Unfailing Love

Father/Daughter Dance......

2012-02-13T14:10:00.000-06:00

So the Friday before we celebrated the hub's birthday, he took his two big girls to a Father/Daughter dance. The girls were SO excited to go on a special date with their daddy. The girls picked out their fancy Hello Kitty dresses to wear. I wanted to style their hair fancy for them but between time running out and their hair being SO thin, their styles didn't quite turn out how I had hoped but they both still looked absolutely adorable!

(the saddest thing is Brooklyn cried for about 10 minutes straight after they left, she wanted to be involved SO bad. Soon enough baby girl!)

Several of the daddies and their girls had a special dinner at McDonald's, of course, before the dance.

We have a lot of friends with daughters!!

Here is Alyssa, Elliana, Brynn, Anna, Madelyn, Bella, Avi, and Ellie.

These two really enjoyed a special date with their Prince Charming!

Happy Birthday Hubby!

2012-02-10T11:53:00.000-06:00

So last Saturday we took the Hubs out for his birthday, since this year his birthday fell on Super Bowl day. He requested we try out Texas Roadhouse. It was quite busy! But the girls were great while we waited about 45 minutes. The hubs got a yummy steak, while I enjoyed the beef tips. My favorite part? The yummy buttery rolls with cinnamon butter. :)

Brynn wanted to wear a cowgirl hat because we were going to "Texas." :)

Bella wanted to be fancy of course for Daddy's birthday. :)

And Brooklyn didn't want pictures, too busy eating yummy rolls. :)

And I MISTAKENLY told them it was the hub's birthday and apparently at Texas Roadhouse they bring out this saddle you have to sit on while the restaurant sings to you. Oops. He was just a little embarrassed. :)

Wordless Wednesday...

2012-02-08T11:43:00.000-06:00

Oh daddy....

2012-02-07T16:01:00.003-06:00

These girls like to do everything daddy does.....

The hubs got this in our white elephant exchange at Christmas (he worked very hard to end up with it, much to my dismay) and of course the girls wanted to be involved in the fun.

Don't worry he filled it with milk. :)

No!

2012-02-02T22:04:00.000-06:00

What are you doing?

NOOOO! I don't wanna smile!

Okay, maybe just one, real quick. :)

Can't believe we're only 3 weeks away from you being a year and a half! Sniff.

Global Warming?

2012-02-01T21:00:00.000-06:00

So what were we doing exactly a year ago today?

Oh yeah, digging out from over 2 feet of snow!

And yesterday and today?

Playing outside in 55 degree weather!!!

(look someone finally has some hair starting to grow in the front!! :) )

Crazy winter in Chicago folks!

Ahh, precious family pictures.....

2012-01-31T15:08:00.000-06:00

Well this is what happens when trying to capture a picture of my 3 precious girls with a very squirmy, strong willed one year old!

smacking her big sister in the face....

(and yes she's pantless and strapped to a booster :) )

and then wailing if they came anywhere near her....

No hitting Brooke, now give your sissy kiss.....

umm, let's not lick our big sissy....

oh now, other big sissy needs a kiss.....

Well I tried. :)

Mom's Night....

2012-01-30T14:47:00.000-06:00

The last two years I've looked forward to Mom's Night at my girls' preschool!

This last Thursday I enjoyed Mom's Night with my Brynnie girl.

I was so interested to see how she was in her class environment. I always knew what miss outgoing Bella was like, but I didn't know how Brynn was in the classroom. She's always quiet and reserved when I drop her off.

Well this evening she was a giddy and smiley little girl.

She's still super shy with her teachers, but she was bouncing off the walls excited to have me there I think. :)

This year's theme was a night at the movies. I emailed the other mommies and we suggested we all dig out our old bridesmaid and fancy dresses for our night out with our babies!

My dress did not photograph well (its actually mostly black with sparkles but the flash showed the under layer) but it was from before 3 kiddos so I was very proud to actually fit (BARELY) in it!! :) Brynn was very excited to get fancy too!

Like I said, SMILEY!

We had sparkling Ginger Ale, popcorn, and the kids made us chocolate covered pretzels.

We walked the red carpet and had paparazzi take our pictures. :)

The kids decorated picture frames that our pictures will go in to.

Brynn and her dear friend Madelyn.....

Calling Anna Banana!!!

Here they are!

Had a great Mom's night!!! And of course finished it out with the annual tradition of dancing to the Mom Song!

Life via my Phone....

2012-01-27T13:00:00.000-06:00

3 little ones and not too much going on during the cold winter months? Means a lot of our life is documented on my phone. I thought I would share some of my recent favs.

Got this idea from Kelly's Korner's blog. Playing with glow sticks in the bath tub, if the water hadn't gotten cold the big girls would have stayed in there forever!

We don't get out very often, but we have decided to babysit swap back and forth with some good friends of ours. We recently got a night out to enjoy Red Robin and then see Mission Impossible. We were trying to remember the last movie we saw together and all that we could remember was Toy Story 3 last Christmas. Yikes!

Celebrated our friend, Eliana's, birthday at Gymnastics Factory

Caught the girls having fun with their besties at Church. I remember growing up in church waiting for my parents to quit talking already and horsing around our congregation. So fun to see our girls doing the same.

If I had to watch a sport, my pick would be football. Its the most interesting to me. And now with all the Tebow hype, its totally got me into it. I can't believe the courage he had to be outspoken as he is. He truly is inspirational. We watched the big game that ended very excitingly in OT and had to do a little Tebowing afterwards. :)

The girls and I were on our own one night so we had a nail painting party. Had my own little assembly line going. ;) I even did the big girl's finger nails for the first time now that Bella isn't sucking her fingers. (left Brynn's thumb unpainted though)

Somebody enjoys helping me do the dishes by getting IN the dishwasher, in her Tinkerbell costume and all. :)

The girls got some Shrinky Dinks from a friend for Christmas and they insisted on watching them the entire time they were in the oven.

That's our life from a phone! :)

Heart!

2012-01-26T13:30:00.000-06:00

It certainly isn't always like this, but it sure does make my heart over flow when I come to the top of the playroom stairs, only to look down and see this.....

Who is watching these girls?!

2012-01-25T15:23:00.000-06:00

(waiting for big sissy to get off the bus)

Looks like such a sweetie, right? Don't let her fool you. Just kidding, she is a sweetie. :) Here's a funny story about this little cutie. She is a major snacker, rather then 3 meals a day type of gal. So she's often finding her snack trap and walking around snacking during the day. So I didn't even think twice one day when I saw her with her snack trap. I did however take notice when I saw her coming out of the pantry with her fists full and jamming them into her snack trap. On further inspection I found she was filling her snack trap with DOG FOOD! Her cheeks and mouth were just full of it!

Oh man!

This incident happened the day after Miss Brynn swallowed a balloon and were still waiting for it to pass.

Really?!

A Date.....

2012-01-24T11:30:00.000-06:00

....with my two big girls!!

I was so excited to take my girls to see Beauty and the Beast. As you may know they are princess obsessed, so any excuse to see a princess movie in the theater! And they were even more thrilled when they heard there was a mini-Tangled movie beforehand. We rarely go to the movies. Just can't stomach $20 for a movie these days, especially with how nice TVs are these days (unless its a big blockbuster like MI4 that must be seen in the theater). Anyway, I decide to go to a matinee to save some $, the nice guy says he won't charge me for Brynn, and my total still comes to $21.50. Yikes! And then I remembered why I never see movies in the theater. However, my baby girls are worth it! :) I (nor the girls) had ever seen a 3D movie, figures mine would be a kids movie. :) I was a little afraid it would scare them but after getting used to it, they really liked. It really was amazing. I loved that they kept trying to grab things, too cute. :) We had a great time just the three of us and they enjoyed the movie!

Loving our cook shades! :)

Brooklyn Update....

2012-01-23T13:43:00.000-06:00

About time we had a little Brooklyn update,

who is 17 months old today!

Here are some fun facts about our little bean:

She is curious about everything! The big girls never really got into things, but Brooklyn seems to be able to find everything she shouldn't have. If she can't play with it, she wants it.

She also rarely sits still.

Thankfully she is the happiest baby EVER.

However she has a flare for the dramatics, if you take something away, say no, or she gets hurt you may think her life is ending. :)

She has a super fun personality, I think she may be our family clown. She makes us laugh all day long!

She still dances anytime she hears music.

She loves to spin in circles.

She cracks herself up by flailing herself on the floor, although she also has a knack for doing this in protest as well.

She LOVES her sisters and finds them quite hysterical, especially during bath time.

