Sloane is Four

Again... seriously behind on posts, but wanted to update on Sloane's 4th birthday on February 11th.  First of all, I was in serious denial about my baby girl turning four.  Four just seems so much older than 3.  Sloane decided to have a Frozen themed birthday party at a local gymnastics place.  Most of her friends from her school were able to show up, and they had a blast playing on all of the equipment and competing in a game of Duck, Duck, Goose.  Needless to say, competitive Sloane tried to take everyone out during the game.  Other celebrations we had were going to chick-Fil-A with Rick's family on her actual birthday, and going to the Oasis with my mom.  We pass by the Oasis everyday on our way home from school, and Sloane always talked about going to eat in the "castle".  She finally got her wish and loved it.  

Sloane in her Frozen leotard

Here is Sloane's birthday interview:

1.  What is your favorite color?   Pink  (obviously- Sloane finally got her wish to have a pink room last month)

2.  What is your favorite toy?  My Belle princess doll

3.  What is your favorite fruit?  Strawberries

4.  What is your favorite TV show?  Sofia the First

5.  What is your favorite lunch?  a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (this girl LOVES her some peanut butter, unfortunately, her school has banned peanut butter)

6.  What is your favorite outfit?  My frozen costume of the bad sister (of course she likes the naughty princess)

7.  What is your favorite game?  The roller coaster game at Chuck-E-Cheese (a virtual reality game)

8.  What is your favorite snack?  Peanut butter crackers

9.  What is your favorite animal?  A unicorn.  And a monkey.

10.  What is your favorite song?  "Let it Go" from Frozen (predictable!)

11.  What is your favorite book?  Abiyoyo (ok, at first I thought she made this up, but it turns out it is a South African folktale they read in her class.  Sloane is so worldly)

12.  Who is your best friend?  Evie (from school) and Addison (friend's daughter)

13.  What is your favorite cereal?  Frozen cereal (there is no such thing)

14.  What do you like to do when you play outside?  swinging on a unicorn swing with pink on it

15.  What is your favorite drink?  Pink milk and puppy juice (root beer- yuck!)

16.  What is your favorite holiday?  Valentine's Day

17.  What do you like to take to bed with you?  my pink bear

18.  What is your favorite thing to have for breakfast?  pancakes and pink sprinkle donuts and pink milk

19.  What is your favorite dinner?  hot dogs

20.  What do you want to be when you grow up?  I want to make ice.  (Before you think she is thinking of a career in food service, she is referring to making ice like Elsa in Frozen.  Every time I ask Sloane what she wants to be when she grow up, she never answers with something that actually makes money.  She always answers with things like a Chuck-E-Cheese game player or a princess that rides unicorns.)

I think I set a new record for the number of times the word pink is mentioned in a blog post.  Sloane is at such a cute and funny stage and I wish we could freeze time (no pun intended) and have her stay thsi age forever.  Happy birthday, baby girl.

