Presley's Baptism

Presley and Bryanna decided to get baptized on the same day. We had a great time. Josh was out of town all week prior and he made it just in time to dunk our little gal. I was due to have Mabel one week later. It was a crazy week! Here are the email invitations we sent out:

Here is my favorite photo of Presley taken a few weeks prior to the baptism at the Provo temple.

We had an amazing luncheon at our house afterwards. Aaron brought in four long table from his old work and we put them all throughout the lower level of the house. Thank goodness we didn't have much furniture! 

 Denise made a dipped strawberry cake (making Bry and PK's dessert dreams come true!!) and Aaron made gigantic sea salted chocolate chip cookies. Costco made a key lime pie ;).

 We did a lot of eating!!

It was a fabulous day! I'm so proud of Presley for working so hard to make good choices. She has such a desire to be a good person. She loves to help littler kids and make sure everyone is happy. It is her favorite thing when friends are over to fill little cups with lemonade and make popcorn to put in individual baggies for everyone. Her sweet heart just melts me. I love you Pres!

BeachyBirthdayBash

We just wrapped up another crazy string of Birthdays. Now that it's after midnight, Presley's birthday is over. We decided this year for the birthdays we would save presents from us and give them to each kid the morning of their actual birthday. Then that day we would do something special like a movie or a sleep over. We had one big party for all three kids again this year. 

Since Presley had been showing interest in reptiles, I was thinking of having a snake and reptile party with real snakes and reptiles, but it had been so super hot, I thought we really needed a water-centered activity. I decided on a beach theme since that has been what the kids really have loved about this summer. We rented a bounce house water slide and that took care of entertainment. 

Here are the invites I designed:

Josh wanted to keep it simple so for decor, I printed out a bunch of my favorite beach photos of the kids from this summer. I made a clothesline/bunting out of the pics and some scrapbook paper.It really had a nautical feel to it.

I had to make some birthday notes on my chalk boards of course.

Sadly, my iphone didn't do these scenes justice.The food and decor were really pretty.

Especially when it came to my sister's amazing cakes:

Noah requested chocolate, Presley got the frilly cake with a cherry chip center, and Charlie got the ombre cake with nutella and strawberries in the center! 

The grownups couldn't keep their hands off the cupcakes.

The bounce house was about 30 min. late. I was sweating bullets over that. Noah would have been mortified if I had to go to plan B, a sprinkler party!! The bounce house fit all age groups with a bball hoop inside and a waterslide out the front. I almost cried when I saw it arrive. Not even sure how many kids we had, but I know it was more than 20!!

We had a lot of excitement at the candle blowing! One of the little flags caught fire during the singing so Charlie blew it all out a little early. The faces kill me!

Another special treat was that Bob and Brittany Turley were in town visiting family. They brought their kids and it was so great to visit with them. Presley gave Ella the biggest squeeze when she saw her. She was ecstatic!

Check out the line for the cake! This gives you an idea of the amount of kids we had. I wish we could have had more. I hate having to leave anyone out. We had to draw the line somewhere, though. 

The cake tasted as good as it looked.

 The girls did a lot of chatting and giggling in the house. You wouldn't think there was a world of fun OUTSIDE. haha! There's Ella!!! 

 I have to say, the day was a hit. all the kids had fun and things worked out in the end. Our house was even finished enough for us not to have to explain what we plan to do with such and such space ever few minutes! Haha!

I have to give the kids props for working so hard to help us clean the house. I can totally rely on Presley to do a fab job with the vacuum. Noah is a master organizer and Charlie is quite the helper in the lawn care department. 

Next on the agenda: a baptism and a baby. I have the option to get induced any time after today. Not sure yet what to do....

35 Weeks

Presley helped me get this photo that I always wanted. I got the idea from Pinterest. I think we came pretty darn close.

Little Slugger

Presley has her softball games at 8 am every Saturday. It's brutal! I have to peel her out of bed to go. Yesterday, just her and I went and had so much fun! She is becoming very fond of the base running. Just like her momma!! I am beaming with pride.  I video taped her first official get-on-base hit. It was so cute. Pardon my screaming ;)

Light it Up Like it's Dynamite!

Presley's grade had a little talent show pot luck last night. Charlie's talent was sleeping through the whole thing! Presley dances with her buddy Ella. They practiced from Just Dance 3. Check out that movement!!

