May Memories

Well, since May is long past we'll call this post a memory.  Ugh.  So terribly far behind.  May, of course, is eventful with the end of school activities and start of ball and all that jazz, so prepare yourself for a photo blast.

The start of May always means a birthday party and a marathon.  Noisy Man requested a Star Wars birthday party, and thanks to Pinterest (because mommy knows absolutely nothing about Star Wars) we were able to pull off two successful Star Wars festivities.  One with friends and one with the family.  And always the same weekend around his birthday is the Lincoln Half Marathon that mommy loves to run every year.  This year I got to run it with my very best friend and even though I wasn't feeling 100% that day and my time was a bit slow, it was a fabulous time to spend with her.

Darth Vader made a surprise appearance

R2D2 cake (yes he is short and fat, I am not a pro)

Jedi Battles with the friends

Another Darth Vader Battle

I love getting to see the kids along the route.  Best part of the whole run!

The same night as the marathon was Miss Firecracker's King Kids (a singing/drama production for kids that our church does) program.  She was all about being on that stage.  She knew all the words, had a huge smile on her face and even threw in a few actions.  People were commenting left and right about what a great job she did.  I wish I could post the video.  It was priceless.

So into her singing!

Later in the week Miss Firecracker also had her preschool graduation.  Such a big girl, moving on to Kindergarten.  Where does the time go?  She got to get a little diploma and sing a few more songs.  One of them she even got to do a little "quartet" with some other girls to start the song off.  They were just adorable up there.

Best Preschool Staff ever along with her "twin" as they refer to them, and a good photo bomb by her brother

The next weekend, I got to run with her again on Mother's Day as we ran in the Diva Dash and got to watch my girls run in their first race as well.  They had little sprints for the young age groups of girls and my BFF and I ran a 5K.  We even all dressed up for the occasion.  Miss Firecracker came in pretty close to first in her group, and Miss Thumb Sucker smiled as she dashed through the entire 50 yards, both dressed in their favorite princess dresses.  Better yet, check out the dresses the moms dug out of our closets to run in - both from High School and they still fit!

And of course, the end of school means a track meet.  Poor Noisy Man tried his heart out in all of his events and came up just short of receiving a ribbon (only given to the first 5 places) in each event (other than the shoe kick - he didn't do so hot in that one, but that doesn't break my heart).  He got 6th in the 50 meter dash and 7th in the long jump.  Still super proud of him and can't wait for many more track meets in the future.  I love track!

Not to be outdone, Noisy Man requested a race as well.  So he and Mom ran a 1 mile fun run over Memorial Day weekend.   While "training" we would run around a 12 minute mile, but during the race itself, Noisy Man was booking it.  I kept telling him to slow down a bit because I didn't want him to get too tired and have to walk.  The boy never slowed down and finished the race in 9 minutes!  He can't wait to do another one.  The best part?  He got his very own trophy and it is now his most prized possession! (Sadly, mom forgot her camera and didn't get any great pictures.)

Don't forget about ball.  So much ball.  Here are a couple pics of Miss Firecracker (haven't uploaded Noisy Man's yet), but I'll get more into that in a later post.  This one has gotten way too long already!

Spring Finally Sprung

Big Surprise.  I am behind yet again.  I'll do a few separate posts to get things all caught up.  We are so glad the weather is finally turning around here.  Even though it is still a little patchy, there are signs of hope!

Since my last post, Miss Firecracker had to get reading glasses.  To be quite honest, she is a little disappointed she doesn't get to wear them as often as she would like.  I am sure the novelty will wear off eventually, but for now she likes to try and wear them whenever she wants.  Only problem is, they are reading glasses and things farther away get a little fuzzy when she is wearing them, so it doesn't really work.  Either way, she looks absolutely adorable in them!

 I finally got my birthday present in the house.  Daddy started this awesome present for me back in November, but due to the cold weather, it took a while to get it completed.  But I am loving my new, beautiful table!  Now I just need to refinish my chairs to match/coordinate and I'll be set. 

We've had a bit of wind this spring.  You'd think my kids didn't have real kites.  I inform you they each have two.  But, I give them kudos for creativity and it actually worked quite well.

rainbow yarn and a trash bag!

The AWANAs program at our church ended at the end of April.  My kids are super bummed that it is over and Miss Thumb Sucker still asks every time we head to church if she gets to go to Puggles (her class' name).  They all did so great learning their verses and it opens up a lot of doors for great faith-based conversations.  I love that this program gives them such a chance to learn about the Bible through church and at home.  And my kids have been so blessed with amazing leaders for their groups. 

Noisy Man had a number of different helpers, but Ms B ended the last
few months with him and they had such a great time together!

