June 2014

June.
Ice cream, library, Daddy monster.
Yo-Yo, thrift store, last days of school.
Father's Day, independent breakfast, crafting up lanterns.
The Zoo, fireworks, camping and softball. 

Day 152 of 365. Grace plays pretty hard! Sometimes nap time is a necessity, so why not outside on the swing :)

Day 153 of 365. She said she had a bad day at school, so ice cream it is! :)

 Day 154 of 365. Another trip to the library The trivia question were all about kid inventors, the girls were all about guessing and writing their own answers! 

Day 155 of 365. Somehow a Daddy monster got in the house and was eating kids! Naturally I took a photo before saving their life ;)

Day 156 of 365. It has been three solid days and she finally got the hang of it!! DETERMINED! 

 Day 157 of 365. Charlie is helping the girls play with their legos.....or she was trying to eat them, you decide :) 

Day 158 of 365. For lunch we had some of the lettuce that the girls helped plant, water, care for and then cut. It was really delicious!

Day 159 of 365. Road trip to Ann Arbor.....just because, then finding a thrift shop and finding goodies :)

Day 160 of 365. Ryan has Monday's off, we usually both end up working from home anyway! Today, however, we went on Jenni's field trip to the farm, she was so excited to see both of us  :)

 Day 161 of 365. One of the MANY faces of my Jelly Bean :)

 

 Day 162 of 365. Today Jennifer graduated Preschool. Both girls had the same amazing teachers for the last four years. We really hit the preschool teacher jackpot!! 

 

 Day 163 of 365. "Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts and we are never the same." For the last four years these amazing women have taught both girls, but more then that they have become a part of our family. 

 

Day 164 of 365. Our first day of summer vacation was BEAUTIFUL! So, we took a quick trip to the park :)

Day 165 of 365. If you ever happen to drive by our house you might see this flying Jelly Bean. Actually she was just practicing her "ginastics" :) I like the flying Jelly Bean better!

Day 166 of 365. Today was the 24th (holy cow!) Hellebuyck Hockey Party. It was also Father's Day :) I don't get to see my Dad a lot but for any time with him I am grateful!  <3

Day 167 of 365. This morning we headed over the the library and signed up for the summer reading program. The girls were the third and fourth ones to sign up and they are super excited!!!!

 

Day 168 of 365. We are going camping next week, so today we made jar lanterns to carry with us on our night walks through the campgrounds Testing them in the darkness is a must! 

Day 169 of 365. Spending a rainy afternoon in Grace's room watching a movie. 

Day 170 of 365. Uh, this is where I get to practice what I preach to the girls.........PATIENCE!

Day 171 of 365. My mornings are getting lazier and lazier I am kinda digging this independent thing! ;)

Day 172 of 365. This afternoon Grace decided we needed to take Jenni to check out the playground at school "so she won't be scared". What a great big sister :)

Day 173 of 365. We spent the day at the Detroit Zoo with a whole bunch of family. This guy just wanted to say hello to us all and thank us for coming :)
 

Day 174 of 365. We got to watch the Detroit Ford Fireworks last night. The Oooo's and Ahhh's were fantastic  :)

 

 Day 175 of 365. We are all tired from a long night of fireworks and a sleepover, so cuddles for everyone......even Charlie :)

Day 176 of 365. Uh, I do believe this is my most favorite picture of Grace EVER!!!!! It's just so her :)

Day 177 of 365. Day 1 of camping. The girls found Lake Michigan, I don't think they are ever coming home  :)

Day 178 of 365. Day 2 of camping. An amazingly beautiful Michigan sunset. 

Day 179 of 365. Day 3 (last day) of camping. More of that freezing cold Lake Michigan, these girls are crazy I tell you!!!!

Day 180 of 365. We got another loose one!

Day 181 of 365. Jenni's very first t-ball game and her very first at bat!!!! This sport loving Momma is so proud of her :)

BONUS PHOTOS:

 Jenni walking in to graduation with her class

Showing off her singing skills at graduation.

Ryan made me get in a photo, UGH!  I know I will love this when they are 15!

They played a slideshow of photos through the year, I cried!  DUH!

 Grace with her amazing first grade teacher Mrs. McVay!

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!