Donuts with Dad

Reagan had a little Valentine celebration with her first love at school last week. They had "Donuts with Dad". She and her class worked for weeks making the special ties for their Daddies, answering a few questions about them (always funny), and preparing a few songs to sing. The classroom was beautifully decorated and ready to receive Daddies.

Reagan has the biggest potential, at least at this point, in my trio to be a Daddy's girl. They are all very much Mommy's Girls, but Reagan waivers some. She ADORES her Daddy. She waited and waited with much anticipation for her special day to arrive. She reminded Tommy several times to make sure it was on his calendar and he was ready. The morning of the big day Reagan carefully selected her dress and requested that I curl her hair. She looked adorable and she loved it!

When we arrived to school, the whole family (minus Addison who was at her own v-day school party) attended a special chapel service. The children learned all about the post office and how you could send love to people in the mail. They had a postal worker there and at the end, each child had a special Valentine, that she stamped and we sent off. The Valentine arrived to us in out mailbox the next day.

After chapel, Gracyn and I headed home and Tommy stayed for his date. He said they had the best time. She was so, so proud to have him there and I know that made his heart happy. We are so thankful for our sweet special girl. Daddy still loves her, even if she told the teacher that his favorite show was House Hunters, his favorite vacation was Texas and he writes a lot of papers for his job!

How we Super Bowl

Our Super Bowl party consisted of great friends and tons of yummy food. We ate until we were beyond stuffed. Who knew, I think Super Bowl day at the grocery store, might be busier than the week before Thanksgiving. I wanted to make sausage balls and had to go to 2 stores to find sausage. Even then, all that was left was reduced-fat.

We visited all through the evening. The girls were dressed up like princesses the entire time. We watched very little football, but we were treated to several shows written and performed by our little girls. We did gather the group for the half time show. I had already called the girls in when I realized it was Madonna. For a second, I wondered what they might see, but it turned out fine. The girls danced right along with the show, mine had just gotten dressed to head home, so they were sans dress-up for that part.

Poor Gracyn, she had been running low on sleep for days. She never naps anymore, if fact, if she even closes her eyes for a second in the afternoon, she will be up until midnight. She usually sleeps late one or two mornings a week, but hadn't done so recently. It all caught up to her at the party. I handed her to Tommy to hold her while I helped the big girls clean up toys. I came back a few mintues later and she was out cold! She slept through one of the girls' shows, the half-time show and the car trip home. We moved her to her bed fully clothed and she slept till morning.

I think we all required a bit of Super Bowl recovery on Monday! We were all tired and dragging a bit, but it was totally worth it!

2 Hours

In my former life, before babies, I set my alarm each day for 2 hours before I needed to head out the door to my classroom. Looking back, I haven't the slightest idea what I did in that 2 hours. I know I got myself dressed and ready, made our bed and packed a lunch, but these days that doesn't seem like much. I guess I did it all at a very slow and leisurely pace, usually while listening to the mornings Focus on the Family radio broadcast. I think this former life included lots of long, hot, quiet showers, and plenty of time for hair and make-up. In hindsight I think I could have sped it up a bit and gotten lots more sleep.

Fast forward to my current life. The first 2 hours of the day are a whirlwind. In 2 hours I shower and get myself dressed. Admittedly it is far too often with unwashed hair in a ponytail and gym clothes. The girls wake up and I get them breakfast. I pack anywhere between 1 to 4 lunches depending on the day's activities. On a good day I unload the dishwasher and get dinner going in the crockpot. When I finish in the kitchen I run upstairs and make all 4 beds. Yes, I know, the girls could (and can) do that themselves, but somehow it is just easier and faster (and prettier if I do it myself. I supervise (Spur along) Addison in the shower and get all 3 girls dressed. Then comes the hair....my girls wake up every day with 3 very serious cases of bed head!!! While Mama sports a ponytail, I am in the bathroom wetting them down and blow drying them each day....otherwise, they would be out and about with something resembling a bird's nest on the backs of their heads. Once we are all dressed, I bundle myself and all the girls up for the walk to Addison's bus stop. We bid her good-bye and 1 hour and 50 minutes later the morning is almost done.




