Happy 5th Birthday Laila!

My baby turned 5 on July 20th. She was very excited about her birthday and couldn't stop smiling from the minute she woke up.
She was excited to open presents and be treated like a Princess for a day.
We took her to Valleyfair on her actual birthday and she rode rides and played in the waterpark and rode more rides...for 12 hours!!
Sunday we had her cousins and grandparents over for a pool party. She got new clothes for her birthday and had to try everything on at once. She loves to change outfits approximately 50 times a day.

At 5 years old Laila is sweet, witty, athletic, imaginative, and playful. She is a good listener and often times is the peace maker between her two sisters. She still likes to cuddle and tells Bill and I she loves us all the time.

I am taking her in for her Kindergarten well-check today and she doesn't know that there are shots involved. We may have to go out for a special treat afterword.

We are a blessed family, for sure.

Lately

In the 16 days since my last post we:
Had our last day of school.
Celebrated 10 years of marriage.
(I) spent a weekend in St. Petersburg.
Started golf..
And soccer..
And swimming..
And orchestra..

And of course the usual work stuff and pool stuff and regular life stuff.

That's all. I'm just SO glad summer is finally here!!

Happy 7th Birthday Delaney Rae!!

My little spitfire is 7 years old. She didn't ask for anything besides some hair color but we got her a fish because we knew she would absolutely LOVE it. And she did :-)

As I'm sitting here typing this it's finally sinking in that she's 7 and finishing up 1st grade. She is still so much of a little girl that it's hard for me to wrap my head around it.

She needs Bill and I for help and lots of love and attention. She still wants us to be around at all times and be close to her to keep her safe and comfortable. She likes to hold our hands and have us accompany her to most everything still.  She crawls in between us on weekend mornings to snuggle up instead of heading to the living room to watch cartoons with her sisters. She often says that she's going to live with us forever.

I guess that would be OK.

I sure love this kid.

 

 

 

 

Mother's Day

I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I was actually kind of crabby for the first couple of hours on Mother's Day.
I was hoping the girls would be on their best behavior for me, but they weren't. They were themselves.
The kids fought about nothing to and from brunch and the smallest (but loudest) member of our family was put in her bed the minute we got home for having a holy fit about who knows what when simply going from the car to the house.
I went in my room to change clothes and thought about how I was the WORST mother in the ENTIRE world because I really wasn't enjoying being a Mother......on Mother's Day.

For some reason I had decided on Saturday that I was going to take a break from the usual stuff in 'honor' of Mother's Day the next day.
However, after a phone call to my Mom, and a couple of minutes sitting on the couch I felt bored.
I got up and started to make the beds and clean rooms and empty backpacks and empty the dishwasher and pull weeds and clean the yard.....and feel much, much better.

We went to my in-laws for dinner and had a really good time. The whole drive home the girls and I were telling stories and cracking each other up. I snuggled each of the girls and tucked them in and sat wondering what the sam hill my problem was earlier??

I love being a Mom, but I admit that sometimes I get a little whiny about the work. It's pretty shameful.

I hope your Mother's Day was simply all fairies and rainbows and sunshine - here's to another year!!

Mr. Golden Sun

Thank you God!

We finally got some sunshine!! The ENTIRE weekend was warm and sunny! It's supposed to cool off a little now, but with April coming to a close I know it's just a matter of time before it's warm and sunny every single day.

I almost can't believe that the school year is wrapping up already. I have finals next week and the girls only have 5 weeks left to go before summer break. I'm beyond excited.

I want to plan a Memorial Weekend trip - probably to Brainerd.
I want to meet my Mom in Tampa in June.
I want to take the family to Lake Ida once or twice this summer.
I want to have a Valleyfair weekend vacation.
I want to camp a few times on our own, with friends, and with family.

I am really looking forward to biking with the family more this summer and, of course, lots and lots and lots of swimming.

The Spring cleaning has begun and I look forward to a nice, clean, organized, fresh start to summer.

Feel free to stop by to BBQ any time :)

For Those of Us With Picky Eaters

I found this interesting and helpful.
I also felt supported in how I feed my picky eater - multiple exposures and the 'no thank you bite' as we call it in our house is a good way to get her to try (and maybe even LIKE) new foods!

http://mynutratek.com/blog/news/the-picky-eater-gene

Let's just complain about the weather, shall we?

(On an unrelated note, both my brothers are on a Disney Cruise right now. Guess I screwed the pooch on that one.)

Okay, so anyway.

It's April and we have snow. The temps aren't too bad, which is the thing I despise the most about winter, so that's good. My seasonal affective disorder is at it's worst when you go outside and literally can't breath because it's so cold.

For me, I hate this year's Spring weather because I can't start my heavy-duty Spring cleaning. I want to clean out my garage, and my shed, and my entire house. I plan on having a garage sale (donation only...just get the stuff out of here!). But, when it's dark and rainy and snowy for days and days on end it makes it hard to do anything.

I want to start getting the pool ready and the yard ready. I want the kids to be able to go in and out of the house to play without having to still put their boots and jackets on every time.

I know that April showers bring May flowers so I'm trying to be patient. The fact that we're getting more snow isn't really depressing, just crappy.

As Minnesotans some people say we're stupid for complaining because we know where we live. I agree with that, but I never wanted to be a permanent Minnesotan so I get a pass.