Day 175

And, we're off! We left this afternoon around 2pm to start our first part of our trip. We drove to Wausau and met Marcie, Jax, Jayden and Jamis at Marathon Park. The last time we saw each other was when Jax and Ella were about 10.5 months old. I missed Marcie and was so happy to meet her two littlest ones! The kids all played so well together and Marcie and I got a chance to catch up. We had a picnic at the park and finally said our goodbyes around 6:45pm. We headed to Ronnie & Clarice's house to spend the night there, but not without a stop to Briq's on our way there. We settled in at Ronnie & Clarice's and the girls had a blast with their dog, Lizzie.

Day 174

What a day! This morning we went to a rummage sale and came home with 2 Gymboree dresses/tunic and a large salon playset for $4.50. That was the upside. The downside was that as I attempted to pack, the girls manages to undo ten things for every one thing I accomplished. It was one thing after another! Muddy footprints and wads of wet kleenex all over the bathroom, a certain big girl opening the front door and letting a certain little girl out the door without telling mommy (thankfully I walked into the living room a few seconds after Ella let Claire outside), unpacking some newly packed suitcases and the topper of it all...Ella spilling an entire box of spaghetti noodles all over the kitchen floor. We ate supper and then I left for a little breather.

However, I constantly remind my self to be thankful for days like these. There are so many parents who WISH their child could drive them a little crazy. Parents who wish their biggest inconvenience was to clean up broken noodles. Parents who wish their child healthy enough go on a vacation. Parents who wish their child was able to play outside and come back inside with dirty little feet. I may get upset when things get derailed, but I also thank God that my girls are healthy enough to get into things and be "typical" kids. I do believe God gives me days like this to remind me to be thankful.

Day 173

Fun little indulgence :-)

Day 172

Ella & Claire helped make the spinach & feta pizza we had for supper tonight. Well, Claire just licked sauce off the unbaked crust. And Ella learned the hard way that you shouldn't touch your eyes if you're putting onion on a pizza. Poor kiddo! She recovered pretty quickly though and was back at helping in no time.

Today's side story: Ella & Claire were playing with Barbies and Claire grabbed the Ken doll. Ella yelled, "No, Claire! That's my man." Oh boy, I hope that's not a glimpse into the future!

Day 171

My latest project :-)

Day 170

Happy Father's Day to two of the greatest men I know...my dad & Jeremy!

We let Jeremy sleep in this morning and made him cinnamon rolls for breakfast. The sermon at church this morning talked about how big of an influence fathers really have in their children's lives. It was a great sermon. After church we met dad, Wes & Heather at Crystal Falls in New London for brunch. Brunch was followed by a visit to Wes & Heather's house to visit Ruger. Ella & Claire love Ruger and were very sad about his owie. The rest of the day was pretty quiet, but it was nice to just be home with no plans for once.

Claire story: Whenever we take the girls up for communion, the Pastor always gives a blessing and touches them on the head. I was holding Claire and when we got to the communion rail she pointed to the vicar and then kept pointing to her head. When the vicar came around to give out the bread, she repeated her pointing to the vicar and then to her head. I couldn't believe she remembered that part of communion and she was so adamant that she get her blessing!

Day 169

Happy 6th Anniversary to my husband, my best friend! We've been together for almost 11 years (w0w) total. Sometimes it seems like time has flown so fast, yet it feels like Jeremy has always been a part of my life.

Colleen came to watch the girls today so we could celebrate. We went to a matinee showing of Bridesmaids, which was hilarious! We both really enjoyed the movie, and this was the first movie we've been to together since seeing The Simpsons Movie a week or so before I had Ella. After the movie we ran a couple errands and then ate at Serious Burger. It was a very fun anniversary date. We got home in time to feed the girls supper, play for a bit and put them to bed so we could relax with a glass of wine (drank from our wedding glasses) and another movie.