She jabbers ALL DAY long. Its quite funny. She has inflections, gestures, etc. She'll carry on lengthy conversations with you, you just won't know what she's saying. :)

She points and jabbers at everything.

When I count 1.... she'll say two....three! She started this probably 2-3 months ago, I was shocked!

She says dada, baba (Bella), maymay (for her blankie), Bebe (Brynnie), ball, doggie, more, mormor, pop (for poppi), baby, puppy, bubbles, ow, wow, no, cheese, please, done, momma, bup (up), and I'm sure a few more I'm forgetting. She also repeats a lot of noises and animal sounds. And the hubs and I swear she said "love you too" the other day. :)

She loves dressing up- loves hats, shoes, tiaras, and dresses.

If she sees steam coming off of anything, she'll blow on it as if to cool it down.

She LOVES books. She will sit (which is rare) flipping through books and jabbering away. She won't however let me read them. Anytime I sit to read, she's last for about one page before she insists on turning them way quicker than I can read. :)

Since November she has mastered stairs, to the point we don't usually worry about them. She has also mastered the girls' bunk bed ladder, yikes!

She still detests being changed. It is still a constant crying, wrestling match. Sometimes I can distract her long enough thats its not totally unpleasant but it doesn't usually last long!

She loves bath time, however she has a tendency to poop lately!! How do you prevent this!!??

I can't stand meal times with her unfortunately. She's a terrible eater. Breakfast goes fine but lunch and dinner are hit or miss. She won't touch any kind of meat usually, veggies are a hit and miss. She'll eat peas and used to down carrots and green beans but now she won't. She used to love Pinto beans, so I would give those as protein and now she won't touch those. She enjoys fruit and any kind of bread. She loves the little peanut butter cracker snacks but if I give her a peanut butter sandwich she won't touch it. Its very frustrating because you work so hard to make something and she won't touch it and then whines all through dinner cause she wants something different. The other night at dinner she wouldn't even eat strawberries, which she normally loves. She'll love something one day and won't touch it the next. So dinner time isn't usually the greatest these days. :(

She can point to the common body parts.

She loves to give kisses.

She definitely can follow one step commands, if she's feeling like it. :)

She will occasionally hold your hand when out walking, doesn't last long though. :)

She loves to put things into things. Helps at clean up time. :)

She, since early on, has always been good at putting her arms through sleeves or pulling shirts over her head. She just started, if I hold out her coat and ask for her arm, she'll come stick her arms in. If I were to just come at her with her coat she'd run in the opposite direction, so this new found skill is quite nice.

I hear momma about 14 bajillion times a day. There was a time I was begging her to say momma and now.....

Its just she says it ALL DAY, EVERY minute and when she says it she sounds like a loud italian (not to say italians are loud, Brooke is just loud) with a chicago accent- MOMMA, MOMMA. Just a little irritating. Although momma is better than MA- which is was for a couple months.

I will get my occasional snuggles, which I just cherish.

She just recently transitioned to one nap and it was a hard transition for her. She'd cry briefly (which she wouldn't at all before, but it really was brief. Like by the time I'd reach her bedroom she'd be over it) when I would lay her down sometimes, but it usually just took a little extra snuggle and she'd be good to go. One plus though is she's sleeping sometimes 13-14 hours at night!

She still loves her paci and blankie. I'm toying with the idea of trying to drop the paci next monthish. Although this terrifies me, so who knows if I'll follow through.

She really does have a sweet, hysterical personality. She's just busy, inquisitive, independent, and strong willed. The hubs and I just love to sit and watch her with smiles on our faces. Although she is at a very tiring, challenging age, its also the sweetest, most hysterical, rewarding age!

She we'll take a little bad, with the abundant good!!

I thought I'd post a video of just a typical evening with Miss Brooklyn :)

Not sure if you can tell but she has just the most fun, humorous personality!

We love you Brooklyn Blythe!!

Snow!

2012-01-20T14:23:00.000-06:00

Well on January 11th we finally had our first snow!!

Which is unheard of for these parts.

And I had THREE very excited little girlies that wanted to play in it! :)

Was it snowing while we were out? Nope, somebody sisters' liked throwing snow at her. And as you can see, she was simply delighted about it. :)

Well, only almost 3yrs later.....

2012-01-18T23:45:00.001-06:00

Well Bella may be turning 6 soon, but I finally ordered her 3rd year photo book. :)

Click here to view this photo book larger

Create a gorgeous, high quality wedding photo album at Shutterfly.com.

Forever changed....

2012-01-16T16:21:00.000-06:00

The hub's and I had one the proudest moments as parents yesterday (1/15/12). We go to kinda of a large church so once a month they have a worship and communion night as a whole congregation. This month's was created specifically for families. They had exciting, loud worship music (don't want to sound ancient but it was loud :) ). They had hilarious skits and fun science experiments. The underlying theme of the evening was the phrase. "Out with the old, and in with the new." All evening they spent time explaining about how God sent Jesus to earth to make us new again. He wants to take the "garbage" out of our lives and replace it with a new, clean creation. After all the fun they had us take time as families for a devotional. We put the stages of a caterpillar in order for Brynn and Bella put the verse we were studying in the right order. We read the story of Zacchaeus and then discussed the story. Some of the questions were Would you climb a tree to Jesus? Zacchaeus cheated people out of money. How did he make it right? What are some things that you need to make right? What are some areas of your life you'd like to see God make "new?" What does it mean to you to become new?

After the last question our family discussed asking Jesus in to our heart and how He comes inside of you and makes you new again. I told Bella if she ever wants to say that prayer and ask Jesus into her heart she just has to ask. Actually, I've probably said this to her a couple of times over the last year but she never really brings it up again. I just didn't want her praying it because it seemed like the right thing or because everyone else was. I also wanted to make sure she really understood the concept and the step she was taking. I think The Chapel did an awesome job the whole night explaining this concept and putting it in a way even a 5 year old could understand. So this night was different, I truly felt she was ready. So when she followed up with us again and said she wanted to pray that prayer. The hub's and I happily prayed with her. One of the proudest moments as parents for us. :)

We are so proud of you Bella and pray that your relationship with Christ continues to blossom over the rest of your life. May you turn to him when trials come and praise Him when blessings come your way. So thankful you won't be doing life alone, but with our Lord and Savior by your side, and us too of course! :)

Wanted to post these videos too. The first is of a couple of the wonderful leaders of our church in a, umm, different light. They were having a time of improv Bible story time. So they acted out the story of Zacchaeus but had to act however another leader directed them to. So he asked them to perform the story as pirates. It was one of the funniest things I've seen at our church. I recorded a little clip. :)

The last video is of the last song they performed that night. This was immediately after the family devotional time and when Bella prayed the prayer that changed her life forever! Such a beautiful memory. Hard to see but Brynn and Bella are in the center in green dresses. Couldn't have ended with a more appropriate song. :)

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"

2 Corinthians 5:17

Our First, well 3rd, New Walker Injury!

2012-01-13T15:16:00.000-06:00

Well last week we had our first new-walker injury. Thankfully we made it to 16 months before we did. You know every kid, unless you keep them in a bubble, has one. Our big girls each had one. Thank the Lord Almighty none have them have been real serious.

Last week, Brooklyn was playing at the top of our two stairs, oh and I saw it coming. It was one of those slow motion things. I saw her getting too close and went to grab her and she of course fell before I could. Worse thing is her face and forehead took the brunt of the fall. :( Poor sweet thing. She was SO worked up she ended up vomiting which of course freaked us out. However, she has an extremely high gag reflux so this is not too unusual for her. :( We definitely kept on eye on her though. Her eye was red around it and very swollen. I thought for sure she'd have a black eye in the morning but the next day you couldn't see any evidence of her fall. She apparently has her daddy's tough skin! :)

Snuggling and snacking with big sissy after the incident

Swollen and red, but still all smiles.

They were finding it quite entertaining that they could see themselves in my phone.

Poor baby.

Just for kicks, here's Bella after her first major new-walker injury. Not sure if you can see, but her's actually drew blood. :( She hit her top gums (no teeth yet) on the corner of our dresser!

Here's Brynnie boo. She ran smack into the table leg of my grandma's dining room table. Can't tell here so much but the huge welt came out about half an inch from her forehead!

Poor sweet baby! Breaks a momma's heart when they get hurt.

Away in a Manger.....wait a minute!

2012-01-12T16:00:00.000-06:00

New Years Eve, part 2.....

2012-01-11T16:00:00.000-06:00

That evening we had our dear friends' annual Olympic themed NYE party.

Some new friends graciously offered to watch the girls for us at the last minute so we were able to go!

