Monsters and Make-up

My three beautiful girls

Baby Ava at 12 weeks

Can't believe I haven't posted anything since March, but once I get behind on something, I tend to avoid it altogether because I don't know where to begin on getting caught up! I have so many things I could but may or may not post about Ava's birth and my letters to the girls on their birthdays (Lauren turned 2 and Elle turned 4 in September) and their joint Princesses and Pirates party, but I will start with a few pictures from this week...

I've started a tradition of having a themed family fun night once a week. I'm sure it will change over time, but I really wanted at least one night a week where we spend intentional fun time together as a family. I never thought we would be so busy when are kids are not even in school, but between Kyle's work schedule and dates nights for us and dinners with friends with the kids, there are plenty of nights where we are not all at home for dinner together, or even nights where we are home but tired in the evenings and not really up for doing activities/playing games before bedtime. I want to make sure we always set aside time where it is just us and time where we are doing something fun as a family. The girls have absolutely loved these nights so far, and Elle helps me plan for it during the day. Last week, we did an apple theme, and if I get a chance, I'll post those pictures too. This week was monster-themed, but as Elle said, "Not scary monsters, sweet monsters who don't roar!" We colored monster pictures and made monster masks before daddy got home, and decorated with some shape monsters we had made earlier in the week:

After dinner, we played Pin the Eye on the Monster:

We made monster marshmallows for dessert:

Then, the girls' favorite part of the night...we played monster tag, complete with some monster feet. Elle did not want to stop, of course, and I haven't heard the girls laugh so much in a while!

Then, to calm down before bed, we made playdough monsters:

We finished the night with a not-so-scary monster story. So simple, but so fun for all of us! And to end, here's a picture from this morning of Lauren putting make-up on her sister. I feel fortunate that they really do love each other...most of the time...and it's so sweet to see them become friends in addition to being sisters!