Hansel and Gretel Eat Right

The second grade had their school program early in March. The production of "Hansel and Gretel Eat Right" was so adorable. The music was catchy and I've even caught myself humming some of the songs on occasion. Her program fell during the time that Matt was in Tampa, but we had Mimi with us and survived taking the whole crew to the program. I look forward to the program night every year -- it's so fun to see her with her classmates and watch them perform!I'd thought ahead and brought the iPad for Harrison to play on. He sat happily with Mimi on the floor in the back and played throughout the entire program.Madeleine was dressed as a compost pile. The whole gist of the story was that Hansel and Gretel learn about healthy food and that sweets are not good for you. Madeleine's school gives every child either a solo or a speaking part and this year Madeleine had a speaking role.

Afterwards, the kids have fun taking picture together. This is Madeleine with most of her girls that she plays with every day -- her best friends. They are all sweet girls and I'm so thankful that she's surrounded herself with such great friends.
This is Madeleine with her teacher, Mrs. L. We had to get a picture, since she won't be her on the last day of school because she's getting ready to have a baby. I'm already sad knowing that Harrison won't have her in 2nd grade since this is her last year to teach.

Growing Up

I have been avoiding thinking about this day for weeks now. It's been marked on our calendar,

March 29th, Kindergarten Registration

And, I've been dreading it. It means that he's really going to go to school this fall. Our life as it's been for the past 3 years will, once again, change. And, I know this change is going to tug hard at my heart. The funny thing is, that for the last several months, Harrison has been completely and utterly disinterest in going to school. He has gone as far as telling me that he's just not going to go. But, today at the exact moment that I finished filling at the paperwork, signed the last form, he looked up from the book he was reading and announce in his typical loud voice,

"Mommy, I've changed my mind. I AM going to kindergarten. And, it's going to be FUN."

Springtime in our Home

I've been doing some decorating this week to get ready for spring and Easter. First, I made a new egg wreath for the front door and I think it turned out pretty cute -- especially since it cost me under $10. I tried something new on the dining room table and made this Easter tree.

I am always so ready for spring to arrive and it seems to have gotten here early this year! Now if this rain would just go away.

SB2012 {Part 1} Branson Bound

We started off our Spring Break with a BANG and packed up and headed to Branson.

It was a crazy Friday getting ready -- Madeleine wasn't feeling good that morning and I kept her home to try and get her better before we left. We desperately needed to get away for a weekend and have some fun. Matt went into work early and was able to leave early so we actually made it to Branson by 7:00ish. The kids did great on the drive and we were all starving by the time we arrived. Our first stop was Fuddruckers for dinner, which we all devoured. Charlotte ate an entire hot dog and Harrison chowed down an entire burger. We followed this with some Coldstone for dessert. Yum! Quite a way to begin the vacation.

After that we headed to the hotel to check in and get settled. By this time it was late, so we got everyone bathed and tucked in for the night. If only our night and stopped there. Around 2am we heard Charlotte do the fateful "cough" and both Matt and I jumped out of bed just as she stared throwing up in her pack & play. Ugg. We got her cleaned up and gave her a bath. I think we were both praying that it was just the drive, the late (big) dinner and the ice cream. We settled her down into the bed with us since her sheet was destroyed. The next hour was nuts.

Me: Charlotte lay down.

Charlotte (laying head down): Okay.

~ 1 minute later head pops up~

Matt: Charlotte lay down.

Charlotte (laying head down): Okay.

Repeat 60 times.

Then, after about an hour, she threw up again. Seriously at this point, I was thinking we'd be heading home in the morning and our vacation would be a big ol' bust. Finally, after cleaning up Charlotte again, trying to clean up our bed and get her back to sleep in there, we just put towels in the pack & play and put her down in there. Thankfully, she went right to sleep & even more thankfully, throughout all this her night-nights stayed clean. :)

Unbelievably enough, Harrison slept though the entire ordeal. Madeleine was up for part of it, but went right back to sleep. And, we all slept until 10am the next morning! Charlotte seemed better when she woke up. I think she either had a bad hot dog or just too much excitement that night. Whatever it was, she was fine in the morning.

We hit the pool that morning first thing. I didn't take any pics of our pool time, but we had a great time! Matt and I both cringed every time Charlotte coughed in there (ha!) but she was ok. After swimming, we cleaned up and headed for a late breakfast. (I promise we were having fun, it just doesn't look like it!).

