Easter Celebrations

This post is the final post to catch up my blog after a very busy few weeks! We are currently slowing down and taking a quick breather before we approach another busy week. It's a week in which we celebrate Addison's birthday, Tommy's birthday, Mother's Day and a few other events in a week's time. Maybe before then, I can spend some time exploring the new blogger and learning all the changes. Until then, enjoy my pictures in backwards order....they seem to be posting in the opposite direction from what they used to. Also, my apologies if I don't manage to find the spell check feature. We had many Easter festivities around here. Easter morning, since we had gone to church the night before, was actually a quiet and relaxing family morning. We played in our jammies, decorated eggs and enjoyed our time together. Later in the afternoon, we got cleaned up, went out for lunch, hunted Easter eggs at home and then went down for Easter dinner at our neighbor's house.

Reagan shed her close in order to better tattoo herself. The girls had gotten puppy tattoos in their Easter baskets. She plastered herself with them. 2 weeks later, I had to scrub them off with my astringent and I promptly threw the rest away.

Our neighbor is the pastor of a local church. They hosted a big Easter celebration last year, which we loved. This year, the party was even better because it was in our cul-de-sac. They got a permit from the city to close the street and then they filled the block with a bounce house, games, bubbles, a petting zoo, lunch and Easter egg hunts. It was a great neighborhood outreach and great fun for everyone.

The little girls had parties at school. Mimi was here for their egg hunt at Gracyn's bible class we attend. Then, Reagan had a hunt with her class the next day.

Addison's Baptism

2 Corinthians 5:17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone and a new life has begun. Addison asked to be baptized and what better time than Easter weekend. We have spent the last several months, since she first requested baptism, talking with her about what it means and making sure she understood her choice. She was definitley ready. Easter week she and Tommy went to a class at our chuch, espically for children who were making the decision to accept Christ. Then, on the Saturday service of Easter weekend, Tommy and I had the priveldge of baptising her. We are so proud of her choice. I have prayed, since before they were even born, that from an early age my children would choose to love the Lord and follow him always. We were thrilled to baptize her and pray that she will always walk in close relationship with God.

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.