A New Do

 We are trying so hard to get her bangs grown out...and it's working but a slow process!

We've started pulling them back with a tiny 'pony' and then sometimes putting a bigger 'pony' behind.  Doesn't always work, but she is showing up after school with it in a few days a week.  I just have to make it REALLY tight and then I think she just forgets about it and leaves it alone.

When it is out, her hair is starting to fall into place.  So, we will keep trying and hopefully once it's longer it really will lay like I envision it to...and not in her face!

I also thought the outfit she picked out on this particular day was cute.  :)  She really wanted to wear her Jayhawk shirt AND her fourth of July skirt.  The skirt was actually a sale item I bought in August on deep discount, and I didn't think it would be worn until next summer.  But, she found it and insisted on wearing it.

Jason didn't think it matched at all, though he was not about to tell her no.  She is pretty particular about her clothes these days, as is her little sister.  While I kind of agree with daddy, at least she had the right colors even if not the right shades.  Seriously daddy, this is better than some things you pick out.

The latest Lesley phrases

Since going to the dentist, Lesley always reminds us that she must "fossil" her teeth at night.

After I told her I was tired one evening, she matter of factly said, "I guess you should have taken a nap today."  It was almost like she was shaking her finger at me.  I wonder if she has heard that a time or two.

She likes to go to "Trip-Quick" to get Gatorade.

Ever since we visited the farm in Iowa, when she sees cows she will ask, "I wonder if they are hungry like Uncle Jim's cows."

Daddy said, "I'm just going to wear my suit to the wedding."
Lesley said, "I want to wear my suit too."
Mommy said, "Lesley, do you have a suit?"
Lesley said, "Yes, the one with the flowers that we wear to the swimming pool."
Oh, I see...suit means swimming suit to her.  Thankfully she was content wearing her special flower girl dress for Brad and Katie's big day.

"Daddy, stop hitting the bumps, I can't make a straight line when you do that."  - I will say there are some parts of the highway between Tulsa and KC where it's just impossible to miss the bumps.

Lesley said, "See I told you."
Mommy said, "What?"
Lesley said, "That we were going to be there soon."
Right, Mommy wasn't the one asking a million times from the backseat if we were almost to the hotel.

They learn bible verses at preschool and one that she has picked up on is "Do not be afraid for I am with you."  She will just randomly say it.  It's not necessarily in the right context, but still I like to hear her say it.  Then, last night I was talking with Jason about peanut butter and how I'd like to find a good substitute for the girls to eat.  She got all concerned because she knows she is not supposed to eat nuts or peanut butter.  I tried to explain that this wouldn't have peanuts, just sort of taste like it.  She said, "Do not be afraid for I am with peanut butter."  Huh?  What does that mean big sister?!

Spelling and Singing with Granny

After a fantastic breakfast at Bob Evans with Jason's cousins (oh, how I have missed that place!), we headed over to see Granny again.  She wasn't able to come to the wedding, so we thought it would be fun to show her a few photos we had on our camera.  Jason downloaded the images to his computer so it was a little easier for her to see versus on our camera like we had done the weekend before.

While Jason showed off the photos, the girls were drawing Granny some photos and Lesley was showing her how she could spell her name, and others too.

Leah started doing all these hand motions so we just started singing songs - I think she was doing "The Wheels on the Bus" in the photo above.  Or, it might have been "Pat a cake, pat a cake".  Another favorite of hers right now is "Ashes", i.e. what she calls "Ring around the rosie".  She gets very excited to do that, and is always trying to round up participants.

By the way, I asked Jason to take some photos and this is what I ended up with in terms of one with Granny.  Seriously, who doesn't see the toilet right in the middle, I'm partially cut off in the shot, and Leah is clearly out of focus with bad lighting?  I guess I have more "training" to do in order to help him see a good photo angle.  And, I'm not trying to say that I'm good at it, but I do think we can get better than this, right?

This looks like "The Itsy Bitsy Spider".  I love that she is excited about singing and hopefully she'll start to do more singing so Mommy can do less.  No one likes to hear me sing!

It was a good visit with Granny and we hated to leave, but we had lunch plans with another set of friends, before heading back to Tulsa.  Whew!  I think we managed to see quite a few people on this trip to KC...not to mention attend a fun family wedding!

