Ice Cream Smiles

Last Friday was a gorgeous day in the 80's! Proof that summer is on it's way. My Mom's Group had an outing scheduled to a local goat farm to see the new baby goats. So, I picked up Corey early from school and we all headed out to see the animals. It was fun and just great to be out! Near the farm was a really pretty stone church that reminded me so much of England. I bribed Corey and Lilly into doing some modeling by promising an ice cream cone afterward. They were great sports and the ice cream was delicious...perfect for our "summer" day.





The rains hit on Saturday and we spent the rest of the weekend trying to stay dry except during our Saturday swim outing at the Y. Sunday we went to Betty Brinn Children's Museum and then had dinner at TGIFridays at the Brewers Ballpark. A fun weekend despite the bad weather! We needed the rain though. Everything is really turning green around here and we're ready!

Cheez, Duhdo.

Little Clare is such a little talker now. She has an opinion on everything and she can't wait to share it with you. Some things she says very well but sometimes it's as if she has a language all her own. Rob even commented this morning "Why is it that Mom knows what you're saying but I don't?" Well, that's what happens when you're with someone 24-7. Anyway, I'm quite happy to be her interpreter and we both get a kick out of it when she says something new and I eventually figure out what that is.

As far as names, she's very good with just about everyone but the one name she struggles with is Corey. She calls him Duhdo and the rest of us have taken to referring to him as Duhdo, too. It sounds more like "brother" than "Corey" so I'm not sure if that's where it comes from or not. Regardless, it's darn cute! She also struggles with Please which always comes out as Cheez. I'm not complaining...I'll take cheez from that little cutie any day!

Ending On An Up Note

The kids really like school and are actually a bit bummed when it's vacation time so they had a few rough days during spring break this past week. After our nice Friday, we had awesome weather on Saturday! Corey and Lilly were outside in their bathing suits by about 9:30. It was only about 60 degrees by then but they didn't care and neither did I. Shortly after we had the sprinkler going and the kids were having a ball! We also planted some strawberries and tomatoes. My mom and I did some spring clean-up of the front yard and it was just all around a great day! I think it ended up being in the mid-70's by the end of the day and it really felt like we'd taken advantage of it. Today was rainy and cool but it was so nice to have had that one day to get us in the mood for things to come.


Emma sitting up - she's very good at it now:

QT with Corey

Lilly had a birthday party to go to today so while Clare and Emma were both having their afternoon naps, Corey and I had some really hard-to-come-by quality time together. We started by sitting on the deck while Corey read to me. He's reading his first chapter book and doing such a great job with it. He's tackling a chapter each day in order to finish by the end of spring break and we're both really enjoying it. I must admit, I read ahead. I never have been very patient with books. Anyway, after we read, Corey had a snack and I went out to clear out the van from our morning activities. He came out a couple minutes later and asked if he could help. What a good kid. We finished the last few bits which brought me to my camera. I asked if he'd help me by letting me take some pictures of him and he was all for it. We had a good laugh until my camera's battery died and then we just had a little quiet conversation on my new bench (compliments of my mom) on the front patio until Lilly got home. Corey is gone to school for so much of the day and our weekends always seem to be rushed and full of all-family activity so I really appreciated these few moments of just me and Corey. Did I mention he's a really great kid? I'm reminded every day of what a great big brother Corey is but it was so nice to have the reminder of how great he just is.





Showing off his new shoes:

Easter Weekend

Ok, so now I'm a week behind on posting pictures of our Easter and Christening festivities. The highlights were definitely the Christening ceremony itself, our brunch afterward at our family favorite The Golden Mast, and an Easter Egg Hunt that my neighbor/friend (and now Emma's Godmother) hosted for the neighborhood. The kids had a really good time collecting eggs and discovering their treats inside. There must've been 500 eggs and about 12 kids...you do the math! It was loads of fun and our own hunting around the house for eggs and their baskets was actually a bit anticlimatic after her event. Still fun, though. Clare seemed to have the most fun with it. Oh...maybe because she was sleeping through Robbin's event so didn't have the comparison. That must be it.





The Christening was a really special event. The church we attend now is just awesome and Father Mike is such a great guy so it had to be a success! This was the first baptism we've had that was during a service so that was different. Also, they do full immersion at St. Joan of Arc which for an infant means that Father Mike gets in the baptismal pool, takes the baby, and swishes them back and forth in the water up to about their chest. He's very gentle with them and it's really very sweet. The babies don't put on their baptismal gown until after that. Emma wore the same one that the other kids have worn...it was knit by my maternal grandmother. She did awesome throughout the service with about 5 seconds of crying while she was in the water. Otherwise, a real trooper all day. Actually, all the kids did great and Corey and Lilly now say they'd be willing to go back to church with me so that's great!! We'll see what they say after mass on Sunday!

Clare's Birthday

Clare was very excited for Lilly's Ariel Birthday Party but only lasted about 15 minutes before she asked to go to bed. She got up for the last few minutes but missed the bulk of it. So, for her birthday, we went to Build-A-Bear. Corey and Lilly had been once before but it was a first for Clare. Papa and Nana went too, having just flown in for the weekend. She made a cute dog and got it some hot pink shoes and a pink summer dress. She named it Wags on Corey's suggestions since that's the name of the dog in the Wiggles and she was a big fan. Wags hasn't come close to Minnie status for Clare but she had fun anyway. Afterward, we met Rob at the Texas Roadhouse for dinner and then headed home. Grandma had decorated the table for her celebration and I made a fun Ariel cake that she enjoyed. Her language is so strong now and she loves to say "I'm two." She had her 2-year old wellness check on Monday and everything is great! She had to have one injection but was a real trooper about it and barely cried at all. After the shot, she was sitting on my lap and said "I scared, Mama". I said: "I know, honey, I was a little scared too." She looked me in the eye and asked very sweetly "You scared too, Mama?" I said: "Just a little". Her response: "Ahhhh." and then she gently reached up and patted my hair. It was the sweetest little moment. She is such a doll!!!!

PS...When Lilly finished her shot, she said "I want to see Corey." We went out to the lobby to see him and a few minutes later she was still crying a bit and my mom asked her why. She said "I don't want to hear Clare cry" (Clare was going next). They are all so close and so loving towards each other....very sweet.

Lilly's Epic Birthday

Lilly's birthday seemed to go on and on this year! First she had her Under The Sea party. She had 12 friends over and we transformed the basement into Lilly's Lagoon. The kids did sand art fish necklaces, painted fish sun catchers, played Ariel Bingo, a fishing adventure game, Stick the Habiscus Flower on Ariel, and lots of parachute games. Lilly had a lot of fun! She had a celebration at school and brought in flower basket cupcake cones. They were fun and she had a good time. Then, we celebrated her actual birthday with more gifts and a ladybug cake because ladybugs are her favorite animal and because we call her "Lilly-bug". She had a fun week and is very proud of being 5 now. Lilly had her 5-year old wellness check at the doctors on Monday and had her last immunizations that she needed before Kindergarten. She was very nervous and freaked out a bit at the actual moment of the shots but recovered pretty quickly and is glad to be ready for her new school next year!

Quick Pics

I'm way behind on blog updates...it's been a crazy couple of weeks here with 2 birthdays, a birthday party, Easter, a Christening, and my Dad and Brenda visiting. All fun stuff and we've had a great time! So, lots of updates and pictures to come but in the meantime I thought I'd share just a few of the kids from Sunday (Easter/Christening). Hope you all had a nice holiday!