We dropped the kids off at 7:15 and I put Brooke down before we left so they wouldn't even have to worry about her. Their oldest daughter and our big girls watched the grinch and all went to bed smoothly. Well apparently Miss Brooke woke at 8 and was still up when we returned at 12:20!!!! Completely happy and content, but awake!! I have no idea what happened, we felt terrible. They said she was great but still we hated that they had to deal with her. :(

Anyway, back to the party. The McMahons always have great food and fun planned. Each couple had to play 5 games out of the 10 or so that were available and then based on how many you won you got gold, silver, or bronze prizes. I was pulling for the bronze- $25 to Olive Garden. :)

We won 4 out of our 5- those Dykehouses are too good at Guesstures!! :) And then lost in the play-offs with another couple that won 4 out of 5, Boo!! The Hub's was pretty ticked about it, the man is NOT a fan of losing. :)

Anyway we had a great time ringing in the New Year with great friends!

An actual picture of the two of us!

I had Bella take it before we left that night. :)

We came dressed to play, go Team TIU! :)

A great, fun group of people!

To many more years with you baby!!

The Usual Suspects minus the Lymans- Missed you guys!

Thanks Josh and Kelli (center) for hosting a fabulous party!!

Happy New Year, part 1.

2012-01-10T16:17:00.000-06:00

We had a jammed packed New Years Eve planned!

That morning we had a kids NYE party at a friends house where the kids counted down at 12, noon that is. :)

Such a great idea!

The girls had a blast seeing friends, since they've just been with us for awhile. :)

Brookie eating with her man. :)

Oh and her other man. :)

Cupcakes and sparkling cider to ring in the New Year!

CHEERS!

Happy New Year!! May 2012 be Merry and Bright! :)

Christmas Wrap Up....

2012-01-09T16:01:00.000-06:00

For Monday and Tuesday following Christmas, we were very excited to have Uncle Nate. Aunt Jenny, and cousin Austin decide to come and spend it with us! Monday us ladies went shopping kid free, yahoo! And Tuesday we just spent time together playing silly PS3 games and had a nice Chinese dinner to celebrate Mormor's birthday!

We sure loved having everyone with us, sad to see them go!

Hanging with their one and only cousin Austin!

Happy Birthday Mormor!

The minute they walked out the door I cleaned the ENTIRE house. We LOVE having company but after 10 days of chaos I was ready for some organization again. And normally I leave Christmas stuff a little longer but since I was already cleaning I just did it in one big swoop. The Hub's was shocked when he got home and I was POOPED! :)

Christmas Day....

2012-01-08T15:23:00.000-06:00

The kiddos were very nice and made it till about 8 Christmas morning. I got Swedish Kringle prepared and in the oven and then we let the girls open their stockings since it takes 45 minutes to cook.

They received the Disney castle ornament to remember Disneyland. Mormor also got them some beach ornaments to remember our beach campout. They also got some coloring things and Mini-lalaloopsy dolls.

Then is was time for some yummy Kringle!

Again we just laid low and played with our new things.

My silly hubby surprised me with another pair of Uggs this year. I think they are ridiculously over priced but boy are they cute and toasty! :)

I got him a soda machine, there are been many different drinks created since he opened it. First time they tried it I think him and his brother exploded it all over my kitchen. :)

Mormor cooked up another fabulous dinner, this time turkey, and all the fixins.

After dessert the girls snuggled up and watched Veggie Tales' Little Drummer Boy.

Sneaking some dessert from Mormor. :)

(do you see this crazy mullet of hers!?!? Why doesn't the hair on top of my childrens' heads grow???)

We had a perfect day with our wonderful family (missed mine though!)!!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Christmas Eve....

2012-01-07T16:00:00.000-06:00

So the day started off with Mormor's yummy Swedish pancakes. We just laid low for the day. That afternoon we went to church for a great service! Once we got home Mormor and I finished up our fabulous Ham dinner. It was SO good if I do say so myself. :) After we ate, we briefly picked up cause we had three very excited little girls. Then daddy read the Christmas story from his Bible App. :) After we read and prayed the opening commenced! We tried to take turns and be organized about it but Cookie was going around and opening everyone's presents!

The girls were very blessed this year! They received everything they asked for between their two Christmases (one in MN too).

Brynn had been begging for a Lalaloopsy doll after she saw them in a commercial before Christmas last year but Christmas and her birthday came and went. But this year she still was begging for one, so she got one! Bella has been wanting a talking Jessie doll, so she was thankful Mormor and Poppi brought her one!

Reading about the birth of Jesus.

Serious about unwrapping. :)

Became an opening frenzy!

Present from Uncle Conor and Aunt Bonnie....

What is it....

Just a little excited. :)

Instantly in love. :)

BIG hit Uncle Conor and Auntie Bonnie. :)

What is it.....

Jessie!!

What could it be.....

Lalaloopsy doll!

Someone was very excited to get the scarf he's been asking for for the last 2 year! Thanks C and B!

Up the movie!

An instant snuggle for baby Rapunzel- she has been snatching up her sisters since they got them at Thanksgiving so the Hub's and I just decided to get her one. :)

Can I open this one?

Tree House for their Littlest Pet Shop.

K I'll move on to this one. :)

Family trip to the zoo from Uncle Alec.

Time to play and enjoy the things we were blessed with!

Already a master of the Leapster we got the girls, wonder where she got her skills from? :)

Merry Christmas Eve!

Photos and Presents.....

2012-01-06T16:00:00.000-06:00

So Friday before Christmas we were able to meet up again with Uncle Nate and family. Mormor bought us all beautiful outfits so we could get a family picture together. So armed with just a tripod and some App on the Hub's phone we were able to snap some pics.
My favorites:

Just goofing around but I love it! :)

Poppi, Mormor, and the grandkids!

We had bribed the girls with presents if they smiled nice for the pictures. :) So after pictures we opened our presents to and from Uncle Nate and family since we would not be together for Christmas. Cookie was VERY into it. She loved ripping the paper little by little and as she ripped liked to hand off the pieces to someone near by. :) Uncle Nate had become her buddy this week, so she helped open all of his. The girls got a couple princess dolls and some dress up clothes and Cookie got a basket of food for her kitchen!

Waiting for the go ahead!

Cousin Austin opening his.

Cookie handing off her scraps as she opens. :)

Working very hard!

Brynn loves her princess doll!

Bella too!

Another scrap to hand off. :)

Helping daddy.

Dress up clothes!

Chriskindlemarket....

2012-01-05T16:00:00.000-06:00

Not sure if I have ever mentioned this but my parents were missionaries in Europe for several years. And the last year they served overseas, I was born! :)

I was born in Vienna, Austria.

That being said my parents have a love for all things that remind them of Europe, and so do the Hub's and I. Several years ago, my parents took us to the Chriskindlemarket downtown Chicago. They have quaint little booths just filled with German food, clothing, art, ornaments, etc. Since then, the hub's and I try to get down there every year. So this year we took the Domier clan.

Unfortunately, the night began with about a 1 hour trip taking 2 and a half hours, but such is life driving to our lovely city after naptime. :(

The weather wasn't too cold, well at least to us veteran Chicagoans, but the Californians we were with probably wouldn't agree. :) Only downside was it was a little drizzly when we first got there, luckily it didn't last long.

We were bundled and ready for some window shopping.

Uncle Nate and his crew didn't last very long but the rest of us enjoyed the scenery.

Us ladies headed to Qdoba for dinner while the Hub's and Poppi enjoyed some brats and sauerkraut. Yuk! We also picked up this beautiful star ornament and some delicious roasted nuts.

Hard to see but to the left of the giant Christmas tree the booths are all set up there, you can see the tops of the tents.

The Macy's in our city is well known for it's awesome windows at Christmas time. They have them beautifully decorated to go along with a story (like Nutcracker, etc) and it moves, etc. Well this year they were super disappointing. They were beautiful and moving but there was no story line, so it didn't interest the girls. Anyone local know what they were trying to show?!

Inside Macy's there is a great restaurant called The Walnut Room, the wait is usually hours. In the center of the restaurant is a giant tree that is 3 or 4 floors high. So we went in to check it out. :)

Overall and fun night in the city!

Wild Wild West Christmas Party

2012-01-05T13:53:00.000-06:00

Every year we have a themed Christmas party.

This year we had a Wild West Christmas Party!

We had some BBQ pulled pork, some target practice, Pictionary with old western sayings, and played some brand the cow (pin the tale on the donkey :) ).

And closed our party with a good old fashion White Elephant exchange.

