June Celebrations !!

Another wild weekend here. It started off with Isabelle's birthday on Saturday and ended with the State Cup on Sunday!! Little Izzy turned 4 this weekend and we celebrated with a "Little Mermaid" party Saturday afternoon. The kids played in the pool and the inflatable water slide, while the adults ate the tons of food Bev had prepared. It was great to celebrate with the family, and unbelievable to think that the little Bee is already 4...where has the time gone?!!

Unfortunately Larry had to miss Izzy's party on Saturday b/c his team was playing in the state cup semi-finals in Bowling Green. He had mentioned staying the night in Bowling Green, but came home as a surprise at the very end of the party and let everyone know that they won and were headed to the State Cup Finals Sunday!!

Upon hearing this news, I really wanted to go and watch the final game, but knew that it would be a challenge to do it with both kids in tow. Most games, the players' parents help out with the kids and play with them, hold them, take them for walks to help out....Not during the State Cup Finals. I knew there would be no relief, and that the parents themselves would be on pins and needles the entire game. But, against my better judgement and all that I know about parenting and dealing with kids on trips, etc., I decided to go for it..

With my last minute decision to go to Bowling green, we left in such a rush this morning that we forgot to pack chairs/blankets to sit on during the game. Luckily, once we arrived at the fields, Spence saw some of his friends (little brothers of the players) and took off immediately and was pretty much entertained by them the entire day(one less kid to take care of).. Now, let me just say that, once you have a toddler, your own vanity is shot to hell...Let me explain...after Spence took off and it was just Olive and I, I decided we needed a place in the shade to set up shop. We found one lone tree and plopped right down in the mulch. As the game wore on, Olive and I had shared a cherry snow cone (my favorite) and cheesy nachos. I was covered from head to toe in pink and orange and my butt was covered in black mulch. When I say covered, I mean all over arms, legs and in my hair. My butt was completely black and merely "dusting" it off was only possible the first time I stood up...and I gave up after that. If I could have stayed under the tree and hidden the entire time, it wouldn't have been that bad...but I had to get up for various things and expose my pathetic self to the public.

With all of that said, thankfully Larry's team won 2-0 !! At the award ceremony, when Larry stood up to speak, both kids took off and bombarded him. He took it in stride and when it came time to hand out medals, Larry let Spencer put the medals around the players' necks. Spence did a fine job, and lastly, Larry placed one around the little guy's neck and then Olive's. It was a great moment!

May's Days

It's been a busy May so far. Mother's Day weekend was filled with a Rehearsal Dinner on Friday, Wedding on Saturday, and Mother's Day Celebration on Sunday! It was great to see some out of town relatives again, especially Adrienne, Sarah & Tom !! We all had a great time visiting!! It never seems to be long enough!!

The following week, Spencer completed his second year of pre-school, and is officially a Kindergartner!! We took him out to lunch after his last day to Celebrate at Red Robin (his favorite restaurant).

Larry and Spence went out of town this weekend to Cincinnati for another Soccer Tournament. Spence is always excited b/c he loves staying in hotels and swimming in the indoor/outdoor pool. That means another girl's weekend with Olive!!! We had a great time, and spent most of the weekend with Meme'. We did some shopping and then much-needed Spring House Cleaning!!! I was able to organize the kids' summer clothes and store away the ones they have grown out of.....which will be passed down to Lucien and future cousins!! Here is a pic of Olive from the weekend....in her typical Olive pose..
Larry and Spence arrived home this afternoon. Poor Spence is sick with the croup and was up all night last night, having trouble breathing. Poor little guy still sounds terrible, coughing like a seal. I read on the internet that a cool air vaporizer helps. So, I ran out and picked one up this afternoon. Tonight, I gave him a warm bath and then put Vicks Vapo-rup on his chest and feet (tip I learned from Jodie). Hopefully he will sleep well. Here is a pic I snapped while he was watching TV in our bed.. Poor little guy is miserable....

And they're off..

Today was the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby. We decided last minute to have a few friends over for dinner and the race. Thanks to on-line gaming, we were able to place some bets, which makes the races a little more interesting. Without knowing one fact about any of the horses running, I was able to pick my favorites based on names and numbers. This year was easy. I always bet the #8. So, I bet #8 "visionaire" and also the horse called "8 belles"...the only philly in the race. Sadly enough, if you watched the race, you know how it turned out, and it was truly heartbreaking..

But, aside from that, we still managed to have fun. The kids wore themselves out playing (as displayed by the picture of Olive eating a rice krispy treat), and the weather cooperated by staying warm throughout the afternoon. Larry made his famous Mexican Dinner and Doug & Michele brought yummy desserts. Nobody won a dime on any of our bets, we are all losers...except for Dad, who watched the derby in Alabama and put his money on "Big brown", whose name relates to UPS (go figure).

Girls weekend!!