Our next stop was the outlet mall, not so fun for the kids, but needed. This warm weather means that the kids needed new spring clothes asap! I had a good plan and got most of the shopping done in record time and the many, many quarters kept the kids happily riding almost every ride while they waited. We also made a trip to the Disney store and they each picked out a new toy. :) That place is a little piece of heaven for these kids.

Once the shopping was finished, it was time for fun! We had an early dinner at Chilis -- actually, Matt and the big kids had dinner. Charlotte & I walked laps around the parking lot. She was just not into sitting at dinner that night and I wasn't up for a fight. :)

After dinner, the first thing they wanted to do was go play putt-putt at Pirate Cove.

Matt & I took turns playing and watching Charlotte, but by the 13th hole, she was done. So, Matt finished playing and Charlotte and I chilled out in the car and watched some Praise Baby.

I think the rough night before and lack of a nap were starting to get to Charlotte, but we decided to do one more fun thing. They really wanted to ride the bumper boats, so that's what we did!

Charlotte was quite happy to watch from the sidelines with me.

We ended our night with ice cream and more swimming. We had some very tired kids by 10pm that night! But, we'd had such a fun day! And, the weather was absolutely perfect -- sunny and not at all hot!

Sunday morning we did more swimming and had donuts before heading back to the mall for one more thing. That morning, while Madeleine was trying on clothes with me she told me how much she loved shopping and buying new clothes. Looks like I've got a new shopping partner. It was a quick stop, thankfully.

Then we did more putt-putt at Dinosaur Canyon. This one has a HUGE volcano that erupts fire every so often and it scared Charlotte every time!

This time she was quite content to be held because of that volcano. We will definitely be doing this one again! Ha! We kept score on this one and, amazingly, in between a bunch of 6 and 7s, Harrison got a hole in one! And, Madeleine scored well and got a hole in one too!

We ended our trip by trying out a new place to eat that was so yummy. Then we got some ice cream to go -- mint oreo concrete was our new discovery. Sooo yummy!

We headed home late afternoon, happy and tired. I could have stayed another day, but with all the rain coming it seemed silly to stay. It was a great vacation -- we shopped, ate, swam, played putt-putt and bumper boats and had fun together! We just did what the kids wanted mostly and had some lazy time too. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed a lot of time outside. A wonderful way to start our Spring Break!

Charlotte at 2

Oh my, sweet Charlotte, at 2 years old you are a mess! Just when I thought I had this parenting thing all figured out, you turned 2 and reminded me that I, in fact, do not have all the answers. You are sweet and sassy. You are full of energy and stubborness. When we went for your 2 year checkup, Dr. D even remarked to me "she's a pistol, isn't see." That's right.

But, at the same time, you are so fun. You have so much personality wrapped up into one small little person. You love your bubba and sissy. You try and do everything they do. And, generally, they are so patient with you. Lately, bubba has started to tuck you in at naptime. And, the crazy part is that you lay down and go right to sleep when he does this. You raise your head and yell "night night bubba" as we leave and then you are off to dreamland. You are still an amazing sleeper! I guess it takes a lot of sleep to keep your energy level so high. :) You take a paci at naptime/bedtime and you have to have your "night-night" (blankie") too. You rub your blankie on you face by the paci and drift off. Lately you have started calling your paci a "farfle" and I have no idea where that came from!

You copy everything we do and you can say almost anything now. Just a few weeks ago, I was worried that you weren't talking enough -- at your checkup on Feb. 1st you only said a couple of 2 word sentences and now you talk in sentences all the time! And, yes, you talk all the time! I bet you say "mommy" at least 500 times a day -- no kidding!

You are a climber! And, if you can't climb to get what you want, you'll find something to stand on to get you there. We recently found you sitting on the kitchen counter playing with my phone that was charging. That almost gave me a heart attack!

You are quite a girlie-girl. You don't like dirt/sand/grass. You love to wear high heels and necklaces and have discovered sunglasses. I often find you in my closet playing with my heels and purses. You loves purses. And your prissy walk when you are carrying a purse makes me laugh every time!

You are still a good eater. You like most everything we give you, except green beans. Your favorite foods are yogurt, cheese, applesauce, strawberries, blueberries, apples, oranges, turkey, hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken and carrots. You've started eating salad lately too. And, you have discovered ice cream -- no more days of us going out to get ice cream and not getting you some. You also love chips and queso and salsa. You are not a milk drinker and we've tried all different way to get you to like it -- but thankfully, you get plenty of dairy other ways. You've also discovered ice and I buy sonic ice and you nibble on it a lot -- I think you are getting your 2 year molars ( you keep saying "hurt mouth") and it helps your mouth feel better.

