Weekend Roundup

We had a great weekend in Harrison and played a lot of Legos on Saturday morning :) Ingrid got an awesome Lego set from Santa and Amelia and Elise had a great time with it when we went over for some fun playing. I know there will continue to be many, many lessons in sharing, but it is so fun to see the girls all interact and play.

The biggest shock of the weekend was that Ingrid decided she looooved "Yoss." She's never been a huge Ross fan, but some switched flipped this weekend and she wanted him by her constantly and wanted him watching her so she could show out and do some tricks. Hilarious.

Thankfully she still loved her Aunt Heather JUST as much as always.


We are always so thankful when Ross has an entire weekend off to be with us and hang out. I pray that when he is in practice and has more regular weekends off that I do not take it for granted.
We had game night and delicious food at Kayla's that evening and it was so fun. The girls completely dominated every game we played. Seems to be the norm :) There was a ton of laughing and gabbing. Loved it and loved the nice break with friends. A few being my BEST friends in the WHOLE world.

Make My Day

My sister and her husband are that couple that MIIIGHT make you puke. Insanely gorgeous. Both of them.

I love their smiles in this one, despite the scary eyes :)

Insanely intelligent. Both of them. Insanely sweet. One of them. (heheheheehe)

But, honestly they are insanely creative. From their home to Derek's art and music to Stephanie's sewing to their fashion. This is an inspirational couple. Here are a few of my favorite things they have made for our family.

SEWING
Effalie and Brighty--Steph made these elephants for the girls for Christmas and Amelia takes hers everywhere. She sleeps with her and named her such a precious name- Effalie. I'm not sure when my sister learned how to sew an elephant, but she did and they are adorable.
Steph made me an iPad cover for Christmas and I love it so much. It keeps the dust off of it and keeps it protected and the color is gorgeous. My favorite touch is the button.

I don't know what category this falls under really. Is this embroidery? I don't even know the term, but I do know that I love it. This looks so vintage and simple and sweet. Seriously a favorite and will be great in her new (in progress, not even really started) sunshine room.

Painting-- I wish Derek would paint me a bazillion paintings, but I have had to be satisfied with The Wheatfield for several years. It still remains faithfully over my couch and I love it. Please excuse a very blurry Buzz jumping off her chair.

He recently painted this for Elise and it is so cute! We used it for her Sunshine Party and I'm so excited to use it in her room too. This isn't the best picture, but the painting says You Are My Sunshine in cutout letters.
Chalkboard A- Derek made this for Amelia and she has had such a great time drawing on it and the fact that it is her first initial somehow makes it that much more cool to draw on.

Thanks Steph and Derek we love all the things that you make for our family!! Very special to have hand made things to cherish. Hugs.

Back to Back

Elise did so much better at church Sunday! She stayed the whole two hours and I never got paged. YIPPPEEE. We had a great service and then we were off for a busy day.

We had a party for Jared and I just can't believe he is 13! It was a ton of fun and Jen had adorable treat bags for the little girls. She has a lot of great toys at her house and everyone had a wonderful time. Love being together with my family :)

Doesn't Meme's new perm look awesome? Such a cute pic.



We do love taking pictures of important events. Well, of any event really. :)


Then after a quick nap we were off to Greg's birthday party. Amelia was elated to have two parties in one day. And Mom had given her a new dress as we were leaving Jen's and she just had to wear it to the party. She said, "Mom, I wouldn't wear the SAME dress that I wore to Jared's party you silly." Oh my, I didn't realize; we had an immediate wardrobe change and then we were off.

It was another great party! The dogs were a big hit as usual and the pizza and cookie cake were delish. G brought Cars Memory and Cooties to play and Amelia had a blast doing that.


Amelia "won" at memory and I was trying to get her to tell Greg that he did a good job. Her response: "Good try Greg, but I STILL won." She is very obsessed with winning. Sigh, me too.
Amelia is craaazy about Greg and it was so cute to see her sing Happy Birthday to him. And help him spit out, um I mean blow out, his candles.

One more game in her jammies and then we pried her away.

Before I Was a Mom...

I never realized that the children eating crackers out of a not yet paid for box was sometimes an absolute necessity. I might have even looked at those mothers with a bit of disdain. Now, I will gladly rip open some Teddy Grahams if we run out of snacks and not think twice when I put the open box on the counter to pay.

