Perfect Princess Party

My girls attended a birthday party a few months back at a place called Enchanted Village. It is basically an old historic house, that has been turned from floor to ceiling into a giant dollhouse. Reagan was hooked from the second she saw it and has begged for months to have her birthday party there. She and Gracyn were happy to share a party and we booked it. They had a great afternoon of dress-up, posing for pictures, make-up, playing tea party, decorating cookies and enjoying their friends. I can't help myself, what follows is complete picture overload!

We were a few minutes early arriving to the party, and I noticed this old brick wall on the exterior of the building. It was a perfect place to pose for a few pictures.


The girls were reluctant to pose for pictures, but the promise of the party kept them smiling. So glad Mimi was here to snap a few shots.


My big 3 year old and her best buddy Elle.


My girls and I. Poor Daddy popped in and out of the party. It's a rough place for a guy to hang out!


Here Reagan and Gracyn are receiving their special birthday girl gifts. The most coveted gift is the "tapping key". They each got an old fashioned gold key that they used at the start of each room. The tapped the doors with their magic keys to open up the next area.


All the friends getting the party started.


Tea-party time.


More tea-party....everyone brought their favorite doll or stuffed animal.


The most fun part of the part is a huge dress up room with tons of clothing, shoes and accessories for the girls to play with.


They get make-up and their is a huge vanity for them all to sit at. Reagan had quite an outfit on....I think the girl has 10 boas on.


Everyone looked fabulous.


Making a wish around the cake.


Gracyn skipped making a wish. She used her wand as a scoop and helped herself to a serving of icing off one of the cupcakes.


Here they are in the glamorous pink and purple, glittery kitchen decorating cookies. These girls are seriously working hard.


Time to blow-out candles.


They finished the day unwrapping many very sweet, thoughtful presents. What a great day!

Happy 5th Birthday

Hard to believe our sweet Reagan turned a very big 5 years old last week! She had a perfect princess party on the Sunday before, which left her actual birthday for a little low-key family celebration. At least that is what I thought, until I looked at the calendar. As it turns out Tommy had meetings all day, Addison would be at school, all 3 girls had gymnastics and Reagan had soccer practice. We ended up letting her open her gifts from us the night before, knowing we wouldn't get us all together the day of. She was thrilled to find "MaKenna" her first big American Girl Doll and several accessories for her. The morning of her birthday she woke to find her room all decorated. We got Addison off to the bus and headed out for gymnastics. She picked Noodle and Company for lunch and got to buy "Chipwrecked" to watch in the car as we made our way around town that day. That evening, the girls and I had an early traditional Red Robin dinner, poor Daddy was working. We took him some leftovers to the soccer field, where he met us to coach. We watched the birthday girl practice for a few minutes, before I took Addison to gymnastics. It was a busy day!

Reagan has such a cute personality! The girl is smart and she remembers everything. She learns quickly. She is highly motivated and practices anything she wants to get better at (she must do 20 cartwheels a day). If she is unsure of something, she works to figure it out. She is reading easy books and can spell an impressive number of words for her age. She and Gracyn are best buds around the house most days, while big sis is at school. I am always impressed with her athletic abilities (she didn't get it from me) she is good at anything she tries....especially gymnastics, swimming and riding her bike. Reagan's favorite things are reading her bible, playing with her friends, Wii contests with her Daddy or I, tennis, gymnastics, rock-climbing, eating at Noodle and Company, strawberry ice-cream from Greaters, music of all kind, and playing babies.

Occasionally I look at her and it catches me off guard how big she looks. Kindergarten is fast approaching and I am not ready to send her off into the world. She is so strong and independent, but still my baby! It is not unusual for her to stop everything she is doing to run over and give me a hug and she doesn't like bedtime if I am not there to tuck her in with her choo-choo blankie. I love both parts of her....love the big and the little. I love my girl!

Look Who's Three

**Gracyn Turned Three**

We love this little girl! Can't imagine life without her. She is spunky, sassy and sweet. She wants to be a big girl and will take-down anyone who dares call her a baby. Shhh, nobody tell her, but she is our baby and we will probably always treat her that way. Here is my crazy list of things I don't want to forget about her at this age...

