Bouncy Ball

Today while working with Katie on her schooling, she ended up sitting on my legs (which I had propped up on the coffee table). I asked her not to do that and she asked me why. I told her she could break them (esp. since she was bouncing as she sat!)...Alex's answer to that was "yep, and if mommy broke her legs, she would bounce around on her bottom, like a bouncy ball"...she then proceeded to show us how that would look! Very funny from my shy 3 year old!

I hope that you are warmer than us! We started today in the mid 40s - ending the day in the negatives (before wind chill of up to -25!). Yikes! Lots of things are being cancelled, including Awana, due to the blizzard like conditions that are expected. We will be staying inside tonight! Warm blessings to everyone!

Has anyone seen Kayla?

Last week, the girls informed me that they lost one of their dollhouse dolls "Kayla". I don't know one doll from the other, but they seemed to know which one was missing. That afternoon Alex came to the kitchen and asked me for a piece of tape, being the lazy mom that I can be (and trusting!), I gave her the whole roll of tape. I went downstairs a bit later and found 8 pieces of paper taped to the wall (and the girls weren't done!). The papers were taped up with 4 pieces of tape - each at least 4-5 inches long! Needless to say, I didn't get that roll of tape back. Today, as I finally got around to taking the pieces of paper down from the wall, I noticed one said "Have you seen Kayla" while the others had a picture of a girl or a scribbling from Alex. I asked the girls who the girl was and what Alex's notes said. I already knew their answer would be Kayla...sure enough, it was! Thursday, while I was doing laundry, Alex ran in...too excited to talk...she said "Katie found Kayla!!!!" and ran back out. Even Mom & Dad knew that she was missing. Maybe they heard about it on the 10:00 news!

Home Repairs

Everyone knows that with a house come repairs...Everyone who knows us, knows that we AREN'T handy! We are so grateful that God has placed handymen in our lives though! Last weekend our downstairs toilet went on the blitz. So the handyman in Matt placed a roll of masking tape over the seat so that the girls wouldn't use it. We then called our good friend Brad and he graciously informed Matt that he would be happy to supervise Matt's installation of a new "toilet inard" (there...you see how inept I am!). In the meantime, I honestly had a dream that our house flooded. We warned Brad about this but that didn't phase him. Today, Brad, Kari & new baby Amy arrived for lunch, fellowship, shopping at Menards and THE FIXING OF THE TOILET. While Matt & Brad were downstairs fixing the toilet, Matt CONVENIENTLY got a call from work. So, poor Brad was left to fix it by himself. After Brad & Kari left, the girls and I made a ceremony of taking off the "Bathroom is out of oreder" sign that Katie had made and taped on the door. Thanks again Brad for giving up your Saturday for the sake of a friend. We love you guys!

The Twinsees Birthday Party

Will & Maddie's birthday party was lots of fun. It was actually very relaxed, which is a nice thing! We met at my parent's home (lots more room to move around!) and had Aunt Barb, Uncle Willy & Aunt Fran join us for pizza, ice cream and a big cookie. Will loved the cookie and frosting. He dug into it as soon as he saw it. Maddie, on the other hand, wasn't sure about it and really didn't attempt to eat it. We were blown away by the generousity of our family & friends. They got LOTS of new toys & outfits. It was total chaos for a few minutes but it was fun to watch.

A very special thank you to Mom & Dad for opening their house and all the work of cleaning and helping us with the kids. We love you both

A Date with Alex

Today was the much anticipated "Daddy & Alex Date." After my Chiro appointment I picked up my beautiful date and hit the road. We ran a couple of errands before I asked Alex where she wanted to eat -- "Taco Bell" came the answer from the back seat. "Okay, McDonald's it is." "NO, TACO BELL!!" We both laughed. We enjoyed our lunch together, then headed for the Library where we picked up the 8th Season of Little House on the Prairie and I let Alex pick out a book for herself and a book for Katie. After arriving home we started gearing ourselves up for a big moment in the girls young lives . . . going to the movie theater for the very first time to watch "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything, a Veggie Tale Movie". Due to financial reasons this may be the only time they get to go to the movies -- though God did bless us in that Alex was free (who knew). They really enjoyed themselves though they were "a little freaked out" at the Cheese Curds.

Back home we had bath time, an activity all our kids enjoy. Will has a thing with animals and he just laughs, giggles and waves at any animal he sees -- at the petting zoo, a dog across the street a picture of a pig . . . anything. You will notice there is a duck protecting the water spout and a luffa that looks like a pig in this next picture (there is only moderate nudity, I made sure nothing "too private" is seen)

I hope that you enjoyed reading about our day as much as I had in living it!

God Bless