I never realized how important it was when your child made you something. It seemed that macaroni art and finger paintings were displayed merely to appease the child. I had no idea that Amelia bringing home a bouquet of flowers she made me in Sunday School would bring me to tears. They are displayed on our dining room table because I LOVE them :).
I never realized that parents really and truly believe they have the cutest and smartest child alive. There were kids that I thought, "Now, they know that child isn't cute.." Horrible, yes, but I am just being honest. But what a lovely thing it is- and it really is TRUE- to feel that your child is the most adorable and the smartest and the funniest. It is good for the soul to really believe that. I think what it boils down to is that I have the two loveliest daughters in the world. Look at these faces!
I never realized how early on my daughters would want to feel beautiful. Amelia is constantly asking if she looks pretty and Elise is already wanting to strut around in Amelia's princess outfits. It is something intrinsic and I didn't realize that. They are one and two and already seeking approval to feel beautiful. I hope that Ross and I are able to make them feel gorgeous inside and out, and express to them how perfectly and carefully they were created in God's image. I never realized the intense pressure I would feel with them at such a young age to make sure they value themselves and their bodies. When I feel burdened with such a responsibility, I just take a deep breath and play princess, praying all the while that I will do the job well that God has entrusted me with. (please note all the little "friends" that came to Amelia's dancing show)

I never realized how full of surprises parenting would be. I can experience a full gamete of emotions in about a fifteen minute span when dealing with disciplining Amelia. Insanity. I mean, I have been parented. I have watched other people parent. I read a ton of articles about parenting. Somehow, I am still surprised and constantly on my toes. I love that about being a mom. It also exhausts me. I think that is the beauty of it all. I pour so much into this job that I am often overwhelmed, overworked, overemotional, and then in the blink of an eye I am over it. Something hilarious happens and the laughter floating through my home makes me forget the laundry and dirty floor and three hours of sleep. Surprise! Life is good. Get over it. The cycle will repeat and I will be feeling overdue for a break and another surprise will fling me into the moment. And then, I am overjoyed and remember how to be present and in the moment. Oh, surprises.

Born to Shop

We went to the mall a few weeks ago for Amelia to spend her giftcard from my Aunt Andrea and the girls played in the play area in the mall a bit. I'm sure you remember how ugly this play area makes me become and I wish I had better things to report, but I am still a crazy mom that wants every kid to obey ALL rules and their mothers to get UP off their rears and help me moderate. They all still want me to SIT down and let well enough alone. Elise was pretty funny when we got there and just sat like this staring at the kids.
Amelia was raring to go and I remember a time she was quite hesitant to get out there and run about. :)

By far the most hilarious part of the day was Amelia spending her giftcard at Children's Place. She is so into shopping right now and I wanted to write it down because it is such a funny memory. Every piece of clothing in the store was touched by her or held up or spun around while she screamed, "OH MOM, THIS IS SO CAAAAUUUTE." It was hilarious. She loved every skirt and every shirt and kept making outfits out of random combinations. I thought we would never spend that money. Elise thought we might not either...

She finally selected pink jeggings and a shirt that she couldn't wait to wear to school. "Everyone will think I am just the cutest one." Haha, and she was.
Actually to be honest, she picked a summer skirt and short sleeve shirt first, but I explained that it was still winter. I slipped it up to the register to surprise her later :)

I can't wait for millions more shopping trips with my girls. And my sister and her girls. And my mom and all her girls. HEHEHE.

Weekend Roundup

Friday night we had Thomas the Train Movie Night complete with Chinese food and brownies. YUM. The first part of that sentence was for the girls and the latter was mainly for Mom and Dad :).

Then on Saturday we went to the Discovery Center, which is always a ton of fun. Jessalyn and Greg met us there and it was great to hang out with them for the morning. Amelia and Elise loved the extra attention of course. They had a new magnet car track that Amelia loved racing cars on.

Ross got in on the action to test out the support on the arch bridge. And the girls tested out one less likely to give their mommy a heart attack.


Elise was also pretty fond of the gravity exhibit, but just for the ball :)
It was a great day and made me really grateful that Jessalyn has lived in Ozark this school year doing her externship. The girls have gotten really close to her and Ross and I have enjoyed having her so close. For a treat Amelia was supposed to get to eat lunch with them and we got to the restaurant (that I suggested) and it was out of business!! We were downtown, parallel parked, freezing and the place is closed down. Ahh. There was only sushi nearby and it would have taken a while to find another spot and we just opted to go home. It was very close to naptime anyway. Someone was super uspet by that decision...


Other than that little blip we had a great day :) Then Ross and I went on an interview dinner with an applicant to the Cox Residency and had a fun time out of the house. Thanks Mom and Dad for watching the girls!

Elise is having a little trouble in the nursery on Sundays, whereas she has done great up until now. She is reaching that age where she knows she doesn't want to go in and she knows she is about to be left. Sigh. Even though we have had her in since very early on, it hasn't seemed to help as she goes through this separation anxiety. Hopefully it will improve! Amelia is still loving her class and loving her teachers. We all know she wouldn't even GO in the nursery at Elise's age, so there is hope! Here she is all smiles.