Wordless Wednesday

Easter Weekend

We had a great weekend in Omaha for the Easter holiday.  Since Lauren was out of school Friday we headed up in the afternoon.  We had lots to get done in the morning before heading out of town, but we left after lunch and made great time!  

Friday night for dinner we enjoyed a fish fry.  Lauren actually wanted fish, rather than mac and cheese, cheese pizza, or a grilled cheese sandwich.  Addison, of course, wanted mac and cheese.  After dinner we headed over to Mark's brother's house to hang out for the night.  The girls had a blast playing downstairs in the basement will their cousins.  

We spent Saturday morning looking at the house Mark grew up in as a kid and his elementary school.  Lauren had been asking to see it and I enjoyed seeing it as well.  We played the Wii over at Mark's sister's house.  The kids loved watching the adults attempt to dance.  Addison was attached to Rae Ann most of the weekend, Lauren read Dr. Seuss books with Aunt Chris.  Lauren also showed Uncle Pat her Star Wars encyclopedia.  Everyone seems to love the Star Wars encyclopedia.  

Thankfully the Easter Bunny knew we were in Omaha and made a stop up there.  Lots of candy, of course, and a few things that the girls simply needed.  Under wear, tooth brushes, books are always good, and clothes of course.  They both got an outfit.  

We snapped a few pictures before heading off to church.  

We attempted to get all 7 grand kids to smile and look at the camera at the same time.  I did not realize the sun was making all of them squint.  Bad placement of kids for a picture, huh?  Maybe next time.  

We had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard.  Thank you Aunt Betsy and Uncle Pat for getting all the eggs ready and making sure the kids had an Easter egg hunt on Easter.  

Two beautiful girls and a wonderful Easter weekend.  They were so sad when it was time to leave.  It was a great time.  

Easter Pictures

I think I will let the pictures tell the story.  I captured some great photographs using my new lens.  I absolutely love it. 

No frilly dresses, no fancy shoes, no crazy hats or gloves.  This is Lauren and Addison, what they like, what they are comfortable in, and what tells their story this Easter.  Happy Easter everyone! 

Girls

So I am linking up with Kelly's Korner Blog on Show Us Your Life with girls. 

Lauren was born in February of 2006 and Addison in October of 2008. 

Before  I was pregnant I always thought I wanted boys.  I really had no idea what I would do with girls.  I was a tom boy growing up.  No Barbie Dolls for me or manicures and pedicures.  Riding bikes, playing in the woods, didn't really care about hair and make-up, went through the 90's sloppy look (flannel shirts, sweatshirts and tights) and again, no idea what to do with girls, hair bows, dresses, and dolls.

Then came Lauren.  Born in February of 2006. 

After Lauren was born 6 years ago I was instantly in love and so excited to have a girl.   It quickly became clear to me that I will always have a lunch date, a shopping partner, a movie buddy, a friend, a spa partner, a wedding to plan and grand babies to spoil (I know...several years away!)  Lauren became a girly girl around age 3.  She wanted to wear shiny princess shoes and dresses all the time.  She still does not like to get dirty, loves to paint her nails and wear her lip gloss.

Then I was so lucky to be blessed with Addison in October of 2008.  Another girl.  Sisters.  Amazing.  I was convinced that Addison was a boy.  All the way up to the end.  I can still remember the Dr. saying "it's a girl."  She is the closest thing to a boy that we will ever have.  She is wild, had no fear, no concept of cause and effect, loves to explore, very adaptable and so much fun to be around.  Lauren instantly fell in love with her and they are the best of friends now. 

I remember when Lauren turned 4.  That is when she really started being fun to hang out with.  Hanging out with a 4 year old sounds crazy I know.  She was potty trained, out of the terrible 2's 3's stage was over and I was really beginning to see the little girl that Lauren was developing into.  Addison is 3 1/2 and already fun to hang out with.  She says the cutest things and can be pretty funny at times.  I don't think she has been nearly as bad as Lauren was at age 3.  But, some days I wonder if it is just Mark and I are more experienced as parents and know how to handle her.  She is definitely a very different 3 year old from Lauren. 

The girls love to cook with me.  I cook every meal that our family eats, we only eat out on special occasions.  I love teaching them how to cook and bake.  We also have some great conversations in the kitchen, and many more to come I am sure. 

At this point they are not real excited about shopping, because at this time it is really more like running errands.  But with time we will have so much fun shopping!  Just a few weeks ago I took them to Maurice's with me and Lauren was an angel, of course, and Addison was that little terror running through the store and hiding in the clothes racks.  I redirected her MANY times and finally had success and she stood next to me and behaved while I finished my shopping.  It takes a lot of work, a lot of patience, and a lot of persistence with kids.  It will all pay off in the end...I hope!

Am I worried about the teenage years?  Absolutely.  I would be crazy if I wasn't it.  Mark and I are just doing the best we can to develop good values, morals, character and integrity.  It is not easy.  A constant battle.  We attend Church weekly and try to be aware of learning experiences that surround us.  We talk every night at dinner and are already talking about current events that the girls can learn from and grow. 