I keep telling myself that lack of sleep is temporary and it's totally worth it for these type of fun weekends.  Yes, sometimes the kids are a little cranky when you mess with their schedule and that in turn might make mommy a little cranky too, but you know, I think that's worth it to be able to make these type of memories.  Do you think in 10, 15 or however many years I'll look back and think, "man I sure wish we would have gotten more sleep" or perhaps "do you remember how much fun we had those two weekends spent in KC with friends and family?"  Let's be honest, I mostly just document the later and not the sleeping part.  It's kind of hard to take photos when I'm sleeping, and it's especially hard to create memories.  Don't get me wrong, the kids need sleep and I assure you they got plenty of it...we just scheduled it around some fun activities these weekends.  Leah slept the entire trip from KC to Tulsa, about 4 hours!, on the first trip back to Oklahoma and both girls took LONG naps on our way back this past weekend too.

Dance party #2

This wedding was probably the shortest wedding I have ever been too. Seriously, it was 3 minutes from start to finish once the bride and groom got to the front of the room. If you count the time from when the first set of attendants walked it, then we'd be up to 6 minutes.  I guess they wanted to get to the party faster!  It sure didn't allow for me to get any photos.

Lesley was the first one out on the dance floor.  She was convinced that Lilly would be at the wedding too and they could dance together all night.  And, she was also very disappointed to find out that Grandma Nancy wouldn't be around.  But, she was pretty darn happy when she realized that Grandma Cheryl would dance with her!  Even better was that Grandma Cheryl had her cowboy boots on too.

I love that you can see her bandaid in the photo.  I tell you, this girl goes through a million bandaids a day.  It's unbelievable really.  We bought a box once we got to KS on this trip, and they used the entire box before the weekend was over.

Leah doesn't actually like the bandaids on her skin, she uses them more like stickers.  Awesome, right?

Smiley girl.  Cute!

Leah, on the other hand, thought Papa would be here and every time we talked about the wedding and dancing, she would say "Papa?"  I guess it would be a little confusing when you have weddings on back to back weekends with different sides of the family.

Leah enjoyed dancing with Grandma Cheryl too.  She kept playing with the beads on Grandma Cheryl's dress.  I think she actually liked that better than the dancing.

 

The girls even interacted with Uncle Johnny.  We don't get to see him too often so it was nice to catch them having fun with him too.

Lauren was a HUGE help before the wedding, during dinner, and while I roamed around and chatted with some of Jason's family.  It was a tight space with all the tables, chairs and people but Lauren helped me keep the girls at the table while I went to get food or took one to the bathroom or whatever.  I opted to sit next to her versus one of the reserved tables since the Lundberg table was right next to the head table where Daddy was sitting.  He got a plate for the girls too.  Anyway, the girls really love Lauren and I so wish we could see her and her family more.

This photo was from Grandma Cheryl's camera and shows the cake and also that I wore cowboy boots too!  This was the only photo of me with the cowboy boots so I thought I should drop it in as evidence.  I don't know how cute I looked, but those boots are sure comfy so I gladly went along with the "western" theme.  I wish you could see Lauren's boots too.  She was rocking it in her fun outfit!

I really wish I had more photos, but am also thankful for the ones I did manage to get.  Since Jason was occupied doing wedding party things and the space was pretty small, it was hard to move around with the girls, the stroller and our big old camera.  I'm thankful the girls lasted as late as they did given neither one of them had their usual nap that day.  Plus, it was great that we could walk between the country club and the hotel AND that the weather was so nice this weekend.  Hopefully we don't have to go so long between visits with Jason's cousins.  No photos of the Carlin cousins, but there were handful there too.  Our girls LOVED the babies and I'm sure would really like spending more time with them.  Perhaps we need to make a trip to the Joplin area sooner rather than later.

Congrats to Tony and Mo on their special day!  We are looking forward to you visiting us on your way back to KC from your Texan honeymoon.

