TGIFridays

As previously posted, we had a lot to celebrate as this school year comes to a close.  We decided to celebrate it all at once with dinner out together as a family at TGIFridays.  (Kids eat free Monday-Thursday, so that's a definite bonus.)  It's rare that we all go out to eat, for what I think are obvious reasons--its expensive and exhausting.  But this was a splurge and it was oh-so fun.

If Elise were just a teensy bit taller, you'd be able to see that she's giving her Dad bunny ears.  Now where do you think she'd get a silly idea like that? :)

What a cute girl!!!  She was waiting for her potato skins, her favorite meal from TGIFridays.  (Although she informed us that next time she'll be getting a steak.  Her Daddy better look out. ;))

Ian had a lot to celebrate, completing a super Kindergarten year, being a great baseball player and just all around being a good kid.

What a silly girl!  She loved going out to a restaurant with the family.  So much so that I think she was a little hyper.  Can you get that from the picture? :)

Paige was not happy about being buckled into a high chair or waiting on her food.  She got restless and impatient (i.e. she cried and screamed loudly).  Thankfully, the music was loud.

It turned out this is the night the balloon man works at TGIFridays and he stopped by our table and made cute things for the kids.  Here is Paige's teddy bear.

Our favorite story of the night came from Merry Grace.  The balloon guy came by and asked, "What would you like?  I can make a unicorn, a teddy bear, a flower..."  Merry Grace said she would like a fish.  "A fish?", the balloon man questioned.  "Ok.  So what color would you like your fish to be?"  "Black," said Merry Grace firmly.  "A black fish."  So a black fish is what she got. He did one better, though, and made a fishing pole to go along with her little fishy.  We teased her just a little that out of all the girly things she could have gotten or all the bright colors she could have chosen, she picked a black fish.  She responded, "What?  I like fishies.  And black is a nice color."  You can't argue with that!

Ian got a cool motorcycle that doubles as a hat.  He was thrilled.

For Elise, he made a cute froggy with its tongue out.  He even drew a fly on the end of the frog's tongue.

We were all suitably impressed with the balloon guy.  He was definitely the best one we've ever seen.  Getting the balloons was just the icing on the cake.  What a great evening we had together and how much we had to celebrate.  Congratulations, kids on a successful school year and on just being great kids.  We think you're the greatest!!!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Friday would have been Cory's dad's 71st birthday.  It was also the first birthday we had to celebrate long distance.  Boy, we sure do miss him! And days like birthdays are poignant reminders that we are here and he is not.  We had the perfect celebration in his honor, though.  One thing he loved was baseball, so we all got together and spent Friday night cheering on the local baseball team.  It was the perfect come-from-behind win, filled with good ballpark food and great company.

There was even a fireworks display at the end of the night which we all felt rivaled or surpassed the Fourth of July celebrations we've attended.  We finished the evening off by singing "Happy Birthday" to Russell (Pa, Grandy, Grandaddy, or Dad) and had yummy slices of ice cream cake.  I think he was happy knowing we were all together and remembering happy times with him.

There sure were a lot of cute smiling faces that night.  I know he is proud of these sweet grandkids.  They sure are the best bunch of kids I've ever seen.

Some of the troop enjoying the game.  When they scored those few runs to pull ahead we cheered like crazy. We said Pa must have given them an extra push--our own personal "angel in the outfield."

My favorite picture of the night.  I just want to hug them both every time I look at it.  Its lucky I got this picture, as many times as Cory had to run back and forth to the concession stand.  He told the kids ahead of time that this was a birthday party and we were going to treat it as such.  How lucky my kids are to have a Daddy who just makes everything more fun.

I think we celebrated wonderfully.  We sure miss Russell, but are so grateful for eternal families and for the wonderful family we are part of here on earth.  We feel blessed and thankful.

Sittin' on the Front Porch

Have ever mentioned how much I love my front porch?  Well, I do.  It may be my very favorite thing about the whole house.

