Time for a Big Girl Bed

A few weeks ago Harper learned to climb out of her crib.  In all actuality, Lilly taught her how, but that's okay!

Then yesterday, she was refusing to take a nap in her crib, she got out all by herself and went to take her nap in Shyla's bed.

Thus, Stevie turned her crib into a Big Girl Bed and tonight will be her first sleep in it.

Wish us luck ....

6 Years of Wedded BLISS!

Yesterday was mine and Stevie's 6 year anniversary!  This has been the most amazing 6 years and I could not have ever asked for more!  I adore the life we have built, I am constantly in awe of our little family, and we simply continue to love and enjoy each other more and more each day.

We celebrated by going to The Melting Pot for a nice dinner together.  My parents took care of the girls and had them for a sleepover, so of course they were thrilled!  It was equally fun and delicious!

We don't generally give each other gifts for our anniversary, but we do exchange cards.  Stevie gave me a beautiful and sentimental card and he even wrote me a poem!!  Part of the poem, however, read, "You are still beautiful to me.  Or maybe my vision is no longer 20/20."

I gave him a cute card with two little duckies on the front and the inside read, "I've waded my whole life for you."  Cute, huh?  This picture below shows the cushion of our booth into which he dropped the card and it was irretrievable.

We followed up dinner by doing what every other young couple probably does on their anniversary with no kids in tow: we went to Home Depot to shop for appliances.

Here's the many, many more blessed years.  Time is sure flying by.

Mini Time Machine Museum

Last week the girls and I went to the Mini Time Museum of Miniatures.  It was a different outing for us and a lot of fun.  Our good friend's dad had won tickets at an auction and gave them to us.  We are so lucky to have people who think about us so frequently.

Cameras are not allowed inside the museum so I snapped a few outside before we went in.

At first, Shyla was scared, mostly because it was different and she wasn't sure what to expect.  But there are 5 hidden fairies throughout the museum and once we found the first one she got excited to hunt for the rest. 

All-in-all we only found three of the fairies and Shyla wanted to keep looking.  However, after a little more than an hour, Harper was laying on the floor, so we knew it was time to go.

It was fun and different and I'm really glad we had the opportunity to do it!

Roxy Marie

Roxy Marie developed cancer in her leg.  She is still young and full of energy and has a lot of fun-filled years to look forward to.  So, my parents decided to fight the cancer by having the mass (tumor?) surgically removed.  However, due to the type of cancer, it would likely continue to come back.  So: radiation.  

She just finished four weeks of radiation therapy.  For it to be successful, she has to have her leg radiated everyday for four weeks.  The vet oncologists is on the other side of town.  So, since I've been off for the past three weeks I've been trying to help as much as possible with the transportation.

She is, thankfully, a good car-rider.  Once she gets comfy, she just sits and minds her own business (unlike Pancake who likes to be in everyone's business).  The only thing she has to deal with is the lock/unlock button on which she rests her head.

Since she graduated, she received this orange bandana, signed by all of the wonderful people who took care of her.  She will be seen about every three months to make sure it doesn't come back and form now she is experiencing the pain associated with the fifth week.  She is a trooper!

Drastic Kitchen Improvement

We've been in this house for about 7 months now.  It's bigger than our old house, but not as updated.  Enter: the kitchen.  Home to laminate counter-tops, a small sink, and really inefficient appliances.  Oh, and this ridiculously large overhang above the island:

We don't have the funds (yet) to do a full remodel, but we decided that having that thing removed would make a dramatic improvement.  And it did!

The kitchen feels 100 times bigger and more open.  More changes to come throughout the year (yes, I said years) as we work to make this wonderful place ours.

Apple Annie's 2013

We recently took our annual trip to Apple Annie's Orchard.  We generally do this on Stevie's off-Friday while I'm on Fall Break.  It turned out to be a beautiful day and we had a blast!

Shyla too this picture of me!

When we got to the Rome Beauty section of apple trees, the girls thought we said "warm booty" so that's what we called those apples!

Awwww!  Sisters!

After a yummy lunch and after 2 buses of old-people from nearby retirement communities thwarted my plans of buying fudge, we headed home.  Both girls crashed in the car, which generally means they had a lot of fun!

Reading

My girls love to read.  They love to jump and play and dress-up and pretend.  And they love to watch TV.  But, they L•O•V•E to read.
The other day I was able to capture this moment of them both reading together in Harper's room.  I am hopeful, and confident, that this love will continue with them their whole lives.