Ella kept asking who was going to take her to our anniversary. I had no idea what she was talking about at first, then realized the only reference she really has to "anniversary" is the party we had for Grandma & Grandpa Newby's 60th anniversary. I explained to her that we weren't having a party, but she could plan one for us in about 19 years :-)

Day 168

TGIF! This morning we walked to the park with our Tuesday morning playgroup. Whew, much hotter than I thought it was. We got back home just in time for nap and Jeremy came home around 1:30pm. I took off to get a hair cut and do our grocery shopping. Home just in time to eat an early supper and head off to the Building for Kids. They had a members only night to preview the new exhibit...Once Upon a Fairytale. It was fantastic! Belle, Cinderella and Prince Charming were there to greet us. There were lots of different crafts and fairytale themed food. The exhibit was so much fun! Great family night out!

Day 167

We ran some errands this morning to take care of some crafty projects I've been wanting to work on. Our stops also included a trip to the Dollar Store. Ella had some money she wanted to spend and she chose some hair extension. Very stunning! The rest of the day was spent lounging around at home and ended with Ella and I going on a short walk.

Ps. Ella discovered Angry Birds on my phone. It is hilarious to watch her play! She keeps sling shooting the birds in the wrong direction and laughing hysterically about it. On the rare occasion she does hit something, Claire will say "uh oh, broke".

Day 166

Claire's favorite...ice cream!

Day 165

Playdate at our house this morning, followed by naps and a trip to Best Buy to get a new phone for me. For the past couple days my old phone was slowly disintegrating until today, in the Best Buy parking lot, the top and bottom of the flip phone separated until the two pieces were connected only by a wire. Finally upgraded to an android! Jeremy took the girls home and I met with Sherry for the official handover of the chairperson position. I am not sure I know what I got myself into! It'll be a lot of responsibility for sure!

Day 164

We spent most of today outside. This morning we walked to the park and ate a picnic lunch there. This afternoon we put on suits and played outside. A pretty ideal summer day!

Day 163

We began our day bright and early and by 9:30am had already had breakfast, gotten dressed and packed up, played, visited Grandma & Grandpa Newby and were on our way home. Whew! I compensated by not doing much the rest of the day though. Jeremy took Ella to the birthday party she was invited to at Chuck E Cheese and Claire and I went grocery shopping. Feeling super guilty that I didn't clean the house or get out and get some exercise. Guess it's not going to stop me from having some ice cream while watching The Dilemma with my husband (who I feel like I haven't seen much this past week)!

Day 162

Jeremy had Eric's bachelor party all day/evening, so the girls and I packed up and headed out for some visiting. First stop was Grandma Jump & Papa Smith's. Next we went to Grandma Brandl's, in hopes Claire would nap there. No such luck, so we headed over to visit Granny & Great Papa. Often when we visit there you will find Ella & Granny in conversation, just the two of them. We headed back to Grandma Brandl's for dinner, then walked up to see Grandma & Grandpa Newby's pigs and take Uncle Carl the picture I took of him. Claire had a little run-in with Tipsy the cat (Tipsy swatted at Claire and caught her in the sleeve). Claire cried for a few minutes and when I put her back down she saw Tipsy again and continued to follow Tipsy around and say "hi kitty" over and over. Apparently Claire is quick to forgive and forget! Both girls also liked Bo, a sweet old golden retriever. Lots of visiting, so both girls went to bed without a peep and then mom and I spent the next few hours working on Alisha's baby shower stuff.

Day 161

Ella & Claire really can get along when they want to. They played doctor for quite a while Friday night without any fighting. Though Claire seemed to really enjoy giving Ella her shots.

Day 160

We're attempting to grow some strawberries!

Day 159

Happy 30th Birthday Jeremy!

By the time Jeremy woke up we had decorated the dining room and made monkey bread for breakfast. Jeremy opened his gifts- chosen specially by the girls. Last week I took them to the Dollar Tree and let them pick out their gifts for Daddy. Ella was very thoughtful about choosing and ended up getting him a foam sword, a flashlight and a tiger in a cage that grows when you add water. Claire chose a polyresin cat. After breakfast Jeremy & Doug went golfing then we met up with Larry, Colleen and Heather at Stevi B's for dinner. I think Ella enjoyed it the most. We had made cupcakes (with peanut butter frosting), so everyone came back to our house for cupcakes and ice cream.

