Let the Good Times Roll

We've had a busy week. Weds was a day where we were on the run from the word "go." Analise had a late start, so we did get to sleep in, which was nice. We took her to school at 10, and went straight to the doc for Sadie's follow up weight check. She weighed in at 22-12 lbs. Believe it or not this actually put her on the weight chart! Woo hoo...no more checks until September! Everything else looked and sounded good, so we are thankful. We then went directly to Kindermusik. Maisie has lots of fun at class! Home for a quick lunch, laid them down for naps at 1:00, and then I had a meeting at church from 1:15-2:30. Thank you to K, for watching the girls so I could go! I got home in time to get the girls up to pick up Analise from school. Weds. was also our last night of Awana. That's for another post.

Look at that smile! Like her nice bruise in the middle of her head? That would be from the swingset post.

We love our tulips and wish they would last longer.

I love seeing Maisie content in her own little world.

Post nap hair...lovely.

The girls planted some flower seeds last week. Hopefully they blossom!

"The Song" at our house these days is "Our God" by Chris Tomlin. If you haven't heard it, check it out. We LOVE it! What makes it more special is hearing the girls sing along, "Our God is greater, our God is stronger. God you are higher than any other ....Our God is healer, awesome in power, Our God..." Sweet times.

A couple of funnies and then I need to get amovin'.

The other night at bed, Maisie announced, "I miss God." So we talked about how God is everywhere, all the time. Such a hard concept for a three year old, who wants to see Him. Analise pipes up from the top bunk, "Maisie, Jesus lives in my heart, so He goes everywhere I go." Good theology from the 6 y.o.

Analise got in the van after school and announced, "Mom, I went to the bathroom at school today!" That may be the second time all year. She just doesn't have to go while at school. She doesn't get her bladder from me!

Analise, "Mom, Maisie has a potato head earring in her mouth. She's pretending it's a turkey call, and it doesn't even make sound." How many mom's hear that from their girls? I told Maisie I liked her imagination, but not to stick at in that in her mouth. Can you tell it's turkey season around here?

Three Girls, One Outfit

When Analise was two, my sister gave her the cutest outfit. It was one of the outfits that actually worked for all three girls. They all looked so sweet in it. The only difference is that Sadie can't keep the pants up. :)

He is Risen

He is Risen indeed! I love Easter...the spring air, coloring eggs, and rejoicing over our Risen Savior! This year the girls understood more about the real meaning of Easter, and they loved the Resurrection Eggs. We would go through them at dinner and talk about the history. Here is Analise going through the eggs with her sisters.

Sunday morning was a typical busy morning. The girls didn't think about looking for their baskets, and I didn't remind them. :) After a great church service, we came home long enough for me to make cheesy potatoes. While I was in the kitchen, the girls found their baskets of goodies. Analise got Connect 4 and some gardening gloves and gum balls. Maisie got some new sunglasses, bubbles and gumballs. Sadie got bubbles and cookies. They were all excited. Well done, Easter Bunny, well done. We then headed over for the family Easter meal. It was delicious! The girls found their baskets from Grandma/pa outside. It was actually nice enough to be out there. Yeah! The girls in the backyard...

A Handsome dad and his delightful daughters

Look at all that estrogen!

Ages 6, 3, 2

We enjoyed time with family at lunch and then celebrating D's birthday. The girls had lots of fun and were sad when we had to leave. After we came home we finally colored eggs. I wanted to do it yesterday, but we ran out of time. The girls loved it! Analise was independent. Maisie needed a little help, and Sadie stayed patiently in her booster for me to help her. There was only one spill...and that came from me! The girls then played outside with their new goodies. The bubbles and new bubble mowers were a hit. I hid eggs in the backyard, and the girls had more fun looking for them. It was a great "family" moment -all three girls happy, enjoying life. As a mom, I savor those moments.

My prayer is that all three girls know Jesus as their Risen Savior!

April 3

Last Saturday was a fun and busy day. It was Brandon's birthday! The girls were excited to wish him a happy birthday, first thing in the morning. :) The girls and I went to our favorite donut place to get donuts. We gave Brandon 20 minutes at home with some peace and quiet. I know I would consider that a gift. :) After baths, family came over. S and the two younger boys and S and D came over so we could all walk to the park. The park close to us was where the Easter egg hunt was this year. It was a sunny, breezy day, and the kids were excited. Brandon was a good sport and went along. Sadie just hung out in the stroller and watched all the activity. Analise hunted with me, and Maisie hunted with Aunt S. It worked out well. They got plenty of candy! (We had also gone to an egg hunt at the mall the day before. Analise even picked an egg with a $5 gift card to Old Navy. :)) My favorite prizes were coupons for free mini pizzas from Papa Murphy's and free coupons for our local fun center.
After we walked back to the house, everyone hung out for awhile. The kids played out back, so the adults had some time for uninterrupted conversation.
After lunch and the kids were napping, I again had to run to the grocery for more ingredients. I had tried so hard to get everything I needed at one stop.
I spent the late afternoon getting supper ready. Thankfully I had made the chocolate chip cheesecake the night before. Brandon was a help because he played the Wii with the girls so I could work by myself in the kitchen while I made the cheesecake.
We all headed over to his parents for supper and gifts. I made Philly Cheese/Meat casserole, tator tots, homemade BBQ baked beans. His mom helped by making the bread and strawberry pretzel salad. I thought it all tasted yummy. Brandon enjoyed it, so that's the important thing.
We had a lot of fun being together with family. It was a bonus having S and D there, along with GG Muriel.

