Don't Mess With The Princesses

I know I know, I've been home for days and haven't blogged pictures yet. But we took Mike's computer with us and downloaded most of them on there. So as soon as he gets them on a disk for me I'll download them and share about our amazing trip.

In the meantime...I'll share something I learned while there. When walking down Main street, or for that matter ANY store in Disneyland...princess attire, dolls, accessories, books, wands, and on and on and on have replaced Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and so on. I think Disney has figured out the power of the "little princesses" i.e. little girls, power over their daddy's. I know my girls were spoiled by Mike so I'm sure every other little girl was too. You still occasionally see micky or minnie hats on kids heads, but to be honest, I saw WAY more little girls dressed up as princesses. I would say it's sad but they still love Micky and you still see the 10 ft. wall filled with the same Mickey Mouse stuffed animal. You just have to walk through the princess section before you reach it.

Anyway, not really anything important...just found it interesting!

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Bad- Giving your 5 year old an entire peice opposed to a half of bubblicious gum in the car and forgetting you gave it to her because it's 5:00 and your going to walmart on a diaper run by yourself with 3 kids.

Bad- Not making sure the gum made it into the trash as your five year old never chews gum for very long, especially that big of a piece.

Bad- Getting into the car at 3:30 the next day to go to your hair appointment and having your daughter "tell you the truth" as to why her hands are blue.

Bad- Finding out that she found said gum in the car cubby hole, grabbed it to re-eat it, found it melted, panicked when it got messy on her hands and proceeds to rub it all over the side of the car to get it off. (our brand new Honda pilote!)

Ugly- The amount of gum that can cover the inside of the car.

Good- A dad who takes pitty on her weary daughter at the end of a long day for himself and cleans up my car since Mike is at a baseball game and I just had my nails done! Thanks dad!

Rylee's 10 month pictures

Finally!! We made it in to get Rylee's pictures taken. It's been since she was four months!! Whoooops! My explanation when she asks me down the road why I didn't get them done more often will be truthful..."Rylee, it's because you decided not to grow between the ages of 4 months and 10 months! So there wasn't anything new to capture!" It was obvious we hadn't had them done a lot though, she is normally a very smiley baby for those of you who know her. But she didn't want to smile to save her life. I

don't think she understood why some black round thing was in her face and why some lady was talking to her in a really high voice all the time. But we got some pictures that were the start of a cry but gave the appearance of a smile.

I got most of the ones I showed, except for the custom pictures that have multiple pictures on there. Those cost too much per sheet in my opinion. And Beverly, I told her to get a headshot for you and she was going to do that at the end but Rylee would have none of it. So we'll get you the closest one we can!

Not for Points

This is for all who are involved in the contest...

DON"T YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO DO???!!!! I can't believe how many of you are involved! You guys keep me laughing that's for sure. My contest is going to be...who can shovel the most dirt in my backyard in a 6 hour period, 8a.m.-2p.m.. 2 points for a full shovel one point for a half shovel. I need my backyard level so Mike can plant grass. You all are so into this I think I may have 15 people show up tomorrow morning.

By the way...This isn't for points. My girls are barely letting me post this!

End Of School Beggining Of Summer

Emily is out of school now and she had a busy last week. She had normal school days monday and tuesday and on wednesday we met out at the jumphouse party place for 2 hours. It was a lot of fun, even Mike and I played. Rylee also got in on the action in a 9 month sort of way! Then on Thursday we met at Kids Kingdom, a park that you should never take three kids to because there are too many hiding places. So sufficit to say I got no pictures that day!

Then, starting right away her first monday off, we started swim lessons. Em is doing really well. It's actually her first year we put her in when I don't have to be in the water with her. She HATES her face wet so I think she figured out when they have to do their five head bobs because she always has to go to the bathroom right before her teacher announces they are going to do them!

And we also have Waterworks passes again. Ally especially is loving loving loving that. She is so good. She stands in line behind the kids and waits her turn without me even having to help her...what 2 year old does that without having to be told? Not very many 2 year olds I've met. I guess after Em's "outgoing" personality, God is blessing me! Rylee really likes the water too, but she always bends in half and puts her face in the water. She really likes to do it so I don't stop her. It's funny to see her come up with her face and top half of her hair wet, looking a little confused! I was able to partially capture it.

