Get Set....Go!

Miss Jamie handed me a letter at school this morning to explain Leah's transition period.  Sad moment.  I feel like she just started going to "school" and now they want to kick her out of the toddler room and move her to the "Get Set" room.  Now that she's potty trained, her vocabulary has picked up, and she's displaying various signs of readiness, she'll start transitioning to the bigger kids room in a few weeks.  I'm excited for this new room, with more activities and learning...but I love Miss Jamie and Miss Jessica just like Leah does.

Who knew this would hit me so hard!?  I had to call Jason as soon as I got back in the car and fight back tears.  Is she really graduating from toddlerhood already?  Didn't we just bring this 8 pound, 13 ounces bald headed baby girl home from the hospital a day or two ago?  Perhaps we should have left her in diapers longer.  Kidding.  Really kidding.

I'm going to have to get a hold of myself.  At least I have until August before Lesley transitions to the Pre-K room....and then Kindergarten!  Oh my...better stock up on tissues now.

Princessses in training

This month's theme at school has been nursery rhymes and fairy tales. It's been so fun to have the girls bring home new songs and stories. Lesley's favorite is Hey Diddle, Diddle by far!  I personally loved the artwork on the preschool wall where the kids told the story of the cow, the moon, and dish and spoon.

Leah of course doesn't talk much about their activities, but she has brought home lots of "abstract" art and her daily sheet notes lots and lots of stories they are reading.

Though spring break was not observed by their school, there was a week the classroom sizes were quite a bit smaller which I think means older siblings were out of school so families went to the beach, or maybe Grandma's house.  That week, Miss Karen and Miss Madison had a "Princess, Prince and Pirate" party for the kids.  Based on the number of princesses running around the classroom when I dropped Lesley off, it was probably a good thing they had a semi-full classroom versus up to capacity.  Let's just say there was some excitement!  At the time, there was just pirate in the room - not sure if he was a lucky guy or a poor fella.  :)

Anyway, Miss Madison said they unsuccessfully tried to make a princess castle one day using marshmallows.  That's probably why Lesley came home and wanted to make a castle.  So, we gave it a whirl and I'd say it turned out pretty good for this non-artistic mommy!

We got out all the supplies, including paint.  I'm not afraid to let the girls paint, it just takes a level of patience I don't always have.  This night went pretty well...mostly (see photo of Leah below).

They first worked on the main part by using purple metallic paint.  Let me tell you, that box soaked up the paint!  I had to put more paint on the plate many, many times.

They, they worked on the top of the castle.  They insisted on blue, and Leah insisted on painting the inside even though I kept telling her it wasn't necessary (to waste the paint!).

She also had to stop for an applesauce snack...after painting her forehead.  Even if it wasn't a scheduled bath night, it become one soon enough.

She had to show off her finished product after adding ribbon, their names and some toilet paper spires.

I think she was doing a dance move which is why her hands are in motion.  This was the second night working on the project so her attire included her dance t-shirt and tutu.

I'm pretty proud of the ending project.  I can't decide if I should take a photo to show Miss Madison - don't want to brag to her or anything.  Afterall, she is the one spending all day with ~18 three and four year olds.  That's a feat that supercedes my castle making skills any day!

The last day of the month was another dress up day - They were encouraged to dress up as their favorite nursery rhyme characters, but we went with princesses.  Even Leah wanted to wear a tutu and crown.  Though, I think the crown ended up in her book bag before we even made it into the school door.

What a fun theme they had this month!  Next month is all about plants, animals, gardens, growing things, etc....can't wait to get started on that!

Luke's Baptism

We were lucky enough to get to attend Luke's baptism the weekend we celebrated the birthdays in KC.  Mass was great since the girls wanted to sit with Katie, Brad, and Tim. Jason and I could actually focus on the readings and the sermon the entire time!   That's a rare treat for sure. The actual baptism was after the service, and then we headed to Matt and Kim's house for lunch before driving back to Tulsa.  It was fun to be included in their special family event.