The girls with their 5 second turn with the bunny. :)

I've now celebrated 10 birthdays with him!

Sadie's celebration

So my pictures are out of order; no surprise there. We celebrated Sadie's birthday with the local family last weekend. Sadie loves bears, so I made a bear cake. See bottom picture...to "jazz" up the cake, I colored the batter and layered it like a rainbow. I was excited how it turned out. Thanks, L, for the idea and recipe! Here's what it looked like when bit into...

From the side...

The birthday girl(s)

My attempt of a bear

It was fun getting together and celebrating her special life. I made dinner- pasta, bread, salad, fruit, and maybe something else, but I am blanking on that. She got a Little People video, LP House, a water table to use outside this summer and money to put toward redoing her room.

While Sadie opened the gifts, we had quite a system going. Analise handed Sadie the gift, Sadie would open it and Maisie would take it to play with it. All three were happy! And when all three are happy, Mommy's happy. (Most of the time...)

Picture Memories

Family

Can you tell where Maisie's hand met bread?

Maisie can pump by HERSELF and loves to swing. Yeah!

Sadie loves to wear her "eyes."

Playing in the outlet....just kidding. Daddy did that with her blanket.

The girls are ready to help in the garden. Analise planted a couple of acorns and then moved them to another location so the oak tree wouldn't take up my entire garden. Isn't she throughtful?

This is what a room look like when you have blocks, trio blocks, books, balls, Mr. Potato Head pieces and more on the floor.

Vacation Thursday

Well, I've tried this post several times, and I've had nothing but trouble uploading pictures. Grr..
Anyway, on Thursday, my sister and brother in law came to town to visit. The guys went golfing, and the girls went bowling. Analise and Maisie were so excited. We practically had the place to ourselves. My sister beat us all. The girls tied. :) After bowling we went back to the house for lunch. My mom had told me ahead of time that she would take care of the girls so my sister and I could go for lunch and shop. Who could turn down that kind of offer? We went to Panera for lunch. I was craving their tomato soup bread bowl. Makes me hungry now just thinking about it.
After lunch we ran to Barnes and Nobles, Target and then Kohl's. I hit the jackpot at a couple of places. We wandered around Kohl's several times, but nothing was catching our eyes. We finally found some dresses to try on. First let me say that I enjoy shopping (preferably without kids :) but I have a hard time spending money on myself. On this trip I had some birthday and Christmas money, so I wasn't feeling so guilty. In fact, I wanted to spend it! It helped having my sister there to give her opinion. I found a dress that I fell in love with. I feel stylish ( a rare feeling for me) and I think it fits my frame well. It makes me want to go on a date with my husband just so I can wear a dress. Amazing, huh? In addition to the dress, I got a little sweater to go with it and some new black shoes. A shopper's high for sure. So uncharacteristic for me.
We got home right after the girls were up so we hung out and went for a walk. They left before supper. After dinner, my mom and I loaded up the girls for one more trip to the store. Crazy to leave at 7:00, but the things we do for love. I was determined to find a certain kind of shirt for Brandon's birthday. Thankfully the last store came through for me.

Friday both of my parents worked, so I was busy packing and loading up the van all morning. Thankfully the girls played well together. We ate lunch and hit the road. We drove two hours (where again NO one napped....). We got to the airport about 10 minutes before Brandon landed. Timing was perfect. The girls ran to him, gave him hugs, and I about cried. So good to be a family again. We traveled to the west side of Chicago where we had hotel reservations. We don't usually stop this early in the trip, but I was glad we did. We ate supper at Chili's and then went back to the hotel for the girls to swim. Maisie loves the "tiny pool"...aka the hot tub. In that case, I like the tiny pool, too. We were all tired and slept well.
We woke up to temps about 30 degrees colder than the day before. It was even snowing/sleeting. When we hit the Iowa border, we drove out of the storm and the roads were dry. PTL! However, all along the interstate we saw cars in the ditch. It made us very thankful we had stopped when we did last night.
The girls were awesome travelers. In fact, both girls took long naps. Amazing! It gave Brandon and I quite awhile to talk uninterrupted. Analise was listening to Adventures in Odyssey on my ipod.
We made a few stops, spent some time at a Bass Pro to stretch our legs and got home at 9:00. Girls were in their jammies, asleep, so they went straight to bed. I am SO thankful for a fun filled week with family, friends, good health and beautiful weather.