Anytime Ms. K's name is mentioneed, Miss Thumb Sucker gets super excited.
She sure misses seeing her every week!

Our last bits of excitement in April centered around Noisy Man.  I was able to tag along on his class field trip to the local library and to our new hospital.  The kids had a great time and I was really impressed with both presentations.  The hospital did a little mock "what would you do if you were coming in to the hospital for a tonsillectomy" and also showed them many other tests that can be done at the hospital.  It was a great way to get the kids in there to check things out so they might not be so intimidated or scared if they really had to be a patient. 

Noisy Man got hooked up to the heart monitor and ran in place to see
how his heart rate changed

Lastly, Noisy Man and daddy went turkey hunting.  Miss Firecracker even tagged along a little bit as well.  Daddy even found a youth 20 gauge shot gun for Noisy Man to try out.  He was so thrilled.  However, after shooting it the first time and getting kicked in the face by the recoil of the gun he lost a little of the thrill.  Ten minutes later, he wanted to try again, though.  Sadly, it happened again and my baby boy ended up with a bruised cheek that traveled up to his eye a little bit.  He took it like a trooper though, and, as daddy always tells him, "Chicks dig scars" and "You should see the other guy!"

See the nice, red spot?  It turned pretty colors a few days later.

Noisy Man News

We had fun attending Noisy Man's Spring Concert at school.  It is pretty easy to tell already that being on the stage is not his thing.  Mommy had to keep making silly faces at him to make him smile and look like he was 1/2 way enjoying himself.  Still, he did a great job and knew exactly what he was supposed to do.  (And I do have to admit, I had fun making faces at him!)  Check out this great capture I got of him at the end.  He spotted me in the back of the auditorium as I went out a little early to do PTO stuff. 

And, even more exciting than a spring concert, my big boy can now ride his bike without training wheels!  Although mommy was busy recording and forgot to click a few pictures in the process.  I didn't get any pictures of him riding until after he had already crashed and refused to really get going again.  Now, the weather has taken a turn for the worse and we haven't been able to get out much to practice.  Hopefully, he'll forget the small scratch he got the first time and be ready to hop back on as soon as we make it back outside.

We have also started to plan his next birthday party.   How is my little guy turning 7?!?!  Where did this adorable little thing go?

Now he is just big and adorable!

Bless You's

Most nights it is a fight to keep our girls in their bedroom.  No matter how tired they might be, how many times we praise them for staying in or spank them for coming out, it doesn't seem to do any good.  You put those two in a room and turn off the lights and they just get all squirrelly.

Most nights we hear the door open and just say "Get back in bed!"  Sometimes it works, other nights they meet their discipline.  Tonight was no exception.  Miss Thumb Sucker has already come out 4 times and received 2 spankings.  Miss Firecracker is a little wiser and stays in the bedroom a little better or sends her little sister out to do her bidding.  Tonight she did come out, however, and I am thankful I didn't shout the usual down the hall.

She walked up to me on the couch looking like she was going to whine about some injury, I asked if she got herself in trouble doing something she shouldn't have while she should have been sleeping.  She quickly confessed (which made me have to suppress a smile) but then said, "Mommy, I got my bless you's all over my hand."  I didn't quite understand what she said and asked her to repeat herself and she said it again, "I got my bless you's all over my hand." When I looked at her quizzically again she said, "Buggers."

That made the lightbulb turn on.  She had sneezed and gotten buggers all over her hand and needed to wash!  Ha!  Made me and daddy both laugh.

I always say I want to remember the funny and sweet things they say, so I figured I would blog it quick.  Oh, and if you have any suggestions on how to keep them in bed I'd be all ears!

A First for My Baby Girl

Yes, she is almost 3 and a half, but my baby girl just had her first hair cut.  We went to see Grandma S for the big day.  She was rather excited to have her "endings cut" as she called it.  Her beautiful long, red hair with curly "endings" is still mostly all there thankfully (I was a little worried the curls at the bottom would go away).  Now it is just a little bit smoother at the bottom.  I think mommy could let her hair grow forever.  But it could use a little bit more volume.  It is fine and soft as silk and rather thin, but who can complain when it is so pretty? 

Miss Firecracker had a trim too.  She just wishes her hair would grow long.  Her beautiful curls seem to keep it pretty short.  We cut a little bob in the back this time to help even out her curls.  They seem to be kind of flat in the back on the top so we thought it might lay a little better this way.  Now we'll just leave it alone and hope it will grow, grow, grow!

Grandma let her sit under the hair dryer when she was done

I don't like 5

I think turning 5 is the worst.  Up until then they are still my little toddler/preschooler, but at 5 they are officially a big kid and I become a sad mommy.