 

Aunt Denise shared these photos from her camera - I hope she doesn't mind me posting to the blog.  :)

 

Lesley with her Godmother.  Lesley sure had a lot of questions before, during and after the baptism.  Since we returned home, we have been looking through photos of her baptism over and over again.

 

The godparents picture - Tim is Luke's godfather.

 

I hadn't really held Luke that weekend - he's a popular fella! - but finally had a chance after lunch.  Leah saw me holding him and came running wanting me to put him down.  Everyone thought that was funny, but eventually had the girls asking us for a little brother.  Awesome.

 

Lesley had no hesitation holding Luke.  She actually said at one point when he was a little fussy, "I think he wants me to hold him."

Leah had to have a turn too.  Luke didn't look too thrilled, though he needed worry since I was close by ready to catch him if Leah jumped ship.

 

Another funny story is that I made a quick stop Friday to get a gift for Luke.  I grabbed a children's bible, opened it up, and thought it was perfect for babies.  Interactive, colorful, etc.  Apparently I missed the fact that it was PINK and said Bible Stories for GIRLS on the front and the binding.  As Matt opened the gift, I was telling Katie and Denise how great the stories were - so proud of my find...Matt held it up to Jason with a smile who quickly pointed out my mistake.  Oops.  At least Luke was able to keep the decorative cross while he patiently waits for me to exchange the book for the boy version.  Though I still think it's silly to have a boy and girl version when the stories are the same.  Why not a gender neutral yellow copy?!

Miss Manners

The girls were having a bit too much fun in the bathtub the other night so when I tried to settle them down after water went flying over the edge, Leah looked at me and said, "Go away Mommy."  I quickly told her that she needs to be nice to Mommy.  Her response, "Please go away Mommy."  At least she was polite, though that wasn't exactly what I had in mind for a change in attitude.

The photo is of one her recent tantrums.  My favorite is when she stops in her tracks, puts her fists up to her eyes and starts "crying".  So obviously fake you can't help but laugh!  Then, she really gets worked up.

I also love her messy, curly uncut hair.  Even if she got lots of her daddy's personality and body type, she certainly got my hair craziness.  I still can't figure out where Lesley got her straight hair though Aunt Denise it must be from Katie's genes who also doesn't have the Hoffmann curls.  My hair is only straight because I use a flat iron.  Though, Jason has said if he had hair, and if it were long, it would be curly too....so maybe I can't take complete credit for the curls.

Part VI {Birthday}

We went to the water park three times over the course of the weekend, but like most places that have water and active children, taking photos is not ideal.  But...I gave it a whirl on one trip and this is what we got.

The girls patiently waiting by the elevators to go down.  We realized that the original two princess rings that increased to three after the adventure to the cabin last year, now needs to be 4 rings.  Lyssa wanted one too!  Maybe not to swim with, but certainly to sit in and lounge.

The lazy river was quite busy, but we managed to sneak in a time or two when the traffic was manageable.  The water was pretty shallow and I actually wish it was deeper for the mommies.  There were a few places along the route where water squired out from the side, or dropped down like a shower.  The girls thought it was pretty funny when we'd purposely push them in the water's path.

There was this one dual slide in what was considered the baby/toddler section.  The two big girls were quick to figure out the route up the stairs and into the line to take their turn.  Leah was quite shy at first, and had a lot of stage fright when she'd get to the top.  Eventually she was braver but then we had problems with her waiting her turn.  I had to be that mom who constantly told her not to budge and apologize to the other parents who child was pushed out of the way at the top.

 

They cute when trying to hold hands, but the problem was that Lesley was faster than Leah on start so a few times when they wouldn't let go hands, Leah would end up spun around on her face.  Not so awesome...but she still loved it.

She eventually got to the point where we didn't need to catch her at the bottom and could balance herself on the dismount.

Our last trip the water was a lot quieter so she just pretty much went in circles up the stairs, down the slide, and over again.  It was nice to be able to sit back a little and not be so pushy to help.

I didn't really take the camera into the middle part where the big slides and the big bucket of water was.  Our first trip up into the maze resulted in the girls and I basically standing directly under the big bucket and getting drenched.  It was a lot of water for me, and it scared the girls.  Eventually Lesley got brave enough to go back up and it made her quicker to pick the one big(ger) slide she was willing to go down.