I've always loved sitting in the rocking chairs, eating lunch out there, letting the kids write with chalk and about 200 other things it would take too long to list.  Our porch has a new addition this year--a porch swing.  I've only wanted a porch swing ever since we moved into the house and asked for it at every opportunity.  And this year, for Mother's Day, I got it.  And I love it every bit as much as I thought I would.  I love it, love it, love it. :)

Naturally, the best part about the porch swing are these two cuties sitting in it.  I love that Merry Grace is posing in every picture, and Paige is doing her best to copy her.  It makes me laugh.

Another thing I love about our porch are the flowers.  Every year I let the kids paint a pot for our flowers.  This year we got one really big pot and the kids each painted a section.  They did so great. :)  They're cute and sentimental.  Poor Elise did have the section next to Paige's, which caused her some grief, since Paige doesn't exactly understand about staying inside the lines yet. 

Another reason to love our porch is this cute little bird's nest, built on the top of our wreath--and four cute little eggs inside it.  We love keeping tabs on the mama bird and her eggs.  So far I don't think we've scared her off. 

So there's my porch.  Now that I think about it, maybe I'll go out there and sit for a minute. *Happy Sigh.* :)

Pen and Ink

My Paigie-girl has a problem.  A problem with pens.  And ink. And markers, crayons, chalk, window markers, dry erase markers, pencils, colored pencils, lipstick, eyeliner and anything else that vaguely resembles a writing utensil.  She's written on the ottoman, the mousepad, her forehead, the bathtub, several important papers, her legs, Merry Grace's cheeks, the tile floor, the bathroom floor and probably a couple of other places I haven't discovered yet.  Part of me wants to throw my head back and let out one really good, really loud scream.  The other part of me wants to hang my head in defeat and realize I have met my match and my house will be ruined by this cute little almost 2-year old imp.  I think my best bet is to stock up on magic erasers and cleaning products.

I think I'm just going to spend a lot of time visualizing this cute little face, puckered up to give me a kiss.  I'm hoping that will help me block out the overwhelming number of things that are now covered in ink. :)

Watch out, Dasher

We had to run several errands today and were in the car for longer than usual.  Merry Grace had Christmas on her mind.  We sang "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" over and over.  I guess the songs led to her thinking about reindeer and such, and so we had the following conversation:

Merry Grace: (pleading)  "Mommy, can we please keep one of Santa's reindeer?"
Me: (puzzled and intrigued) "Keep one of Santa's reindeer?  I don't think so sweetie.  How would Santa fly his sleigh?
Merry Grace: (stating the obvious) "Not all of Santa's reindeer.  Just one.  You know, only one."
Me: "Well, where would we keep him?"
Merry Grace: (having already thought this through) "We could go to the store and get a cage and keep him in that and not let him out.  If we let him out, he would fly away, so we couldn't let him get out."
Me: (realizing there was quite a bit more thought involved than I previously thought) "Well, what would we feed him?"
Merry Grace: "I think we could just feed him dog food and kitty food.  Or maybe cereal and milk.  Or chocolate chip cookies and carrots with ranch dressing.  I think he would like that."

So, watch out, Dasher.  There is a nefarious plot in place to trap you in a cage in our yard.  I would recommend staying on the roof, no matter how appealing the carrots and cookies in the back yard look.

Tis the Season...

...for recitals. :)  All the extra curriculars are coming to an end.  We're down to two baseball and two softball games (although if it weren't for the rain, we'd be finished there too.)  We've also had a dance recital, a piano recital, EOGs, a kindergarten musical performance and a partridge in a pear tree.   We've had lots of fun with all our activities, but we're all ready for the summer break.  Here are just a few of the things we've been celebrating over the last few weeks...

Elise, looking lovely, before her piano recital.  She played "Puff the Magic Dragon" and did so beautifully.  She got to play it again at church for her FIGS activity.  

