Sunday, March 27, 2011

Our Sunday Morning Routine

This morning we went to church.

If you saw us there, we looked pretty normal, but before church...

I told Ellie her hair needed some help, which made me "THE WORST MOMMY IN THE WORLD!"

Annie couldn't decide what to wear, and got mad when I made her wear the third outfit of the morning.

Daddy smacked Ellie's plate in the car (out of frustration over her bad attitude), thinking it was empty. It wasn't.

Food flew in Ellie's hair.

World War 3 broke out.

Austin told jokes, mostly with words like "butt", "fart", and "toilet".

We arrived at church 5 minutes late. I threw coats at the kids as they stumbled out of the car, while telling them it was time to straighten up, "We're at CHURCH now!".

As I pulled on my own jacket, I noticed the sleeve was stuck to the front with some sort of sticky substance. Nice.

We walked into church, as one big HAPPY family, as the greeter opened the door for us, and reached out to give Austin a high 5.

Austin formed a gun with his hand and pretended to shoot him. And then three other strangers.

We dropped the kids in their respective classes and made our way into the sanctuary.

And sang praise songs.

Amen.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Boys

The Three Stooges.

Friends since college.

Just as goofy as they were then. :)

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Surprise at SDC

It's Avery! Avery is here!

Annie was SO excited to run into her friend at SDC! Love these girls, love that they love each other, love that they've been friends since they were in their mommies bellies!




Tuesday, March 22, 2011

My Birthday!

As I've gotten (a little!) older, I have come to a realization.

Birthdays aren't as cool as they used to be.

HOWEVER, this year was an exception for me!

On my birthday there was a Rascal Flatts concert, and I got to go! My super sweet sis in law surprised me with tickets!

And when I say "surprised" I mean, SURPRISED! Since not only did she get tickets, unbeknownst to me, but then I went and threw a kink in things when I bought my OWN tickets to the same concert! That's right, I ruined her surprise! I mean who would've thought I'd be listening to the radio at the exact right time, to hear about tickets to a sold-out concert for a group I love, and decide to go ahead and buy them, without checking with Jason first! I sure wouldn't have thought that could happen! But it did! Poor Michelle. It all ended up good though, actually GREAT, because our husbands got to go too!

And we had a BLAST!


Mayberry!


Summer Nights!


Rascal Flatts!


So THANK YOU MICHELLE!!! And Chris and Jason for making my night a blast! And my mom for keeping my kids so we could go!

A few days later I got to continue celebrating with lunch and shopping with my sweet mom, grandma, and aunt, and then a few days after that I finished up with a dinner out with friends! Like I said, this was a good birthday year for me!


Is that not the cutest pic of me and my friends?! Love them! Good job stretching your arm Jen! ;-)

So I take it back. Birthdays aren't as cool as they used to be...They're better! At least this one was!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

My Super Brave Girl!

Well look who got her ears pierced!


We've had an interesting week, including a visit to Urgent Care for Ellie to get 3 staples in her head. Poor girl. She and Annie were getting ready to use the Easy Bake oven, when she jumped to reach something in an upper kitchen cabinet. Her head smacked the corner of the cabinet door. Hard. It's one of those moments as a mom you never want to happen. Looking up to see blood everywhere as you hear "My head is bleeding mommy...!". It was pretty bad, and so my sweet girl had to go through the trauma of staples.


After it was all done, I jokingly said something about getting her ears pierced would be a walk in the park compared to staples.


Little did I know she was really listening, and seriously considering it. A month ago when Annie got hers done, Ellie was terrified to do it. But after the staples, she decided it really didn't sound to bad afterall!


So she did it! I am proud of her for making it through staples, and pierced ears!


If you can't tell, she got Hello Kitty earrings! They are adorable!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thursday, March 17, 2011

The Kindergarten Circus!

Ok, the Kindergarten Circus may just be the cutest thing ever! Imagine a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds dressed up as circus characters, dancing and singing and just being adorable!