When Mike and I went to Maui we brought the girls back matching Hawaiian dresses. They wore them to church today and Leslie asked me if I had gotten pictures. And I have to say a thank you to her, because in our busy Sunday morning it hadn't even occured to me. So we went outside and took a few shots. I'm so glad I did because later that day Emily tore hers in a spot that can't be fixed....so so sad =(.

Ally's glasses we found at Kohls for a few dollars and couldn't pass them up, so I had to post a picture of her in them. I laugh everytime I see them on her so it was worth the $6!

And as a side note, I'm learning it's impossible to get anyone to look at the camera at one time or smiling at one time.

In the afternoons when the "hour of insanity" approaches, I often turn on worship songs and we all sing and dance upstairs. Ally knows a lot of songs so I finally caught a small glimpse into her singing. This is just a small taste of what she does. The first few seconds are the best then she realizes what I'm actually doing! Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Oh, and as a side note, Ally and I clap a lot to the music and Rylee clapped with us for the first time! It was super sweet!

Lot's of Maui Pictures

We're home and it felt sooooo good to hold Rylee and hug the girls. Mike and I had a blast. It was really refreshing and they gave us a lot more free time this year. Mike and I also went a day early and left a day later so that was really nice. We went snuba diving, (no, I didn't spell that wrong). It's in between snorkeling and scuba diving. You use oxygen but it's attached to a 20 ft. tube that is attached to the oxygen that is floating on top of the water on a raft. Make sense? LOL! It was AWESOME! The ocean freaks me out but I wasn't scared when I was down there. I saw huge turtles and a pregnant white tip shark that was WAYYYY bigger than the lady made it sound, look above and I think you'll agree! There are a ton more snuba pictures so if we can bore you with some more, let us know!

It was nice not being pregnant this year. I'm posting a picture of each night we were at an event and as you'll see, most of them we are holding Mai Tai's or champagne. They had them waiting on trays to hand out when we walked in and sense we always tried to get a picture right away so we wouldn't forget, we look like heavy drinkers!

Mike and I also learned something on this trip. The ocean and kayaking don't mix with us. We signed up to do the kayaking and snorkeling with the turtles excursion. Mike and I were both so seasick we paddled back with a guide after the first stop. Not even being in the water helped. I think they lost at least a third of the group though, so we weren't alone. In fact some friends we met from last year were supposed to go and when we left they weren't on the bus. We wondered why until we found out that they had been tipped off about the seasickness so they opted to skip. It was a smart move! We did see a nice big turtle though, so it wasn't a total loss!

Mike is forwarding more pictures we downloaded onto his work computer so I'll post more later.
The Goo Goo Dolls also gave everyone a private concert and that was cool because most farmers agent's are, shall we say, getting up there in age, so it wasn't that large of a crowd by the stage. We were really close to the band

A Mother's Day Card

Emily made me her first mother's day card at school. It was really very cute, it's definitly going to go into the preschool file. I thought what she wrote, (or rather what the teacher wrote and she said), was really funny.
Thought you might enjoy it...

(From Emily): I drew you a heart and a rainbow. Happy Mother's Day. I want to go to Waterworks Park in the summer time. My mom loves me. To my mom Jamie. Emily

I guess since she figured she went to all that trouble to make a nice card she would just put in a request too!

9 Months

Rylee will be 9 months old on Thursday. As usual, it doesn't seem possible. Time truly is flying by. She is doing great. She is super happy and super easy. I couldn't ask for a better baby. Still sleeps great, eats great and loves her sisters, baths and her other baby friends. She gets so excited around other kids, it's so cute. She screams and flaps her arms and legs. She still isn't crawling but she is scooting herself wherever she wants to go. I need to get it on camera, she actually looks very dorky with what she does. Not even sure I could call it scooting. She looks really funny doing it next to Jackson who crawls like a pro!
She had a nine month checkup today. She looks really good other than the normal still not gaining weight fast. She's a whopping 13lbs 9oz.! Go Rylee! She is also 27 inches long. So since 9 months she's gained 1 lb. 9oz. but she has grown 1 and 3/4 inches, so at least we have that to hold on to! She's a total pig so the eating doesn't really match with the growth! She loves her food! I'm pretty sure she's going to turn into a cheerio any minute!

Call it what you want...