Day 158

We began our morning early...and with extreme crabbiness...this morning. Thankfully by the time our playdate at Maddy's rolled around we were in better moods. Grandma Brandl was here when the girls woke up from nap and I took advantage of that to run a few errands. This evening Doug, Sara, Jeremy & I went to the Timber Rattler game. My first experience and we had a great time. Not that we really watched much of the game. Definitely spent more time socializing!

Day 157

After a busy weekend, we spent today running a couple errands this morning, had a picnic lunch outside and spent the rest of the day hibernating in the a/c.

Day 156

Late, late night! We started out at Red Robin for dinner. The Brandts, Hoffmans, Abuhls, Cross' and Wes & Heather ate with us. Afterwards everyone except the Abuhls headed to Sliders in Menasha. Good, good times (virgin Miami Vice, dance moves- especially the fish, Sara's retelling of Jeremy being "chased" in the yard, gray shirt guy). By midnight it was down to us, the Hoffmans and Wes & Heather. We ended up staying out until 1:45am.

It was rough getting up this morning, even though once I got Claire up at 6:45am I was able to go back to sleep until 8:30am. Thanks to Colleen for watching Ella & Claire. We took it easy this morning, then after naps we picked up some flowers/plants at Steins and spent the rest of the afternoon outside. Playing in the water, washing cars (the Avalon and the cozy coupe!), chalking, playing catch. We even did supper outside. And this Ella story is copied from my Facebook status for today:

Jeremy just told Ella to ask me if we could go eat at McDonalds. I told Ella I wasn't really in the mood for McDonalds. She leaned over and whispered to me, "Well, you can stay home then".

Day 155

Jenny, Ryan & Carter came to visit us this afternoon and do a little cookout. Ella had a blast playing with Carter. It's so fun to watch MY childhood friend's little one and my little one play together. The Solbergs left around 2pm, so we put the girls down for a (short) nap. Tonight we're going out to celebrate Jeremy turning 30!

Day 154

Ella & Claire slept until 7:40am today...amazing! Once we got up and moving around we headed over to the Ring's for some outdoor water play. Claire really loves Sam and Sam knows Claire drops lots of food, so Sam loves Claire, too! Jeremy came home early today (yay summer hours!), so I took off for some rummaging and grocery shopping. We went for a wagon ride after dinner and ended our day with baths. While Ella was playing in the bath with her two Barbies, one Barbie asked another "Where does your father live?". Her other Barbie responded, "He arts in Heaven". Love it!

Ps. Ella calls a lawn mower a "mow lawn".

Day 153

This morning we met up with the other council members at church to set up the MMC for tonight's 4K graduation. Ella played nonstop with Greggory, it was so cute. Kristin said Gregg chose to invite the other 2 boys from preschool and Ella to his birthday party. Anyways, we spent the rest of the day at home and played outside for a while. This evening I helped with the food and clean up at the graduation ceremony. It was precious to see the kids in their little caps and gowns with their flower boutineers! It does make me a little sad to think of Ella's turn next year though. Time is going so fast!

Ps. The baby birds are getting much bigger!

Day 152

Home-made popsicles!

Day 151

Our weekly playdate was at the Abuhl's house today and Claire threw a MONSTER of a fit while we were there. One of these days I think I'll video tape her tantrum and show it to her when she complains about her own kids! This afternoon Ella was begging to swim, so we put on our suits and filled up the pool. It was a little chilly, but they still had a great time splashing around. After dinner we went for a walk and when we got home we found out a good portion of Greenville had lost power. It was off for about two hours, enough for me to realize how much we take electricity for granted!

Ella story: While we were on our walk we heard sirens in the distance. Ella looked at us with a serious face and said "The cops are coming. Go faster!" Where oh where did she learn that?