You may remember Layla's 4th Birthday Interview from last year. I thought the idea was so cute that I would start doing it every year, just to remember the things she liked at that age. It always makes me laugh, the things she comes up with to say. She definitely has her Daddy's sense of humor. So without further ado, here is Layla's 5th Birthday Interview!
-- How old are you turning?
5. I like Silky and Doggie though, write that.
-- What will be the best thng about being 5?
Eating cake and cupcakes.
Layla, you can't say the same thing as last year. What else will be the best thing about being 5?
I like going poop.
-- Who is your best friend?
Daddy, Silky, Doggie, Mom, Boots, and Fatty.
-- What is your favorite toy?
My bear puzzle.
-- What is your favorite thing to do?
Watching TV, iCarly and Spongebob, and going to sleep.
Why is going to sleep your favorite thing?
Because I go to sleep fast and it's so fun and comfy.
-- What do you want to be when you grow up?
Tangled.
So does that mean you want to be a Princess?
Yes! I want to be a beautiful princess like Ariel.
-- What is your favorite thing to eat?
French fries and chicken nuggets from McDonald's.
-- What makes you really happy?
Being at homie because I like watching TV and relaxing on the couch. And my feet, legs, and butt sweat so I like taking my pants off.
-- What's your favorite show on TV?
Spongebob.
-- Who is your favorite singer?
Justine Bieber, Jonas Brothers, and Big Time Rush. Oh, and iCarly too.
-- What's your favorite thing at school?
Play on the swings.
-- What's your favorite color?
Pink and purple.
-- What do you want for your birthday?
An iPad.
I thought you wanted an iPod, not an iPad, you said the iPad was too big.
Ya, I did want an iPod but I changed my mind. Now I want an iPad.
-- Okay, I think that's it, is there anything else you want to tell me?
Yes. Um. I like playing with Boots and Fatty and Little Grey. Little Grey is cute. I like playing the dancing game. Um. I like watching iCarly. Daddy look at Gibby (as she is watching iCarly). Um, and I like waking Boots up when he's sleeping because every time he wakes up he says "I want to sleep"! I like playing dress up and I like when Brynn and Payton come over here and play dress up with me. I love playing with my little fridge.
A few days ago Ed came home and told me he had heard about an Ice Festival up in Cripple Creek. Cripple creek is about 60 miles away so the perfect distance for a day trip to check out another part of Colorado. What Ed failed to tell me up front is that Cripple Creek is a huge gambling town, there are tons of casinos up there so I quickly learned the real reason why he wanted to go up there. The drive up was beautiful, it went through the mountains which were still partially covered in snow.
It didn't take much longer than an hour to get to where the Ice Festival was. We parked and hopped out ready to see some sculptures. When I was researching this festival, this is what caught my eye: World renowned ice sculptors use chainsaws and assorted tools to create larger than life "Story Time" where ice carvers incorporate their interpretation of classic literature into art. Let me just say, it didn't disappointment. The ice sculptures were so neat, it's amazing what these people can do with a chainsaw and a block of ice. They had Dr. Seuss's One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and so much more! There was even a slide made out of ice and an ice maze for the kids to go through. 
We met our very good friends, the Achee's there too. Layla has so much fun with their kids, they just love each other. 
Of course there was a 45 minute stretch where someone (cough, Ed, cough) went missing. He some how ended up in a casino, gee, I wonder how that happened? He picked the casino with the best name... The Brass Ass. His new favorite casino which he came out of winning $100 (thank you craps tables). 
It started to get a bit cloudy and windy so we decided to head out back home. On the way home we had to stop at our favorite German brewery, BierWerks and we are so glad we did. It is so yummy! The beer, the creme soda, the food, everything. The kids had so much fun at their kid table, lots of pretzels and the brewery's homemade orange creme soda while we had a great time with our meat/cheese platter and beer. It didn't disappoint. 
After the brewery we all decided to hang out afterwards too. Off to the Achee's house for some drinking, games, dancing, and hanging out. Margaux and I went to get some refreshments and somehow came back with a box of wine (7 bottles) while the guys enjoyed their beer. We had such a great time with them, as usual. 
This morning after Ed and I slept on the best air mattress ever (it even had a headboard!) we woke up to these two sweeties playing together. How cute are they?!
I got a call at 5:30am on Saturday telling me to cancel our credit and debit cards. Turns out Ed's wallet was stolen and whoever had stolen it had used over $1,000! Our bank is awesome about reimbursement so I wasn't even worried about the money, I was worried about how Ed would get home with no ID! He was supposed to be home by 10am but he had to go sweet talk his way onto the airplane which took him a little longer. TSA had to interview him for over an hour, he had to file a police report, etc. but they did let him on the plane, just later than expected. He got home around 3pm and Layla was one happy little girl (okay, okay, I was one happy little girl too)! As soon as we saw his smiling face, Layla ran up to him and gave him the biggest hug ever! She has really missed her Daddy. As soon as we got his luggage we went straight to the movie theater, got as much junk food as we could carry, and watched Gnomeo and Juliet in 3D. We had such a good day with Daddy being back home!
