Storytime Live!

I was so excited when I found out that Storytime Live was coming to Tulsa! We got to see
Kai Lan, the Backyardigans, Wonder Pets, and D-D-D-D-D-DORA!!! Since we spend most of our tv time with these friends, this was very exciting for us! We decided to make it a special thing that we did with just Mackenzie! Madison got to stay with our good friend, Kari Romoser! (I think she had just as much fun as we did!) Mackenzie was so cute...we let her get a Storytime Live spinner and cotton candy. I was so surprised when she wanted BLUE cotton candy instead of pink! You just never know with that girl! Right when we got to our seats, I took out my camera of course! Just to find out that we weren't supposed to take pictures. I was NOT happy about this at all...we paid $90 to do this, and I WAS going to have pictures of it! Once I saw 200 other cameras flashing, I decided I would just join in and break the rules! Mackenzie is growing up so fast. This is one of those days that we will always remember with her. Good times!

This girl loves her daddy!

My little friend! I love it when Mackenzie says, "I love you Mommy" out of nowhere!

One happy girl!

She was very excited!!!! This makes every penny of the $90 we spent worth it!

Blue cotton candy...yum!

Our special "Mackenzie Date" to Storytime Live!

Kai Lan, Rin-Tu, Ho-Ho and Tollee (Probably didn't spell those right!) Mackenzie knows several words in Chinese because of Kai Lan! My favorite one that she says is "Tu-shea" which means "slippers." She can also count to 5 in Chinese!

The Backyardigans! (She likes Tasha, the pink one the best!)

The Wonder Pets (this is sewious!) Mackenzie's favorite is Ming Ming! We play "Wonder Pets" at home almost every morning when we are laying in bed. Madison and I get to be Lenny and Tuck and Mackenzie is the baby animal (a different one every time) that is in trouble under the covers. So we have to go in and rescue her! I don't know who has more fun with this...Mackenzie or Madison! They both love it!

Dora came out last, and then all of the characters came out at the same time. That was Mackenzie's favorite part. She danced and jumped the entire time! A great way to end a fun day!

Mackenzie got to ride on daddy's shoulders back to the car! It was a very hot July day!

Recent Scrapbook Pages!

I am so excited that I am finally getting caught up on scrapbooking AND I am getting the hang of this blogging thing. I know that I am a bit overobsessive about recording every moment of our girls' lives...maybe its my way of holding onto this time with them. I am excited though, because now that I am caught up, it doesn't take all that long to stay caught up! Confession though...I thought I could just switch to digital scrapbooking, but I just can't give up regular scrapping! I went into Hobby Lobby the other day and lost control when I saw the stickers and paper 50% off! So this is what I have decided...I will do digital scrapbooks for each of the girls seperately (starting right after their birthday and going through their next birthday), and I am doing a yearly family scrapbook the traditional way (Jan-Dec) with all of our pictures in it. So, I started that project a few days ago, and already have April, May, June and July done! Now I just have to do Jan, Feb and March and I will be caught up with this year. Then, if I can do 10 pages a month for the previous month, I will stay caught up. Does that sound crazy?! I really realized in the past few days how much I love scrapbooking! More than just recording memories, it is a hobby! It is really the only thing that I take time to do for myself...its a lot of work, but I love it!

It is 11:30 p.m. and everyone is asleep...for now. Mackenzie is coughing and Madison has already been awake twice since she went to bed. She was running a fever earlier and had a runny nose. I don't know what's going on with those little girls! We went to the mall today and I got to buy some new clothes...a rare occassion! We have really enjoyed being at home with Brian this week. Already, I am kind of dreading Friday when he leaves for Brazil. I am thankful that this will be his last big trip of the summer.

One other thing that is on my mind...we are waiting to find out if there will be a spot for Mackenzie in the ELP (early learning program) at our church. It is two days a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 to 2:30). We started to do it last year and decided it was too soon for her. I am still somewhat apprehensive about it, just because I love having her with me, but I feel like she would greatly benefit from it. We are just praying that if it is God's will for her right now, there will be an opening. And if not, that's okay too. We are still really praying and thinking about Homeschooling, which is a big scary thing for me! I want more than anything to do what is best for our girls. I guess we will just continue to pray for God's guidance! Madison is crying again so I guess I am done posting! Goodnight!

Here are some of the recent digital scrapbooking pages I have done, mostly on Smilebox. I still love Smilebox, but I am running out of designs! These turned out pretty cute though!

Cuteness!

This is kind of a random post, but these pictures are so cute that they MUST be on here!


Madison is a professional walker now! She is all over the place! She can even spin in circles, which she thinks is funny! She chases Mackenzie all over the place, and they have started fighting over things...the other day they got into a tug of war match over a bag. They each had a handle and they were both pulling and squealing. Guess who won?! Madison! Mackenzie finally gave up! I have a feeling we're in for it!


While we were in Newcastle, G-Ma taught Madison to say, "Shoo" and wave her arm in front of her nose! It is so funny...she does it all of the time now! One day, G-Ma went shopping at Target...and came home with 6 new outfits for each of the girls! Oh my goodness, they were cute! What would we do without her?!

Mackenzie was very sad to leave her G-Ma when it was time to go back home. We even had to skype that night, just so she would feel better about it! These pictures of her under her blanket happened after we tucked her into bed...she came running out of her room and laid down in the entryway under her blanket. She didn't make a sound...just laid there and waited to see what we would do. We had told her NOT to get out of her bed, so this was her trick to see if she could get away with it! Well, it was so funny that we had to take pictures of it! Then we told her to go back to bed! I laugh just thinking about it!