Pre Wedding Photos

Jason was the flower girl in the wedding. Just kidding, though if you ask Lesley that is what she might tell you.  Anyway, he was one of the groom's attendants so he had to sport a tux and arrive early for the photos.  I had hoped for a good family photo with us all dressed up and enjoying the fabulous weather, but this boils down to just "one of those photos" where there's bad shadows, girls not looking and pouting, and cheesy smiles.  Ugh.  I'm pretty disappointed in this shot...but unfortunately there is no rewind button to try again.

Daddy and Little Sister - sticking her tongue or something.

Lesley with the groom - she is pretty shy around Uncle Tony but thankfully we ended up with a happy camper this day (even without a real nap!) and she enjoyed his company.

The bride and the groom with the girls.  I knew there was no way Leah would go to Uncle Tony, but luckily she has a sweet spot for Aunt Mo.  They were mostly looking at the photographer who was getting paid, but still a pretty decent shot of the girls and the special couple.

Now one with Mommy and Daddy too!

The girls were pretty excited to see Mo was wearing her cowgirl boots too.

And, they LOVED her dress.  Leah would seriously just walk up to her and start petting it.

We even got a shot with Jason's dad.  Again, so thankful the girls were in good moods and good sports for these photos.

Love these outfits I threw together.  I knew the boots were a must, and I love those skirts that Grandma Cheryl had given them.  I realized last minute we didn't have shirts to wear and found these perfect ones at Target just the day before.  I was so happy they were long sleeved with one pink and one purple.  Lesley was kind of upset she had the pink one, but there wasn't a 4T in the purple color.  Once I managed to get it on her, she was fine.  Plus, she got to wear the purple headband.  We also had pink striped tights that eventually went on under the skirts since the girls thought they were cold later in the evening.  Those really made them look mismatched....but oh well, by that point it was all about keeping warm.

They were trying to hide behind a tree, on a hill.  I was so afraid one or both of them would lose their balance and start rolling.

Peak a boo!

After these photos, the bride, groom and wedding party took a few more while I entertained the girls with some help from Grandma Cheryl, and eventually Jason's cousin Lauren who showed up to escort guests to their seats.  We went on a few walks around the place, tried to find the caterpillar we spotted on the path between the hotel and the country club, and got lots of drinks at the water fountain.  I'll say it again - the girls were so well behaved, during photos and while we waited for the guests to arrive!

Back to the old neighborhood

We are so thankful to have remained in touch with our KC neighbors from across the street. They keep us in the loop on what's going on in the old neighborhood, and keep telling us the new neighbors aren't nearly as AWESOME as we were. Of course we believe them, and it makes me really sad too. I miss our old neighborhood. I won't lie, I sort of got choked up as we drove up the cul-de-sac and saw the old house. I love, love, love our new house, but I'm still missing KC like crazy because Tulsa is just not home yet. 

As we drove towards the house, Lesley kept saying things like, "that's the old park we used to play at" and "that is my old school". I was seriously going to cry as she started remembering these things. She didn't say anything as we pulled into the neighbor's house and got out of the car, but as we got ready to leave after we played and has some great ribs they smoked for us, she realized where we were. Then she said, "that's our old house" and pointed to the WRONG house. I didn't know what to think about that. She must have already forgotten what the old house looked like.  Good?  Bad?  I don't know...but I'm thankful she had not forgotten our friends and had a blast playing.

The dolls were definitely the hit of the morning.  The girls dressed and undressed them, took them on stroller rides, fed them and played house with them.  Leah was in heaven!!!  She was kind of possessive so we had to explain the whole sharing bit a time or two.

They played on the first floor, in the basement and even on the stairs.  It was hard to get them to stop so we could eat.

It was great to see the girls interact just like they used to.  And, I think for as happy as a certain little neighbor was when we got there, I think she was just as thankful when we left.  She's a bit of a neat child and I think her heart was beating really fast at the condition of her kitchen set.  The dishes, silverware, and food were certainly not in the right place after Lesley and Leah were done.

We are still hoping we'll get some visitors in Tulsa and although I doubt our old neighbors will be able to come soon, perhaps sometime down the road.  These kids are just so busy with school, gymnastics, soccer, piano, guitar, girl scouts, boy scouts and probably more!

They also gave us the scoop on who in the cul-de-sac might sell next, i.e. empty nesters, retirees, divorcees, etc.  On the way back to Tulsa, I told Jason we might actually be able to move back to the same street we once we were on if the Tulsa gig doesn't work out, or if the opportunity arises us to move back to KC.  We've got the "in" for when things might go on the market.

