SURPRISE!!

Olivia specifically asked for a surprise party for her birthday. So Friday night we had several of her friends meet at Pizza Hut, John left for a "meeting", and then Livvy and Emery and I went on a date to Pizza Hut. When we got there, Surprise!, everyone was there. Olivia was definitely surprised and had so much fun with her friends. Pictures (starting top left) Clara, Cadence, Olivia, Jordan, and Georgia opening presents; Jonathan and Olivia dancing the mamba in Pizza Hut; Olivia listening to her new Disney MP3 player Saturday morning - this is her present from me and John - she loves her music!; her Cinderella cake; Olivia and one of her best buddies Georgia - they're both silly and they both love Disney music! Today Olivia and Dad are off to the movies. I can't believe she's five!

But Mom, she's my sister!

If I ever dare to tell Olivia how to handle Emery, I always hear "But Mom, she's my sister!" If we show her how to carry Emery properly or tell her she can't change her clothes, she insists that being her big sister means she is just as capable as Mom. Here's a pic John took today of Olivia playing with her sister. She scooted Emery up to the table in her shopping cart because I told her Emmy couldn't sit on a chair - pretty resourceful of her!

Spring Break

Here is a view of our new and improved living room (minus the window treatments). Big thanks to Grammy and Grampy for painting while we went to Kansas City for everyone's Dr appointments. John wasn't too sure about the blue door, but I like it. We're hoping to have it all finished up by the end of the week.

Have a Happy Friday!

Have a happy Friday from silly, drooly Emery!

Pajama Party

Olivia had a pajama party at school today and was really excited about wearing her Princess pj's all day. This is a pic we took this morning before school. They were learning the letter "P" this week, so they wore pajamas, brought pillows, had popcorn and watched a Pooh movie to celebrate "P."

Snuggling Girls: All About Us

Olivia - age 4 (almost 5)

favorite movie - Cinderella

favorite TV show - That's So Raven

favorite food - spaghetti

favorite song - songs from "Grease"

favorite singer - Jordan Pruitt

What I want for my birthday - a baby set

favorite thing to play with Emery - daycare

favorite thing to learn - letters and numbers

Emery - age 8 months

teeth - front two on the bottom

favorite TV show - Elmo's World (I don't really

watch too long.)

favorite singer - Raffi

favorite thing to play with Olivia -

school

favorite food - bread and Zwebeck

toast

favorite toys - Olivia's baby dolls

newest trick - I can crawl!!

Olivia's Stage Debut

Tonite, Olivia and her 7 drama class members, had their big debut. They performed "Do Re Mi" from The Sound of Music and then did a play called "The Cottage in the Woods" about different fairy tale characters who all unexpectedly end up in the house of the three bears. They all did such a great job, remembered their lines and were sooo cute. I had a great time teaching these kiddos. Here's a picture (You can click on it to enlarge it!): (from left) Aliks as Fairy Godmother, McKenna as the Wicked Witch; Jameson as Peter Pan; Jolson and Colton as The Little Pigs; Brant as Prince Charming; Olivia as Little Red Riding Hood; and Jade as Snow White. Thanks Grammy for the awesome red cloak - Olivia loved dressing up!

Spaced Out

We spent the weekend in Hutchinson, so we had to make a visit to the Cosmosphere. I wasn't sure if Olivia would be bored, but she did really well and asked lots of questions. We watched a Lewis and Clark IMAX movie which John really liked and went to a planetarium show (which John thought was lame.) Emery laughed all the way through the planetarium show, so I guess she thought it was silly too. Here's John and his Princesses at the Cosmosphere.

Kansas... An Inconvenient Truth

I'm sure that Kansans have started a conversation like this millions of times... but really, our weather here is insane. Last night at 10 p.m., I woke up to the sound of the tornado sirens going off. So I woke up Olivia and put her in the closet and then got the baby and myself in. You may be wondering where darling husband is during all of this, and if you know John at all, you know the answer is outside trying to get Podunk the cat to come in. Only when Olivia started crying did John finally join us in our "shelter." I love the cats (okay, like the cats) and the dog too, but sometimes you just have to let people be the priority. Anyway, the siren event was short-lived and after convincing Olivia that our bedroom is tornado-proof and moving her goldfish to the bedroom in case of another siren, we all went back to bed. Then, when I was hauling the girls to the car at 7:30 this morning, it was snowing. Kansas weather is crazy.