"Maybe I will get away with this...."

Do they see me?!

"This is fun!"

"Well, if she's taking pictures of me, I must not be in too much trouble!"

Love that sweet girl!

One of Madison's adorable new outfits!

Libby came over to play one day, and of course they wanted to wear matching clothes!

This was too cute...Mackenzie was kicking her legs up and down in the air, so Madison laid down beside her and started doing it too! They have fun playing together these days!

Mardel Friends

Mom and I went to Leslie's wedding shower, given by friends from Mardel! I always love getting to see friends that I used to work with. Leslie is getting ready to move to Louisiana and get married! I am so excited for her! But a little sad that she is moving...I guess the same way she felt when I moved away. She has been through a lot in the past few years, and I am so glad that she is happy! We will always be good friends, regardless of distance! Pa & Poppa Jim watched the girls while we were gone! It was nice to have a break for a few hours...that doesn't happen very often! Leslie told me I couldn't tag her pictures on Facebook, but she didn't say anything about me putting them on my blog!

Kelsey, Liz and I all had babies and left work....now its Leslie's turn to leave and she is happy about it!

Friends Forever!

Leslie has spent a lot of time out at mom and dads house, so she and mom have gotten to be friends too!

Happy Birthday to Olga & America!

7 years ago, Brian and I had the opportunity to go on our first (and only for me) overseas mission trip to Moldova. Many incredible things happened on that trip, but the best thing was the friendship that I developed with Olga! She was one of our translators and I got to share a room with her while we were there. Over time, she got to come to the US! She lived in Pennsylvania for several years, and mom and I actually got to make a trip there to visit her! She even took us to New York City for a day! Eventually, she got married and moved to Missouri! She is here to stay, and we are so glad! She and her husband, Kevin came up to spend July 3rd with us...which just happens to be her birthday! Brian left that day for Chicago, so he couldn't be there. Jamie and the kids, and Olga & Kevin came over for dinner & we celebrated her birthday and popped fireworks! Olga will always be very special to us!

Pa took Mackenzie to pick out some fireworks when we got to Newcastle. She only wanted the little ones, of course! We got chickens, frogs, poppers, cones, sparklers, and it wouldn't be 4th of July without snakes! I think those were Mackenzie's favorite because they make no noise! 4th of July fell on a Sunday this year, and it was fun to be at Woodland Hills! I had the girls dressed in their cute matching patriotic outfits, and as soon as we were loaded in the car, Mackenzie's cup of apple juice spilled all over her! So, back in the house we went! After church, we went to Carlito's and then Kevin and Olga had to leave. It was so good spending time with them!

I told Mackenzie that it was the 4th of July! She said, "What's the 4th of July?" I told her, "It's America's Birthday" and she said, "Who's America?" Oh, how I love my smart little girl! She makes me laugh all of the time! We were planning on going to the church for a cookout and fireworks, but it got rained out so we stayed home. At 9:00, we decided to drive to Norman to watch a firework show at Riverwind. We got there just in time, and the girls liked watching the fireworks in our safe car! It was a good 4th of July...we just missed daddy!

We had a good week in Newcastle! We are really ready for daddy to be home though! He only has one more trip to Brazil, and we are glad! While we were in Newcastle this week, Pa taught Madison how to say "Pa." Now she says it all the time! When we pull down the driveway at their house, she starts saying "Pa!" He is very proud of that!

This is not a good picture of me, but I love these ladies!

Madison went right to Olga! This was her first time to meet her!

Happy Birthday to Olga! Love the tiara! When we visited Olga in Pennsylvania, I got to spend my birthday with her!

Kid swap! Maybe the next time Olga visits, she will have her own little one!

Olga takes beautiful, pictures! We love looking at her pictures because they are always posed!

When Jamie and the kids were at 0ur house, Madison didn't want much to do with him...then when they came over to G-Ma's house, she was all about sitting with him! It was funny! I guess she decided he was safe if he was at G-Ma's house!

Mackenzie and G-Ma "judged" the fireworks. If they didn't like them, they made an "x." If they liked them, they clapped! Mackenzie liked this one "a little."

The sparklers weren't very good...everything was so wet and humid.


4th of July is one of my favorite holidays!

With G-Ma's help, Mackenzie liked the sparklers!

Two pretty girls!

Madison was very curious about the fireworks! She was checkin' it out, but didn't want to get too close!

They were watching the snakes grow!

Kevin talks like Elmo...he's pretty good at it! Jamie's face cracks me up!

Olga was being protected by her knight! She actually took off running when this firework was lit. It was rather funny!

The highlight of the fireworks, for Mackenzie at least, was running through the smoke! I love this picture!

4th of July

Olga & me at Carlito's

Mackenzie decided G-Ma could be "Penny," the horse! She got this from a book that she and G-Ma read together. Mackenzie led the horse and Madison got to ride! G-Ma is so much fun...no wonder they love her so much! All of the 4th of July activities got rained out, so we just played at home!

Reading with Pa & G-Ma on the 4th of July! Mackenzie with G-Ma, and Madison with Pa! That's the way it is a lot...Madison is crazy about my dad. It's so cute! She sat there for quite a while and let him read to her! Right after this,we jumped in the car and went to watch fireworks! It just wouldn't have been right to not see fireworks on the 4th of July!