Cinderella's Final Ball...Party #5! (5/16)

The final ball came the Saturday of tulip festival. My family and Ron and Kris were able to all gather for an awesome lunch, prepared by my amazing husband ;) and celebrate our little princess one last time this year. She was SO excited b/c she was going to be able to wear her Cinderella dress and her dutch costume all in one day ;) Karys and Leah also wore princess dresses so it was quite the princess party.Gracie was so excited to show Karys, and everyone else, her cake. It was so cute and Sara Crane did an AMAZING job as usual ;) It had Cinderella on it and then in honor of Tulip Festival she was holding a bouquet of Tulips...similar to one that the Tulip queen herself would hold. The girls in their princess dresses....there was lots of dancing around the house at this ball!Megan did both of the girls hair just like princesses...then she announced Gracie right before we were ready to eat lunch and Gracie made her grand entrance! So cute to see her blush when everyone cheered for her...The birthday princess with her cakeKarys clapping for her when we were all done singing 'Happy Birthday'...does that song ever get old for a little girl....I really don't think so, look at that smile =)Love this pic...Karys is like "Blow out the candles!" And Gracie's face is priceless ;)Still successful in blowing out the candles!Happy 4th Birthday Gracie!!! Our little Cinderella ;)The girls were so cute posing with the cake and just being together...I love the ages they are at and they just daily bless my heart the way they love and care for each other! Don't get me wrong...they are sisters and fight with the best of them, but would never intentionally hurt each otherBirthday kissesYummy! We love cake and ice cream!Posing in front of all of her presentsSharing/playing with the hula hoop Gracie got from Auntie Megan. The girls had so much fun with these during Kindermusik and were now so excited to have one of their own!Gracie opening her "big girl" scooter from Grandma Sally...i must say she is one of the most meticulous gift unwrappers I have ever met...especially for a little girl! Karys was having a hard time not just ripping it all off for her ;)

Gracie's "thank you" kissy face that she gave to all her peeps when the gifts were done! What a fun morning, and that was just the beginning...tulip festival was still awaiting this little Dutch girl!

Mother's Day (5/10)

So I realized in getting this post ready that I have absolutely no pics of myself from Mother's Day...however, it really was a GREAT day! When I woke up Rob had made cinnamon rolls and basically said, "today is your day...what are we going to do?" It was wonderful...the first best thing was getting to take a shower and shave my legs with no one waiting for anything or needing anything. We ended up not going to church b/c we were thinking of going to Inspiration hills or somewhere to just hang for the day and maybe bike...it was so cute b/c about noon Gracie asked, "When are we going to church?" When we told her we weren't and that church was over she was pretty upset and said, "We HAVE to go! It is Sunday and that is what we do." Not sure if this needs a little more teaching on what church is and why we go....but we are going to leave that for now and just be grateful that she has the desire to go in her heart ;) So that is when we just got busy doing other things...hanging out in our comfy clothes, working on this puzzle that Grandma Great gave Gracie for her birthday. They were so proud when they were done and I think this pic was taken after the 3rd time they put it together!Then we decided to head out for a bike ride...Yes I said bike ride and yes I was 36 weeks preggo at the time! So while we got the buggy all hooked up to Daddy's bike, the girls had a great time riding the scooter and running up and down the sidewalk. It was an awesome day outside! Not too hot and just enough breeze in the air to not be too cold either.The girls kept telling Daddy how "crazy" he was. With the buggy on the back it does bounce just a little more than it used to with more weight in it. They had a blast though and shared a lot of laughs. Daddy definitely got quite the workout ;)Karys was asleep when we put her in the buggy, but quickly awoke when we headed off down the road. She was her happy, perky self...ready for a "good ride"
When we got home, everyone had a good little rest time and to end the day we shared a gourmet meal from Taco John's in the living room while we watched the season finale of the Amazing Race! What more could a mama ask for...thanks guys for taking the time to celebrate me today! All 3 3/4 of you TOTALLY bless my life and make being your mama that much easier! Love you!

A Birthday Evening...party #4! (5/9)