*She says half-ted too instead of had
*BFF's with Elle (Elle Belle)
*She is a junk-food-junkie
*Loves Tic-Tacs, but calls them Teeter-Totters
*Can't be allowed to shut her eyes even a moment during the day, or she will be up all night
*She hates being cold when she gets out of the bath...the moment we pull her out, she curls in the fetal position on the bath rug. We have to cover her with the towel and dry her that way
*She goes to a dance/gymnastics combo class and just started swimming lessons
*Just started big kid class at church and loves it
*Favorite book is Pinkalicious
*She sings to herself all the time
*She can be sneaky....for instance at her birthday party, she was using the magic wand they gave her to scoop icing off the cake and lick it
*When she is excited she jumps up and down and shouts, "This is the best day ever!"
*She calls Reagan "Rea-Rea"
*At the Lifetime pool, she likes me to put her towels in the sauna to "toasty them up" before she comes out of the water
*Loves piggy-back rides or "a hitch" from daddy

Mimi's Visit

Mimi flew in from Texas and spent 5 days with us over the end of the girl's spring break last week. We had a great time and kept her quite busy. She was here for Gracyn's birthday, we spent a day at the zoo and she was able to go to Reagan and Gracyn's birthday party. We also squeezed in a date night (Mimi babysat), took her to some favorite restaurants, had lunch at Addison's school and attended an Easter egg hunt at Reagan and Gracyn's Mommy and me class. I think she was ready to head back to Texas for a rest! Unfortunately, due to tornadoes in Texas, her flight was cancelled and she then spent an extra night at a hotel near the airport, waiting for a very early flight the next morning. The girls were so happy to have her here, just this morning, Gracyn looked up from playing and said, "I miss Mimi!". Thanks for making the trip!!! We will see you again soon.

We had Gracyn's traditional birthday dinner at Red Robin!


Mimi and Addison waiting for yummy ice cream.


Mimi tasted the girl's Dip-n-Dots at the zoo. She was not a fan.


We posed for pictures outside the girl's bday party.


Mimi helped Gracyn with her dress-up at the party.


Reagan and Gracyn taking Mimi to their bible study for their Easter Egg hunt.


Checking out the loot!

Spring Flowers

The most amazing part of last week's trip to the zoo was the tulips. There are thousands of them, every color you can imagine all over the grounds. They are beautiful. As you can see, in that last picture of Gracyn, my girls were less than thrilled to be posing for pictures. Not sure I will ever have the traditional Texas Bluebonnet pictures with my crew, so I had to make them pose with the tulips.

Fuzz

The first graders in Addison's school rotate through Science Lab as one of their weekly specials. She LOVES going to the lab because it is full of animals! Right before spring break, Addison won a lottery drawing and we brought Fuzz, the guinea pig, home for the vacation. I agreed to the guinea pig, having told her that I could handle anything furry, just not any kind of reptile who would have to be fed live insects. Turns out Fuzz had quite a little personality. It took a day or so for him to get over the trauma of the car ride and new surroundings, but after that, he was pretty cute. He climbed the sides of his cage each time we came in the room. He chattered to us, sniffed his little nose at us and begged for lettuce. The girls took great care of him and gave him daily snuggle time. I admit, by the end of the week, I liked the little guy. However, his smell and the surprising amount of work to care for a guinea pig offset the cute factor, and I decided one week was the perfect amount of time spent with the little rodent.

Funny Fuzz story. We set Fuzz's cage up in Addison's room and made an effort to keep Maggie the Lab apart from him. She has a shady history with cats, so there was no telling what she might do to a guinea pig. Maggie was in and out of the room some when we were around and seemed okay, but still, we weren't taking any chances. The second day of Fuzz's stay, we left the house for the first time.....and of course, we forgot to close Addison's door. We rushed home all the while Addison assuring me that Maggie had been in her room and she was just fine. I worried, not knowing what might happen if Maggie knew she had a free shot at the critter. Thank goodness we came home and all was well with the pets. There didn't seem to be any issue between the two, thank goodness. I had told Tommy if the dog ate the guinea pig we had to move! There was no way I could go back to school and explain that! As you can imagine, we didn't forget to shut the door anymore that week. Tuesday, with a sigh of relief, I returned Fuzz, happy and healthy, back to his rightful home.

Sleeping Arrangements

Every night we tuck our children snug in their beds. They don't always stay there. Sometimes I guess it's better to get up and make yourself a nice pallet in the floor, especially if you have a brand new Jasmine Doll Mimi got you for your birthday.

