The year 2024...

...that is the year that these two best friends will be graduating high school!

Kate in the pink and Anna wearing the butterfly shirt.

Tonight we had a kindergarten information meeting for Kate.  It was absolutely crazy to think that she will be 5 years old this June and in full day kindergarten in the fall, it doesn't seem possible!  Wasn't she just a 6 pound little peanut yesterday?  Where has the time gone?  Before we know it we will be  planning proms, spring breaks and a gradution party!!!  Oh world, slow down.

A girls best friend :)

This past weekend both of the kids and I went up to the cabin for a relaxing weekend away.  I went up with 3 of my girlfriends and a total of 5 kids, making 9 total!  All of us "Mommies" thought that it would be cheapest for everyone to just bring whatever food was in their pantry at home to make meals at the cabin, rather then go grocery shopping when we were there.  Surely, with four moms bringing food we could create something edible for the kids.  When we all unloaded our totes full of cereal, crackers, cheese and eggs we also found these...

We all managed to pack the Oreo's!

You would never guess that all 4 of us Moms are all on Weight Watchers...LOL! I guess weigh in isn't gonna be so good this week!  But it was delicious!

Kate's Special Day

Kate had her special day last week at pre-school, so I thought I would share a few pics to let you in on a glimpse of her day.  She goes to Precious People Pre-school every MWF from 9-11:30.  Her teacher's name is Ms. Bonnie and she is the most patient, sweetest and kindest person I know, perfect for working with young children.  When it is Kate's special day she gets to bring in show-n-tell, snack and a classroom helper.  Kate absolutely LOVES school! 

Kate sitting in the special chair with her reading strips.  As we all know, March is reading month, at pre-school for each book the children read at home we write it on a red or white strip of paper and return them to school to make the largest hat for the Cat in the Hat.

 Here is circle time.  Kate is in the "special chair", her teacher is wearing the hat and that is most of her classmates.

 Every morning they sing the Pledge of Allegience and Kate gets to hold the big "Grand Ole Flag" since it is her special day.

A video of Ms Bonnie and Kate marching with the rest of the class singing "I'm a Grand Old Flag."

The class is working on "Color Magic" right now.  Discovering that blue mixed with yellow makes green, blue mixed with red makes purple and yellow mixed with red makes orange.

 We had to make green to add to the eggs and ham.  It was Green Eggs and Ham day.

 Kate got to crack the eggs into the skillet, she did a great job!

Kate loves to cook.

 They all took turns stirring the ham.

They read the book Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss while the eggs and ham were cooking, then they got to dig in.  Some kids were a little suspicious of snack and wanted nothing to do with it.  Others were willing and ready to try it. Kate loved it, she had two helpings of both the eggs and ham.  She said, "hey, green eggs tastes like regular eggs and green ham tastes like regular ham."

Snack time.

Kate's very best friend at school , Ava.

When it is Kate's special day she also gets to take home the classroom bear.  His name is Traveler Bear, and he traveled with Kate up to the cabin this past weekend.  Traveler Bear travels around with each student then helps report back to the class what fun activites they did together.  Traveler Bear also got a much needed bath this weekend!

Check back later to see what we did at the cabin.

Guess what?

SPRING is here and it feels SOOOOO good.  It reached a HOT 68 degrees this afternoon in Mid-Michigan!!!  It felt so good to feel the warm breeze and watch the kids play outside this afternoon, it seems like it has been forever since we have been able to play outside.  Here are a few pics I snapped of Nick playing in the backyard while Kate was at dance class tonight.

 The swings were a favorite of Nicks.



Sunday Senses

Its Sunday again? It seems like I just wrote this post...last week.

10:38pm

Sight-A computer screen and watching Holly's World on E on TV.  Clean livingroom floor too:) 

Hear-Sex and the City Marathon Commercial and the Whursh-Wash, Whursh-Wash from the dishwasher.

Taste-Diet Coke

Feel-My nose and toes are freezing cold, my computer is hot, I think my cooling fan broke.

Smell-Peanut Butter-We had peanut butter and nutel sandwiches for lunch and I can still smell the peanut butter.

What we did today-We read 5 books about spring and St. Patty's Day, made homemade Play Dough and ate brussel sprouts for dinner.

Have a great week.

Five Question Friday

1. Do you know what your REAL hair color is?I am thinking that my hair color is the same as my eye brows, a dirty dishwater brown (I don’t care for it).  I am always dying it one color or another.  Mostly darker in the winter and highlighted blond in the spring and summer.

2. Do you plan ahead for summer, or fly by the seat of your pants?

Yes, Yes and YES we plan everything in summer.  Vacations, work schedules, day trips.

3. What is your favorite meal to cook?

 A chuck roast in a crock pot with potatoes, carrots and biscuits.

4. Do you get offended by not receiving thank yous? Only sometimes…Thank yous are a must for weddings and showers.  If I am giving a girlfriend a birthday gift, then I don’t expect a thank you.

5. How did you meet your best friend?

I have several very good friends, here are a few.

Christy-I met in 2^nd grade in 1987.

Jennifer-we were roommates my second year at CMU in 2000.

Andrea-I met at my husband’s work Christmas party at Claddagh’s in 2002.

Carly-I met teaching together in 2007.

Have a great weekend!

Splash Universe!

