March 2016

March was just another month: lots of drives to and from school, the library, church, the grocery store, etc. But the kids always manage to infuse some fun into the daily grind.

Sasha is watching over Ryan as he plays basketball in the cul de sac.

Because sometimes you just need to sing into your banana peel...

Or get Nutella on your nose. I'm still not sure how he gets so messy just eating.

We had a few days with a lot of rain. One day while we were pulling into the garage, the kids asked if they could play in the rain. I let them. Turns out that puddle in the neighbors yard was mostly mud. They were ecstatic (see photos below). So glad I have a good stain remover!

They had rain boots, but they weren't much good with how much they splashed!

I love the look of absolute joy on Bella's face as she's tromping through the yard.

Bella and Sasha have great love for each other!

This is Bella's creation at the Westfield Library.

And another shot she took, just so you can see all the angles (so Bella....).

Two buzzed heads and a racing game on the XBox! Like father, like son!

This is how I found him one night when he asked to sleep on the couch. He'd made himself a scarlet mummy.

Screen-free Saturday! The kids decided to play with Ryan's army stuff. Just for the record, egg cartons make great mountain ranges and hospitals, helicopters can magically explode the whole terrain, and tanks go "Pew! Pew! Pew!" when firing.

 

 And later that same day we went for Bella's hair cut and a trip to the store because the kids had Easter money from Nana burning holes in their pockets!

This was the pile on the floor...(well, most of it).

And the finished product! She's so much happier not to drag a brush through her knotted hair!

Ryan bought "Penny" at the store with his  money.

Bella got...Chocolate? Darkness? I can't remember. It's all the rage now, and a month from now she won't be able to find it.

Easter Sunday! Bella decided to stick with last year's dress, although it's significantly shorter, and Ryan chose the snazzy Italian Mob Boss ensemble.

Up next month: Spring Break in Missouri!

Getting Caught Up

 So, when I went to upload the Easter pictures from the camera to the computer, I realized that there were a TON that I hadn't added! Mostly because Joshua took the camera with him to New Orleans and then I forgot about it while it sat in his closet. So, here's me, playing catch-up! P.S. Some of the photos and captions got all screwy, so that's why things aren't quite right.

This week's food: Sharon fruit (persimmon).

Survey says: So-so. Nothing amazing, nothing terrible.

We swapped the kids' rooms around so Bella could have some privacy and Ryan wasn't sleeping in a minty green room. Now Bella has a place to work and draw.

And plenty of princess wall decals, a play kitchen, and cubbies for her stuff. She's in love!

Ryan gets a Cars-themed room, which HE loves. The first night they swapped rooms, Bella slept in the bed on the right. They were having a "sleepover" she told me.

We made a music/reading nook for Ryan. He too has plenty of cubbies for all his stuff, and of course, his CD player!

Bella and I had some "gore time" one day. We went shopping! Here's one of the probably 20 hats Bella tried on in the store.

This is so Minnie Pearl-it even has the price tag hanging down!

Our other fruit? Ugli fruit. Our was pretty dried out by the time we got around to eating it.

But Bella didn't care! It was yummy!

Since we're going to be here a while, I decided to pretend we have a backyard and set up a sandbox for the kids. As you can see here, even if they have to have coats on, they're going to play outside!

Love my adorable children!

Notice how my hand is hovering around Ryan and the food coloring! He did a great job (the whisk helped).

Bella was like a mad scientist with her eggs-I'm glad I snapped this picture of how they looked. Because then she'd say, "Let's put this one in some green. And then some blue." There were a fair share of brown eggs by the time she was done!

The kids before church. Spiffy clothes, no shoes. Yep, that about covers it!

The Easter Egg hunt. They had a blast. Ryan found one later while he was on the deck and had a fit to get downstairs and retrieve it!

 

 

 

April 2011

We went to "Stories and Snacks" at the library. We listened to stories all about dogs, and then made these adorable pudding cup pups; we stirred in mini chocolate chips to make Dalmatian pudding. The kids didn't like the pudding, but loved the chocolate chips!


And another time at the library I took this picture of Bells. I'm including the one taken of her in July of last year so you can see how much she's changed in the last 10 months.





















And speaking of dogs, here's a picture of Sunnie, the dog we almost got. We loved her, but figured she was just a bit big for our home. Isabella loved her!

And Bella is turning into a Dr. Doolittle; she always asks to pet the dogs in our complex, she loves looking at our friend's bearded dragon (a type of lizard), and is crazy about Nana's lovebirds! She's got Perkey (the female) on her arm, which is why Pete (the male) is on her head.

Isn't my son such a stylin' little guy?

Here's Ryan in his big boy bed for the first time. It's his birthday present (I know-not very exciting!) and he's done much better with this than with the transition to his toddler bed!

And then there's Easter! This was the first year the kids could really enjoy it. We did Resurrection Eggs for the 12 days counting down to Easter morning, and the kids got a ridiculous amount of candy! Bella got to color eggs which she absolutely loved, and she helped me make butterfly cupcakes! Well, here, just look for yourself:



One of the sweetest moments I had this past month was sitting with Bella in my lap watching the Royal Wedding (recorded, of course). She got all into it, and when I mentioned I still had my wedding dress, she immediately asked for it. I sat there looking at her in my dress and veil, and just got a vision for what she'd be like on her wedding day. It reminded me that the days are long, but the years are short, and before I know it, my little girl will be walking down the aisle (Lord willing, naturally). Based on these pictures, I think she'll make a beautiful bride! She wanted to wear the dress as we ran errands, but we compromised and she only wore the veil. Too precious!


And no post would be complete without a video. There were several good ones to choose from, but I chose this one. In case the title doesn't show, I dubbed it "Fred & Ginger."



And that's it until next time!