It was a great time, with great friends.

The Outlaws that attended. :)

(winners for Best Dressed- not sure why we didn't get a Wanted pic :( )

Cookie had a hard time sleeping with all the action downstairs and she was wanting some snuggles!

She snuggled with Auntie Somer for a bit and then had a good time with her buddy Mr. Joe.

Girls wanted in on the fun too the next morning. :)

Our Attempt at a Gingerbread House.....

2012-01-04T16:00:00.000-06:00

Since I do not have my momma's gingerbread house making abilities I typically do the pre-made creations that the girls can just decorate.

So I got our usual gingerbread house and told the girls to have fun doing it with Mormor one day.

Unfortunately, our box must have been dropped and re-shelved. It was in pieces, not all assembled like it should be. Mormor and I attempted to glue it back together with the icing but it lasted just long enough to take a quick pic.

Oh well, the girls had a blast doing it and actually ate some of it this year which we don't usually do! :)

Look at our sad house, Mormor trying to mend it....

Ready to decorate!

See the nice white icing disguised the big crack in the roof. :)

Lotta tasting going on here....

Serious concentration....

Literally collapsed the second the camera clicked. :)

Yum!

Look even tried to support it from the inside, wasn't pretty but it sure was fun!

Christmas Time!

2012-01-03T16:49:00.000-06:00

Okay, now its time for a slew of Christmas posts! Instead of one giant post, I'll break it into smaller ones to keep you wanting more. :) I wrote out what we did for the week and I'll add more of the pics in the upcoming days.

This year we had Christmas with the Hubs' family. His parents drove from CA to TX to pick up the Hubs' brother, SIL and our nephew Austin, and then drove up to IL. Talk about a lot of driving! They finally arrived December 18th and his parents were with us through the 28th. Uncle Nate, Auntie Jenny and Austin spent most of their time with Jenny's family. Thankfully they ended up spending the last two nights with us, which was a great surprise! We loved having the company and of course the girls love their mormor, poppi, Uncle, Aunt, and Austin, as well as all the extra attention. We kept ourselves busy with fun things around the area. On Wednesday, the family packed up their car and started their trek back to TX and CA. As sad as we were to see them go, it was nice to have a quiet home again too. I was SO ready to get the house back in order that I cleaned the ENTIRE house the minute they walked out, Christmas decor and all. I usually leave it up as long as possible but since we were actually in town this year, we had enjoyed it for awhile and I was already cleaning up and wanted to just get it all back in order again. I did not sit down at ALL that day and the Hubs' was in complete shock when he got home from work. :)

Here's what our Christmas break looked like:

Monday:

Had Brynn's class over for cookies, milk, and a movie

Tuesday:

Walked around Gurnee Mills, enjoyed Santa's workshop and looking at fishies, and getting a fabulous hat from Mormor while we were there. :)

Fun at Santa's Workshop

What are the boys teaching my baby girls?

Not cool mom. :)

Looking at all the fish!

And lastly a train ride with Mormor.

That night we attempted to go see the Winter Wonderland, a light set up we have near by. We were low on gas and the Hub's asked about it but I said I thought we'd be ok, I had no idea that the line was FOREVER. On top of that the Hubs was coming down with a migraine. So I decided to drive and he was curled up on the floor in the back. After about an hour of waiting we were about 8-10 cars from the entrance but even once you were in it was moving SUPER slow and with the Hub's dying in the back the last thing I wanted was to run out of gas in there and have no way out and cause a traffic jam!! So we left, the girls were so bummed but perked up when we drove around different neighborhoods on our way back.

Wednesday:

Enjoyed putting up a semi-successful gingerbread house with Mormor, playing Zingo with Mormor and Poppi, and then enjoying The First Noel while snuggling with them on the couch.

Thursday:

Hit the nursing home that morning, Uncle Nate, Aunt Jenny, and Austin joined up with us for the evening and we went into the city to enjoy the Chriskindlemarket and the Macy's on State's windows and Christmas trees.

Friday:

Nate, Jenny, and Austin came by in the AM and we took some family pictures. Afterwards we opened our presents to and from just them, after lunch they headed back to Jenny's family. That night we drove up to Kenosha, WI (only about 20-25 minutes from us) to see Christmas Ln.- actual name of the street. SO cute!! The girls just loved it and every house was decorated, and its completely free! One house also had a giant train town set up. He said it takes 2 months to set up! It was impressive.
This pic is just of one corner, doesn't do it justice:

Saturday:

Went to Christmas Eve service, had a fabulous Ham dinner, and opened presents!

Sunday:

Cooked up some Swedish Kringle for breakfast, opened stockings, and enjoyed a yummy turkey dinner

Monday:

Us ladies hit the shops while the men cared for the kiddos! Then Portillos for dinner with just mormor and poppi.

Tuesday:

Met daddy for lunch and just got out and walked the mall. That night the whole family had a Chinese dinner to celebrate Mormor's birthday.

Wednesday:

Enjoyed Mormor's Swedish pancakes one more time and said goodbye to the family. :(

Our Traditons....

2012-01-02T16:00:00.000-06:00

I am addicted to traditions. I just love them. One week at MOPS the speaker spoke on holiday traditions and I felt like I might explode. I wanted to do each and everyone they talked about. :) Well obviously that is not practical and not even what they are about, so I picked one or two of my favs and added them to some we already did. I just wanted to make sure I documented them here so the girls could always remember.

* Elf on the Shelf- this we started last year and with Pinterest in my pocket, I was much more creative this year.

Loved watching their faces each morning as they looked for Elfy....

* Every year, as a gift to the girls' friends for Christmas, we like to invite them over for milk, cookies, and movie night. Everyone comes in their PJs with a pillow and something to snuggle. With the addition of church, besties, and now school friends we've had to do a couple of nights the last couple of years. This year I just could not get my act together and couldn't get a list for Bella's class and ran out of time waiting so we only had Brynn's class over this year. Previous years I've showed Snowman- a movie my dad LOVES and we enjoyed watching growing up. This year, though, we showed Veggie Tales' Little Drummer Boy.

yummy cookies!

* Advent Calendar- we have this felt calendar, that my grandma had made when my brothers and I were little, that I was given. Starting with December 1 there's a felt ornament that represents a different story from the bible that leads up the birth of Jesus. A couple years ago my mom made new felt ornaments to go with the Jesse Tree Advent calendar since the old ones were starting to fall apart. The girls look forward to reading our bible story and putting up their ornament every night at dinner.

Oops! Never got a pic of it but do you see it here in the upper right hand corner:

* This year I made a Advent wreath- I am not crafty but it turned out ok. :) So we lit one of those on each Sunday leading up to Christmas day and read a devotion that went along it that I got from my MOPS church last year.

Not a great pic, I just cropped a pic of us sitting down for Christmas Eve dinner, but here's the wreath, there is just another candle stuck in the middle.

* Also in the spirit of Advent (lots of counting down in our family :) ) at MOPS I purchased this beautiful book, that the couple that spoke on traditions created and illustrated. There is a beautiful door to open each day and then has a verse each day from the Christmas story.

* Nursing home- this was a new one this year but I'd like to make it a yearly tradition!

* We save our Christmas cards we receive each day and at dinner we pray for that family before hanging them up. Sadly I forgot to get a pic of all of our cards up. :(

Here's last year's though:

* We read the Christmas story from the bible before opening presents. The hub's family opens tree presents Christmas Eve and stockings Christmas morning and my family is opposite, so it depends which family we are with when we open our presents. :)

Daddy read it from his iPhone this year. :)

* Attend a Christmas Eve service

* Give a ornament to each child representing something special from that year- this year each of the girls got a Cinderella castle ornament to remember our trip to Disneyland.

* When we are actually in town- like we were this year, usually we are in CA or CO with family- we always enjoy hitting the Chriskindlemarket downtown.

* Put together our own gingerbread house- Notice I didn't say make our own, yes I purchase a ready made, just decorate one. I'll leave the beautiful gingerbread house making to my momma. :)

* And another one we started this year, get a real, live tree!! We were going to cut one down and such but it didn't work out this year, but we hope to next year!

* And I, and my family, like to watch It's a Wonderful Life each each. The hub's and his fam humored me this year and watched it with me. :)

* Lastly, a new one this year. I was reading my daily devotional one night and she was talking about how Christmas is more than celebrating Jesus' birth, its also a time to tell others about the good news of Jesus. So obvious, but not one I really had been concentrating on with the girls. In her article she shared about giving candy canes to people as you checked out places or your postman or who ever you ran into that day. I thought I'd take it a step farther and include a little message with each one. So I attached a tag to each candy cane that read:

Merry Christmas!

