Well, today is my 30th birthday. It has been very routine so far except that I am doing no cleaning. That is my present to myself! I have felt older this year. It feels different for some reason. Usually I don't feel any older or any different on my birthday but I do this year. Interesting.
I do have some proof that I still have a brain after almost 9 years of taking care of my children. About a month ago the girls were picking at each other constantly. Just silly, stupid things that were aggravating to the other person. Then they would whine and complain to me. We were in the car driving home and a brillant idea came to me. Every time I had to get involved with their fighting they had to run a lap around the house, garage included. I told them my decision and they laughed and said okay. The next morning before school they were at it again so I said, "That's it! You owe me a lap!" They both looked at me incredulously and said, "What?" Well, after running around the house they came in laughing, having forgotten what they were fighting about. It has worked every time. Alexis even pulled Audrey around the house in the sled (and then declared that Audrey should run around the house two times to make up for it). One of my favorite things to hear in the mornings now is, "We can't run around the house. We'll be late for school!" To which I reply: "You better hurry up then!" To which Alexis usually says (to Audrey): "Now look what you've done!" HA!
So there is the proof that I still have some brain cells left at 30!
Oh, and Happy Birthday to my Dad tomorrow! I love you!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Audrey's Luau Birthday Party
Here is Audrey's birthday cake. It was actually really easy and probably the best looking one that I've made for a birthday yet. Audrey told me she "loved, loved, loved" it and that is all that matters!
We had 13 kids over for her party and played some seriously fun games. When the kids arrived they put on lei's and grass skirts (the skirts were drawstring trash bags cut like grass skirts. You just pull the ties together around the child's waist and viola! The kids thought it was great.) Then they played hot coconut and limbo.
The next game was bowling. Here the kids are lined up for their turn. They did such a good job waiting for their turn. No one complained.
After those games we had lunch. Pizza, pineapple, strawberries, and bananas.
Then we played musical beach towels. This was by far the best game we played. Whoever got out was taken by the crab (Ben) and put somewhere. You can see in the video below just how much fun the kids had with this game. We played it twice.
We had 13 kids over for her party and played some seriously fun games. When the kids arrived they put on lei's and grass skirts (the skirts were drawstring trash bags cut like grass skirts. You just pull the ties together around the child's waist and viola! The kids thought it was great.) Then they played hot coconut and limbo.
The next game was bowling. Here the kids are lined up for their turn. They did such a good job waiting for their turn. No one complained.
After those games we had lunch. Pizza, pineapple, strawberries, and bananas.
Then we played musical beach towels. This was by far the best game we played. Whoever got out was taken by the crab (Ben) and put somewhere. You can see in the video below just how much fun the kids had with this game. We played it twice.
After this game we had cake and ice cream. Then we opened presents. Then we played hot coconut until parents came to pick up the children. It was a really fun party!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Audrey turns 5!!!
Today is Audrey's 5th birthday. I have made my blog page all blue in her honor. She LOVES the color blue (and hates the color pink). Not a very traditional choice for a girl but perfect for Audrey. I have scanned some pages from her scrapbook album so you can see just how much she has changed over the last four years.
Prepare yourself. This is a long post. I couldn't shorten it no matter how hard I tried!
A newborn.
These pictures range from 6months to 18 months old.
Here are some pictures after she turns one.
18 months old.
Two years old.
Two years old.
I like to call this one the swimsuit model picture. :)
Two and a half.
Prepare yourself. This is a long post. I couldn't shorten it no matter how hard I tried!
A newborn.
These pictures range from 6months to 18 months old.
Here are some pictures after she turns one.
18 months old.
Two years old.
Two years old.
I like to call this one the swimsuit model picture. :)
Two and a half.
Three years old, I think.
I can't believe she ever had curls like this. It seems so strange now.
Audrey used to love going cross-eyed. She would do it for no particular reason anytime, anywhere. I thought it was so funny.
Four and half years old.
Today, November 12, 2008---5 years old.
I can't believe she ever had curls like this. It seems so strange now.
Audrey used to love going cross-eyed. She would do it for no particular reason anytime, anywhere. I thought it was so funny.
Three or four years old here.
Four and half years old.
Today, November 12, 2008---5 years old.
Some of Audrey's favorite things to do:
read a book
play with her cars--lining them up mostly
play with My Little Ponies
draw
sing the Alphabet song
sing the Alphabet song
write her name
go to school--she absolutely loves school
play with Alexis--most days she is ready for Alexis to be home around 2pm.
play outside
ride her bike
making a farm with her toy animals and building a railroad track around it all
Audrey's favorite color=blue
Audrey's favorite number=8 (sometimes she adds a few more to her favorites)
Audrey wants to be a police officer when she grows up. She used to want to be a ballerina and a police officer. She was very adamant about being both for over a year but the last month or so she has dropped the ballerina. She LOVES police officers. She loves the cars, their uniforms, and anything else she can think of that is related to them. Yesterday we were at the gas station and a police officer came in to buy a soft drink. As we left she said, "I saw his gun!"
