I Love Spring!

My three favorite pictures from today. My tulips and a bug...

Emma and her loose tooth, oh and some potato chips...

And Maddie looking so sweet and innocent smelling a tulip right before she breaks it...

Maddie - My Wild Child

God love her and protect her, that is all that I can say about Maddie. If she makes it through her toddler years without a broken bone, I will be SO HAPPY!! On Friday, April 17th, the girls and I went Krogering while Don went to get Sami in Cincinnati. When we got home, I let the girls play outside while I put the groceries away. I had the door open so that I could hear them, plus I kept looking out the window just to see what they were doing. Well, they were out there laughing so I decided to see what they were laughing at and Maddie is hanging on the monkey bars of the swing set. But what was even better, was the fact that Emma was standing on the ladder to the monkey bars and was pushing Maddie (I guess because Maddie wasn't swinging enough already). And then...Maddie lets go...falling, falling, falling. Well it isn't THAT far, but it seemed like forever before she hit the ground. While I am watching this with my heart in my throat and waiting for the screams, they both just keep laughing! I couldn't believe it, and start yelling at both of them. At Maddie trying to explain to her how she could get hurt, and Emma because she knows better, and to NEVER EVER do that again. Later, when Don and Sami get home, I am telling them what the girls did and ask Emma how many times Maddie did it, and she says "two". UGH!!

Emma's First Loose Tooth

On Wednesday, after quiet time, I was talking to Emma. I had to do a double take, because one of her bottom teeth looked funny. So, I said "Emma let me look at your teeth" and immediately her hands cover her mouth and she starts to panic. So I said "I think you are getting ready to get a big girl tooth. Can Mommy take a look?" Slowly the hands drop, and I am able to get a peek inside her mouth. Sure enough one of the bottom teeth has a wiggle. Now, she is excited and can't wait to start wiggling it herself. For the next 20 minutes we talk about loose teeth, big girl teeth, the tooth fairy, how the tooth fairy gets into the house, what the tooth fairy brings, etc... blah blah blah. I have officially created a monster! When Maddie wakes up from her nap, guess what the first thing Emma tells her? You got it, her loose tooth. Guess what Daddy hears as soon as he walks into the door from work? You got it, her loose tooth. Guess what the dance teacher hears when we get to class? The list is endless! So, for the few of you that haven't heard the story...Emma is getting ready to loose her first tooth. :) My baby is growing up! :(

Disney - Day Two

On Monday, March 30th, we left Perry, GA after enjoying the free breakfast buffet at the Hampton Inn for Orlando, FL. Only 335 painstaking miles to Disney. Life truly doesn't get any better then this.

A very welcoming sign...

So, we stopped at the first rest area in Florida so that the girls could stretch their legs, use the potty (well except for Maddie) and get a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice.

And then of course we made time for a photo op at the Welcome Center.

And then, we were back on the road to Disney. I lost count how many times I was asked "are we there yet?" Doesn't karma have a funny way of getting you back for what you did to your parents when you were little... I can't imagine how my parents did it without air conditioning and dvd players! And as we get closer to Orlando, this car passes us. I'm sure that the bride and her family were so proud of how this car was decorated...

Finally!! We make it to Disney World. I don't think that I was ever so happy to see a sign, well except for "Welcome to Kentucky" a few days later. So we drive inside the Disney compound and start looking for our hotel. We stayed at the Double Tree Resort, which was within walking distance of Downtown Disney. This was a really nice hotel, and thanks to Don's many business trips, it was free. I think what we liked most was the bar in the lobby, and a king size bed with folding doors separating us from the girls. It was wonderful. Anyway, once we got situated in the hotel, we decided to walk down to Downtown Disney and see what there was to do and eat, since we needed real food. And here are a few of the sites...

You could do hot air balloon rides for $20 per person and I think childred were $10, but how fun can it be when your tied there? I want to float!!! Somewhere!!!

There is also a Planet Hollywood there, and this is me with the girls standing in front of "Jenny", the boat from Forrest Gump.

And here is where we ate. The food was pretty good, but I am not that into seafood. Oh well, Don picked it and sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

After spending time at Downtown Disney we were ready to walk back to the hotel. I hit the bar, and boy was that pina colada tasty, and we made some microwave popcorn for the girls before bed. It took about an hour before they finally went to sleep. They were so excited to go the the castle in the morning, that they couldn't stop talking. At least, Don and I were able to retire to the king size bed and some peace and quiet.

End of Day Two...

Maddie's Intervention

Leave it to Kentucky to make sure that your child is dumb enough to go to preschool...

Maddie was tested a couple of months ago to see if she "qualified" for preschool. They were tested in motor skills, speech, etc. Well, Maddie has some speech issues, which meant that she got to go back for her second round of testing. And, today was the big day! PRESCHOOL INTERVENTION. She will go on Tuesday and Thursday from 9am to11am for the next three weeks. If all goes well, she will be enrolled in the preschool program at Straub starting in August. How sad is it that you hope your child has issues so that they qualify.

Anyway, here is Maddie with her Dora lunch box which contained some rice cakes, cheese, diapers and wipes. Heaven forbid she be potty trained before school starts.

She was nervous for about a minute and then found some blocks to play with.

And here she is with Miss Bare. We have been blessed that both girls have gotten fantastic preschool teachers.

When I went to pick her up, she was still playing. She had a blast and couldn't stop talking about it. I just hope that the next 13 years of education will go as smoothly.