You love babies and have one special baby that goes with us everywhere. We are quite a sight when we get out now -- you always have your paci, night-night and baby with you. The baby that you love the most was Madeleine's baby and you love to rock and sing to it. I've even seen you with the wipes and a diaper "changing" baby. You are such a little mommy! It's fun to see you like this because Madeleine was never into babies a lot.

You like to get dressed every day. You've even started to have an opinion about what you wear. Yikes! And, you always wear shoes-- even when we are at home.

You like to read still. I can put you in your crib with some books and you will entertain yourself for 15 minutes by reading -- although you've started to tear books. When I ask what happened you tell me "me do it!" so proudly.

You have started to get a little more interested in TV lately and you like Dora and Elmo. You like the same 2 Dora episodes and will watch them over and over. You also will watch Praise Baby dvds.

You like bathtime. Harrison has an alligator in the tub that he plays with and the first thing you do when you get in the tub is throw that thing out! I've found it half way down the hall where you've tossed it. :) I don't blame you for not wanting to take a bath with it. You love to play with cups and spoons in the tub and make such a mess! You've learned to say "sorry" and it is so sweet. Melts my heart every time!

You had a pretty rough few weeks awhile back. You were into everything and were such a mess when we went anywhere. Thankfully, you are doing better and we are getting out more.

Some of my favorite things you say right now:

* You will tell me when your food it hot that "it cool off." One morning I was cautioning you to stay away from my hair straightener because it was hot and you kept telling me "it cool off."

*You will say in the car "roll call: sissy, Harrison, mommy, daddy, charlotte." Daddy does this sometimes and you've started to copy him. You do it over and over and over.

* You say " I love you mommy" at night.

*You have to know every day where everyone is -- Daddy at work, sissy at school, bubba at home.

*You call yourself Char-char and it's catching on. Madeleine calls you that a lot now.

You love Bible class, especially Mrs. Leslee that's been teaching your class a lot lately. You like to sing Jesus Loves Me and Bible Words. You laugh at me when I sing Jesus Loves the Little Children. :) You also like Oh Be Careful Little Eyes, Ears, Feet, etc. You will open your Bible and say "Jesus loves Char-Char."

You love markers, toothbrushes and the kids leapsters. You help me with the laundry and turn on the dryer. You are a phone swiper and can turn on the iPad and get into games. Grab and run is your favorite game -- especially with Harrison's toys. :) You love FaceTime on the iPad and will push everyone out of the way so you can be centerstage on there. You want to "go" all the time.

I love each day with you. You are such fun to watch as you grow and change. You have a family that just adores you and you have the confidence that comes with that. Our life is so wonderful because we have you!

Fun With Friends

I am way behind on my blogging again. It seems we have been so busy lately and a big part of that has been playing with our friends. I'm trying to get in lots of playdates before Harrison starts kindergarten in the fall!

Last week we met up with our friends Mrs. Sarah and Mary Mack at the park for some playtime one morning. I managed to snap only 2 pictures (and only of Harrison -- shame on me) before we got busy gabbing and chasing after kids. :) Harrison had brought his gun that morning and was happily trying to take out all the other kids at the park.

One Friday last month, we met up with our besties -- the other W family -- for a fabulous friday morning walking the Crystal Bridges trail. But, before that we fueled up at Krispy Kreme! I love this picture of Harrison in between his best friend (Drew) and his role model (Adam).

I had actually forgotten until that morning that Adam was off from school that day, which made the day actually perfect for Harrison. :) He loves those boys!

The trail was amazing! It was the perfect play to spend several hours with little boys. They biked/scootered and we stopped along the way to let them explore. They were filthy dirty, wet, and smelly when we finished, but they were also o-so-happy! I can't wait to go back!

Charlotte was along for the trip as well. :) She had a blast keeping up with all those boys!

We shared another morning with them at the library and were joined by Brooklyn and Mallory for some more fun!

Then we headed over to the park next door and met up with Mandy and Mason to make it even more fun! The boys had a blast playing in the big sandbox! I think Harrison could spend an entire day there. :)

I think we are extremely blessed to have such wonderful friends and I love seeing the bond our kids are growing with each other. I know that not everyone has this kind of mommy-support group, and I am so thankful for these girls!