7 Years

It's a big day for Samantha! 7 YEARS OLD!!

 Of course we woke up bright and early to open presents.....

A new robe, beads to make jewelry and hoola hoop were a few of the presents.

We spent the rest of the morning at the Magic House.

The Magic Tree House exhibit...

Arts and crafts.....and experiments...

Spent time in the grocery store......

 We went fishing.....

 let our fishes go and watched them return to the pond....

 Fixed a car......

Worked at a Pizzeria.....

Took care of the babies in the nursery......

Put in a full days work at the bank......

We did MANY MANY more things---we were all worn out by the end.....proof----

all Owen could do was lay down with his lion!

We all came home and took naps! Later we had the requested birthday dinner--- RIBS! I love that my 7 year old daughter wanted ribs for dinner! 

She also wanted a Lady Bug birthday cake.

Samantha Christine Taylor

A quick look through the years......

We are so proud of the sweet girl that Samantha is. She is very mindful of others-- especially her little brothers.She is always wanting to make things or draw pictures for others--. She loves to make friends. She is SO enthusiastic about just about everything. She has a strong personality. A a beautiful little spirit.

We are so incredible blessed to have her in our family. We Love You- Samantha!

Ward Christmas Party

 Our shepherd and angel getting ready for the Nativity 

 Visit with Santa

Owen was too concerned with picking out his candy cane(he grabbed 3) to sit on Santa's lap to tell him what he wants.

Felt

I think the theme of this years Christmas is FELT. Between a gift that Mike and I are giving the kids for Christmas and then the advent calendar-- I don't think I want to see another piece of felt for a very long time :)    I FINALLY completed our family Christmas Advent Calendar. It has been in the works since our first year in Medical school-- but I just kept putting it off. Luckily this year a friend was doing the same calendar on her blog- so it gave me the motivation that I needed. I first saw this calendar on Pottery Barn Kids-- and just like everything from that place-- it was SO far out of our budget. I spent FAR FAR less money and  plus it gave me chance to make it a little more OURS. Yes it took a while to finish-- but I am happy with the way it came out. I hope that it will be something that the kids will cherish and will provide many memories. I still remember our advent-- and remember how exciting it was to see each day pass-- getting us closer to Christmas!

(a big shout out to my mom for drawing the template of the tree,star and stump- thanks Mom!)

I still have to add our name to the bottom-- that will happen sometime.....

CHOIR

Samantha's 1st grade choir class had a performance a few weeks ago. The theme was "Bedtime" They all wore their pj's. She was so excited- especially because she had a speaking part.

Samantha standing in front of the schools mascot (they are the Oakville Lions)

The crazy boys while we were waiting for the performance to start

The Performance..... (our camera doesn't take the best pictures long distance)

Samantha doing her speaking part

They all did such cute job. The songs they sang- Llama, Llama Red Pajama, I Dance Myself To Sleep, Twinkle, Twinkle and Hush Little Baby and one other one that I can't spell-- (it's a french song).

We ended the night with a icecream cone from McDonalds :)

He's making his list and checking it twice...

One night Owen didn't want to go to sleep (he's in the transition from a nap to no nap) and it's hard to ignore his cute little yells to Mike and I. So we let him come out with us for a bit. He spent a lot of his time on the floor looking at a Toys'R'US ad and pointing out all the "Car-Vroom" 's that he wants. He is MAJORLY into CARS2 right now-- has to watch it atleast once a day.