This weekend was great!! It was an all-girl's weekend. Larry and Spence spent the weekend in Indianapolis on a soccer trip while Olive and I spent some quality time together. It was so nice to spend the weekend with my girl!! I think she enjoyed it too. Saturday, we spent the whole day just playing outside together. We ran a few errands and took a nice long walk around the neighborhood. That afternoon, my friend Sarah came over with her girls Laura and Claire, and had a nice visit. Olive loved it. Laura is nearly 3 and little Claire (a fiery red-head) is 6 months younger than Olive. They played on the swingset for most of the visit.

Sunday was spent at Mom & Dad's. Adam and his family were also there and we grilled out for lunch and had a great afternoon. Little Miss Olive was a busy little bee, taking wagon rides, eating ice cream cones and running in the tall grass. It is great to see her experience new things!

She slept the entire way home......While I had a wonderful time with my sweet girl....I couldn't help but miss Spence...

Spring, and Why it's Super!!!

Spring has finally arrived and I, for one am celebrating. One more day of freezing cold weather could've possibly finished me mentally. It's so nice to be able to go out and sit on the deck and watch the kids play in the evenings. They love it too. Spencer is back to playing with his buddies that live behind us, and Olive wakes up and brings me her shoes first thing in the morning, indicating she would like to go outside. I can wear short sleeves again and have the excuse to get frequent pedicures.

So many things happen and I think, OH..I need to post this on the blog, but I never get around to it. Like, Spencer's newest obsession....the PBS show "Superwhy"!! Yep, we are moving on from the Backyardigans finally. It's been fun Uniqua, but 2 1/2 years is enough. He hasn't quit them altogether, but he doesn't care to watch their shows that much anymore. I can't complain really, Superwhy facilitates reading, letter recognition and problem solving. The superheros have the powers to read, spell, write, etc. Olive enjoys it too, she dances to the intro music, then goes on about her business. In fact, if she's upset, I will start one of the episodes and the music calms her and she's happy again, dancing around. Here is Spencer in his homemade Superwhy costume....look for more superwhy at birthdays, Halloween, etc.....



Olive talks more and more everyday. She will walk into the kitchen, raise her shirt, rub her belly and say "hungy". She's a girl with no shame. Some new words are "Bob", "Cheese", "Moo", and "ow". She took a fall yesterday and smashed her fingers. This morning she woke up and pointed to them and said "ow". Poor thing. Here is Olive this morning...her typical response to my question of "where are you going sweet Olive?" See that look of defiance....we are in big trouble here, She is Little Miss Mean-ness.... On a more positive note, she has a new favorite book called "quack quack, who's that?". It's one of the lift the flap books and she loves it. I believe she received it for her birthday, don't remember who gave it to her, but THANK YOU!!! She loves it so much!!! She will hand you the book and hop in your lap and gesture for you to read it over and over. That's where she started saying "moo". Her favorite page is of the rooster, but she just can't quite form the phrase "cockadoodledoo". But I know it's coming!! She is so smart, and can follow just about any directive you give her, within reason of course.
Poor little neighbor girl down the street who is a few months older than her tried to get in her "cozy coupe" car outside a few weeks ago, and I thought Olive was going to hurt her. She gave her the "look" and then went for the kill (biting). What do you expect though, with a brother and 2 wild boys living behind us...the girl has to be tough....Oh, how I envy her sometimes...I was always so squeamish.... Oh, and this was also Olive this morning...she gets into my lingerie drawer and pulls out my bras and tries to wear them....clever girl even knows that it hooks together, but just can't quite figure it out....all in due time my dear, let's get past diapers first...

Olive's first haircut!

Well, it finally happened. I didn't want to admit it, but the girl desperately needed some shaping up. She was sporting a mullet and I couldn't take it anymore. Her hair was long but stringy. I knew I didn't want to get bangs cut since I'd (she'd) worked so hard on letting them grow out. At this point, she can tuck them behind her ears..but of course, she doesn't understand or know how to do that, so we end up pulling it back in a bow or ponytail holder. But eventually, she will understand, and since I don't like bangs, she doesn't really have a choice. Just like her Meme', she has a short forehead and looks better without them.

Before:

During:

After:

She did great at the salon. I took her to my hairdresser, who also does Spencer's hair. She sat in my lap and did just fine. It's the first of many (hopefully) trips to the salon/spa together. Meme' came to help out which made it even more special. 3 generations of beauties!!!

Easter 2008

We had a nice Easter! The weather wasn't the greatest, but the kids were able to have a few Easter egg hunts nonetheless. The Easter bunny delivered some yummy goodies and a few toys too. We had lunch with the Raibles at Larry's aunt Karen's house. Spencer and his cousins had Easter baskets waiting on them and had fun playing with new games and racing hot wheels cars. The afternoon/evening was spent at our house with Mom, Adam and family. Dad was in Mobile :( We tried to have an egg hunt and while hiding the eggs, it started snowing. The kids did the egg hunt anyway (very quickly). Crazy weather around here. Here is a collage of the kids throughout Easter weekend,