Disney - Day One

Well, as some of you already know, we made the decision to take the girls to Disney World this year. Emma loves the princesses' and I figured that if we went, I wanted to go while she would still enjoy seeing them. So on Sunday, March 29th, we loaded up the van, which was close to looking like the Clampets, and off we went.

Here is a picture of the girls and me right before departure. Somehow I managed to have a happy look on my face...

And then we were off... We decided to drive to Perry, GA on the first day, which was 553 miles away. It started out alright. The girls had a new dvd to watch (Franny's Feet from Netflix - if you are not a member of Netflix, I highly recommend it, it is well worth the money). Anyway, I think that they watched that dvd six times between Maysville and Orlando. Here is a picture of the girls and how happy they are that they are going to Disney, but we were only one hour into the trip...Oh, and notice the neck pillows. I thought that they would be a good idea for the trip, and Melanie even made a blanket to go with it with matching fabric and minky. Well, they did use the blankets, but the pillows have not been a big hit.

We are finally out of Kentucky and into Tennessee... and what is this? Rest Area Closed??? I guess they have never traveled with a 5 year old...

So, we finally find a rest area, and this is what we get...

A closed down restaurant with a new banner... I guess that is cheaper then building a new one. And finally, Georgia...

So, after spending a little over nine hours in the car, we finally make it to the hotel. The girls enjoyed spreading out... oh, and what is it with the sticking out of the tongue?

After all that we have dealt with that day, Don and I were ready to sit down to dinner and have a drink. Well, Perry does not sell alcohol on Sundays... What a nice way to start the trip. At least there was a nice McDonald's with a Playland next to the hotel too, so the girls were able to burn off some energy. Day One has come to an end, only six more to go...

Easter Sunday

What a beautiful Easter Sunday we had. The weather was fantastic (sunny and mid 60's), and everyone seemed to be in a pretty good mood. Emma woke us up around 6:50am to see if the Easter Bunny had come. Don told her to go downstairs and see if she could find anything. Which she did because Mommy was up until 12:30am getting everything ready. So, Emma comes back and says "there are eggs EVERYWHERE". So then the wait begins. Maddie was still sleeping, and boy does she get cranky if you wake her up before she is ready. We asked Emma to go play in her room for a bit until Maddie wakes up, and she wasn't too happy about that, and I guess I really don't blame her. By 7:30 Maddie is up and Emma starts telling her where all of the Easter eggs were, and I start telling Emma that you are not suppose to tell. It is suppose to be a surprise. Then we head downstairs to see what the Easter Bunny brought. The girls each got a coloring book and a "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" video, plus some gummies. The girls are instructed that there are six Dora eggs (for Maddie) and six Princess eggs (for Emma) and those eggs have money in them. I don't know, totaling maybe $8.00 but that doesn't seem to bother them, money is money. Then the egg hunt begins. Maddie starts giving Emma all of the pink eggs that she finds (because Emma loves pink) and Emma starts giving Maddie all of the orange eggs that she finds (because Maddie loves orange). Don and I just tell them to find all of the eggs and make the deals later. Ah, those were the days...life was so simple...and the joys of finding plastic eggs... Oh and then there is the story of two empty orange eggs. Emma swears that she didn't eat them and I swear that they weren't there last night. She ends up crying because I "hurt her feelings" by accusing her of eating them. Now I know how my Mom felt when I snuck into the Christmas presents when I was little.

Shortly after breakfast the girls got dressed and went outside to play. And the played outside the rest of the day! It was heavenly! Don had gotten the girls some sand for the sand turtle and they had a blast. Well, once Maddie got in trouble a couple of times for throwing sand. And no matter how many times you say "keep the sand in the sandbox" they don't. But, other then that...

One of our household projects for this year is to put some finishing touches around the swingset. So, Don and I decided to start stablizing the railroad ties so that we would have a load of river rock delivered later in the week. Originally when we put the swingset up, we thought that mulch would be enough, but over the past two years it is more like mud and a litter box for the cats. While working on the railroad ties, we had to stop to cut down the hedge apple tree's new growth. This tree will not die! We had a tree guy come last year to kill it, and instead it started growing new branches WITH THORNS! They are unlike anything that I have ever seen. So we had to get rid of the thorns so we could get to the remaining railroad ties. I hate how one project ends up leading to more projects! Well, the thorns are gone, for now and we got three of the railroad ties secure.

I had been promising the girls that we would go to the park to feed the ducks. So, while Don was cleaning up all of the tools from our projects, I drove the girls out to Old Washington. They were so excited about feeding the ducks. And guess what...there were two!!!! We had so much bread there was no way that those two ducks were going to be able to eat it. So we also fed the sparrows and black birds, and whatever else came along to find the bread. It was kind of a disappointment, and I am glad that I decided not to take my camera.

When we got home, I started peeling potatoes for french fries and Don warmed up the grill to fix some steaks. We were able to eat outside (which we all love) and talked about our fun day. Then it was time to clean up the dishes and the toys and take baths. While giving the girls a bath, I noticed that Emma's hands got sunburned. That poor kid, she will forever have to put on sunscreen, and I didn't think that her hands would be a problem. Well that is what I get for thinking...We finally had a quiet house by 8:30. Yeah!

I will go through my Easter pictures today, and hopefully post some later. I am still enjoying the task of going through all of the Disney pictures. I am just about done with the first three days of our trip. Now, only four more to go... ugh!