Holiday Cowgirl

Here is our little cowgirl in her new duds.  Notice her serious look - cowgirls use the serious look, don't want anyone giving them any trouble, you know?

Christmas Cousins

This does not happen too often - a picture with the cousins together! When is the next time this will happen? Not sure, but it is never soon enough. They have a lot of fun playing and the time is always too short.  One of the best things about the holidays is definitely being with family!

NOT a PETA Member

 

Weren't expecting Ms. Crockett in front of our tree, were you?  She actually found a coon hidin' in that there tree, picked it off with one clean shot from her pistol, and made herself a hat just in time for the winter storm that's a comin'.  Or maybe Santa Claus brought it. 

In the Spirit

The hat on this girl's head is actually a baby hat - but she loves it! Ever since we unpacked it with the rest of the decorations, she has been slapping it on her head and dancing around the house as our little elf-in-residence.  Every house needs one.  Usually we have three at our house - our kids have no problem being in the Christmas spirit!

The Beautiful Baker

It is always a treat to be invited to school for a special activity.  Today ARM's class hosted us for their Gingerbread Reader's Theater.  They each had a few lines of a poem about baking Christmas cookies that they had memorized which they recited for everyone while dressed in aprons and their custom chef hats.  After that, their class went to the cafeteria and transformed small milk cartons into gingerbread houses with graham crackers and icing and then decorated them with candies.

Going Downhill

Today we managed to find a hill that still had enough snow to for sledding - yippee! And no one else was even there...not too surprising given all of the hills in this area.  This hill was not super steep but let us pick up a little speed and coast a while. ARM is helping her Mom, brother and little sister get moving with a push in this picture. ARM was more interested in pushing the sledders than riding down the hill herself, but she has never been the risk taker of the family and she was not about to start today!

Hot & Cold

Is there anything better than drinking hot cocoa on a really cold day? This face says it all!

Congratulations and Good Luck to the New Grads!

Over the weekend we were lucky that the roads from our direction were decent enough for us to travel down to witness two of our favorite people and a very big accomplishment! These two graduated from college - both with excellent grades, and my little brother is wearing that medal for high honors! Since he is a veteran, he also has the red, white, and blue cord with his gown.

Another thing that is rare about these two is that they did the last half of their college career married - so not at all the college experience that many people their age have.  They both worked during school and after the holidays they will be moving to a new state and starting a new life together.  Russ has a new job and Emily will soon!  We are so very proud of them and are happy we were there to celebrate their big day.

Big Kid, Little Kid

 Most aunts and uncles probably underestimate how much fun kids think they are.  Our kids just love that attention and always look forward to it and hope that they can "play" longer.  (By the way, talking is boring.  And this is where adults should listen to the kids and get up and play!)

Here EMM (the little kid) is goofing off with his uncle (the big kid) on his graduation day.  The kids knew that this was the last time the would see their aunt and uncle's little college apartment, which they had so enjoyed visiting, so it was bittersweet for them.  But on to new adventures, and a nicer place to live - this was not necessarily an apartment to miss!

The Vanishing Violet

Have no fear! The Vanishing Violet is here! She can rescue anyone from a bad mood with her purple mask, fuzzy bracelets, boa belt, and lilac dress.  Quick as a flash, she can dress a naked doll! Her beautiful songs can calm even the most violent tempers.   Will we ever discover her true identity?

Royalty

Much to our oldest daughter's dismay, it is a rare occasion that her little sister will play dress-up.  When most girls find out they have a little sister, they probably instantly dream of playing dolls and dressing them up and so far BGM has not wanted much to do with any of that!  Today they both seemed to have fun.  And ARM really made this enjoyable for her sister and was so motherly to her, it was sweet to watch!

Obsessed

ARM loves all things horses/unicorns/cowgirl...  Her art, her clothes, every other thought in her head!

iPhone Self Portraits

Look who decided to take his mother's brand new iPhone 5 outside and take some pictures with it? Had a great time looking at some of the ones he snapped - this is one of my favorites. I at first blamed his older sister for the electronic abduction because she is the one I found using it to take a picture of a honeybee.

Super Sweets for Super Sweeties

These two are taking licks of homemade popsicles - super sweet strawberry ones that we made earlier in the day!  Somehow this is the first time their Mom had ever made a homemade popsicle...not sure why it took so long! These were a huge hit and we have decided that we MUST try out more popsicle recipes.

Meet "Sking"

What are these two up to? They are checking in on the new little friend they found outside - "Sking." That is the name they chose for the small lizard they discovered living under our driveway. Where, oh where, do they get their inspiration for names? They have been having fun spying on this little guy and chasing him off the front porch and out of the garage. They also have a box full of sticks, leaves and a water dish in case they happen to catch him.  Good luck, guys - he is fast!