 

Leah did go back to try the yellow slide which did not get dumped on by the bucket.  She had to duck around the shower though, she really didn't like the water coming down on her face.

Our last trip around the lazy river before the park closed at 9pm ended up being about 10 times around.  Uncle Mike kept saying, "Lilly, the last trip around was supposed to be the last."  Oh well, it was their birthday and they were having so much fun.

 

 

We had two tired little girls that night.  The room didn't have a microwave so it was a pain convincing them they didn't need warm milk....but we overcame.  We REALLY need to break them of that habit.  I keep thinking they will just grow out of that, but so far it's not happening.

 

It was a fun, exhausting birthday weekend!  We are so thankful our families could be part of it, and that the girls are such good travelers.  After the last two birthday trips for Lesley and Lilly, we have set fairly high expectations.  Let's hope we can come up with a good idea next year.



Part V {Birthday}

I know the birthday posts are dragging on, but it's so much easier to load photos in smaller groups and write about certain events individually.

 

I was concerned about trying to have the actual birthday party at the hotel since I wasn't sure of the space we'd have.  And, inviting people to our actual hotel room would have been awkward - sitting on beds, cleaning up our clothes bags, the bathrooms, etc.  So, my mom, always thinking ahead, suggested we look for a pizza place to invite everyone.  Perfect!  And, we found the perfect place.  Minsky's in the City Market had a private room you can reserve for free that holds 30-35 people.  Everyone could order off the menu and it was segregated from the rest of the restaurant.  Could not have asked for a better place, and it turned out to be a good location too.

 

They said we could bring whatever cake, cookies, food, decorations, etc that we wanted.  We went pretty simple - some balloons that Aunt Denise and Katie graciously offered to pick up and the birthday sign from our fireplace.  My sister doesn't read my blog (SHAME!) and was quite impressed at the craftiness.  She was really shocked when I started telling her about the other signs I've made since last Fall.  Simple and cheap decorations!

The birthday girls were so excited to be the center of attention.  See their special birthday crowns Denise made for them.  Ha!  We made them wait until after we ordered food before opening gifts, then while we waited for the pizza and everyone was enjoying appetizers, they went to town with gifts.  They really are sweet and made sure they each had one to open at all times (with the help of the Mommies to try and prevent meltdowns).

I'm so glad we got this photo of all the girls AND cousin Luke (second cousin actually).  It's nice to see a boy in the photo from time to time.

More gifts!  I was happy that Jason's brother and wife, mom, and aunt, uncle and a few cousins could join the party.  Aunt Mo is about to have a baby - another girl cousin for my kids!  Imagine that!

 

The girls sat at the special birthday table to eat.  Grandma Nancy joined them for a bit - to encourage eating and less talking about presents and swimming.

One of their favorite gifts was a Lilly and Lesley book created by Grandma Nancy.  She's getting good at making photo scrapbooks and this was perfect!  Lesley is showing the front of the book and Lilly is showing the back of the book.  Lesley loves looking at the book Cousin Katie gave her after her flower girl experience, and I think one will get a lot of page turns in the years to come.  We'll have to suggest/request updates every few years for these special cousins.

Aunt  Aimee was in charge of the cake and she did not disappoint.  She ordered the cake from her local bakery that made their wedding cake and even ordered the same type of cake - white cake with raspberry filling.  So yummy!  She also got some cupcakes and then of course the princesses.  That was a specific request and an easy one to accomplish.

Lyssa also enjoyed the frosting.  I think she takes after Leah.

Leah was pretty much attached to either Cousin Katie or Papa Keith at the party.  She's his girl, that's for sure.

We even had a special visitor!  The old babysitter Chris stopped by!!!  Lesley ran over to her with a huge smile and big hug.  It was sweet to see.  Leah could have cared less, but oh well.  We had invited some friends and also our old neighbors but with it being Spring Break and just a busy month, no one could really come.  We had plenty of people though with the family and we certainly understand the scheduling conflicts.