From The Domier Family

Will you join us? www.chapel.org

(I couldn't think of anything better to say, so kept it simple). Since I was trying to teach the girls about spreading the good news, and it just so happened that their weekly verse from church that week was: Spread the Good News to everyone, I had the girls hand out the candy canes when we would check out somewhere or someone helped us (I would just keep a container full of them in my car and stick a couple at a time into my purse when we were out and about). They each took turns. Their favorite part, and this was their own idea, was reciting their verse as they handed them the treat. It was really special watching them share their faith with others, we will definitely continue this tradition!

Hopefully a New Tradition....

2011-12-30T20:17:00.000-06:00

I so enjoy serving others or volunteering in some way. And I enjoy it even more when I can involve my girls too. Last year my friend Somer organized a group that went and visited a local nursing home to bring Christmas cards and sing some songs for the members. I was so bummed but we were unable to go. I've been wanting to bring the girls to a home and bring some holiday cheers to those that were there. I have such heart for that generation. These are the people that raised our parents, who raised us and we have them to thank for our lives and the history that they have seen just intrigues me. My heart has definitely grown for them also, since my grandpa moved closer to this direction last year.

I was so thankful when my friend decided to organize a group to visit the home again this year and we could go! I brought the hubs and Mormor Domier along too so they could enjoy the moment with the girls and I. We have been making and saving Christmas pictures for the last couple of weeks to bring to the grandmas and grandpas. The girls were very good and sweet about handing out cards. They were a bit shy at first but definitely warmed up. A lot of the ladies just wanted to touch, shake their hand, and/or hug them. It was just precious. And Cookie put on a great show for all the grandmas and grandpas. :)

After the big card giveaway we sang some Christmas carols for them and closed with Happy Birthday Jesus. Bella was quite hysterical and down right screamed some of the lyrics, she's definitely my performer! :) We look forward to hopefully doing this every year!

Some pics and a video from a fun morning:

Can you find my little entertainer? :)

Christmas with the Usual Suspects....

2011-12-29T22:05:00.000-06:00

So every year we do Christmas with the Usual Suspects. They are one of the closest things we have to family around here and we love celebrating with them. We use to spend every Friday together but with each addition of children this has become harder and harder. But they are still very important to us. This year (December 17th) was extra special because it may be our last for awhile, since one family may be moving away. :( I won't post all of the pics but I wanted to post some that we tried to capture of the kiddos. We have had 9 kids in a 4 1/2 year time span, so as you can imagine our photo session was insane, and throw in a wardrobe change and you've got pure chaos. But it sure was fun. :)

For their gift I made the kids Christmas tree shirts (a tie for Anderson- yes the rest are girls!) and Christmas bows!

Wardrobe change to our fancy Christmas wear!

Unfortunately I didn't catch Stephanie in most of my pics from the angle I was at. :(

And we're starting to lose them!! :)

The Whole Crew

Anderson, Brooklyn, Brynn, Katie Grace, Bella, Stephanie, Avi, Ellie, and Mackenzie

Saving this one for their future wedding (fingers crossed)! :)

The kids opened their gifts from one another, we had delicious Chinese food- straight Christmas Story style- had the kids watch Veggie's Tales Little Drummer Boy, and Uncle Jake read T'was the Night Before Christmas. A perfect evening, one I'll remember for years to come, and I hope the kids will too. :)

Elf on the Shelf...

2011-12-26T09:00:00.000-06:00

So last year I introduced the Elf on the Shelf to the girls.

They love looking for him each morning.

Since my girls are super creative they named him Elfy. :)

I hardest thing about Elfy, is remembering to move him each morning. I had a couple of mornings that I went racing down to move him before they got down there. :)

This year with the great invention of Pinterest, I upped my Elfy hiding with some creativity!

Here are some of the fun spots Elfy was found over the last couple of weeks.

Bella came home from a party with a WHOLE cake that she had decorated, so the next morning only a sliver remained and Elfy was covered in frosting!

One morning Elfy brought them a little early treat for being so good- Veggie Tales' Little Drummer Boy.

(Brynnie got hurt and had been crying right before the pic :( )

Elfy loves to read, thankfully the girls did not notice that his book was upside down. :)

And to end the season Elfy "zipped" on back to the North Pole!

For Unto Us a Child is Born....

2011-12-25T09:00:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas

for our family to yours!!

Baking!!!

2011-12-24T22:33:00.000-06:00

So I'm not a big baker, but at Christmas time I love making Christmas cookies. :)

Even though I end up getting SUPER frustrated at how crumbly my dough is every year, I love baking with my girls.

Every year we make cookies to give as gifts to church teachers, bus drivers, neighbors, etc.

The girls just love doing it and they work very hard to decorate each and every cookie. :)

For some reason I only had neon colored food coloring, so our Christmas cookies were definitely bright and cheerful!

Wish I had gotten a final pic of some of the decorated cookies, lets just say they were, umm, creatively done. ;)

I also made frosting for Bella's class to make gingerbread houses and Little miss Brynn was by my side helping and of course to lick the beaters. :)

Soon big sister came to help....

I love the girls' reaction when daddy got in on the fun. :)

And the decorating commences!

9 plates of "lovingly" decorated cookies!

Love this time of year!!

O' Christmas Tree.....

2011-12-22T22:57:00.000-06:00

So with dad in town we decided we definitely wanted to get our Christmas tree while he was here!

Before I married the Hubs I would have told you I would never be caught dead with a fake tree. We always did a real tree growing up. And going on the hunt for the tree was almost as fun as actually buying the tree. My dad would chase my brothers and I all around and we find the best hiding spots throughout all the trees. I cherish those memories.

Anyway, when I married the Hub's he already owned a 7ft. fake Christmas tree that was in good shape and we were never really in the financial position to go out and spend money on a real tree when we already had a perfectly good fake one. We'd just rather spend our money on gifts then a tree. Well last year we decided our tree had seen its last Christmas and free-cycled it. I couldn't WAIT for this year to go pick out a real tree!!

We had intended to go to a near by tree farm and cut our own down but on our way out the door I just thought I'd check to see what time they were open till and they were all closing at 4 and it was 3:50. :( So we decided having Poppi with us was more important than cutting our own tree down, so we headed to Home Depot. :)

We found a perfect tree pretty quickly!

And then the fun of decorating commenced!

Growing up, every year, after decorating our tree we'd lay under it and look up through it and enjoy the ornaments and lights, so fun to see my hubby and girls do it. :)

Brynnie's Big Day!

2011-12-21T22:33:00.000-06:00

I look forward to this every year! Our daughters' preschool puts on a Christmas program every year that I just love watching. Our church doesn't do one so I always look forward to Precious Lamb's preschool's program.

This year was Brynn's big chance!

Tried to get a pic of the 3 girls beforehand but Brooke was of course not having it.

Caught these 4 chickies having their own little conversation, yikes a glimpse into the future!

Brynnie and her friends Anna and Madelyn. Cracks me up, but Brynn just towers over her friends, not sure where she gets her hight from. :)

My precious baby!

Brynn was the angel for the First Christmas reenactment.

(Bella was the angel both years too)

This made me laugh- Bella sits front and center and Miss Brynn hangs back and sits as far back as she can. So fitting of their personalities.

This little beauty found a little baby that she grew quite attached to. :)

The girls enjoyed making Christmas tree crafts.

And of course the Christmas snack was a big hit. Super cute! Decorate an upside down ice cream cone with green frosting, string licorice, and other candies.

Such a doll.

She's so shy but also eats up all the attention. :)

Such a fun family day!

And the biggest treat was that two days before this my dad (from CO) shows up on our doorstep to surprise us!!

I'm always sad family misses this performance so I was so thankful dad surprised us for a visit!

He was super helpful with chasing after Miss Brookie. :)

Merry Christmas!

Two videos for ya:

One of Brynn performing
Keeps on going even after being bopped in the head. :)

And the other of Brooke walking around the lobby and when she accidentally walked over a air vent, too funny!

3 Cute Turkeys!

2011-12-21T21:32:00.000-06:00

Had to show our cute Thanksgiving shirts!

Thanks Braylabees!

Thanksgiving Trip!

2011-12-21T21:11:00.000-06:00

Sorry picture overload!

So this year we drove up to Minnesota and met my parents up there. We got there a day (Tuesday evening) before my family so we visited the hub's Aunt Millie and Uncle Ted on Wednesday.

