Sunday, March 22, 2009

Spring Break, will travel


After much debate of where to spend Aubrie's Spring Break, we finally chose Wisconsin Dells. We love this place. It's so close, and so over-the-top fun.


The resort we stayed at has three indoor water parks and this HUGE play structure. The kids had a blast!


We didn't take a ton of pics, so here is one stolen from the resort's website of one of the parks.


The long winter has made our two girls a little cold on water slides, so we did more than our fair share of wave pool, jacuzzi, lazy river, and kiddie splash area. However, Dave and I had our fill of slides and eventually they both warmed up to them.


We had a great weekend despite a few hiccups, including this one (and that's three days later after much of the swelling had come down!). Lesson learned: kiddie slides are designed for kids, not adults. At the end of the slide (with Teyah in my arms), I flew off the soft landing pad and onto the hard area of the pool which is only one foot deep. Ouch! I thought the far away shot was the most tame.

March Madness update


The Madness has brought even more drama to our house.

After the 1st round, Teyah made a strong showing, besting all of the girls...
Daddy 24 right
Teyah 20
Elliana 17
Aubrie 17
Mommy 17

But in the 2nd round, Mommy made a strong comeback....
Mommy 14 right
Daddy 11
Aubrie 7
Teyah 6
Elliana 3

So, overall, Daddy is leading the pack.
Daddy 35
Mommy 31
Teyah 26
Aubrie 24
Elliana 20

Stay tuned to see who comes out on top in this year's family March Madness Championship.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Bracketology

Each year our family kicks off the March Madness basketball season with a little "Bracketology", or the "science of filling out our brackets". As you can see our children have given this much thought and are anxiously awaiting the first games....

Ellie's Results...Final 4 of Utah, BYU, Pittsburg, and North Carolina


Aubrie's Results...Final 4 of Kansas (Dorothy is from there), BYU, Florida St, and Arizona St.


And now the selection committee's process. As you can see Teyah's results are a "work in progress"

(wrtten by David)

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Green Eggs & Ham



I don't think she likes them.

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Happy Golden Birthday Ellie!


We have been busy celebrating Elliana this week!


Grandma T. was the most special guest at her 4th birthday party!


Grandma's special present was Ellie's American Girl doll, named Emily. This doll is lucky to have such a wonderful mommy. Ellie is incredibly nurturing, and has not lost site of Emily since her arrival.


Papa and Grammy supplied the Snow White dress-up.


I made the cake.


And now that she's 4, she's driving semi-trucks. (At the park at MOA. Thanks to my awesome friend).

A few things to remember about my sweet Ellie:
-She has patience beyond her years
-She has an amazing memory and keen sense of direction (she always knows where we are in the car and if I ever stray the course).
-She's already learning to sight read words
-She is responsible and in some ways like a grownup (we're actually surprised if she happens to do something age-appropriate -- like color on walls!).
-She is physically strong and athletic. Throwing a ball, jumping, cartwheels, etc. come very easily.
-In the past year, her confidence has blossomed. It's awesome!
-She also learned how to write her name this year.
-She is impressively nurturing to her dolls, little sister, or anyone younger than her
-She craves her "soft blankie"
-She is tenderhearted

I love you Elliana! I'm so proud of you and love being your mommy!