Play time...

Calla's a climber. She is always getting herself into trouble trying to climb in and out of things. The other day, both girls were playing in Calla's room when all of a sudden Leslie's come running to find me and tells me Calla is stuck in her dresser. Sure enough, she had opened the bottom drawer and climbed in, but got stuck by the top drawer she forgot to push closed first. Luckily, she hasn't started trying to climb up much. I'm sure that will come when she's a bit taller. Here she is climbing in the little laundry basket which is always a balancing challenge...

Although she gets contorted in all sorts of funky ways, and usually gets a foot stuck, when she finally gets in, she's as happy as a child on Christmas morning....

Here's my girls loving on each other. The past couple weeks they've started hugging each other when I pick Leslie up from school or after church on Sunday. Too cute for words...

My little leprechaun playing the drums. Barry says she's actually very good:)

And repeat...

Family Fun...

My cousin, Sarah, and her family came to visit us again a couple weekends ago. Ava LOVED our dog. She followed her around and pet her literally the entire time. For some reason, she refused to learn her name or even acknowledge she was not a he! Belle loved it either way...


Ava and Austin also loved Barry's drums... until one accidentally hit the other in the head and the other hit back etc... But it was fun while it lasted!

It was such a cold and windy day outside, we couldn't play outside, so we packed up and went to the Children's Museum. Here all the kiddos are "shopping..."

I think Calla would have watched the fish tank in the lobby the entire time if we would have let her...

Here's baby Emma. She's such a good baby! She just sat in the stroller and chilled the entire trip. We never heard a peep!

Here the kiddos are cooking in the mini-kitchen...

This was our best attempt to get all the kids in a picture together. Calla is not in the picture because she is still looking at the first fish tank and not willing to try another...

Sarah got this great picture of Calla! Big ol' toothy laugh....

If I would have been thinking, this car would have gone away for the day. The only reprieve Belle got was when Ava wanted the car. They all played in it/fought over it all day long! It's hard entertaining everyone inside!

Although we were stuck inside, it was still a great day. They have not moved out of state, and I have no idea when I'll get to see them again:( I'm so glad we got to see each other twice in their short stay in Texas! Poor Leslie woke up Saturday morning asking to play with her friend, Ava. I tried telling her that she'd moved away and it wasn't possible, but she just doesn't get it. Love you and miss you all!

Panties and more...

Barry and I always wait to sort laundry until after the girls are in bed, and inevitably, their laundry gets thrown in a pile against the wall to sort tomorrow (or the next day... or the next...)

So, Calla was down to her diaper helping me pick out clothes for her to wear, when she came across some of Leslie's panties. She was SO SUPER HAPPY! She knew exactly what they were!

She smiled really big, picked them up, then started putting on her belly... like they were going to magically wrap around her little body and stick...

She wouldn't let me have her pair, but I got a different pair and let her try them on. She was absolutely giddy! And the funniest thing was that they fit perfectly! (over the diaper of course)

So despite the cold, she walked around for quite a while strutting her big girl panties...

Now if only I can get her to wear them without the diaper underneath!!

On a related note... Barry and I can not figure out why Calla's breath and diapers have smelt like Spaghetti O's the last week. We thought it might be the beef and tomato ravioli's she's eaten lately, but I haven't given her any in several days... and still... Spaghetti O's...

Cowboy Cake...

I made a cake last week for one of our friend's little boy's first birthday party. It was a Cowboy Cake. I got the basic idea from the internet, and then altered somethings to make it suit out situation better. This is the top tier. Piping the bandanna pattern on the side was every bit as hard as I anticipated it would be. The icing just wants to fall down. It was especially difficult when doing the lines that curved down. Next time, I'll have to figure out a way to tilt to cake. It still turned out cute as a whole...

Here are some of the pieces parts. I made horseshoes from fondant and set them out to dry over night...

Here is the cake stacked. Barry was a big help with several of the steps. He did all the scratching up of the rope border! This just shows a little bit of the mess that goes along with working with fondant...

Here is a close up of the side details once the cake was finished...

I made a little cowboy hat and a sheriff's badge to go along with the horse shoes for the top...

I think it turned out super cute, and everyone at the party really seemed to enjoy it. It was a little nerve wrecking to be at the party with the cake, but luckily, everyone was nice and said they liked it. (and one even asked me to make a cake for her daughter's birthday!) I had so much fun making it and spending time with Barry who graciously did alot of the helper work and cleanup for me! I think the next cake on my list is Leslie's birthday party, time permitting!!

Snow Day...

