Bubbles

Recently, Nicole and  have had a chance to get out and do some fun things together while Megan's been at school.

One of favorite things... BUBBLES!

 I just love that little 2 year old!

The Tooth!

This month has been a bit of a blur.  And the culprit of a lot of that "missing time" has been a tooth!  Nicole's chipped tooth to be exact.  You might remember that a year ago she fell and chipped her front tooth.  Well a year later, it started to abcess and the dentist and oral surgeon both agreed it was time for it to come out!  We'd been going in every 3 months to watch it once we realized it had started to bother her on occasions.  And the time came.  The surgery was planned , then changed and finally the decided to have her tooth removed at Scottish Rite Children's hospital.  I was a bit freaked out about why the outpatient facility was nixed and they felt so strongly that they wanted it done at the main hospital - but I also knew that meant Nicole would be very well taken care of.  So, we headed to the hospital...

 My Kindle fire (LOVE IT) was the best remedy for keeping a little girl calm and occupied.

 She started to get a little woozy after her medicine....

 and more woozy... finally had to lay down...

 They they wheeled her off to surgery.  The surgeon came in to give me Nicole's tooth... OH MY GOSH!  I'm sooooo glad they did this in the hospital.  This picture really doesn't do it justice for the size - but it's over an inch long.  They had to put in 2 stitches to close it all up.  But she was a trooper and did great.

 After the surgery the "wake up" was agonizing - she spent about 20 minutes in hysterics and fighting mad and confused.  I finally got her to fall asleep again and after a 45 minute nap she woke up silly, goofy, yet happy and ready to go home.

A week later, she got a great report from the follow up with the surgeon.  And she's finally started to act 100% herself again - she's finally figured out how to eat with a hole - and has started smiling again.  A cute snaggle-tooth smile, if I do say so myself.

Happy Easter!

This morning I woke up to a very excited little girl.  She wasn't excited about an Easter basket or egg hunts, or anything like that - she was so excited because she wanted to be the first one in the house to say, "He has risen!"  To see if people really do say, "He has risen, indeed!"  So sweet!

We had a fun and full day at church - ending with a church-wide Easter egg hunt.  We had a great time hanging out with our lifegroup afterwards.

 My girls were still trying to get into their baskets to see what candy might be there.  This is Nicoles "Don't try to take it away from me mommy or I'll run away" look.

 Back at home, we had a relaxing afternoon and a fun Skype with my brothers family - who are in Europe for an awesome 80 day trip - we miss you!  Then it was time for our own family egg hunt.  I must admit it was a bit low key with only 2 girls running around for eggs instead of the normal 5 kids.

 Nicole had a 2 Easter dress day.  I realized her first dress was too small (darn that 3T) and we had to upsize.  :^)

 Here's a flashback to last year - boy have the girls grown so much.  And you'll see that Nicole's final Easter dress was also Megan's Easter dress last year (wow).

As this day draws to a close, we wish our family and friends a very Happy Easter - one that is full of the knowledge of the joy that comes from God's sacrifice of His Son.  Our joy, from His sorrow.
But sorrow last for a night (or 3 days) and joy comes in the morning!
He is risen!
He is risen indeed!



Spa Girl!

For Megan's birthday (back in March), we had gotton a Groupon for a little girl spa outing at a local girls spa.  Megan LOVES having her nails painted so we knew that would be the perfect special birthday outing.  Well since she got sick right after her birthday we are just now getting around to our visit.  It was a special for Megan and a friend so we loaded up her friend Sydney (and her mom) and headed over for an afternoon of little girl pampering!

 First the very excited girls got to pick out a color or two for their pedicure....

 a little foot soak...

 a foot and leg massage....  Now I must admit that I expected Megan to lose it at this point because she has extremely ticklish feet!  But she seemed to love all that attention.

 Megan and Sydney - chilling and waiting for their toes to dry!  Those spa diva's!

 Once the toes were dry, they moved on to the "facial bar"... with a "natural" facial - made with vanilla yogurt and oatmeal.

 Once their skin was all shiny and mosturized, they moved on to a manicure...

 And the super fun drying fans!

Sydney, Thanks for helping Megan celebrate her birthday in spa style!

First Game

Last Saturday, Megan played in her first soccer game.  Go Lady Razorbacks!!!!!

 My little #7 said she had a great time!  I love that Upwards is not competitive (It might not be as fun if they knew the score)  but teaches good sportsmanship, teamwork, and the fundamentals of the game. 

And it's fun to watch - ok, a bit nerve wracking - I mean you don't want to be the ONLY parent yelling, "no no, go the other way!!!!  Turn it around!  The other way...ooohhh, good job, way to try to stop the ball!"

 Only 4 girls from each team are on the field at a time.  And the coaches are right there on the field running with them helping them out with directions.  Megan came off the field saying, "Mr. Jeff is very encouraging."  And I thought -  I hope Mr. Jeff doesn't need to take blood pressure medicine after this... cause Mommy might.

 And while Megan was playing, Nicole got to play a bit on her own.... with her friend Bella!

Bella was there to cheer on her little sister Lucca (who we will play in a few weeks) - but while the sisters were playing, Bella was my right hand girl - and Nicole had a blast!  She got in the car saying, "Bella my friend!"  So sweet - glad they both got to have some fun.

Zoo

With such fabulous weather, we had to take our first trip to the zoo this year!

And what a fun blessing it was to be able to join up with some sweet friends...

The little girls (Nicole and Emma) were the best of buds - and the big kids (Megan and Will) - well,they were cute - and loved to get a little silly.

 I didn't think I'd ever get Nicole away from the lions.... 

 and tigers....

 My girls loved the petting zoo!

 And we couldn't leave without a lot of hugs!

 Thanks for a fun day friends!
We renewed our seasons pass.....  so give me a call when you are going!

More Celebrating!

Hoppy Easter!


Megan ended her school this week with a fun Easter party at school.


We've had a great year with Ms. Julie and Ms. Kathy!


Megan had fun hanging with one of her BFF's - Sydney.


My favorite part was the sack race... it took a long time to stop laughing at that one - but it was so fun and cute!


Nicole got to go to the party too... she really wanted to help Megan with her edible craft (a peep in a nest).

"Is it good?"

"Ok, Nicole here's a little bit"


And the celebrations just keep on going!