Lauren and Addison:  I adore you and love having you as my daughters.  We have already created so many memories together as a family and I know there will be many more to come.  Your Daddy loves having all girls in the house (including Zoe, the dog!)  Your Daddy is an amazing husband and father and shows you what you should look for in the years to come for the perfect partner in life. 

Spring Closets

Is it a little weird that I get excited about rearranging and cleaning out the girls closets as seasons change?  Moving Winter clothes into storage and washing up all the new Spring clothes...that is my idea of fun!  Mark thinks I am crazy that I can arrange and rearrange the girls closets and to him they look pretty much the same as when I started, but I know what I accomplished.  

This is the year of the skirts for Lauren.  She no longer wears dresses.  This happened shortly after Kindergarten started.  Peer pressure setting in already.  She had told me this Spring all she wants to wear is skirts and shirts (and flip flops of course.)  No dresses, no shorts, no capris.  So she has a white skirt for Easter with a cute little shirt, three jeans skirts.  Her favorite silver sparkly skirt that she wore to school on the first day of Kindergarten.  She has also worn it here, here, here, here, and here! Needless to say she loves the silver sparkly skirt.  She also has a yellow skirt (not pictured here because she is wearing it!) a striped skirt, green, purple, black, pink, aqua, and a khaki shirt.  Just about every color I think!  She is set for Summer.  

Oh and shirts.  Tons of T-shirts.  Pretty much anything with a peace sign, butterfly, rainbow, or flower she will wear.  I would like to get her a few more dressy shirts for church and special occasions, rather than always wearing a simple t-shirt.  She is already pretty particular about what she likes, so I like to pick her up some new clothes whenever she is with me.  

Now onto Addison.  You would think with 2 girls I would not have to buy much for Addison, but I still do.  I don't think it is fair that she is stuck with all of Lauren's left overs.  All of these dresses are new.  They were all just so cute I could not pass them up!  Some of them I bought on clearance at the end of last summer and some of them I just picked up recently.  I usually shop at Target, Kohl's, Old Navy, Children's Place, Crazy 8 (my new FAVORITE place) Carter's, and Osh Kosh.  Those are the main places that I get my girls clothes.  

Addison's t-shirts and skirts (and a few other things mixed in there.)  Addison likes to pick out what she wears, so I move some things from the top rack down to the bottom rack for her to go through and decide what she is going to wear.  She has a tendency to want to wear the same things over and over again (like most 3 year olds) so I have to hide some things from her!  I bought her a few new skirts, jean and khaki, because of course she wants to be just like her sister and wear skirts most days too!  

So there you have it.  Moving out the Winter stuff (well it is on the top rack) and moving in the Spring and Summer stuff.  Fun and exciting for me to arrange and rearrange.  

Easter Eggs

It would be hard to talk about Easter without talking about dying Easter eggs.  Always fun, although this year was a bit different. Do you notice their shiny faces?  They are covered in sunscreen since they were out playing in the back yard while I was getting everything ready.  It was such a nice weekend.  We loved being outside.  We do this every year, 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008 was my favorite year!  

Thank you Lauren and Addison for cooperating and smiling.  Lauren said "why do you ALWAYS have to take pictures Mommy."  I just do, now smile!  

They really don't need our help.  I was just there to snap a few pictures and make sure there were minimal spills and messes.  

Love that face...the little one!  

Always a gorgeous smile.  

The girls were so disappointed there were not more eggs.  I thought we had more...oh well.  Maybe we can do more at Grandma's house this weekend.  We are very excited to be spending Easter in Omaha with Grandma Harding and all our cousins.  

Another Day at the Zoo

We bought a Zoo pass this year and I think it will get used a lot.  We had some electrical work done at the house Saturday morning, so I wanted to get the girls out of the house to stay out of the way.  We packed up and headed to the Zoo...along with the rest of the city.  It was a free day for Jackson County and Clay County residents (due to the increase tax on the Zoo) and it was CRAZY packed.  We have been to the zoo before on free days, but it has never been this busy.  The girls did not seem to notice.  I just had to keep a close eye on Lauren, although she stood next to me holding on to the stroller most of the time.  We had to be a little more patient to see a lot of the animals, but that was fine. 

We always go and see the tigers.  They seem to be a favorite. 

With our platinum membership everything is free. 

We enjoyed a boat ride down in Africa.  We were able to see the zebras and giraffes.  The skyfari was broke, which was so disappointing for Lauren.  I promised her a skyfari ride here soon. 

We took the tram out of Africa and had the whole section to ourselves.  The girls thought that was fun. 

We headed out to the car to eat lunch.  They girls never seem to get tired of this at all.  We had a lot of fun and I am sure we will make many more trips to the zoo this summer!  When we got home we had all new fans in place and a light fixture in the entry way.  It looks so great.  I will have so share some pictures later in the week. 

Dancing

So this weekend the girls managed to entertain themselves in the garage while Mark and I did various projects around the house and yard.  They play very well together and are so creative at times.  Lauren went inside and got her Barbie CD player and moved it out to the garage and asked me to get the Adele CD out of Mark's car so they would listen to some music while playing in the garage.  

I caught Addison dancing on more than one occasion.  I love the above picture because it is just a silhouette of her dancing.  Priceless.