Under the Weather

We've been spending our days a bit like this... some crazy sickness has been working its way through these little bodies. One is sick then gets better, then the other gets it. Remy's on round two, and I'm hoping that they're on the tail-end of it. He's ready to get back to school, and I'm ready to disinfect everything!

the little things

Some Monday mornings are tougher than others... 

These are the things that get me by:

This sweet smirk

Belly laughs with a girlfriend

Finding sweet notes from my boy~ He's learned to make hearts at school, and they just melt mine!

Dancing Queen

Poses with pumpkins

So what are your little things??

Firsts...

Well, I apologize for my absence, but I've been in mourning. My sweet Remy started kindergarten last week. And okay, I'm not really mourning, though there were some sobby, tear-stained moments. It's funny trying to find a new normal, a new pace of our days. Usually around noon Halle starts asking when we can go get him from school. She starts preschool and dance next week, so I'm thinking we will get into more of a rhythm then.

Milestones are great for the most part here. Halle is officially COMPLETELY potty trained!! And that is a milestone to be celebrated! We have done much cheering for that one, and almost no crying (except for a few brief moments where I probably cried just a little thinking that it would never happen...). She has also started writing her name and is doing her best to keep up with Remy, who has had homework nearly every day. This is what life is right now...

I hope y'all are doing well! I'm looking forward to again finding my fall blogging rhythm. I have much to say, just so little time to get it out there. Love you all bunches!!

3

Well, we survived the weekend... Today is the actual day of my Curly Girly's birth, and to celebrate we are going to the local water park. She insists that she already had a birthday, and today isn't it. When you're three and can't tell one day from the next it doesn't matter, I guess. Soon she will learn the value of claiming a vast blanket of time as your birthday week/month. So many things to teach her...

She was not thrilled with the singing...

Her party on Saturday was filled with much chaos, fun and love. Everyone brought gifts, even though we begged them not to, and having a Rapunzel party means that every present has scads of long blond hair. I have gotten a second job now as chief hair brusher/braider. Like so many parties before, I didn't get nearly enough pictures, but here are a couple from my phone.

Finished the cake just in time... and warned everyone that if they found a hair in their piece, it was most definitely Rapunzel's and NOT mine!

Some of the decorations. I had these braids all around the mailbox, windows, and as a table runner.

I'll try to post some more pictures of the food and games. I'm still trying to figure out what I actually took pictures of and what I forgot. In the craziness of 35 people in our living room, many of them being kids, I just find myself a little too crazy to think straight! Hope y'all have a great Monday!!

Her

This is my beautiful Halle. And if you follow me on Facebook or twitter, you know a bit about her. She is something. No words can quite encompass all that is this sweet and perfect gift. So I document the things she does, as she does them. Because no one would believe me otherwise. 

~This most recent picture is her saying "I'm not going to school ever never." because she has to use the potty if she wants to go to school. Literally an hour later she decides to use the potty before bed. Just to mess with me.

~Yesterday she tells me I'm not her best friend. I replied that 'I don't have to be your best friend. I am your mommy'. So she then asks 'Where do I go to make you not my mommy?'. Most almost-three year olds would say 'Then you're not my mommy', but not my girl... she realizes there will be paperwork involved.

~Also yesterday, when given the choice to be kind or go to her room for timeout, she says "I will choose to be kind, but only because you are making me. It's not like I want to."

~Last week as I tucked her in, she whispers in my ear "Do you know who loves you more than me? Only Jesus." That might have been the sweetest thing ever. And I may have teared up a little.

~She asks why I drink coffee if I don't like to cough.

~She also closes her eyes when she sings so she can 'sing to Jesus like mommy and daddy'.

~She calls 'dessert' 'DeZurg' because of the villain on Toy Story 1 and thinks that every other meal is called breakfast. She repeatedly asks during the day if we've already had breakfast, and some days I begin to doubt whether or not I actually fed them!

~She always needs to know if things are boys or girls and then insists on calling them 'he' because she 'likes it better'.

Just a few Halle-isms to commemorate almost-three... We love this Curly Girly of ours to pieces!!

Friday Love

I haven't done one of these posts in forever, which is crazy because I have so much I'm loving right now!

~First of all, I'm adoring this girly girl. Yes, she has her very two-year-old moments, but when she begs to have those tiny toes painted pink, I can't resist... These are the exact reasons that I wanted a baby girl! And those little nails are so sweet (even if they are so small that I can't help but get paint all over... fortunately she isn't picky!)

~Mail! I love ordering everything online because I do the super happy dance when each package arrives. Although I really would love it if the delivery guys wouldn't come during nap time and make the dogs bark like mad.

~Speaking of mail, yesterday I received a shipment of some things I ordered for a tea party that I have coming up. I'm excited to share the details once it gets a little closer... I've invited a bunch of my girlfriends, and I also gave them each an extra invite to encourage a friend to come.  I used to love having fancy tea parties with my mom, so this should be super fun. Plus, it's new to most of my friends, so it's a party and an adventure all in one. Now if the weather holds out for me to do it all outside...

~The Royal Wedding- I am actually one of those crazy people who set my alarm for 3am just to see it... I seriously can't wait to scoop every detail of William and Kate's big day. I'm so nosey!! I've been dying to see her dress since they announced their engagement. And in honor of their big day, I think I need to use a British Accent all day... that should go over well (because, of course, my accent is perfect). 