My three little girls.  Elise and Merry Grace were all dressed up for their dance recitals. (Paige just tagged along for the pictures.  I mean, don't people always want to take pictures of her?) Elise was in a tap number where she danced to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."  She did great and her class was totally in sync.   Merry Grace was in a tap routine (in the above outfit) where her class danced to "Splish Splash".  It was just too adorable.  She also had a ballet number to "Garden Song" which had me tearing up every time I saw it.  (Okay, okay.  So I got a little teary-eyed at every song!!!  But I can't help it! :))  They also danced the group dance at the end, which was "Ice cream Freeze".  The whole thing was so well-done and the girls did great!!! After ranting and raving about the gaudiness of the make-up on the other girls at the dress rehearsal, I succumbed and had my girls all dolled up too.  They LOVED it, though. :)

It was nearly impossible to get a good picture of Ian at his kindergarten performance, but he surely was the cutest kid there by a mile.  I knew he was singing at school that night, per the letters home from his music teacher, but I had no idea the sheer volume of songs they'd be singing.  It was awesome and the kids did so great with knowing the words and actions to the songs.  I was super impressed.  He'd come home from school that afternoon telling me he needed to "wear something that made him feel special."  He was stumped, though.  "I have no idea what that would be!", he said.  Ah, the difference between boys and girls. :)  He settled on a polo shirt and khaki shorts that did, indeed, make him look handsome.  We clapped and cheered him along through all the songs and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.  (And yes, I got teary eyed again.:))

And here is a video I made of him singing one of his songs at home the afternoon before the performance.  I told him I wanted to keep it forever so I could watch it when he was grown up and remember what a cute little boy he was. (As if I could forget!!!) :)

Get ready, Summer!!!  Here we come!!!!

Cuteness

When you're this cute first thing in the morning, chances are, its going to be a good day. :)

Although, looks can be deceiving.  After breakfast she scavenged a doughnut from somewhere and crumbled it up in my unmade bed while I mopped the floors.  Then later she wrote all over the white leather chair and ottoman with an orange fabric marker.  I took it away, but didn't put it up high enough and while I cleaned the chair, she wrote on her arm, the window sill and my brother Xbox.  (YIKES!!!)  Fortunately it came off of everything pretty well except her arm.  She sure can get into a lot of messes for such a cute kid.  I actually think its the cuteness that saves her.

NINE

Did you know that I'm the mom to a 9-year old?  WHAT?!  Elise was turning 9 a week before I was turning 30 and I had several people ask me if I was having a hard time with turning 30.  My response was, "No, I think I'm having a much harder time with Elise turning 9!!!"

Nine is the last single digit number.  Nine is also halfway to 18, which, if the first nine years are any indicator, is just around the corner.  How on earth does this happen so fast?  I feel like I barely get used to the eight's when nine sneaks up on me out of nowhere.

But just like turning 30, it doesn't really matter if you have a problem with it or not, its happening anyway.  So we celebrated like crazy.  We decorated the house with crepe paper and balloons.  Cory ate lunch with Elise at school.  We fixed her an awesome birthday dinner (her choice) of chicken, rice, garlic green beans (her favorite), corn on the cob (her other favorite), homemade rolls, and apple pie for dessert.  Her Grandma, and Aunt Lois and Uncle Ethan came and ate with us.  She got some neat presents that she's been asking for and then the next night we had a birthday sleepover with her cousins.  We made some fun crafts, ate some good food, played some fun games and finally at 11:00pm blew out candles on the apple pie.


It sure was a lot of fun for us.  All of it!

So Happy Birthday to the cutest 9-year old I know.  Bar none.

But would you pretty please try and explain to me why you're not still this size?

Mother's Day

A couple of weeks ago my Grandma had a few health problems.  She started having some memory issues and she took a nasty fall.  I'm not sure if we know which part happened first.  Its a little bit like the famous "chicken or the egg" question.  I'd talked to my mom about this several times over that first week, but nothing prepared me for a phone conversation I had with her one night.  I wasn't sure things would ever be the same or even close the same again.  So Mother's Day weekend, we made the trip up to see her.  To my surprise, relief and gratitude, Grandma was much improved.  We got to spend lots of time just visiting with her and enjoying our time together.  What a blessing.

 Somehow, even that sentence seems like such an understatement.  I guess most everyone loves their grandmother.  It's just hard for me to imagine that anyone loves their grandma more than I do mine. :)  My mom always says that if we were all on a sinking boat and grandma only had one life preserver, I would be the one to get it.  I can't even begin to list all the fun times I've shared with that sweet gal.

