Perfect Day for..............

Today is a perfect day for....... flying a kite! It is so windy and warmer today so I told Brandt we would finally try to go fly his kite that he got for Easter.  Let me tell you, it worked out great today!

It's a Batman kite

Brandt holding onto it for life

I promise it wasn't that close to the power line even though it looks like that

The wind was perfect today for it

This morning Alivia thought she needed to wear her hat for breakfast.....

She really is a hoot!

And just for fun here are some pictures from yesterday...

Alivia waiting for Brandt to get out of Preschool

Cheese...

Bored and being silly waiting for Brandt

We are going to enjoy the warmer day today even though it's windy. Have a happy Friday! 

Till next time......

Swimsuit Models

The other day when I told you Alivia and I went shopping, I picked up the kids some new swimsuits. So, I made the kids model them for me:)

Here they are......

I got them at Old Navy, they always have good prices:)

I LOVE the bow on Alivia's

Brandt's has a shark on his

I can't resist taking a picture of Alivia's cute back in a halter top

If Brandt keeps up on his abs like this, maybe some day he will be on the front of a magazine cover(lol). I am just teasing but boy does he have a nice waist:)

I heard that Clear Lake has had quite a bit of rain and is filling back up.. YAY to us, this just puts me in the mood for Summer...

Are all of you ready for Summer? Do you go on any fun vacations or a lake during the Summer?

I have to share the cute outfit I got Alivia at the Baby Gap the other day shopping too, she wore it to Church yesterday....

I got her the jacket and the jean skirt, isn't it adorable?

She had the boots already, they went with this outfit great!

Alivia lets me curl her hair, what a BIG girl, she loves to be "worked on" by her Momma

Hope you are having a great Monday.. maybe since the kids tried on their swimsuits today it will bring on Summer sooner? We can only hope.....

Till next time........

Girl's Day Out!

Yesterday Alivia and I had a fun Girl's day out. I took Alivia shopping with me to Jordan Creek Mall. It has been awhile since I have shopped at that Mall since it's an hour and half away, so I thought yesterday was a good day to go, to keep my mind off all the hurt in the world right now too. 

On a side note I am praying for all the families in Boston, and I am so relieved that they caught the 2nd bomber, what a scary thing for all them in Boston, I continue to pray for all of them and their families and hope nothing else bad happens.

Back to shopping, what a trooper Alivia was for me. Not once did she cry or complain about being in her stroller, she just kicked back and enjoyed the ride, ha ha! 

Here are some pictures from our Mommy and Daughter Day......

Right before we left

Side profile shot

Mommy and Alivia trying to take a picture of ourselves.. lol

Eating some Chick-fil-A for lunch

She thought she would share her french fry with her baby(cute)

Happy Girl

She is FUN:)

Trying on some new shoes, taking a break

So proud of her new keens.. she wanted to wear them

(wish they had those colors in my size, they are adorable)

Overall we had a great day! It's always fun to get away and shop. Now if I can just convince Brandt to have a day with me:)

(It's kinda hard, Daddy always seems to win him over with the semi and being around the farm).

Till next time......

Rain Boots

Today in Iowa it is a gloomy, raining day! I bought some rain boots this past winter and have been wanting to wear them for so long, today is the perfect day for them.

Here they are....

I just love the FUN design and the black and white to them... aren't they fun?

I am hoping all this rain starts to fill in Clear Lake.  Clear Lake is the lake we always go to in the Summer, my parents have a house there and it's so fun! Last year it got really really low, so low that my Dad had to take his pontoon boat off his lift and store it somewhere else. We are really hoping this rain we are getting for a week or more is helping the lake so we won't have to worry about that this Summer:) Come on rain.............

Here is my Dad enjoying his deck last summer at the lake!

You always know we are at the lake when the flag is out:)

Here is the view they have from their deck.. this dock is where my Dad keeps his boat

Here are the kids on the 4th of July last year at the lake (WOW, they have grown so much from this picture)

On this rainy day I am going to pretend that we are at the lake on the pontoon singing this song.........

Till next time........

Pretties

It's fun having a little girl because you get to paint her fingernails and toenails along with your own:) I painted Alivia's tonight, she is so good about sitting still for me and helping me blow on them so they dry FAST. I always use a hair dryer too so the process goes faster considering she is only 1 1/2 years old. After about an hour later Alivia still walks around like she can't touch anything, she wouldn't want to smudge a nail(so cute)! She is for SURE my girly girl and I couldn't be more thrilled!!!

