Satna Clause is Coming to Town

I am always wishing their were cooler festivites around Christmas time for us to do. When I found out Village Pointe (Shopping Center) does a Santa Parade and Tree-lighting ceremony Troy new he was in for a cold night. It started with a kids' holiday concert in the amphitheatre and then a parade down the strip.

Brittney fell asleep on the way there. She slept through almost the whole concert.
The String Beans (like the Wiggles, but not so freaky) did a kids concert. Braedyn danced for the whole hour. They served hot cider and cookies to keep us warm.

Santa was a little late. "He had a little sleigh trouble over Vancouver." Brittney was freezing at this point.
The parade was worth the wait. Rudolph, the Grinch, Santa's Elves all lead the parade with Santa following in a lighted Cinderella carriage. That really got the girls excited. When Santa turned the switch to light up the Christmas tree, their faces lit up right with it. It was a great family night. I am glad my mom could be there too.

"Gobble, Gobble, Gobble"

So I got this great idea to "help" the kids make Turkey hats to wear on Thanksgiving. It seemed like a quick project, but it really consisted of me cutting turkey heads, beaks, eyes, and headbands for an hour. The kids were great at cutting out the feathers. I guess that is the way most projects go. They wore them all of 20 minutes on Thanksgiving, but they were excited about them.

We heard "Cockadoodledoo" all throughout the house. Braedyn couldn't remember what a Turkey said.

Happy Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. My girls are just the right age to be excited to Trick-or-Treat, yet too young to have a Candy Quota for the night. We went with their cousin, Daniel, and both Grandma's. Grandma Jill had a costume for each of her three dogs. Troy stayed home to man the door. Braedyn was a "ballerina kitty cat." Brittney was Cinderella...as she is most days.

Girls' Weekend

My friends, Jennifer, Lauren, and I surprised Erica by flying down to Mesa to visit her. We were all close friends when we all lived in Omaha. It was so fun to be there for the luncheon that that her sister gave Erica before she had her baby. It was a great excuse to reunite as friends and have a quick girls' weekend.

Erica is always so beautiful when she is pregnant. It was good to see her so close to her due date. We got to feel her little girl kicking and pushing her mommy's tummy all around. It was fun to help her mom and sister decorate for the shower. Everything came together just perfectly.

Everyone wore white for the luncheon. We all looked great with the beautiful decorations. I loved getting to see Alan and Erica's family. They make me feel like family.
Here we are at Tia Rosa's. We loved this restaurant so much we went there twice while we were there. Fantastic Mango Chicken Salads!!

I appreciated the chance to be with my three girls again. After almost two years apart, we played and laughed like there has been no distance at all. We are lucky to have each other.

Please give me S'more

We finally managed to go on a family camping trip this weekend. The girls have never been before and we knew they would love it. Jadie and Jenny decided to come with us too. We found a great spot right by the river. A family trip to Wal-Mart had us coming home with pink sleeping bags and pink "roly-poly" lanterns for Braedyn and Britt, and a new LED flashlight for Troy (he just can't resist any kind of "necessary" gadget), and nice warm sleeping bag for me. We had a roaring fire, made S'mores, played with Glo Sticks, played ball with the kids, and drank lots of warm cider and hot chocolate. It was such a great night. We want to go again soon and even invite some more of our friends to come next time. Too bad it is October already. We might have to wait until spring.

My husband is a master camper. He had everything set up in no time. Thank you Boy Scouts.

They loved the tent and their pink beds so much that they spent the first half hour playing house in the tent. Bedtime was no issue. They hopped right in and went right to sleep.

The Men of the Camp.

Mmmmm! Gotta love those S'mores!! Did you know they are really good with peanut butter on them?

We had to do some dorky pictures. I love my buddy, Jenny.

Here is my master camper pouring the hot apple cider that he just warmed up on his camp stove.

I loved hanging snuggling with my hubby by the fire.

Jadie had gotten a nice fire going for us before we even woke up. The girls were thrilled to have Hot Chocolate with Breakfast.

Braedyn busied herself by making leaf piles to jump in.

