Demolition!

We've begun the demolition of our upstairs bathroom! (The "kids" bathroom...) Mark is doing it himself, and our goal is to have it done and be bathing the kids upstairs again before the baby arrives. The toilet, old wall-mounted sink, and old claw-foot tub are all in terrible need of being replaced. We also plan on putting in a tile floor during the process. Unfortunately, the claw-foot tub was not in good enough shape to justify the work of us trying to get it out of the house and sell it, so it was smashed! (and smashed, and smashed... What a job for Mark!) We'll keep you updated as we get it done!

What a mess to clean up!

Lincoln is amazed with the process and all of the tools! Here he's waving the water lines from the sink!

First Tea Party!

Isabella hosted her first ever tea party following her graduation last Thursday! Guests included Lincoln and Bear, and contrary to what you all may be thinking, Lincoln was quite the gentleman and really enjoyed it! :) The menu consisted of a chicken leg, cereal, corn on the cob, and a taco~Yummy! (Isabella received her Cinderella tea set as her graduation gift, and plays with it ALL of the time now! Best $12.00 I've ever spent!)

Isabella Graduated!

It's hard to believe, but Isabella had her last day of school last Tuesday and her first graduation ceremony on Thursday! (The ceremony was held at a local park for the ceremony, family picnic, and bounce houses and was a balmy 45 degrees!) This year just flew by, and it seems like just yesterday that I was crying after we dropped her off at her first day at Gloria Dei in September. She really loved her class, teachers, and going to school this year, and it's unbelievable how much she has learned and grown! She'll miss going in the summer, but will be back next year in the 4's class with almost all of her same classmates. (And going to VBS in June...) Here are a few pictures of her last day on Tuesday and of the ceremony!

We took her picture here on the first day of school too.

All smiles being dropped off!

Singing her "It's graduation day" song! (Don't you love their caps!?)

Getting her diploma and a hug from her teacher Mrs. Hartman.

Proud Daddy following her with the video camera! :)

Enjoying a nice evening...

This is just a picture that was taken earlier in the week of the kids and me enjoying the nice weather before bath and bed. We had a picnic on the deck after Mark grilled, and then Daddy surprised the kids with special decorated flower and baseball sugar cookies that he had picked up at the bakery. I think we'll end up spending a lot of time and having a lot of picnics on the deck this year!

Lincoln is TWO!!

* Happy 2nd Birthday, Lincoln! *

Well, (sniff, sniff) it seems like just yesterday that Lincoln was tiny and unable to get into trouble! (bigger sniff, sniff) Now, suddenly he's two and learning new words and phrases, new ways to play, and more ways to test me and push my buttons everyday. (I've definitely come to believe that boys truly are much different than girls...) Lincoln obviously keeps us on our toes, but like I said before, his love and cuddles far outweigh his naughty side. Just when I think I can't love him anymore, though, he gives me one of his giant neck-squeezing hugs or carries his "Doggy" into our room in the morning to crawl into bed with me and snuggle. Then, even if bittersweet, I'm truly glad that my "Little Man" is grown enough to show his Mommy so much love! :)

Anyways... Here are some pictures from his party last Saturday! He didn't really have a proper first birthday last year, so we wanted it to be special for him this year. Lincoln decided that he wanted a "Bob the Builder" (Baahbduhbilder) theme over Curious George months ago. (Which we now know was the right decision. While he likes George, he LOVES Bob!) It turned out to be a gorgeous day sandwiched by rainy days, so we are still so thankful for that! The kids had a great time playing outside, and everybody in general was able to enjoy the weather and hang out on the deck. We had a great day! :)

Birthday Boy digging in the stones!

Isabella & Ella strike a pose while taking a quick play break.

Trying out his new Buckeye chair!

Lincoln got a Bob the Builder potty seat and underpants too.

(He used the seat to wee-wee on the potty for the first time the next day!)

Ready for dessert!

Lincoln loved when we sang "Happy Birthday" to him.

Yay!! He did GREAT blowing out the candles!

Miss Abigail...

Mmmm... Lincoln digging into his cake and "dump truck dirt" on the new picnic table!

Preschool Mother's Tea

Today was the Mother's Tea at Isabella's preschool! The tables were set so nicely with place settings, Isabella's bag of special projects, poems, and pictures for me, a special plate that she made with Daddy at preschool Dad's Night, and food. (Cheese and butterfly crackers, fresh fruit, goldfish crackers, and mini blueberry muffins that the kids made at school on Tuesday.)

Mrs. Collins the director first said a few words and then the kids came in to do their program. Of course I started crying right away and continued to do so through all of the songs! :) Bella did such a GREAT job with the songs! I could hear her loud and clear, and she remembered all of the motions. They performed "Jesus Loves Me" with sign language and three songs about mommies too! It was so cute! I'll never forgive myself for forgetting my camera... :( (We did get our picture taken, though, so I'll have to post it when I get it.)

Here are a couple of quotes from some of Isabella's special papers...

Q) I love my Mom because...
A) She sprays my hair!

Q) What does she (Mom) do?
A) She lets me play in the bath.

Q) Where does she like to take you for fun?
A) McDonalds! (Ha, Ha!)

Isabella's recipe from their class cookbook~ Macaroni & Cheese
She stoves it, mixes cheese, and then we eat it! (She's making me out to be quite the cook with the last two, huh!?)

Here is the picture that I promised to post when I got it. It came home the last week of school in a pretty pink frame! :)

6-Month Pictures

Well, here are my 6-month (24 weeks) pictures. Yes, there is only one baby in there! I have no idea why my tummy is this big already... Baby measured normal on the ultrasound, but after today, I've nicknamed him/her "sumo-baby"! I'm still completely comfortable, so that's great. Just start praying that this baby isn't a record-breaker! :)

A few recent pictures of Isabella...

We've started helping Isabella with her very own gardening projects in her play area. We planted two planters of pansies right away, and here she is with the finished products! She is also tending seven strawberry plants planted around the perimeter of the sandbox. She's already eaten one!

Just showing one of her best serious/sassy faces!

Here's Bella posing with her tree. She calls it her "princess tree", since it has the white flowers! She was so excited about it, and we took many pictures with her and it. (This tree was planted when she was 14 mo. old.)

Another with her tree, but giving the "thumbs up" sign now. That's her new thing. She's always doing it, and it just cracks us up!

A few recent pictures of Lincoln...

Lincoln is Daddy's little mower buddy! He is still fanatic about the mower this year. And, yes... Mark's just as excited as the kids about spring! :)

This is yesterday after a rainstorm. I let the kids go out and play and splash in the puddles in the mulch and sandbox. Lincoln had great fun for a while, but then was quite distraught over how dirty he was. (It really bothers him to get his hands muddy or messy sometimes.)

You can't tell too well from the picture, but he was covered in wet sand! We went right down for an early bath before dinner!

And here is our little climber... I was working in the front den a couple of weeks ago and heard some suspicious Lincoln noises. This is what I found when I came into the kitchen! Naughty pants!

Well, here goes!!

This is my first post on my blog ever! Please stay with me as this is all new to me and I'm just learning... I promise it won't be too bad! :)

Well, after a long winter of being cooped up in the house, it feels like heaven to be out and about and to actually wear SHORTS and T-SHIRTS!! The last couple of days have been extremely rainy with some storms (and lots of flooding in the yard, garden, and play area...), but we had wonderful weather all last week. We've been working outside a lot to get the yard ready for Lincoln's party and just plain presentable for the summer. I'll post some pictures tomorrow of the kids enjoying the last week or so.