Annie's class were ribbon dancers, as was Ellie's class 3 years ago! The kids were too cute, but I have to say that Annie was the cutest! She picked her black and red leotard, and we added some homemade leg warmers to up the cute factor. :-). Thanks to my friend Janelle for that great idea! She suggested we take some knee socks and cut off the feet for some cute leg warmers!


The circus turned out great and Annie did a great job!




What a fun tradition this is! I hear that it's been around for many many years, and I can see why!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

My Brave Girl!

Annie asked if she could get her ears pierced a year ago, when she was 5. I said yes...then distracted her with candy. It wasn't that I thought she was too young, I had my own ears pierced at 5. I just froze as I thought about voluntarily putting my daughter in pain!

The subject of ear piercing came up again as we planned our trip to Kansas City. A good friend had hers pierced in the same mall we were going too, where she also got her American Girl's ears pierced at the American Girl store. I mean, how cute is that?! So I agreed that anyone who wanted to, could have their ears pierced, and their dolls ears pierced, on our trip.

Ellie thought about it, but decided she wasn't quite ready. Annie however, was more than ready.

My girl hopped in that chair, and didn't even flinch when the girl with the rock star hair pierced her ear. I was prepared for tears. I was prepared to have to talk her in to having the second ear pierced. (rock star girl was the only one working, so they couldn't do both ears at once). But I was wrong. The whole thing was over and done before I knew it, and Annie did great! My brave girl didn't shed a tear! I was so proud of her. And now she is sporting some precious pink crystal flower earrings!





And in the last month since she's had pierced ears, she's bought several pairs of earrings. None of which she can wear for a couple more weeks. Some (dangly ones) that she can't wear for months! But does that matter? Nope. She's a girl that likes accessories!

We may be in trouble. ;-)



Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Ice skating 101.

2011 is the year we decided to try Ice Skating!

Our fun loving group of friends went ice skating in January. It turned out to be "plastic skating" (instead of ice it was a plastic floor that mimics ice), which was news to all of us, but the kids had a blast anyway. Actually, I think the plastic ice was a bit easier for the kids to learn on. It was a great night!




A few weeks later our kids got to try their new found skills out on some real ice in Kansas City! It was fun, but definitely harder! I put my ice skates on and took each of the kids out for a turn. They had fun, and really did pretty good for novices! I was super proud of them!







I'm excited that we introduced our kids to ice skating this year! Great memories were made!

Monday, March 14, 2011

American Girl!

The reason we chose to make a little trip for Ellie's birthday...


Oh where was this store when I was a little girl?

I think that's why this store gets away with charging what they do. (which is insane!) The mothers are living vicariously through their daughters.


Proof. The day before we headed to KC, I found a hat that was almost identical to the one that came with Annie's doll, Julie. I couldn't NOT buy it! I mean, look...



Pure cuteness!

I mean, tiny flip flops? Check.

Itty bitty eyeglasses? Check.

Matching swimsuits for your six year old and her doll? Double check.

Pierced ears for your doll to match your own. Well of course!

The stuff is just too adorable.

We had a blast. Well, after the girls got over their bad attitudes we had a blast. Oh mercy was I mad at them. In retrospect though, I can understand why they were behaving like..well, like children. We were all pretty tired by the time we made it to this fabulous place. But after about 30 minutes the magic of the store set in, and we couldn't get enough!

Seriously, between Grammie, Nana, and myself, I lost count of how many times we visited the cash registers. I like to think that we were just doing our part to boost the economy. It helps me sleep at night. :)


The girls ended up being thrilled with their experience in the American Girl store, and want to know when we get to go again.

Daddy says after they get jobs.

Mommy wants to go tomorrow.

:-)

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Ellie is 9!

I'm not sure how this happened, but my first baby is 9. Mercy.

That's almost a decade. Almost double digits. Half way to adulthood...ok, I gotta stop! Breathe...just breathe...

