A Weekend with Mommy

It was Daddy's turn for a weekend away, so he headed to Las Vegas with the Little League World Series of Poker for their 100th tournament... doesn't that sound fancy??

While Daddy was away, we did a lot of fun stuff at home with Mommy.  On Friday night, we went out for pizza after Mommy picked us up.  It was an arcade and pizza place in Woodbury, and we would love to go back with Daddy so he can win us some prizes :-)  Then, we camped out in Mommy's room in our tents - and Brooke slept in Mommy's bed.  We watched Cars 2 on her TV, but did not make it very far into the movie before falling asleep.

On Saturday, we learned Cy liked our tents as much as we did....  He jumped right in while we made the pancakes for breakfast :-)

And... on Saturday, we headed to the movies.  There was a new movie about pirates... and Mommy thought we would all enjoy it!  Of course, it was not quite your Disney movie... Kylie spent most of the movie hiding behind Mommy, but liked the pirates in the bathtub best.  Brooke slept for part of it, then looked for Captain Hook everywhere (he was not in the movie), and Neela just wasn't sure what to think.  Then, it was home again for another camp out in Mommy's room!

On Sunday, we used our crystal markers from the Easter Bunny to decorate the patio door.  We wanted to surprise Daddy when he got home (he LOVED it!).  We also made a puppet theater, and put on the "Big Bad Wolf" play for Daddy...

Mommy didn't have a spa day like Daddy, but we still had fun doing different things around the house :-)

Rain Dance!!

For the last month or so, the nice weather has always managed to arrive on the weekends.  Today, we were not as lucky.  We went shopping, and asked if we could try out all our rain gear when we got home... you can't keep us in the house if you try!!

So... we put on our rain boots, our "slickers", and opened up our umbrellas... and headed outside for puddles, dancing, splashing and running in the rain!  We have fun - rain OR shine!

... and Brooke tried to tell her sisters you don't need a hood or an umbrella ALL the time - especially with short hair!

The Lost Tooth... by Neela

Last Saturday, Neela showed Mommy and Daddy she had a wiggly tooth. She did not want anyone to know - except Uncle Tony (Why Tony?? No idea!)... so Mommy sent Tony a message with very strict instructions not to tell anyone else!!

On Monday, Neela went to the dentist with a wiggly tooth. The dentist said it was loose enough to pull, but Neela was not ready. Mommy said Papa Pizza might pull it when he came to visit... Neela thought Papa might get to pull her tooth... IF... it did not fall out before Grandparents' Day... it didn't!

Mommy went to buy buns for supper... and this is what Neela looked like when she came back:

The first lost tooth! It was out! Grandma Candy pulled it out with a paper towel :-) Those grandparents must have more "tooth" magic than Mommy and Daddy!

Grandma Banana had brought tooth fairy pillows - and Neela made sure she could keep an eye on her pillow overnight by putting it on the dresser. Inflation struck - Neela got $10 for her tooth... the Tooth Fairy must not have noticed the two $5 bills stuck together in the dark! Now... Neela can't wait to SHOP!

Grandparents' Day at Little Angels

The week of April 16 was the "Week of the Young Child."  To celebrate, we invited our grandparents to join us at school on Friday...  Grandma Banana, Grandma Candy and Papa Lollipapa all made the road trip to join us at school.  Papa Pizza almost made it, but he ended up having to stay and work... he called and asked lots of questions, and Grandma brought him back lots of pictures, artwork and a flower from each of us.

Mommy and Daddy got us ready, then they went to work for the day... we didn't really care if they stayed with us anyway :-)  After breakfast and a few pictures, we headed to school - Papa drove Mommy's car with his GPS!  We dropped Brooke off at Ms. Tracy's, so we could have more attention and time at school.

At school, we got to show off where our name tags are, where we sign our name, where we get our "chore" bracelets, what the "super star" logo is...

We also planted flowers with our grandmas... we made a stick with "I Love You," our names, and a sticker to mark the flowers.  Our grandparents were lucky - they each got two flowers to take home!

It was also "outer space" week...  Kylie enjoyed sharing her "space rocks" with Papa, and the Grandmas were in the space shuttle, too!

We shared the art projects in the hallway... specifically, why our grandparents are out of this world (it fit the space ship theme!).

There was also a crayon "Wall of Fame" that everyone signed...

Across from the crayons, we had drawn pictures of ourselves... and guessed how many hammers tall we were! 

We did a few art projects, too, so our grandparents had new pictures to hang up...

... and sang the very special song we've been practicing for a very long time...

"Love Can Build a Bridge" - complete with all of the sign language for every word!

After school, we picked up Brooke - and went to Burger King (the "Climbing Place") for lunch.  Many of our friends were there with their parents!  We spent a lot of time climbing, then headed home to play in the backyard.  We helped pick rhubarb and make rhubarb crisp for supper...  Aunt Angie even came for supper because she likes rhubarb crisp so much!

