Easter

We went my parent’s house to celebrate Easter a few weeks ago. We have not been for a visit in a while, so we decided to head down on Saturday and stay the night.

My parent’s always give all the grandchildren an Easter basket, so we went ahead and gave the girls their Easter Baskets from us on Saturday morning. We then went outside for a quick Easter egg hunt, and then onto to my parent’s house.

Taylor with her Easter stash...
A stuffed bunny and stuffed chick, a chocolate bunny and some cotton candy!

Counting up their eggs...

Molly scanning the yard for any overlooked eggs...

We arrived to my parent’s house mid-afternoon and spent the rest of the day outside….visiting, dying eggs, and watching the kids ride bikes and play.

The weather was perfect!

My niece Anna Clair...

The girls shared their bike's with their cousin Thomas...

They were also so nice to share with Papa...

Anna Clair also spent the night at my parent’s house on Saturday night. She is two years old and just adorable. The girls act like little mommy’s with her, and I think they really like that fact that they can blame things on her because they know she is to little to know when they are throwing her under the bus. For example, when they were questioned about who made the mess in Mimi’s office. Without hesitation, Molly and Taylor blamed it all on Anna Clair!

Easter morning Molly, Taylor, and Anna Clair picked up the candy that the Easter Bunny brought!!! (It's tradition in our family for the Easter Bunny to leave clusters of chocolate all over the house, and the kids get to pick it up and claim it as their own!)

We went to church on Easter morning with my parents, it was an awesome mass. I just love going to my parent’s church. I wish that we lived just a little closer, so that we could go every weekend! After mass we went back to my parent’s house. All but one of my siblings and their family’s came over for the afternoon.

My parents after church...

Stuart, Me, Taylor and Molly...


My sister with her three cuties...

My sister Kristen and brother in law Brandon...

My brother Bryan and sister in law Karena...

All eight grandkids...

I just love this picture! My nephew's two front teeth were loose and his permanent teeth are growing in behind them. He was hamming it up for the camera by pushing his front teeth out for pictures.

Happy Spring!!!

Lost Tooth...

Stuart noticed that one of Taylor’s front bottom teeth was really loose last Wednesday night. Conveniently enough, both Molly and Taylor had a dentist appointment scheduled for Thursday morning. This was a good thing because Taylor is only 4 1/2, which is rather young to start losing teeth. Their dentist did not seem at all concerned, so I was able to rest easy…I guess some kids just lose their teeth at an early age.

Taylors first Loose Tooth...

Saturday night Stuart talked Taylor into letting him pull it. He got a paper towel and pulled it right out with just took one little tug.

Daddy and Taylor...She was so brave!

(Taylor had a pretty good fall during a race that she was having with her sister on Friday night for those of you that might be wondering why she has the scratched up face!)

I told Taylor that she was so lucky because the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy were coming to visit tonight; she responded by saying, “I bet they will come together because they are friends.”

The next day after finding a dollar under her pillow Stuart asked her what she was going to do with it. She said, “Buy something for Molly.” They are just so sweet! I had to document this so I can refer back to it when they are a couple of teenagers driving me up the wall...haha.

Spring Break

We decided to make a trip to Kansas City a couple of weeks ago for a mini vacation while the girls were on spring break. We drove up on Friday afternoon in 70 degree weather. We checked into the hotel or as the girls said “palace,” and then headed right back out to meet my Aunt Karen, Uncle Bill, Cousin Amanda and her husband Brandon for dinner. We got back to the hotel around 9 p.m. and headed down to the indoor pool, because that is all the girls were concerned about all day on Friday. I loved staying in hotels with indoor pools when I was little.

I think I said this last year, but these bubble suits just crack me up!!!

Molly

Taylor

On Saturday morning we woke up to 35 degree weather and 5 inches of snow on the ground. We did not let the weather stop us. We headed to my Aunt and Uncles so that my Uncle could chauffeur us over to the Sprint Center for the girls "special surprise."

Waiting in the hotel lobby for daddy to pull the car around...

Taylor

Molly

A quick picture at my Aunt and Uncle's before we left for the Sprint Center...

