Birthday Kick-Off

For weeks I kept telling Bug that she wasn't having a birthday party, that we were going to do a Birthday trip this year instead. And somehow I did a great job keeping it a secret until just a few days before. And then the weather happened. We had tickets to see Disney's Frozen on Ice on Sunday March 1st, but a huge snow storm was threatening to come in on Saturday Feb. 28th. Gigi started to panic. She had me book some hotel rooms, but on the day of, she wasn't comfortable driving. So I met her in Sullivan to get Macy and we made the trek to St. Louis. It only took us 4 hours, but we managed to arrive in Collinsville and get settled into our room. The girls were wound up after the long drive. So it felt good to get our wiggles out in the water. We headed back to the room, and I thought for sure they would all be asleep between 9:30-10...well that didn't happen. It was more like 11:30. Macy, Leah and Bella slept in bags on the floor and Bug slept with me, while Hattie slept with Jaci. Then of course Leah woke us all up around 6:30...yikes! We stayed at a Hampton Inn and they had a good continental breakfast. After we ate, Jaci took all the kids to the pool while I worked on loading up the van, and then I met them in the water. They girls were loving it!

My Funny Valentines!

Yesterday was Valentines Day and my little loves were spoiled, as usual. Leah and Kiersten got Frozen outfits for their American Girl Dolls (more on that later). and Hattie got a new book and a talking Sophia the First Amulet. They were also spoiled by their grandparents. Gigi and Papa sent them a tin full of delicious Mrs. Fields Cookies and Grandma Tootie and Grandpa Dave sent them Dairy Queen Gift cards...we can't wait to use them. We are definitely feeling the love. 

New Friends

I'm so proud of Leah and how well she has adjusted to Mt. Zion. I was worried that making new friends might be difficult for her...but it hasn't been a problem in the least. Audrey, Landon, Lucy, Ryne, Ella...shes always talking about her school friends. The picture above is of her and Ella. They do tumbling together too, and have become fast friends. At least once a week there are notes in Leah's bag that they have been passing back and forth. "Ask your mom if we can have a playdate!" It's adorable. Ella's mom was able to attend their Valentines Party yesterday and she posted this picture of the girls for me. I wasn't able to help, with two little ones in tow. We just might have to make this playdate happen sooner, than later. AND we just found out that Audrey is moving in on the next street over. Our circle just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and our cup continues to runneth over.

Meet Zoey

Mitch finally caved and let me get another dog!!! It only took months and months of me seeing pics of dogs online and constantly forwarding them to him. We finally had a heart to heart and explained that Sandy isn't getting any younger. I don't want to wait until she is gone and then "replace" her...I'd rather find a new fur-ever friend before that time comes. He finally saw where I was coming from. I took the girls to Homeward Bound Pet Shelter on Thursday and we played with a few sweet pups. On Saturday Mitch went with us to an adoption event at Pet Smart, and then we went back to Homeward Bound. This little sweetie wasn't one of the pups we visited on our first trip, but Mitch wanted to check her out. Who was I to argue. I was compromising so to speak. I had been checking out male dogs and he wanted a female for training purposes. Zoey (they called her Tina) was brought in with her brother. They were found in a big cardboard box abandoned in a bean field down by St. Louis. So who knows how they were treated before being dropped off to die.

It didn't take us long to fall in love. We spent about 30 min in a private room with her, and then we brought Sandy in to visit too. There were no issues so I filled out her application and waited. On Tuesday we got the call to come get her. We were so excited...and we are loving her already!!!

A Walk at Fort Daniels

It was just one of those weekends. After being pent up in the house the last few months temps were finally in the 40's so we figured we should take advantage of it while we could. We took the girls and Sandy out to Fort Daniels for a "hike". It turned out to really just be us walking a path around a field but we enjoyed it all the same. There was a huge brush field and we could see where the deer ran in and out. Sandy seemed to think she should go in after them.

