It's all about Emma on her big 7th birthday...

At the park with her friends...

Emma eating her birthday snowcone, cotton candy!

 the Tangled birthday cake...

The kids playing Mario Kart at Fun City in Burlinton, Iowa. Emma wanted to go and stay the night there ride the Go Karts, go to the indoor water park, and play a few video games. It turned out to be a fun cheap trip!

Since it was Emma's birthday she got to go into the birthday box and get a chance to put money in this box and she got 1000 points to use towards little toys. The lady that helped us said Emma did awseome! Not very many people get that much. leave it to our Emma to figure out the trick.;)

It was so funny to watch her, she had to put these cool glasses on!

They loved driving the Go Karts.

The kids at the top of Snake Alley.

This was taken at the top of Snake Alley you can see the kids running down it!

The kids in front of Snake Alley in Burlington, Iowa. This was a really cool place to check out. The kids thought it was cool to walk down. It was built in the late 1800's. It is known as one of the crookedest streets in the world. The kids wanted me to drive down it in my cool mini van but I was afraid I would get stuck on a curve!;)

Ethan's 8th Birthday...




This is what we woke up to on the day of Ethan's party, snow. I have lived in
Iowa long enough now that it honestly
 didn't shock me.

And it was beautiful and any other day would have been great but we had 9
boys coming for
 Ethan's party. I think it all worked out. They ate pizza, cake, and played video games.
And seemed to have a good time!

 


Ethan and Emma opening up grandma's present.





Ethan giving Emma a hug after he opened her gift, a Star Wars Bounty Hunter.

 



The big present from us, Boba Fett Lego Set. It's kinda sad because as the kids get older
the number of gifts we can give them gets smaller and smaller. A couple of books,
new bike, and a
Lego set and we called it good!:) But he said this was his favorite birthday!





I was going to bake a cake and realized I would have to bake 2 cakes to make sure we had
enough cake for everyone so I splurged and we bought this at Target and it was yummy. I thought
it was pretty cute too better than what I was going to do for sure.:)




I still can't believe their are 8 candles on that cake, it really makes me stop and think how fast
our kids are growing up.




Ethan getting a little shy while we are singing to him!





And Elise she LOVES chocolate cake! Can you tell?:)



Oklahoma

We had a great time visiting last week. It was not the trip we planned, but it all worked out. We had planned on taking the kids to the zoo among many others things but when you have 2 kids sick it just doesn't always work out. Ethan came down with strep and Elise had a fever that topped at 104. So we spent 2 days at the doctor but it was nice to visit with our old pediatrician and ran into old friends. Actually the whole trip was more meaningful. We got to see the kids so happy just hanging out with their grandparents, aunts, and uncle which really makes you stop and realize just how important family is.

My dad was so happy just to sit in his living room and talk with us. We had good conversations not forced or generic, very genuine. When we left he seemed so sad to see us go. I have never been good with goodbyes yet I am very aware how important it is to tell someone that you love and appreciate them. My 94 year old grandma looked so weak and lonely it was hard to tell her goodbye. She was so happy just to get hugs from the kids. I was so proud of them. Ethan really showed me just how caring and thoughtful he CAN be. He offered to get her things without me even mentioning it. He is becoming very aware of people and their feelings but still loves to annoy his sisters.

I didn't get to visit with all my aunts, cousins, and friends as I really wanted too but that's what is so wonderful about having such a great family. I know they understood and next time will catch up. I do really miss Oklahoma the weather was so warm, the trees were budding, the flowers were out, and spring was there. Here in Iowa we're still waiting but at least it's starting to warm up!:)

Skating...

Emma loved her  skating experience! She did pretty good. She has
some beginner skates
but I think
she just might be ready for some like these.

Mario was a good sport about going out on the rink with the kids since I couldn't.
I really wanted too. I still have my ol' white skates with pink wheels. I loved to skate when
I was their age. My friend Jana and I would skate all day in our neighborhood!



