Owen is nearly done with pre-school. His last day is May 14, which is so hard for me to believe. The end of pre-school always starts to wrap up with a Mother's day tea, and it is such a special time with the kiddos. Owen is such a sweet boy, and it doesn't hurt that on his special "about mom" form that he filled out at school he wrote that his mom was a mere 20 years old! Unfortunatly, my bubble was burst not too much later when Mike informed me that I am closer to 40, than I am to 20!

Isn't he a cutie?!

I love the sweet girl in the 3's class that kept her face covered for the concert! You never know what those kids will do!

We tried to get Owen to sit down with a few of his buddies from class to take a picture, but if you have more than two kids, you will know, that picture taking is nearly impossible!

Owen, Levi and Kaden

Nope, not a single one with all three kids looking at the camera and smiling!

Isabella really wanted to have a slumber party for her 8th birthday party. She decided on a spa theme and we had so much fun planning the party!
We made our flip flops fancy...except that was one project that didn't work out, so the flip flops ended up being unfancy, but that's o.k. too.

We painted our nails and soaked our feet.

We ate cupcakes

and opened presents from our friends

We made bath salts and body scrub.

and we rested with cucumbers on our eyes.

Aside from the 10:45 bedtime and 4:45 (yep, a.m.) wake up time, the girls had such a fun time and we really enjoyed their company. I am thankful that Isabella has choosen such sweet friends. Oh, and if you haven't noticed, I have been trying to refer to my Bella as Isabella more often. At the beginning of this year, she requested that her teacher call her that, and while it has taken some getting used to, she says she prefers being called Isabella. Not sure if it's a phase or not, but when I remember, I try to use her whole name. Just so you know. :)

Owen (4 1/2) wrote this note for Bella after he was tucked in for bed. It says Hope you have a fun party Love, Owen.

It's hard to believe that our little girl is already eight! It seems like it was just yesterday that we were staring into her beautiful blue eyes for the first time and getting to know this little blessing that God placed into our family. On April 20, 2002, our little Isabella Grace joined our family and we are so proud of the little lady that she is becomming.

She even woke up at 6:11 am so that she could celebrate the moment she was born!

Isabella was very excited about the new dress and headband Nana and Papaw sent her. She quickly changed her clothes for the day to wear her new duds.

Owen and I brought flowers and the makings for an ice cream sundae buffet in for her special treat at school. It was definitly special!

She requested Subway for dinner and Dairy Queen for dessert. We will celebrate with four of her friends at a slumber spa party on Friday.

Isabella asked about two months ago if she could cut her hair and donate it to locks of love. We love her long hair and I wanted her to wait and think about if she would miss putting her hair in ponytails or braids. Months passed and she continued to ask to cut her hair. I finally gave in today, and thought we should take the plunge. So here is the before (mind you after a sleepover, and a few hours in the rain watching Aidan's baseball game!):
This is the style we both decided on. An inverted bob with some stacking in the back, chin length with it angled forward. I have had my hair like this before and thought it if looked good on me, then I was sure it would look good on her as well.

My first mistake was going to Great Clips to get a cheap haircut. I know I should have sucked it up and paid the higher price to take her to my stylist, but always after the bargain and the instant gratification, I took the plunge and thought that if I showed enough pictures of the haircut we decided on, and if I explained it just as my old hairstylist described it to me in hairstylist terms, then we should be o.k. Afterall, I did breathe a sigh of relief when the gal cutting Isabella's hair had THE same haircut we were after! It all started out well, and was looking great, when before I knew it, the haircut started going in a totally different direction than we discussed. It was too late. And while, I will always think my daughter is the most beautiful little girl out there, her new haircut wasn't what I expected! She's frustrated that she can't tuck it behind her ears, and I am frustrated that I tried to save $30 and three weeks on the schedule just to get it cut quickly and cheaply.

But, we saved the hair and it's packaged and ready to be sent to Locks of Love.

And Isabella is thrilled with her new haircut (even if mom isn't...but believe me, she doesn't know, mom isn't a fan!) and I keep catching her running her hands through it and stealing glances in the mirror. I just keep reminding myself that it is only hair and that it will grow back.

And really, with a face like her's, she can work even this new haircut!

Safety first at our house! Isabella put on her safety glasses to play nerf wars with the boys. She said they were too big so she literally taped them to her face!
The nerf gun gang

We started having Easter egg hunts for the littlest cousins last year. There are over 100 eggs hidden in this room!

Do you see one?

Owen found a few!

I found a new Easter tradition that we started this year. We started with a bag full of jelly beans for each kiddo.

They planted them the day before Easter.

And in the morning, these lollipops grew in their place!

The boys have been having their best time playing nerf wars in the house. Safety first...all of them must wear safety glasses!

It's funny to hear Owen talk about kill shots.

Easter morning brought full Easter baskets.

On Easter morning, the kids find the hardboiled eggs that we made earlier in the week.

We wrote the kids names on the eggs this year, and they were hidden accordingly.

And of course, it isn't Easter morning, without a game of knockers. Thankfully, this year, the eggs were hardboiled!