The girls of course ate up the attention and had fun playing with silly Uncle Ted. :)

Some fun shots from our hotels:

(we moved where we stayed the first 3 nights of our vacation- two hotels and then to my aunt and uncle's)

Brynn LOVES her Tag books, sitting quietly with her headband making her look like a 80's punk rocker, reading her books. :)

These girls could also color literally all day.

Watching a movie and snuggling. :) After the movie Bella said she wasn't tired and then......

....this was her literally 5 minutes later. :)

Wednesday night my family arrived and we happily spent time with them and my gramps, or Papa Bear as the girls call him.

Thanksgiving day Poppi was a trooper and gladly played Barbies with girls while Papa Bear looked on.

We just hung low and just spent time together as a family.

My momma whipped up a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner, that Cookie slept through. :)

The turkey hit our bellies and we were cashed!

That night I hit the shops! I told the hubs I wanted to go solo so I didn't have him rushing me and such but boy do I sure wish I had him around for some of the lines! :) This was the Target line, can't really tell but the Target is to the right around the corner of JC Pennys here. If it hadn't been in the 50s I wouldn't have stuck around but it was really mild. I definitely prefer the sales starting at Midnight or sooner. I'm much more of a night person than a morning person!

The day after Thanksgiving we decided to go and explore my aunt and uncles farm where we were staying. The girls loved seeing all the open acres and neat farm buildings.

This pic cracks me up, apparently this is how my parents like to take walks. :)

Papa Bear loves Culvers so we took him out for a special lunch.

Poppi said he wasn't that hungry yet somehow he kept ending up snacking on everyone else's food. :)

After lunch Mormor and Poppi took the girls to see the Muppets.

And then one last family dinner all together at Olive Garden, yum my favorite!!

So thankful for these three little beauties!

Saturday morning Brookie having special snuggle time with Mormor.

Saturday morning we had our pretend Christmas. I made some yummy Swedish Kringle and then after breakfast we let the kids open presents. We sent the men to pick up wrapping paper and they of course didn't get enough, so most of the presents were creatively wrapped. :)

Afterwards we watched The First Noel, such a cute Christmas movie about the very first Christmas.

We were so happy to spend precious time with our Papa Bear!

Love you Papa Bear!

Nights on the Town

2011-12-20T10:51:00.000-06:00

Well we kicked November off celebrating sweet baby Katie.

Who is not such a baby anymore, since this was her second birthday. But my daughters still call her Baby Katie. :)

We love going down to the city and especially to see our dear friends the Lymans. They have a pool in their building, so of course the girls were delighted about that!

You can just feel her excitement. :)

The daddies and some of the kiddos. Us mommies didn't want to get in and deal with redoing our hair and such. :)

So at Katie's party last year Uncle Jake put on a puppet show that just delighted the kids, so we convinced him to keep the tradition going. Kiddos loved it!

Birthday girl!

Auntie Shari gave the kids these balloons as goody bags, BIG hit!

Everyone happily helped Katie with her gifts.

Happy Birthday Katie Grace!!

Can't believe you're two, I remember the day you came home like it was yesterday. :)

Just a couple weeks later we had the pleasure of going down to the city again for the annual lighting of the Mag Mile.

They have a parade and as it goes down Michigan Avenue the lights on the trees light up. And then it ends with fireworks. We've gone the last couple years now and the kids always love it. Usually it is FREEZING but we've had an unusually mild fall. So although the kids are super bundled it was actually quite pleasant out. :) We went with our Usual Suspects clan - just missing the McMahons :(.

Waiting so patiently for dinner.

Can you even move my dear? :)

Avi, Bells, Katie, Ellie, and Brynn

Anderson, Avi, Bells, and Katie

Me and the girls, Somer and Shari! Missed you Kelli.

The boys.

We had to hold the kids up to see the parade and there was one more kid than there were adults, man were we all sore the next day!

The hubs started out holding up both big girls....

I must have caught everybody off guard with my picture taking...

Somer was ready! :)

Finally I gave the hubs the baby and took Brynn, but man was it a workout to juggle all 3 of them!

The kids enjoyed the parade, unfortunately the fireworks started abruptly and loudly and we had not warned the kiddos so Katie, Brynn, and Brooklyn were not big fans of the firework display.
Afterwards the kids were a bit wound up, and since the weather was so nice we hit the park for a bit. :)

Afterwards, we enjoyed some yummy hot chocolate and desserts back at the Lymans house.

Started our holiday season of celebrating with a bang!!

Last One!

2011-12-18T14:06:00.002-06:00

Finally!

Almost done with October and can finally move on to November. :)

On Halloween we go to our friends', the McMahon's, home. She made a delicious dinner for us all and then we rounded up the troops and headed out for some more candy!! :)

The kiddos ran door to door so fast and barely caught any pics of them...

Ellie Bells and Brynnie Boo

Daddy and his baby girl, satisfied with a sucker once again. :)

Izzy, Brynn, Bella, and Avi

These girls love their daddy!

Mackenzie and Brynn

The whole crew!

Day 3....

2011-12-18T13:51:00.001-06:00

So Day 3 of Trick-o-treating! Our neighborhood trick-o-treating hours are the Sunday before Halloween. The girls were very excited to go out with their buddies Zoe, Rex, and Ray.

Even Cookie enjoyed her first t-o-t!

She got that candy and ran! :)

And then was perfectly content with her sucker for the remainder of our time out.

When we returned the girls had a great time handing out candy.

They just wanted to sit out there and wait for t-o-treaters! :)

Halloween Part 2

2011-12-09T15:09:00.006-06:00

Day two of our Halloween festivites. :) We live in a town that has a small down town section. Its so quaint looking and reminds me of older times. Every Saturday before Halloween all the down town businesses handout candy. It was a good time and fun to run in to many friends along the way! :)

Brookie going in for her first Halloween treat....go figure it was a toothbrush. :)

Saw a lot of our PLP friends!

Even the police had goodies to share!

Also ran into the McMahon, Loeffler, and Chevrier crew!

Hitting our local fire station.

And one of our favorite hangouts, Tastee Freeze!

Brooke was very satisfied with her toothbrush and a sucker. :)

Halloween Part 1...

2011-11-29T21:39:00.006-06:00

I know, I know, still behind.

And now begins my slew of Halloween posts. :)

This sweet, little Rapunzel was very excited to have her first school Halloween party!

I had the honor and pleasure of being Bella's party mom! So fun to be on the other side of things. So weird to think I have a daughter now almost the age I taught! Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures, too busy keeping things running. :)

Friday before Halloween we had our small group over, so we had the kiddos dress up. Hey trying to get our $ worth out of these costumes. :)

Rapunzels watching for visitors.

Almost the whole crew, missing Alex and Brooke.

My sweet Rapunzels and adorable butterfly! :)

Pure Joy...

2011-11-22T00:53:00.002-06:00

So thankful.

Brynn's First Field Trip...

2011-11-18T15:02:00.000-06:00

I had the pleasure recently to take Brynn, and her friend Madelyn, on her first field trip. Her class visited a local farm and we enjoyed a hayride, learning about and feeding their animals, a corn maze, and picking out their own pumpkins. It was so fun to see Brynn with her class. Her teachers were right, she just smiles the entire time. :)

She wasn't quite herself, complaining of a tummy ache :(, but she seemed to really enjoy it!

Here are the pics:

She was much happier watching the chickens from afar, she would not touch them. :)

Brynn and Madelyn

Finally came out of her shell and fed the goats.

Enjoyed a nice hayride and learned a lot about gourds and broom corn.

Brynn, Madelyn, Mara, and Ella Claire

On a hunt to find those signs!

Found one. :)

The class and Miss Jill

My little pumpkin and her pumpkin.

Brynn and her friends!

In Love...

2011-11-17T21:52:00.004-06:00

Oh man, these two are too precious...

Just warms my heart when they have such fun together....

Besties!

Sisters.

Oh and can't leave this cutie out! :)

Brooklyn's 1st Bubble Bath!

2011-11-14T11:38:00.000-06:00

Sisters may....

have had....

a little too much fun.....

covering their baby sis in bubbles.

Brooklyn loved every minute of it anyway! :)

Pumpkin Time!

2011-11-11T11:43:00.000-06:00

This year we had a pumpkin carving party with dear friends from the girls' preschool, Kissingers and Levins.

The girls were very excited to carve their pumpkins.

Alyssa, Brooklyn, and even Landon watching the fun. :)

Hey what about mine?!

Okay, I'll just snack. :)

Kissingers even cooked us up some yummy lunch!

Pumpkins turned out great!

Soccer!

2011-11-10T09:47:00.001-06:00

So fall time means soccer time!

