May 2014

May.
We started out May without Ryan, and then the most emotional reunion ever!
We read books, played outside a lot, someone turned 5 and then got strep throat :(
We took Birthday photos, cleaned our room (almost) and went to Greenfield Village.
Supported our friends with Apraxia!
Someone lost a tooth, we went to an Island and realized the end of the school year is almost here!

Enjoy!!

Day 121 of 365. Our last night as a threesome! I have had a great week with the girls, nothing crazy, but I think we are all ready for Daddy to come home tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!

Day 122 of 365. BEST. DAY. EVER!

Day 123 of 365. Grace opened up a bookstore today. She was selling her books to raise money for St. Jude Children's Hospital (her favorite charity). She was having a sale of buy one get one free......the kicker: she only had two books! I Love her! 

Day 124 of 365. I came home and found this. I guess that trip to the park with Grandma was rough :)

Day 125 of 365. Doing some DEEP spring cleaning this year and came across a book I had as a kid. It now belongs to the girls  :)

 

Day 126 of 365. Playing.

 

 Day 127 of 365. Jennifer is tenderhearted, carefree, loving and kind. She is smart, goofy and beautiful. Today Jenni is 5!!! She will be starting t-ball this summer and kindergarten in the fall. She has the worlds best giggle, and I ofter refer to her as my hippie child or Jelly Bean! I am blessed to be her mother. HaPpY 5th BiRtHdAy :)

Day 128 of 365. Yesterday she turned 5. Today she has strep throat :(

Day 129 of 365. I swear I was only gone for two hours!!!! It's nice to know they missed me though  :)

 Day 130 of 365. Finally got a chance to take their Birthday Photos. My favorite photos of any session are when they completely forget I am there and the interactions take place <3

Day 131 of 365. A beautifully quiet ending to an amazing and fun day! PERFECTION :)
 

Day 132 of 365. Wearing the exact same outfit and calling it "twinsie day".


 Day 133 of 365. I see WORK! They see PLAY!

Day 134 of 365. Today we represented Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America (CASANA) for one of our bestest friends. We love you Karsen and we are the lucky ones in this friendship :) Check out the comments to donate or sign up for the walk on August 10th!

Day 135 of 365. I asked Jenni to clean up her room. 20 minutes later I went to check on her and this is what I see. UGH this girl! :)

Day 136 of 365. Grace LOVES lego's Her hair is via 80s day at school! :)

Day 137 of 365. Dirty feet equal a day well played outside :)

Day 138 of 365. We spent most of this beautiful day with family at Greenfield Village. The girls found a duck to have a chat with, I think they both enjoyed the conversation  :)

Day 139 of 365. I am not quite sure where she learned to do this, but the fact that the shovel was backwards made me giggle for a long time  :)

Day 140 of 365. Her face.....sheer determination!

Day 141 of 365. Jenni and her class took their last trip to Grand Court to sing for the residents. They sang about "spring things" like baseball and caterpillars  :)

Day 142 of 365. Dear NHL, we heard you needed a new player?!?!?

Day 143 of 365. They are so strong they are holding up the Mackinac Bridge while on Mackinac Island :)

Day 144 of 365. First thing in the morning after waking up they wanted to play on the beach  :)

Day 145 of 365. Before leaving this morning we were sucked into the tourist trap of shopping :) The girls found the fountain and were giggle monsters! We decided the water looked like a smurf peed in it ;)

Day 146 of 365. Because the only requirement for helping Dad is to wear a bathing suit?!?!?

Day 147 of 365. Ryan decided he needed his hairs cut, Jenni wanted a few cut also :) Do you see Ryan in the back?

Day 148 of 365. It's a poopy day so a video game it is! Why do we go the library again?? 

Day 149of365. Today was my last day reading with Grace's class. It has been an amazing year watching these kids grow into beautiful readers! What a great experience  :)

Day 150 of 365. She had her kindergarten assessment this afternoon. She was more excited about getting a water bottle then anything else.  :)

 Day 151 of 365. They say it's not cold, but I really don't believe them! ;)


Bonus Photos!  These are a few photos that I took while in Mackinac that I felt should be shared also :)

This was Jenni's first ferry boat ride to the Island :)

Grace felt a nap was necessary while on the Island!

 After lunch they fed the dirty birds aka seagulls!

 Jenni drew a photo of her Dad in the sand :)

 Playing on the shore of lake Huron!

Grace is 7 and Jennifer is 5!

So my two daughters are 25 months apart.

Their Birthday's are a mere three weeks apart.

My girls always fight me when it comes to getting them in front of my camera.

They used to think it was fun, now they find it tedious.

 This is often referred to as 

"photographer mom problems" ;)

So in a super short session and MAYBE a little bit of bribery,

my girls had their 7 and 5 year pictures taken!

This is what I am talking about.  She poses herself and I just run with it!

And again!  Well, at least she is really cute!

And she also thinks she is funny :)

YES!  A real one :)

And then there is this one who, at 5, knows everything about everything all of the sudden.

But, again, at least she is really cute with a "cheese"!