I thought this was a sweet picture of Brittney. She nestled down on her blanket and "read" to herself while we made breakfast.

Our kids are the classic boy and girls. Mine played house in the tent while Kimball wanted to play with the fire. He was quick to get something in there when we weren't looking. He found every stick, leaf, and even paper cup to drop in there.

I love this picture of Fleagle. She is a good little camper. Nemo got to have a slumber party with Grandma Jill's dogs.

My adorable little family. I loved getting out in nature with them.

Oh, the Joy of Potty Training

Brittney thought her new potty was pretty cool. I wrapped it up like a present just as in Once Upon a Potty. With a cup of juice and lots of books she sat on that potty for an hour and a half and "tinkled" about ten times.
Braedyn loved reading to Brittney and shouting "Good job, Brittney!!" She loves to teach Brittney new things. They are great at going potty together. :) Brittney has done really well the last three days. Only a couple accidents. Whew!!!

Once Upon a Potty

by Alona Frankel

This book comes in a Girl and Boy version. Its detail about her body makes me laugh, but it does the job. Brittney knows where the poop comes out. I recommend it.

Get Outside and Play

Troy and I like to find ways to be active with the kids. So we borrowed this bike trailer from my friend, Brooke. We hook it up to Troy's bike because he is better than me. I am not always the most coordinated cyclist. The other night, we rode from our house, all the way to Lake Zurinsky and stopped at a playground their for the girls to play. It was a hilly way back, but we had a lot of fun.

Braedyn and Brittney love to ride in trailer. "Go faster Daddy! Go Faster! Mommy is catching up." (I am a little slower than him on the downhill. I am such a chicken).

Business is Business

I was on the way home from Target yesterday (where I had just spent a decent amount on clothes for the girls) when I got a call from my boss. He was letting me know that Colton's was shutting down and that I could pick up my paycheck today. Our general manager quit to open his own restaurant here in town. He didn't give anyone notice that he was leaving. I had worked with him for almost two years and many others had been there even longer. He could at least have told us himself instead of sneaking out like a chicken. Since he left, the owner decided to shut it down immediately, rather than find new management. He wasn't even the one to call me. Our manager, Dan, was left with all the duties of closing it down.

What a sudden let down. I am disappointed not only because I have lost a good job with good people, but also because it was a good restaurant. The food was so good, the atmosphere was nice and I thought the service was great :). There were a lot of good people on that staff and I will miss the positive atmosphere that existed there. I went to get my check today and there was a sign on the door stating, "Closed for Remodeling." Yeah Right!!

So today I went out to look for a new job. I need my little outlet of talking with adults and no loud little girl voices in the background. Of course, I need the cash too. I walked into Johnny's Italian Steakhouse today and they hired me on the spot. It seems like a good place to work. I hope I am right. So, if you are out for a nice dinner, please ask for me if you go to Johnny's. It will be nice to see a familiar face.

My Southern Gal came to Town

Ashley and I have been friends since kindergarten. She moved to Tennessee when we were 14 and we have remained closest friends ever since. I think we have visited each other every year. My mom was sweet enough to buy her a ticket to visit this weekend. We had a great week of shopping, swimming with the kids, running (like soccer moms), and doing my dad's party.

We have so many good memories together of swimming at the Lake at Mimi's house, obsessing over Bobby Kross (our middle school crush), driving to Florida with her crazy friends, the list goes on and on. I am lucky have always had her as a friend. Every girl should be able to have a friend for a lifetime.

Dressed to go out to dinner and a Movie.

Ashley made the girls these blankets. We let the girls pick out their material. Whew, that was an event. Brittney tried to carry the whole role of fleece all over the store. Aren't the blankets cute? The girls love them.

My dad has a cool sister - my Auntie Annie (Lizanne). She wanted to throw him a surprise 50th birthday party. She did a lot of work to make it happen and it was a lot of fun. I am glad that we were able to do it for my dad. He is such a great father and friend to so many people. He deserved his own big day. I am so lucky to have such a sweet and loving dad.

Auntie Annie threw a great party for Dad. She is the Hostess with the Mostest. The cake was so good!!! Gotta love HyVee cake.

