Fun with the watering hose!

You are all being treated to a guest blogger tonight -- daddy!

Earlier tonight we took the kids out back as they have been begging mommy to take them outside recently. Why you ask? It's not because it is fun playing in the backyard or because the kids are bored in the house, no, they have been itching to go outside with daddy so they can get me wet with their new sponge balls that Christina got for her birthday.

Well, being the wise old dad that I am, I decided that I would trick the kids (it's not too hard, they are all less than four-years-old) and I got out the hose from the garage.

Let's just say that the kids got ahold of hose and had some fun!

Can you guess who got squirted the most? I can!

Sometimes there were battles for the hose:

And even though "sissy" won most of the battles, "bubba" got his own revenge as well!

And Ethan, well he just tried to stay out of his brother and sister's way and enjoy playing in the grass for the first time with mommy!


All in all, I think the kids had a good time tonight (even though daddy stayed dry!)

Christina Turns 4!

Turning 4 is such a chore. At least it was for mom & dad! Ha. We had party central at our house for about a week and a half. The demands of a four year old should really not be that demanding. After all, she is only four. But then again, you only turn four once, so we decided to make the most of it. Here are our highlights.

Gamma Chris & Papa Dick came up the weekend before the big day. After a fun day of Papa putting in new windows with Daddy, Christina had her fun. They took her to Toys R Us and let her pick out whatever toy she wanted. She settled on a princess dress up set and a Hannah Montana head set/music player.

Here we are showing off our new look as a princess with our pajamas.

We knew we had a jam packed day of fun for Wednesday. Before going to bed on Tuesday night, we told her she could have a special birthday morning breakfast. Without hesitating she informed us she would have apple dippers from McDonald's, birthday cake and sweet rolls. Bryan and I looked at each other and without saying a word, put the kids to bed and I started on a cake while he ran to Meijer for sweet rolls and McDonald's for apple dippers. If at this point you're saying "you've got to be kidding me" just wait. Bryan got home and had streamers to hang along with a "Happy Birthday" banner and even princess tableware. (These decorations didn't come down for over a week!)

Birthday morning with all of our birthday breakfast wishes.

Christina was told she could have what ever she wanted for her birthday dinner. Without missing a beat, she decided she wanted to go to Friendly's. The funny thing is, she's only been to Friendly's maybe twice, and it's been easily over a year ago. But we said we'd go. She was all big girl all the way. For those of you who know Christina, you know she takes some time to warm up and come out of her shell. Well, no more! Friendly's seemed to bring out the friendly in Christina! She wanted to order her own meal (and Dominic's too). She also was very insistent that they sing "Happy Birthday" to her. After the wait staff left, she even asked me why the rest of the people in the resturant (the patrons) didn't sing to her also! Then on our way out, she saw a waitress across the room, that didn't come sing and wanted to know why she didn't sing to her also. She was hilarious!

On to our next birthday celebration. Last Sunday we had Bryan's family over for a small family party. Gamma Joyce & Papa Phil, Great Grandma Lena, and Uncle Andy & Aunt Chris came over to celebrate. Christina had a blast. More and more presents and even new sand for the sandbox! Which is where we spent most of the evening.

And another cake for another party. We love Hannah Montana at our house!

And the last of our birthday celebrations took place this past Tuesday. Two of the other girls in Christina's preschool class have birthdays right around Christina's, so we decided to have a joint party with Elizabeth & Malena. Everything went extremely well. We had it at the park down the street from our house and invited all the kids from school. The kids had a blast! Most of them hadn't seen each other since school let out, so they were so excited to see eachother. I think the highlight of the night though was when Mrs. Klaus (their teacher) rode her bike up to the party. (We had invited her as well.) You would have thought she was Hannah Montana (see above comment on HM)! The kids were running and screaming to her and hugging and squeezing the heck out of her. Too cute. Anyway, the party went really well. And yet again, Christina got more gifts!

The birthday girls! Christina, Elizabeth & Malena had a super fun party on the lake!

Last but not least, did I mention that I submitted another card for the Sunny Side Up Show on Sprout? Oh yeah, I did. So for those of you haven't read all my blogs go back and read about Dominic's birthday card from last year. Christina's card made the show again this year! So she's been on for the past three years (Dominic hasn't made it yet- don't get me started)! Here's the video clip so make sure you check it out!

Anyways, the decorations have finally come down, most of the gifts have been opened and Christina is another year older. My baby girl is growing up! Yes, the past four years have gone by super fast, but we've enjoyed every minute of it. We have so many wonderful memories to still be made and for that we are truly blessed.

We love you Christina Anne!

Christina's Last Few Days of School

Seems it's been a while since I've been on here. I am now determined to get more than one post on here a month since Bryan is giving me a hard time about my "monthly posts". So for my die hard followers (pretty much my mom) you'll be getting at least one more post this month (Did I mention it will again be about Christina - hello she turned 4)!

Christina finished preschool the beginning of the month. While in September I never would have imagined this school year would come to an end this quickly, the last few weeks went by in a blur. She truly enjoyed herself and has grown into a wonderful young lady over the last 9 months. She can hardly wait to join her classmates, Mrs. Wollf & Mrs. Klaus again in the fall.


The last few weeks of school were packed with FUN! FUN! FUN! The kids walked to the library, visited the fire station and got to spray the fire hose, a trip to the beach and even a walk to get ice cream!



I'll start with the picture above. Obviously the above picture is Beach Day. Mrs. Klaus lives on the beach and she was gracious enough to invite 13 three & four year olds over to play on the beach for the day. We were told they would be playing in the sand, so no swimming or swim suits required. Um, yeah right. I was a driver and stayed, boys in tow, to check out the action. I don't think a single kid left without getting a "little" wet. Most were soaked! This picture is the entire class sitting on a log before heading to the picnic table for cupcakes and ice cream!

Christina and Reagan holding hands after walking over to get ice cream. You would think that when the teacher tells you that you can get "whatever ice cream you want" you wouldn't get a green slushie. But that's my girl!

Christina and Elizabeth at the beach. It was overcast, but the kids still had a blast! As you can see by Elizabeth's shirt and shorts, most of the kids got pretty wet. Christina was playing in the sand in facing away from the water. Too bad she couldn't have moved in more because by the time we left it looked as if she had wet herself from behind!

This is Christina, Malena & Elizabeth. You'll hear more about these three in my birthday post. The girls all have birthdays during the same week so we're having a group party for the three of them. Should be lots of fun!

Couldn't do an entire post without mentioning the boys at the beach. Ethan was a trooper and pretty much hung in the front carrier the entire time. Dominic however, well looking at the picture should say enough. He was running from the top of the beach straight towards the water and then back again. With several sandy falls he went home soaked (his diaper was like the size of a football) but had a blast playing with the boys in sissy's class.

Ryan and Christina with their slushies. They thought it was quite fun that their tongues turned different colors.

All and all a wonderful end to a great year. If this is what we have to look forward to with the school years, I say bring it on - we love it!