Grandparents Day

The next of the "Special" days at Karys' preschool was Grandparent's Day. This year Papa Jeff and Grandma Doreen were Karys' special guests and were able to come and spend the morning with her and then share lunch together at the Pizza Ranch before heading back home. Their morning started in a similar fashion with songs and rhymes sung especially for grandparents!Then it was time for a craft! Karys was eager to teach/tell them all what to do and how to do it ;)She and Grandma worked on getting everything stuck down in just the right spotPapa chatted with Addy and spent some time having Karys tell him all about the classroom and what she does thereAll three with the finished product! A cross with different color jelly beans on it to remember the gift of salvation!Then it was time for a game and a snack! Karys eagerly served them and they settled in to play some Chutes and Ladders.After the game, they headed over to cozy in for a good read. Papa read a book about a silly, tooth fairy...He was asking Karys questions throughout and I just love the look on his face here as she looks up at him!After Papa was finished reading, it was Karys' turn to grab a book and read to them. She loves to just look at the pictures and make up the stories! She is starting to catch on to a few words here and there as well...I can see a lot of reading in this girls future!Grabbed a picture of some artwork hanging on the wall above them as they read. The blue picture in the bottom left is Karys'...she drew a blueberry. She doesn't really love blueberries but blue is definitely her favorite color!Finally, before it was time to go...Karys showed Papa and Grandma her "chrysalis"...soon a butterfly will be coming out of this!!!Karys was so excited and proud to share the day with them! THANKS SO MUCH to both for making the trip and taking time out of their schedules to make a little girls day so very special!!!
Quick picture with her friend, Amaya, before heading out to the Pizza Ranch!

All By Myself

One Sunday morning, we were all getting ready for church. I was sitting at the kitchen table doing something and Gracie came bounding in with pride! "Mommy, Mommy!!! I put a pony tail in my hair ALL BY MYSELF!"As you can tell from the picture, she was SOO proud and beaming with joy and pride! It really looked pretty good too ;) Not a lot of bumps and she even wet down the top to get the frizzies to lie down...this reminded me so much of the early days of doing my own hair! Wetting it down--or slicking the front down as my mom would call it ;)She was even more excited to announce to me that it wasn't just any ole pony either...it was a flip pony!
My little girl is growing up so fast and loving every minute of it...it is moments like these that I am a proud mama--but I almost grieve how fast time sweeps her off and continues to carry her down life's path of growth and journey.

We Got a Package!!! Happy Spring :)

The girls were so excited to get a "Happy Spring!" package from the VerWys' family in California! They each got a fun, spring dress and one of these head bands. They had so much fun playing with them on and chasing each other around the house ;) Karys had just been learning about butterflies in school and she and Gracie remembered that butterflies eat with their tongues--therefore, the two little butterflies had fun chasing the flower around the kitchen!Addy loved being chased! Look at how serious she was about escaping the butterflies ;)Karys crossed over at one point to protect Addy...And Addy managed to successfully get away!All this running...this flower needs to be watered ;)
Thank you Ryan, Rachel and boys for a GREAT spring gift...provided lots of laughs and smiles for one evening!

Donuts with Dad

I obviously was not invited to this event ;) But was able to get some pictures from the preschool teachers! Karys woke up the morning of "Donuts with Dad" and said to Rob, "Daddy, want to know a secret?" "Yes, Karys...I do" "I am SO EXCITED!"It is so nice at the end of the year how the preschool allows for different fun events to take place and gives opportunities for different ppl to get in the classroom and see where our children are at and how they are interacting with friends and in a different setting. One of the first of those, is in the spring when Dads get to go right away in the morning, listen to some songs/rhymes, eat some donuts, and then spend a little time with their child before they head off to work ;)Karys and her classmates singing to their daddys!
Rob and Karys reading a book together during the free time. They had a GREAT time together and Karys was all smiles when she came home!

The Sun is FINALLY Shining!

It was a really long winter and I am pretty sure that even after these pictures were taken the ground was still covered in snow at least 4-5 more times!!! But we made the most of it and got outside!!! These pictures really explain themselves...I am so eager to get the girls going on their bikes--we have been bad parents in this sense and really neglected working on this in past summers :( And just to spend our days with the windows open, our toes in the grass and our sunglasses on!!!Usually I would feel bad that the sun was in her eyes....but nothing beats it today!!!

A New Member of the Hobby

Gracie was invited to a birthday party this winter at the Pizza Ranch...I was thrilled with the activity and so was Gracie ;) They were SCRAPBOOKING! The girls were asked to bring 10-12 pictures and all of the supplies and the books would be provided! She LOVED it so much that when she got home she was eager to continue working on her project!So we added some pages and pictures and even went through and wrote out some captions...Gracie is just so creative! I love being able to just sit back and watch her--she was soooo PROUD of her work and efforts and just loved putting her ideas down on paper!
See what I mean?!?!? Look at that happy face! I look forward, as I know does her Auntie Heather, Auntie Sarah and Grandma Sally, in having her join in on the scrapping for years to come!

Locks of Love

We had some rough weather patches towards the end of February, sickness, etc and had to reschedule the girls hair cuts at least three times. Finally, after almost cancelling when the weather was bad, we made the drive into Sioux Falls to see Cheryl and get the girls both fairly drastic haircuts!This was the before picture (kind of hard to look at--just thinking back to how long their hair was!)Gracie was brave and decided to go first...She wanted to keep a little bit of her length, so Cheryl took off about 8 inches...Karys and Addyson playing on one of the neighboring chairs...we were there at a GREAT time on a Monday night so the salon wasn't quite as busy!Gracie with her pony tail on the seat in front of her and her new "do"!Karys was next, she wasn't worried about keeping any length and at one point even asked me if she could get a "boy" haircut!Gracie got to enjoy a sucker (something the girls look forward to every time they go to see Cheryl) while waiting for Karys.Addy finishing up an apple ;) Love that she didn't quite know what she was missing out on with the suckerKarys holding all of her hair! Cheryl decided to send in their pony tails even though they weren't 12 inches and see if it was something that Locks of Love could use! So fun for the girls...we had just been talking about a friend of ours in Cali, whose daughter is battling cancer and going through chemo and losing her hair...All of the hair that was left on the floor...Back view of their new cuts! I love this picture!!! And the girls love their new cuts ;) So much easier to comb through, quick styling in the morning, they are PERFECT for this season of life!