After Kate got out of Pre-school on Wednesday afternoon Mike and I took the kids on a mid-week "Mystery Trip".  We went to Splash Universe which is attached to a Holiday Inn Express in Dundee, MI, which is also right next door to Cabelas.  We had a blast!  The hotel was beautiful, it had a wilderness feel to it, take a look at the lobby picture below.  I do have to admit that the pictures below are not mine, I wish they were, unfortunately I left my camera at home for this trip.  BLAST!  I could have kicked myself, I had charged my battery the night before in preparation for the trip, and sure enough, I left it charging the whole time we were away!!! ERRRGGG! (therefore there will be a lack of pictures of us having fun in this post, so sad.)

We stayed in a Family Suite, which had a king size bed and a set of bunkbeds for the kids, Kate was super excited about this (being able to sleep on the top bunk).  The bunkbeds were made out of wood logs, super cool!  The first day we were there, we settled into our room, then got ready to go swimming in the hotel pool.  Kate swam for the first time (without wings) all the way across the pool from deep end to shallow end with out stopping or having any help, she is quiet my little fish!  Nick sat in the chair next to Daddy and read the sports section of the newspaper for most of our time at the pool.  He has no interest in swimming.  After swimming we found a local restaurant and ordered the most delicious Chicago Style Pizza I have ever had!  After dinner we went back to the hotel to hang out for a bit before bed.  The next morning we ate the breakfast that the hotel provides, which was just ok, then went here!

SPLASH UNIVERSE!

Kate was beside herself with excitement, she could not wait for the water park to open, we were counting down the minutes.  When we were finally allowed in, she ran to the lazy river, then to the family whirlpool, then up the splash tree house.  Before long, Kate and I were whizzing down the HUGE, adult size waterslides (there were two).  She laughed the entire time, I screamed, it was actually a little scary!  Soon she convinced Daddy to go with her while I took Nick in the lazy river with a beach ball, still no fun for Nick.  After the water park, we played at the arcade for a few minutes before having to pack up and head the hour and a half back home.  It was a peaceful van ride home, the kids both fell asleep before even reaching the express way, they were exhausted!  It was a very successful mini family vacation.  Hopefully we can return back soon.  What fun "Mystery Trips" do you go on with your family?  I would love some new ideas.

Busted!

It's naptime at my house...

We had lunch,  I put both kids down for nap, cleaned up a bit then turned on The Martha Stewart Show and sat down on the couch in my quite house with my computer to catch up on all the Mommy Blogs that I follow.  About an hour into my daily routine of reading blogs I got a little hungry for some chocolate.  I went to the pantry and only found Oreo's, I wasn't really feel'n it, so I closed the pantry and sat back down empty handed.  About 5 minutes later I remembered that I had gone shopping yesterday and bought candy for the kids' Easter Baskets.  I had already stashed the candy away in my secret hiding place, so the kids wouldn't stumble upon them.  So, I got up and rummaged through the shopping bag of candy, I grabbed my all time favorite Easter Candy, Cadbury Mini Eggs, my mouth started watering!  You know, the solid milk chocolate candy shaped like eggs with the crisp sugar shell, delicious!  I was thoroughly enjoying my afternoon snack of speckledd little blue, yellow, pink and white eggs until...

BUSTED!!!!!

Little Miss Kate woke up and walked out into the living room, me not even thinking about the eggs. In her sweet little excited 4 year old voice said, "Mom what are those? Where'd you get those Easter Eggs? Why didn't the Easter Bunny hide these for me?" (Kate asked all these questions all in one breath!)  What Easter Eggs? I mumbled with a mouth full of chocolate?"  "These ones," Kate said. as she lifted up the bag (apparently so I could see them a little more clear).  "I thought the Easter Bunny only brought those eggs to our house in our Easter Baskets, how did you get those?"

Oooops, I guess I need to be a little more careful when it comes to the Easter Bunny, Santa or the Toothfairy.  Especially with a 4 year old in the house!

Happy Tuesday!

Cookies, Cookies, Cookies and More Cookies

We love cookies at our house! 

If it was up to Kate we would bake cookies everyday. 

She especially loves to smother the cookies with frosting and add a generous amount of sprinkles.

These are the colors that Kate picked out, it lookes like Easter cookies were made early this year.

She does everything from cracking the eggs to rolling the dough to frosting and sprinkling.  We just need to work on the kitchen clean up.

One of many decorated cookies.

Nick doesn't pass on a cookie offer, YUM-O!  We love soft sugar cookies!

What is your favorite cookie?

Sunday Senses

Sorry that I have not posted in a full week.  We had a boring mid-winter week with nothing exciting happening.  This week will be different, I promise!  I have a mid-week mystery trip planned for the kids on Wednesday after Kate gets out of school, sooooo EXCITING!

Now back to Sunday Senses

5:23pm
Sight-Nick Jr. is on tv, Ni Hao Kai Lan, specifically. Kate is changing Nick's diaper as I type (she wants to, I am not making her, it's about the 5th time she has changed his diaper today, and he lets her, crazy!).  It's still sunny outside, it looks warm out, but it's very cold in the mitten state.
Hear - Nick singing, "YoYoYoYoLoLoLoLo" as Kate continues to change him.
Kate saying, "My baby it's ok. Good Boy. Sometimes it not easy being a big sister. Good job buddy.
Taste - Mint gum
Feel - A little tired...Mike and I stayed out at an Auction to raise money for Kate's Preschool until about 1:00am last night.  Thanks for joining us and supporting Kate's school Grandma and Grandpa!
Smell - We just finished dinner.  Cheesedogs and watermelon, so I still smell the hotdogs, both of the kids ate 2 a piece!


Happy Sunday!