This is also the child that shows up in the pre-dawn hours to sleep in our bed at least twice a week. She comes ready with her pillow, crawls in the middle, snuggles up to one of us and drifts right back to sleep. She came out of the womb refusing to sleep in her bed (alternating sleeping on me or in her carseat the first months of life) and has remained a snuggler since. She is the reason behind our purchase of a king size bed. On this night, the eve of her 5th birthday, I reflect back on all the early morning hours I have spent with her sleepy little body wrapped around mine and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Messy Fun

Shaving cream + Food Coloring + Paint Brushes = An Hour of Outdoor Fun

The girls and I mixed this up one evening last week, then we turned them loose on the back deck to paint away. It's a quick, easy rinse away when you are done. My only advice is, if you are painting while dressed, use very small concentration of food coloring. I just used one or two small drips with a muffin tin of shaving cream and had no problems with staining anything. If you want higher concentration of food coloring, you better make it bathtub paint.

Visitors

Uncle Steve and Aunt Dannea along with their two (canine) babies made the long trek from Texas to come see us for spring break. Their upcoming visit was the most exciting thing for my kids since Santa Claus. They were counting down the days, and the excitement really amped up around here, when due to our slightly disorganized planning, I informed them that they weren't coming in 12 days, but instead they would be here in 5 days!!! Steve, "Nea", Major Winter and Oliver arrived around dinner time last Tuesday. The weather was beautiful and we had the grill heated and ready for a cook-out. We spent the next few days showing them around Mason, playing with the dogs, and taking them along to the girls activities.They had lunch at Addison's school and watched Reagan's swimming lessons. One day, we let Addison stay home from school and we spent a full day exploring the museum downtown. Friday morning, their short trip had to come to an end, so they could make the trek back. They are more adventurous than we are, and they veered off the traditional route home so they could cover more ground. I think they hit a grand total of 8 states during their whirlwind trip. We were happy to show them around Ohio and have them be a part of our lives for a few days. Our girlies sure love thier Aunt and Uncle.

We jumped on the trampoline.


There were many wrestling matches.


Poor Tommy worked while we explored the museum. Probably for the best, since we spent about 7 hours there. He would have enjoyed the first 3 and then lost his mind!


Gracie with her Uncle Steve.


The girls could have played with the museums water tables all day!


The crew in downtown Cincy.


There were Wii competitions.


There was snuggle time.


There was lovin' on the dogs.


These 2 are such sweet snuggle bugs when they are sharing one iphone. And, if you have ever been moved by a big moving company, you recognize the blue sticker on the back of that chair. Between our last 2 moves, we are still finding those stickers.

Daddy's Watch

Reluctant to give up any time in the beautiful sunshine, but knowing my crew had to eat this week, Sunday afternoon, I left Tommy and the girls playing outside and headed to the grocery store. When I got home, Gracyn had a pretty big red whelp on her forehead, but nobody seemed to know what happened. She never cried, Tommy said he didn't see her fall and the girls hadn't noticed anything happen. She must be one tough cookie, because I took these pictures on Wednesday, after several days of healing and it still looks rough. Tommy's only explanation...."It's hard to hear them over the bubble bath and wine, I'll try to watch better next time!".

Explosion

Spring literally exploded overnight here! We have been basking in the sun and soaking up the 80 degree days. It is a stark contrast to the spring we received upon moving here last spring. I believe the quote I remember from my then 5-year-old was, "This place is a rainy, mudhole!". I think we have now received the best and the worst. Sun makes me blissfully happy! I love afternoons outside and evenings stretching playtime as long as we can before throwing dirty-feet, smelly, sweaty, sticky children in the bathtub. I love afternoons at the park, pleasant walks to the bus stop in the mornings and the vibrant, new flowers blooming all around us. I feel a sense of survival, I give myself a pat on the back, as I pack away the winter garments and replace sweaters and snowboots with flip-flops and sundresses. Bring on the sunscreen, the picnics and the pool. My happy time has arrived again!

One Year

March 5th, marked the one year anniversary of our move to Cincinnati. That day last year, we had spent an emotional week orchestrating movers, packing bags, shipping cars, preparing our house for closing and squeezing in as much time with friends as we could. We spent the night before our move with dear friends and woke the next morning to attend another special friend's birthday. The plan was to leave from the party. In hindsight, it might not have been our best idea, as it was gut wrenching to hug good-bye to all our best friends at once, walk away from the life we loved, and load up for the airport. Gracyn had woken in the night with a super high fever and we later found out she had a bladder infection. We arrived at the Denver airport with a sick baby, two uncharacteristically misbehaving children (I think their sadness displayed itself in disobedience that day), 3 carseats, 3 50-pound suitcases, 3 backpacks, 1 stroller and 2 carry-on bags. All our other belongings were in route on an 18-wheeler, arriving the next week.