Growing - The Hoffmann's

I forgot to include this on a last blog post from Katie and Brad's wedding....but wanted to be sure and document the GROWING Hoffmann family.  We added Brad on this wonderful day, and two teeny tiny babies just a few days before.  They will be getting stronger in the hospital for a few months, but hopefully we can meet them around Christmas time.  Another baby will join us in the next several weeks, plus the two that joined earlier this year.  Not to mention Uncle Andy's Katie next year.  The photo above doesn't include everyone, but it captures a whole lot of aunts, uncles, cousins, and more

The amazing thing about this awesome family is that I still feel close to many of them.  It's certainly trickier to plan and participate in family gatherings, but we manage to make it work.  Love them!

Wedding Weekend #2

We headed back to KC this past weekend for another wedding. Two in a row! We are thankful they didn't end up on the same day, but we are also exhausted from another weekend away from home. This time it was a three night adventure! 

Thankfully Aunt Denise and Uncle Mark let us arrive late Thursday night so we didn't have to pay for a hotel room for three nights. It's so weird needing a place to stay in KC after having lived there for 8 years. The girls didn't sleep so great the first night which meant Mommy didn't get good sleep either. Lesley has been dealing with allergies so that makes for a lot of sneezing and coughing at night. Leah kept kicking me! I love cuddling with my girls, but they are NOT so awesome to sleep with. Jason got a bed all to himself. Jealous! Jason headed to get his tux Friday morning while the girls entertained Aunt Denise...kind of. 

Once Jason returned, we hopped in the car and headed to visit Evan, Jayden, Julian, Kate, Corri, and Matt. The adults enjoyed a simple lunch while the kids played. Kate mentioned on her blog how Evan and Jayden played together and Lesley and Leah played together but the kids didn't really go across gender lines to interact. The boys were focused on some new dinosaurs Kate had just picked up from a sale, and the girls wanted to be outside. Oh well, that's what happens with good buddies.  Regardless it was GREAT to see them again.  I miss my KC friends dearly so it's always wonderful to see them and catch up.

Next up, naptime at the hotel.

It worked out perfect that the girls stayed awake until we got to the hotel.  They enjoyed "moving in" to the room by riding the luggage cart.  Don't worry, Mommy walked beside Leah during the trip so there wasn't much risk she'd fall off.

Naptime was a little later than normal, but still good.  Actually we all laid down and it was kind of heavenly.

Daddy headed to the rehearsal, we joined him later, and then had some tasty KC BBQ with the wedding party.  I didn't take a camera since I was wrangling kids and bags and other stuff...but it was good!

 

After dinner, our friends Chris and Joyce joined us at the hotel for some drinks while the girls played with Jason's cousin's 10 month old baby.  Leah was in LOVE!  That girl loves babies.  And, it was great that Chris and Joyce took time away from their weekend to come see us.  They even skipped a Royals game.

 The girls slept wonderfully that night.  It was such a relief to wake up and realize it was 8am and both girls were still sound asleep.  I showered in peace, then slowly woke the rest of the family up to avoid meltdowns, Jason included.  Not only did they sleep great, but they also woke up happy as can be.

Grandma Cheryl came over to the hotel Saturday morning to have breakfast with us.  The girls thought that was pretty great, and it was kind of nice to eat in our pajamas.

This sort of reflects Leah "cheese" face.  She's a squinter!

More details from the weekend to come....I need to catch up on some sleep now.

Visiting Granny

On Sunday morning after the wedding, we took some time to visit Granny who is recovering from a broken hip and finger at a rehab facility. We were told she was in room 215 but didn't realize the facility had multiple buildings and LOTS of room 215's. Ha! Finally, after reaching the third (or maybe it was fourth) building and walking through lots of hallways and trying to answer some difficult questions from Lesley, we found Granny!

The girls always take a little time to warm up to her.  Seeing her in a wheelchair with oxygen is just hard to grasp when you are so little.

Leah decided she would clean Granny's chair with a wet wipe.  That girl, she makes us buy way more wet wipes than you'd think was possible.  I recently had to ban them from her and put the boxes up really high so she didn't just help herself.  I love her desire to be clean...but seriously, you can't clean everything with a wet wipe nor do you need 10 of them to wipe the coffee table.

