ONE MORE PRESENT

Rena got to get one more birthday present on Saturday. Our friends Annie, Grace and Max (who the kids ride to and from school with every day) told Rena on her birthday that her present from them would be a visit to the Build-a-Bear store. Well, with our crazy schedules between the two families, this past weekend was the first time we had a chance to go. So, Rena got to celebrate her birthday one more time!

Here's Rena filling her duck with stuffing......

Rena got to choose 4 hearts for inside her duck and Annie, Grace, Maleah and I all chose one. We all made a wish for Rena, kissed the heart 8 times and put it inside.......

Bath time.....

Now, the hard part -- choosing just the right clothes and accessories......

Rena's duck, Fluffy, turned out pretty cute and Rena sure does love her......

SPRING CELEBRATION

On Saturday morning our neighborhood association hosted a "spring celebration" at our community park.

Cameron getting ready for the ride to the park.....

The girls and the Easter Bunny......

Our table -- Cameron, Max, Annie, Rena, Maleah, Grace and Jeff......

Rena in the hula hoop contest.....

Maleah in the hula hoop contest......

Rena and Grace in the hula hoop contest......

Rena in the chicken toss contest -- she won first place!!!!.......

Maleah is a crazy gymnast these days -- she practices anywhere she can......


Jeff and Annie......

Max and Cameron......

RENA'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

Last Sunday we celebrated Rena's birthday with her friends by going ice skating and then home for cookie and ice cream.

Rena's friends - Ashlyn, Myah, Olivia, Makayla, Katie and Emma arrived at our house around 11:45am and we loaded up in our cars and headed to Escondido to do some ice skating. Our friends, Gabriel and Marisa also met us out there with Jacinda, Gabby and Benjamin.

Rena hit the ice and spent close to the whole 2 hours skating.....

We rented some of these white things for the girls to use until they became comfortable on the ice. Makayla attached herself to Jeff and when it was time to try the skating on her own Jeff had to stick close by.....

Olivia and Myah.....

Makayla, Rena and Ashlyn taking a little break.....

Cameron and Jacinda - they didn't really need the white things, but when the other girls weren't using them we made Cameron & Jacinda hang out with them so that we didn't lose them to other people outside of our group -- I did have to pay for them and was not going to give them up! :) .....

Makayla, Myah and Olivia taking a break.....

Rena and Emma......

Katie, Rena, Emma and Ashlyn.....

Gabby, Olivia, Maleah and Myah.....

Isn't this cute???.....Maleah and Rena skating together holding hands.....

Katie, Rena, Olivia, Maleah and Myah......


After 2 hours of skating we headed back home for some outdoor play time. Here's the group - Makayla, Myah, Rena, Katie, Olivia, Ashlyn, Emma and Maleah......

Rena decided that she wanted to have a cookie cake instead of a regular cake. We got two of them and they were GOOD!......

Time for some presents! Rena got a lot of nice, fun things from her friends.......

And, finally, the party ended with some more running around, playing outside......

That wraps up Rena's birthday for another year!!

FANCY MALEAH

On Friday Maleah's class had an assignment to dress up as their favorite character from a book. So, here's Fancy Maleah all dressed up like Fancy Nancy.......

SOCCER OR BASEBALL?

OR BOTH?!!?!!

Rena started soccer last weekend and Cameron started another season of baseball.

Rena's winter league is only 5 weeks long and is every Saturday from 1:15 - 2:15. They spend the first half hour practicing and the second half hour in a scrimmage. She is on the same team as her good friends -- Makayla, Myah, Olivia and Rena.....

Cameron is now a Dirtbag.....

In action.....

Here's what Maleah does to stay busy during the 5 hours that we are watching either soccer or baseball -- luckily I have a few good games on my phone!.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RENA!

Rena turned 8 years old last Thursday, February 23rd. How did 8 years go by so fast???

On Wednesday night I was going out to dinner with some friends and before I left Rena says to me "mom, don't you want to take my picture one last time so that you remember what I looked like when I was 7?" So, here it is -- the last picture of Rena when she was just 7 years old.....

For breakfast I fixed her a very fancy breakfast with all of her favorite things -- a bag of powered sugar Hostess Donettes......and a strawberry banana smoothie......

She opened a present before school and got a new outfit from Jeff and I. So, here is Rena at 8 years old......

For dinner that night Rena got to pick the restaurant and chose our favorite Mexican Restaurant - Casa De Bandini.....

Rena likes cherries!.....

She liked the band that sang happy birthday to her too!......

On Friday night we had our friends, The McCulloughs (no relation to my sister) and our neighbors, The Martinez's over for cupcakes and ice-cream.......

Rena has one more celebration coming up this weekend. We are taking a group of girls ice-skating and then back home for more cake and ice-cream. Should be a fun time! Rena is really looking forward to it. Stay tuned for an update in a couple of days! :)