Top 'O The Mornin' To Ya

St. Patricks Day was a lot of fun this year as the kids totally got into it!

Here they are after school, all geared up for dinner at a park- it was just gorgeous weather so we had to take advantage! This picture just says it all- Addie is sassy and Alden is busy exploring and being a lady's man.... Love those kids!

Being super cute

Little Miss

Mr. Charmer

In the car waiting for Daddy to come back with our special dinner of Chick-fil-a! Hamming it up!

Playing at the park- having a blast!!

Here are some funny stories from this years St. Pat's Day....

1. They wanted to know why we hadn't gone to visit him at the mall like the Easter Bunny and Santa.

2. They also kept getting leprechauns and St. Patrick confused- was it St. Pat who was looking for treasure or was it the leprechaun who told kids about Jesus?

3. At their school, while the kids were playing outside, a "leprechaun" left green footprints across their table as well as trail of chocolate golden coins and green milk- they were SO excited!!

4. Both kids were convinced that a leprechaun had been to our house while we were at school and left them pots of golden coins and green milk.... Um, no. When I told them that if someone had tried to get into our house, Kierke would have barked. Their response? Get rid of Kierke! I was able to check my email via my phone and tell the kids that the leprechaun had emailed me to tell me that he only had time to visit children once this year- and since he had visited them at school, that was going to be it. He also told me that he hadn't left them any more chocolate coins since he didn't want them to get cavities. Thankfully they bought both stories- whew! ****Note to self for next year- buy chocolate coins!!****

It was fun this year and I look forward to more holidays with the kiddos as they seem to "get it" more and more!

Drumroll....

Up today, I have never dyed my hair- no sun-in, no highlights, nothing. I haven't really needed it as my hair has been light brown with natural highlights. That is until I had kids and my hair turned dishwater brown- blah.

Today, I changed that. I dyed it for the first time- and I loved it!!

Before- Alden wanted to get in on the picture- Addie took it- not bad for 5!

And after- it's a bit lighter and I love the subtle highlights!

Another snap shot using the timer as both kids were napping!

I loved the almost-instant results of this and will most certainly be doing it again!!

Catching Up...

I took some pictures today and realized I hadn't downloaded off my camera in ages- oops! So, here are some random pics of our adventures from the last few weeks!

These 2 LOVE crafts- and the neat-freak in me is learning to let them make a HUGE mess while they create- and then help them learn how to clean it up....

I was cleaning (weeding out toys) Addie's room recently and discovered this- hilarious!! Around this time, she had been asking me tons of questions about the Tooth Fairy, how she knew when you lost a tooth, what you got when you lost a tooth, what she did with the teeth, etc. She even asked if you could trick the TF- good thing I was thinking and told her you could never trick her- whew! She's pretty funny that Addie girl!!

Each month at the kids' school, they have 2 different dress-up days- they were SO excited about this one- dress as your favorite animal. Alden is a dinosaur (yes, it's the MingMing body costume but we DID pair it with a dino mask) and Addie is mouse (a recognizable Minnie Mouse). We have oodles of dress-up, not just animals so we did the best would could!!

One day while I was making dinner, we played with the timer- not the best picture, but it contains the ones I love!!

This weekend, Alden and I were both sick and Addie did not want to be left out- so we spent Friday night snuggled on the couch, watching TV- what a sweet time!

Addie LOVES music- to sing to, to dance to, etc. This is how I found her one night after bath time- singing her heart out to The Wheels on the Bus....

Alden decided to get in on the action...

And he's got some sweet dance moves of his own!!

These are some of sweet moments of our lives- we are SO blessed!!

Future Teacher

On Friday, when I went to pick-up Addie, her teacher told me a funny story from that day....

After naps, all the kids go to the restroom, and sit on the round rug before going outside to play. That afternoon the kids were getting a bit wound up while waiting for everyone to finish using the bathroom. Addie stood up in front of everyone, put her hands on her hips and said, "Everyone needs to simmer and sit down!" Everyone listened to her, but she wasn't done. Next, she started pointing to one child at a time, asking them "What's your favorite food?" The kids were totally engaged, sitting and quiet.

Addie's teachers were thrilled and agree with me that she has the makings of becoming an excellent teacher!!

Weekend Fun

We had a blast this past weekend!

First off, some friends gave us their old "car"- and the kids LOVED it! We are looking into replacing the battery- in it's current state, it lasts for 5min.... Still, they both took turn driving, and when the battery ran out of "juice" they would still happily sit and play in it!

They also set up shop to watch the squirrels while they munched on goldfish- how adorable!

We also took them for a bike ride- they are both fully capable of riding so fast that I actually get a work out keeping up with them- yay!!

And I tried to take some nature-y shots....

Love both my kiddos and the fact that we had a fantastic weekend to play together!

Accessory Organs

Al's family is clearly not into keeping their accessory organs- no one has their appendix and many others have had their gall bladders and tonsils removed. We are very thankful for the marvels of modern medicine- and are really hopeful that the removal of Al's gall bladder will lead to a calmer stomach for him!!

Here he is post-op. I didn't get a chance to get a picture of him in his snazzy blue shower-cap as he was rolled into surgery since I literally saw him for a min! Because he needed to be at the hospital at 5:30am, he drove himself and then I got up a bit later and then dropped the kids, along with a dozen Dunkin Donuts, at our VERY dear friend Karen's house. She graciously watched them so I could wait on Al at the hospital. The surgery went well- and around noon, he was stable but not going to be released until 5pm-ish, so I went and got the kids from Karen- they napped at home, I tutored and cleaned- and once the kids were up, we all trouped back to the hospital and collected Daddy.

Addie was THRILLLLLLED to see her Daddy!! I was thankful for the earlier pic- they looked at it on our way to the hospital so they would know what to expect. The medical equipment didn't faze them at all- they just had oodles of questions!

Daddy showing them all his incisions- 4 in all. Thankfully they are not squeamish like their Mom.... They were rather awed that Daddy now had holes in him!

Can you tell she's a Daddy's girl? Alden was happy to be there- but he preferred to sit in the chair across from Daddy, eating snacks....

We are thankful for the good care Al received at the hospital- and the good friend in Karen who took care of the kids and then drove us all back to the hospital Sat morning to collect Al's car! Now we hope and pray that Al will feel a whole lot better without this other pesky accessory organ!!

Random Moments...

I've gotten behind a bit- my apologies.... Here are some random pics from the last few weeks!!

I was able to go on the retreat our church holds for women- and this is what I brought back for the kiddos- they were thrilled needless to say!! I have also been very impressed at their self-control- at the rate they are going, these lollipops will still be around when they graduate elementary school!

My little stinker- notice the snot- she's fighting off a cold and just finishing a little temper tantrum- but the moment I pull out the camera to capture her, she can't help but laugh!!

She LOVES her Daddy- and I have to agree with her =-)

It's bedtime- and they are getting in a few min of TV as I clean the kitchen. It cracks me up that they need to sit on the train table....

We had a freak snow-coating one morning- and they loved running around it- didn't want to run IN it- which was fine with me!!