Which brings me to the part about Mother's Day.  Most of the time on Mother's Day, I'm focused on getting spoiled by my family.  I look forward to "My Day" and what I'll get.  This Mother's Day was a lot different.  On Saturday night after visiting late at Grandma's, we came up with a plan.  We'd hoped that Grandma would feel well enough to come to church with us that morning so we could all be together for Mother's Day.  But she just wasn't feeling up to it and was still having trouble getting around.  Somehow, all going to church and leaving her just didn't seem like the right thing to do.  So we decided that maybe she'd appreciate us helping her clean her house.  At her age (89!!!!) even when she's in the best health, its hard to give your house a deep clean, not to mention when you've had some challenges.  So that's what we did.

All my siblings, our spouses and children all came in and got to town.  It took Grandma a little bit to get into the spirit saying, "Do you reckon we ought to be doing this on Sunday?" or "I just think this is going to be too much work for you to do."  But somewhere between Lois scrubbing the kitchen counters and Logan vacuuming the cobwebs out of the corners, she caught the vision and pretty soon she was handing out cleaning suggestions and saying, "I wish I'd have known you were doing this.  I could have made a list."  By lunch time we had things in ship shape.  Grandma bragged and bragged about the work we did and how much it meant to her.  But what she may not have known is how much it meant to me.  What she gave me was one of the best Mother's Days I can ever remember.  And not once did I ever think about myself.  I think there may be a connection there.

Grandma and Merry Grace sitting on the couch.  Two cute girls. :)

My New Favorite Food Blog

I have a new favorite food blog.  Its titled "The Girl Who Ate Everything" which had me going from the start.  When I heard about it I thought, "Now that's the kind of girl I am."  Here's what I love about this blog:

1. She cooks the kind of foods I like to eat
2. She has wonderful instructions about how to cook the recipes, including side notes about adjustments she made or alterations you could make to the recipe.
3. Most of the recipes are pretty easy, not a huge time commitment or too many steps.  And if they are a lot of work, she tells you that up front and it will TOTALLY be worth the effort.

I made THIS recipe last night and I'm pretty sure I'm in love.  It was like eating little bites of heaven. :)  So check her out.  I hope you love her recipes as much as I do.

***Disclaimer:  The recipes are not necessarily low-fat.  They are just plain good.  Did I mention this gal is my kind of girl? :)

Raindrops keep falling on my head

One day this past week it was raining when I brought the kids home from school.   Apparently it was the perfect day to play in the rain.  

Elise took Paige out in the rain.  Paige was a little confused by why she was getting wet, but quickly caught onto the fun of being out there.

Running. :)

Does this count as dancing in the rain?

I think so. :)

Paige discovers a puddle.

More running. :)

This is the game they call "Taking a Shower".  Someone stands under the tree while another person shakes the branch.  Elise seemed to spend more time as the shaker.  Hmmm.... :)

Paige discovers her hands are wet.  Little ones are so cute making all kinds of discoveries about themselves and this world they live in.

Ian was playing too, but he was around the corner of the house getting himself soaked in a puddle.  And I mean soaked.  So I barely got any pictures of him and the ones I did were blurry.  But he was there, having just as much fun as the girls.  How fun it is to be a kid!!!

Not My Fortune

As stated in the previous post, Elise likes to make "fortune tellers".  The fortunes she comes up with are hilarious.  I thought I'd post some.

   *You will kiss a bull
   *You will marry a slimy, green alien
   *Someone will pee on your head
   *You will eat a giraffe
   *You will never be smart and be a dork
   *You will get married in a haunted mansion
   *You will never get out of pre-school
   *You will eat diaper rash ointment for the rest of your life
   *You will have 100,000 kids at the same time
   *You will marry a pop can

So take your pick.  I mean, who wouldn't want one of those things to come true?