I recently I've been struggeling with where to read in the bible. Do I find another devotional, pick a book in the Bible to read, The Daily Bread devotion? I wasn't sure. But I've always wanted to read through the Bible and have started many time but never got too far. So, I think there are some of you out there that hopefully will want to join me. I'll be following the chapters that are laid out in this website http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/readingplans/comprehensive.php
So whether you want to do it to strengthen your relationship with God, as a personal challenge, or just as a starting point as you don't know where to begin...call it what you want but I would love to have you join me. It will be a great way to keep each other accountable. I know God speaks to us through his word so I'm excited to find out what he wants me to hear! I'll be posting often on what I'm learning and reading and struggeling with and hopefully we can figure things out together. The blog I created is on my friends and family list but you can also follow this...http://walkthruthebible.blogspot.com/.
I'll probably start this Monday to give you time to think and pray about whether this is right for you!

Follow Ups and Stuff

Emily and Ally's hair turned out really cute from those rags you saw. They had majorly kinky curly hair but once I did something to it, it turned out adorable. Lots of people loved it. Ally got a nice cut above her eye at church to go with her beautiful hair!

I asked Em's teacher if she knew what Em means when she says she "greets" her food. And she means just that...they actually do greet their food when they don't like it. They get a small portion of it and then have to try it, or as they say, greet it. I thought it was a little weird, but hey, whatever works right?

Some of the pictures that are just for fun are of the girls in the shopping cart at Home Depot for yet another paint run. And this particular time it

was in Red Bluff because our Home Depot was out of the Fresh Aire brand. If anyone hasn't heard of it, it's great. It's all biodegradable, from the paint to the can. It has no odor whan you paint and is totally safe for the kiddos. I highly recommend it but it's a little more pricy. But it does coat really well.

The other ones are Jack, who had crawled into the bottom of Rylee's toy and laid down. It was so cute. And I love the one of Nana and Rylee, so cute! And last but not least, the "boots" on Allyson's feet are the princess purses my mom got the girls in Disneyworld, that truly shows what she thinks of princess things. She's not going to be my girly girl.

Rag Curlers

I've always wanted to try doing the girls hair in rag curlers but have never actually taken the time to read about it and try. So tonight I got online and read about how to do it, cut the rags from a pillow case, (as suggested), and did Allyson's hair. It looked fun, they're softer to sleep in than foam curlers, and if they turn out they could eliminate a little time for hair on our crazy Sunday morning schedule. Ally went in to show Emily who was in her room and Emily came running out wanting the same thing. I wasn't going to do her hair because it's so short but couldn't resist the excitment I saw in her eyes. So we rag rolled her hair too. I hope it turns out cute, it was hard to get the very end of her hair to roll into the rag so a little touch up might be

needed. They looked so cute when we were done! Emily, who normally balks at getting her hair done actually asked if I would do it on a school night!

What???

I'm hoping someone can find the true meaning of this...

When we are eating dinner, when Emily sees somthing she doesn't like, (which I swear is almost every night), she says this...

"Mommy, when you see somthing on your plate and you don't like it, then you have to greet it."

What????!!!!! I to this day have not figured it out. We are assuming it's something from preschool because they eat lunch there as a group everyday. So, I plan on asking her teacher what she's talking about. She obviously is misunderstanding. All I keep picturing is her saying hello to the peas on her plate..."Hello, peas, my name is Emily. It's nice to meet you but I don't like you so I'm not going to eat you unless forced to."

Anyway, if any of you out there have any idea what this means please let me know. It's killing me. I actually made a notation on my calendar to remind me to ask her teacher Monday morning.

Acrobatic Painting

Mike and I finally decided to bite the bullet and paint almost our entire house. The living room, dining room, stairs, upstairs hall and loft. It's been a lot of work and I for one am tired! Mom's, you might not want to look at the pics or read this part...we had to be very creative when it came to the stairs and tall ceilings. We had a 17' ladder that worked on some spots, but others, like mid stairs, we had to put bricks on one stair to bring it level to the next one and then get on the ladder so I could tape and eventually paint. We didn't want the ceiling the same color so we taped the ceiling off but even though we bought the really good tape, it wasn't perfect so I had to hand touch up the whole staircase. I got smart this time and stood on the ledge and either leaned over or put one foot onto the window ledge. Mike had to take all the blinds off and put them back up, one was 17' upbove the landing, it was a little scary. I did everything else mostly so he could hold the ladder. I was SO glad when it was over. It literally took all Sunday afternoon trying to figure it out and then actually getting the nerve up to do it.

It was well worth it, I love the new colors. It adds so much to our house. The girls were amazing while we painted. I felt really bad as they had to entertain themselves all day for 4-5 days with the only outing being Home Depot for paint or supplies.