Yesterday was spent getting ready for Valentine's Day. We went to Hallmark and we each picked out cards for one another. 6 cards and $25 later, we each had two cards. It was so much fun picking out the perfect ones, Layla did a good job too. I got one with a button and Ed got a Mickey Mouse one. When we exchanged them with each other we were all laughing, it was so much fun! 
Layla got her 22 Valentine's cards ready for school. She picked out Hello Kitty and Rapunzel, she even wrote her name on all of them all by herself. 
Of course we had to bake. What's Valentine's Day without baking? Layla and I made sugar cookies with pink frosting and sprinkles. Mmmm... they were so good!
My little taste tester was a very good sharer. 
Let's not forget about the wrestling match! There were sledge hammers and trash cans and chairs... but Layla was victorious and came out winning the belt while chanting "Layla's #1, Layla's #1."
And of course today... Happy Valentine's Day! Layla woke up to her presents. Two night gowns, Toy Story Xbox game, and a little mini gift basket from Bath and Body Works. 
I wish the three of us could have spent the day together but I had to work so Layla went to school. Ed met me for lunch and we went to a great BBQ place, it was so nice spending time with just him for a change. Layla and I are so happy to have Ed back with us, we missed him so much. Layla is nothing but smiles and is attached to her Daddy's hip. 
This week went by so slow. Layla started preK on Monday and, well, let's just say she hasn't made it easy on me. She has made it very clear that she does not like school and that she wants to stay home with me because she misses me when she's at school. Could she break my heart anymore? She has a very hard time when I drop her off in the morning but after a few minutes her teacher says she is fine. When I go pick her up later in the day she is always playing with the other kids and has a big smile on her face so I know she has fun while she's there. I guess it's just drop off that's a problem. Even when I go to wake her up in the morning and tell her it's time to get ready for school, the first thing she does is start crying and tells me no. I know she'll get used to it and start liking it more and more every week but for right now it's hard for the both of us. The best part of my day this whole week has been going to pick her up in the afternoon. She is always so happy to see me and she talks and talks about her day, what they did, what she ate, etc. I just love that she's growing up into this little lady!
I still haven't gotten a very good school picture of her since she cries everyday so this is as good as it gets, for now. This is my precious Layla on her first day of preK! 
As soon as we found out that Ed would be gone for a couple of months my Mom and I went into planning for her to come visit and keep us company for a week. She decided to come right in the middle of Ed being gone so it would break up our time without him. We had such an amazing time. I just dropped her off at the airport an hour ago and I am already missing her. It's so nice to have her here but when it's time for her to leave, it's just awful and so hard to say goodbye. Layla got spoiled the entire week she was here, Grandma just can't say no to anything that little girl wants/does. We had a blast going out, showing Grandma around town, and even just hanging out at home, talking and playing. We got to go out to dinner, went to the movies and saw Gulliver's Travels, went shopping, went to gymnastics, played lots of board games, and wore matching PJ's the entire time she was here!
We had a blast with Photo Booth... we could not stop laughing. We were seriously on the ground, cracking up! Just looking at the pictures makes me laugh all over again. 
Layla and I loved Garden of the Gods so much the first time we went that we just had to take Grandma and show her how gorgeous it is. It was even more beautiful this time around as there was still some snow on the ground. We hiked around and climbed some rocks and just had a great time!
We even went to the zoo when it was only 35 degrees outside! My Mom isn't used to the cold weather, in California it is in the 80's and 90's right now but she loved it. Layla showed Grandma how to feed the giraffes and birds which was the best part, as usual. Our favorite animal this time around was the Meerkats, they were so funny. There was one little stretch of sunlight in their enclosure and all of them were standing on their hind legs trying to get the most of it. All of us were dying laughing, they looked so funny!
Layla made Grandma go bowling too! My Mom hasn't gone bowling since I was Layla's age and we had to force her to go with us and actually bowl! But she did! The first time I won, by a lot but the second time she made a come back and I completely sucked and she won. Even though she really wasn't interested at first, we had a great time!
And to top off our great week together, my Mom was totally my lucky charm. Guess who has a job (well, pending my background check which will come back fine)? ME! I am going to be doing all the admin/reception work for a big insurance company's call center. I am so excited to start! We even went and signed Layla up for school so my Mom got to see where she'll be during the week. 
I wish I could go on and on about our week together, it was truly amazing and I'm so glad Layla and I got that time to spend with Grandma. We are so close and it hurts so much when she has to leave but it's totally worth it for the amazing time we get together. I love you so much, Mom, thank you for EVERYTHING!!!
