A little bit of preschool

Charley did 2 six week sessions with Ms. Dani - and LOVED it!  This was their last day - they had bubbles and ice cream.

 
What you DON'T see here is that as Charley was watching Ms. Dani try to make other kids as "sleek" as possible so their clothes/hair didn't pop the bubble, she started stripping off her pants!  She did NOT want to pop that bubble!

Charley's "actual" birthday

I'm super behind on posts - and this will probably be the last one for a while.

Charley got to celebrate her birthday by having a party with her friends, and later on her "actual" birthday as she refers to it.

We opened presents, had cake and sang to her.  She had a blast.

This kid has more stuff than any 10 kids I know put together.  I always said, when I was pregnant, that I was going to be careful to raise my children to be appreciative of what they had, had a few things they valued, and make sure not to accumulate a bunch of "stuff".  Yeah, right - that lasted about 2 days.

We have accumulated more stuff than I care to admit.  I think we've doubled what we own since having kids.  Thank goodness we aren't moving ourselves, but...  I fear we've exceeded our weight allowance and are going to have to pay dearly for all this "stuff"!

She has so many toys, I've literally put away enough already to supply Reed with toys until he turns 1, for his 1st birthday, 2nd Christmas, 2nd, birthday, and 3rd Christmas.  Plus, even with those put away, I have enough to supply 3 rotations of toys.  Her room is full right now, plus I have 2 trunks full of toys that, when she gets bored with the ones that are out, I rotate.  Crazy, right?

If it were up to me, I would do this:

http://www.livingwellspendingless.com/2012/09/14/why-i-took-all-my-kids-toys-away-why-they-wont-get-them-back/

I read this great blog post by this mom, in which she literally gets rid of ALL of her kids toys, after becoming tired of their lack of appreciation.  I really like it - perhaps I'll do it...

The problem is, Charley appreciates nothing.  Ask her what her favorite toy is?  No idea.  She doesn't have one.  She has so many, she could really care less about any one of them.  Plus, she gets so many gifts - from family, friends, neighbors, etc., she always is asking - "What did you bring me?"  Sigh.  The opposite of what I'd hoped for.

And, in 1 week we'll be celebrating our Christmas gift opening...  and she has quite a mound of stuff to open, yet again.  And, this is before visiting both sets of grandparents!  Yikes!

I'm thinking this upcoming move is a perfect chance to weed out.  With new stuff coming in, perfect chance to give old stuff to those who could really use (and appreciate!) it.

And clothes?  Ah, clothes.  She has enough clothes at her current size to outfit 2 kids comfortably.  So does Reed.  And we already have clothes for both kids for the sizes to come - I think Reed is good until he turns 1!

I read in a magazine about a family who requested for gifts, instead of things, experiences - such as dance lessons, soccer sign-ups, family zoo memberships, etc.  What a great idea!  Of course - this will be much easier once we are back in civilization.  :)  Until then - I'm thinking money for their savings accounts would be good...  For that matter - that always makes a perfect gift!  My brother and his wife sent piggy banks for both kids for Christmas - so, even coins for them to start their own savings would be fun!

Anyway...  that said...  here are a select few pics from her birthday!

Dada's Photo Shoot

Lately Rod's been grabbing the camera and having fun!  I wish he'd do it more often - he is really good at getting super cute close-ups of Charley!