Jump for Joy

This little pipsqueak LOVES her jumperoo (and her Daddy too!)

Ignore the barking wienersnitch in the background and T's leg repetitively kicking her the ball.

Kindergarten Graduation

I almost have to hold back tears just looking at these pictures again. Our sweet, sassy, inquisitive first born child graduated Kindergarten Monday. It is surreal to me that the school year has come and gone so quickly.

This little gal has grown leaps and bounds in her knowledge of addition & subtraction, money values, graphing, the development and nurturing of friendships, and reading. Oh how she loves to read! She can be found parked in the bathroom with a book, curled up in her bed or on the couch with book in hand and often times asks if she can read to her siblings {love this}.

The last hour of class the room mom coordinated an ice cream social for the kiddos and their families. It was a sweet time for all.

I wanted to share this amazing Van Gogh inspired painting the kids made as a keepsake for their teacher. Isn't it just that? Amazing.

Here is Gabrielle with her beloved teacher, Mrs. Barb Stowell, giving her the flower button bouquet shown in the prior posting. I honestly can't even begin to do justice in describing how wonderful of a teacher Mrs. S was/is. She inspired to make learning fun and exciting. She set an example by expressing enthusiasm and by encouraging each child to do their very best. She went out of the way to make each child feel special. For these things I am grateful because it created an atmosphere in which Gabi was eager to partake in and soak up all that she could. And believe me she was a sponge :)

With a classroom this size (25 in all - 14 boys & 11 girls), Mrs. Stowell did one heck of a bang up job!

Peanut,
We are so proud of you and your accomplishments this year. Our hope for you is that you will never lose your excitement about school and learning, that you will continue to make wise choices in your friendships, and that you will be a light within the school system. We love you much!
Inquisitive defined:
(substitute the word inquisitive with Gabrielle and this describes you to a tee at this stage in your life
1. give to inquiry, research, or asking questions: eager for knowledge; intellectually curious: an inquisitive mind
2. unduly or inappropriately curious; prying

Things in the Making

Over the course of the last several days I have been finding (or rather making) the time to spend a couple of minutes crafting. I count it as my 5 - 10 minutes of zen time. These are all pretty self explanatory but I put a little ditty under each photo.

Wool flower pins to attach to a purse, sweater, headband, etc.

Scrapbook supplies repurposed to make bows for the girls.
They are attached to jaw clips so Gabi can wear them as is or I can attach to a headband for MJ.

Satin round "flower" attached to a pin.
Sweater purchased at Target on clearance.
Thumbs up or thumbs down?

Lace rosettes attached to bobby pins.
My favorites are the grey (I made a pair) and the white

A rocking necklace I made my niece Paige to include with her high school graduation present.
Photo credit to MGR

Miss G helped with this creation. She wanted to give her teacher an end of the year gift. Mrs. Stowell's favorite color is yellow so Gabi insisted on this plant which we purchased at HyVee. It was wrapped in bright yellow cellophane and was then tucked into the cutest yellow dot square gift bag (go with it as I clearly didn't get a picture showing ALL the details). She stacked buttons, threaded through floral wire, gave a little twist and inserted into the soil and presto - button flowers!

She was so proud of her gift and her teacher loved it!
More to come on our soon to be 1st grader so stay tuned.

I have a few more crafty projects I am wishing to tackle but they must wait while I check a few more pertinent things off my to do list.

ML Field Day

Where oh where has time gone? Ms. G had her elementary school's field day (some local schools refer to it as Fun in the Sun) this past Tuesday. They had a dozen or so stations set up that the kids rotated through every 12 minutes. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to pack up the two little ones and spend the morning with her catching a few memories in pictures.
Thanks go to Kiersten and Heidi for making the morning possible!


Look out Kobe Bryant


The inflatable relay race (who thinks of these games?)

The highlight for Gabi was wrapping up the morning with a popsicle. Yet another reminder that sometimes it is the simple things in life that make one happy.
We love you Peanut.
Thanks for always providing us some spice in life.

