Life As We Know It: March 2011

Artwork

I thought I would share some of Brooke's latest artwork. It is funny the stuff that she thinks up to draw. Love that girl! I'm sure these will be worth millions someday.

Jonah & The Whale: That's Jonah inside the whale, waves are water, sun & clouds above

Ruby from "Max & Ruby" taking pictures and wearing glasses. That's her brother Max next to her.

Apple Kid. ? The curly thing coming out of the head is a pony tail. I love the eyelashes!

She traced her own hands, something she asks me to do for her on occasion.

What's this you ask? A pirate of course!

She prefers to work in different mediums at times. Here we have chalk on ~~our kitchen island~~ wood. Now that I look at it, this may be more the work of her helpful assistants rather than her. :)

There is not a whole lot to report lately. We have just been enjoying the weather and checking out new parks when we can. Spring is my favorite time of the year by far. The girls are growing so fast I think. Sometimes I wish I could pause time because they are all really funny and cute and so sweet!

Claire surprised me the other day and was the first crib jumper of the twins. I thought for sure Keely would be the one, but nope! I think Claire was scared straight though because she has not tried climbing out of her crib again. Claire is also talking up a storm, like rambling in long sentences, but most of the time I can't understand what she is saying. She is really silly, almost always happy, and she's still my cuddlebug.

Keely has begun her two's early I think. Miss Attitude is following in the steps of big sis Brooke. She hates getting in her car seat with a passion! She also throws dramatic tantrums, you know, the ones where you throw your body to the ground but you are very careful to lay your head down gently. She is really silly, and totally sweet. She loves to give sloppy kisses and she pats my back when she hugs me. She still has the best belly laugh.

Brooke is getting way too big. She says things like, "If all else fails..", and "I don't know about this..". I am realizing the phrases that I say too often when I hear Brooke repeating them, things like "sure", "alright", and "chill out". She is a great big sister like always, and like any big sis she likes to have things that are just for her not to share. Sometimes when I give her something, she asks, "Is this for only me?" I guess she has to share a lot. I absolutely love it when she surprises me with random hugs and kisses and "I love you"'s. I am in denial that she is almost four years old. Brooke most certainly is not though, because she will tell anyone who will listen that she is already four.

We are looking forward to spending time with our family members that will be visiting us next month. I am also making a special trip to Chicago by myself to visit Kelly. Exciting stuff!

Here are a couple of pictures from the weekend.

Keely & Claire helping me review a park!

Brookie and her chalk drawing of a princess. So cute!

Blue Skies and Rainbows

We had a really fun playdate this morning with friends at the park. The weather was so so beautiful and I was reminded of all the blessings in my life and how much I have to be thankful for.

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

We had a pretty laid back weekend here. One highlight was getting out to the park to fly kites. The girls were pretty excited to get there.

B, C, K

The wind was cooperating, and it was fun. The babies kept trying to run off to see the "Quack-Quacks" in the water nearby. Good thing we brought tortillas and bread for the ducks!

Happy Spring!

Lots of Wishes

Brooke and I had a chance to go on our own to check out a new park the other day. We don't get much one-on-one time together, so it was special.

She spent a lot of time in the open field by the playground picking "wish flowers". Before long, she had gathered a lot of them in her little hand and said, "Wow I have a lot of wishes, Mommy!"

Bending down to smell a flower.

I love this time with Brooke. She is SO sweet, loving, curious and funny. Thank you God for granting MY wish and giving me this wonderful child!

A New Blog Project!

One thing that has impressed me about "big city livin'" in Plano is the Parks and Recreation Department. There are over 60 parks in Plano! My family and I have loved adventuring to new parks, as you can probably tell from a lot of my posts.

The only problem is that we have not found an easy way to learn about the parks and what they are all about. Is a certain park age appropriate for my kids? Does it have a pavilion for a picnic? Are there swings?

So my friends Amy and Christy and I came up with an idea last Fall to create a blog featuring each park and a simple review, in hopes that anyone could plan their park adventure by simply searching and reading through posts on our website. And so Playground Perspectives was born. We plan to complete reviews on all the parks in Plano and then expand to neighboring cities.

My little girls and I have had SO much fun exploring new parks. Brooke calls our trips "adventures" and our car an "adventure car"! I am spending quality time with my girls, they are getting sunshine and exercise, and I am getting a much needed project and having fun with my friends. What's not to love?

I encourage you to check out the blog at www.playgroundperspectives.com, leave a comment, and be sure to become a follower.

Thanks!

Next Stop: Home!

On our way home, we made a stop to pick up a new couch that our family friends so generously gave us. Thank you Kim & Roger! What a blessing to us.

David drove the truck with the couch and I drove the van with the girls. They did so well. We took a stop in Italy to stretch our legs and I got some pictures of my three rays of sunshine.

And now back to a busy week at home. :)

Next Stop: Kiddie Park!

Kiddie Park is a special place! My parents used to take us here when we were little. Most of the rides actually date back to 1925 when the park first opened! So cool! The park was closed for a while recently, but is now back open for business. We were so glad to have the opportunity to experience Kiddie Park again.

We met up with my cousin Casie, her boyfriend David, and the kids. Brooke loved every single ride! The babies' favorites were the airplanes, small cars, and carousel. The rides were the perfect size for the girls.

I will have to do some picture digging, but there is a picture of me riding this exact same car at about Brooke's age! I will have to find it and add it here.

There is another picture of my cousin Casie and me riding this exact same ride (even the same red car) when we were little. So of course we had to recreate the moment.

Keely in pink, Claire in purple.

Brooke and her new friend Elaina. Both wanted kitties on their faces. Brooke would NOT let me wash the paint off of her face.

The group! David, Logan, Claire, Mom, Keely, Dad, Cason, Brooke, Me, Ethan, Casie, David, and Elaina.

Brooke checking out her kitty face in the mirror in the car.

What a fun day!

Next Stop: Grammy & Grandpa's House

For my birthday this year, my awesome husband took the day off from work, we packed up the crew and headed to my parents' house for a really fun weekend! It was a very wonderful three days! So wonderful that I had to break it up into three different blog posts.

Thirty minutes into our five-or-so hour drive, Brooke got carsick and threw up. Poor baby. Thankfully she felt completely fine the rest of the trip. Every time we would stop the car she would say, "Next stop: Grammy & Grandpa's house!"

Here's how Claire feels about the long drive.

We made it to the Braunf in time for dinner Friday. I (of course) got the red plate for my birthday dinner. My dad gave me some beautiful yellow flowers and I also got some Yellow Box shoes, among other cool things. Love my oreo cake! Delicious.