We like to have the girls in some sort of sport each season. Winter- Gymnastics, Spring- (want to get her into T-Ball/Softball), Summer- swimming, and Fall- Soccer!

Soccer is very near and dear to the hub's heart being a soccer player through college and actually still is to this day. :)

This season we signed Bella up for a real soccer team through AYSO.

She LOVED it.

She started out a bit timid and the idea of stealing the ball from others and what not was very foreign to her. She's also the littlest on her, and most of the other, teams.

But after a little practice with daddy, she was a different player. She's fast, she's tough, and plays hard until the whistle blows. Her first goal was so exciting. She hit it in and immediately threw her arms up in excitement and flashed the brightest smile. Wish I had caught it.

She got several goals through out the season but I think she excels at defending, she works hard to not let anything get past her.

We also put Brynn is the beginner soccer class Bella did a couple years. Let's just say soccer is probably not her thang. Not because she's not good, she's actually pretty good and quite fast, but she just doesn't enjoy it. We made her stick the class out but every week it was a fight to go. She gets embarrassed SUPER easily, so if she felt silly or missed the ball or anything it mortified her. During the last class the kids play the mommies and daddies. She got the opportunity to make several goals and this definitely brought some confidence and happiness about playing back to her. :)

Here are some pics from the season:

A proud moment for the hubs as he helped coach his first baby girl!

Look at that face!

Kicking around the net....

Lining it up....

And Goooooooal!

Brynnie working on trapping in her class.

Such a cutie. :)

Orchard Rewind!

2011-11-09T11:14:00.000-06:00

After yesterday's post I thought it would be fun to post a pic from our orchard visits from the years past! :)

This was the farthest back I got- 2004-before this we didn't have a digital camera- is that make us sound old or what?!

2005- Bella's in my tummy cooking! :)

2006- Is Brooke a mini-Bella or what?! :)

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011- Did I get the most out of those pumpkin shirts or what?!

Fall!!

2011-11-08T10:59:00.000-06:00

So I've been working SO hard to get caught up on here and finally I can see the light!

I was feeling very sad with all the adorable Halloween pics people are posting and not having mine up yet.

But soon my friends, soon! :)

As much as I love the summer, I love, love, love the fall. I just love the cooling in weather, the beautiful colors, having yummy Salted Carmel Hot Chocolate, etc. :)

One of our biggest fall tradition is hitting Royal Oaks Apple Orchard in Harvard, IL. One of my besties' sister's family owns and runs the orchard so we go every year for our apples, pumpkins, and of course apple doughnuts!

Here are the pics from this year's fun!

Sorry to bombard my posts with so many pics lately! :)

Brynn making goofy faces while listening to how the orchard works

Hay ride time!

Finding their apples!

Gotta give a taste test. :)

Somebody was very proud to have her own apple.

Loves for Stephie!

Picking out their perfect pumpkins...

Happy Fall!!

Day 7....

2011-11-07T11:16:00.002-06:00

To catch up on our vacation: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6

Our last day, Thursday, we had another adventure planned.

We were going to camp out at the beach!

Should be interesting with three little ones, especially a baby not sleeping great, right? :)

So that morning we packed up all of our stuff and after Brooke's morning nap headed to the beach!

The girls played all day in the ocean, sand, and with a little girl at the campsite next to us.

We got an enormous tent with 3 rooms (however they were just separated with a sheet).

Bella and Brynn slept in one room, Mormor and Poppi in the middle room, and the hubs, Brooke (in a pack and play), and I in the other.

We played ladder ball, built sand castles, cooked out, of course had yummy s'mores, and played cards after the girlies were in bed.

The big girls slept great. Brooke however, like I mentioned in a previous post, had been crying in her sleep this week and I was so afraid that she'd wake everyone that I jumped at every peep. The other thing was the hubs and I were sharing an air mattress that was impossible to get up in and I of course woke him with every movement, I even brought her into bed with us for a short bit.

So not a lot of sleep but a whole lot of fun!

Next morning the hubs cooked us up some yummy egg sandwiches and then we had to pack all our things up (our only regret about camping was only doing it one night, it was a lot of work and packing up to leave not even 24 hrs later) to get ready to fly home!

Once home, Brooke took her morning nap, while we loaded everything up (we had packed the night before).

We had to make one very important stop on our way out, In and Out just one more time!

Our flight home was definitely not as pleasant as the one out. Unfortunately it was a LATE flight and we kept Brooke up hoping she would nap again on the flight but I think it just made her over tired. She fussed and cried on and off for a good hour probably and the hubs was sitting next to her and lets just say he just doesn't quite have the patience for crying as much as I do, totally understand though. Brynn had fallen asleep on me but after a while I finally persuaded him to switch with me. She finally fell asleep and maybe slept 30 minutes and of course woke up cranky. So we spent the last hour and a half/two hours or so feeding her, walking her around, entertaining her. It was EXHAUSTING. We FINALLY landed at 10 to us but midnight IL time. Funny thing is a couple people told us how well behaved our kids were, REALLY?! I felt like the shuttles and baggage could NOT take any longer.

Finally we were home and got all the girls into bed and soon we were dreaming of our fantastic vacation!

I'm standing at the door of our tent for this picture. :)

Plugged up so she won' t eat sand!! :)

They were hiding out from the waves. :)

Cooling down for the night, so getting snuggles from Poppi.

Cooking us up some hot dogs for dinner.

Caught telling secrets while coloring and waiting for dinner.

Locked this one in the tent for a bit to get a break from chasing her everywhere. :)

Playing with their new friend.

Neighbors let us use their Ladder Ball game, quite fun!

S'more time!

Snuggles by the fire.

That night there was this thing called Red Tide, I guess, that when the waves crash it literally glows. It was an amazing site. Listening to the waves crash all night was so awesome.

Stayed up a bit too late trying to win at cards, I did not. :(

Good Morning snuggles!

Breakfast with a view.

Saying goodbye to the ocean. :(

And yummy shakes from In and Out to go!

Bye California and Mormor and Poppi! We had a wonderful, wonderful trip and are so thankful for many great memories!

Day 6....

2011-11-04T11:30:00.001-05:00

Well we were pooped after our awesome day yesterday!!

So today we just laid low and hung out at the pool.

That night we had a delicious, nice Chinese dinner as a family and then hit the wave beach for sunset.

Day 5....

2011-11-03T11:10:00.002-05:00

This is going to be a big one! :)

Today was the big day!!

We were taking our three princesses to the happiest place on earth.

Up until this point we hadn't told the girls anything, however, they knew Disneyland was here and someone, ahem Poppi, let it slip a couple of times, so that morning when we said we were doing something fun this day I think Bella asked but we quickly said we weren't doing something that fun. :)

I had this vision of a big reveal as we pulled up to Disney and saw the big castle, but how its set up there's other things you see first. I was afraid they'd see something and I wouldn't catch their reaction. So as we approached one the major gates I turned the video on and said so do you see where we are girls?!

Where?

So totally couldn't see anything. So as we turned past it I pointed it out and I think finally Bella caught the Mickey statue and was like Oh Disneyland, like it was no big deal.

Talk about anti-climactic.

Oh well. They were still very excited to get in there!

Mormor got both girls Rapunzel dresses to wear into the park and Brooklyn was wearing a t-shirt that said "littlest princess."

There are two parks in Disneyland. We received a park hopper pass but the other park had a lot of the bigger rides and then a lot of shows. We thought we may run over there with the big girls to ride the new Ariel ride but it was down for the day. :(

So the first thing we did was of course head straight for the castle. The girls were ecstatic. We walked through it and there were scenes that walked you through Sleeping Beauty's story.

Next we popped in the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique and saw the girls getting their makeup and hair done. We considered doing it but just couldn't justify $50 a kid- so I curled up their hair before we left.

After that we quickly made our way back to the princess area in hopes to beat the crowd. The girls waited anxiously but patiently. Brooke conked out for a quick morning nap while we waited. Thankfully we only waited about 20-25 minutes. I'm not sure who was more excited me, to see them see the princesses, or them. :)

They met Princess Tiana and were very shy at first. Next they met Princess Ariel who they were so excited to meet. And next it was Belle- also thrilled to meet. Brooke woke up at this point and got to meet Belle as well. :) The princesses were SO sweet with them and the girls just soaked up every word that they said.

After that we met and went through Minnie and Mickey's houses. Following that we took a quick break for lunch- which I had packed for the girls.