Dad's Special Day

This is the man...the man we love so much! DAD! The kids had a lot of fun preparing his Father's Day surprise...they designed the neckties for the homemade gift bags themselves and since they are EXPERTS at taping, they attached them, too. 

We had an all around fun day with no home improvement projects and plenty of kisses and "I love you's!"

At One With Nature

Today, Mom had to do A LOT of serious cleaning.  And a bit more packing up.  So with three kids and an empty rental house, I wondered how the day would go. Would they be complaining about being bored? Fighting non-stop? Wantng to take off down the street? Tracking dirt in and out where I had just swept?  NO! These lovely children just dug up worms and pill bugs out of the mulch the entire time.  It kept them so entertained and they were so excited with how many bugs they found.  They had covered the bottom a big box with them!  So I guess our next step is to set up a bait shop and put our three kids in charge of finding all the merchandise.

Driving Without A License

Had some fun meeting up with some friends over the holiday weekend and of course, the kids jumped on a few rides at one of our favorite festivals! Looking at this picture makes me think that kids might be more content riding in the car if they had their own steering wheels to steer with.  Love our backseat drivers!

They Could Live Outside

There is nothing better than a lovely spring day! Our kids do not want to stop playing to come in to take baths in the evenings and it is hard to blame them! Here is ARM decorating the driveway with the sidewalk chalk that the Easter Bunny brought.

New Grad

This little girl makes us so proud.  She had a great year of kindergarten and learned so much.  She is reading well above grade level and does well in math, too.  Mrs. Steiner, her teacher, knew how to make learning fun for the kids and made each child feel important.  Here they are on "graduation day" - a day when many parents (definitely me) had tears in their eyes.

ARM chose to wear this white dress, which was also her Easter dress, and a headband she picked out at a craft show we attended together.  We had fun taking pictures with her friends and going for ice cream at Annie's Frozen Custard with her pal Sydney afterwards.

Sydney surprised everyone right at the very end of school by chopping off her hair and donating it - so she looked completely different to everyone with out her long thick hair!

A funny story from the custard stand: the people at Annie's thought it would be fun to kick off summer by putting some fun toys on their patio for kids.  Not just any toys...water toys.  It was a beautiful day and there were definitely other guests enjoying ice cream there.  After EMM finished his treat, he grabbed a water gun and shot it straight into the air, raining down drops all over a man and his high school age daughter.  They did NOT look happy.  After a quick apology, we packed it up and headed home...but definitely a funny memory!

Dining Al Fresco

Everyone has really enjoyed the little patio at the rental house.  Since the kitchen is small, it was nice having the extra space.  And no matter how messy these children were, those crumbs were just bird food!

Something Must Be Done

 Yes, it makes a really cool tub mohawk, but I think Evan is due for a trip to the barber! Summer is coming and this little boy is really warmblooded. The minute he starts running around his hair gets sweaty so we normally opt for a pretty short do when the warm weather hits.

May Flowers

This colorful bloom came home with EMM today.  The picture was taken after a few of the seeds (black beans) had fallen off, but you get the idea.   

Pick-me-ups

What parent doesn't like little love messages left for them? Melts your heart!

Under Cover Agent-baby

She's not going to like that I am blowing her cover on the blog, but the undercover agent in this picture is actually BGM! Her sister sent us this picture of her (truthfully it was her photo editing job) with her mullet and sunglasses and apparently she is going by the name MacGruber.

Master Builder

This little guy has always been great at building without any instructions at all.  This barn with two horse stalls is very symmetrical and the colors are even in patterns.  Needless to say we have our money's worth out of these Duplo blocks - all three kids love to build with them.

Learning Fair 2013

Look at this crazy expression! This little girl is showing us her Learning Fair exhibit, "Float or Sink? What do you Think?" Abby had fun dropping things in a tub of water to find out what would happen and then learning why they did float or sink.  There were lots of great exhibits even though participation was completely voluntary.

Jaws...Kindergarten Style

The kindergarten classes have been learning a lot about the ocean.  What most people do not know is that an ordinary toilet paper roll can become your very own shark. ARM brought home this cute little guy that she made at school and I told her a little bit about a movie called "Jaws" after her dad "sang" the famous music from it.  She says she is not ready to see it just yet....

Messy Play Day at the Library

Whoever thought up "Messy Play Day" was a genius.  What a hit for the kids, and the parents, too! In this picture, EMM was having fun making designs on the table with shaving cream.  BGM was not as into this project because she does not like to be messy and kept asking to have her hands wiped.  Not EMM!

