Great Grandma and The Children's Museum

One night the girls and I headed up to my Grandma's house in Indianapolis. There, we enjoyed a delicious dinner of corn on the cob, green beans, and steak for me and Grandma Francis, and chicken nuggets for the girls. They had so much fun exploring her house and looking at all the porcelain dolls she collects. After dinner, the girls colored in coloring books, and played with some toys (that I remember playing with as a kid). Grandma Francis painted their nails. Then we got in jammies and the girls decided they wanted to decorate the box the toys were in.

Isn't it amazing how much fun kids can have with a box?!?

They spent at least an hour decorating and playing in the box.

I think we need more boxes at out house!

In the morning, we had breakfast, got ready, and met my mom at the Indianapolis Children's Museum. The museum is awesome, and brought back lots of memories from my childhood. It was fun to experience some of the same things with my own kids. We listened to a story about a train, making choo-choo sounds and all.

Kate trying her hand at making blown "glass" art.

Andie's turn!

Meeting the Princess of the Lego Kingdom. Andie wouldn't go near her!

The dinosaur guarding the treasure. (Made completely out of legos.) Kate was sad she couldn't take any gold for herself.

Kate modeling the foam jousting horses.

Sailing a boat down the "river."

Rock climbing.

(Rob would have been so proud to see how quickly his youngest scaled this wall!)

Kate made me a delicious slice of pizza in the deli.

Playing at the sand table.

So excited to finally "catch" a fish.

It was really interesting to see more of Andie's personality come out on this trip (especially at the Children's Museum). She and Kate are SO different. Kate was like a humming bird, she would spend 2 minutes looking at or playing with something before she flitted onto the next bigger and better display. Andie takes her time with things. She would play with one thing/display for 20 to 30 minutes, or until she mastered the skill (ie. fishing). I felt like I was only taking pictures of Andie because Kate was way to fast, and I could never capture her actually playing. Mom and I spent the day split up between the kids. She'd go with Kate while I was with Andie, or I'd be with Kate while she was with Andie.

Andie played with the train table for about a half hour. At first she had the whold table to herself, and she was in heaven! But when another kid wanted to play, and she had to share the trains and the table, she wasn't so happy!

(This is why we got her a train set for her birthday, and she has played with it almost everyday since! Gerb, I think we need to get her and Hubba together!)

The girls also got to ride the Carousel in the Museum. Kate was so upset that she had to ride on one of the stationary horses, that we had to ride it twice so she could ride an "up and down" one. Demanding little thing!

Kate happy to be riding an "up and down" horse.

The girls had so much fun at the Children's Museum. They were both conked out in their carseats before we got out of the parking garage! And mom got to drive home in peace and quiet...a rare thing around here!

The Wheels on the Bus

Remember way back in March when I took the girls home to my parents' house for 2 weeks? Yeah. It's nearly 2 months later and I'm just starting to blog about our trip. Life has been crazy. Oh, well. Tomorrow's just another day, right?!?

Anyways, the girls did really great on our flights. I was amazed! And SO grateful! (Thank you portable DVD player!!!) We got there in the afternoon, and my Dad picked us up from the airport. The girls were SO excited to see Bama and Papa. (So was I!) We went home, ate dinner and crashed for the night.

The next morning, we got up, ate breakfast, got ready, and had a nice semi-lazy morning. Then Dad and I took the girls to the park and we had a picnic of Happy Meals. It was a beautiful day, and it was so fun to get out in the sunshine. We walked around the resovoir, and Papa pointed out a turtle sticking it's head out of the water. After that, the girls were looking and spotted several more turtles. Papa also caught a fish with his hand. The girls were so impressed! Kate even touched it! I guess Andie's not so much a fish kinda girl.

Later that afternoon, we met my Mom at the "bus barn" so the girls could go for a ride on the school bus.

Andie was pretty shy and timid at first, but warmed up pretty quickly.

I LOVE this shot of my mom and Miss Andie. I wish it wasn't so dark.

Any photoshop pros out there? How can I fix this?

The girls call my mom Bama. Kate couldn't say grandma when she was little,

it came out as Bama.

The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep.


Kate wished she could really drive the bus, but since she couldn't,

she had fun pretending.

Stay tuned for more on our trip (from 2 months ago)...

Yard Work is Tiring

...at least WATCHING MOM do yard work is exhausting!

Easter Morning

The girls woke up Easter morning so excited the Easter Bunny had been here. At our house the Easter Bunny hides the baskets and the eggs we color the night before. So the girls got to go on an egg hunt, and then find their baskets. It was fun to watch them.

After a delicious breakfast of biscuits and gravy, we went over to Lara and Bryan's to see what the Easter Bunny left Sara and Blake. The Bunny left them some chicks. The girls were cute and loved petting the chickies.

When we came home, it was bath time for the girls. Then they ate lunch and put on their Easter dresses.

Ready for church.

Kate was helping Andie get ready.

More pictures.

Kate was tired of taking pictures together.

But she was more than happy to pose by herself!

Andie watching Kate pose.

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter!

What a Party!

We celebrated Andie's 3rd birthday today. She had a Bunny themed birthday party.

It was fun, and I think everyone had a good time.

We decorated with balloons and a homemade birthday banner.

She had an adorable bunny cake.

One of her favorite gifts was a gift set of the original SkippyJon Jones book with a plush Skippito. These books are SO fun! Seriously, if you have young kids, go check them out from your library.

Another favorite was her Tinkerbelle umbrella. Thanks Bama and Pappa!

While Kate was opening presents, Aunt Carrie saw this photo op and snapped this picture of my sisters and me. Thanks Aunt Carrie!

It was a fun day. Thanks to all our family and friends for celebrating with us today. We just wish Bama and Pappa and Grandma Terry could have been there too! We love you all!

Home Again

On St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) the girls and I flew out to my parents' house. The girls were so excited to see Bama and Papa, and get to spend some time with them. We did lots of fun things while we were there. (More about our trip later.)

The day before we left, I decided to get my hair cut. I'd been contemplating a change for awhile, and I finally decided on a style I liked.

This is what my hair looked like before.

And this is what it looks like after.

So whaddaya think?

Sara the Starlett

I was babysitting my niece and nephew last week while my sister was out of town. Sara is only 6 months older than Andie, and they get along amazingly well. While they were here, Andie started singing "Twinkle, Twinkle,Little Star." Sara, not wanting to be out done by her younger cousin piped in with her own version.

It went something like this.