happy halloween!

Ruby decided to dress up as Tinkerbell this year and i was pretty excited from the start to put her costume together. Tinkerbell is her favorite disney character and she got to wear her favorite color so she was thrilled!
Mabel didn't care what she dressed up as, as long as she got to wear a tutu (she is obsessed!). also, if Ruby gets to wear wings, you better believe miss Mabel will be wearing wings as well. she turned out to be the cutest ladybug ever if i do say so myself!
their costumes got a lot of mileage this year between parties and activities. i was pleasantly surprised they survived until trick-or-treating halloween night. thankfully, they did and these girls were adorable little trick-or-treaters. Mabel waited until Ruby said "trick-or-treat" and then said a big, enthusiastic "THANK YOU!" after getting her candy. Ruby would say "happy halloween!" before running to the next house and Mae would stand there, smiling, waving and saying "bye-bye!" over and over until Tyler would lead her away. she didn't really understand how to rush from house to house like big sis. ha! in fact, when one sweet lady opened her door to give out treats, Mabel must've thought she was inviting her in, and walked right in and disappeared inside. that was a bit of a shock to all of us, but thankfully we were able to laugh it off. Miss Mabey sure keeps us on our toes!

gosh i love halloween! and gosh i love these girls!

p.s. check out last year's costumes
2013 here and here
and 2012

hiking in alta

Ruby's 4th birthday party

Ruby is puppy obsessed. she has been puppy obsessed for as long as i can remember and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. when i asked her what kind of party she wants this year, there was no question, "puppies, puppies, PUPPIES!!" 

can we just talk about this cake for a minute? Roo had a pretty specific cake in mind and i was having the hardest time finding someone who would make it for us. a friend of mine told me about a super talented girl who makes cakes nearby and i decided to give her a try. i am so glad i did because this cake turned out to be a work of art! would you just look at that adorable puppy and that wood grain?! if anyone is interested in a spectacular cake for your next event, i would highly recommend Victoria.

for treats we kept the dog theme going with pup cakes, fetch sticks (pretzel rods), kibble (reeses puffs),  puppy chow, dogs in a blanket, pup corn, scooby snacks and "toilet water" to drink. 

Ruby helped me decorate the pup cakes which meant that a few paw prints were upside down or had an extra toe but she had a blast so it was worth it. 

my sweet friend, Ashley generously baked delicious sugar cookie bones with frosting for the kids to decorate. letting kids decorate and assemble food is always a little risky but sugar cookies are pretty low maintenance and it went really well.  

while the kids were busy frosting their puppy bones, we started painting on puppy faces one by one. it was completely adorable to see all the kids eagerly waiting for their turn. we had them all pick out new "puppy names" to go with their new personas and the things they came up with were hilarious. we heard everything from "cool-y" to "friendship" to "spider girl"and more. i'm definitely not an expert face painter (so far from it!) but i kept it really simple and the kids loved it. 

i didn't get any photos of the face painting but Dawnica and my friend, Julie were nice enough to take some for me to use. 

one of Ruby's requests was that everyone get to play with real puppies at the party. i don't know about you, but i don't have access to dozens of puppies and that idea didn't seem too realistic. instead we decided to have a "puppy adoption". each child got to pick out a puppy, fill out an adoption certificate with the puppy's name, make their puppy a collar and take it home in a "crate". it was a big hit and made for a really fun party favor. 

the biggest project for the party was this huge doghouse we put in the backyard. i told Tyler what i had in mind and he made it happen. the weather ended up being perfect and the kids spent the majority of the time outside, playing in the doghouse. they loved it and i was so happy with how it turned out. 

 the birthday girl sure had a great time and so did we.

Ruby is four!

what's your name?

Ruby Lynn Boyson ("Boython")

how old are you?

four!

what's your favorite food?

Birthday cake… but I really like ALL the food.

what's your favorite color?

green

what's your favorite book?

The Monster at the End of This Book

what's your favorite toy?

Butterscotch, my horse

what's your favorite show?

Miles from Tomorrowland

what's your favorite treat?

Chocolate chips

what's your favorite song?

When Can I See You Again –Owl City

what's your favorite animal?

Dogs and cats and horses

who's your best friend?

Lily

what's your favorite thing to do with your family?

Paint and color and dance and be with each other… I love my family

what do you want to be when you grow up?

A teenager

what makes you happy?