Ethan had never skated before so it took him
 a bit but he did good!
Emma and Mario helping him out!



Emma looking great! She has great balance. Must be Ballet!



Emma checking out the
 other skaters.
 This girl was pretty good!



Ethan getting help from grandpa!

Now he looks like he is having fun!

Emma at Pink Swirls. Great place to get some
 yummy and somewhat healthy ice cream!

Ethan put about 12 toppings in his ice cream. At least he
put some
fruit.
 We loved the whole experience.

Mario looking cool on the rink.;)

Elise,caught red handed...

Elise keeps us on our toes that is for sure. Today while I was cleaning she found a small Polly doll toy that she obviously knew she wasn't supposed to have or she wouldn't have found this hiding spot between the bookcase and wall to admire it. When I found her she actually hid the toy in her sleeve so fast that she pulled her shirt up with it. My camera just happened to be close by so I snapped a quick picture. Sneaky girl, she loves to look at all Emma's Polly doll stuff but she sometimes just can resist the urge of putting them in her mouth. So we don't allow her to play with them unsupervised. But every now and then Emma leaves a small Polly purse or shoe out and Elise always finds them. She is so sneaky. :)

Lazy Days...

 Elise napping...

 Ethan playing a little Donkey Kong on the Wii with Mario...

Emma playing with her dolls in my dining room...

January brings some crazy cold temps in Iowa. Today when we went to church it was 5 degrees. You would think after living here going on 5 years I would get used to it, but I haven't. We stay at home a lot playing games, watching movies, and just hanging out with each other. Come March we will start to venture out and do outdoor activities again so until then we will be having a lot of lazy days.

Mario and I made a pizza recipe with all fresh ingredients. The crust turned out pretty good but the pizza sauce needs some tweaking still. We really enjoy cooking together these days. We really don't ever  eat  out anymore. We find it is more fun trying out all kinds of recipes in the comfort of our kitchen. We made a chili recipe a few weeks ago that was delicious.

My Mom and I

My mom was 34 years old in this picture. That is exactly how old I am now. I look at her and she looks so young to me yet when I look at pictures of myself now I always think WOW I am looking old. How ironic. Since being an only child my mom and I were best friends. I loved to hang out with her. Mario likes to remind me how I used to cancel dates with him when we were in high school because I didn't want her to go grocery shopping by herself.

This week will be 12 years since I heard her voice say Amy Kathleen. Nobody calls me that anymore but she always did. My name was going to be Amber she told me once, but she decided I looked more like an Amy when I was born. Funny. This is the way I remember her now at this age. She was the happiest at this point in her life. She lost her battle to cancer at the young age of 46.

I thought I would list 12 things that remind me of her. So here it is:


1. Her smile, she had an amazing smile that was contagious.

2. Her whistle. She would stand in the kitchen washing dishes by hand whistling the whole time all kinds of tunes. I tried to learn but I'm not a very good whistler.

3. Beach Boys she had a lot of their records, yes I said records. This was the early 80's.

4. The TV series MASH we used to watch the reruns of it together at night. She liked it.

5. Bicycle, she loved to bike ride with my dad. We would ride to Woodland Park in my hometown every Sat. afternoon. I always went too. I now have her old bike.

6. Hamburger Helper, she actually loved it!

7. JC Penny catalog, we would get the catalog in the mail the big one and go through it together every year.

8. Washing the windows on the outside of our house, I always liked to help her.

9. House plants, she had them in every room of our house. She loved to have plants.

10. Baking cut out sugar cookies, I looked forward to this every Christmas. We would play all of her old Christmas records and bake and decorate cookies. I now have all her records.

11. The way she tucked me in at night and gave me a kiss when I was a kid.

12. How much she loved my dad.

My dad didn't think we needed any more cats but my mom had a talk with him and some how he had a change of heart. I also remember her helping me name the cat, we decided on Frisky. I was almost 8 years old here the same age as Ethan.