Good Find

Love seeing these two play together... On a recent trip to the craft store, they collected flowers that were on the floor of the store and tossed them in the cart.  The saleslady told them they could just keep them and they sure were happy! Now...time to make hats!

A Tiny Turtle

EMM has been hard at work again...and this was while his preschool class learned about the letter "T." They read a Franklin story to go with this and from an egg carton, came up with a tiny turtle!  I love those creative preschool craft projects.

Driveway Daredevil

What is one of the best things about the house we are renting? The sidewalks and long driveway! ARM, EMM, and BGM have been racing around on their hot cycles every day it has been warm enough.  And I think when a house is smaller, an outdoor space is so important.  When the house is smaller the kids run outside to play a little faster...or maybe it is their parents shoving them outside the door more often? Either way...the nice covered patio with porch swing and all the sidewalks are being enjoyed A LOT by our kids.  Just watch out when you are outside walking - you may get sideswiped by this boy who can really pick up some speed!

List Maker

I really like how ARM added #8 to this list.  Shouldn't we all?

A Trip to Hawaii

 

Pictured here is ARM wearing her lei from the Hawaii trip she just went on...at school. Their grade had the kids board the plane and took off to the gym, decorated Hawaiian style, and had a bunch of fun activities for the kids.  They loved it!

Egg-citing Day

All three kids had fun dipping and dyeing eggs today.  The youngest wasn't always very gentle when placing the eggs in the mugs, so we did have a few cracked eggs but they look really cool, too.  At the bottom of the PAAS box we found a few sheets of stickers that hadn't been used in years past so this year our eggs had an overabundance of them. 

Sidewalk Beautification Project

One of the best things about the house we are staying in right now is all of the great sidewalk space. The bikes, hotcycles and tricycles are cruising and no one runs out of room when creating chalk masterpieces!

Lego Plane

In his hand, EMM is holding a Lego plane he received as a birthday gift and put together.  This is one Lego loving boy.   

Blocks Rock!

Always building! If this guy grows up to become an architect, it would not surprise me. 

Three Funny Faces

Had so much fun with these little ones during our family game night playing a new game that Evan received for his birthday.  The game is called Funny Faces and we all know that these kids are good at making those!

When I Grow Up...

...I want to be a chef! Here is EMM at school on Career Day in the hat that was a group effort by Dad and Mom. Gram gave him this great apron and we luckily had a mini oven mitt in the house, so he was all set!   When asked why he wanted to be a chef, he said, "I think that would be a pretty easy job." Okay, so he is not extremely motivated at the age of five...we are hoping that changes!

   Another cool thing about him being a chef at school today was that his class was reading the stone soup story - so he really looked ready for the day.  All of the kids had to bring in a vegetable and then cook up their own version, which according to EMM, did not taste very good.

Cupid's Been Here

Yes, our daughter happens to have a major crush on a classmate of hers.  To her credit, she probably did pick the sweetest boy in her class. She told me she picked him because he is the boy that is "the nicest one and never gets in trouble."  Today she came walking out of school with this headband that she made in "art" class and I couldn't help but smile because she was so proud of it.  Her grand plan is to marry him after she finishes college so at least she is getting the order right.

UPDATE: Two days after this headband debuted, she amended this heart to say, "is NOT my boyfriend" since her crush apparently was playing with a different girl at recess!

Our Very Own Leprechaun

We are feeling very lucky that we have this wee little laddie for our very own leprechaun. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Grin and Bear It

"We're going on a bear hunt!"  EMM has LOVED learning this song in preschool.  He talks about it all the time.  In this picture, he looks a little "bare" himself!
Update: after learning this "classic" from Evan's preschool, I spotted the book in mint condition at a yard sale for fifty cents and Brooke loves it.

Brite Discovery at Grandma's House

Guess who found my old Lite Brite? ARM was having fun plugging in lights and it sure would be nice if this toy was still made! They do make them, but not the same.  Apparently the design they have now is terrible and all of the lights just fall out - what a bummer!

Peek!

Fun at the library with blocks!

I'd Celebrate Too...Would You?

March 2nd is a day recognized in many schools in our country because it is the birthday of one amazing author: Dr. Seuss!  EMM's preschool read lots of Dr. Seuss books, played games and made their very own versions of the Cat in the Hat. What is your favorite Seuss book? EMM's is If I Ran the Zoo and ARM likes Wacky Wednesday the best.

New Author's Club

Holding her book "The True Story of Hair" which she wrote and illustrated to tell about donating her hair to Locks of Love, ARM is awaiting her turn to walk up and get her certificate that makes her an official member of the New Author's Club at her school.  She did a great job on her book and we are so very proud of her!