VBS 2009 - Studio Go

Addison is attending Vacation Bible School this week at our church. The theme this year is Studio Go, Game Show! She is having a great time and learning lots. There are over 600 kids in attendance and the church is handling it so well. Tonight we have a family night, which we are really looking forward to. We bought the VBS worship CD last weekend at church and it has been such a joy hearing the girls singing it throughout the day and while we listen to it in the car. They have even been playing, David Crowder's "Undignified", with Daddy on his guitar. They love the "La, la, la, la, la la, HEY" part.

We had to doctor Addison's t-shirt up a bit. She was horrified when we arrived the first day and they told her she had to wear that shirt. It was almost a deal-breaker for the whole thing, but I saved the day by adding a few ribbons and bows to it! She still doesn't like it, but at least she tolerates it.

Reagan wants to be a part of "Sissy's class" so bad she can't stand it. Thankfully Addison's teacher has been really sweet and lets Reagan sit beside Addison for the worship and opening ceremony each morning. I love being there for that and taking it all in. Few things bring tears to my eyes quicker than watching children worship!

So today, after I left with my little girls, I thought I might run a few errands. No problem with only 2 kids right? Well I quickly learned that Reagan and Gracyn aren't the best combination for errand running success. As it turns out, going without my oldest (and at this point) easiest child doesn't really change anything. We had 1 1/2 hours so we headed to the mall. During that time I did 2 diaper changes for Gracyn and one feeding. Reagan made 2 potty trips, needed a snack, and had to throw pennies in the fountain. Add to that Gracyn wouldn't let me put her down and Reagan uses the stroller as her personal jungle gym and we didn't get much done. We only actually went inside ONE store in that 1 1/2. That's okay though, we had fun anyway!

My Gracyn Girl

Aunt Erica informed me this weekend, that Miss Gracyn didn't have enough face time on the blog. I thought I better make up for it.

Here she is all jammied and ready for bed....she moved into her crib in her own room last night.

Here she is hanging out in her Bumbo chair watching her big sisters.

And, here she is all dolled up today in her sweet new dress from Mimi and her super-cute pink tennies from Tommy's co-workers.

Six days after my soy crisis, she seems to be feeling better. Her face cleared up a few days ago, and she is still spitting up, but much less! And as far as the carseat goes, I think she just doesn't like it. When my nephew was here last weekend and riding in the third row behind her, she did great. I guess I don't need a solution for her belly-button, what I need is a nine-year-old to ride back there and smile at her!

Sweet Summer Nights

Tonight was a perfect night. The weather was beautiful....cool but not cold. We headed for the park after dinner. Tommy and I pushed the girls in the swings over and over again. They just love it. I tried to burn in my brain the image of their huge smiles and laughter and how they looked with their hair blowing around as we pushed them. What sweet, sweet summer nights.

Family Visit

Here are a few more pictures of our family visit this past weekend. We had a great time, and hopefully they are surviving their day. They got bumped from their plane and spent 12 hours in the airport trying to get on a plane. Thankfully they made it on a plane at 7:00 tonight and should be home soon. Hopefully they won't be so scarred by their day in the airport, that they won't come back!

Poison

That is what soy is to my sweet little Gracyn! If there was ever any doubt, which there wasn't, that soy was part of her problem, I have confirmation now! Saturday I inadvertently ate some meat that had been marinated in soy ingredients. Gracyn immediately began massive projectile spit-ups of most every feeding. Then, the next morning, she woke up with tons of snot and her face broken out. Finally by Sunday night, she had horrible tummy pain. My poor child!!! I can't believe I did this to her. Sure stinks to be feeding a kid with an allergy....my mess-up equals her pain! And, I must say, if I was going to make her miserable, I sure wouldn't have chosen to do it with meat! Mama would have had some buttered popcorn! I am gearing up for a rough couple of days and re-reading all the labels in my house, so this doesn't happen again.

