Talking about Arkansas

Yesterday morning, Kelsey showed her toes to Jim and said, "Look, Daddy - Poppa was right, the red still isn't washing off my toes! That's why he calls me Twinkle Toes." It was so cute to see that after two weeks of being home she's still thinking about the good times we had on our trip to Arkansas!

Then today she got out of the shower and said, "When are we going back to Arkansas?"

Jim said, "You want to go back to Arkansas already? Why?"

Kelsey said, "Because it's my favorite - I want to go there everyday!"

All I could do was smile - hearing her say that just melted my heart!!!

JoJo's Boyfriend

Jim called me while I was at work today, and he was teasing me about Tony Stewart being my "other man" - but he didn't say Tony's name at first, and Kelsey got REALLY upset. This was the end of the conversation at home:

Jim: (to me) So, are you going to have your boyfriend stay the night?

Kelsey: DAD! Her don't have a boyfriend! Her only love you!!

Jim: Yes she does have a boyfriend - wanna know his name?

Kelsey: No she doesn't!! (more quietly) What's his name?

Jim: Tony

Kelsey: (gasps) STEWART?!?

Jim: Yep - can JoJo date Tony Stewart?

Kelsey: No! Her only love you!!

Jim: Can Daddy have a girlfriend?

Kelsey: No, you don't need more - you only need one, JoJo.

Calling Boyfriends

Okay, I'm not done posting all the stuff from the past few weeks, but I HAVE to share this conversation Kelsey and Jim had tonight!

Kelsey: (Playing with her toy cell phone) I'm calling my boyfriend.

Jim: I'll take that phone away if you're calling boys.

Kelsey: Why?

Jim: Because. Besides, you're not supposed to call boys, they're supposed to call you.

Kelsey: Well, they don't have my phone number. But I have my boyfriend's phone number.

Jim: What are you, Mrs AT&T?

Kelsey: No, I'm just calling my boyfriend.

They went on this way for a while, bantering back and forth. It was cute - but I sense that she's going to be VERY popular when she gets older!

Tea Party

One of my fondest memories about trips to Arkansas as a child is having Tea Parties with Grandma and Poppa. We would make sandwiches and cut them up really small, serve Kool-Aid from the little tea pot and eat with little bitty silverware and plates from the tea set too.

Well, we had to host one of these parties for Kelsey too while we were down there - it just wouldn't be an official trip to Grandma and Poppa's without one!

Kelsey absolutely loved it - and so did the adults. It brought back such sweet memories for me, and I'm so glad to be sharing the tradition with Kelsey now!

Easter Sunday

Okay, I know this is REALLY late, but things have been crazy-busy, as you'll see once I get all of the posts I'm behind on posted!

Saturday night we colored Easter Eggs at Grandma and Poppa's house. It was a lot of fun! Here are some pictures:

Sunday morning Uncle Scott, Jim, Kelsey and I got up early to go to a sunrise service on the river. It was really cold, especially for Arkansas - only 27 degrees that morning! So we bundled up and even put jeans on Kelsey UNDER her pretty Easter dress. She may have looked funny to some, but she was warm and that was the whole point!

Several people gathered at the river and we waited and waited and waited for the preacher to come. FINALLY, someone came by in a car and told all of us that the service had been moved indoors due to the weather. So we all packed up into our vehicles and headed to the church - we got there just in time for the last hymn and the final prayer. At least we had the right INTENTION - being from out of town, we weren't on the "phone fan" the previous night. LOL. Oh well, we got some really great pictures on the river bank and had some time to talk to Kelsey about the real meaning of Easter. The Bible says, "where two or more gather in My name, there is worship" - so we just had our own worship service.

Here are some of the pictures of this:

After the service attempt, we had breakfast with Uncle Scott and then headed back home to take a nap before our family festivities. Kelsey hunted for Easter Eggs and we all had a blast with that! Every time she found a plastic one with money in it, she would hunker down over it to hide it as the looked inside and then she would QUICKLY put it in her bucket. She acted like she was afraid we would take her money or something, silly kiddo! Here are some pictures of the hunt:

Poppa, Uncle Scott, and Jason were working on brush-hogging the field. Poppa came in by the house on the tractor and Kelsey was just amazed by it. I told her about how he used to take Jason and me for rides on it - the next thing I knew, she was on his lap riding away, in her Easter dress and all. They were both tickled pink!!

