Relaxing weekend

Dan worked 81 hours last week, and so we're doing nothing but relaxing on his 2 nights off from work. Despite his crazy work week last week though, he got the girlies down to the duck pond for their first fishing excursion of the year. He takes a lot of pictures with his cell phone when I am at work, and I am so thankful that he does so that I can see the fun that they have together. He had a picture of Maddie with her 1st sunfish catch, and apparently Faith caught one too!

Dan did go in to work early two days out of this work cycle so far, so we girls had ourselves a movie night and outdoors Pictionary. The three of them just LOVE the game:

Yesterday after I got off from work, Dan decided to grill some chicken kabobs for dinner. While he got that all ready I took the girlies down to the "bleachi-o's" (aka, the field with bleachers!) and they were dandelion picking queens. They brought home huge bouquets of dandelions, and we quickly fixed some dandelion crowns for the three of them. It was cute.

This morning Dan went fishing with our neighbor, Dave. So we went off on our own to the cool playground in the city. We basically had it to ourselves, and they had an absolute blast. We always walk around the park grounds after they play at the playground, and they have this favorite Vietnam war statue there that they love to visit. They spent their time fixing some flowers for their "soldier friend" and making him a salad out of grass, twigs, and cherry blossoms.

Earth Day/ Easter/ Abrielle's 2nd birthday weekend

Busy weekend. But, so very fun.

Earth Day was Friday, and girlies had been dying to do another trash pick-up again this year. So, we made our signs the night before and they decorated them with Planet Earth stickers that day. Faith and Maddie were not kidding around about wanting to collect every single bit of trash that they saw. They were funny. We walked down to the duck pond, and then came back for a snack of dirt pudding with gummy slugs. Abrie was my helper for the dirt pudding this year, and it was delicious.

*****

Dan's family came over yesterday afternoon to celebrate Abrie's birthday with us. We had fun, and my girlies were so excited to wear their Easter dresses. The first half of the day was so ugly with non-stop raining, so we went to the library while Dan went fishing. The day actually turned bright and warm by mid-afternoon, and we were able to spend the second half of the day outside with Molly and Tyler. Girlies had a great time.

*****

Today was my baby girl's 2nd birthday!! It feels surreal to know that my BABY is 2 years old. This one hit me hard for some reason. 2 years old seems so much older than 1, and it feels like Abrie is more of a 'big' girl now, and less of the baby that she'll still always be to me.

I will admit to having OCD this week about the weather. I literally watched the forecast about 12 times a day, hoping the forecast for today would change. It wouldn't budge though, and every meteorologist under the stars was calling for rain ALL day long. My big dreams of having Abrie's party at the lake were slipping away rather quickly. But, we woke up to brilliant sunshine and not a raindrop in sight (despite weather.com's forecast still insisting that even at that moment it was supposed to be raining), and I felt so relieved (only problem was I overlooked the need for sunscreen, and Maddie got quite sunburnt from spending the whole day outside!). Abrie loves being outdoors, and this weather couldn't have been better for her big birthday day.

We spent the whole morning outside setting up her Bambi and friends ring toss game. Girlies all helped decorate the sidewalk with chalk drawings, and Abrie and her sissies spent the morning blowing bubbles. Abrie just loves practicing with Faith's scooter too, and so she went up and down the street on the scooter. She's actually really good at it for still being so little.

I had decided to go simple and incorporate 2 of Abrie's favorite things for her birthday cake: hopscotch, and Thumper/Bambi/ and friends. Thus, the hopscotch cake. She loved it.

Cousins Donovan, Ella, and Chase (and Aunt Lisi and Uncle Nate) came today and Nene, Grampa, and Tia Rosa. We all had so much fun. Cousins got Abrie the coolest water table (I've always wanted one of those for my little girlfriends) and needless to say, all 6 played so happily with it! It was a hit. I am excited to get a lot of use out of it this summer. We had an egg hunt over at the little day care, and they all had a lot of fun. And, then they decorated their little Thumper flower pots when we got back home. I made posole (with girls' help) since Abrie loves it, and she sat at the table tonight with the tupperware of spinach dip all to herself.

Tia Rosa got Abrie some really cool Crayola Wonders stuff, and they were all happily drawing tonight after a bath. And, Nene got Abrie some Thumper books which, of course, she loved.

I think Abrie's 1st ever birthday party was a success, and she had a lot of fun which is what counts!

My precious 2-year old:

The age of the... gap!!

My little Maddie has lost her first tooth!

This was quite a milestone. I feel like she's all of a sudden now turned into a "bigger" kid right before my eyes-- she has a 'window' in her cute little smile now! She could not be prouder either. She's been showing everyone today. She has made 3 envelopes already since she kept ripping the others open to show the neighbors and Dan. She went to sleep as happy as could be tonight with her envelope that read: "Dear tooth fairy, I love you. There is a tooth in here (that part made me laugh!). From, Maddie."

********

And, my little cowgirl with her Jessie doll and her cute little sissy. They were both so intrigued today by Maddie's new smile, and are so proud.

Miss Tina Cocolina...

Oh, how Abrie just loves this book. This has been another of her favorites for months now, and it's a book we have to renew constantly from the library. She keeps asking to see this picture of herself; I think she gets a kick out of the fact that she has a cupcake on top of her head just like in the book.

******

And, these are Miss Tina Cocolina's other daytime stunts:

Funday Sunday

Finally a lull in all the harsh rain from yesterday. Of course, today was a one-day respite from the rain and we'll get more tomorrow and Tuesday, but we loved it nonetheless.

Our sweet, sweet Rhonda and Dave organized a little neighborhood Easter egg hunt for this morning. Oh, my girlies were so excited. They were outside at 10am on the dot (Rhonda had made up invitations for them the day before). Sharon came with Easter bunny ears on her head, and a Kleenex ball for an Easter bunny tail. Girlies LOVED that! And, they had so much fun at their Easter egg hunt. Rhonda had little baskets made up for each of them as a treat too. I remind these girls every day that they are so lucky to have such wonderful neighbors.

******

And, this afternoon we had Chase-y boy's 1st birthday party! Girlies had been so excited for this as well. They affectionately call him "Fuzzy head" (just like they do with Abrie), and were so excited to see him turn one. They all had a blast with their cousins, Nene, Grampa, Tia Rosa, and Aunt Lisi and Uncle Nate.

Buddies

The Flop and the Show Show:

Yo ho, yo ho