concerts

Monday, 12/12/11 - Winter Elementary concert at EB

Getting ready to leave before Lauren's 1st grade winter concert. Lauren IS wearing the same dress as last year :) she didn't mind and I was grateful we were able to make use of the dresses for 2 years! :)

Here they are this year (Lauren 6-8mo & Lindsay 5-4mo)

and here they are last year (2010)!

Lydia decided she did want to be a part of the picture :)

"I do wat mommy do! cheese mom!"

Lindsay is VERY excited to be a part of this program next year :) we assured her this was the LAST year she'd have to sit in the stands and watch :)

2011 - 1st grade

2010 - Kindergarten

1st grade class at EB

She was SO excited for the concert. Lauren really enjoys singing and is good at it too!

This is at the Christmas concert at church. I have them backwards ;) Sunday, 12/11

Lauren was excited to have a reading part, and did an amazing job! :)

Lindsay, Clay & Carter 'hanging-out' while waiting to sing ;)

an attempt at a family picture... I told Chris, "now or on Christmas Eve" :)  so he went for it.. but I'm secretly hoping for another attempt... but I should not hold my breath I know! Thanks Kris Wilgenbusch for taking the picture!

Lydia 'pretending' to be like Wiam ;) Thank you Mimi for buying this dress for Lydia! The other 3 worked for the other girls from last year :)) a little small on the bigger girls - but worth the 'stretch' ;)

LeaAnn looking at Markia, wondering why she won't let me go down those stairs?? ;)

LeaAnn at 9months (this is the dress that Lydia wore last year)

loved her cheeks here :)

Lydia's first haircut!

Saturday, 12/10/2011 - 1st hunting day for Dad! I have no where near the stories of some people whose husbands hunt... but I do know that staying in the house all day & night that is the size of a cracker-jack-box for 4 girls, 6-1/2 and under, is for the BIRDS!  And on top of that, as we all rose out of bed at 6:15am and came downstairs, Lindsay says, "Mom... can we get out of the house today? Can we go somewhere fun?" :)  So I happily obliged and we made a game plan!

First we went to B&B Farm Store to see Santa... notice there are no pictures :)  Everyone was super helpful at B&B... holding LeaAnn, feeding her a bottle, helping us get our coats on... but trying to finagle the camera, plus holding LeaAnn, plus trying to get a screaming Lydia to sit on Santa's lap... did not happen. :) So in a few weeks, B&B will provide us with a free picture of Santa, Mrs. Claus... & Mom, w/all 4 kids, isn't that nice of them? :)

And THEN... the best part of the whole day?!?  We went to the College of Hair Design to have LEIA cut all the girls' hair! :) (For those who might not know - Leia was our previous babysitter until she went on to fulfill her dream of becoming a hair dresser.)

 It was so perfect and fun :)  I wanted to surprise her... but I got nervous that we were going to the wrong college... so I decided to call Ryan at home and just 'make sure' that I was headed in the right direction... and who answered the phone?  Leia of course :) But it all worked out perfectly... she wrote us down in the books so she could guarantee she'd have time to do them all.



 Lindsay volunteered to go first... doesn't Leia look awesome! :) So professional, put-together and beautiful! She's made to be a hair dresser :)  

Lydia "checking it out" ~ notice her coat is still on?  She was insisting we "go back to DA ban!"

Ms. Lauren patiently waiting her turn...

So this whole 'ordeal' meant that I was holding Liam the whole time. One might say... sure, right, that's what you do.. hold the 9-mo old baby.  Well, that might OK for some... but this 'little baby sister' weighs almost 21 lbs!! That is A LOT of weight to be carrying around with one arm trying to do 10 other things! :))  Like taking Lydia potty for instance... that was an interesting feat :)  So hear I am trying to entertain her by taking her picture w/one hand :)  She giggled every time the camera clicked.

Lindsay tried really hard to hold still the whole time ;) though it was VERY difficult for her...

Ahhh... relief for mom's arm :)  She's eating string cheese... yup - a WHOLE piece of string cheese :)

GORGEOUS! both of them! :)

Yup... still checking it out :)  She put herself in this position... we kind of took over 3 spots, good thing no one cared! :)

"Cheese" mom! Now leave me alone :)

Lauren's turn...

Still entertaining Wiam....

And for the finale... will Lydia sit for her first haircut?? :)  Notice the sucker already in her mouth :)

And the answer is, yes! She did sit :) great too for a while...

Here are the girls trying to help Leia by getting Lydia to look down :)

Chris thought she looked like Lindsay here.

They BOTH did a great job. Very proud of Lydia for actually sitting, and Leia did awesome being so patient w/the girls! But OF COURSE she is... she was the best babysitter ever :) and I have no doubt, will be the best hair dresser ever! :)  



We also had another great surprise, we got to see Leia's kids, Delphina & Arabella, and Ryan too :) Wish I would have gotten my camera out for that. :) But none the less, we had a great visit... thanks so much for doing a wonderful job Leia!

