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!

Disney Photo Blast

There aren't quite the words to describe the fabulous trip gifted to us by my sister-in-law.  A trip for our entire family to the most magical place on earth was incredibly priceless.  I was so excited for my kids to experience every single thing and see the joy on their faces as they saw amazing things, hero's and princesses that once only existed on a TV screen or on the pages of a book.  Sometimes the mere thought of it brought tears to my eyes, so to experience it, well, lets just say it is an act of God I was able to keep it all together during the trip.  Heck, I was probably just as excited as the kids most of the time!

And of course, Disney World did not disappoint.  So many fun and exciting things to do and see, something new around every corner and smiles on my kids' faces every single second (well, almost, they are just kids).  The only thing I didn't remember from my last trip there as a 21-year-old college student?  How exhausting it was.  Perhaps I don't remember that part because it wasn't quite as exhausting when you don't have to cart around and take care of three littles?  Perhaps.  But the joy of it through their eyes, much more than made up for the physical end of things.

Here is our trip through photos (this is less than 1/10th of the photos I took!):

The girls in front of Cinderella's Castle all lit up

The electric parade.  Cinderella did not look at us as they were driving by
and Miss Firecracker was heart broken. 

Jasmine and Aladdin.  Our first princess sighting

Swiss family Robinson tree house - kids didn't really get it because they have never seen the movie

The infamous Dumbo ride!

Pictures with a fancy Minnie Mouse

Even daddy got in on a little ear action!

The royal carousel

Speedway.  The kids had so much fun on this, but were all over the place!

Astro Orbiter, it was a bit chilly on this ride!

Monster's Inc.  Miss Thumb Sucker wanted NOTHING to do with getting in this picture!

Star Tours!  I bawled on this ride when I was 7 - Noisy Man and Miss Firecracker
loved it!

Noisy Man's favorite part of the whole trip - Jedi training!

Watching the Indiana Jones show

Extreme Stunt show - this was pretty amazing

Beauty and the Beast Musical - one of my favorites

Waiting in line to see Buzz and Woody

Walking to a bathroom, Miss Firecracker was "abducted" by toy army men!

Finally in to see the stars!

Toy Story Mania - we got the very last fast passes for this ride at 10 am, finally got to ride at 7:30!

The absolutely beautiful main street of lights

Belle at the princess breakfast

Even the boys got in on the princess action

Cinderella DID come (she wasn't a guarantee at the place where we ate)!  The girls were so
excited it brought tears to my eyes.  She even took Miss Firecracker's and Miss Thumb Sucker's
hands and led them around with her on the princess parade!

So excited to be with Cinderella

The kids got to go down on the floor and help out with part of the music at the end
of the Lion King show!  It was amazing!

Noisy Man lost his 2nd tooth while eating lunch at Animal Kingdom

Mommy and Daddy snuck in a picture

We caught Mickey finally on the last day at the parks.  Amazingly we didn't have to wait
in line at all!



We got in one morning of swimming on the very last day there