Hope your weekend is full of things you love! xo

In the Garden

I use the term 'garden' loosely. This dirt pit is the site of what was to be the garden last year, but I failed miserably at getting that going. So now the kids have a great place to dig and get messy (as though they needed help with that...). The weather has been glorious for the last few days, perfectly warm in the sun, so we've been out a lot. Halle, of course, is wearing her ruby red sparkly shoes, because who doesn't wear all her finery in the dirt?!

     

And I won't forget about these boys... Rueger is all pup and wants to wrestle poor Starbucks all the time. But we've started calling Starbucks 'The Godfather' because he's definitely put Rueger in his place a time or two. We know who the boss is here, and being a quarter of the size doesn't keep him down one bit. So what have you been up to now that it's warming up?

Stolen Moments

We woke up Tuesday morning to a gray sky after a night of storms. I love the fleeting moments when the outside world isn't quite awake and my littles are content to play together. Something about these sweet, snuggly babies with sleepy eyes and footed jammies makes me feel really content. And it's getting harder and harder to find the footed kind for Remy... one more sign that he is growing up, I guess, whether I like it or not!

In the Kitchen

My mother-in-law gave me this Paula Deen cook book when Remy was very small, and I have been itching for him to be old enough use it! Yesterday afternoon he asked me if we could make something, and I began searching for the perfect (i.e. quick enough for a short attention span and simple) recipe to try. We settled on her pretzels. I was amazed at how quickly they mixed up with only a few simple ingredients. (These are only baked, not boiled as I know you do with some 'real' pretzel recipes...)

Remy's favorite part was kneading the dough. He spent the majority of that time telling Halle how strong he is and that 'this job is best for big boys', but she was more than happy to try as well. They only have to rise for an hour, and that was a great break for my budding chefs. We then rolled them out into letters and standard pretzel shapes. We chose to top them with cinnamon & sugar rather than just salt so that we could eat them as dessert after dinner. Halle loved using the shaker!

These turned out super-cute and pretty tasty!

Friday Love~ End of Summer

I must make a confession: I do not really like summer. Sure, it has it's merit... swimming and popsicles, cook-outs and fireflies, you know all the typical stuff. But it's just not my season. I don't like to sweat and dream about fall. I love the colors and smells and above all the clothing. I am an autumn, curl up in a sweater kind of girl. So while I have enjoyed the long, lazy days with my littles outside and getting tan without really trying, I am so ready for the next season. So I guess my 'Love' for the day is that I love knowing something else is on the horizon.

Okay, sermon over... We are taking advantage of these (hopefully) fleeting warm days, as I said we would. Yesterday we went to Riverfront Park in Peoria to get to know some folks from the area. There is a wonderful fountain there where kids can play (and the occasional adult, I suppose), and Remy & Halle took full advantage. Tons of fun! I managed to find my camera just before we left, and as I said I would yesterday, I snapped pictures. We practically had to drag them away when we were ready to leave, but that's the sign of a good time, right?!

'Hope your weekend is full of things you love!

Halle's Big Day!

So I've tried to narrow it down to just a few pictures, but it's so hard! On Saturday we celebrated our Hallelujah's 2nd birthday, Toy Story-style, just like she wanted. (If you remember, I really wanted a ladybug party, but Little Miss Determined knew what she wanted...) Last week upon receiving a Target gift card, Halle picked out what she deemed a 'party dress' instead of a toy, which was so cute. As soon as she woke up from her nap she was ready to put on her new dress and spin to her little heart's content. 

The Cake... 

I waited until the very last minute to put the top tier on, for fear that the whole thing would collapse. I knew what I wanted in the cake from the very beginning~ three layers. What I didn't take into account was that three layers would feed about 80 people. Seriously. The nearly 30 people at the Curly Girl's party only consumed the top layer and less than half of the middle, so the entire bottom layer went as a treat for our whole children's ministry on Sunday morning. Even funnier is that they didn't even finish it, and it made it's way to another family gathering of some friends. I love sharing the love!

Each layer was a simple chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream filling. The outside was iced in vanilla buttercream, and the cow spots (inspired by Jessie's pants) and clouds were made from marshmallow fondant. 

Jessie Hat cookies

These were a recipe that I used from Disney's website. They looked so cute all stacked up on the plate! I didn't get a picture of the entire spread, but I tried to have a western/Cowgirl/Toy Story theme without getting too country (totally not my thing...). I made a trail mix with a blend of Halle's favorite things (star marshmallows, pretzel sticks, m&m's, and Cheerios). Corn dogs were a huge hit with everyone (especially my kids because we rarely have them!).  Remy's favorite thing on the table was the 'Cactus Juice' punch we made by mixing green Kool-Aid, 7 Up, and lime sherbet. We weren't sure that he didn't believe it was actually cactus juice, and he must have had 5 glasses!

Here's she is trying on some of her new dress up clothes. The heels only took a few minutes of practice before she was marching up the stairs! Also among a truck load of gifts from our too generous friends was Slinky Dog, which is her favorite. She goes to sleep and wakes up talking about him!

All in all, it was a pretty amazing day. Halle was so buzzed on sugar and energy that it took her 90 minutes talking in her bed to finally crash. We are so blessed to have such an awesome group of friends who love our family and came to celebrate with us! I love that our little house gets packed, practically bursting at the seams with people who care about our littles~ that makes every stressful moment leading up the party so worth it. (Sigh) And while I am a little glad it's over, I would do it all again tomorrow... so thankful!

Full

We fill these summer days from beginning to end. From sleepy morning moments, perfect for snuggling...

To moments in the sun armed with soapy water and a squirt bottle. (It seems these are warm weather essentials for a 4 year old boy and his first mate!)

To a splash at the end... don't want to miss a second!

Happy Wednesday!

Wordless Wednesday... First Movie