It wouldn't be fair to have all those pictures of Kylie and Neela with our grandparents, without a few of Brooke... so here you go:

Tickle Attack!

Using my Burger King car to knock over Papa's beer!

Happy Grandparents Day!  We love you!

Spring? Summer? It's time to play OUTSIDE!

What an amazing spring! We had shorts on - in MARCH - and we have been eating on the deck a lot!

It was so nice this weekend - we had ice cream cones on the deck after lunch... and we really enjoyed them. It could have been the sun melting the ice cream, or it could be how much mess we LOVE to make, but we thoroughly enjoyed every bite... down to the last lick!

Brooke took things one step further - and managed to "relax" on the Elmo couch with her ice cream... the girl needs a chaise lounge for Daddy's deck :-)

Of course, the "after" look of the relaxing sun beauty led to a full clothing change and partial body wash...

 

... before she headed outside to try out her roller blades from the Easter Bunny! Neela was trying her birthday blades out, and Kylie called it quits -- but did a great job as the water girl.

Cy enjoys the warm weather, too. One night, we took him for a walk to "Mommy's Park" (near the golf course), and Mommy had to take a few pictures of us near all the flowering trees.

It wouldn't be warm outside if side walk chalk didn't make an appearance. Mommy picked us up at Tracy's, and we had managed to draw our likenesses - down to the pants and hair - on Tracy's driveway. Can't you tell we did self portraits? (Kylie got a little warm as the day went on, so her "Little Angels" shirt got rejected somewhere....)

Enjoy the sun!

It's Easter Sunday!!

After a slumber part in the basement (no boys were allowed - except Chuckie), we got up early Easter Sunday to go to 8 AM mass.  We did not have time for breakfast - so we ate some bananans and cheerios in the car (and in church... just a little!).

We each picked our own dress this year - Mommy was happy we had them all in the same color scheme :-)  Grandma Banana bought hats for Brooke and Neela, and a pink ponytail holder and sparkly purse for Kylie to complete their outfits!

After church, we made a quick stop at Panera for bagels - we ate our's in the car - then headed home to see if the Easter Bunny showed up while we were at church...  He DID!  We were so excited!!

We ran down the stairs to look for eggs... they were everywhere!  We also found our Easter baskets - full of great goodies, but the biggest hits right away were our umbrellas!

After counting our stash inside, we headed outside.  We were so surprised that with a little water, a LOT of moonlight, and some dirt, our Magic Jelly Beans grew into swirly lollipops overnight.

But, that's not all we found outside... we also found a whole lot more eggs... filled with all kinds of fun stuff!  Play dough, hair clips, socks, a little candy, fingernail polish, lip gloss and a little more candy! 

(It was so much fun to watch Brooke this year - she really enjoyed every part of Easter...)

Of course, at some point during any family holiday, we need to take a few pictures...  Can you tell we like our umbrellas, and Kylie really likes to pose for the camera??

Brooke, Aunt Renee & Cy

Kylie, Brooke, Aunt Renee, Neela & Cy

Grandma and Aunt Renee with all their girls

3 girls posing with our new umbrellas

More of Kylie and her "favorite" part of photo sessions

After we finished our first photo shoot, it was time for us to take pictures with Mommy and Daddy...  There was a lot of pink in these pictures :-)

Daddy's Angels

Mommy's Dancing Girls (with a fist pump!)

More posing... this time, with Daddy!

Doing the umbrella dance!

After the eggs and pictures, it was time to get ready for Easter dinner... Grandma and Papa made all kinds of yummy food!  Ham, prime rib, potatoes, veggies, Snickers salad... even... PICKLES!!  While we waited, we tried out our new crystal window markers... they turn into crystal when they dry - and we made some amazing pictures!

As always, Brooke was very happy to see Big Papa!

We had so much fun with the egg hunt, we asked "Daddy Easter Bunny" to hide more eggs... Grandma gave us her money jar, we filled up the eggs, and Daddy hid the eggs for us to find with Hunter.  Brooke fell asleep before she could go outside, so we found the eggs without her.  Then, when she woke up, she twisted "Daddy Easter Bunny's" arm -- he hid them again just for her.  She was THRILLED to have the run of the backyard looking for ALL the eggs... and her sisters were equally as thrilled to help her locate eggs!

When we go to daycare, Daddy always finds music to listen to that wakes us up.  Our current favorite song is "Dynamite."  We will sing it anywhere - and to anyone - who will listen.  Aunt Renee and Mr. Uncle Grumpy turned into our stages as we danced and sang in the living room!

It was a very fun Easter... filled with lots of family, and some very fun new traditions!