Stats

Lydia Alice at 2 - this was 2 days before her birthday, she climbed up & buckled herself in :)

Here are the comparisons...

Lydia - 33.25" & 27.5 lbs

Lindsay - 34.75" & 31.8 lbs

Lauren - 34" & 29.1 lbs

Still the pip squeak! Though if I've doubled her height correctly, she could potentially be 5' 5" tall! :) Still taller than mom... that's all I'm rooting for ;)

Ms. Wiam... the name is sticking. Mimi pointed out that Liam might stick... depends on what the girls keep calling her I guess :)  My grandfather William, they called him Billy, until his youngest brother could not pronounce "Billy" and said, "Boey" and the name "Bo" stuck. :) 

LeaAnn at 9 months (before getting the Christmas tree)... and here are the comparisons.

LeaAnn - 27-1/2" & 21lbs 7oz
Lydia - 27" & 18lbs 2oz
Lindsay - 28.5" & 20lbs 12oz
Lauren - 28.75" & 21lbs

I was really shocked at her height... I still think there might have been some error?  She has been on the 90th%ile curve, until this reading... knocks her down to the 75th. Only time will tell, but my bet is still that LeaAnn will be the tallest. :)

Family fun in Ohio

On Friday, 11/25 Mimi and I opted not to go shopping and in the afternoon, after Pap got home from work and the girls woke up from naps, we went to a park! A little chilly, but beautiful and kids had a great time! Aside from Lydia getting 'clocked' in the head by a swing (and not a normal swing, a huge plastic swing with a big kid in it) we all had a great time. :) No pictures of the black eye either... I'm a terrible mom - really slacking on taking pictures to document things like that! But none the less... here are some pictures from the trip!

Lydia 'negotiating' again... with her best subject! She was trying to get him up there to slide down with her :)

My beautiful Lindsay Rae... now if only I could get her to smile like this 'on-cue'!

That evening before the sun went down (happens at 6 in Ohio, lucky people!) We took a few shots of Donnie, Ashley, Elle & Carson for family photos. Mom & Dad have the perfect setting for pictures... and for riding four-wheelers, and campfires, and fishing... the list goes on and on!

Really enjoyed taking the pictures... as I always do :) but I was really happy with how they turned out... getting more and more comfortable with my new editing program all the time.

Love this little ham!

This was my personal favorite...

REALLY fun playing around with this picture :)

True display of Elle & Carson :)

LOVE this picture of my favorite brother & sister-in-law (good thing I only have one of each! ;)

and super special picture of Donnie, Dad & Carson... I know, I know... I was lucky to catch him at a weak moment :) he actually smiled when I asked him too ;)



That night in the bubble bath... as Lauren called it, "a little bit of heaven!" :) Was something they talked about all the way to Ohio.

And then on Saturday we went bowling! The kids had a blast, and so did the adults :) Here is Donnie being 'pro' bowler :) Lauren asked me, "why does Donnie have his own shoes & bowling ball?"  Good question Lauren... b/c Uncle Donnie likes to be the 'coolest' at all sports!! :)) Just teasing Don ;)



Here is the whole clan :) Lindsay Bowen even drove down to see me & the whole family!



We did not get there early enough to have a lane with the bumper pads, but the nice guy helping us out gave the kids this 'device' to use that kept their ball remotely straight :) they loved it and it really worked!

Lindsay in action...



waiting to see where the ball is going to go...

 and it rolled in the gutter... bummer!

 better luck next time Linds! :)

Lydia did surprisingly well :) she didnt' even try to run down the bowling isle :)

Like our matching shirts? :) Mimi bought them for us that day shopping... I thought they were VERY fitting :))

Such a wonderful visit... we made it back in 9-hrs thanks to L3 & 4 falling asleep at the same time right before lunch, and then again after lunch, and sleeping longer than 45-minutes!  So safe & sound we found Iowa... 3-hrs of unpacking later we were ready to read the girls a book before bed. Lauren & Lindsay picked it out together and asked Chris & I both to sit on the couch for it. It was the book that Mimi & Pap had recorded for them the previous Christmas. "B/c Mimi & Pap are not here to read us the book, we can listen to this one," they said. So we listened to mom & dad read the book, and when it was over, Lauren started crying. I asked her why she was crying and she said, "B/c I miss Mimi & Pap." Then Lindsay started crying... and then we were ALL sitting on the couch crying. Quite the site we were I'm sure :) but it was true... we had such a wonderful visit... and we do miss Mimi & Pap, and our whole Ohio family very much, everyday. Love you all, and thanks again for the wonderful time.