We got 4-6" of snow here a couple weeks ago! Snow is rare for us, much less this much! It was on a Tuesday, so I was a little worried with how we were going to manage playing in it alone. Luckily, Daddy came home early for lunch and spent a while (after he changed) outside with Leslie. Had I know it was going to snow this much this winter, I would have invested in some better snow gear. But alas, layers had to do. I did convince Leslie to wear different mittens that are much too big, but at least they're warm (and she didn't have to wear baggies over them!)


Of course, eating it takes top priority...

Calla woke up right after the big kids went outside, so I dug through her closet and boxes of Leslie's old clothes to come up with some layers and shoes, so she could play, too! The only shoes I could find to fit over all her layers were some of Leslie's old swim shoes! At least they were water proof. I'm so glad I had the next size boxes out of the attic to go through!

I didn't think Calla would like it a whole lot, especially since it was so deep. But I stuck her on a flat spot so she could walk some, and she actually really really loved it!

The snow was pretty fresh, so it was hard to make a big snowman, but Daddy did manage to pack together a little one for us to enjoy (notice Daddy had to go gloves with baggies!)

Belle did not like it as much. Poor dog is so OCD she had to go all the way around the outside edge of the fence to get the farthest corner to do her business. It was pretty deep for her. She finally found an adequate spot then quickly made her way back to us. I had to pick her up and carry her back to the house because her little paws were so frozen! "What did you learn???"

Here's a little snow bunny next to our snow man...

And here's my three snow friends...

Leslie put the finishing touches on the snowman with green sidewalk chalk and the chalk bucket...

To finish her experience, Leslie laid down, made some snow angels, and rolled around it in some. I thought this was a good picture to see how deep it was...

Once the snowman was made, the sun came out, and the snow quickly started to melt. Both the girls were ready to come inside and warm up. Poor Daddy had to quickly change back into his suit and scurry back to work with just a bagel for lunch. We were so thankful that he got to come home and play with us though! It probably won't snow like this again for SEVERAL years! We're glad everyone had a chance to play and enjoy the big snow day!

Cousin Sarah Visit...

My cousin, Sarah, and her family came to visit us last weekend. Both the kids and adults had so much fun together. We hardly ever see each other since they're usually out in California, but they're living only a couple hours away for a few months, so we're trying to take full advantage of it while it lasts! Here is Ava and Austin on the green swing, and Calla (with sun shield) enjoying her baby swing...


The weather was sooooo gorgeous! We played outside for a long time. Ava and Leslie (with Daddy's help) played a long game of "Watch me throw this ball on the roof!"

Here is my beautiful cousin with her son Austin and Leslie, all playing in the princess castle...

Her husband, Adam, got stuck on the sidelines holding baby Emma (who is currently sporting the most extreme mohawk I have ever seen on a baby!!)

Not sure where the kiddos are, but Barry decided to play in the castle by himself until they returned...

We have a huge planter box on the back patio right now until we can figure out where we want to put it. We threw Calla in it to keep her contained and out of the big kids way! Helped keep her safe!

We did let her out to play in the castle some, too...

And here we all are at the end of the day before they had to pack back up and make the sad drive home...

Hopefully, we'll get to see each other more before they have to move away! I know we would all enjoy a little more play time!

Cinderella Ballet...

The local Ballet Company put on a production of Cinderella that Mom and I took Leslie to. She had alot of fun. Her bugga-buggas danced the whole way through, too! Here she after the show with a couple of the dancers that we knew. We couldn't convince her to go pose with the pretty snow faries, or ugly step-sisters, but she was super excited about the mouse:)


She also got her face painted which she always loves...

And finally, she got to have her picture taken with Cinderella and the prince...


It was a fun girls night out for us. Can't wait until Calla's old enough to come along, too!

Funny Leslie...

Leslie is a pretty funny little girl. While we miss her toddler talk, it is enjoyable to hear all the crazy ideas and connections she makes as a preschooler. This moment happened a couple weekends ago- "This fry looks familiar... hum..."


"Hey look Daddy! This fry is like Wolverine's claw!"

Leslie's monkey impression...

Leslie somehow managed to wrap herself in this blanket during her nap...

Sweet Calla...

Here is Calla at the baby blessing at church. Once again, Leslie's face will have to be photo shopped...


Calla got a little car for her birthday. She and Leslie LOVE it! Calla climbs in and just sits and plays in it all day. And then they take turns pushing each other all around the house. The video is super cute. I guess I need to try and get that up!

Calla making a fish face at me...

"Here I am!"

Calla also got this little shopping cart push toy for her birthday. It's nice that now she doesn't have to fight Leslie for the big one. She walks it around and loads things in and out. Pretty cute. "Look what I got at the store Daddy!"