 

After we were done eating and opening gifts, we cleaned up the room and walked around the Farmer's Market a bit.  It was a bit chilly, but we loaded up on fresh fruit and vegetables for that night and also for Luke's baptism lunch scheduled for the next day.  Back to the hotel for naps and eventually more swimming!

Part IV {Birthday}

Our plan for Saturday morning was to head to the hotel swimming pool to start the day.  The water park didn't open until 10am, but we needed to leave for our pizza party by 10:45-11:00 so thought that would be cutting it close if we tried to squeeze in the water park.  Plus, with my girls' sensitive swim, we wanted to be sure and rinse them off every time they were in the water so we'd need a little extra time for them to shower before heading to lunch.

 

The swimming pool worked out great!  It opened at 7am though we didn't get there until closer to 8am.  Jason ran to McDonald's to grab breakfast for everyone and met us in the pool area to eat.  I think it actually worked out better than trying to eat in the room since the pool area had actual tables and chairs whereas we would have been eating on the beds or the floor back in our hotel room.

 

This photo cracks me up.  Lesley is pulling her bottoms down, Lilly is brushing her hair with her new Tinkerbell purse AND still in her panties, and Leah is wearing a suit that was pretty big for her.  I bought a brand new Size 3T for her but she refused to wear it and wanted Lesley's 4T instead.  After the photo, I tightened her top some so she wasn't showing so much skin in the front.  Promise.

After we ate breakfast in the pool area, we swam for quite a while.  We had the pool to ourselves for a LONG time.  The water wasn't too warm, but it wasn't terribly cold either.  Jason didn't get in the pool but that worked out well so he could help the girls who needed to use the potty and not force the Mommies or Grandma Nancy to get out of the water.



 

That morning was one of my favorite parts of the weekend.  We weren't rushed, we had space to ourselves, the girls were in fantastic moods, and it was just relaxing not having to constantly try to keep track of you kid in the busyness of the water park with 800 million other kids and parents around.  I think I said a dozen times how we need to locate an Embassy Suites with just one water slide for the kids.  That would be ideal for our families!

Part III {Birthday}

After lunch we headed to the hotel, got checked in and Aimee and I took the three biggest girls swimming for a bit while Grandma Nancy, Lyssa and Jason rested.  We eventually headed back to the room so the big girls could nap before dinner.

 

Jason, the girls, and I managed to sneak away with Jason's mom for dinner Friday night.  Aimee, Grandma Nancy and her girls stayed at the hotel to swim again and just ordered something from the hotel restaurant.  They said the swimming area got busier and busier as more and more people checked into the hotel for the weekend.

 

It was Daddy's choice on where to eat since it was his birthday, but with it being a Friday during Lent the options were somewhat limited.  :)  We ended up at Red Lobster - like everyone else!  We had to wait for a bit, but Daddy enjoyed a few drinks at the bar while a space was clearing up.

 

Grandma Cheryl taught Lesley how to crack crab legs and dig the meat out.  Do you crack crab legs?  Is that the right description?  I don't even know.  I don't think she actually ate any of the crab, but she sure had fun using the utensils. 

We eventually headed back to the hotel where Aunt Denise, Uncle Mark, Katie and Brad had joined the group.  Papa Keith and Uncle Mike couldn't make it to the birthday celebrations until Saturday but the girls still had a ton of fun with the other special guests....especially because it involved opening some gifts.

Since Denise and Katie had quite a few smaller things in the gift bags, they decided to bring them over before the pizza party so we wouldn't have to worry about everything the next day. It worked out perfect.  Even Lyssa and Leah had a few surprises and were included with the birthday girls.

Denise had some pretty awesome gifts.  She knows exactly what makes the kids happy.

And Katie totally outdid herself when she found this John Wayne lunch box for Lilly.  I didn't get any good photos of her surprised smile when she pulled it out of the bag since she was facing the other way, but let's just say it made her day!

 

According to her Daddy, the John Wayne cardboard cut out still watches over her as she sleeps and when she goes to pick out kid movies to watch, John Wayne is always in the mix.

