Scarlett's 7 Photography

I had high hopes to work on the blog while I was away on vacation, but that didn't happen.  So these next few posts will be all the posts I meant to put up while I was gone.  Once I am through with that I'll get to posting about our trip back to the states. 

Scarlett turned seven back in May and so we took some pictures in our family room.  Nothing too fancy, just a chance for us to mark the this stage of life.

Scarlett loves dresses, or skirts, so we both felt it appropriate for her to wear one for the pictures.  In fact no matter how hard I try I cannot get her to wear jeans.  She will wear leggings but we have a rule that with leggings on she must wear something else that at least covers her bottom, so she usually ends up with a shirt, skirt and leggings.  Other than that she is not picky at all about what she wears.  It doesn't matter if it is hot or cold outside, it doesn't matter if the colors or patterns look good together.  She is all about the comfort of skirts and leggings.

Scarlett has such a big personality she is very emotional.  She gets so upset over things that seem so small to me.  I can just see that to her it is everything.  It is like her heart breaks three times a day, everyday.  She usually won't talk to anyone but me about it either.  So sometimes I feel bad for not giving her the sympathy she is looking for every time someone looks at her wrong (seriously she doesn't like her siblings to look or definitly not touch her).  With all of that comes how happy she is.  Scarlett can be very animated and gets excited and happy over what others would also call very small and insignificant things.  I am curious to see how all these feelings shape her adult personality.

Scarlett is sooooooo amazing with Calista.  She has told me for years that she wants to be a mom and ever since Calista was born I can really see Scarlett's motherly side come out.  It is incredible how much this 7-year-old will care about and take care of her baby sister.  She truly wants to be with Calista, not only when she is bored but just because she loves her and likes to be with her.

I think Scarlett is liking it here in Japan.  Honestly she acts pretty much the same here as she did back in the states.  I guess a main difference for her is that we homeschool, but that is unrelated to the fact that we live in Japan.  Homeschooling is going ok for Scarlett.  She will sometimes tell me that she doesn't want to homeschool, but when I ask her about going to public school she really doesn't want to do that either.  I can tell that she is learning and I think it has been good for her.  But she does struggle with wanting to do her work and different school things when I ask her to.

A couple things Scarlett likes:  dolls, treats, screen time, getting her nails painted, and playing uno.

We love Scarlett and are so happy she is in our family.

Scarlett's Doll Party

Scarlett's seven year old 18" doll birthday party was a huge success!  The invite I made says American Girl doll party but Scarlett doesn't have any of those and I think only one of the guests had actual American Girl dolls.  We just asked all the girls to bring their favorite doll.

For decorations we set up the dolls we have and just did a lot with pink and hot pink.

I made a fake doll photo booth prop for the girls.  It was fun for everyone to pretend they were the doll in the box. 

My kids decided not to smile very big because their actual dolls don't have big smiles.

Tucker and Leon even got in on some of the fun.  They actually stayed upstairs the whole time friends were over until the cake and ice cream.  It was perfect.

Once each girl came in we outfitted them with a party had and of course a mini party hat for their dolls as well.  Bob and I made these by just cutting a circle then taping it to a triangle.  I then glued a little pom pom on top and we cut holes in the sides for string.

We took more pictures with our photo props, but mostly that was just me and Scarlett before people arrived.

As people started to come we brought them to the kitchen where everyone had time to make themselves and their dolls matching bracelets. 

After that I took a group picture while Bob reset the table.  We had a little snack time.  Everyone got a heart shaped PB&J and a mini one for their doll of course.  We also had mini cups for the dolls.

The next little game was a big hit.  I was surprised how much time they wanted to spend playing "duck, duck, doll."  Which is exactly like duck duck goose but the dolls tap each other on the head.  About ten minutes in all the dolls were on the ground and the girls were just playing, but they really loved it.   They were also so mature about trying to pick girls who haven't been picked and no one got upset if they weren't picked in a while. 

Next we let the girls each decorate a mini cupcake for their dolls. 

Presents are always fun.  Calista even found some abandoned dolls to play with.

Lastly we ate cake!  Amazingly Calista slept in for the first time and I had enough time to make it before she got up in the morning.  I was really happy with how it turned out.

For thank you gifts Scarlett and I made big and little heart cookies.  

It was a lot of fun for everyone including me.

Tucker's Seventh Birthday Breakfast

So, Today is Tuckers Birthday, and Doranda is taking photo's for a family in our ward in Colorado. So, this is Bob, and I am hijacking her blog to say Happy Birthday to Tucker. It is just the boys at home today!!! And we are all going to go see "How to Train Your Dragon 2" in 3D. We had a big Lego Birthday Party for Tucker on Wednesday. I am sure Doranda will post about it soon. We love you Tucker!!! HAPPY 7th Birthday!!!

Oh, and I hid a Reese's Peanut Butter cup in the middle of the pancake! You should of seen his face when he ate it!

Bob