Let's Go Fly a Kite!

We had lots of fun flying kites with Grandpa Willy this spring. He came up to visit one day and we were out flying kites. He taught the kids a few new tricks and they loved it. He showed up a few days later with new spools of kite string so their kites could go even higher. They were so excited!

Happy Birthday to Garrett!

Garrett turned 6 in March. He was so excited for his big day and couldn't wait to open his presents. 

He is pretty easy to please and was really just hoping for some Silly Putty and Play-Doh. He opened it first and couldn't have been more thrilled!

Garrett wants to look like a "handsome cowboy" every day and insists on wearing a button-up shirt and jeans. Greg found this "handsome" cowboy jacket to complete Garrett's look--watch out ladies!!!

When I was a kid, one of my favorite things was to go on a treasure hunt to find a special birthday present. We decided to get Garrett a new bike for his birthday and sent him on a treasure hunt to find it. It was lots of fun for all the kids and he is loving riding his new bike around the neighborhood.

At six years old, I love that Garrett is still sweet and innocent. (His friends with older brothers are into superheroes and video games, but our sweet little guy still just loves Mickey Mouse and Curious George. I know these days won't last forever and I'm trying to savor them.) He absolutely loved this awesome cake I found for cheap on the day-old rack at Wal-Mart. I was planning to just make a cake when I happened by this one and knew he would love it. He was thrilled!

It's crazy to think this cute little guy has been lighting up our world for the past 6 years. He is a hit everywhere we go with his red hair, charming personality, inquisitive mind and intelligent questions. We are so glad he is ours and couldn't love him any more. 

February

I've had about five people ask me in the just the past few weeks why I stopped blogging. I've been thinking lately that it's time for me to climb back on the blogging horse and keep a record of the happenings of our crazy little family, so I guess that was the push I needed to actually do it.

Life has been busy for us! I was having trouble getting the pictures off my camera and lost my motivation to blog without pictures. I recently joined the 21st century and got a smartphone and realized I could update my blog and send pictures right from my phone, so I am feeling motivated to get this thing updated! The last post I did was for Abby's birthday in January, so I will start with February and work my way forward. Here goes...

Chelsea and McKall made it here from Connecticut and the kids were so excited to meet their new cousin. Brett was here doing an internship and was thrilled to be reunited with his wife and baby after being apart for a few weeks.

And just because there is nothing better than a sleeping baby...here is our sweet little Reese.

My dad came back from China for a few weeks and was able to meet both McKall and Kate. Kate isn't in this picture, but she was born on Abby's birthday and her arrival makes for 7 girls and 1 Garrett on the Petersen side of our family.

One of my favorite things about having little kids is seeing their excitement about celebrating holidays. They live for holidays and seem to measure time by what holiday is coming next. We had a wonderful Valentine's Day and the kids loved making valentines, exchanging them in their cute little mailboxes and eating more candy than they probably should have.

We had a fun little dinner with a heart-shaped pizza, darling cake pops I got from a friend, and sparkling cider in champagne glasses. The kids loved doing toasts and would giggle every time they clinked their glasses together.

Holy short bangs/pumpkin-pie-haircutted freak (name that movie, anyone???) I must have cut my own bangs and gotten a little carried away or something...yikes!

Abby got this cute little Elsa dress-up for her birthday and wore it basically all day, every day for months. No complaints here...it made for a little less laundry and I am A-OK with that!