Fortune Teller

While waiting in the carpool line, Merry Grace got out some of Elise's "fortune tellers" that she's made.  The ones that look like this:

After choosing the colors and numbers, I read what I'd chosen: "You will marry a slimy green alien."  While Merry Grace burst into giggles, I, very dramatically, said, "Oh no."  Merry Grace got very serious and told me, "Yeah, but you won't really.  It's just pretend."  Whew.  Thank goodness.  I had just been wondering how I would break the news to Cory. ;)  The next time I chose one that said I would have 100,000 kids at the same time.  Merry Grace thought that was hilarious too.  Then I got one that said, "You will not be smart and will always be a big dork."  Merry Grace just shook her head and said, "How dare Elise.  How dare she!"  I think Elise may have rigged her fortune tellers.  I wonder why I never got one that said I would be charming, lovely or rich....

I've Got My Eyes On You!

That boy is at it again.  Last night I decided it was time both Ian and Cory got haircuts.  I've been cutting Cory's hair for years (ever since we survived the first attempt that will live in infamy) and Ian's too, since he was just a little thing.  So last night I got the clippers out and told Ian to get ready.  It took a few minutes to wrap up what I was working on and when I went to get the clippers off the chair where I had put them, they were gone.  I racked my brain, trying to remember where else I might have put them.  Cory and I scoured the house, looking for any place they could be.  This was where I started getting suspicious.  They were absolutely no where to be found.  I asked Ian if he had moved them or hidden them (remember the back pack) and he assured me he had not.  He looked guilty to me, but I surely couldn't prove he had done something with the clippers, especially since my mind seems to be MIA about half the time.  I gave him one last chance, though.  "Ian," I told him, "If you did something with the clippers, I'm going to give you one more chance to tell me where they are without getting into trouble.  If you are honest with me, you will not get in trouble.  But if I find out you did something with them later, you will be in big trouble.  And I will find out."  He still stuck to his story and without clippers, both he and Cory went to bed without hair cuts.  Well, guess what I found today lying on the floor of the closet, tucked under a basket?  The clippers.  So tonight I said to Ian, "I found the clippers today.  I'll give you one guess where I found them."  He thought for a minute and then said, "In the sun room?"  "Nope," I answered.  "Guess again."  So he named off the hall closet, his bedroom and downstairs.  Finally I told him, "Wrong, wrong and wrong.  I found them exactly where you hid them."  His face took on this mischievous look and he wrinkled his nose.  "Oh man!!!  In the computer closet.  I know, I hid them there so I wouldn't have to get a haircut."  Ah ha.  And there you have it.  The mystery was solved.  And guess what Ian got today.  You got it--a hair cut and a punishment.  I suspect this may not be the last conversation we have about this.  Funny kids. :)

Fake Ball Game

Not too long ago we were at the park with the kids and Emmy.  We were there for softball practice, but had gotten there early so the kids could play on the playground.  Instead, they decided to have a softball game.

They only had 5 kids (one of them being a toddler, younger than 2) a couple of gloves and a bat.  But they managed to take turns so that they had batters, fielders and even base coaches.  It was so fun to watch them putting into practice the things they are learning in softball, but also to see them use their imaginations.  And it definitely took some imagination, especially considering they didn't even have a ball until almost time to leave.

As you know, every team must have a few last minute words with the coach before getting into game positions.

And you need to make sure you've got plenty of team spirit.

Merry Grace started out fielding the ball...

And, like almost every t-baller to ever play the game, quickly resorted to playing in the sand.

Ian made sure home plate was cleared off before he took his turn at bat.

I guess clearing off the base did the trick!

Emmy was ready to tag anyone who came her way.

Merry Grace made sure Paige felt included in the game too.  What sweet sisters!

Although Paige's biggest concern was making sure her shorts didn't fall off.  She just wasn't quite big enough for her britches. :)

Paige is really too small to hold the bat.  Well, I guess she can hold it, but forget trying to pick it up to bat.  I'm pretty sure it weighs more than she does. ;)

But lucky for her, she has a wonderful Daddy, who helped her hold the bat.  She got a pretty good hit off of it.  Too bad she ran to third instead of first. :)

And if that wasn't enough action for you...here is a video of a couple of hits.  I'm pretty sure these are the cutest kids in the world.