Aunt Jeanne even sent some gifts including these sunglasses.

Katie was reading Lesley books the night before and I noticed the stack were about birthdays.  I thought that was so sweet of Aunt Denise to separate out birthday books for Lesley to read while at her house.  Well, her favorite that night was Franklin's Birthday Party and it amazingly ended up in her gift bag from Denise.  Since Denise isn't teaching right now, her collection of kids' books at their house grew exponentially as she cleaned out her classroom and moved her personal items home.

The girls were wound up after opening their gifts so it was a bit difficult to get everyone to sleep.  Jason ended up in one bed with Lesley while Leah and I shared the other bed.  Aimee, Grandma, and her girls were in the adjourning room next to ours.  The arrangements worked out well.  We all had a pretty good night's sleep and were ready to go in the morning!  More celebrating!

Part II {Birthday}

Jason drove up with the girls Thursday night and met me at Aunt Denise and Uncle Mark's house. We decided to stay there that night, and squeeze in a trip to the ENT to get Leah's tubes checked the next morning - long over due!  We were also lucky that Brad and Katie were in town and staying at the Schieber Inn too.  More folks my girls don't get to see nearly enough.

 

We slept pretty good, had pancakes for breakfast, then packed up to head to the doctor. The doctor's office gets so confused about our new address and why we come to KS for a tube check. But, we like the Dr. and are thinking once the tubes fall out, hopefully we'll be past the stage when Leah gets ear infections with every cold and won't need an ENT anymore.  Just say a prayer and cross your fingers for us please.  The doctor thought we were there to get the tubes out and we quickly said "please no!" She has done remarkably well with the tubes and we keep thinking if she can last a little longer, we might be in the clear for future ear infections as her ears grow.   We did have to promise we'd either find an ENT in Tulsa, or we'd schedule visits to see him at least every 4 months instead of the 8-9 we'd been making it.

 

After a quick trip to get a baptism present, we stopped at Granny's new place to visit for a little bit.  Leah was adamant about not getting a photo, but Lesley snuggled up for a little bit.  She looks a little sad in the photo, but she was fine.  I can't remember if she pulled the "Emergency" cord before or after this photo, but those nurses are quick to check on the residents, that's for sure.

We are happy Granny seems to like her new place and it's working out well.  It's actually an old converted hotel that had suites so she has a one bedroom, with a little kitchen.  Seems like the perfect space for her right now.

After visiting Granny, we headed downtown to meet more special people - Aunt Aimee, Lilly, Lyssa, and Grandma Nancy.  They were able to come to town a bit early and we decided to meet at Harry's Country Club - an old favorite when I used to work downtown - for their Friday special, fish and chips.  I saw a few familiar waitresses from way back, though I'm not sure they recognized me with a few crazy, excited kids - that were hungry!  We did some damage on a few appetizers, fish, mac and cheese (which we ordered for the kids but they probably ate one bit each - it was so good!), fries, broccoli (Aimee's kids are weird and both of them LOVE that vegetable), and even a few adult beverages.  It was Jason's birthday afterall!

 

New on the menu was homemade chips with some French onion type dip.  Leah thought it was especially tasty!

 

We all agree that Jason's birthday will probably get overlooked for many years to come.  Based on the big girls' birthdays and spring break, we'll likely celebrate for the "princesses" around his birthday.  Thankfully he's a good sport and doesn't seem to mind.

And, the girls thought they'd pick out a yummy cupcake at the shop next door to Harry's.  I repeated over and over, we were only getting one cupcake for Daddy...you guessed it, we walked out with 4 cupcakes total.  So much for that one special thing just for Daddy!

But, Jason is such a GOOD sport!  He devoured his peanut butter chocolate cupcake in record time.  Partly because he said it was so tasty, and partly because the faster you eat, the less likely the girls are to ask for a bite - peanut butter is Daddy's favorite but he often has to forgo it due to our children's peanut issues.

Part I {Birthday}

Trying to get caught up, planning to split the photos into a few different posts.....I was working out of town last week so lost blogging time, and then we had a BIG weekend celebrating Lesley and Lilly's birthdays.