Great Gangy

My sister and Austin came to town for a long weekend and brought our grandmother. The girls have been thrilled to have them here. Granny is such fun. At 88 years old, she doesn't have the speed she used to, but she still has the spunk.

Erica and I laughed and laughed at her yesterday. Our friends little boy came over to play with Austin and they were all playing hide and go seek. Austin came upstairs looking for him and Granny had him running all over the house with her clues. She told him, "Warmer, Cold, Hot, Hotter." He ran all over the main level following her clues. He finally gave up and went back to the basement. After he left Granny looked at us and said, "What's he lookin for?" She had him fooled the whole time.

They head back tomorrow and we will sure miss them.

Breakfast in Bed

Friday morning I had to be out of the house at 7:30, with all three girls to pick my family up from the airport. I gave Addison and Reagan bagels in my bed and let them watch cartoons, while I got ready. They thought this was great fun. No bagel for Gracyn, just lots of kicking around and watching the ceiling fan for her! Good thing, I had plenty of time after the airport, because a change of sheets was definitley in order!

Any Tips?

Okay, so I am feeling pretty dumb right now. Gracyn has such a hard time in the car. She loved the car the first few weeks of life, but suddenly changed her mind and now screams hysterically throughout the duration of most car trips. I just thought she didn't like the car.

Today, my neighbor pointed out to me that her dislike might be related to her umbilical hernia. She has a very large hernia, which makes her belly button look like a small mountain. It sticks about an inch up off of her stomach. Penny pointed out today that the buckle is probably squishing it! And, unfortunately the more she cries the more it protrudes, which probably just makes it worse. The hernia should clear up on its own, but it could take until she is 5 years old.

Anybody had this problem? Any ideas how to help her. We definitely want to get it resolved before we head out on our upcoming tour of Texas!

Is it Worth It?

Reagan cracks us up all the time!!! The girl is funnier everyday. Last night, we were in the store picking up some treats for a friend. Matt and Mary's son, Aaron, broke his arm yesterday and we went to get him a balloon and a bag of candy to cheer him up. As we loaded the shopping cart with candy treats, Reagan said, "Can I have that?". I told her to remember that it was for Aaron because he broke his arm. She immediately asked, "Someday can I broke my arm?". My kids will do anything for candy! After seeing for Aaron's arm bent completely out of shape, I am sure he would tell her it's not worth it!

Doin' the Hula

I recently rented Lilo and Stitch for Addison and after watching it, a love for Hula Dancing was born. The first big surprise was on the way to gymnastics last week, when she told me she was all done taking gymnastics and could I please sign her up for Hula Lessons! Umm, I am not sure we are going to find that in Denver.

Then, strangely, the next day, the girls and I were doing their morning bible study book. It often has a craft after the day's lesson. What do you know? The craft for the day was to make a hula skirt. Well, Mama didn't have butcher paper, or spare hands to cut a million strips into the butcher paper, so I took them to Party City to buy a skirt.

She knew just what she wanted....a green skirt so she can be a twin with Stitch. She wore it all over today....including to the mall. She wanted hula music to practice dancing too. We talked and talked about Hawaii and she wants me to show it to her on the map.

Maybe we better talk to Daddy. There is Coke in Hawaii, right?

Summer Thursdays

Thursdays have definitely become one of my favorite summer weekdays. We have a great routine down and it is always a fun day for all of us. Here is how it goes.

We all head to the rec center and Addison goes into her ballet class. Her friend Brenna is in the same class. While they are dancing, Michele and I take Reagan and Ava into the gym to play basketball or into the game room to play with the machines. Lately, we make lots of potty trips during the 45 minute class. Reagan is one smart little girl. I promise you she holds it all morning, so she can make her pee-pee at the rec center! She wants to go there so she can get quarters for prizes. On this day, she took her quarters to ride the hippo! He actually ended up eating her money and never worked, but Michele saved the day with more quarters for the candy machine.


Next we pick up the big sisters from ballet. They have such a sweet teacher and love going to their class. I usually see a few minutes of the class, through the windows and they are doing great.

