Springtime Fun 2013

April 21--ready for church

Niko played for the Phillies this spring during Little League

May 2--Mae's preschool program

Mae posing with the decorations in Fellowship Hall before her program

Ready to perform!!

Niko working on his 4-H woodworking project in Papa Carl's woodshop

Easter 2013

Good Friday.....we celebrated by making Resurrection Lapbooks.  The kids put so much effort into their lapbooks and they were very proud of the finished product.

The inside of the Resurrection lapbooks.

Our other Good Friday activity was coloring Easter eggs.  What a fun day!

Cora in her Easter dress at Mimi and Papa Don's house in Columbus (Easter Sunday).  Mimi made a wonderful meal and we got to celebrate Pappou's 94th birthday!

Mae in her Easter dress hunting Easter eggs in Mimi and Papa Don's yard.

Niko strutting his stuff

Ella on an Easter egg search

Cora's first Easter egg hunt......sooooo cute!

Oooh....this is fun!

One baby is 16 months.  One baby is 14 months.  They are related but definitely not identical.   Can you tell which babies these are?

Winter Fun 2013

Happy 9th Birthday, Nicholas!  What a big kid!!

January 11

100th day of school self-portraits

January 18

Cora managed to squeeze herself into this baby doll bed

February 19 (also Daddy's birthday and the peak of stomach flu round #2.....ugh)

"Helping" with the dishes

March 17

So much for spring break!!  Here are 2 of my snowbunnies in 9 inches of fresh snow in the middle of March.  

March 25

Cora's first time to play in the snow....so fun!!!

2 happy girls in the snow

The Big 3 scaling/eating their very own Snow Mountain

December 2012 Memories--pt 2

Santa brought Lalaloopsy dolls to Mae and Ella

Cora checking out the stash of presents that Santa left on the hearth

The coolest hoodies ever.....from Aunt Lalia and Uncle Jess in Florida

Ella and Mae sledding at Meemaw and Papa Carl's house....it was very strange to be in Nappanee and just receive a few inches of snow while down south in Avon, they got 7 inches!!  Wow!

It took almost as much effort to get a decent picture with our snowman as it did to build it!

Ella painting with her new easel that Papa Carl made her for Christmas

December 2012 Memories

December 3--Ella's birthday donut!!

I just can't get enough of these girls in their Christmas dresses

Sometimes Mae isn't interested in being photographed!

December 11--Our Advent activity for today was a picnic dinner.....so much fun

December 21--Today's Advent activity was making Christmas cookies

Does it get any cuter than a 3 year old in her snowsuit?

Although these two are quite cute also!!

December 22--Uncle Tim doing art with Mae and Ella....they had a really fun time drawing together on Ella's new sketch pad

Christmas dinner in Columbus with Uncle Tim and Pappou at Mimi and Papa Don's house

Mae LOVED her new Hello Kitty warmies from Uncle Tim!!!

Mimi with Niko and Ella

  

 

Sure it's February and I'm just now posting pictures from December.....time gets away from me sometimes.  Hopefully late is truly better than never!

Ella's Birthday Princess Tea Party!!

Mae, Cassie, Elyssa, Ella and Jillian celebrating Ella's birthday

Grandma's Spode......nothing but the best for these princesses!!

The girls' personalities seemed to shine in the different ways they decorated their cookies.  It's difficult to tell from the picture, but Mae nearly poured an entire bottle of colored sugar on her cookie!  Note to self.....don't turn the 3 yr old loose with frosting and sprinkles...

Beautiful princesses all dolled up in Yia-Yia's jewelry

Very polite princesses enjoying "tea" and snacks

We celebrated Ella's 6th birthday this morning with a princess tea party complete with an authentic antique china set that had belonged to my grandma.  5 girls, ages 3 to 6, enjoyed decorating cookies, making a "Happy Birthday" poster for Ella, dressing up in my grandma's vintage jewelry and decorating sun catchers.  The girls were so careful with the china and they all helped each other practice their best princess manners.  The "tea" we used was lemonade and we also enjoyed some crackers and cheese....the "healthy stuff" as Jillian called it...along with our angel food cake and cookies.  They all had a great time......but I think I had the most fun watching them be little girly girls.  Watching them dress up in my grandma's jewelry and use her antique china was really a blessing for me.  I have missed my grandma so much since she passed away......over a year and a half ago......and I have been the recipient of many of her possessions.  I have sometimes struggled to know what to do with all that I am accumulating but today seemed to bring new purpose to some of what I have been given.  I remember so fondly dressing up in Grandma's dresses and jewelry and shoes......and I was able to share that with my own little princesses and their friends today.  Truly, what a blessing.

Cora's 1st Birthday!!

I cannot believe this baby is one year old!  The time has flown by.  We are all so in love with her......she is such a blessing to our family.

Each child has reacted differently to the coveted first birthday cupcake.....Cora has not even had a cookie prior to today but she grabbed that cupcake, mashed it with both hands, and then shoved it directly into her pie-hole.  Awesome.

I love how much my grandpa loves our children.

4 Generations.....Pappou, me, Papa Don, Cora and Mimi