Now, Miss Firecracker has always been 16 at heart with as well as she has always spoken and as smart as she is (just the other day she and I read through a Fancy Nancy book and she blew me away with how much of it she could actually read on her own) so 5 shouldn't throw me for much of a loop, but now that it is really here, I still don't like it.

Looking back at her 5 years is quite the roller coaster.  She is the child that can push my buttons with the most ease.  I am not quite sure why that is, but watching her grow up has been amazing.  She is still a little firecracker due to her dramatic nature.  If something doesn't go right the first time she is in a tizzy, or if she can't do it herself back up and watch the show, but she has such a gentle heart it makes you want to melt.  I call her a "little mommy" because she is all over taking care of anyone younger and she is always the first to volunteer to help out if mommy needs it.  She is a people pleaser.  Nothing makes her face shine more than to know she made someone proud or helped them in a special way.  She is also my most inquisitive one, wanting to know all the details she can on any given subject and she'll recite them all back to you whenever something reminds her of the topic.  She is one smart little cookie and is going to do big things with her big heart.

She wanted a Hello Kitty party this year, and I have to say it was a pretty easy party to throw.  Hello Kitty is everywhere right now, so there was no shortage on finding supplies and decorations, even though I made most of them myself.

Here is a photo blast of her party:

HELLO 5!

Homemade pinata!  Out of  paper grocery bags

All dressed up and ready to get their toes painted!

The finished product

Preschool treats on her birthday!

Running a Little Behind

So, the last post I did was on Disney, which happened Dec. 12-16 and it is now the last day in February.  I think I better catch up with things or it might get out of control.  Prepare yourself for a long one.

Next on the agenda after Disney was Christmas, of course. It was the usual running around to all the functions and family get-togethers.  I totally failed at any kind of advent activity this year with the first weeks in December being completely out of whack.  I will have to make up for that next year.  Heck, I didn't even get out our Little People Nativity set this year.  Hopefully my kids still got plenty of the Baby Jesus message through books we read and things like that because I totally dropped the ball.  December also brought muzzle loader season for Daddy and another deer.  It was his first time hunting with a muzzle loader and he enjoyed it.  It also brought some snow fun!

Here are some pics from the fabulous holiday and other fun with family and friends.

Noisy Man got the bow he has been eyeing for quite a while



Birthday cake for Jesus!

decorating the tree!  (these pictures are not in order!)

A pink princess bike!!!

Opening presents with mommy's family

Watching "Brave" evidently this was during a scarey part

The boys

Noisy Man built a snow plow for his bike when we got our first snow

Making cookies with Gpa G

A picture of the grown ups, well most of us - no clue what Uncle M is doing!

Daddy's little muzzleloader deer

My lego-headed son

After the Christmas craziness, things calmed down a little bit.  January was filled with more normal activities here and there.  The girls started back up into gymnastics and mommy even got in on the action with helping teach Hollyn's class. (Six 3 and 4 year olds on gymnastics equipment is too much for one woman to handle alone.)  Kaden got to do a couple Saturday morning basketball pracitces out at school with a little 'camp' they do out there.  Mommy got in her scrapbooking weekend and surprisingly got a lot done.  (Too bad the calendar she did still hasn't gotten printed - goal for this week for sure!)  Daddy started playing basketball himself out at the school with some friends and twisted his ankle pretty badly his first time out.  It took him 2 weeks to get all the swelling out of it.  Thankfully, he is back to normal and back to the pick-up games.  Mommy got back to running after almost taking November and December completely off (I think I only ran 4 times both those months).

Here are a few pics from January.

Snow fun!

February was also fairly calm.  We actually had weekends we spent at home with nothing on the calendar and many evenings hanging out as a family as well.   Our most exciting event in February was the girls all going to the Husker women's gymnastics meet at the Devany Center in the middle of the month.  The girls thought it was a blast and can't wait to do it again. We had a fun Valentine's Day with too many sweets and our traditional pink, heart-shaped pancakes.  Mommy decided to take part in a 'fast' for Lent (I like the idea of making a 'sacrifice' to remind me of the sacrifice Christ made for us and everytime I am tempted it reminds me to pray or thank Him for that sacrifice) and give up chocolate.  So far it has been a challenge and there has been much prayer!  I love my chocolate.  We also gained a new nephew at the end of the month and can't wait to meet him.  Jeff's sister, Melissa and her husband welcomed their 4th child, their 3rd little boy on February 22nd.

A few pics from February.

Lil' Red was quite entertaining in the down time

Really loved watching all of it and had a lot of questions.  I am sure the people in
front of us were highly annoyed or amused. 

Miss Firecracker and her friend who met us there.  We had such a great time.

And that, I believe catches me up to where we are now and apparently I didn't take many pictures in January and February.  Hopefully, I won't get so far behind again!