This past Thursday Clara, Nora and Lila met us after ballet to join us for our weekly rec center indoor picnic. We lined all the girls up on this couch and they watched cartoons while they ate their lunch.

After lunch we head to the locker rooms and get everybody changed for swimming. It takes some time to get this whole crew changed and ready to go. Then we head out to the pool. Gracyn and baby Lila hang out poolside while we watch the big girls swim.

I won't post pictures of it, but the funniest part of the day is showering the girls down after they swim. I think they like it better than the pool....it certainly is warmer. We turn on two showers, strip them all down and send them in. They run back and forth between the showers and have a blast. I love it because they are all clean and fresh and we can skip a bath at home that night!

We always leave the pool happy and tired. All this morning action usually guarantees me an hour or two of quiet time while my little ones rest up in the afternoon.

Blue Eyes or Brown

Will these little eyes stay blue? My other girls were a very dark blue for a long time. Addison didn't change until after a year. But, Gracyn's seem to be lightening up. We would sure take another "Brown-Eyed Girl". But, it would also be nice if she ended up with her Daddy's beautiful blues.

Phoenix Friends

This past weekend, Ashley and Jaime, our good friends from Phoenix came to visit us. They brought their 3 little girls Carlee, Kenadee and Avaree. We had so much fun just hanging out with them. And, having an entourage of 6 small girls made things even more fun and lively! One 6 year old, one 4 year old, two potty-training two-year olds and two nursing babies! What a busy group. Hard to believe when we first met, Carlee was the only kid in the whole clan.

The guys got up at the crack of dawn to play a little golf one day. And, they took the 4 big girls to swim one afternoon. We played at the parks a few times. Jaime and I talked and talked to catch up on the last year, since we have seen each other, and the kids just played. Reagan and Kenadee were the cutest together. It is always fun when the middle girls have their own special buddy, and those two are kindred spirits for sure! On Saturday, we headed to Colorado Springs to visit the Focus on the Family campus. We ended up spending two hours in the car....one hour just sitting in traffic, but thankfully the girls were all great through it all!

We are so thankful they came to visit us. We miss you guys and always have a blast when we get to see you! I hope the next time we see you is on the Disney Cruise Boat!!!

Here is Gracyn "playing" with the big girls.

Two-year-old cuties!



When did this girl get so tall?

Baby Avaree is a crawling machine!!!

Love from my little ones!

Say Cheese.

They love these computer coloring books.

Mommy's Birthday

I had a great birthday yesterday. It was full of hugs and birthday wishes from my girls, a sweet card from my husband, sweet cards and gifts in the mail and lots of nice phone calls (most of which I couldn't answer, but I listened to the messages). My family gave me a new smoothie maker....since fruit and Rice-Dream smoothies have become my new dairy-free love. Last night, Tommy came home from work early and we went to dinner at Red Robin. Everyone was great at dinner and Tommy handled three of the four potty/diaper trips while we were there, so that was a nice birthday break!

I leave you with this funny picture. Reagan is my little skinny-minny! Without her diapers, she can't keep her little pants up. Here she is bent over the table, trying to drink my Coke, with her pants drooping down. I was snapping away, when I heard the man at the table behind us say, "That is cruel...funny, but cruel!"

Baking with Daddy

My handsome husband tracked down a dairy free cake mix and icing and then enlisted his girls to help him bake it for my birthday. From the looks of the picture, they had a great time decorating themselves and the cake. It tasted yummy. For a minute, Addison had my candles in there backwards, and I was 13 again. It sounded good for a second, but after I thought a moment, I am sure I don't want to go back there! 31 is good for me

Happiness

These sweet smiles make me so happy!

Cheer Party

Addison went to her friend Josie's birthday party this weekend and had a great time! It was a cheerleading themed party.They had a group of cheerleaders from the christian high school here come and coach the girls. She learned a cheer and a dance and got to practice some stunts and tumbling with her little group. She adored the big-girl cheerleaders and had a great time with her friends.