Missing.....

This post is dedicated to my faithful friend Amber who is probably the only one that actually logs on to check this thing! Sorry it has been so long! So much has been going on....I can't even begin to back track so I will just start over again.

We recently went on a vacation to Missouri to visit my parents and relatives. It was great seeing my parents because I hadn't seen my dad since Jan. and my mom since March. I had an enjoyable time and the weather was awesome! I was dreading MO in the middle of July, but it was in the 70's and low 80's, not too humid and even a bit breezy.

The girls got to go to a county fair and ride some of the kiddie rides. We indulged ourselves on carnival food and made a night of it. The girls also got to ride my uncle's horses. Ella has been into horses so much since she watched the movie "Flicka". Abby did surprisingly well. I think they had the most fun doing that. They got to play all over my grandpa's property in the country, rode the tire swing, and rode bikes.

It is good to be home now and get back into a routine. Unfortunately I had to return to that dreaded place called work. It actually hasn't been too bad to come back to this time. I hope you enjoy the pics and I'll try to keep more updated posts!!!

Happy Belated Easter!

OK, so I'm a few days behind. What can I say? I had every intention of getting some pictures posted in time for Easter, but never got around to doing it until now. I try to keep up with professional pictures as much as I can. I started with high expectations with Ella. Abby came along and I missed her 9 month pics. I've promised myself that I have to at least get as many pictures of Lily as I did of Abby. I have so many pictures I don't even know what to do with them all. It's going to get harder and harder to keep up with all of them and not spend so much money. The girls did pretty well this past week with pictures. Lily surprisingly smiled and Abby didn't so much. I guess I'll take what I can get. 2 out of 3 isn't bad. Hope you all had a Happy Easter!!

Lost Tooth

The toothless smile!

THE tooth, guts and all!

Right after Ella pulled it

Working on it amidst the drama

My baby girl is getting big! Not my little baby, my big baby. Ella has had a loose tooth for a couple of months now. She's been wiggling it every now and then. This morning she showed me how loose it was and I told her it was loose enough to pull. So...we worked and worked at it. The tooth really didn't need a lot of pulling on, most of the work came from convincing Ella to push on it and that the blood wasn't hurting at all. The moment she saw blood the drama began. I left her alone after a while to work on it herself. She then asked me to help her. I gave it a good push and then she did the rest. She was so excited about it! She has a little box that she got as a souvenir from South Dakota a while back. It's actually a tooth fairy box. She has been sleeping with it by her bed for a while in anticipation. She put her tooth in it today and has it under her pillow. Now, just waiting for the tooth fairy.....

Happy 1/2-ish Birthday, Ella!

Ella's Birthday falls in the summer and isn't able to celebrate her birthday during the school year. Miss Bortner wanted to celebrate summer birthdays during school so Ella got to celebrate hers a couple of weeks ago. I brought cupcakes, juice boxes, and goody bags for her classmates. They were able to party for the last 20 minutes of school. Ella had fun and the kids enjoyed their treats.

Spring Break

Even Lily got her feet wet!

Ella and Chad playing Dancing with the Stars

Spring Break has come and went. We decided to take a trip to South Dakota while Ella was off from school and before I went back to work full time. The girls hadn't seen Old Grandma since last summer and Chad and I even longer than that. We were worried about the weather and spring snow storms, but we lucked out. The temperature was in the 40's and 50's and was extremely nice for South Dakota! The girls did a lot of swimming! When we book hotels a swimming pool is a must! We stayed in Rapid City, Aberdeen, Sioux Falls, Rapid City again and then home. We took Chad's parents' van and rode in style! 7 people in the van was a tight squeeze at times, but we managed. The girls had a dual DVD player in back so they watched several movies and loved it!! We did too as it helped the time pass and kept them from fighting so much! Lily did awesome and was the best girl of all!!! She traveled very well and only fussed when she was hungry. It was great seeing Old Grandma and several other extended relatives. The girls had a blast swimming. Abby even got brave enough to go down the big water slides with an adult. She is making progress each time she goes. Ella is just a fish and would swim all day if she could. Thanks Golf Papa and Grandma for a great Spring Break!!

Happy Birthday, Abby!

We celebrated Abby's 3rd birthday on March 8th. She had been looking forward to her "mermaid" party. I don't know how to type how she says it, but it's pretty cute because she can't say her r's very well. We had family come over to celebrate with pizza and cake. Abby loved being the center of attention. Ella had a little bit of jealousy, but did pretty well except wanting to help Abby open presents. Ella even dressed for the occassion in her mermaid costume. Abby had a special treat: Sparky Grandma got to come out to visit for the weekend. Abby always wants her to stay longer, but she didn't have any more vacation days. So...we take what we can get. Abby enjoyed her color wonders, littlest pet shop toys, hello kitty tent, clothes, and other items. It doesn't seem like a birthday without presents when you are a kid, but as a parent more presents means more toys to pick up and so you almost don't want anymore!! We had a great time and Abby is excited that she turned "fwee".

Where does the time go?

Wow! I just realized that my last post was over 3 weeks ago. Where has the time gone? I have been crazy busy and am no longer a stay at home mom where I have a few spare moments during the day to blog. I promise to try to post some more by this weekend. I started back to work pretty close to full time this week. I've worked two days in a row and I am pooped!!! I am so exhausted. I can't wait for the kids to get to bed at night so I can go to sleep. Last week we were gone on vacation to South Dakota to see Chad's extended family. We had a nice time and the girls did a lot of swimming. The weather was nice for South Dakota (40's and 50's), but we missed the beautiful 70 degree weather in Colorado while we were gone. We got to enjoy one day of nice weather when we returned home. The week before last week is just a blur. I don't even know what we did. I have some pictures to post as well. Oh yeah, Abby turned 3 in the midst of it all and my mom came out to visit. Wow, a lot has happened. I have a lot to play catch up on.