Par-taaaaaaay!

Let the celebration begin! If you remember last year, Taylor had three different birthday celebrations. Well, it's three weeks before her actual birthday and she already has one party under her belt! Mike has all-day basketball commitments the next two Saturdays and her actual birthday is the following Saturday. I figured she wouldn't get a very good turnout on a holiday, so we had her "friend" party on Saturday. Most of the kids were from her preschool class and she hasn't seen them in three weeks. Her class seemed unusually close, so they were all THRILLED to be together again.



We went with a neutral Luau theme since it was for girls and boys. I'll tell you, I'm absolutely exhausted right now after planning, cleaning, feeding, entertaining and cleaning up after about 10 5-year-olds and their siblings. Whew! It was a great time though and Taylor was just so excited the whole day. She's such a gracious, good kid that you just want to do special things for her. She hugged me and told me "thanks" about 20 times tonight. A few times, I'd catch her staring at me and then she'd just dive on me with a big hug. Makes you want to have a party like that everyday.



The kids ate and played outside, then worked on sand art projects. This was a huge hit, especially for the girls. I bought everything for under $25 too, so it was well worth the price. Next was a treasure hunt, pinata, cake and ice cream and then presents.




The decorated deck, pre-party. We're six for six on no rain during her parties. Thank you, God!

Sand art! Glad I bought two containers of pink sand. :)

Pinata time! Here little cousin Abby takes a swing. Too cute.

Taylor, cousin Haley on the left and friend McKenna on the right.

Taylor getting help from one of her BFF from preschool, Courtney.

Michael and the other handful of boys at the party spent most of their time playing with the balls I threw out in the yard. In that way, boys are easy. :)

Taylor and McKenna later in the day. Look at all of the bruises on their little legs, haha.

Is it just me, or does she look about 7 or 8 here? No that's not Jabba the Hut in the background, it's Champ.

Ms. Social Butterfly had another party to attend on Friday night. Her buddy from Susan's house, Bryson, was turning 4 and had a fun little party at the local swim club.

Bryson (little guy in the middle) and his ladies. That's Taylor on the end.

You'll probably notice that Taylor's hair is short again. I took her for her first salon haircut last week. She got the cutest bob and it's even stacked in the back. It's waaay more stylish than anything I could ever attempt. I also got my hair cut, but have no pictures. :(




She was super excited. My stylist was amazed at how good she was.

The after. She loves it!

Not much about my Main (little) Man in this post, but the Pear is doing great! Loves to have me read books now, continues to amaze me with his daring and athletic ways and just as cute as ever. :)

Until next time,



Mommy Kel

Mother

We had such a fun day! After Michael's morning nap, we drove down to see my mom. About 20 minutes into the trip (it's about a 40-minute drive), I realized that I had forgotten her presents. Ugh. I decided that she'd probably rather spend the extra hour with the kids, so I'll have to deliver them later.

We headed to Sharon Woods, a cool state park that my family went to pretty much every weekend when I was growing up. The kids had a blast on the huge playground. Then, we walked about two miles around the lake. I'm so proud of my mom. She had hip surgery seven weeks ago and never complained. Go Mom! After our walk, we had a nice dinner at my favorite restaurant, LaRosa's. My mom rocks.

Here are some pictures from our day!

Mother.

Pushing Pear.

She thought she was pretty cool. She kinda' is.

Me posing with a random piece of playground equipment. The Pear was supposed to be posing with me, but the little booger darted.

Part of the nature trail.

Mama duck and her little ducklings. (Sorry it's blurry. They were moving fast!)

Mama Kel and her little Kelings.

Off to bed now. Have a great Monday!

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

Weekend Wind-up

The forecasters called for a wash-out of a weekend, so I was thrilled when we ended up with semi-sunny, dry days on both Saturday and Sunday! With the help of Taylor, I got all of my flowers planted. Yay! I love looking out onto the deck or out the front door and seeing all of my pretty flowers. It's one of those little things that makes me happy.

Taylor was a big help this year! I bought her gardening gloves and her own pink tools, so she was thrilled to lend a hand. The Pear "helped" too, throwing handfuls of potting soul into the air, covering himself and Taylor (somehow I missed the assault). Their bath water was disgusting Friday night! We wisened up and did the rest of the planting on Saturday when Michael was sleeping.

I didn't get any pictures of the planting process because my new camera is too pretty to get dirty. :)

On Sunday, we got a visit from Mike's Aunt Nancy and her boyfriend Frank. (For the record, Aunt Nancy isn't much older than Mike and could pass for his sister.) They had spent the previous day at the Kentucky Derby and yes, Nancy did pick the 50-1 winner! Woo-hoo! My cuddle bug Taylor stuck to her great aunt like glue and Michael was offering up big kisses before she left. Too bad she doesn't live closer (how many times have I said that about friends and family?)!


Michael (he's actually smiling in a picture!), Mike, Taylor, Nancy, Frank.


A rare family picture.

My sweetie and I. "And I shall call her Mini-Me."

I'm constantly trying to get pictures of the Worm and the Pear together. I can usually get Taylor to cooperate, but Michael, not so much. Here are some examples.

Look at the snarl on the Pear's face! He smiles all of the time, but almost never for the camera.

Michael once again looking unamused. Taylor just keeps cheesing away. She does get annoyed with me after awhile, too!

The next few pictures are from earlier in the week. Enjoy!

Look at those calf muscles! I think the girl has got some natural athleticism! (Never mind the dirty feet. It had been raining outside and she just came in from playing in puddle.)