Christmas, Snowboarding, and Green Chiles

We had a very fun Christmas season this year.  We kicked off our Christmas break with a Princess Sofia play with my mom and Sloane.  Sloane is OBSESSED with the Disney channel show Sofia the first, and my mom surprised her with tickets to the live play/concert along with a Sofia dress to wear.  Sloane was beyond excited.  That night, Finn, Sloane, and I made our way to Dallas to hang out with the Braxdale family.  We went to a fun Kids' Christmas exhibit in Richardson, then hung out at the Galleria the next day.
Our next stop was hanging out in Lindale with my mom, Doyle, and Erin. Erin was able to some into town for almost two weeks.  We had our annual Christmas Eve celebration in Lindale with an abundance of food and presents. Ginger came by too- along with my Aunt Amy and cousins. We didn't leave until the next afternoon to head back to Austin, so the kids had to wait to open their Santa gifts.  Finn's big gift was a football net to practice throwing footballs into and Sloane's big gifts were an easel and a Baby Alive doll.  The next day, Rick's sister, her husband, and nephew came over to celebrate.
The next day we started our journey to Santa Fe.  To say that it was a tight squeeze with all of our luggage, ski gear, two kids, and three adults is an understatement.  Poor Erin got the brunt of it, squeezed in the middle between Finn and Sloane in the backseat.  My pregnancy got me a permanent shotgun pass.  We made a stop in Alpine, a cute little town in West Texas.  The next day Erin and I convinced Rick to drive a little out of the way so we could see Marfa, which I had always heard was the Santa Fe of Texas.  We got there a little too early before everything had opened, but it looked like a quaint, cute town.  Erin and I were really sad to find out that the famous Marfa Prada was 30 miles away.  Next time, next time.\
We arrived in Santa Fe to meet up with my Dad and Aunt Susan.  It was really nice to see Susan, since I hadn't seen her in years and she had never met Sloane.  We had our first Santa Fe Mexican food, which I love because of green chile sauce.  My Dad rented a gorgeous adobe house for us to stay in.  Sloane was in awe of how beautiful the house was, and said when she grew up she would come live in that house.   We visited the Chimayo sanctuary while Rick and Finn went snowboarding on the mountain. Chimayo is known for having holy dirt inside the sanctuary, that has healed people of various ailments throughout the years.  Sloane bought a vial of dirt to keep, which she proudly displays in her room.  Finn ended up being a boss at snowboarding, making his way up to boarding on blues.  Rick attempted to show Sloane how to ski, as ski school was full.  It was not a success.  Let's just say that Sloane learns better from others and that girl was not having the cold.  Finn is a cold weather kid and is planning on going to college in Colorado so he can snowboard on the daily.  Other fun things we did were going to a sculpture garden, going to the Children's museum, exploring the Square, and enjoying lots of great food.  Rick and I even got to have a date night on the Square one night.  We had a great vacation and it was really good to spend time with my Dad and Susan.  It will probably be our last vacation for a long time with the baby coming.
It's always so sad when the Christmas breaks ends, as it is always one of the few times of the year I get to see almost everyone in my family.

Making a door hanger for a senior citizen's center

Sending a letter to Santa

Cookies with Santa- Finn is looking like this is the last year I'm getting on Santa's lap

Christmas photo booth

Sloane making sure Santa gets all of the specifications right for her Xmas request

Sloane and Addison at their first time seeing the Nutcracker

This year's Christmas card photo

Sloane's Christmas party outfit- fabulous!

Mr. and Mrs. Clause came to her school- Sloane snubbed Santa for Mrs. Clause

Class party

Finn's class party- celebrated all culture's holiday celebrations

Sloane and Noni at Princess Sofia show

Toy soldier at Galleria

The bigger the bow, the closer to God

Christmas in Lindale

Pretending to get along for Santa's benefit

Christmas Eve gifts

Luggage of their own!

Cousin time

The infamous Baby Alive

Santa came through with the football net

Nail polish set from Aunt Tera

Marfa

Sledding time

Snow angels

Chimayo

Twister time

Family time

Sloane's Indian outfit form Aunt Sue

Finn's Indian top

Such a pro!

Santa Fe Children's Museum

Our adobe abode for the week

I Get by with a Little Help from my Friends

Finn's BFF since birth, Aidan, had to move away to Dallas in October.  We were all very sad that our close family friends had to move away, but know that it was a really good opportunity for their family.  Finn was pretty devastated that his buddy wouldn't be around anymore.  Finn has had a couple visits to Dallas to visit, and Aidan has come down a few time as well.  It is just like old times when these two get together.  Aidan was able to join us with our church to go to a low-income senior housing facility and serve them breakfast and lead a worship service.  The boys took their jobs of getting orders from residents very seriously and I think they both felt good about helping others in need.  Otherwise, the boys just love to hang out doing sports, playing video games, and telling weird inside jokes that only they understand.

At the senior housing center

The skating rink at the Galleria

Sloane and Maddox are sweet buddies too