Here is the birthday boy. Auntie Annie picked out an awesome party hat.

Isn't our daddy so cute? We just had to give him a birthday kiss.

Braedyn and Brittney loved playing in the sand. You should have seen their bathwater that night. Yuck!

What a great night at the Lake. Happy Birthday Dad!

My Disney Princess

You Are Aurora! (A.K.A. Sleeping Beauty.)

Thoughtful and loving. Authority figures probably have been sheltering you all of your life. Thankfully you're a very tranquil person who is content with what life has given you, but secretly you want to know how the outside world works.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Splish Splash

As the end of summer nears, I thought I should share what we did with our hot, hot, humid days. Yep, we spent all of them in the water. Braedyn has become quite the little fish, swimming all over the pool and diving "like a mermaid." I have spent many afternoons pretending to be Melody, the Mermaid. Goggles, watering cans, and Ariel dolls have kept little Brittney busy in the water. Of course, Daddy makes the pool more fun with all of his throwing and chasing of our little girls. Thanks to Grandma Jill and Grandpa Rick, we can enjoy the heat rather than just survive it.

Here is my little mermaid, so Hollywood in my glasses.

How can we swim without all the proper attire?

Brittney loves to "swim" across the pool.

Braedyn and Kimball have been good swimming buddies.

Brittney and her Babies

My Baby with her Babies...




I find that Brittney is such an easy child right now because whenever we are home she gets herself lost in her babies. Feeding them, putting them down for a nap and changing their diapers..."Ewww, she's poopy Mommy. She's poopy." The first picture is recent of Brittney playing with three babies at once. The second one is of her, again, with three babies. I walked down the hall and found her sitting like that, with a proud grin on her face. She is a bit younger in this one. Since she was just over a year, Brittney has been a good mommy to her babies. While she has a handful of them, Baby Susie is most dear to her heart. There are many days when I hand her a baby only to hear "No Mommy. Where is my Baby Susie?" It is really cute with a 2-year old pronunciation. I love to watch my little baby with her baby.

Going to See Gracie!!

Braedyn and I went to visit the Soelbergs in Arizona. We became the best of friends with them when they lived across the street from us here in Omaha. Braedyn and Grace have been buddies since they were five months old. They looked so much alike people would ask if they were twins. They would also ask if Erica and I were sisters. We were all so sad when they moved last year. Braedyn and Grace still talk about how much they miss eachother.

It was wonderful to finally see them again. Braedyn and Grace were as if they had never been apart. Oh, and Mae was so fun. She is a little songbirg - singing everything. It was just like we were family coming to visit. Unfortunately, we brought the rainy weather with us from Omaha, so we didn't swim and boat as much as we planned but we did do makeovers at the mall, go to dance class, and get pedicures (just us moms did that). We went up to their family's cabin and hung out with Alan's family. It was beautiful up there. Both of their families are so nice. I feel like I fit right in. We spent the last day by the pool and the girls swam with their barbie dolls. We love being moms together.

Erica and I were just so happy to be together and so were our girls. I could have stayed two more weeks. It was a great trip.

Braedyn was sooo excited to fly on the plane. She hadn't been on one since she was 18m old. She talked and talked and talked about everything on it. I am sure the other passengers loved us.

Such a cute picture of Grace and Braedyn. We went to Alan's family's cabin up in Pine (in the mountains). It was beautiful up there, but a little chilly. Braedyn was pushing Grace in the cool tire swing they had. Swinging is what they did most of the day up there.

Braedyn got to go to Grace and Mae's dance class. Erica is their teacher. Grace wanted her glasses so she could be like Braedyn.

Grace, Mae, and Braedyn after their glitter and lip gloss makeovers at Mac.

The one picture we took of us. This is after two days at the cabin. We were pretty grungy by then.

Here's some pictures of our little girls together. They have been buddies since before they could crawl. They were so cute together.

We just happened to have these matching outfits. We love to dress them cute and take them to the park. We had such fun with our little babies.


I love this picture. The image isn't the best but it showed how much fun they always had together. They were like little sisters.

They spent every halloween, every birthday, everything..together.

They played every day up until Gracie moved.