Lots-O-Stuff

Not quite sure where to begin. Summer's-a-comin'. The busyness has not stopped. If anything, the accelerator has been pressed further, but fortunately it is all fun stuff.

The girls and I spend much of our time outside. We are trying to squeeze it in before it gets too hot. The heat comes on so fast here! I caught the picture below while they were making "salads" with grass, dirt and rocks. Unfortunately I missed the photo op of Mary Ella draping each arm around her two sisters...just squeezing in some of that big sister love. But the pic below is still sweet.

On May 16th Scott and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary in Las Vegas. As would be expected, the trip revolved around food and dinner/lunch reservations. Of course, we didn't neglect the spa as well...ahhhhh! Many people don't realize this, but Scott and I LOVE to play blackjack together. We sat at some great tables and fortunately didn't lose money...yea! It was so nice to have uninterrupted conversations and meals. We love the kiddos, but also love to have that precious time together! We stayed at the Encore and it was fabulous!

Our view at lunch

The following weekend was Memorial Day weekend. We enjoyed a visit from my dad, Eleanor, Kristin and James. It was also opening weekend for the pool! Yay! We soaked it all in!

The girls with Aunt Kristin and (soon-to-be) Uncle James

We have since been to the pool 4-5 times eating ice cream and sucking down water/lemonade to our heart's content. Addy is already so brown despite the 70 SPF sunblock I lather her up with. What can I say? That mocha skin soaks up the rays. Mary Ella and Molly are also getting some golden tones. I love seeing their sun kissed cheeks and how much fun they have splashing and playing. Going to the pool is also much different this year because we actually know some people. The kids enjoy their friends and make new ones easily. Instead of napping in my arms, Molly is running around splashing and playing

Addy enjoying her 3rd or 4th lemonade

Sunbathing diva

Molly catching some shade from Daddy.

This last week I was able to attend Mary Ella's Field Day. What fun! Most of all, I just enjoyed seeing her giggle and laugh with friends. I LOVE how uninhibited they are at this age! I can't believe she is going to be a 1st grader. Oh, another bit of Mary Ella news. She has THREE loose teeth. Yep, the tooth fairy will be visiting our home soon. Of course I predict Mary Ella will not like the idea of the "fairy" coming into her room, so I am thinking the tooth might be left somewhere other than beneath her pillow. But then again, my children often make a liar out of me, so we shall see. Below are some field day pictures.

Mary Ella and one of her sweet friends. They already have the "party pic" pose down!

Scooter races!

We have four more days of school and are looking forward to enjoying slow mornings and summer fun! There is a kindergarten graduation coming up this week. I'm not quite sure why there are now FOUR graduations before high school (pre-k, K, 5th and 8th grades). Don't get me wrong...I'll still be that tearful mom snapping lots of pictures, so stay tuned. I'll be sure to post some.

Year's End

Hello!?! Is is seriously about to be summer!?! I simply can not believe how quickly this year has passed. I am amazed that I now have an avid reader who can actually read her sisters books....if they let her. Usually they insist on having "mom" do it. Oh well, she gets to read to me and that has been so much fun! Addy has blended right in to her new school making fast friends and overall enjoying the silliness of life itself. Molly is 19 months and a spirited (nice way of saying tantrum-throwing), climbing little girl. With the end of the school year comes many field trips, parties and programs. Can we say busy is an understatement!?! Although, I can't complain. It is not nearly as busy as trying to transition into a new home, new town, etc, as we were last year but it is still busy.

Above are pictures from Addy's Texas week celebration. Pony rides, holding chicks, painting, etc were all included in this day of fun. Sheila is her teacher. She has made every little moment special for these kids. She even had a little brunch for us to share with our kiddos. I got a sitter so I could spend 100% of the time with Addy. I'm glad I did because I don't think she gets me to herself enough.....something to strive towards I guess. Below is a picture we took together. I love it!

Below is a picture from Mary Ella's Kindergarten Texas program. The kiddos had a blast.

Last, but certainly not lease, we tackled the job of getting Molly a haircut. We cut quite a bit of Addy's hair as well, so now her little curls bounce as she gallops around. As you will see below we had to use some sweet stuff to get her to stay still....notice all the drool.

The results:

One final note to the post below. I was looking for a clip today in my little car "catch all" nook. There are some little things in there like a crayon, a couple of pennies, pen and a KEY! Yes, a key to the house that I could have used to get back in the house that chaotic morning. Oh well, lesson learned :).

The Fruits of Bribery

Ok. This is the last story....I promise :). Many of you might have seen my update on facebook about having to take all three girls to the grocery store. This wasn't just to get one or two items. It was for the big weekly run. I usually avoid taking the whole crew to the store and lately even just taking my regular partner, Molly, has become a challenge. This is because, Molly now screams for everything I put in the buggy. No matter how I arrange it, she will get those hands and fangs on just about everything from biting into the hot dog wrapper resulting in leaky hot dogs to squeezing the loaf of bread while attempting to grab a taste. Yes, food is important. So on this particular week, it was necessary to take all three. Like a good mother (enter sarcasm), I began with bribery called a "surprise" at the end of the shopping trip if they all behaved. I hadn't decided what that would be, but the thought of the "surprise" was good enough. They behaved with exception of Molly gnawing on anything she could get her hands on. The girls eyed some of those foil balloons on a stick at the registers and asked if they could be the surprise. I said, "yes" and reminded them about the balloons at least once down every aisle. We checked out and I began to grab the three balloons and noticed they were $3.99 each (Yikes, I had no idea they'd be that much). So $12 worth of balloons later we proceeded to the car. Before the seat belts were even buckled the annoyed screams began. So and so was smacking the other in the face or tickling someones neck and the mom "threats" began as I said over and over, "now I'm going to take those balloons (all $12 of them) and throw them away if you can't keep them to yourself." Then a balloon would fall off the stick and crying ensued. This is not at all what I envisioned. We finally made it home and Mary Ella's balloon once again fell off the stick except this time Addy got her hands on it and squeezed it between the door and her seat so Mary Ella couldn't get it (she was smiling I might add). Just as I began to say, "give it back," Mary Ella took the stick and whacked her with it....nice (enter more sarcasm here). I then took all the balloons which provoked more tears and screams and sent them to time out. So I spent $12 to give them weapons to be used against each other. In conclusion, here's the lesson:

1. If you use bribery, make sure it is something consumable or an activity
2. Go to the grocery store after they go to bed at night