Dish Duty

I had to share this cute video of Noah and Presley doing dishes. They had no idea I was filming. Presley was having a blast. Listen to her chipper little voice! "The kids at school wash and play, all through the town..."

little P

This weekend I spent a lot of one on one time with Presley. It was so fun. She is such an affectionate little sweetheart. Sure I have my moments of impatience with her when it comes to choosing outfits for the day or having her wait till I have a second to help her (when she wants help, she wants it NOW!), Pres is just the love of my life! She reminds me of me in so many ways. 

1. she's sensitive- I made the mistake of telling her teacher she will cry easliy if she is in trouble. Now I think her teacher notices a little too much and wants Pres to toughen up a bit. Maybe we'll work on that this summer, maybe not :)
2. she is shy yet loves the spotlight. I went on a field trip with her class and noticed Presley is a big hand raiser! She will raise her hand then get shy when she is called on! I thought it was cute. Her teacher wants us to work on this one a bit too. 
3. she can swing a baseball bat! She was one heck of a slugger at the batting cages and at the pinata at a friend's b-day party. 

Here Presley is on the Art museum field trip with her best buddy Kadijah. They are such cute pals!!

 Pres was so eager to help me clean on Saturday

 Then we went to the laundromat and waited for five loads to wash. Pres was rewarded with a lemonade. 

Then here is a video of me putting rollers in her hair! TURN DOWN YOUR VOLUME FOR THIS!! Josh's voice is so loud. :)

Home Girl's Got Style

Presley did some modeling for Hannah's portfolio. I love the cute shots she got. Here Presley is 5 going on 16!

 She's way more stylin' than me.

Here's her Easter dress that I've let her wear too early! I wish Easter was at the beginning of April this year.

 Can you believe she started out being too shy to take the photos? Then she started to work that camera.

Tangled

So... I opted not to purchase an overpriced picture package from the school this year. As cute as Presley looked with her little pose, I have other plans for her. :)

 The little kids love the tie-dye backdrops!

 Just recently, we rediscovered my old sponge rollers. I never thought to use them on Pres since she has some natural curl. She was so interested in them so we tried them out. We had her sleep in the rollers and everyone was so anxious to see how the curls would look in the morning.

She looks so much like Denise and I as little gals.

We were not disappointed! The curls looked so pretty and stuck in her hair so well. They add so much to her existing curls. They also keep her hair from getting so tangled throughout the day. Presley gladly lets me brush her hair now, knowing I will be putting the rollers in. I think we will make this a weekly event till we get sick of it. :)

heart-shaped box

 

Does a certain song of the 90's come to mind when you hear that? I remember thinking that Kurt Cobain must've been so fascinated with the idea of birth and having a child. His lyrics might have even sparked some of my curiosity on the topic. Never would I have imagined parenthood to be what it is for me though.

I have to talk about little Presley Kathryn. She is reminding me of the complexities of a mother daughter relationship. I forget from time to time since my own mom has been gone for over ten years now. Presley is a noticer (total Joy School word/lingo!) She knows what kind of earrings her teacher at church wears or what someone's dad's watch looked like. She also notices when I tell her that I love her. Since she was out of school a lot lately with Christmas and snow days, she has noticed me saying I love you to Charlie. She told me something that made my heart sink. She said, you are like a babysitter or a teacher because you don't say I love you a lot to me. Only at bedtime. Oh my goodness! She was right, though. It just happens that you say it more to the person who is glued to you the most. That certainly doesn't mean that I don't love each of my sweeties equally (of course). My resolve is to say it often to everyone. Also to just be a little kinder. Who knows what else PK is noticing. I have a feeling it will make the Plant world a happier place.

Here she is. My little spittin' image. Love can't even describe how much she and her bro's mean to me. 

A Special Day

Yesterday was special because it was Noah's last fall soccer game. He became so passionate about soccer during the World Cup. At recess and after school at the park he had been playing kickball, soccer, and football like crazy. His little competitive nature really came out of hiding this year! We signed him up for Cambridge Youth Soccer and found out that the whole town was involved in this. All his buddies from school were on teams and it was really enjoyable for him to compare stats and keep track of rankings!

It was hard not to get a picture with Noah in it. He had to be everywhere the ball was. You can just tell he's having the time of his life. That made it worth standing in the cold on early Saturday mornings, dealing with bored siblings on the sidelines.

Turquoise Team! (doesn't the kid with the dark curly hair just look like a pro soccer player?)

Yesterday was also special because it was the day of Presley and Josh's special daddy daughter date to the ballet. They went downtown to Boston and saw"La Bayadere." It was a three hour show. I was sure Pres would get tired and want to leave in the middle, but according to Josh she was so into it. I believe it because when she came home she showed me the playbill and told me the whole story line and all about the characters.

She is so excited! I can see it in her face. :)