Along the way, we named the different kind of trees. We stopped and picked up pine cones. We saw Blue Jays and Cardinals and horses on a nearby property. We even saw an old rickety farm plow along the way. The girls are posing in front of it in the picture but it's camouflaged by all the leaves and twigs. It felt good to be outside. Can't wait until we can do more of it.

Hattie's Head Wound

Well, it happened. My sweet baby, finally had her first trip to the Emergency Room. It was a normal Wednesday night. I had actually commented to Mitch that it was a boring night...never again. Around 8 o'clock, the girls were watching their bed time show, and it had to be about over. When we heard Hattie scream. Leah ran up the stairs yelling that "Bug hit Hattie" and Kiersten was on Leah's heels saying "Hattie fell on the treadmill". Mitch and I were already halfway down the stairs when he scooped up Hattie and ran her to the kitchen and I went to look at the treadmill. The treadmill was all folded up and shut off. Hattie was in tears at first, and it quickly calmed down, but Mitch and I both knew we were heading to the hospital. Thankfully my friend and neighbor Holly was able to come over and get the other two to bed.

We got to the hospital and Hattie was as happy as could be. She played Monkey Preschool in the lobby. She charmed the nurse talking all about Elsa and Anna. We had about a 30 minute wait from arriving, to triage, to getting placed in a room. It was nearing 9 o'clock and well past her bedtime, but she showed no signs of slowing down. We could not get her to relax and lay down in the hospital bed. She called Gigi, played with the TV remote. Played Monkey Preschool, Starfall and Princess Puzzles on the iPad. When the social worker came in and asked what happened Hattie clear as day said "Buggy hit me pizza." So there it was! The girls had been playing with the Melissa and Doug toys and the big wooden Pizza paddle made contact with little Hattie's head.

The doctor came in and looked and said she needed staples. They wanted to put a numbing cream on it before giving her the shots. So another 20 minutes later they applied the ointment. Another 20 minutes after that the doctor and nurse came in to see our patient. She was singing them songs. She repeatedly asked for a makeover. It was hilarious. The doctor told her she was going to get "sparkly jewels in her hair". So now Hattie thinks shes a princess and doesn't want to get them out. She never cried through the whole ordeal...5 shots in the head to numb it, and then 5 staples. YIKES!!! She's got some serious pain tolerance. It was probably 11:30 when we got home and easily midnight before she got to bed.

Then next morning Bug woke up to check on her. I told her how Hattie had said she got hit with the pizza paddle, and then Bug fessed up that she actually threw it at her. I told Kiersten that she needed to say sorry to her sister, to which she replied "Well, she threw a little person at me" so Hattie immediately apologized, and Kiersten told her she forgave her. WHAT?!?!? That was not how the talk was supposed to go, but Kiersten was very remorseful. She really did feel bad and told me later that she was scared Hattie was going to die. I think I may take her with next week to get the staples out. I think there may some actual tears for that one...from Hattie and mom!

Dollie and Me

Since Kiersten finally got her own American Girl Doll this year for Christmas, I recommended to Grandma Tootie that maybe she get the girls some "Dollie and Me" pajamas for Christmas. She did, and the girls love it. Hattie was feeling a little left out, but snuggling a Flashlight Friend seemed to suffice. I think they just look so sweet. Looking forward to taking them to the American Girl Store again soon...however, I don't think my checkbook will agree.

Tweet, Tweet!

And no, I don't mean twitter. Back in November, Kiersten came home from school with a homemade pine cone bird feeder. Since then we have been covering it with peanut butter and oatmeal so we can continue to feed the birds. It gets a lot of attention. On this particular morning the girls were all looking out the window when Mitch got home from a run. He is a self proclaimed bird lover. At one time, he wanted to become an ornithologist, which is a bird expert. I know, right?!?! So they sat and watched for some time...They saw a few Robins, and a Cardinal that Mitch says was the fattest Cardinal he'd ever seen. Since this day, we went and bought an actual bird feeder and some bird seed. It's the most happening place in our yard!