This is what happens when I sit in the floor with them. Attack! If you can't tell, they are both on top of me in this picture. I have funky double-jointed arms, so I was able to take the picture.

The boy would live outside if I let him. Here he's trying to put on his shoes so he can go back out. (Side note: I love this little Adidas outfit that my mom picked out but shudder a little at the colors. The first time Taylor saw it, she screamed "Ew - Michigan!")

Look at those dimples.

I love his little smile. He's a doll and he knows it. He likes to wedge himself between the two Pottery Barn chairs.

Is it just me or does he always have that "I'm up to no good" look?

I'm swamped at work so I've gotta go. Have a great week!

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

P.S. I've gotta give props to two friends who did a lot more than just plant flowers this weekend. My best buddy from high school, Carla, completed the Capital City Half-Marathon in Columbus on Saturday and my work pal, Iris, finished the Flying Pig Marathon on Sunday. That's nearly a combined 40 miles!

Slack Attack!

I've been so busy at work and home since we got back from vacation that I've had almost no time to blog! I got the itch tonight, so I'll try and catch up.

Last weekend (Easter weekend) was a lot of fun! We dyed Easter eggs after I got off of work on Friday. Taylor gets more and more creative. She definitely has an artsy side to her and really enjoys doing crafts, coloring, etc. I bought one of the mega decorating packs so we had it all - glitter, nine dye colors, stickers, beads, etc. She really took her time and made sure each egg was exactly the way she wanted it. What most impressed me is how she really seems to understand what religious holidays are all about. Of course, she appreciates the candy and toys, but the real meaning is there for her.

The artist at work.

She let me do a few. I still love coloring eggs!

The finished products!

I handed Michael an egg and tried to guide it into a cup, but - in typical Michael fashion - he chucked it before I could help him. The kid throws EVERYTHING. He kept saying "bul", his version of ball. The Pear is obsessed with balls. It's almost like an innate reaction for him, haha.

Notice that Mike is holding the egg, not Michael.

The Easter Bunny took care of the kids Sunday morning. Taylor got a cute puppy stuffed animal and Bendaroos (which she's begged for forever). Michael got a peg/hammer set since he loves to whack stuff and a stuffed frog. We usually go to mass on Saturday night or at 9:30 on Sunday, but chose the 8 a.m. mass on Easter to avoid the crowds. Our plan was successful.

The bountiful baskets.

Checking out the goods. Not sure what that look on Michael's face is all about.

What a cutie!

We got some very special visitors after church. My BFF Lauri, her husband Scott and 9-month-old cutie Tony came to visit! I miss these guys so much! We just chilled in the basement and played with the kids and it couldn't have been anymore fun. I was so sad when they had to go.

Michael and his future Ohio State roommate.

Taylor loves Tony! She talks about him all of the time.

I seriously wanted to kidnap their whole family and make them stay for a long, long time.

Taylor took this funny picture of Scott (or "Scout" as she called him).

Later, we headed to my brother Chris's house for dinner and an Easter egg hunt for the kids. The Worm and the Pear enjoyed seeing their cousins and I loved visiting with my mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law and their kids.

The Pear grabbing his one and only egg. I had a cute picture of Taylor too, but Michael got ahold of my camera later and erased it. Stinker.

Alright, off to relax. I'll try and post stuff from this weekend tomorrow. :)

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

Vacation - So Happy To Get Away!

We're baaaaaaaaack! Vacation was a blast! I'm pretty much the least spontaneous person I know, but we kind of winged this trip. I booked our trip to Myrtle Beach months ago, but the forecast looked horrible for the time we were supposed to be there - rain, 50s and wind chills. Uh, no thanks. So, we cancelled on Friday (yes, two days before we were supposed to leave) and rebooked a trip to Florida!

We stayed at the Innisbrook Resort, just north of Clearwater. I've always stayed on the beach, but I have to tell you, this place was awesome. It was on a golf course (four courses, actually) and was just immaculate. There were six pools, a wildlife preserve, nature walk, mini golf course for the kids, tennis courts, fishing ponds, playground and more. The big pool was made to look like a beach and had sand, etc. Who needs the beach when you have all that? We may stay there again next year. It's cheaper too, because it's not on the beach! Not very crowded either.

Here are some pictures from our adventures!


Taylor on the plane ride down. Both kids did great!


Michael in our rental van. Yes, I drove a van. Yikes!

Michael liked playing in the sand at the pool.

She's too much. She wore these sunglasses day and night, haha.

The Pear and I at the beach. Do not let my attire fool you. The wind was cold!!

Mike had his shirt off for all of about three minutes. Brrr.

Cutie ready to go out for dinner.

We had a one-bedroom condo and Taylor claimed it as hers! Here she is in her king-size bed. Lanie made her third beach trip. The bear's been on more vacations than I went on in the first 20 years of my life!

We went to Chuck E Cheese's one night. Here Michael is taking pointers from Daddy.

Taylor whacking the crap out of some game.

I usually buy healthy snacks for the kids, but Mike picked up a bag of Lay's one night. Michael was addicted! He'd see the bag and shriek with his little arms stretched out. Here, Taylor is feeding him. This picture cracks me up.

Michael at the playground.

The Pear running around like a madman. He did that a lot during our trip.

Taylor on the nature hike.

The gang ready to start the nature hike.

Breakfast! Something about this picture looks 70s-ish.

Michael flashing his fine physique.

My natural sunblock.

My boys. Check out the cool waterfall!

The Worm showing off her new tankini.

Cool water spout thingies.

The Worm and the Pear goofing off at dinner on our last night.

Gotta go prepare for the Easter bunny. Take care!

Until next time,

Mommy Kel