But back to the beginning...

I posted some pictures taken the morning of her birthday with her four year letter, but I wanted to add a few from the rest of the day.  She was over the top excited that her birthday was a dance day.  We let her pick some cookies to share with her dancing friends and I arranged for one of her dance buddies, Ady, to join us for dinner at Chick-fil-a after dance.  I knew her mom often stopped at Chick-fil-a on their way home from dance, so I thought that would be perfect to make it a little more special.  And, I've kind of been feeling guilty we weren't planning a friend party this year.

We had so much fun with Ady, her mom Amanda, and her little sister Kennedy.  We ate chicken strips, opened a great present they stopped to get between dance and the restaurant, and then Lesley, Leah, and Ady spent quite a bit of time playing with Daddy supervising.  It was awesome!  Amanda and I had lots of time to just chat - she's a working mom too (though with a slightly different schedule since she's an ER doctor that works a lot of night shifts).  It's amazing to hear how their family and marriage challenges are a lot like ours.  I am jealous that the grandparents are close and seem to help out a lot, but still, she feels guilty when she's working and yet still thinks about work when she's home with the kids.

And, I as so proud of Lesley when she opened the gift.  There was a set of 4 princess bracelets and she immediately wanted to open them up and give one to Ady, one to Leah, and one to Kennedy.  Amanda was impressed and asked "How do you get her to share so easily?  I can't even get Ady to give me something she colored as she insists everything is hers."

I have a feeling the Chick-fil-a dates are going to happen again.  At least I hope so!

Mommy with our FOUR year old!

After Chick-fil-a, we went home to open gifts.  I ended up getting her quite a few new shirts and not much else.  But thankfully, that's what she said she wanted.

She LOVED the "I am 4" shirt.  She had been wearing her 3 shirt over and over again since she knew it would need handed down soon.

She also loved the Jayhawk shirt.  She was outgrowing her old one so it was time for a replacement.  OSU and OU are big in our neck of the words, but Lesley is always quick to spot those few Jayhawks around.

I hadn't thought to take Leah to get a gift for Lesley like we did with Lesley on Leah's birthday.  Since I hadn't gotten any napkins for the cookies at dance, I quickly headed down the street to pick those up and thought Leah could pick something out for Big Sister.

Let me tell you, it did not go smoothly like Leah's birthday had.  I guess picking a gift out for your sister at age 2.5 is a lot different than at age 3.5.  Leah had a rough, rough day on Lesley's birthday.  Lots of tantrums, fits and tears....It's just so hard for a two year old to understand it's her sister's special day.

I did manage to grab a few letter and number books as Leah's gift to Lesley.  She had just finished her princess letter book so needed a replacement.

Probably the best gift - which was thrown together at the last minute - were these special "tickets" to go see Sesame Street.  We had bought the tickets several weeks ago, but hadn't told the girls.  Lesley must have seen a commercial or maybe some friends at school had been talking about it because all of a sudden last week she was asking to go see Sesame Street like we did in Kansas.  Since the show is only a few weeks away now, I thought it was okay to tell her about the tickets and I made four tickets on the computer to print out - one for each of us.  She is protecting those tickets like crazy!  And, we had picked out some new Sesame Street shirts at Target a few days before so I threw those in the gift bag too.

I'd say her birthday was a success!  I was sad to pack up and drive to Kansas late that night, but I needed to be in the office for a special task I am taking over.  There's a short window to complete it, so I was already cutting it close by refusing to drive up Sunday.  I told my team it was really important for me to be home on Lesley's birthday.  Thankfully they understood and were willing to spend extra time in the office with me Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights to meet the deadline.  It was a little overwhelming to try and pack the girls' bags before I left, hoping Jason remembered all the last minute things I put on his list.  He did pretty good, though he forgot the birthday shirt which was in the wash.  We had gotten one for Lilly and I wanted the girls to wear them for their pizza party.  Oh well!  We can hand down the shirt to Leah, and Lilly still has her birthday to celebrate on Saturday.