Spring Break to Indianapolis! Day One- Connor Prairie Interactive Pioneer Village

 

James has been working so much in his job at ARC, the Army Reconnaissance Course, that we hardly ever see him. His schedule is brutal! Each class is 28 days long and each class has to completed in one month....so doing the math that's a whole 2-3 days off a month. Seriously, the schedule is worse than leading up to a deployment! 

 

So, we were excited to have him all to ourselves for Spring Break!  I planned a great trip to Indianapolis, IN for us all to make some new family memories.  Our first stop is at the Connor Prairie Interactive Pioneer Village.

 



 

 

 

This was the coolest museum EVER!  The girls loved all the open trails and interactive displays. The Museum portrays a place where staff dress, act and speak as if the lived in 1836.  It was amazing!  The staff never left their role even when we asked them questions. 

 

 

 

The first stop was at the barn.  We were lucky to see triplet goats that had just been born 2 hours earlier!  They had baby lambs that the girls could brush and feed.  And then they brought out the mommy goat and gave a milking demonstration.  

 

Here is Amelia milking her first goat.  She looks at me and says "Mommy, I got to squirt it's booby!!"  :) 

They even had Community Socials.  Here are the pioneer people and the kids playing "Farmer in the Dell". 

This is inside the old school house.  This teacher was very serious about her role playing.  She told us that in 1836 you paid to have your children attend school.  If your child disobeyed in class then he got kicked out!  And here you can see how great Amelia's do-it-yourself haircut is looking these days.  Ugh.....not so good.

And of course we had to stop at the outhouse.  This was Amelia's favorite part.  They couldn't  believe that people had to use the bathroom outside back then!

Spring is here! March 2011

The Spring is here and we are super active!  Sidney has started her first year of T-ball.  She has been super excited about the uniform, glove, and cleats..........but not so much the actual physical exercise.  Hmmmm....sounds vaguely familiar.  :) 

I was so proud of her at her first practice and her first at bat.  She hit the ball right off the tee on her first try!  See above with the red arrow pointing to her ball in mid flight! 

My favorite thing about T-ball at this age is that the kids have no idea what is going on.  They all run right for the ball when it's hit and then have no idea where to throw it.  It cracks me up! 

We 'inheirited' a trampoline for the girls.  One of the coolest things about being in the Army is that when you move you give away so much great and useful stuff.  And it's even better when you are on the receiving end!  Our lovely neighbors, the Garner's, moved to Fort Hood and gave us their trampoline!  The girls are thrilled!  But I think it's James that is having the best time.  He is such a big kid and a great daddy!

Shortly after this picture was taken Sidney lost knocked out her first tooth on the trampoline.  She claims it was an accident, but I think she whacked her face on the soccer ball on purpose because all her friends had already lost teeth. 

Amelia, Amelia, Amelia she is a friend to all creatures great and small.  She LOVES to look at the tiny ants that crawl across our sidewalk.  Sometimes I will look closely and she has let 20 or 30 of them crawl across into her hands.  Luckily these ants are just harmless "Sweet Ants" but when we go back to Georgia and there are fire ants she is going to be in a world of hurt!

 

My baby bump is growing and growing!  I feel better now but I have been so tired this pregnancy.  Some mornings it's all I can do to get up and get Sidney to school on time.  I had morning sickness similar to when I was pregnant with Amelia, so we are thinking this might be another little sister.  I am craving chocolate cheesecake and whole milk!  When I was pregnant with Amelia I craved steak, and not just any steak but Filet Mignon!  When I was pregnant with Sidney I wanted hot wings and cucumbers.  I guess there is really no rhyme or reason to pregnancy cravings, just food and a lot of it!

 

 

This pic is around 19 weeks.

 

 

The girls love to pretend they have babies in their bellies too!