Nice try Jenni, but I need a real smile! ;)

My baby girl!

Yep, they are mine, for real!

OMG, then this moment comes along and I die!

But I like it in both B&W and color *sigh*

I am loving this moments in life!

 

 I am blessed they are mine and I hope someday they see themselves through my eyes and they will see how smart, beautiful, strong and amazing they are!  I hope they know they can do anything it is they want to do and that they don't allow anything or anyone to get in their way.  I hope they don't break to many hearts along the way and in turn theirs is not broken to many times.  I hope that everyday they give the best of themselves because if they don't, the world will be missing out!

Mommy loves you both!

April 2014

April .
April started off with Grace becoming a beautiful a bug, then turning 7 years old, then a kitty Momma.  I guess it really was her month :)
We were finally able to venture outside, visit the dentist, and have some friends over.

Jennifer got all signed up for kindergarten, also became a kitty Momma and had a sleepover.

Ryan left for a week for Florida, and I got to capture it all :)

 Day 91 of 365. Grace had a spring concert today. She was so excited she got to be a bug! She was a beautiful blue bug with orange wings :) SuPeRsTaR!

Day 92 of 365. Jenni requested to fold her own laundry! YES!!!!!!!!!! It only lasted for about 5 items, but I will take it :)

Day 93 of 365. "Mom, I just want to snuggle and get warm in your bed." -Jennifer

Day 94 of 365. I ALMOST wish I made this up. I told her I had to do my workout and she told me she wanted to do it with me. This is how she showed up!!!!! A bathing suit and knee high boots! Hey, I don't call her "Jelly Bean" for no reason :D

Day 95 of 365. We spent most of the day at the Henry Ford Museum with my brother and his boys. The kids went back to the early days of MTV, when they actually played music videos :)

Day 96 of 365. We have been OUTSIDE allllllllllll day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 97 of 365. These girls were looking up frozen crafts! I think we will be in for another date soon!!!

 

Day 98 of 365. We decided to not waste a beautiful day! We went to the park and these girls LOVE to swing :)

Day 99 of 365. All the cool kids rock a trip to the dentist's office on spring break! ;) Both girls got perfect check-ups :)

DAY 100!!! Day 100 of 365. We had to cancel plans for the day, so the girls decided to start making books! They have turned the craft table into a book making factory :) You might have to check your local library soon!!

Day 101 of 365. Tonight we had the pleasure of wishing a very special girl a very Happy 7th Birthday! We are thrilled to call your family our friends :)

Day 102 of 365. What do you do in 70 degree weather? We practice getting our tan on, of course!
;)

Day 103 of 365. Both girls have asked to play ball this year. So, Jenni will start t-ball while Grace will be moving to machine pitch. This morning we got a little bit of practice in, until the wind blew us away :) Oh, and a special thanks to my Mom for picking up my camera to get this moment of me and the girls!!

Day 104 of 365. She is fierce, independent, loving and kind. She is smart, determined, and beautiful. Today Grace turns 7. She wants to be an author and illustrator, she loves playing softball and reading. She is pretty much amazing and I am blessed she is mine  :)

Day 105 of 365. IT'S OFFICIAL!!!! Jennifer is all signed up and ready to go to Kindergarten. I can't believe it :*(

 

Day 106 of 365. Jenni: "Mom, say cheese!" Me: "No, you say cheese!"  :)

 Day 107 of 365. When you make bad choices, you have to sit and think about why you made those bad choices. :(

Day 108 of 365.  Swinging.

 Day 109 of 365. Egg dying is VERY serious business around here  :)

Day 110 of 365. We spent Easter outside alllllllllllll day It was awesome! 

Day 111 of 365. The girls have been begging for a cat. They have worked very hard to show us they are responsible and capable of helping take care of a cat. So, today, when they came home from school, they met their new family member........they named her Charlie!

Day 112 of 365. The Charlie love affair continues :)

Day 113 of 365. For her Birthday she got the basket filled with things needed to make books, since she wants to be an author. She has used her basket every single day since :) These books are going to be selling like hotcakes!

 Day 114 of 365. By request Daddy is helping build a beautiful princess castle :)

 Day 115 of 365. While they rest their heads, Daddy will be flying away for a week. So, one last love attack :)

 Day 116 of 365.  Ryan has never been in an airplane.  Today he can no longer say that!  After I dropped him off at the airport I got home in time so the girls and I could track Daddy's plane to Florida :)  Maybe, now we go on that honeymoon?!?! ;)

Day 117 of 365. We had a sleepover last night with the besties. This morning's bedhead required waffles with bananas and blueberries  :)

Day 118 of 365. Dear technology, THANK YOU!!!  :)

Day 119 of 365. This chick! No matter how bad of a day it is, this one will make you laugh like no other :)

 Day 120 of 365. Grace lost her tooth two days ago, but the tooth fairy didn't come :( (That is what Ryan always does!) However, we left a note on the fairy door and that magical fairy goodness came last night :) PHEW! Another check mark on that mother of the year award!:/


Don't forget to make your day AH-Mazing!!