Nerf Guns = Dorm Necessity

The girls and I visited Northwestern College for a play. While we were there we stopped by the dorms and said hello to our babysitter, Alex G.  McKenna and Ella thoroughly enjoyed seeing what a dorm looked like and how a college student lives.  Alex has a hammock in her dorm which Ella loved. She also had a large drawer dedicated to artillery! Yup! Lot's of nerf gun varieties and ammo. The girls thought it was great. I think they may want some for Christmas.

Haley, An American Girl

When the Millers said they were coming, I knew a girls' outing to The American Girl Store and Cafe was a must. Haley had just celebrated a birthday and I thought that was double the reason to hit the cafe. First we took a brief look through the store! Each girl pointed to the dolls they owned and the dolls they want to own. I'll let Lynda leave a comment about Haley's reaction to the store. I think that for a brief moment she wasn't 15 years old anymore.

Ella has the doll of the year, Kanani! She likes to pose with her.

At the cafe with their dolls! Here, Ella is letting her doll, Elizabeth drink some lemonade.

 Haley and her doll Kit.

McKenna and her doll Julie.

Me and my doll....Sawyer!!!!!

 And, Lynda and her doll....Haley.

After we ordered, the waitress came to our table and apologized for the delay in our food getting to us. We hadn't noticed any abnormal length of time though. They offered us each a dessert on the house!

My dinner! Yum!

My free dessert....chocolate fondue....

 They call us The Two Bosses!

Haley's birthday treats! Brownie Lollipops! Yum!

They also brought each of the girls a goodie bag that included a shirt for their dolls, a balloon for their dolls, some stickers and a book. Amazing!

A very fun girls' outing!

Cheer Party

This past September the girls hosted a cheer party for a few of their friends. It was a lot of fun! I decided to let them do it because I know that once the baby comes they won't be having any parties for a while. A good friend connected me with 2 cheerleaders from a local high school. They came and taught the girls a few basic cheers and then everyone performed for the moms and dads at pick up time! It was easy for me because the cheerleaders pretty much took care of everything.

We started with a craft. Nothing like glitter glue to help a girl get her sparkle on! We decorated mega phones and made pom pom pony tail holders. Then the girls got "cheer" hair. (That's a high pony tail for you non cheering types!)

We also got gold sparkles sprayed into our hair!

Next the girls learned their introductions for the performance.

Ella

 McKenna

 Selma

Lucy

 Sophie

McKenna, again (maybe she needed more practice!)

Hmm, Sophie again.

Next the girls practiced a few cheers.

A cheering pow wow?

Not sure why, but I love this little pic of my sweet Ella. She was trying so hard.

They were very good listeners. I guess they really wanted to be little cheerleaders.

I love Claire's expression here.

All in all it was really fun. Not to mention, Meghan and Kayla took care of everything. I just had to walk around with the camera.

Heart of Dixie

Recently, the girls and I took a road trip down to Alabama. It was their first trip in the car that lasted longer than 3 hours. I was a little nervous about how they'd handle it. Lots of people seemed a bit concerned for me. My Grandma reminded me that rest stops were horrible places.

But...

...Off we went, anyways.

I packed everything (and I pretty much mean everything but the kitchen sink!). I even packed 2 days worth of food in the cooler, determined to cut costs as much as possible.

We left around 7:30am and about 15 minutes into the ride McKenna said, "Mom, are we STILL in Minnesota?" I was, needless to say, very disheartened by this question so early on. But, all turned out well.

The girls did really well. I couldn't have asked for more. It was really a fun "girl" time for us. We sang, we watch videos (well, not me-I was driving), we played games, we talked about the states we were driving through. Each hour a different person was in charge of what was on the radio/tv.

Ya know, with modern technology: DVD in the van, IPhones, GPS....traveling is much easier than it was years ago. I really can't complain.

We stopped at rest areas (mindful of the warnings from my grandma) and had our picnics. We stretched our legs, ran around and gassed up about every 2.5 hours. We rested that night at a relatives house in Indiana. They had lots of dogs and cats and lived near a park. They girls were excited about that!

The trip back was pretty much the same.

Would I do it again?

Yes, in a heart beat! As long as snow were out of the picture. I don't think I'd do that trip over the winter.

Pictures to come soon!

A girls' weekend in Nashville

In December, I was blessed to be able to join some of my family on a very extra-special weekend trip to Nashville, TN. I am so blessed and grateful to my husband (and in-laws) for watching the girls. This weekend was very important to my grandmother. In November of 2008 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a lumpectomy. In January of 2009 she went through chemotherapy and then completed treatment with 7 weeks of radiation (5 days a week). During that process she lost her mother. On the last day of her radiation treatment, she traveled from Alabama to Ohio to say her goodbyes and then to assist her siblings in the planning of the funeral.

So, by December of 2009....she was due for some good, girls only, fun. So my grandmother, mom, sister and a few aunts met up in Nashville to shop, gab, and see the Radio City Rockette's Christmas Spectacular. We shopped, watched chick flicks (The Proposal- which was hilarious), shopped more, ate more, toured the Opryland Hotel and took in a show! It was a fun-filled weekend that will not be forgotten. I'm honored to have been a part of it.

Here we are: Mom, Sara and me--we are on the Delta river ride inside the Opryland Hotel. I will be posting a few more pics of the Opryland Hotel in a different post. I am waiting on my mom to burn the pics I took to a CD. This particular river ride is neat. The hotel collected waters from a number of bodies of water around the world. They have a list of where all of the water is from. Very cool!

Isn't my cousin Kasey so pretty!?

Some of the most beautiful (and scrumptious) cupcakes you will ever see! We had these at the Opry Mills Mall. They were very good.

Aunt Lynda and Haley

Sara, pole dancing!

Grandma, me and cousin Taylor

Ahhh, how sweet!

Sara and Grandma. I think this is a great shot of both of them.

All of us, minus my Mom and Grandma:

Heather, Sara, Taylor, Me, Haley, Pam, Lynda, and Kim

Haley with everyone's ticket for the show.

Hot Grandma!

Aunt Lynda with her "corn-corn" in the hotel room. Here's a VERY short story to explain: Lynda, as a baby (and elementary student, and yes-as a young teenager) sucked her thumb. Somewhere along the way she developed the habit of sucking her thumb while caressing the corner of her pillow case. The word corner became "corn-corn" and as an adult she still enjoys sleeping with a special pillowcase. No, she doesn't suck her thumb anymore! =)

Here's a picture showing you that I experimented with the Bump It!

We weren't allowed to take pictures during the Rockettes show. It's funny, I didn't really expect to like seeing the Rockettes. I was surprised to see that their show was FANTASTIC! It was very family friendly. It's definately amazing to see what crazy things they can do with their legs.  As Chandler Bing says, "their legs move as if independent from their body." It's almost beyond belief how perfectly synchronized they can dance. The show ended with a Nativity display with live animals and singing. They called it the Perennial Miracle, the true meaning of Christmas.

It was an amazing weekend!