Cucumbers anyone???

Sunday was a pretty special day for Miss Mackenzie. On Sunday in the second service they honored the new 1st graders (did I really just type 1st grader?) by recognizing them and gifting them with their new Bibles. They were so precious up there waiting for their names to be called and to have their Bibles handed to them by Pastor Ted himself. They were nervous, too, poor babies. Kevin and I were asked to teach their class that morning and there were several mentions about butterflies in their tummies. It was surreal to look at them standing there and think about all the plans that God must have for them. On a different note, cucumbers and squash seem to be growing in abundance around here. Especially the cucumbers and while Papa and I were picking up after dinner this is what these two were up to... If you haven't guessed already that would be Captain Hook and Captain Hook Jr. Aaaaarrrrr. (Boogie's hook (nub) cracks me up)


Not sure what this was, but it looks intense.

And that pretty much sums up those two for today. Pretty much lived in their own little worlds (together) going ninety-to-nothin' all day loooooong.

Ahhhh. Thank you Lord for my girls, our bountiful (cucumber) garden, and most of all.....thank you for bed time cuz this Mama needs her rest!!! :)

Happy Birthday Our Little Big Girl!

This last Saturday was our little Boogie Bear's 4th birthday. It just takes the breath outta me to type that...four. How did that happen?? Where in the world did 3 go?? There is nobody sillier than Boogie, that is for sure! We gave her the choice this year of having a birthday party our taking a trip to the American Doll store in Dallas and picking out her own baby doll....Camryn didn't hesitate one minute and was packed and ready to go!
We had been planning and looking forward to stealing away for the weekend as a family and the girls were about to go nutty counting down the days....it was finally here. Can't you tell by that uncontrollable smile on Boog's face and that super sweet hug? Wish I could bottle that.

I just had to draw out the moment as long as I possibly could by making them stop and pose one last time before going in...

And here she is....tada. Camryn's new baby doll named none other than, CAMRYN. How did you guess?? What's funny is Kenzie's doll is a Look Alike doll and we just assumed Camryn would do the same thing. Not my Boogs, she is not in the least predictable. We could not convince her for one minute that she does not have brown hair. What I wouldn't give to see the world through those little blue eyes just for one day!

Camryn Jr. meet Kenzie Jr. (my children are so creative. hee-hee)

This is one of my favorite pictures from the weekend. That pretty much summed it up for dear ole Papa. A man's man in the heart of everything pink. Now that is a real man for you. These girls are so lucky to have you...so am I.

What's a birthday party without sharing some treats??

When we finished up at the store we spent the rest of the afternoon ice skating at the Galleria. Oh how I wish I had some pictures of that. I didn't dare take my camera out on the ice. Boogie was like a rubberband man on the ice. Every limb of her body was going in a different direction all the while wearing a Texas size smile! Kenzie was a bit more cautious, but determined to say the least. As for me and the Papa bear? Not a one fall! Do you believe me?

We had grandiose plans for going out to a nice dinner for the birthday girl, but her tired little self requested pizza and a movie in the hotel room. A girl after my own heart. Thanks for the fun day Boogie Bear. We love you more than words can say. You are the funny bone to our family, the smiliest of the bunch, and the most intense little person I know....and best of all God knew we needed you. Happy birthday baby girl and here's to a fabulous 4th year!

May Days.

Well hello there, old friend. I've missed you. Not really, but now I'm ready to get reacquainted. We've had a full month since our last visit. Life is pacing itself nicely and we are easing beautifully into summer mode. Ah, summer. Welcome. I thought at one point that I was sooooo ready for school to be out and once the last day of kindergarten came, I was desperately trying to put the brakes on. As much as my big girl grew, physically and in every other way, 1st grade just seems, well not so baby girl anymore. Little Miss Boogie Bear had her first ballet recital this past weekend and we could not have been more proud. The theme this year was Broadway and she was a little mermaid. Her little tail is velcroed to the back, but it was super cute. It was definitely her time to shine.
And this was sissy's class. (second from the right) They did a song from the Lion King. Not the beautiful dazzly dress we were accustomed to wearing to recital, but I imagine they were a lot more comfortable at the end of the day then most. Kenzie did a great job as well, if I do say so myself. It feels good to see your babies smile when they know they did something well.

Papa and Sissy gave Camryn her first bouquet of flowers. You would have thought they gave her the moon.

Here's Kenzie on the last day of school with Camryn and the Grieco kiddos. I am so thankful for such a wonderful school. Hard to believe they will both be there in the fall...wasn't Camryn just born the other day???

