Local Favorites

We found a local park we love, not too far from the house. First stop, upon arrival is feeding the ducks and geese at the pond. When we run out of bread, we head up the hill to play on the playground. Soon, we will have to bring bikes, to ride the trails around the area. On the way home, we like to stop at a hometown favorite, hole-in-the-wall, ice cream shop, called Whippy-Dip, that just opened for the season. Making new traditions, that's one of the up-sides of moving!

Storytime

For Maggie that is. She was sweet to be an attentive listener while Gracyn read her a few stories.

Slime Time

Addison's school does a great fundraiser each year, which is a reading challenge for the kids. All the students are asked to get pledges from friends and family and commit to reading 100 books in a week! If they get the books read and can collect $75 in donations, at the end of the week, they win the super-cool, light-up, green sunglasses, a matching wand, an ice-cream party and the chance to SLIME their principal!!! Addison was all over this little project. She called up the grandparents and aunts and uncles and secured her $75 and then we set in on the reading. Let me tell you, 100 books in 7 days is no small task! We are BIG readers around here and it was still tough. But, we got it done. She LOVED slime day. You can see her, in the picture her teacher sent me. She is in the tie-dye spirit day shirt, dumping her cup of slime on his head. What a fun way to raise over $20,000 for the school, while encouraging the kids to read and having a good time!

Karate Tournament 2011

The girls are loving their karate class, and today was their first tournament. They have been working hard to get to this point, practicing their forms and sparring. Addison rarely lets someone get a point on her when they are practicing in class. And Reagan, despite being 2 years younger than the rest of the class, almost always wins her matches. Tommy has ALWAYS wrestled with them nightly, but lately they have stepped it up to some serious training. It paid off today!

This is the whole kinder-karate group.

Addison doing her forms for the judges. They do 10 each of their kicks, blocks and punches while counting in Japanese. She scored a little over 17 total points.
She did great.

Little Reagie chose to do her kata instead of forms, like EVERY other kid. I love that she isn't persuaded by what everyone else is doing. I don't even know exactly what kata is, but it is a routine of kicks and punches that she is learning. It is MUCH harder than forms, but she did a great job. She scored 15.4.

Here is Addison sparring. She scored 8 points and didn't let the other poor girl score a single point on her. The girl is a GOOD blocker!!!

Addison is coming out with a punch.

I got the score board as she was exciting the mats. Red 8 Blue 0.

Now we have Reagan in the red, sparring a 6 year old girl. She holds her own, despite the 2 year age difference. Reagan's Sensei calls her "Tiger Woman". She laughs at her in class every week and always says, "These tiny little scrappy ones always surprise me!". Reagan didn't disappoint today. She won her match 8 to 5.

Reagan scored her 8th point with a swift, hard kick.

At the end of the tournament Sensei geared Reagan up again. They had 2 four-year old girls matched up, but one began to cry and backed out of the tournament. They brought Reagan in to replace her. But, Sensei told Reagan before they sparred to take it easy on this 2nd opponent, that she was only 4. I will have to find out in class on Tuesday, how old Sensei thinks Reagan is. Reagan did take it easy on the girl and only beat her 7 to 5. She really was only 1/2 fighting, I am not sure she knew exactly how to take the "go easy" instruction. This next picture makes me laugh, even though it is all blurry!!! After they score a point, the kids go back to their starting positions to go again. Reagan literally JUMPS back to her spot each time....she is ready to go!

Here is Reagan watching the ref to see if she had scored.

It is all blurry, but here is a little group of kindies with their trophies!

My 2 little ninjas and their sidekick.

Proud Reagan, Proud Daddy!

Right Now

~She is a sponge....soaking up reading, the bible, math.....anything and everything.

~She is my HGTV buddy....loves to watch House Hunters with me.

~She is super-organized! I never knew how Type-A she was until she had her own room.

~Organizing has become a hobby. Her bookshelves have a system.

~She is so compassionate and loves little kids. She spends all her time at the gym, taking care of whichever small child is crying for their mom. She should seriously be on their payroll.

~She is bossy!

~She is athletic, rarely looses a point when sparring in karate, scores goals at soccer, is a great swimmer, and flips with no hands on the trampoline.

~She loves animals of all kinds.

~She is very responsible and does what is expected of her on her own. She manages her own chore chart, I don't even have to remind her of it.

~She is crazy brave.....rides every roller coaster she can get on!

~She is our most dramatic.

~She is funny and carefree.
~She climbs into bed with us in the middle of the night once or twice a week. She is my snuggler.
~She is messy and can't usually find the things she is looking for.
~She loves babies and taking care of them.
~She is Gracyn's buddy lately.
~She loves to go on errands with us. Tommy or I, anywhere, she just likes to ride along.
~She has no use for a chore chart, or any prize I might give her for completing said chart.
~She loves her school and Mrs. Megan.
~She is brave and rides all the rides she is tall enough for.
~She is learning to swim and holds her own in a karate class full of much older kids.
~She doesn't let things bother her. She is my optimist.
~She loves her bible. She brings it to us every night and tells us it is the most important book.
~She loves to play her music in her room.
~She can work the iphone better than I can.
~She is SMART and picks up things very quickly.
~She is a skinny minny.....She may be in dresses all summer, because I can't keep anything on her waist.
~She thinks breaking rules is only a problem if you get caught!