 

 

And baby makes 5!!! January 2011

January 2011

Lots of exciting things happening this month!  We found out that we are expecting baby number 3!!!!  We are quite nervous about how we will be parents to 3 kids.  One of our friends said that we are "Moving from a man to man defense, to a zone defense!"  Makes sense.... in a terrifying kind of way.  :)

Sidney and Amelia are super excited to be big sisters.  They keep saying that they want a BIG brother......well not sure how we can explain that won't be happening.  I think James and I are kind of in shock.  We keep giggling like we have lost our minds.

This Winter has been ridiculously cold.  It started snowing the day after Thanksgiving and has not stopped since.  It seems to snow every Saturday.  And to top it off poor James is training for a Spring Marathon in Louisville.  He has been running in snow, sleet, sideways rain, and frigid weather.  I think he is crazy, but he really wants to mark it off his bucket list. 

Amelia's Birthday "A Teddy Bear Picnic"

Our little "Millie" just turned 3! It was such a special day celebrated with all our friends. We wanted this day to be special for Amelia because having a birthday so close to Christmas can be tough. :( We decided on a Teddy Bear Picnic theme where all her friends brought their favorite doll or teddy bear. We started off with a little tea party, then each child got to paint their own picture frame, and of course there was plenty of time to play! But the most exciting part of the party came with a special visitor, Santa Claus!!! He showed up and let all the kids sit in his lap and give him great big hugs!!! What a very special birthday!

Thrifty Decor Chick: Silhouette Craft Cutter Giveaway!

Thrifty Decor Chick: Silhouette Craft Cutter Giveaway!


Man!!! I want one of these! I can just imagine the all the possibilities with one: t-shirts, glass etching, cards, scrapbooking, decorating, organizing.

I hope I win!

The Day the Girls decided to cut their hair......

Well, I don't even know how to start this one. I suppose it was a matter of time. I thought I had dodged the bullet of the "I am going to cut a big whack out of my hair", but it looks like I got hit. Bullseye actually.

On Saturday, Sidney comes in the bathroom and asks for a hair clip. I give her one and don't think much about it. She is always playing with her hair: clips, bows, headbands, brushing, etc. But then I noticed she has wet her hair, on only one side. I think "Hmmm..that's weird." Then I see IT. The missing 5 inches of her hair. Once there was long beautiful blonde hair, now there is short blonde side bangs?!?! I was so shocked all I could say was "WHERE is your hair?" She instantly starts crying and comes to show us her work.

Honestly, it's not that bad. It really looks like a real haircut.

But still..I am mad.

I ground her from TV, movies, and video games for 3 days.

Oh, the catastrophe could have been so much worst.

Then I tell her that Santa doesn't bring toys to naughty little girls that cut their own hair. And here's what happened.


She was very upset. But I told her that we would write Santa a letter and apologize for cutting her hair and her would forgive her and still bring her toys. She calmed down, a little. And I took this picture of her handy work. Really not to bad.
Well, the next morning Sidney and I are coloring a picture together and Amelia is playing downstairs in the toy room. Up she comes. Just smiling and happy as can be.

"Look Mommy! I cut my hair too!"

Surely not. This can't be happening.

"No, you didn't" I say. And I reach to touch her hair....and 6 inches fall off in my hands.

Yes, she climbed onto my craft table, onto my bookshelf and got my sewing scissors down so she too could cut her hair. Just like big sis.

AHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Amelia does not have a future in cosmetology because she designed herself a mullet.
A bad mullet, at that. Ohhhh....all that beautiful hair.

But she is just as proud as she can be. That's the difference between these 2 children of mine. Sidney is heartbroken that she has disappointed me. Amelia could care less.

James said a few weeks ago "If Amelia knew what the middle finger meant she would use it all the time." But always with a smile.

Days like these I just think of how boring my life would be without them. You can't help but to smile when you have a little face smiling back at you.

And Sidney even forced a smile for Santa. :)

Halloween Memories

Overheard around the dinner table on Halloween Night:

Sidney: "Mommy, can I have some more green beans?"

Me: "We are all out of green beans, but you can have more candy."

Mom of the Year! In my defense, she had ONLY one piece of candy before dinner. :)