I think Lesley was still recovering from the events of the previous day.  She finally warmed up after giving her the chance to sit in the chair that spins.

Then she enjoyed showing Granny some photos from dance class and of course of her duties as the flower girl.

Leah was being really silly by this point, and was giggling and laughing with Granny.

Then, it was time to go get some lunch at Aunt Denise's house.  Kisses all around!

We are glad we found Granny, even if it took us a long time and learning several door codes from the nurses and staff at the rehab/nursing facility.  I think the journey through the long term care, assisted living, nursing facility, and then rehab building brought some smiles to a lot of faces.  I think I head "adorable", "cute", and "sweet" at least 20 times...and they weren't talking about Daddy or Mommy.  Maybe when we visit this weekend, we can take the long route to Granny's room too.

Staying at the hotel

It was GREAT to be able to stay at the hotel where the wedding reception was held. Easy to sneak back to the room for a sippy cup or to change a diaper.  And, we had a suite which gave us 2 rooms and extra space.  Aimee, Mike and the girls shared the suite with us Saturday night and it worked out well.  Poor Lyssa had a rough night - with 4 girls, there's always one that has a "rough" night.  She kept her mommy awake with teeth giving her pain.

Leah was also up early the next morning.  I thought a little warm milk would help her go back to sleep since she needs her sleep, but Lyssa was not respectful and thought she needed company.  Eventually we gave up, Lilly joined us, and these girls played some Tozzle on the ipad.  I think I've said this before 2 girls on the ipad works fine, but if you try to add a third...disaster.  Good thing the flower girl was still konked out!

After breakfast, Grandma Nancy and Papa said they would take the girls swimming.  With all the wedding events the day before, there hadn't been time to check out the pool.  We were thankful the girls had this chance, even if it was short.  To them, staying in a hotel means swimming and I think they would have all been disappointed if they didn't have a chance.

It was an indoor/outdoor pool that was heated, though the adults didn't think it was warm enough since the air temperature was pretty cool that morning.

Both Aimee and myself forgot the girls' princess swimming rings, but they still had lots of fun with Papa and Uncle Mike.  Daddy was recovering up in the room.

Lyssa was behind Leah in the photo above, but she even had a good time...until she started shaking and we had to wrap in lots and lots of warm towels.

Just Dance

Not much commentary here...just some photos to show how much fun we had at the wedding dance!

Lilly found Aunt Denise's secret tool to keep the kids happy - stickers!  We shouldn't expect anything less from a highly qualified, trained professional.  Our favorite preschool teacher ever!

Oh geez....here she goes again!  Leave your clothes on Leah!

You can see the flower girl was still sleepy at dinner time.  She finally perked up and got very excited when she realized the fruit bowl had cherries in it!  It took all my effort to grab her hands before they ended up in the bowl.  Germs out please little lady!

Grandma Nancy was quite the dancer out on the dance floor.

Did you notice Lesley's "dance" dress?  Lesley decided in the hopes of saving the flower girl dress that Lesley should have a "church" dress and a "dancing" dress.  It worked out perfect!

Lesley's hair fell out during nap, but luckily we were able to salvage one side of the braid and just put it up in a piggy tail.  Meltdown diverted.  Thanks Aunt Aimee for the suggestion!

These girls had so much fun dancing with Grandma.

Leah headed to the party with Grandma Nancy earlier than I did since she woke up before Lesley.  By the time I got there, she was having a blast and running and running around.  It was all I could do to keep track of her.  I was shocked and quite happy at her bravery and wanting to be out on the dance floor without me.  She's our shy girl and usually needs her mommy, or someone she completely trusts, to be close by.  Not this night - she would run right past me to get back to the dance floor.  Loved it!

Forget the family photo.  This works.

Lesley told everyone at school she was going to be the flower girl at Matt and Kim's wedding.  I guess there was a bit of confusion since she knew we were going to see Matt and Kim.  Ha!  I LOVE the above photo of some of my favorite people!

Lesley and Lilly snatched a photo with the bride.

Then, they convinced Uncle Jim out on the dance floor.