The last 10 minutes of my morning routine, to complete the 2 hours is this! Reagan, Gracyn and I trek back, strip of the coats and head back inside. That is when I tackle this! How do they do this everyday? Not sure they even get toothpaste in their mouths. Tommy always looks at it and says, "They're just baby teeth, can we just stop making them brush them?". Three toothbrushes, two kinds of toothpaste and a big fat mess on the sink, every day.



I sure love my crazy, hectic life! I know someday I will miss that messy sink and I will wish I had kiddos standing outside my shower door asking for orange juice. For know, I just reflect back to my long, leisurely mornings and laugh at myself, wondering what I did with all my time back when I just thought I was busy!

Ta-Da, Round 2

My crew spends some time at our local Little Gym. Bright and early the day after Reagan's show day, we were back for Gracyn's class. Her class is Mommy and Me, so the show was a little less formal. For my girls, the best part was that Reagan, who is usually confined to the waiting room during Gracyn's class, was able to come in and join the fun.

Gracyn loves her class, she jumps everywhere she goes and spends most of the class upside down. She has 2 favorite friends, who she looks forward to seeing each week and she loves her teacher. That being said, this girl is hot or cold! She has no middle temperament. So, while she loves class, at least once each week, she gets mad about something, crosses her arms, sticks her bottom lip out farther than you would think possible and stomps off to the sidelines. She always bounces back and joins the fun before too long. Her teacher, Miss Cassie, handles her so well, with just the right mix of loving firmness. She keeps her in line.

We were doing a little experimenting to see if Gracyn might be ready to head into the 3-year-old class, that doesn't require my participation. She has been attending an afternoon, open-gym class with Reagan, as a trial run. The teacher in that class is so sweet and kind, but Gracyn walks all over her. We had a BIG chat last week, when Reagan ratted Gracyn out in the car on the way home. Apparently in class that afternoon, Gracyn told that particular teacher, "If you touch me one more time, I is gonna spank you!". Sweet teacher never mentioned this to me, so I was shocked to hear the story from Reagan. Long talk, long time-out and an apology to the teacher from Gracyn, will hopefully have her speaking sweeter words in the future!

Gracyn always introduces herself to the class, and performs a forward roll for everyone. She introduces me as "Mama....Kim Guess!"


Swinging with sweet friends.


Practicing the high bar with Miss Cassie


She LOVES to hang upside down.


Two peas in a pod.


Precious Reagan was so happy to come into sister's class.


Gracie Girl thought she was big stuff with her ribbon! She sure was proud!


Gracyn and Mommy, photography by Reagan.

Ta-Da

Thursday we got to attend Reagan's gymnastics "Show Day" at Little Gym. She was proud to show off all she learned. She has some great moves on the balance beam, the high bars, the parallel bars and the floor. She was all smiles and excited to have us there.

Great Wolf Lodge 2012

Miss Debra was here this weekend! We were so happy to have a few days to spend with her. We spent most of our time at Great Wolf Lodge. The girls had a blast playing on water slides, swimming, crafting in the art room and climbing around the bunk-bed log cabin in the room. Biggest surprise of the trip was that Gracyn was a total water bug!!! She liked swimming this summer, but spent plenty of time hanging out on the side. This trip she was all in. She even rode some big slides by herself, while we waited to catch her at the bottom. It was a great escape from the 20 degree temps outside.

Well Thought Out

Reagan has a friend who doesn't believe in Santa Claus. Apparently it continues to be an ongoing discussion between them, because Reagan is still bringing it up. Today Reagan had is all figured out, she told me, "She doesn't believe in Santa, but I do because, HELLO, if Santa isn't real, than who do the elves belong too??!!".

A's Cup

The girls got small little flower pots, so we could grow some indoor sunshine during this long, gloomy winter. Addison was trying to distinguish her pot from her sisters' pots, with her initial. She was trying to write A's cup. Now, I have this pot, which says "Ass Cup" sitting on my kithcen counter. She has never heard that word and has no idea, she is just proud of her cup!