When we came back inside, it was time to look at what the Easter Bunny had brought for us. We ALL got spoiled by that nice Bunny :-) Kelsey had two baskets and a tub full of stuff - she was really excited! Here are some pictures of this part of our day:

Of course, after this we were all getting hungry, so we finished cooking dinner and then we sat down to eat. We had ham, Swiss steak ( my FAVORITE), mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, green beans, salad - I'm sure there was even more on the table, but you get the drift. It was a WONDERFUL meal! Thanks, Grandma, for all your hard work in the kitchen - and for teaching me the recipe for the Swiss Steak, I need to try making it soon. It was so nice having everyone gathered around for dinner. The guest list was as follows: Grandma, Poppa, Mom, Jay, Uncle Scott, Jason, Jim, Kelsey, and me.

Let me just note that my Grandma is VERY particular about her table settings - they're always immaculate, and she has different dishes for ever occasion imaginable too. Well, for Easter, she even had bunny shaped salt and pepper shakers - that's how detailed she is. We had Oreo pie for dessert, and someone made a comment about the bunny shakers and what would she do if they left droppings behind (yeah, we're a crazy bunch). SOOOOO....then some Oreo crumbs were strategically placed around the back side of the shakers - it was so funny (even though it's gross), that I had to take a picture:

After dinner, Jim, Mom and I did the dishes. We all visited a little more after that, but it was early to bed in the long run - it was a big day for everyone. A big wonderful day!!

Heading to Arkansas

Okay, the following entry was WRITTEN on our way to Arkansas Friday, April 6, 2007 - but I didn't get a chance to play online while we were there. We're actually on our way home now, stopped over at a hotel before we visit Mammoth Cave National Park in the morning. I have a lot more to post, but the entry I wrote on the way down south is all that's ready right now. Enjoy!

Well, we’re almost to our destination in Arkansas! We’re headed down to visit my mom, grandparents and uncle for Easter. It’s been 2 years since I’ve seen my grandparents, and I haven’t seen my mom or my uncle since my wedding back in September. Kelsey has never even met my grandparents. So, as I’m sure you can imagine, we’re very excited to be making this trip! My brother is even with us - it’s going to be great to have the whole family together for the holiday!!!

Kelsey has been so good on the trip. When we first got on the road she played with her LeapPad contentedly until she fell asleep. Then she slept until we stopped for gas. After we got gas, she played with her LeapPad some more - she went through all 5 of her books and started to go through them again. We had forgotten her colored pencils, so I was afraid she was going to get burnt out on the whole LeapPad thing.

As much as I’ve always been against DVD players for kids on trips, I gave in to Jim’s idea and we brought the laptop and several DVDs, so I put a movie in for her. She loved it, and it wasn’t a bad thing - I’m not even really sure why I’ve always been against the idea actually...I suppose we’re just creatures of habit. When I was growing up, we made this 16-18 hour drive on a regular basis. Of course, there weren’t even DVDs back then, let alone portable DVD players or laptop computers. So my brother and I would color, read, play little travel board games (like Trouble and Connect Four) as well as the verbal travel games (like the ABC game, the License Plate game, I Spy, etc). When we weren’t doing one of those things, we slept. I suppose I just always figured that if we could occupy ourselves on a trip like this, my children could too. But oh well, times have changed and we have to adapt.

Anyway, it’s almost 3am Michigan time and I’m exhausted. I’m going to stop writing, and I’ll post this as soon as I find a wi-fi hotspot. I can’t believe how many we’ve come across at travel stops on this trip! (I fell asleep before I got a chance to follow through with that...)

Once we get there, I’ll try to post special stories and pictures as the week goes by. But just in case we stay too busy, I want to wish you all a very Happy Easter!!

More Birthday Celebrating

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happy Birthday, Jordan!