Here are her pretties......

Daddy helped hold her hands still for the picture:) So pretty...

It is also fun to have a little boy too, because then when I ask him to help me with something he is ALWAYS willing to help me.....

Here Brandt is blow drying Alivia's hair.. isn't he an excellent big brother?

These are the moments I will forever cherish:)

What a big brother!

(Brett said "I hope he isn't doing hair when he is older", lol

I said "NO, he likes farming too much!")

Brandt always jumps up to help me at all times, no matter what it is, pretty much anything:)

That is what consisted of our night.... Hope you all have a great rest of the night!

Till next time.....

The things you do for your kids

Tonight I took the kids swimming at the local gym I do Zumba at. I have never really taken the kids swimming in the winter time, I usually save it all for Summer, but tonight the kids and I were in the mood to swim. So, let me tell you, it's always MORE work fiddling with the kids than actually swimming lol! When we got to the pool area, I had to get the kids undressed from their coats down to their swimsuits and Alivia's swim diaper. I proceeded to throw everything and all of our belongings into a locker or two, grabbed the rafts, and headed out to the pool. We got into the pool with the rafts and had a great time swimming. We stayed swimming in the pool for about an hour(that was the fun and easy part) and then decided to head out. We headed back to the locker room and the "fun" began there. Brandt and Alivia were freezing when they got out so we took warm showers, followed by a warm shower I realized I had only brought one towel and looked all over for a towel in the locker room.... none.... so we all got to dry off with only one towel:) As I was trying to get myself dressed and help Brandt, Alivia was wondering around checking everything out, you know, getting into stuff, ugh. After we all got dressed we headed out to get our shoes on and just as Alivia was running out of the locker room she steps in a huge puddle of water with her socks on, nice! So, off came the socks and she had to wear her tennis shoes home without socks, lol. After all of the commotion in the locker room, this is when I start asking myself this question in my head.... Do you think the kids are going to remember this and appreciate what you use to do for them? Then I quickly answered to myself and said YES, of course! Even if Brandt and Alivia don't remember it, they had fun and so did I, but darn I wish we could have taken some pictures for proof later on:) Oh well, it's the memory in my head that counts:) 


Here's a little thought that goes along with my post...  It's not always about the things you do for your kids but spending time with them is what counts:) It's not about me taking the kids to the pool but about me spending that quality time with them playing!


Till next time......

Fish

Brandt has had a fish tank in his room for about a year now and loves it. We have had some fish in it and some have died, but the biggest fish we have in it is an Angelfish, we bought it small but it has gotten so big in my 5 gallon tank that it barely has room anymore. We also have a little fish with it and a sucker fish, the sucker fish had gotten pretty big also. The other day I decided that we need to do something different because the Angelfish needs more room to move and my little fish is scared to death with the Angelfish in the tank, the little fish always hides in the corner and doesn't swim around. I decided to call the fish store, in Eldora and see if he could take my fish back from me and we could get some more. Sure enough he said he would exchange out the sucker fish for a smaller one for me and he would also take the Angelfish from me so it can go to a bigger tank and be back with his buddies in the store, or get a new home:) I was so excited that he was going to help me out, what a great fish store!

Today, I dropped Brandt off at preschool and Alivia and I went on our way to Eldora to get some more fish and give him our too big Angelfish and sucker fish back. On my way there I was thinking I should have called to check the hours of the store just in case they weren't open.  Sure enough I get to Eldora and the place is closed until noon, and it was 9:30 in the morning(lol). So I called Grandma Vicki(she lives in Eldora) and we went over there and decided to wait until noon.  Alivia had fun playing at Grandma Vicki's:)  I called my Mom to have her pick up Brandt from preschool since I wasn't going to make it back in time, he loves when someone else picks him up besides Mommy:) My Mom and Brandt had a nice little lunch date at Subway today, just the two of them:) Grandma Vicki, Alivia, and I had a nice little lunch date at Pizza Ranch in Eldora, just the three of us, so it all worked out.