Party #4...does that mean it was the golden one since Gracie was turning 4? But no in all seriousness I think this one was my favorite. Now hold on a minute too, I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings...it is just that Rob had been gone since Wed and we were able to swing through the Sioux City airport on the way home from Ankeny and pick him up. It was just so good to see him-to see the girls reaction when they saw him get off the plane, to see his face light up when he saw us, and to share that hug that this time meant so much! We then drove back to OC and Rob and the girls headed up to the park for a little bit and the grocery store. In the meantime I was able to decorate the table, throw together a pasta salad and decorate the sidewalk for Gracie. Our friends, Justin, Ang, and Bailey Schuiteman, came over to celebrate Gracie's birthday with burgers and weenies ;) We had a great time just celebrating Gracie, sharing conversation, and then calling it a night fairly early so all of us could get to bed ;) A long day, just with so many activities and events, came to a really good and relaxful end...gotta love it!Discovering the chalk decorations after getting home from the parkShe had to go back to the beginning multiple times and 'hopscotch' over each letter!My attempt to draw a picture of the birthday girl...may I just interject right here that I love playing chalk with the girls and I am really looking forward to being able to do it more this summer without having to worry about my belly getting in the way or figuring out how I am going to get up and move up and down the sidewalk each time!!!
Karys had the idea to color in the letters of Gracie's name...at first this did not make Gracie happy b/c that would ruin it, but soon...I think she realized how much fun it would be and was quick to grab a piece of chalk and join in on the fun! "Mom, look at my messy hands! They are blue!"Karys wanted me to take a picture of her messy hands too, but they really weren't that messy....so of course she had to color them first ;)Smiling for the camera, while still adding more and more chalk ;) Gracie's place setting at the table-fully equipped with balloon, presents, special place setting and slightly burnt hot dog ;) I loved seeing her so excited about the surprises, I think this was the time where you could just see it on her face...that look of feeling special and loved! YAY! "Oh man, this is another book I just know it." And it was, but it was a book with puzzle pieces in it so I think it won points and I have seen it being played with quite often ;)
"Mommy, this skirt is HUGE! I am only 4 you know!" A totally fun jewelry making kit from the Schuitemans! Thanks so much guys and for the fun pool toys as well!I wasn't the only one excited to spend some QT with daddy! The girls loved reading books with him before bed and cuddled with him on the couch to take this totally cute picture before calling it a day and heading off to bed ;) Happy 4th Birthday Gracie! And Welcome Home Daddy!

Birthday Breakfast...party #3!

We woke up on the morning of Gracie's birthday still at Grandma Doreen's house. Grandma told me that the first thing Karys did was roll over and say, "Happy Birthday Gracie! You're 4!" Gracie had a great time playing in the morning, still in their dresses from the day before b/c both she and Karys fell asleep in the van on the way home from Tulip Time. Auntie Heather and Uncle Seth were able to come over for the morning to celebrate again with us and indulge in some yummy carmel rolls and eggs. Gracie was a little shy and reserved when we sang to her this morning but none the less was excited to have yet another chance to blow out the candles!Grandma lighting the candles for her while we sang her a very harmonized rendition of Happy Birthday!Never running out of air to blow out the candlesVery excited to head over and open her presents from Grandma Doreen and Big Papa...we saved their gift so she would have something to open on bday morningThis picture is pretty dark, but I love it...Gracie has a cute little smile and is gently (at this point anyway) asking Karys not to help her b/c she is just fine and can do it herself. Gracie with her umbrella...she LOVED this and was so excited to pop it open; however, it did pop and Grandma and Papa had to rush over to Target and exchange it for a new one before we headed home ;)
Gracie also got two caps from Grandma...it was so cute b/c right away she said, "Look, Karys! There is one for you and one for me!" Praise Jesus for this little girl's heart. I am sure that there will be times she will want them both and that is fine...but at the root of it all she and Karys watch out, share and love on each other so well!

Happy Birthday Gracie...take 2!!! (5/9)

After all of the Tulip Time parade activities we then headed back to the house to celebrate Gracie's birthday with Chad, Shay, Nathan, Grandma Great and Grandma Doreen. Gma Doreen brought yummy princess cupcakes for the kiddos and Gracie got to open gifts from Grandma Great and Chad, Shay and Nathan! It was perfect timing b/c right about the same time we came home the clouds rolled in and dumped out a couple buckets of rain while we were inside. It cleared off in time for us to head back up town for supper...yummy corndogs and smoothies! Again there was a small fiasco when Nathan managed to tip the stroller with both girls in it back onto himself, hitting not only the back of his head on the road but having the bar of the stroller hit him on the frontside of the head. The poor little guy was in rough shape :( The girls were fine...Karys cried a little b/c she had just woke up and I am sure was a little surprised to be reclining so quickly! All in all we had a great day down in pella! Thanks for hosting us VL's!Shay even found a candle to put on top of Gracie's cupcake! She loves to blow out candles and be sung to ;)The birthday girl....one day from truly being 4 years old!Love this picture of Nathan looking up at her while he helped sing happy birthday!Blow hard...got it on the 1st try!

Thanks for the frosting Auntie Shay!Grandma Great and Gracie share the month of May for birthdays...Grandma the 11th and Gracie the 9th. Soon we shall have another little one who hopefully sneaks into the month of May as well!Grandma Great with the kiddos as they eat their cupcakes...fun to watch b/c Gracie eats mostly just the cake part and Karys eats mostly the frosting part ;)Big bite! "Look, Mommy! It is a big birthday bite!"Karys snuggling with Grandma Great on the couch :DGrandma Great reading Bible stories to the kids...they were pretending to rock their little baby Jesus just like Mary would have. They then played on the chairs together reading and drawing for a little while on their own....

...but quickly recruited Auntie Shay to continue the stories! I think this was the one where God created day and night and they were closing their eyes to pretend that they were all in the dark...Nathan didn't want to miss anything so his eyes stayed open ;)