Audrey is incredibly giving. She is always ready to share anything with anyone. She always has a smile on her face and loves to make other people laugh. She can be really silly and loves to laugh. She has always kept me on my toes. She is mischievous, although less than she used to be, thank goodness! She is also very snuggly. She likes to cuddle and usually always wants to be touching someone in some way. This would explain her lack of understanding when it comes to personal space. :)
Audrey, you are my wonderful, sweet, funny, bosom buddy. The next school year will hard for me when you are gone all day. I will miss my little buddy. I will have to talk, sing, dance, laugh, and smile without you to accompany me. That should make for some pretty good crazy lady moments. You are so smart and have a real zest for learning. I love you!
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Halloween Fun
These pictures are out of order for when they happened but oh well. You're lucky I'm even posting them! :)
We went with two families to trick or treat. Or rather, they followed us to our usual trick or treating spot. If you live in Milwaukee County "official" trick or treating happens on the Sunday before Halloween from 1-4pm. I KNOW!!! Totally lame. So we completely ignore that and luckily no one comes to our house for candy. I think its because the street has too many cars drive by. On Halloween we go to Menomonee Falls, about 15-20 minutes away. There is a really great spot to go. The houses are beautiful, the streets quiet, the decorations fun, and the candy is absolutely glorious! It's mostly chocolate, which in my book is the best kind. All the other "candy" is just junk to me. We were out for a little over an hour and the girls both had a lot of fun. Audrey was done after the first block and a half. Alexis could have kept going all night. Audrey even skipped out on the last street we did. She rode on Ben's shoulders and could care less about getting more candy. She is so funny!
We went with the Green's and the Cheney's. The costumes were all fun but Natale's was the best. She was Joe the Plumber! She loved telling everyone that and just about every adult burst out laughing. I think if you've followed the election at all that should be pretty funny to you.
Our kitty cat, Joe the Plumber, and ghostly spirit.
The girls had three days off of school last week and I knew that by the third day we would need a distraction. So I planned (a month or two in advance) a Halloween Party with some friends. I was going to have all these great pictures of it but it turned out I got only three! The adults were needed in helping make the crafts, play bingo, feed kids, etc. Plus it was GORGEOUS outside and the kids ended up playing outside for two hours. It had been in the 40's so we just couldn't ask them to come inside! :)
The kids loved having a picnic lunch outside on Halloween!
Striking a funny pose for the camera!
These are the pumpkins Alexis and Audrey carved. I drew Audrey's face and she actually carved it out herself. I helped a little with the mouth but that's it! She even cleaned out her own pumpkin this year! In years past she has always refused to touch any part of the inside of the pumpkin. Alexis made her own pattern and carved free hand. Hers is a ghost and the words Boo! on each side. My pictures turned out horrible this year. :( Ben made a Barrack Obama pumpkin that turned out really good and everyone who saw it knew exactly what it was. I made three wolfs with trees in the background. Again, no pics because they didn't turn out. :(
And finally, here are the girls just starting their pumpkin carving. And that was our awesome Halloween Fun!!
We went with two families to trick or treat. Or rather, they followed us to our usual trick or treating spot. If you live in Milwaukee County "official" trick or treating happens on the Sunday before Halloween from 1-4pm. I KNOW!!! Totally lame. So we completely ignore that and luckily no one comes to our house for candy. I think its because the street has too many cars drive by. On Halloween we go to Menomonee Falls, about 15-20 minutes away. There is a really great spot to go. The houses are beautiful, the streets quiet, the decorations fun, and the candy is absolutely glorious! It's mostly chocolate, which in my book is the best kind. All the other "candy" is just junk to me. We were out for a little over an hour and the girls both had a lot of fun. Audrey was done after the first block and a half. Alexis could have kept going all night. Audrey even skipped out on the last street we did. She rode on Ben's shoulders and could care less about getting more candy. She is so funny!
We went with the Green's and the Cheney's. The costumes were all fun but Natale's was the best. She was Joe the Plumber! She loved telling everyone that and just about every adult burst out laughing. I think if you've followed the election at all that should be pretty funny to you.
Our kitty cat, Joe the Plumber, and ghostly spirit.
The girls had three days off of school last week and I knew that by the third day we would need a distraction. So I planned (a month or two in advance) a Halloween Party with some friends. I was going to have all these great pictures of it but it turned out I got only three! The adults were needed in helping make the crafts, play bingo, feed kids, etc. Plus it was GORGEOUS outside and the kids ended up playing outside for two hours. It had been in the 40's so we just couldn't ask them to come inside! :)
The kids loved having a picnic lunch outside on Halloween!
Some enjoyed the food inside. We tried to get a game of Halloween twister going but it was just too nice outside. Luckily, the girls played it with friends the day before for about an hour so it wasn't a wasted game!
Striking a funny pose for the camera!
These are the pumpkins Alexis and Audrey carved. I drew Audrey's face and she actually carved it out herself. I helped a little with the mouth but that's it! She even cleaned out her own pumpkin this year! In years past she has always refused to touch any part of the inside of the pumpkin. Alexis made her own pattern and carved free hand. Hers is a ghost and the words Boo! on each side. My pictures turned out horrible this year. :( Ben made a Barrack Obama pumpkin that turned out really good and everyone who saw it knew exactly what it was. I made three wolfs with trees in the background. Again, no pics because they didn't turn out. :(
And finally, here are the girls just starting their pumpkin carving. And that was our awesome Halloween Fun!!
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