We never planned to move to Denver, in fact, I went kicking and screaming. When I arrived there in the dead of winter, you could never have told me I would grow to like it. I was literally wearing flip-flops when the movers loaded my truck in Houston and snowboots when they unloaded it in Denver. It was alot for a Texas girl to acclimate to, but I did. And, after a long and lonely first few months, Denver quickly became home. We had such a unique and wonderful neighborhood there. We have been blessed with great neighborhoods at all our houses, but nothing compares to our home in The Ranch. The people around us weren't just good neighbors, they were our best friends. My girls started as babies and became best buddies with a crew of 11 little neighborhood girls. The people around us would (and did) drop anything to help another in need. We just did life together. Add my great neighborhood to the fact that the sun shines gloriously most of the time, the mountains are beautiful and you can live outdoors in the summer and it is hard not to fall in love with the place. I never developed much appreciation for the snow, mostly because I am fearful of driving in it, but my children sure loved it and I will forever have fond memories of them on sleds, flying down the hills behind our house. God had bigger plans than I did and I am so thankful he moved this southern girl out of her comfort zone.

Now, here I am even farther from my comfort zone, smack dab in the mid-west, in yet another state we sure never planned to move to. We knew for most of our last year in Denver that our days were numbered. Coke was making major structural changes and it was unlikely Tommy would have the opportunity to grow his career in Denver. We began praying earnestly and trusting God that he would put us in the right place. Cincinnati is not the place we were expecting, and when we got the call, the initial thought was that maybe we should start making phone calls to see what we could do about getting it changed. However, after more thought and prayer, we took a deep breath and decided that we had been asking God for more than a year where we should end up, and if Coke was asking us to move to Cincinnati, that must be His will for us.

I am often asked if we like Cincinnati and that is such a hard question to answer. We are quite far from "home" in Texas and this area is incredibly different from the other places we have lived and loved. We generally seek out newer, master-planned communities and that just doesn't exist here. It has taken some time to adjust to a town that is less than 1/2 the population of our previous communities. We are learning to appreciate that there can be beauty in older buildings and areas. I am adjusting to the fact that my house is about 7 miles from the area of town where I go for my errands and daily activities. That is quite a contrast considering in Texas I could (and often did) walk to the grocery store and in Denver everything I did was in a 4 mile radius. The weather here is not exactly desirable, although after this mild winter and early spring, I may have to change my thinking on that. I try to find the good in any situation, but the rain and the gloom can really get to me. The last few months have definitely seemed better, makes me wonder if it really is improving or if I am just getting used to it. All that to say, I guess in terms of how we feel about Cincinnati, it isn't our favorite place. We don't dislike it, it just isn't our favorite.

Now for the good part. We love our life here. This is without a doubt, a great place to raise a family. Our little community became home so quickly. God was faithful in answering our prayers and he provided wonderful friendships very early in our move. We were plugged in and doing life here in a matter of weeks and our friendships have just become richer over the year. I find so much joy in afternoons outside, with a cul-de-sac full of children running and playing together.This is the kind of place where kids roam from yard to yard and where children knock on doors looking for playmates. The girls are in wonderful schools here and they are thriving. We are learning so much in our Cincinnati church home. They seek to serve the community and we are encountering great opportunities to help others. Saturdays here are about youth sports, families attend the events and then can be found at the local ice-cream shop afterwards. Loyalty for the local highschool is strong, and not a day goes by when I don't see someone with their "Mason Comet" spirit wear on. When I walk into our local library, they recognize my children and greet them by name. As we make our way around to parks, soccer games, church, school the gym and our activities we run into friends and people we know. There is a definite small town feel here. Finally, I am developing a love for seasons. I don't enjoy winter, and probably never will, but watching fall and now spring unfold each day is beautiful.

So, is the city of Cincinnati a favorite among the places we have lived, not really. But, do we like it here? You bet! Life is good. We are happy. God is teaching me and growing me, and I am sure, as in each place we have been, someday it will become clear why we are here. I can't even begin to guess if we are here for a short time or for a lifetime. For now, on this one year anniversary I am just blessed and so thankful for a wonderful life and for a great place to call home.