~She is a treasure hunter. We have no idea where she finds the stuff, but she comes home daily with pockets full of anything small and sparkly....sequins, jewels, paint-ball pellets. You name it, she will find it.

~She is a mess....a funny, emotional, sassy mess. (Aren't all 2 year olds)

~She is potty trained....when she wants to be.

~She has the sweetest voice.

~She says the best prayers.

~She loves to sing....Jesus loves Me, Granny's Song (Amazing Grace) and You Never Let Go are favorites.

~She loves Llama, Llama books.

~She loves to swing, slide and feed the ducks at the park.

~She is much more cautious than my other 2.

~She likes to rock.

~She is super compassionate. She doesn't like anyone to be hurt or upset.....this includes family members, characters in books or people on TV.

~She has a BIG imagination. We hear all sorts of stories she makes up. Usually, right now, they are about her "pet alligator". Don't' worry, he is nice.

~She tickles us when she is in trouble. If we get on to her, she immediatly starts her little fingers on our tummies and says, "Tickle, tickle, tickle."

~She is our baby and we treat her accordingly.

~She would live on popcorn, fruit snacks and orange juice alone, if I would let her.

Happy Mother's Day

Tommy and the girls were sweet to me on Mother's Day. They were so excited to get up and get a few surprises ready for me. Their enthusiasm and desire to plan something special is the best part of the day! Each girl had made me a beautiful card with their handprints and poems and Reagan made me a sweet bird-feeder at her class. They had shopped at Target with Tommy and picked up a few little things and then Tommy arranged for a new cleaning person to get started the next week.

We had a great morning at church and then we tracked down Pot Belly Sandwiches for lunch. It was yummy.....one of my Woodlands favs that I haven't had since we left there. Next, we all headed to the mall. I hadn't been since we moved here....didn't even know where it was, and I was starting to have withdrawls. Later that evening, after some backyard playtime, I headed with some of the other Moms from the neighborhood to dinner and a movie. It was a great day followed by a relaxing night out. I am so thankful for my sweet family and to have these 3 beautiful girls call me Mamma.

My New Favorite Place

Renovations are done, and there isn't a white tile left in the house!!! After 3 1/2 long weeks, sharing the hall bathroom with the girls we are moved back in to the master bath. And, as much as I like our contractor and his partner, it is so nice to have the house back to ourselves and not have to be up and ready for their arrival at 8am every morning (we are up, but now we can stay in jammies!). We are thrilled with the results....just love how it turned out. Taking down the wall made such a difference. It allowed for the shower to be widened by 6 inches and lengthened by about 2 feet. This was our final big project to make this house feel like home.....time to relax....hopefully with bubbles in my new tub!!!

Kings Island....Take 1

After getting a recommendation from several friends in the area, we decided to take advantage of living 10 minutes from a big amusement park, and get season passes. King's Island did not disappoint! In fact, if far exceeded my every expectation. We headed out Saturday afternoon, got our passes and spent about 4 hours out there having an absolute blast!!! For this first trip, we spent most of our time in Planet Snoopy, the children's section. There is something for kids of all ages and each girl loved it.

Here they are climbing on the Snoopy statue, before we hit the rides.

Winter, please go away....I am begging you, our clothes are not long enough anymore!!!
See her face? This picture was taken approximately 1/4 second before she said in a panicked voice, "I need to go pee-pee!!!" She is notorious for waiting till the VERY last second. Tommy had to bail her off the ride and over the gate to me, before it got started.

Here is Addison the Brave getting her first little taste of a roller coaster, while we were in the potty. This girl is so brave.....she is ready to hit the big coasters, but she is also good to hang in the smaller section with her sisters and had a blast there too!

Reagan came back and they did another round.

Gracyn kicked back in her stroller with some popcorn and watched for this ride. Tommy says she has "popcorn entitlement" and he is right. If she sees it or smells it, she must have it!!!

Then we found a little roller coaster that was just her speed. She LOVED it. It spun her fast around the corners and she laughed and squealed with delight! It was so cute!!!

Her sisters wanted to hop in with her for round 2. They were having such fun!

Reagan and Daddy riding high!

The girls got some snuggle time with Lucy!

And finally, on our way out, we ventured just a few steps into the big side and the girls rode the huge swinging boat with Tommy. As you can see, they loved it! Gracyn was MAD to be sitting this one out. She told me over and over again, "I already tall enough!". The only other big ride we got to that day was for Tommy and Addison. He took her over to a BIG roller coaster....the kind where you sit in a seat and your legs hang down. They waited in the line, got to the front and then Tommy got kicked off. The lady told him he was too tall! No one over 6'5. Well, Miss Addison wasn't going to let that stop her. My dare-devil, barely turned 6 year old rode the thing by herself!!!

This trip the girls also had a special treat. They took along their birthday money from Aunt Tressia and Uncle Bryan. They were able to play some games....Daddy helped each girl win a stuffed animal, and then they bought another stuffed animal souvenir on the way out. The park opens on the weekdays starting Friday and we have much more to explore....can't wait to start spending some summer days out there.

Much Static...