Today we went to Jordan's Birthday Party. It was at this really cool place called Pump It Up where they have giant inflatable things for the kids to play on. This was fun even for the adults, because unlike the traditional play places for kids, this place lets the big kids play too!

Just imagine, Erica, Barb and me all together in a place filled with kids and play equipment - you know we made the most of it!

Here are some pictures of the festivities:

The Birthday Girl!

Kelsey and a new friend coming down the slide.

Mariah and Kelsey getting ready to go through the obstacle course.

Inside the Bouncer - see? Barb and Erica are having just as much fun as the kids (and so was I, even though I'm behind the camera!)

At one point in the Bouncer, things became a little dangerous...Kelsey and I collided and her very loose top tooth became even more loose. She grinned at me after we both stood up, and her mouth was full of blood. I got her out of the Bouncer and we went looking for Daddy. Jim successfully removed the tooth, and we got Kelsey to the point where she was excited that the Tooth Fairy will be coming, then we had to take a picture of her new toothless grin in front of the Pump It Up sign. It turned out to be a very exciting day!

Great party, Erica - thanks so much for inviting us!!

Saturday Evening

This weekend was really busy, in case you haven't noticed yet!

Saturday evening we drove down to see Joe and Spring. Kelsey was really excited to go see Aunt Spring, Uncle Clown (that's really what she calls him!) and the babies, as were Jim and I. We always have a good time with them!

Our original plans were to take Kelsey to a local mall to have her picture taken with the Easter Bunny. After Spring called us, we all decided to go to a mall in Toledo for the evening and do the pictures there. We got to their house and then I rode with Spring and the twins and Jim, Joe & Kelsey rode in our car to the mall. It was so nice to be able to sit and talk to Spring - with our busy schedules, we don't get that chance often enough!

Once we got to the mall, Spring told us that she and Joe wanted to take Kelsey to Build-a-Bear and let her make her own bear for her birthday present (they are too sweet!). So Spring and I took Kelsey through the steps of building a bear and the guys walked the twins around the mall while they waited patiently for us.

Kelsey chose a really pretty, soft pink and white teddy bear. When we got to the Stuffing Station, she was allowed to pick out a heart to put in the bear. Once she picked out the heart, she did the following Heart Preparation Ritual: Tap it really hard for a strong heart beat, give it a kiss for lots of love, rub it on your forehead so it's smart, rub it on your ear so it's a good listener, rub it on your cheek for lots of laughs, rub it on your belly so it will never go hungry, spin in a circle so it will always find its way home, jump up and down 5 times for lots of energy. It was so precious, and so neat to watch her do this!

Kelsey decided to name her bear "Princess" because that's what her Daddy calls her (Spring helped her develop that idea, she's so sweet!). Then Aunt Spring helped Kelsey register her bear on the computer and Kelsey got a Birth Certificate for the newest member of our family!

Thank you so much, Aunt Spring and Uncle Clown for this special Birthday Present!

After this we walked to the other end of the mall to see the Easter Bunny! Kelsey took a really good picture (also to be posted later due to technical difficulties), and so did the twins. Here's a picture of the twins that we snapped with our camera:

There was a typical mall fountain near the Bunny's station, and this quickly caught the attention of all three kids after pictures were done. They very much enjoyed reaching down and touching the water as well as throwing coins into the fountain for "good luck". Here are some pictures of this:

See those Bunny Ears on Kelsey? I thought they were so cute that I insisted all the adults have a picture with them on too! I'll spare everyone else and only post the picture of me doing this...
Everyone had a really good time - we need to do stuff like this more often!

Birthday Surprise

After Kelsey's pictures, we went to lunch at Dario's to celebrate my birthday. My actual b-day isn't until Wednesday, but it's monthend week at work, so we know we won't be able to go out that day. Well, I thought it was just going to be the three of us going to lunch - I wasn't expecting anything special.

Well, then I found out that my dad was coming too, which I thought was really nice. THEN, we walk into the resteraunt and I see Barb and Mariah at a big huge table, complete with a balloon bouquet. They totally surprised me!!

I have a wonderful husband and great friends, I am so thankful for them!

Here's a picture of the cake:

Isn't that so sweet? *Smiles*