Supper on the Fly

I haven't given two seconds thought to meal planning for this week so when 10am rolled around this morning I decided I better get into action if I was going to be putting a hot meal on the table for my family so here is my supper on the fly.
I pulled out a package of frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts threw them in the crock pot, added a handful of peeled potatoes and then covered with a pack of Crockery Gourmet seasoning mix for chicken (found in the seasoning aisle made by Superior Touch).
Oh.my.goodness - heaven!
The chicken was so tender and delic'. Here is the very best part. My kiddos ate it and better yet ate two servings each. This is monumental! I served it with whole wheat biscuits and my MIL's yummola strawberry pie which she whipped up Sunday morning and graciously sent home with us. So when you see me next and notice I have packed on a couple of unnecessary pounds blame it on the strawberry pie because I assure you I have eaten my fair share.

4 months old!

Hello sweet love! Here you are 4 months old already and getting more beautiful as the time passes.

Stats: 13 lbs, 21.5 inches, 16 inch HC - all within the 50th percentile
Diapers - Pampers size 1
Clothing - 0 to 3 months
We have a small fortune tied up in pacifiers. We have tried Soothies, Nuk, Avent, Mam and most recently the First Years brand Gum Drops. You tolerate the Soothies at times, the Gum Drops and your preferred pick are the Avent however you are just as happy gnawing on your fingers or thumb. You still take very sporadic naps throughout the day. Some days better than others. You continue to sleep through the night PTL.
What is new? You now have the most scrumptious chunky thighs, you smile easily and even belly laugh which I can't get enough of. You rolled over from front to back for the 1st time on Cinco de Mayo and have done so several times since then. You have thee.most.ridiculous hair line on the back of your neck. This description doesn't do it justice but it looks something like this ... peach fuzz all over until you reach the classic baby bald spot (and baby girl you are sporting a good one!), followed by a long, thick, dark tuft of hair that rests on your neck. Your siblings have shown an increased interest in you this month. Your bubby has even tried to pick you up on occasion and covers you in kisses regularly.

We all get lost in your big blue eyes. A new nickname you have adopted is my B-BEG.
My Beautiful Blue Eyed Girl XOXO


This is your favorite play "toy." You love your piggies and inevitably reach for them when it is time for diaper changes.

And I love this picture because you are a professional bubble blower and can be caught with bubbles on your adorable pouty lips at any given time.
Mommy finally started on your 1st year keepsake album this past Friday night. I completed two layouts. I am excited to dive into it, but am having difficulty making the time.
Mommy will sign off with the lyrics to the song played on your birth slideshow.

You're a little piece of heaven
You're a golden ray of light
and I wish I could protect you
from the worries of this life.
But if there's one thing I could tell you
it's no matter what you do
hold to Jesus, He's holding onto you.
.............................
Hear me dear Jesus,
rock this little one to sleep
keep her close when she is scared, and
give her grace when she is weak.
I know she'll stumble, but I know she'll make it through
if you hold onto just like you said you do
hold her Jesus so she'll hold on tight to you.

Mother's Day

My mother's day was relaxing and fulfilling. I woke to happy kiddos with their gift to me being a promise to be on their best behavior all day. We attended church and then did a little shopping at NFM with Papa and Mema followed by a DELICIOUS lunch at Applebee's. The big kids soaked up the beautiful weather outside while I snuggled up and took a short nap with Ms. McKenna. We ate a light supper, tucked the kids into bed early and watched the season finale of The Amazing Race.
So this is what you get when you are attempting to capture a picture with three little people combined with it being a sunny morning. Ugh!
Life as it is :)

I hope each of the Mother's out there had a wonderful day especially those experiencing their very first Mommy's Day (Monika Ogilvie & Katie Morris)!

The Best Buck a Girl can Spend

This may be the most random blog post of all times, but if it can help even one momma out there - well then it was worth the 60 seconds it took for me to write it :)

My SIL Teri introduced this little piece of wonder to my mom who in turn introduced it to me here recently. WHY oh why wasn't I familiar with it loooong ago? It is the miracle of stain removrs and it cost a mere $.97 in the laundry section of most grocery stores (I bought mine at WalMart).

This yellow bar of soap when dampened and applied directly to the stain will remove the toughest of tough stains. Think BABY poo. See below.
Go buy it and put it to the test!
Enough said!

Disgusting I know.
{Sorry for the poor phone picture quality}