Florida

We took an awesome family vacation to Florida! We had so much fun. We went to Disney and went swimming and visited my Grandma who lives there. (she had just fallen and broken her leg--- sad!) All of my family was there- except my bro, Mark and his wife, Kody, (we missed you) and it was so fun to be together. The kids had such a great time wih their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents! It was great to be able to spend so much time with Aaron, too! The pictures tell it all! Thanks to my family, especially my mom and dad, for such a great time.

My brother playing "the Beast" at Belle's Story Time.





Visiting my Grandpa's grave. We miss him so much!



Hallie's 5th B-day was spent at the Magic Kingdom. We even got to eat in Cinderella's Castle! And Hallie got to drive the monorail!

Happy Birthday Hallie

While Nana and Papa and the cousins were here, we had a "Blue's Clue's" B- day party for Hallie. I can't believe she is five! We had so much fun! Once again, dad made the cake and did an awesome job. We had mystery solving games, a scavenger hunt, a pinata. We love having all out birthday parties and this one was no exception! We were so happy the cousins could be here for it!
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Cousins and Nana and Papa

We were so lucky to have Nana and Papa come for a visit and bring three of the girls' cousins with them. They had so much fun together! It was riot having six girls in the house and listening to all of the jump rope jingles (I don't really know what they are called) and songs and watching the dances and shows they put on. That was all in between going to adventureland, the science center, the water park (where we froze!), Pump it Up, you name it, we did it! Seriously, it was so much fun and reminded us how much we love family and how great it is to be together. We miss them already and can't wait to see them again! Thanks so much for making the effort to come out and see us! We will be singing "L-I-M-I Chicken Eye, Chicken eye, Pom Pom Beauty, Extra Cutie for the rest of our lives!"

Preschool Graduation

My little Hal also graduated from preschool! Kindergarten has been a real issue weighing on my mind since January. After much deliberation and fretting and talking to everyone I know, I have decided to send Hallie to FULL day kindergarten. In Iowa, that is 7 hours. I have had a few sleepless nights over it, but Hallie is so excited and she is ready! I can't believe this is happening!Hallie has made some of the best friends here and I know she will miss them so much!(FYI- I don't typically put make up on my 5 year old, she just had dress rehearsal for dance recital right before this!)

Catch up!

Wow! I have gotten behind. So much has been going on in the last couple of months! I am going to try and put it in order here so that I can keep my journal here!

First we had Hallie's dance recital. it was so much fun and she did an awesome job! She did her dance perfectly and looked sooooo cute. I danced in the recital, too and it was kind of fun to get to do it with Hallie. The faculty danced to a Micheal Jackson medley, which was right up my ally. Now it seems a bit ironic, now that he is gone, which, by the way, makes me so sad! Just FYI, I went to a Micheal Jackson concert when I turned 8 years old. That was what I wanted more than anything and my parents took me to his "Bad" concert. I remember it and it was AMAZING!

A Tribute

Happy Mother's Day to our wonderful amazing mothers! Aaron and I both feel so lucky and so blessed to have such great moms. We have been raised with such love and have been given such great opportunities throughout our lives. Even though we live so far away, both mamas (and Dads) make great efforts to get here and see us, or to get us there and we are so appreciative. We could never do enough to repay our moms for all that they have done, but we certainly want to thank them and tell them both how much we truly love and admire them! We love you and can't wait for our FUN FUN summer!

Jumpy the Frog

Saturday was such a fun day for the girls. We were outside playing, I was talking, they were playing, when all of a sudden Hallie yells, "mom, I caught a frog!". I look over and sure enough she is holding a good sized frog in her hand. She and Maggie were so excited and wanted to go show it to Javien. So as they ran over to knock on his door, Jennifer (his mom), and I got a little nervous for the little frog's life. His legs were fully extended and stiff as a board, but when I asked Hallie if he was alive, she was sure that he was. I was not as convinced, but when she set him down for a second, he sprang back to life and seemed just fine. So for the entire day, that is all the girls could think about. They made a home for him, fed him crackers, gave him some of their toys and carried him around relentessley. We begged them to come in for dinner and after a bite or two, they were ready to go back out and check on "jumpy". It went on like this until bedtime. We couldn't get them away from the frog. We finally convinced them to put him to bed outside and let him go to sleep. As they went to bed, all they could think about was "jumpy". Was he cold, scared, etc? Did he miss them? They wanted to go out SO bad, but we convinced them to stay inside. We tried to prepare them for the fact that "Jumpy" would probably jump back to his family and that he would be happy and safe with them. We tried to prepare them for "Jumpy" to be gone. Well, when they woke up, again, "jumpy" was first on their minds. They ran out to check on him and sadly, he was gone. They ran around the whole yard looking for him and calling his name. They came back to the house, heads hanging and tears in their eyes. "Jumpy" was gone.

It was a sad rest of the day. The girls both cried ALOT and kept going out to look for him. They wondered what might have happened to him and they were genuinely sad. I was actually a little sad, too. For the first time, the kids were sad about something that I couldn't fix. Ususally, I can solve whatever seems to be upsetting them, but this was out of my control. For the first time, I watch their environment have an effect on them and it made me think about how that will continue to happen thoughout their lives. There will be disappointments and heartbreaks for them that I won't be able to fix. People will hurt their feelings, they may not make the dance team or the cheerleading squad, or get asked to the Prom, and I will have to watch them be sad. I didn't like that feeling one bit. I live to make them happy, to see them smile. It was sad to see them hurting for something that they missed so much. It may sound silly, but it was kind of a big deal for everyone. So, today, we have been looking for another frog and I am sure the quest will continue until we have found another to replace "Jumpy." And today looks a little brighter as time heals them and helps them forget.