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!

Extra pics of February Fun...

Just an extra post with random pictures from the rest of February...Karys giving Addyson a "horsey" ride around the kitchen one Sunday eveningAfter quite the fiasco with bunk beds, we ended up with two sets of these for now cost!!! They look GREAT in the girls room and the girls really Love them!Just a few finishing paint touch-ups and their rooms will finally be coming together!Karys is growing up so fast! and is quite the little diva ;) She loves to dress up, talk fancy (and loud) and dance around the kitchen!Gracie with her finished hat for 100's day at schoolShe put 100 dots on with markers...I stayed up and hot glued the beads on to make the flower designLittle Addyson loving the bathtub!The girls really don't take a bath together anymore--they are just getting too big to all fit in there! But every now and then one of them with jump in to play with Addy.Addy loves to e the last one out though and spend some time swimming like a fish!Wrapped up all cozy!Gracie is getting so big and really taking on responsibility--granted she gets tired and struggles like all other kiddos--she is quite the little mama. She loves school and playing with friends!KJ with one of ther many expressions...she loves to make faces but is yet to learn sometimes when and how to use her expressions in a positive way ;)
This is our crazy little lady though! Filled with so much energy, joy, and will!!!

Love is in the Air All Week Long

I had gotten some heat shaped cookie cutters and was planning to use them just to send Gracie a heart shaped PBJ in her lunch on Valentines day. Once I started thinking about it I thought we could all benefit from it and have a festive Valentine's day dinner...English muffin pizzas! However, the Fernstrum's so GRACIOUSLY invited us to their home for V-day dinner...so Pizza it was on Tuesday night :) I had never made these before, and all I could wonder was where have I been?!?!These were so easy to make--and actually all I did was cut the muffins out in hearts and the girls did the rest! They LOVED being able to make their own food--and we had everything on hand! Spread on a good layer of pizza sauce......then add your favorite toppings......for the girls this means Canadian bacon and lots of pineapple!Then top with lots of mozzarella cheese ;)...preheat the oven to 325 degrees......bake until golden brown and cheese melted!!! I love the expressions of each of the girlies as they try out the new concoction!I think these pizzas were a huge hit!!!
They even got three thumbs up from some some often tough critics :)

Valentines Day!!!!

This year, in February, Rob only had to do one week of intensives up at Bethel. This was such a BLESSING just b/c of the schedule we had this past year, etc. But the bummer was that he had to leave on Valentine's Day morning...So he wrote little notes for the girls and we left them some goodies to wake up to at their place at the breakfast counter! They were so excited about their fun dips and their lip gloss watches!
I failed to get a picture off their "festive" outfits for the day, so Gracie laid out all the clothes for me so I could see that they were all dressed in red/black or heart outfits! They all looked really cute and were very excited for the day!I LOVE LOVE LOVE getting the handmade cards that they make in school ;) Reminds me of the cards that I used to make for my mom as well as makes my heart swell with joy to see Gracie's own handwriting and her excitement to deliver the card to us!This was the inside of the card--complete with a drawing of Rob, Gracie and IThese are the valentine treats we made this year...Candy robots...found the idea online, quite the undertaking....might go for the paper ones next year ;) But really happy with how they turned out!No V-day is complete without some quality treats!!! This year--Strawberry cupcakes with PINK frosting....PINKALICIOUS!We continued to go all out by painting our finger/toenails...Gracie had the idea and was so proud of it!We did do flowers on the big toes and then hearts on the rest...Addy LOVES having her nails painted so it wasn't long before she found us in the bathroom and wanted in on the action!
Love baby piggies...especially ones stamped with LOVE! What a GREAT VALENTINES DAY!!! Hope to continue to seek out more festive traditions to do in the years to come ;)

A Glimpse of Future Shoppers?

I got an email notification that Gymboree was having some pretty good sales trying to clearance out their winter stuff, so I was online trying to see if there was anything we "needed" or that I was interested in. It wasn't long at both girls were right by my side commenting on what they liked and what they didn't like. It was supper time so I set up the computer to show lots of different outfit options and let them have at it while I got supper ready...It was so fun to see them discuss with each other what they liked and didn't like...you could see their differences in style while at the same time they would say things like "you are right! that would look so cute on you!" It was so fun to just glimpse shopping dates with them in the future...I am pretty sure they have a little bit of their Auntie Heather's and Grandma Sally's love for shopping in their genes ;)And while Rob wasn't thrilled that I was "teaching them to shop online", I was more focused on the future pictures I had in my head...them spending time together, remembering shopping trips with my sister, always being asked if we were twins, etc...They barely looked up from the screen to smile at me for the picture before their eyes went back to their window-shopping!I think Rob still was encouraged by the fact that Addyson isn't there with them yet! All the while they were shopping, she was LOVING the fresh cut pineapple we had gotten from the store!
Stay content with these simple things as long as you can, little lady....but look forward to the times you can spend with your sisters as well ;)