Memorial Weekend

Victoria tries on her Hannah Montana wig and guitar, cause "she's a rock star!"

We went to Dave and Denise's house for a Memorial party- lots of swimming, good food, and great company. Thank you D&D!!! We had a wonderful time! See the slide show above for all the fun. (Note: the first couple of pictures are of Victoria getting ready for the big event. She's very proud to be combing and styling her own hair.)

On Saturday night, we went to an awesome party! There was dinner and dancing (I love to dance!) and some groovy chic singing Car Wash:) Not me, but I did make a spectacular back up dancer. I feel very blessed to be included in this night. Thank you. In fact I feel very blessed all around. I have an amazing life. I love my kids, my family, my friends, and where I live. God bless the USA! And a big thank you to all the people who work hard everyday to fight for our rights. THANK YOU!

Let The Sun Shine!

Renae, Caleb, Chloe, and Keira came over to our house today. She brought her Slip and Slide. The kids were a little too little to do it themselves, so she slid them herself. They had a lot fun. It was fun to take the pictures and see the different personalities.

Victoria is not quite so sure if she likes this.

I don't think it's what she expected.

Bella says, "Bring it on!"

I liked it! Can I go again?

Let me try this on my knees.

I've got the perfect form.

Ah. Good.

Yes, even Keira got in on the act. Afterward, we had a P&J picnic outside with left over cupcakes and let the kids play. I could get use to this. Bring on the summer!

BTW Bella is on day 2 of potty training, she's doing pretty good (knock on wood.)

Victoria Turns Four

Victoria turned 4 this weekend. She wanted a princess/superhero dress up party. I had gotten her a gorgeous pink fairy dress for $20 dollars from Target, which I let her pick out. I put it on her 15 minutes before the party. Five minutes before the party, she has a melt down- crying, screaming, telling me that she doesn't want to wear her costume. So birthday girl was one of the only ones at the dress up party without a costume- too funny.

At the party we made crowns and danced!

Victoria struts her stuff.

Fourteen of Victoria's closest friends and cousins attended.

She wanted strawberry cake with white white icing. I also made yellow cake with chocolate frosting- Yum! I still can't believe she's four years old.

After everyone sang her Happy Birthday, Victoria (aka Little Miss Sassy Thing) choose not to blow out the candles; I think she liked the attention. I kept thinking that they were going to burn the cupcakes. Finally, someone shouts- Let's all blow them out. Thank goodness.

The weather forecast called for 70% rain, and they were correct. So we had a pinata inside the house; it was a pull string castle type. Not too bad.

Collecting the loot. Daddy tries to jump in and grab some Tootsie Rolls too.

After the party all the kids gathered in the living room and played piano or bounced the balloons. Victoria is sitting with her two "best" friends Kate and Brianna.

Victoria gives Evan a hug goodbye. This is the boy she tells me she's going to marry. Last year, it was Nico- oh, how fast we change our minds (especially when we're four.)

It was a wonderful party! Victoria had a great time! Both her and her sister played with the toys for the entire day without taking a nap. However, they went down early that night. Sweat dreams I'm sure.

Why I'm Proud

I wish everyday could be like today. Nothing extraordinary happened, but I feel so proud to be a Mommy today. Victoria was so very caring today. She helped clean the Fun Club (our gym's kids area) without asking and helped Bella to pee on the potty and changed her into a play dress. She also was a little genius today- after getting slurpees, she determined that you can't get as much suction with the straw facing spoon down as you can if you turn it around- spoon in your mouth. (Now why couldn't I think of that.) And Bella... as I said, she went pee on the potty! I also love her sense of fasination as she discovers the world. She found a ladybug on her toy spoon when she was backyard swimming today and was mystified. Good times.

A Tisket, A Tasket...

"I got a basket!"

Grandma Mary and Grandpa Joe came by on Saturday to help celebrate Victoria's upcoming birthday. (They'll be in Albuquerque for her party.) They gave her a basket, tassels and bell for her bike. Victoria loved that she can now tote Pink Dog around with her. Bella, of coarse, wanted a basket too. So, I made a make shift one out of twisty ties and a toy basket.

Victoria is in the stage of not wanting to take good pictures. Every time we say smile, she makes a goofy face. I guess I'll be getting a lot of these pictures in the future. He, he- Happy Mother's Day! Speaking of that... This morning Jer and the girls brought me breakfast and coffee in bed! Too cool. What I really enjoyed most of all was when Victoria left Pink Dog with me- to help me eat. Oh, I am so glad to be a mother! Jer even got the girls dressed for church, while I had some time to get ready. What an awesome man!

We went over to Carol and Dick's after church for a Mother's Day brunch and to celebrate Dick's birthday. We had Mimosas, quiche, muffins, fruit, and a breakfast sausage/cream cheese/biscuit that was sooo delicious. The kids played in the toy room nicely together, while the adults got some time to chat.

Bella is into dress up right now. She also loves to pretend that she is a mommy.

We all were getting ready to leave, when Victoria shouts out "But what about the cake?" All the adults were stuffed from the scrumptious feast, but of coarse the kids needed their sugar fix. We sang Happy Birthday to Dick and he blew out the candles, then we re lit them for the kids.

I think he had a good birthday. I know I had an amazing Mother's Day.

Horse Park

Yesterday we went to a really neat horse park called BF Phillips. It had a new playground that had horse gates like a real horse track. The playground was in the middle of 3 baseball fields. We sat at a covered patio next to the playground and watched the kids play on everything. We were there for at least 3 hours. I got my first official sunburn and mosquito bites- aw, summer. The kids had so much fun. We love our friends. Thank you all!

We Heart Arkansas!

We traveled to Hot Springs, Arkansas this past weekend. We loved it! We stayed at the neatest old hotel called the Arlington. (It's it the background of this picture.) It has an authentic feel to it, since it was built in the 1920's- complete with a revolving front door, vaulted ceilings, classical style scaffolding and decor. It is located in the heart of old Hot Springs by the original bath houses. By day we ventured out to window shop and look for food. At night Carol and I got an overdue bath and massage (I highly recommend this.) After the kids were in bed, Jer and I went for a drink on the veranda of the hotel.

My favorite place to eat during our stay was the Pancake House- wonderful pancakes and sausage with an old time feel.

On Friday we went to the Coleman crystal mines. This was by far my favorite thing to do; it was like going on a treasure hunt. The kids loved it- they got to get dirty (very dirty in the red earth) and run and play everywhere.

Daddy shows the girls what crystals look like and how they grow.

Victoria finds her first crystal.

Bella finds her first crystal.

On Saturday, the weather didn't cooperate, so we decided to head home, instead of hiking up the hill behind our hotel. On the way (or rather an hour or so out of the way), we stopped at Jer's battlefield that he wanted to see- Poison Springs Battlefield. We were expecting something, but the most they had was a plaque and trails, no restrooms. I loved the lush green trees and shrubs of Arkansas, and how the trees were so tall.

Jer, the girls, and I hiked the trail at Poison Springs for a brief minute, before the rain started again. It rained on and off all the way home. All in all, a great trip! But if I never hear the words "My tummy hurts!" again, I'll be happy. (Bella kept trying to get out of her car seat by saying this wonderful phrase, repeated at least one hundred times, at least.)