 Jane's 4th Birthday!

A glance back at Jane's 4th birthday. It doesn't seem possible this was over a year ago!

On Jane's actual birthday we met up with friends and went to a splash park. A fun part of having a summer birthday with lots of ways to cool down!

I sure love this group of kiddos. 

Eric, Jane, Ethan, and Anna

Oh my sweet child. Jane is such a diva and is not a simple creature. She is strong and can be so tough but is also very sensitive and nurturing. Jane is not always easy to parent but so easy to love.  

This particular birthday was a unicorn theme. (Along with almost every other 4 year old girl that year it seems). It was a fun theme and I enjoyed getting a little crafty. 

Since we had just moved into our new house we had her party at a gymnastics center and it was great! It did limit how many crafty things I could take on which was a good thing I think although I do love doing it. 

My friend Meg helped me out again and made this fantastic cake. It turned out perfect and was a big hit!

Even the grownups and big kids were allowed to have a little fun. 

Group picture! 

Jane was so cute with her cake and opening gifts. We did have a small hiccup when one of our friends was trying to help blow out the candle when help wasn't actually wanted. There were a few tears but we managed to turn it around by re-lighting the candle. There is a video somewhere and it is hilarious. 

Anna's gift to Jane was a big hit!

Sisters!

It was a great party with minimal cleanup (bonus!) and we're so lucky to have so many wonderful friends and family to help us celebrate our little girl. 

June Fun 2018!

June of 2018 involved a lot of unpacking at our new house. It was great to finally move in after doing an extensive cleaning, painting of bedrooms, and getting new carpet put in upstairs. I don't think these photos are necessarily in order but trying to fix that is way too much work at this point. 

We weren't plannng on getting Jane a new bed immediately but some of the screws to her toddler bed were lost in the move and so we went ahead and got her a twin. Here are the girls looking at books in it (before her new mattress was in though).

We did manage to sneak in a little fun and spent some time at Deanna Rose. 

Selfie with my girls!

Watching them feed goats is absolutely adorable. 

I had found some paint designed to put in squirt guns and thought it would be a fun activity to do with Hailie and Seth. It was a lot of fun but I will probably never do it again. What a mess!

Being messy with Granpa!

Swim lessons at the Aquatic Center. 

Jane got her own umbrella for her birthday and we were excited for a rainy day to try them out!

Snuggles with Butter, Adell, and Granpa. 

Making I believe cookies with Grandma.

Fun with Aunt Serena. 

It was a hot summer...perfect for a day at the Splash Park for Jane's 4th birthday (birthday post to follow).

We love our friends Eric and Ethan and cherish our playdates so much...especially now that they are harder to coordinate with school schedules!

Popsicles on the porch!

The Northland Symphony Orchestra was doing a Disney themed concert which was a lot of fun to attend. It was great way to take a break from unpacking and celebrate my birthday. 

Jane wanted nothing to do with photos with the princesses but Anna did!

We did manage to get a photo with both girls and the ballerinas who danced in one of the songs. 

After 2+ months of having a majority of our toys in storage the girls had fun finding old favorites. 

And dressing up again!

It was a busy but fun month!

May 2018: Aldersgate Preschool and Dance

Major flashback here. School just started for both Anna and Jane and it feels strange looking back to our old preschool. We sure loved our time at Aldersgate Preschool! These photos are from the end of year picnic. I did my best to get photos with all the amazing teachers that the girls had at their time there. 

Ms Kari from the Yellow Class. Both Anna and Jane had her when in yellow class and for Lunch and Learn. 

Ms Kari

Ms Susan. Jane had her in Yellow Class and both had her for Lunch and Learn

Ms Susan 

Ms Laura from Yellow Class. I loved all the teachers but I really loved Ms Laura. She retired this year and it was so wonderful both girls were able to have her. 

Ms Laura and Jane

Ms Laura from Yellow Class

Ms Laura and Anna

Ms Gretchen from Yellow Class. Both girls also had her when in yellow class and for Lunch and Learn. 

Director Ms Cyndi. She was so amazing and made our time there absolutely incredible. 

Ms Trudie from Red Class. One of Anna's teachers. 

Ms Trudie

Ms Janel from Red Class. 

Ms Janel

Ms Lori from Red Class. 

Ms Lori

It was sad saying goodbye to everyone. We're so happy we were a part of the Aldersgate family. 

Spring of 2018 we enrolled both girls in dance through the Lenexa Community Center. I liked how laid back they were and it was very afforadable. Perfect for this age group. Anna had done it the previous spring and Jane was thrilled to join her. 

The dance recital was at a very chaotic time for us. We were living in the apartment and had just closed on our house so we were there most evenings working on cleaning, painting, etc so we could get ready for carpet installation and move in. Because of the craziness I didn't do the best job at getting photos of Jane's first dance recital. It was super cute though and I did get it recorded althought the files are too large to load here. 

Thier tap dance was Surfin' USA. They forgot many steps but it was darling and I loved it. 

The ballet number was to Honor to Us All from Mulan. They looked adorable. 

I love Anna's face in this photo. I think she was seeing all of us in the audience but not sure. 

 The previous year there was a father-daughter dance but this year it was mother-daughter. We did Wonder Woman nd it was fun. 

We had quite the crowd come to cheer the girls on.  

I think Kevin was a little bummed he didn't get to the dance with both Anna and Jane. 

We had a lot of fun but I was secretly (or not so secretly) happy to be done with dance so we didn't have to keep driving south for rehearsals.