Elise Claire at 14 months...

expression after she saw her new puzzle that makes sounds...

The big present Ethan got from his grandma and grandpa!

Elise I think was more excited about the Zhu Zhu's than Emma...

Elise had to be right there in the middle of the action...

Elise doing her new puzzle, she is really good at puzzles. This is cool because it makes sounds...

Climbing onto sofa...

she is very dramatic about most everything...

And loves Emma's Zhu Zhu pets.

opening presents...

Well Elise is quite the adventurous baby girl. She expresses herself in many ways these days. Last week I had given her a little bowl with lid of crackers because she loves to walk around the house with it. And when she ate them all she came to me poking my leg with her finger to get my attention saying "mor, mor" for more holding her bowl up until I gave her more of the crackers. She will now say "yay" and clap when she gets excited or is proud of her accomplishment.

For example today I stepped into our office to get a book and came back to her standing on our dining room table clapping and saying, "yay." To say she is a climber is an understatement. The girl never stops moving. Our dining room chairs now stay pushed away from the table. Today I turned on Sesame Street for a few minutes and put her in Ethan's old comfy red chair that is just her size and I kid you not she sat there eating her snack gabbing at Elmo having a grand time UNTIL I walked out of the room for a minute and came back to her standing on our sofa clapping with her beautiful smile just so proud of herself. And she has no patience at all. The other night I was feeding her and I stopped to help Ethan and she called "momma, momma, momma" and I guess I didn't make it back fast enough for her because she started feeding herself but with her FORK! She doesn't like to be dirty. If her hands are sticky from something she cries and holds them up to me for me to clean them. And she knows our schedule. She gets her bath in the mornings so right after she wakes up she goes straight for our tub and points to it. Then we load the dishwasher together and she MUST help me or she cries. Then we get beds made which she finds very amusing. And she LOVES to have her hair and teeth brushed. She hates socks I mean the second I put them on she is pulling them right off. She knows how to say, "bye bye"and will get her shoes and hat if you tell her lets go bye bye.:)

She will give the best hugs now with a firm squeeze and a pat on your back with a kiss. If you raise your voice at her for example when I caught her standing on our dining room table it scared me so I quickly grabbed her and said "no" very firm and she knew I was not happy so she cried. She is a very smart girl, she knows when she has been naughty. Like when she turns the Wii off on Ethan when he is just about to defeat a level on his game. She pushes the button and looks over her shoulder at Ethan and then takes him her favorite book for him to read. I think she honestly just wants his attention and knows when she turns it off she GETS it. But Ethan is good about it, he just screams ELISE and then she smiles at him and holds her book out to him and he just says, "ok I'll read your book to you." She has us all wrapped around her finger. She is definitely the BABY in the house.

She takes 1 nap usually but always around 1:00. She is FINALLY sleeping through the night that just happened recently. She walks like a she's been doing it forever and loves to dance to music. But of all our kids she is a daddy's girl. When Mario comes home she screams with excitement and just hugs all over him gabbing away about her day sometimes I'll hear momma and then a bunch of sounds and then points at me. She is quite the sweetie. I'll post more pictures of Ethan and Emma at Christmas soon!

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends...

We now have many Christmas traditions in place with our kids. Baking is one of them. Our Christmas Eve is full of family fun. Mario and I cut out all our gingerbread men, women, and kids along with our sugar cookies the night before then on Christmas Eve we icing all of them with the kids. A lot of work but also fun. We also made Chex mix which was a big hit with Elise! Cherry flavored popcorn, pretzel rods drizzled in white chocolate, Franks in a blanket, and pizza rolls Emma's favorite. We just snack all day then go to Christmas Eve church service and finally the kids open some presents. I have learned to love to cook and bake in the kitchen with Mario and the kids, it's always a favorite part of our tradition!