And here's sweet Mrs. Brenneman....the very best kindergarten teacher in the whole wide world. Her husband was one of the many that lost his job in this sad economy the week before Thanksgiving. She was just devastated, but kept pouring love into our children everyday with that precious spirit of hers. During prayer in class the children would also pray that Mr. Brenneman would find a new job. Well, Tuesday we had to go up to the school to pick something up and at that very moment Mrs. Brenneman got a phone call from the Mr. saying he got a job. Praise the Lord. I don't know what was more touching, the excitement and thankfulness beaming from Mrs. Brenneman or the happiness Mackenzie was sharing with her. Kenzie was able to witness first hand how God answers prayers and to knowing that she had a part in that was very special to her. We will miss you Mrs. B., but if all goes well, we'll have you again when it's Boogie's turn. :)

We're still here..

I guess you can say I have all but quit blogging lately. I just got to where it seemed more of a chore than a means to archive my memories. The whole point of starting my blog was so I could have my memories right there in front of me. I always think I will remember certain things, but in all reality, I can hardly remember my own name at times... :)

You know how spring just has this amazing way of making us want to declutter and reorganize, well, I experience that every year, but I always seem to need an internal housekeeping as well. I almost have to internalize and analyze and restructure my self. Do you know what I mean? I welcome the personal cleansing, but at times find it hard to really dive as deeply as I desire to due to the everyday business of running a household and so forth. I find myself envisioning a small quite room with lots of pens and paper, my Bible, no doors, windows, or interruptions. (dream a little dream...) I've been working on our summer schedule because we always operate better with an established routine and chores. Children love structure and in fact thrive on it. Come to think of it, I seem to work better that way too. That's where Papa comes in...he is our spontaneity, our very own Mr. Fly By the Seat of His Pants and that's why we work (mostly). Balance. Give and take.

So, forgive me if I seem distant. It's simply because I am. At least in my own head and in a wonderful way. I always welcome these "personal times" because I think it's God's way of making me prioritize and draw nearer to the plan that He has laid out for my life and my family.

I hope to get back on a better schedule of blogging by the end of this week. Not because I'm vain enough to think that you (whoever you may be) really care about our day to day, but because it's a treasure to me to have a place to write my thoughts and post pictures of the very people that I love and make me, well, me. I'll keep you posted. (wink)

April Fool's Day.

Oh my goodness, you know what's fun about having Grandma and Pappy right next door?? APRIL FOOL'S DAY, of course!! We made a great memory tonight for sure...The girls and I pulled in from church this evening only moments after Papa got home from work and the girls thought it would be funny to ring Grandma and Pappy's doorbell and leave a couple of toy snakes on the porch and run and hide. Why not?? Sweet harmless fun, right? So here we are the four dorks that we are standing on the side of Grandma's house giggling like a bunch of girls (and Papa) and....nothing. No door opening, no anything. Silence. Papa went to peek in their garage for signs of Grandma's car and I called on Kev's cell phone. Nothing, nobody home.

Oooooh, really??? Hmmm, we have a key and nobody's home. Light bulb x 4.

Let the games begin....

In we piled, the four of us on a mission. Even our little three year old knew we were onto something good. That's when it all started. Every man for himself. Mass chaos. Every cabinet door was opened, every drawer. We turned all the chairs this way and that. Pappy's chair now wore a bunch of bananas. The umbrellas were opened, shoes hung on the coat rack. The girls covered Grandma's bed with her shoes, we decorated Pappy's scooter with a clothes version of him down to the shoes. Cans of beans in the bathroom sink, rugs on top of cabinets, plants moved from here to there replaced with who knows what. The girls were having a blast and so were we. In fact, I remember hearing Camryn specifically saying, "this is so much fun!!" Poor Grandma, it looked like it did the day they moved in and it took us ten minutes flat! (hee-hee) Damage done. We were proud, so off we went to await the phone call.

Reading time, Grandma calls with a big fat HAR-DEE-HAR-HAR! They had just gotten back from seeing what mom says was a creepy movie, so as you can imagine, mom's first reaction was not that this was a silly April Fool's day joke, but thankfully dad caught on right away. Mom and Dad are such good sports and that's what made it so fun in the first place. BUT, it wasn't until Mom called half an hour later letting us know that, yes, she had just been soaked by her sink hose and thank you, yet again, that we finally got our last giggles out. (You know, the old rubber band around the sprayer trick.)

Oh, mom and dad, you have so many years with us next door...hee-hee...are you sure you're up for this? (we love you)

In a nutshell.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, is the actual start of the week for us since Kenzie doesn't have school on Mondays. Oh, how I will miss this schedule. It's like looking forward to a four day weekend every week. Gone will be these days at the end of this school year....waaaaa. We've had such a nice couple of weeks. Uneventful, peaceful, and all around just nice. Now that coughing is at a bare minimum around here and everyone seems to be in overall good health, life has just been falling into place. I've added a few random pictures of the last several days, and my oh my, I had no idea how much my children lived in their pjs. Hey, if there is ever a time in your life- now is the time, right? Papa and the girls planted the starter seeds for our garden. Yeah, we're a couple of weeks behind, but us Weiss' kinda do things in our own sweet time. The girls are at such a fun age for growing a garden and they will be given plenty of responsibility, so I hope the novelty doesn't wear off too soon.