After we had lunch at Pizza Ranch, the fish store was finally open and I went and got some more fish and gave him my very huge Angelfish. I might add I had a little sentimental talk with my Angelfish and told him how much I appreciated him in my life but he was just too big for my tank anymore and I didn't want to get a bigger tank, I also told him that he would be happier with his buddies again, ha ha! Anyways, if you ever need a fish I recommend going to Eldora, (Wet Pet Outlet) if you live close by, he is very knowledgeable in that store and he can answer any question thoroughly, I must say I know a lot more about fish than I could ever imagine:) After looking around I decided on 6 fish, yes 6 fun little bright fish! Brandt specifically wanted a Hawkeye colored fish, so I got one of those, I have another good size orange one,  a smaller orange one with a black fin, 2 pink neon fish, and 1 yellow/greenish neon fish, and of course my grayish silver one from before. I was so excited to come home and show Brandt the fun colored fish I picked up today.  When I got home and Brandt saw the fish he was thrilled, of course, his favorite is the Hawkeye one:) Here is the crazy and interesting part, the minute I put the new fish into my tank with the other little one I previously had, my fish that always hid from the Angelfish perked right up and started swimming around with the other fish and was completely a new fish:) I was so happy and relieved that he was back to normal. I kinda feel guilty too keeping the Angelfish that long, realizing that the little one was suffering:( All in all it made me feel better that I made the right choice and am happy I got some new little fish for the little guy!

So after a long morning and early afternoon we came home and ALL of us took naps:)

Here are our NEW fish........

Aren't they pretty? I really like the neon bright color fish:) 

Till next time.......

TGIF!

Thank Goodness it's Friday!:)  We are having a "fun" Friday so far. Daddy came home for lunch and is having a blast! 

Last year I wanted a moped to drive around the farm and have fun with.  I had found one close to us to buy and asked Brett about it, and he thought it was a silly idea.  After a few days of convincing he said it would be ok, and then told me it can be your anniversary present, ha.  We got the moped around the end of October last year so we could only drive it for a month or so before it got too cold, but boy is it a BLAST!  Brett laughed at me so hard when I would ride it.. but look who is laughing now:)


He will NEVER admit how much fun he really has on it.. but here is proof:)

Bella loves to chase the moped:)

Having a blast.. what a little kid, ha ha!

(P.S. Brett is really crazy on that thing)

Look who wants to go outside too, ha ha!

Today before lunch Alivia said a little prayer, melted my heart, I'm so happy and thankful that she thinks praying for a meal is just as important to her as it is to us. 

Last night we went to my Mom and Dad's to celebrate my Mom's(GiGi's) Birthday!  I prepared some ham balls, mashed potatoes, and carrot cake for our meal for all of us. 

Here are some pictures from last night....... 

Here are the ham balls and mashed potatoes, it was delicious!

Here is the fun cake we made GiGi

(I know it's not fancy, but we don't need fancy, ha)

Brandt likes to bird watch at my Mom and Dad's (lol)

They have a bird book so he picks out the bird he is looking for first and then he goes and looks for it.

Here are the kids and GiGi singing Happy Birthday!

And the celebration continues tonight... we are going out to eat at a nice restaurant tonight with my parents and brother for more Birthday celebration, this time without the kids, kind of a break for all of us(wink).

Mom if you are reading this, which I am sure you are, you used to say I have a Birthday "month" but I am starting to think you have one more than I do now, ha ha!  

Have a great Friday!

Till next time......

Easter Fun!

Hope you all had a good Easter this past weekend, we enjoyed our day. First we had the kids wake up and find Easter eggs all around the house, they had a blast doing it.  After they collected the eggs and looked in their own Easter baskets, we got ready to go to Church.  


Here are some photos from Easter morning at our house.....

Alivia ready to collect eggs

She caught on real quick

Brandt getting in on the action too

Brandt got a kite he asked for, he was SO excited when he got it

Enjoying the Easter baskets

All dressed up for Church

After Church we went over to my Mom and Dad's for dinner.

Mom snapped a picture of us, surprisingly it turned out good on the 1st take(that never happens, ha)

After my Mom and Dad's we went down to my in-laws for more Easter festivities.

Doing more Easter egg hunting

(action shot)

Cousins Marie and Brandt... another peeking cousin in the background Barrett:)

Alivia searching for some eggs

Brandt reaching high for an egg

My little climber

Cheese

She was happy with just a few eggs and some candy

Overall we had a busy, great Easter with both sides of the family. It's so nice to live close to both my parents and Brett's parents so we can share the holidays with both.

Hope your Easter was just as great!

Meanwhile I will try to stay out of this.............

I would say the kids did well with the candy:)

Till next time........