Memorial Day Weekend!

We had a blast this Memorial Day Weekend- the pool opened AND good friends came into town to celebrate!!

On Saturday, we hit the pool twice- once when it opened at 11am and then again after naps.

This is how they started off the day at the pool...

Not so sure....

And 10 min later- they are off and swimming like little fish!!

Saturday evening, our friends the Woody's came- the girls all hit it right off! Addie and Kyla had "sleep overs" both Sat and Sun night- they did great, no chatting, just sleeping!!

Sunday morning, we all skipped church and had a huge breakfast at our house, and then the kids played outside. After that, the men went golfing and all the women and children hit the pool.

Picnic time at the pool!

A group shot- aren't we a good lookin' group?!?

Best Friends!!

This picture just exemplifies the kids- the girls are coloring and Alden is zooming by in the beloved red car!

Mikey was a HUGE hit with Addie and Hannah! He got on the floor and played with them- and they just adored him!!

Dinner Time!! The Big Kid Table!!

The Little Kids Table- these love LOVE each other!!

And as a surprise, Karen made him a cake and we all sang to him!!

It was fantastic to spend so much time with our friends!!

Wonder (Sleeping) Pets

Addie has recently become addicted to Wonder Pets- she can be heard singing "What's it gonna take? Team Work!" to Alden when trying to get him to do her bidding. Recently she earned a "treat" from Wal-Mart and she picked out these little Wonder Pets figurines. She loves them. She carries them to bed- or as I found this morning- she carried them to THEIR beds! I was told to whisper until they woke-up....

This is what I found this morning- Tuck (the turtle for you non Wonder Pets fans) on the left in the blue bed since he's the boy and he even has a pillow under his head and his own dresser. Next to him is Ming-Ming, a duck that has a speech impediment that drives me nuts, but Addie ADORES her. She, too, has a bed (pink because she's a girl), pillow and dresser. When I asked her why she was sleeping with Tuck, I was told that Tuck had had a bad dream and Ming-Ming had needed to help him feel safe.

In her own "wing" is Linny (who I always thought was a boy until just recently....). Once again, she's a girl so she has pink bed, her own pillow and dresser!

The entire scene.... Notice between the rooms she has 2 ottomans with a tray of food so they can have a snack when they wake-up.

I love how creative she is- and how her thoughtfulness is coming through in her imaginary play.

Dresses Galore!

Recently, Addie has become obessessed with dresses. Most days, that is what I'm greeted with in the morning, "Mommy, I would like to wear a dress, please!" And since she is growing like a weed these days, she was needing some new dresses, but I didn't want to buy her new dresses when she has bunches of short-shirt outfits that still would fit!

So....

I took these 3 shirts that I wish she would wear....

Added these pieces of material....

Together with my "helper" did some "magic" on my sewing machine....

And- wah-lah!! 1 Happy girl and 3 "new" dresses for only $3.14!!

Photographers!!

Addie LOVES to take pictures. Just about every day she can be heard snapping pictures - and yes, you can hear her, her little camera is pretty loud! Here are some pics that she snapped or I snapped of her in action! I love how artistic she is!!

Here she dragged Kierke up from the playroom, got her to sit in the chair, put the pink headband on her, crossed her paws, and then got her to look at the camera! Is she like her Momma or what?!? Kierke is also pretty amazing to go along with ALL her plans!

Photographer and her patient subject.

Addie took this of Alden- he was having a blast playing boat....

Self-portrait.... I was making her a dress (see a later post about that!) and she grabbed my camera and starting snapping pictures...

My machine

Her apprentice- I love how he likes to use the view window instead of the screen!

Workin' hard

Um- I think she may need to help him tweak his form....

Once again, a posed Kierke- is this dog amazing or what?!?

Poor Kierke- I think Addie is probably the cause of all the gray hairs!

I love how artistic my little Addie Rose P is! Who knows what she will do with this gift....

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For ICE CREAM!

We had to go to BJ's the other day- and it was hot, hot, hot. Solution? Ice cream!!!

Silly boy!

Sweet girl! Notice her new glasses- these are purple!!

My goofy-lovable-spunky-amazing kids!

He is SUCH a jokester!!

Showing off her lizard-lips (aka super long tongue)

It's days like this that I want to treasure- when a simple stop to get ice cream is fun and provides lots of laughs and happy memories. Life is simple and full of treasures for them- and I don't want to forget that! They can be SO sweet and loving- and I need to remember that as they have plenty of days that are NOT nice.... In the end, I am blessed, and am humbled that the Lord would give me 2 such amazing children!!

Preschool End of the Year Activities

This week Addie's preschool had 2 special events for the final week. Each was special and very different.

First there was a "Tea Party"- all the little girls got dressed up, parents came, and it was SO fun! I just love how organized and thoughtful this preschool is! Each children got a bucket and shovel with their name on it (all were the same color!). And there were "treasures" inside the buckets- a photo book full of pics of them in action in the classroom and playground and new book!

My pretty girl!

Addie and BFF, Molly! Can you believe Molly is a full year younger?

Addie's amazing teachers- Miss Ann and Miss Edith. They are amazing- Addie loves them and has learned SO much! I just hope they are ready for Alden next year....

And the next school day (Thur) they had a water day! There were wading pools to splash around in, water tables, squirt bottles, and buckets and paint brushes. SO much fun!! Here they are post-playing- popsicle time!!

One final shot with Miss Edith- she just adored Addie!

Miss Ann was awesome- Alden already loves her- whew!

Photo Time!

Once a year we have a family photo taken. Here is what we walked away with today. It isn't the greatest of me, but everyone is pretty good!! I'm so thankful to have such a beautiful family!!