Her Two-Front-Teeth

I put Addison on the bus Tuesday with only one missing tooth on the bottom. She came home missing the top two. They have been wiggly for quite some time, as all of her front teeth are, but one got really loose Monday evening. It was ready to come out, but she wouldn't let me pull it, she was determined to have it come out as school. She really wanted a tooth, treasure necklace from the nurses office! That evening she and Tommy were wrestling and they butted heads pretty bad. She came up crying and bleeding. Thankfully for her, he didn't knock the tooth out, but he did loosen up the one next to it. She was so excited when she jumped off the bus Tuesday and gave me that big, snaggle-tooth grin. The tooth fairy (scrambled) visited. Mama is getting used to the new look and Daddy begs her to say the word "accesorize". She happened to say it the first night without teeth and it sounded so funny, we have been begging to hear it since.

The Independent One

So, I had a first today! Haven't lost a child, until this afternoon. It was only for less than a minute, that I wasn't sure where she was, but long enough to give my heart a big attack! If you know my Reagan and her tendency to wander, it might surprise you that I have never lost her, she tends to "go where the wind blows her" without much thought. But, we have managed to keep tabs on her.

It was Gracyn today and her fierce independence that got me in trouble. The girls were playing, along with 2 friends, in the Chick-Fil-A playground, while I sat at a table nearby, with a friend. I was keeping a close eye on the playground, but somehow in a second I must have turned away, Gracyn left the playground all alone and took herself to the bathroom. We are at Chick-Fil-A pretty often, she is obviously familiar with the place. Her sweet friend came out of the playground asking where she was, I ran in, called for her and got no answer. Reagan thought she was there, but couldn't find her. It took me about 5 seconds to run to the bathroom. There she was, all locked in a stall, ALL BY HERSELF, going potty. She wasn't scared, trying to misbehave or even aware that I was freaking out!!!! She just had to go to the bathroom and so she went.

Tears were soon had by all, and hopefully our conversation made an impression and she won't be quite such a big girl when we are out somewhere. I think I made it very clear, that you don't go anywhere in a public location without letting Mommy know. This girl is going to make me crazy!!!

Edited to add....Reagan did get a few houses in front of us on Halloween, and nearly gave me a panic attack. But, her Daddy swears he knew where she was the whole time, so I don't count that one! :)

Happy New Year

We had the Bowles family over for a New Year's Eve Celebration and game night. The 6 girls played happily, we ate tons of great food and we grown-ups tried to squeeze in a few games. I am not sure we finished one, but we got several great starts. We did a count down for the girls around 10pm and they popped party poppers on the back deck. The first round of party poppers had been set off in my living room much earlier in the night. Mommy didn't exactly realize that they were firecrackers, and thankfully, despite the smoke, we didn't set the carpet on fire. We were thankful to (almost....1 1/2 hours shy) ring in the new year with great friends.You can see by the end that we had to quit, poor Gracyn was done. She put herself to bed twice in the night, but would hear the girls playing and get back up. The girls were tucked in quick after the party and were sound asleep before all the real fireworks started at midnight!








My New Year's resolution is to get rid of those long panels behind the couch! I HATE them. They were here when we moved in and they haven't made it to the top of the list of things to do just yet. I had a designer come out shortly after we moved in to write a quote for that window and my kitchen. I was in a state of shock when she came back with a number that was higher than the price of my first two cars combined!!! I have been ignoring them since, but it is time to get them replaced.

The Enchanted Garden

Friday night the girls went to a birthday party for their best buddies Faith and Elle. It was at a place here called The Enchanted Garden. It is an old, historic house that has been transformed into a dreamy, playhouse for little girls. It is (literally) decorated from floor to ceiling in every room. Pink, purple, glitter, sparkles, fairies and flowers are everywhere. The original kitchen is there, with the appliances painted pink and purple pots and pans. They girls are moved from room to room to decorate cookies, have a tea party with dolls, dress-up and eat cake. My girls were amazed. We left with them begging....Reagan for a birthday party there and Addison for high-heels. My camera battery died the second I pulled it out of my bag, so I have no fun pictures of the birthday girls or the house. Thankfully Tommy got a few good ones on his phone. I love these pictures, just don't love that my 6 year old looks like she is 16 and headed for prom!