For Ellie's birthday this year we took a little trip to Kansas City! She really wanted to visit the American Girl store for her birthday, and we decided to make a fun family trip out of it! We even brought two Grandma's with us to share in the fun!

We did a lot of fun stuff in 2 days! We visited Kalaidescope at Crown Center, where the girls had a blast making crafts! Austin wasn't as thrilled with this place, although he did like one little nook where there were pillows, and he decided to lay down. Silly boy! He also liked this cool room where you could push a button and your picture appeared on the wall. Very cool! I thought it was a great place, especially for free!



We also ate a Fritz's! You place your order via a red phone at your booth, and then wait for the train to deliver your food! Everyone loved this place! We had to order a couple of times so all the kids could get the food off the platform. So fun!



We also did the Crayola Store and ice skating (future post!) at Crown Center, along with some fun shopping! The next day we visited Oak Park Mall, which is where the cool double decker carousel was!



Our last stop in KC was the T-Rex cafe. This place was super cool! Great food, fun times, and life sized animatronic dinosaurs!



We had a great trip to Kansas City and I'm so glad that we decided to go!

The next day was Valentine's Day/Ellie's birthday! First she got to celebrate with her class at school...


Then we stopped by Nana and Papa's house for awhile after school, and later celebrated that evening at Grandma Ellie's house with family. We had heart shaped pizza and a chocolate fountain! It was a great night!



AND...(we like to celebrate big in this family!) we had one more fun thing to do to finish celebrating our Ellie girl! A few days after her birthday we celebrated with manicures for Ellie and Annie, and cousins Olivia and Elaina! They were so cute sitting so still and being so grown up. Adorable!






So our Ellie is 9! 8 was a good year for her, and I'm excited to see what great things this year holds for our sweet girl! We love you Ellie!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Reluctant Soccer Boy

I excitedly signed Austin up for spring soccer this year. I thought he'd love it....

I was wrong.

Our sweet boy apparently has quite a shy side, especially when it comes to sports. 

 He did have some fun moments though! Maybe he'll come around in a few years. :)

 



In the meantime...

Yes, I am way behind and have a lot of catching up to do here on my little blog! I have some posts almost done though! I promise!

In the meantime though, I'd like to interrupt the bloggy silence with a snippet from today...

There are moments that are perfect in my otherwise hectic life. I need to remember those moments in the harder times. Like this morning...

It's day 1 of 9 of Spring Break. It started out rough, but smoothed out after the first hour. It is an incredibly beautiful day, sunny, 60 degrees. Annie is still asleep, (it's 10:45!) bless that girl! Austin and I played outside for awhile, then I sat and watched him play. Ellie is enjoying her own quiet time. Hanging out in her room, watching tv, crafting who knows what...

My children are wonderful. I adore each of them so, so much. They are each so unique, so perfectly made by God. This morning is a perfect example of their uniqueness.

Ellie is growing up. She enjoys being in charge of herself. She wants to be helpful and is always asking me what she can do to help me around the house. Awesome! She is extremely creative, and amazes me with some of the things she comes up with. She'll craft things for hours, and loves making things for people. She's been spending more and more time in her room, with the door locked. (like this morning) I think it's good for her, my girl who gets overwhelmed, and I think it's helped her be a lot calmer lately.

Annie is still my little girl. She needs more downtime than the other two kids. She loves to sleep in, and when she gets up, she'll stay in her room and play quietly for a long time. She's a lot of fun too though, and when she is ready, she is a great playmate for her brother. She is sweet and smart and sensitive.

Austin is my wild and crazy, full of life and energy boy. Our backyard was made for him. If he hasn't climbed something yet, don't worry, he will soon. Yesterday he figured out how to scale the outside of the play/swing set. Mercy. He has the most active imagination I have ever seen. He loves to "talk" with his cars and trucks. He is gradually getting a bit calmer and more manageable, and he absolutely adores positive attention from his sisters.

And right now he is dismantling the hall closet, so I'd better go...

;-)