After lunch we headed to Its a Small World ride and literally walked right on (the crowds were fabulous for us- one plus for going when we did). All 3 of the girls LOVED this ride. Brooke danced and clapped through the whole thing. Besides the princesses I'd say this was one of our biggest highlights. After that we watched some awesome street performers for a bit. Next we headed over towards the Nemo ride. On our way we stopped to see Tinkerbell and Odessa and also The Mad Hatter and Alice and Wonderland.

Mormor, the hubs and Bella enjoyed the Nemo ride and then the hubs, Bella, and I enjoyed the Buzzlightyear ride while Brynn and Brooke napped in the stroller.

After those two rides Bella asked if we could stop doing rides- she literally just wanted to meet the characters and get their autographs, they LOVED it.

Once the babies woke we stopped for some delicious ice cream.

Next we ran over to meet Rapunzel, which is literally what they had been looking forward too all day!!

It said 1 hour wait but it took 20 minutes!

They were OVER THE MOON about meeting her. I don't think they stopped smiling at her the whole time. She was so sweet with them.

After Rapunzel we went and rode the Peter Pan ride with the big girls. They enjoyed that one too! After that decided to run quickly over to the princess area again, hoping to see a new round of princesses. They don't let you see who's there until you get in and they're traded out every 15-45 minutes. SO we decided to just risk it and hope to see some new ones. The hubs was able to get a peak at some point and saw Cinderella and Snow White, so we were very excited! Unfortunately, the whole day we never waited more than 20-25 minutes for anything, usually much less, however, this time we probably waited 40 minutes. :( And when we finally got there, it was the same 3 princesses from the morning!! :( The hubs and I were more upset about it then they were, the girls were just happy to see them again. :) The crazy thing is each of the princesses said, "You're back!!" when the girls walked up. How crazy it that that they remembered them?! They did add Pocahontas at least.

After that we quickly grabbed a spot on main street while we ate some pizza.

The girls danced around and bought a balloon for Cookie while we waited for the parade.

The parade was another highlight of the day. Again, ALL 3 of the girls were mesmerized! Even Cookie just stared and loved it all.

Afterwards Bella and I got in line for this ride and we missed the first round but were first for the next round, unfortunately Bella REALLY had to go to the bathroom and just couldn't wait anymore, so we left. :(

After that I found the rest of the fam. in a shop. Stupidly we looked around for a bit wasting time and on the way out I asked what time they closed, thinking 9, and was told 8 and it was 7:59. :(

We raced over to the buzz lightyear ride because Bella really wanted to ride it again and wanted Brynn to also. We got there right as they closed it. :(

We were also bummed that they didn't do fireworks but such is life when you go when we went. The girls and the hubs and I still had a blast and a trip of a lifetime!

When we got home they were still very wired and excited to tell Poppi everything!!

Thanks for reading, now enjoy all the pics!

So to save time and space I put the pics into a movie, I apologize for the bad music transitions, I just quickly put it together.

Here's some video clips:

1. Brooklyn enjoying and clapping during the Its a Small World ride

2. Girls meeting Princess Ariel

3. Girls meeting Rapunzel

4. Bella in the Buss Lightyear ride

5. The girls dancing before the parade

6. Cookie wide eyed and loving the parade!

Day 4...

2011-11-02T11:12:00.003-05:00

The next day was Monday and this was the day the Hubs scheduled his work meeting. So we decided to spent the hours he was gone at the pool!

The pool doesn't allow unpotty-trained kids in it so Mormor to the rescue, she brought a little kiddie pool for Cookie to play in while the big girls swam.

Bella learned to swim on her own this summer, and to my amazement, Brynn figured it out THIS DAY! She can't swim very far because she swims above water and tires quick but she is officially floating and can go about 6 feet or so, crazy, she's 3!!

That evening we headed to the Irvine Spectrum, a near by outdoor shopping area.

The girls had a blast. Rode the merry-go-round, ran through a fountain, and rode the giant ferris wheel. Afterwards we had a yummy dinner at Rudy's Diner and then some Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate for dessert. :)

Cookie enjoyed making silly faces with Poppi while we rode the ferris wheel.

Pictures don't do it justice but its high. I don't mind heights but it definitely made my stomach turn a bit.

I may have shared some of my dessert. ;)

Day 3....

2011-11-01T11:03:00.000-05:00

So Sunday we woke up at a little more reasonable hour but still early.

And little cookie was still not sleeping great.

It was a little drizzly and overcast so we just took it easy that morning and hit the mall for a Macy's trip. The hub's mom retired from Macy's so she has a lifetime discount we like to take advantage of when we're with her.

That evening, however, it cleared up so we went to the harbor where the Tall Ships were firing cannons. We also hit the wave beach just minutes from their house. It was kind of funny cause the girls went from completely dressed with coats on to being in their underwear. They were having a blast running away from the waves. :)

Keeping entertained on the escalators.

Enjoying the view and the cool tall ships.

Cookie enjoyed the sand and finding sticks!

California- Day 2

2011-10-31T11:31:00.000-05:00

Well Saturday, day 2 started out quite early!

Brooke slept in the room with us and the big girls slept with mormor and poppi.

Miss Bella, who was use to getting up early for school and was still on IL time got Mormor up quite early.

Brooke also, apparently, cries often in her sleep. Not sure if she was teething or we just don't hear her usually at home but she would cry and I would go check on her and she'd be sound a sleep.

So sleep was a little lacking on this trip. :)

So we woke up Saturday morning and immediately hit the beach for the day!

Brooklyn was right at home and loved it!

Our little adventurous one bravely took on boogie board lessons from her daddy.

She was a little nervous but she held her own!

This is as close as Brynn would get. :)

These two enjoyed making castles ALL afternoon!

Brooke's favorite thing to do is climb, so the hubs built her a hole and she was perfectly content climbing in and out of it for AWHILE! :)

This pic just cracks me up!

Where ya going daddy!?

Little miss would NOT nap there so we finally had to head home around 3 but enjoyed a beautiful lunch and afternoon there!

Finally had to plug this girl up so she'd stop eating sand. :)

Our Big Trip- Day 1!

2011-10-29T15:32:00.000-05:00

So last summer the hubs and I took our first vacation in 9 years. After that trip we decided it was something we must do every year but with the kids. We never go away- just travel for the holidays- so we really wanted to make sure we are getting away at least once a year just as a family.

If you've been with us for awhile you know, our two big girls are princess OBSESSED. Now my parents would not take us to Disneyworld until we were old enough to remember it, cause if you're going to shell out all that money, you want them to remember it. But right now is when they are totally enthralled by every thing Disney.

Now we usually have no budget for this type of thing but the Lord really provided for us and made a true dream of mine to come true, to take my 3 princesses to meet the princesses!

The hub's had been saving and saving his airline miles and was able to save up for 3 tickets! He also set up a work meeting out there so work covered his ticket. He is also a premiere member so doesn't have to pay for luggage. So our transportation was completely free!

We decided to go to Disneyland instead of world since the hub's parents live 25 minutes from the park and we could stay with them for free.

Also one of my hubby's groups at work is Disney and he was able to find a contact that got us free tickets into both of CA's parks!! What an answer to prayer!

We also had a other great adventures on our trip to California so bare with me as I share with you our memories!!

So Brynn had her first day of school and then we left the next day for a week! It wasn't ideal timing but when working with miles and the Hub's work you do what works.

So when Bella got done with school on Friday we immediately headed to the airport.

We brought Brynn's carseat but planned to just hold Brynn and lock miss wiggly pants Brooke into the seat once in the air.

Thankfully we were taking off right at naptime. So I got Brooke locked in the seat, she fussed a bit but not too bad and about 30-45 minutes in she was out. Brynn also fell asleep in the hub's lap. So Bella and I colored and hung out for about an hour and a half.

After Brooke woke she played contently for a bit in her seat, then a fed her food s-l-o-w-l-y and we changed a diaper, giggled with the attendants, played a bit more and then we were there!

And of course the first thing the hubs must do when getting to Cali- hit up an In and Out!

Getting packed up!

Think they'd let me check her? :)

Got their backpacks and ready to go!

In them: new activity, coloring book, and box of crayons- they can literally color for HOURS. They also had their Tag books and each a princess Barbie and prince, but all they did was color. :)

Had my little travel companion attached to me for our travel day, literally. She looks so tiny. :)

Hopefully these 3 cuties travel well!

Here we go!

We originally had Brynn buckled in the carseat because we didn't know if they would allow her to be on our lap since she's over 2, but they didn't care so we switched them when the seatbelt light went off.

And here is Bella, Brooke, and daddy!

Playing in her seat for a bit!

Brynn out cold with the hubs. :)

And she's out!

Happy to be with Mormor and Poppi. Enjoying a bedtime book with Poppi.