We LOVE PlayMags!

T got Play Mags for her Birthday.  She LOVES them!  She is such a good builder.  She likes to make a new tower every day.  We recently purchased a second set for M so that they could both build together.  If any readers are looking for a gift of any child, I highly recommend these.  They are not cheap, however I think they are worth it based on the number of hours most kids use them!

T and M: We love playing Play Mags together. 

T: Do you like this creation? 

T: Then I made this one and I loved it too! 

Daddy/Daughter Nail Salon

T got nail polish (from us) for her Birthday.  She continues to call it Paul Nailish!  She LOVES to put it on... and peel it off.  She will often wear it for about 20 minutes and then peels it off and tries another color.  She sits very still with her feet on the newspaper while they are wet.  It is incredible really. She has learned to do it herself now, but this afternoon Brandon helped her a bit. 

T: It takes a lot of concentration!

T: The Pink is my favorite!

T: Daddy did my fingers!  We had so much fun!

Little Red Riding Hood... and a Mustache!

iGnite is done for the year.  The kids love going each week.  They have so much fun. The leaders are incredible!  Each week has a theme.  M usually tries to do the theme to earn tokens.  T usually dresses however she wants.  Every once in a while we get her to dress like the theme.

Here are pictures from "Little Red Riding Hood and Wolves" and "Mustache" nights.

M: We didn't have a wolf costume so I am a wolf pup... sort of!

T: Little Red Riding Hood was a bit of a princess. 

M: My mustache is a little big!

T: I wanted to be a fairy... not wear a mustache!

"Fashion Girl" and so much more!

This post is all about T!  It is a very random assortment of photos.

She loves to call herself a "Fashion Girl."  She is all about changing clothes and being fancy.  I recently took her to Kohl's and we stayed for two hours shopping for ME!  She LOVED picking out clothes for me to try on.  I was willing to try on a lot things that are not typical Shelly clothes.  I actually bought some of them, but am returning the ones that I know I will never wear.  I just couldn't break her heart that day.  She grinned from ear to ear while I was trying things on.  Many other little children were melting down, but she was in her element and so filled with joy.  She told everyone what we were looking for and even the sizes.  Everyone finds her so endearing that I wasn't even embarrassed.

T: Just sit still and I won't hurt you!

One day T surprised us all by coming downstairs in jeans!  What?  She looked so adorable and so matching I wanted to take lots of pictures.  She was so proud of her matching outfit!

T: "I'm a fashion girl."

T: This is more like it.  I felt naked without a fire hat and puppy purse.

Sometimes T comes into the kitchen wearing things that are not really outdoor worthy.  She was actually running around the table with this hat and blanket covering her eyes!

T: I can't see anything!

Sometimes T shows her non-Princess side.  One day she decided she needed to collect "fishing poles" (sticks) from our yard and the neighbors yard.  She piled them all on our porch and insisted they stay there for a LONG TIME!  We finally snuck them to the curb one day while she was at school.

T: Does anyone need a fishing pole? 

T and I got into a bubbles and chalk kick before Easter.  She would tell me what to draw or write and I would.  She would help when she wanted to.

One crazy morning T threw up at school and had to come home early.  That alone would have made things challenging.  However, we also had M's IEP meeting at the same time.  We decided that Brandon would take T home and I would go to the meeting alone.  We had someone working in our home so T had to crash in Brandon's office.  She watched DVD's and Brandon worked.  She even fell asleep there.  We knew she was really sick because she never falls asleep in the presence of others. Sadly, that was not the end of the craziness.  I also had to cut up 160 POUNDS of chicken with Charissa.  Somehow we got it all done and by the next day T was feeling much better. The following day she was scheduled to go to school but told me she was still sick.  I called the school and notified the bus driver.  She then told us she was just joking.  I drove her to school.  I could have kept her home, but I wanted her to learn that playing hooky isn't an option!

T: I was feeling very sick and sleepy. 

M and I were at therapy and Brandon was working in the other room.  In a matter of minutes T turned a clean living room into the photo below.  She can create "nests" and messes faster than most four year olds.

T: I am hiding in this photo!  Can you find me? 

Sporty, Styling, and Political!

M has many interests!  This Spring he has been practicing for Baseball with his new bat, gloves, helmet, bases and sometimes even cleats.  Brandon came up with a creative back stop!

Ready Dad!

Last summer our family went to an amusement park and M was heartbroken that he was too short to ride a lot of the rides.  His hair was really growing long this winter and he decided to take a comb and turn it into a fro. The hair really did add 1/2 an inch to his height.  He told me he didn't want to get a cut until the end of summer.  He changed his mind a week later when we measured him and found out  he is now over 42 inches!

Can you believe how tall I am? 

We attended M's conferences this winter and were so impressed with his thoughts on being President.   I love the way he spells words!  I am amazed by how much his handwriting has improved since he wrote this!

If I were president... I would save America!

Easter Weekend 2016

We had a wonderful Easter weekend.  I had been talking with my parents for some time about them coming over Easter weekend.  A couple of weeks before Easter they told me that my Grandma B was thinking of coming too!  I was so excited.  It had been two years since Grandma was here.  They were all able to come and we enjoyed a wonderful short weekend together.  They arrived on Saturday afternoon and my Grandma treated us to bunny cutout cookies that even I could have.  What a fun surprise.  We had Chinese food for supper.  I stayed up late prepping as much food as possible for Easter.  I love to cook big meals!  Love it!  I think I get that from my Grandma.  There is something incredible about a table full of special people and special food.  I prepped an egg bake for the church brunch as well.

Easter Sunday was a fun filled day.  I hid 5 eggs for each of the kids.  I put one fruit snack in each egg.  They were THRILLED!  T was a little put off that there wasn't "white in the middle of the egg."  She was hoping for hard boiled eggs but was happy with fruit snacks too!  We want to keep the main thing (Christ Arose) the main thing, but do a little special something as well!

After the sugary snack we tried to take photos.  The kids were not super cooperative, but I will share the best ones.

Then we headed over to church for the brunch.  It is such a fun time for the church family.  Fellowship Hall was hopping!  Haha, I just got the Easter pun which wasn't intended.  The Resurrection Service was incredible!  I am so thankful to worship a Risen King!

After church we had left-overs and naps. After naps we played and I prepped Easter dinner.  We had a great meal with all our Easter/feast favorites.  I have started to include the "Best Ever Sweet Potatoes" (not super healthy) for all the feast meals, not just Thanksgiving.  They are just too good!

The next morning the kids headed back to school and my family headed home.  It was s short but special visit.  I am so thankful that my Grandma B is so healthy and she was able to do this trip.  I hope they can all come again soon!

Before Resurrection is Good Friday.  Brandon and our friend Meghan did a great job in a special 60 Minutes drama this year!

Not quite looking like my loving husband!

Brandon was showing a little knee haha!

The best photo of the kids and me!

Check out M's new haircut!

My fancy family!

Four Generations!

The best photo of the grands with mom and dad!

T is adding extra cheese, but otherwise a great photo!  

Spinning during the Easter Breakfast.

Crazy kids :)

I recruited an expert ham carver.  M was very eager to watch the process!

About to enjoy our feast!

Thankful that a selfie stick allowed us to all be in the photo!

M needed to take one photo!  A pretty good shot!

T was shy at first, but she had a great time playing with Great Grandma!

Sweet Hugs!

A group shot before the bus came!

Playing before her bus arrived!

Spring Break Open Gym Adventure

Spring Break feels like such a long time ago now.  I guess it feels that way because it was 6 weeks ago!  Whoa!  As the break was approaching I spent a lot of time on the computer researching things to do with the kids over the break.  I knew I wanted to plan something big for them to do with Brandon on Monday (his day off).  I found an awesome gym with an open gym and bounce houses.  It was quite far away.  The kids didn't mind.  They had so much fun swinging from things, jumping in the pit, making a mess playing with chalk, bouncing in the bounce houses, doing flips and so much more.  This is seriously an amazing gym!  I wish we lived closer! The kids love to be wild and T loves to bounce so it was the perfect activity! Brandon took LOTS of photos.  There were so many good ones that I am including a lot of them.  I decided I am actually not going to caption these.  If I don't caption them, they will appear together more in the blog book, and honestly, a picture says a thousand words, right?!  Enjoy!