Church was cancelled Sunday morning due to the freak blizzard that came through all day Saturday, so Papa and the girls took the opportunity to set up monster truck and choo choo train races.

Yes, the girls are wearing their pjs in the snow. I couldn't believe how hard it snowed, but really what a perfect snow...big thick beautiful flakes so thick you can't see a block away. Perfect snowball texture, plenty deep for stomping in wearing your favorite rain boots. Just a big beautiful magic snow....and POOF, 60 degrees the next day. Go figure.

And the kitchen. Kevin and I needed a project, so we decided this would be a great weekend to paint the kitchen. Pale avocado and birchwood brown. Most days I like it and the others I'm getting used to it. We can't help it. We have to have color. I'll post some pictures once I get everything in place. Whenever that may be. :)

We also put some touches on Camryn's room. Like the shelves Mama got for a whopping $4.99 at IKEA. I just love anything little girl. I hope they stay little girls for a long, long time.

Okay, this may take some explaining. Have you ever seen the cartoon Martha Speaks? You know the one where the dog eats alphabet soup and instead of going to her stomach it goes to her brain and yes, you guessed it, she now has the ability to speak. Kenzie decided she wanted to stage her own experiment and added alphabet soup to the grocery list and before school last week gave Barkley the choicest letters from the soup and well, although there were no perfectly formed words the girls swear they heard him say something. I don't know, but what I do know is that Barkley decided to yak on the rug that same night during reading time and the girls felt bad because they gave him alphabet soup that morning. I wonder what Barkley would have to say about that.

And the princess costumes finally got some attention last week when the Bertrem sisters came for a visit. Kenzie's had some of these costumes for a few years now and some of them are much shorter now then I originally remember them fitting and maybe a bit snugger, too. {sigh} What fun though. Good times, good times.

Why Mama is not the tooth fairy.

Poor Uncle John and Auntie Emmy had this lovely dream of taking little Owey to the zoo yesterday and (probably regrettably now) invited us Weiss girls and Grandma to join. It sounded like a perfect end to spring break to me, but the weather didn't seem so perfect for an outing to the zoo come Friday morning...Somehow we talked Uncle John and Auntie Emmy into going to the Aquarium instead...hmmm, aquarium + Friday + spring break + chilly weather = one big over stimulated headache for all! Camryn didn't seem to mind because she had her face buried in Owen's face most of the trip. (Sorry, Auntie Emmy, Boogie can't resist her Owey)

The funny part is that as mom and the girls and I pulled into the overflowing parking lot (first clue) and Mackenzie shockingly announced that tooth number 6 had come out. Shucks, I was secretly disappointed to not use my head lock method this time. That would make it 2 for Papa, 2 for Mackenzie, and 2 for Mama. We're all at an even tie. Kenzie was so proud and wrapped that little teeny wiener tooth up in a tissue for safe keeping and plenty of show and tell for the rest of the day.

Here's where it gets bad...No we don't believe in Santa and we believe honesty is the best policy, but for some reason the Tooth Fairy visits our house. I'm not sure how it came to be, but Kenzie's pretty funny about it and we just went with it. Well, last night, Kenzie slipped her little tooth into her tooth fairy pillow which was lovingly made by grandma who is also a co-conspirator in all of this and drifted of to sleep. Kev and I, overjoyed that it was (the kid's) bedtime, slipped in a movie and drifted off to sleep, too. Yes, tragedy struck our home when Mackenzie woke up at 7:30 this morning only to find that the Tooth Fairy forgot to make the bait and switch last night. Ooooops. Mackenzie's wrath is nothing to mess with either so I had to think fast.

Kenzie: "All I got was my tooth back!!!"


Mama: "Oh, well, I wouldn't get too upset. Sometimes on the weekends the tooth fairy gets really busy picking up kids teeth and she gets behind. She just hasn't been able to make it by yet. No worries. It happened to me one time when I was a kid. Promise."


Kenzie: (gazing at me, taking in my words, calculating whether she would accept that response or not.)


Mama: (sweating profusely) "So, I would just go put it back in your pillow and I'm sure she will come tonight. Sometimes, not always, but sometimes you get a little something extra when she has to skip a night."


Kenzie: "Okay" and leaves the room.

Ladies and gentleman that was a close call. Too close if you ask me. That could have ruined our whole morning.

Note to self: DO NOT forget tonight or the ride to Church could be very long.