Fancy Nancy Birthday!

We didn't get to do much celebrating on Navie's actual birthday. Jason had an after work mandatory meeting pop up that day so he didn't get home until bedtime. We let Navie open up one present from us before bed.

She got a new leotard and skirt because we signed her up for dance class.

The next day she opened up all her gifts and went to her to first dance class. I made Orange Chicken for dinner too because that is her favorite meal these days.

(You can tell who the photographer is from picture to picture. Ang zooms in on the subject and Dad makes sure you can see the entire scene.) Then Friday came and the real fun began. Navie and I taped down a red carpet and put up streamers and balloons. Then our darling friends arrived and Navie took them to her room "to get gorgeous." The girls painted nails and chose jewelry and shoes and then each one had a turn to walk the red carpet.

All the fancy friends.

Then the girls each made a picture frame so they could have a picture to remember the fashion show. And then it was cake time. What Fancy Nancy party would be complete without ice cream parfaits? I was pretty excited about the fancy dishes I found to serve the parfaits in.

I love that face!

Our friends were so nice. Navie received so many perfect, fun gifts!

We are so thankful for our happy little 6 year old. She is such a nice girl. She has lost 6 teeth in the past year and has about 2 or 3 more wiggly ones. Navie is still the fanciest kid around. We cannot leave the house without her putting on a scarf, earrings, headband, or necklace. She comes up with some great combinations. She is still perfecting the art of sharing and she still loves her princesses. Navie sings so well and she is loving dance class!

Dressin' Up is Fun To Do

After Legoland we went to Sea World and did a little trick or treating. We got some candy and took pictures with some sea creatures. There was a dance party, crafts, coloring, and tons of bubbles.

She chose mis-matched socks because crazy sock day was coming up.

Then our friends had a Halloween party. Navie chose to be Mulan for this Halloween shindig. We put her hair up in a bun and she took her fan. She said she needed makeup so we settled on some blush.

And the last Halloween party we had was the ward Trunk or Treat and our little sweetie chose The Little Mermaid for that night. We had a fun night collecting candy and made some crafts and played some games.

She also got to dress up as cat woman on Halloween night. It was some kind of record for costumes in one year, I'm sure.

Free Swim Lessons!

One great thing about Winter Haven, Florida...they offered a month of free swim lesson twice a week. SWEET! Cause we know I'm cheap! Navie did a great job. On the last day of class, the parents were allowed in to watch the final test...jumping off the diving board. Navie wasn't quite ready to jump off the diving board without someone to catch her but she did get over to the side without any help. Now she just needs to believe she can do it and use bigger arms. I was so happy to see her swimming without floaties. I know, it's about time, right?

Our friend, Parker from church did swim lessons with us. It was a good month.

Legoland's Brick or Treat

One thing I do not love about Florida, no real close-by pumpkin patches with corn to play in or mazes. But luckily there is Legoland. We dressed Navie up as Snow White and headed down the street for some Brick or Treating. I thought this was just clever wording. On the contrary, you got plenty of Lego magazines encouraging the youngsters to want more Lego Friends and stuff along with a few sweet treats. But it was fun nevertheless. They make some super cool objects out of Legos. We saw Andrea of the Lego Friends. I love me some good puns. This weekend we are headed to the SeaWorld Spooktacular!

A Slice to the Head

(Warning the pictures at the end of the monologue contain minor amounts of blood!) Two weeks ago, Navie gave me quite the scare. I was preparing dinner in the kitchen and she was dancing around. Of course she had to stand on the stool and was waiting to show me her latest move. But as she leaned against the wall, the stool slipped out from under her and she fell. Not wonderful to have your child fall right in front of your face but what made matters 100 times worse, she hit the back of her head on the inch and a half of windowsill sticking out from the wall. Luckily Daddy was home. He scooped her up and surveyed the damage. I was ever so helpful and grabbed a wash cloth and some ice. As we continued to look at the gash, we decided we needed to head to Urgent Care to have it looked it. It was a pretty deep gash from the looks of it. Navie was terrified of the idea of going to the doctor. In my deepest thoughts, I knew she was wrong that going to the doctor would make it better but she got me worrying. Maybe it wouldn't have been such a big deal for me had I ever had to go to the doc to get sewn up before but the idea of stitches or staples was a new one for me. So I began telling her about her cousins who had gotten stitches and Aunt Carolyn who went to the doctor to get casts for her handful of broken arms. I'm not sure who I was trying to soothe, myself or Navie. Luckily it seemed to work. But of course all went fine. We checked in, they called us back. They said yep, she can get away with staples. So Daddy held Navie in his lap and I tried to distract by talking about ice cream and sprinkles. But luckily getting 4 staples took no time at all. As soon as the staples were in, Navie was back to her old self. This was a great relief to me because I'll tell you what she was really panicked before we went to the doctor. Now the staples have been removed but we are still waiting for the scab to fall off. I hope it happens soon because it looks kinda gross to me. But she is okay and I survived it too!

September Times

Labor Day was a great way to kick off this month. We have a friend who has been offering to take us out on one of the many lakes here but we have never been able to go till Labor Day. We did a little wake-boarding and knee-boarding, watched some others try bare-footing and went for a little swim. It was a delightful morning on the lake. And just to make the day complete, we had ice cream sundaes for dinner.

This is where Legoland does their show.

Navie did not like wearing the life vest by the middle of the trip. But she toughed it out.

The next weekend we went to St. Augustine, FL. The oldest city in the USA. However, it first belonged to Spain, then Britain, Spain again, and then it became American. We saw a castle (more like a fortress of defense) but as you might imagine Navie thought it was awesome.

We didn't get great pictures because we thought the battery was dead during most of our visit.

They even shot a cannon while we were there.

Next we headed to the jail. I should have taken a picture of the building because it was painted in a light red/pink color. We really enjoyed our tour of the old jail. I personally think we should run our prisons more like that now a days.

Then we stopped in at the oldest store. We saw some great "new" inventions from 1908. For this wonderful concoction, you had to buy all 3 bottles to get the full directions.

And it was sweet for me to feel like our little Oliver was with us on this adventure too.

The 2nd to last stop was the oldest wooden schoolhouse and then out to the beach to play in the waves.

Navie rang the school bell and actually played on the boogie board this trip to the beach. The month just kept getting better. Next we decided to get passes to Legoland so we played at the water park one Saturday. Navie had fun going down slides and jumping the waves in the wave pool. Not to mention collecting Lego's and building a raft in the lazy river.

And then Kristy, Brett, and the kids came to Florida. Navie had that Monday off so we went to the beach. We swam out to a sand bar and fought off the seagulls...literally.

Brett actually slept while Lauren buried his legs. He is a good sleeper.

We learned the hard way that the seagulls at Clearwater Beach LOVE cheetos. The birds were swooping down and taking the cheetos right out of our hands even if we were in the middle of bringing them up to our mouths. I was honestly scared. Luckily Navie protected us by swinging the umbrella at them.

We also enjoyed delicious shrimp with the Hatch's and swam in the pool and had 2 picnics at the beach. It was great to see them.