Making people laugh, Dogs and cats and horses, My family, getting letters in the mail, playing with my friends and dancing

what do you like to learn about?

New animals, letters, numbers, and different people and places.

where do you like to go?

To the trampoline place, my friends’ houses, aunt Dawnica’s house, the children’s museum, school, dance class, the grocery store where they give me cookies, the park and I would really like to go to the pet store and buy all the pets!

what do you like to think about before you go to sleep?

Daddy and Mommy and Mabel, the park, all the animals I want, and last night before I went to sleep I thinked about ONE tiger and it spooked me!

what do you do really well?

Painting and coloring, jumping at the trampoline place with daddy, dancing, learning, hopping on one foot, helping my friends and Mabel, baking and cracking the eggs, making people laugh and telling jokes, using my manners and figuring out riddles.

what makes you laugh?

Funny jokes …and Jacey makes me laugh!

what do you want for your birthday present?
Legos and some fun toys

more about Roo:

she is still pretending to be a puppy (or a cat or horse). all the time. i'm not sure if/when this phase will end …

she is an amazing sister. she is so helpful and gentle with Mabel and it makes me incredibly proud every day. 

she is a very thoughtful friend.

she LOVES getting mail. if she gets a letter in the mail she will make sure to give the envelope hugs and kisses before opening it. she also kisses and hugs every letter she mails out "so they can feel my love"

she's very loving and generous with her heart.

she loves animals. mostly dogs, cats and horses. let her pet a puppy and you will see pure joy. 

she is pretty easy going. she is getting really good at sharing and letting things go. i guess having a baby sister will do that to you...

she loves making people laugh and telling jokes. if she makes you laugh once, expect to hear the same joke 10 more times, hoping to get the same reaction. 

she still has a very tender heart. 

she does the funniest voices and impressions.

she still doesn't really like meat, but she loves eating all of the ham out of ham fried rice. it's a mystery to me.

she likes looking nice and doesn't like getting dirty.

we sure love our sweet four-year-old girl! happy birthday Ruby girl!

click here to see Ruby's birthday interview from last year

a valentine's day photo shoot

valentines day last year and the year before 

Mabel's birthday party

we celebrated miss Mabey's birthday over the weekend with a little party. my sister was a huge help (as always) with everything and even let me take over her house. we kept it really simple with a few of our dearest people and i think it turned out just right. 

Mae was so sweet with her cake. she looked around at all of us as if to ask, "so… am i allowed to touch this?" and then as soon as we gave her the go ahead, she had her way with it. i may be biased but i think she's the cutest one year-old there is.

disneyland!

a few weeks ago we were talking with some friends about how much they wanted to go to disneyland. i had never been and honestly have never felt like i was missing out (not generally a big fan of theme parks) but i let it slip that i would like to take Ruby and Mabel someday. disneyland is a bit of a rite of passage, right? anyway one thing led to another and less than a week later we were all on our way to california. last minute trips are kind of stressful with two small kids, but they can also be thrilling and somehow things kept falling in to place and working out in our favor. it seemed like it would've been stupid NOT to go after all was said and done. anyway we had a great time and i'm glad we decided to go for it.

i brought my big camera, fully prepared to "properly" document the experience, but that thing never left the bag (no regrets). that didn't stop me from taking a thousand cell phone photos though! here are some from my phone and some from our friends. 

in case you're wondering how popular the frozen characters are, here's what you have to do in order to meet them: 1. buy a three day park pass in order to get the "magic hour" pass (allows you to enter the park one hour before the general admissions). if you don't have the magic hour pass, there's no way there will be reservations left by the time you get in line. 2. get to the gates early so you're at the front of the turnstiles. 3. as soon as you get through the gates, run as fast as you can across the park to where there is another line. 4. wait in that line for over an hour so you can get a ticket. that ticket is your reservation for an assigned time to come back. 5. come back at your assigned time so you can wait in ANOTHER line for almost an hour to meet with elsa and anna (for less than 5 minutes). i don't know that i would do it again, to be honest, but at least we have that photo!

Mabel's favorite characters were chip and dale. she shared a special moment with chip during the character breakfast. 

Ruby still loves carousels and is just as particular as ever when picking out the perfect horse. 

 it was a great trip and i'm already looking forward to when we can go back. yay disneyland!
p.s. Ruby's favorite part of the trip:

Mabel's favorite part:

and Tyler and my favorite part: