The Blessing of Family

I seem to take for granted the blessing of my family. I live 2 hours away from my in-laws who travel at least once a month to see us. Plus, I live 1 hour from my middle sister and her family an hour and a half from my oldest sister, her family and my parents and I get to see them once sometimes twice a month! SUCH a blessing. Huge. HUGE I say!








Well, my oldest sister Rachel and her family have a wonderful opportunity to expand her husband's business while living in a lovely house in a lovely place, Colorado. I am happy for them, and can celebrate the changes that are happening for them, because these are good changes for them. But at the same time, I am sad for me. Sad to see them go, and sad to see my girls say good-bye to their dearly loved cousins. In fact, Hannah asked Kate if she wanted to go to Chuck-e-Cheese for her birthday and Kate said, "No. I want to go to Joe and Kara's house." Yep. Sending the Oetken family off will be as hard for them as it is for me.

BUT, it makes the days we do have together even sweeter. I cherish these times. I listen to every comment that Kara shares, answer every joke that Joe knows and I thoroughly enjoy the blessings of today without trying to let the sorrow of tomorrow sour it. And what a blessing my family is...

Totally in Love with My Girl

Egg Hunt with MOPs

We love our MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers) group. Being around Christian moms is such an encouragement, and the girls love the time with other kids their age in their Moppettes class.

This year we joined in the Easter Egg hunt, and I decided to put both girls in the older egg hunt, rather than putting Kate with the younger kiddos. It was mostly so I could stay with the girls...I'm still learning to manage three at the park, and Rachel Lee is not even mobile yet!!


Sweet Kate has a slow pace of life. When I say "Quick, quick" to her to try to motivate her all she does is breathe faster. She doesn't actually move faster. It's quite funny. I tell people she is my reminder from God to slow down and enjoy life. So, knowing this I'm not surprised that at the end of the egg hunt, Kate only had 1 egg in her basket, and even that was an egg that Hannah found for her and gave her. Click "here" to see a video of Kate trying to find an egg...

After that, we headed over to the other side of the park where the under 2's had their egg hunt and Hannah ran ahead and "guarded" eggs for Kate. I love how she was taking care of Kate.

In the end, they both got candy, and everyone was happy.

Fun for a day...

I got this awesome air bouncer from a garage sale for $10!!! Seriously! The man asked me what I was going to do with it and I told him birthday parties for my girls and he said, "I'll sell it to you for $10." I was sooo excited!! We set it up and had a great time on the slide, which has an attachment for a hose so in the warmer months it's a water slide! AWESOME!




































































But then it happened...it could have been fun, it should have been fun, but instead it was a disaster. When Hannah had climbed the ladder and was at the top of the slide. Jeff decided to send her flying down the slide by jumping on the little step. Well, she flew down the slide and got a rug burn on her chin, and he popped the bouncer. Bummer. Super bummer. He tried to repair it, but the entire bottom of the bouncer blew out and it's beyond repair. Oh well. It was fun for a day!

I Spy...

I have a new habit of running to the bathroom right when Rachel Lee wakes up. This means that Hannah is often the first person to run in and talk to Rachel Lee right as she wakes. Here she is entertaining her sister with a game of I Spy...click here to see it

Easter with Playgroup!

We had a great weekend with family (more to come later) but I am tired. It is a gloomy Monday and I was considering just having a mellow day at home. When Hannah asked what we were doing today I said, "Playing at home. What would you like to do?" She said, "It's Monday, that means playgroup." Ah, this girl knows our routines too well! She asked what they were doing at playgroup today and I said, "An Easter egg hunt with a birthday celebration for Lucy and Ben." So, this little girl rallied her sister, they both got dressed and we made it to a very fun playgroup time. We are all really tired now...all my girls are sleeping and so will I!!!

My Four Year Old

To celebrate her fourth birthday, Hannah had a few ideas. She wanted an ice cream cake, to go to Chuck-e-Cheese, and an iPad.

S: Hannah, what kind of cake do you want me to make for your birthday?
H: A ice cream cake with chocolate, M&M's, and gummy bears.
S: You mean cake and ice cream?
H: No mom, cake made from ice cream. With gummy bears.
S: Have you seen that before, or did someone tell you about ice cream cakes?
H: No. I just knowed it.

So, this big four year old got an ice cream cake:

One night at dinner we asked what she wanted to do for her birthday?
H: I want to go to Chuck-e-Cheese!
J: Who told you about Chuck-e-Cheese?
H: I sawed it on the TV.
J: Way to go PBS Kids.
S: Do you know what you do at Chuck-e-Cheese.
H: Of course! You can eat, take a nap...
S: Well we can do that here. Would you like to nap now?
H: No. I want to go to Chuck-e-Cheese.

So, this big four year old got to go to Chuck-e-Cheese (with her best friend by the way!):




















































































































S: Hannah, your birthday is coming up. Is there a special gift you want?
H: Some slippers. My Dora ones are too small.
S: Anything else?
H: Oh, yes. A iPad.
S: Do you know what that is?!?
H: No, but I hear they are cool.

So, this big four year old got a doll house, a Cinderella dress, and a Hello Kitty watch.
































She'll have to keep waiting for the "cool" iPad...I know her mama is! We are truly such a blessed family. Happy birthday sweet Hannah bear! We love you!!

3 Months Old

Rachel Lee turned three months the other day, and has decided to celebrate it by sleeping 6 hours for her mama...yes, you read that right, 6 consecutive hours. Happy 3 months to me!! She went from 10pm to 3am, woke, ate, then slept until 5:30am. Could I ask for a better gift? I think not. But, I will. Please do it again sweet, Rachel baby! Sleep, baby, sleep!



She continues to be the center of attention. Hannah and Kate love playing with her, and she smiles and talks all the time. The only time she seems to get upset is when she is left alone, and since that hardly ever happens she is one HAPPY baby! Smile, baby, smile!



She is also gaining weight really well. I bought a scale after Rachel Lee was sick because the doctor was concerned that she had lost weight. But, after weighing her every so often we are pleased to see her weight going up and approaching the 11 pound mark! Grow, baby, grow!



The rolling from her tummy to her back seems more intentional these days, and she is grabbing toys, putting her hands in her mouth, and rolling to her side when she is on her back. She is one strong baby!

I love my baby! Sweet baby Rachel Lee. I love you little bean!

The Incident...

It was going to be a relaxing day at home. But then, Kate cried and cried and cried this terrible I'm totally hurt kind of cry. She finally settled down, and told me that Hannah stepped on it. Hannah denied stepping on her sister and insisted that Kate shut her own arm in the door. Kate said she did that too. I tried to play it down. She was fine. But, after two hours of not moving her arm and walking around holding it limp to her side I said farewell to my relaxing day at home and took the three kids to the doctors. X-rays were taken, and there seems to be a bend in Kate's bone, but no fracture or break. She now must wear a brace for a few days. Never a dull moment here. Never.

Still, when I ask her what happened, this is the quizzical look I get:

April Fools!!

My girls love "tricking" me. Tricking in our house is usually something like this:
S: Girls, let's clean up the playroom.
H: I already did.
K: I already did.
S: Really? It doesn't look clean...(with that mom look that means business)
H: Ha, ha! Tricked ya!
K: Ha, ha! Tricked ya!
So, I thought on April fool's day to show these cuties what it is to trick someone. For lunch I served these eggs...it's really half a tangerine with vanilla yogurt:



Hannah sat down and said, "Ahh. I don't like these kind of eggs." I responded by saying, "Hannah, that is  complaining, and we need to be thankful for the food we have." She then noticed Kate dipping her fingers into the white part of the egg and licking them and said, "Hey!! That's yogurt!" "Ha, ha! April fools!" I said.

Here's a video link of the girls eating their "eggs"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4JmoL6ovPM

Then for dinner I served this juice...it's really jello:









It was so funny to see the girls try to suck the jello from the straw. Kate got the jello pretty close to the top before they realized something was up. We were eating dinner with some friends, and Ben, their son, was the one who yelled, "My juice broken." APRIL FOOLS!! Ah, good times! Can't wait until next year!

Super Girl and Ballerina Princess at Play

This girl cracks me up!!

The other day I switched over the girl's clothes: Hannah got 4T clothes, Kate got Hannah's 3T clothes, I stored Kate's 2T clothes, stored Rachel Lee's newborn/0-3 month clothes and got out some 3-6 month clothes. Sheesh...what a day! Here is Kate in a new sweater. The hood cracked me up!

Then, when she took off the hood of the sweater she looked like this:


She was wearing one of the newborn hats! I laughed so hard that I took another picture and Hannah joined in on the fun.





Silly monkeys! They keep me laughing all day!

Right around the corner...

Hannah Lily is growing up. It's amazing how quickly she is growing, and I am blessed by her kind heart every day. That's why I get totally emotional when I think about preschool. As a former Kindergarten teacher I know how important preschool is if you plan on sending your kids to public school. So, we have signed Hannah up, and this past Monday she and I went to preschool orientation together. I am really, really going to miss her when she is at school. Oh my, I am so THAT mom!



I'm not the only one going to miss Hannah while she is at school; just look at Kate's sad face that she made when she learned that could not join Hannah for the preschool orientation. She had fun at home with Grandma Sue, and I am looking forward to some one on one time with Kate while Hannah is at school and Rachel Lee sleeps (hopefully!). I am one blessed mom to have such wonderful girls who I enjoy being with.

Praise God for the good life I lead!