I bought tickets about a month ago to see “Disney on Ice.” We decided not to tell the girls where we were going so they were pretty excited when we walked in and they saw the Disney setup. I may have mentioned this before, but I am not a very emotional person. With that said I don’t know what it is, but I cry EVERY time we take the girls to stuff like this. I just get very emotional seeing them experience new things and love to see them get all excited. So, as we were walking in I started in with the "Niagara Falls," and of coarse Stuart started to laugh at me. He said that I’m turning into my mother…which is not such a bad thing :). The got to see Cinderella and Tiana from “The Princess and the Frog” before the show started.

They fit right in with their princess dresses on...

When we got to our seats the girls were just sitting real still and quiet taking everything in. There were people walking up and down the isles selling all sorts of Disney goodies. Stuart said to me that we should get them these foam hats and cotton candy. I of course, trying to be cheap said I did not think that was such a great idea. Molly sweetly looked at us and said, “I wish I could have some popcorn.” So, Stuart was off to get some snacks, He came back thirty dollars lighter and had his arms full with popcorn, foam hats and cotton candy. SUCKER….

Waiting for the show to start...

The show was a series of short reenactments from Disney movies like...

“Cars”

“The Little Mermaid”

“The Loin King” and,

“Tinkerbell”

It was put together really well! The music was great, the costumes were great, and skating was great, and the girls just loved it.

After the show was over our chauffeur Bill picked us up and took us over to my Aunt and Cousins new business http://mashhandmade.com/home.html. If you are ever in the Kansas City area you should stop in. They have a lot of unique Hand made items and their displays are really great! Saturday afternoon/evening we got together with the whole Tholen family and my Grandpa for food, basketball, beer, and brownies.

The best picture that I got from this visit was of the kids trying to find my cousins husband, while playing hide-and-go seek. He was crouched down in the kitchen, and I swear everyone of the kids went by him again and again. My cousin finally told them to get on their hands and knees to look for him, and shortly after they did this they discovered his secret hiding place...

We always have such a good time with this family!!!

Sunday morning we hit the pool once again, and then headed over to my other grandparents house for lunch. We got to see my Uncle Joe, his wife Jill and some of my cousin’s Mary, Mia, and Eli. We also got to visit with my Aunt Rosemary and her husband Dusty. We had some good food, and Stuart took advantage of the snow by getting outside with the girls to build a snowman.

Molly and and Taylor with my Grandpa and my cousins Mia, Eli, and Mary.

We went to dinner at T-Rex. It was really neat. There were dinosaurs and aquariums everywhere. The dinosaurs moved around and made dinosaur noises.

Molly and Taylor would not go near this Dinosaur...

The girls were so worn out from the weekend that they feel asleep in the booth after they finished off their dinner.

Molly

Taylor

We woke them up, and they mustered up enough energy to dig for fossils and walk through the little caves.

It was such a fun trip, and as Taylor and Molly say we just love to go to “The City” to sleep at "The Palace."

Funny Faces...

Molly
Taylor

ART

I really look forward to receiving and cherish all of the artwork that Molly and Taylor bring home. I just have one little problem. What do you do with all of it? I take some of it to work and change it out on my desk, and of course we frequently change out pictures that go on the refrigerator. I have decided that I need to save a few things here and there and just take pictures of the stuff that I should toss, or maybe even sell??? Haha. While I am sentimental with some things, I am NOT a hoarder.

I took 140 pictures of artwork that they have brought home over the past year the other night. I can really see improvement from over the year. I thought that I would share a few of my favorites on the blog. I really like that their teacher asks them about their artwork and writes down their interpretation.

The first four pictures are Molly's.

The next four pictures are Taylor's.

This picture is "A Rainbow," "A boat," "Seth," and "Taylor."

This picture reads, "lipstick," "A boo-boo," "It's for when I go somewhere."

One of my favorite things for them to bring home are pictures of people. I just love the really big heads and the two legs that come straight out of the neck!!!

Molly and Taylor drew Portraits of Stuart and me. The first picture is Molly's.
It reads, “My mommy has beautiful hair." "My Daddy has crazy hair.

And here is Taylor's. She wrote her name on it under the picture of Stuart.

HAPPY SAINT PATTY'S DAY!!!