God's Big Backyard!

We had our first trip to Bible School this week. I was a little worried that Lucy was too young to get the lessons or even have some fun, but boy was I wrong. We walked into the church and she acted shy, but all of a sudden the herd of kids started their way down the hall toward the sanctuary, and Lucy was off! She joined right in with them in the first row singing and dancing. Then it was off to crafts which is a new love for her now, and she calls them "craps" by the way. And then came my biggest concern, the class. She was in Ms. Stacey's class of all 3 year olds and I was sure she'd cry for me and not listen at all. Once again, I was wrong. Lucy sat as quietly and as still as anyone and listened to every word Ms. Stacey said. She colored her pages, put her stickers on her book, and LOVED learning about the stories of the bible. I have to say bible school was such a great memory for me, and I'm so glad Lucy will have those same memories. Although she had a ball all week, when it came time to sing in front of the congregation Sunday morning, she didn't do so hot. After being in the sanctuary with just the kids and a few teachers and her Mommy right behind her, she didn't know what to do with all those people suddenly there staring at her. She cried each of the four times I tried to make her go back up. We finally gave up, but we were so proud of her for acting like a big girl all week!

WATER DAY AT SCHOOL!

Lucy got to experience her first "Water Day" at daycare on Friday. There wer e baby pools, fire trucks, beach balls, buckets, and tons of fun. I was a little worried that she would freak out about the fire truck so I went out to check on her. Little did I know she would not even care if I was there!

The Real Dora!!!

Dora & Boots at the Sing-A-Long Adventure!

Riding rides . . . so much fun!!! Or is it??? As you can see Stella is a little ham for the camera, always popping her head up and grinning every time the ride came around by her Nan who she knew was there waiting for a good photo op. Lucy, not so much. Believe it or not she really was having a good time though!

Mommy & Lucy (YES, I know it's goofy but we have matching shirts!) And Stella and her TeTe (Aunt Natalie) enjoying the show!

Lucy stares at Dora in amazement!

Lucy was thrilled last week to get to go to King's Island with Aunt Jennifer and cousin Stella! Getting to see the REAL DORA as she calls her, was like finding a pot of gold to Lucy. She was a little freaked out at first, but after a few minutes she totally warmed up to the character which I have to say was a little wierd looking even to me. We had breakfast with Dora and Spongebob, and then we went to Nickelodean Theatre to see the Dora Live Sing-A-Long. Although Stella, Lucy, and Henry did no singing at all, I think they enjoyed the show (judging from all three of their mouths hanging open as they stared in amazement.) After that it was off to the rides ~ Azul the train, The Diego Rescue Jeeps, and of course the race cars!!! And finally a trip to the water park, where the kids took turns napping in the shade while the others splashed in the wading pool. It was overall a really great day for Lucy!

THANKS SO MUCH TO AUNT JEN, NATALIE, & STELLA FOR TAKING US!!! AND TO NANA AND HENRY FOR GOING WITH US!!!

HELLO AGAIN!

Hello everyone! We're back to blogging. I know it's been a while, but I've been taking my vacation time and just enjoying some fun with Little Miss Lucy! We've had a great time swimming in the pool, playing on the swingset, spending time with our family, and just enjoying life!!! It's been a great two weeks, and I was so sad to leave her at daycare today. We're looking forward to the 4th of July and riding in the parade, and getting to see cousin Stella soon! Check out the next few blogs to see what we've been up to lately!

COUSINS!

THE THREE AMIGOS!

Playing "BAKETBALL!" with Aunt Sally!

Beautiful girls!!!

Lucy has recently had this need to identify everyone by their relationship to her. Ryan's grandma is "grandmother", my dad is "Grandpa" (as of last night), but her favorite people in the world are her COUSINS!!! She adores Elizabeth and seems to think Henry is a little baby that she needs to take care of. She gets so excited to see them and just can't quit hugging, kissing, and laughing constantly at everything they do. Watching her every time they come into town is so hilarious. It thrills me to think that she has such a great big cousin (Liz) to look up to, and I only hope that she is as sweet, precious, smart, and talented as Lizzy is! And I can't wait to see she and Henry grow up together. Although toy time sometimes turns into a smacking match right now, I know that they'll have great times together like I had with my cousins growing up. Emily - hopefully she's a little easier on Henry than I was on you, but I can already see she has my temper. HA HA!!! And Matt, I hope she one day gets a kick out of how Henry would rather be superman that her pretend husband, or would rather do mean things with her Barbie's than pretend to be Ken, the dreamy Barbie Man! HA HA!

Here are some adorable pictures of all the kids playing at Pops' house a couple weeks ago!

Time for a Playroom Makeover!

WE WORKED ON THE PLAYROOM FINALLY!!! (SEE POST BELOW PICTURES)


Showing off her big girl bed for the camera!

The playhouse that Santa brought that is way too big, but Lucy refuses to let us put outside.

Oh yeah, the Dora bedding that is making my sisters cringe right now!!!

Our new shelf with TOY ORGANIZATION!!!! WOO HOO!!!! I feel like Kate Goslin on Jon & Kate Plus 8 right now with my pickiness of the toy room. Hey, at least I didn't take pics of the toys in each container and use them to label each one. Now that's a little bit of a control freak!


I also spent some of my time off working on Lucy's playroom. Since we moved into our house last summer, her playroom has just been a toy catch-all, and it has stayed a mess. I knew it was time to do something about it when she couldn't get to the other side of the room because there were so many baby dolls, stuffed animals, riding toys, and "doo-dads" (as my mom calls them) in the way. So we ventured out to Lowe's for some shelving solutions, and to Wal-Mart for the much needed toddler bed. (YES, to all you better-than-me parents out there, she has been sleeping with us for nearly two years now!!!) So you can see our solution to all these problems in the pictures above. We turned the playroom into a playroom/bedroom. Her real bedroom is upstairs, and we are so not ready for that yet, since our bedroom is downstairs. So we put the toddler bed in the play room since it's just around the corner from ours. And let me warn you all (especially my sisters) that YES, we do have Dora the Explorer bedding, but it was just a way to get her excited to sleep in her toddler bed. She absolutely loves the terribly tacky sheets, pillow and comforter that I swore I would never buy. Little did I know that all it would take to get her in it was to tell her that Lizzy and Stella slept in their own "big girl beds". She refuses to sleep with us now (even when I ask, because I'm having a little night-time seperation anxiety).

And please pardon the horrible brown panelling walls from the 70's. I painted the rest of my house when we moved in, but I just haven't tackled the playroom yet. By the way all the other brown panelling you may see in any other pictures on this website are those from Ryan's grandmother's house who seems to think their perfectly lovely. Oh well!

WATER TIME!

We got a little something more to tacky up our yard, a bright blue swimming pool. Lucy has enjoyed it SO SO much, and she's in it at least every other day. So that means that Mommy and Daddy are in it every other day as well. She loves to float, splash, and pretend to be a dolphin. Her favorite thing to do in the pool is to be the perfect little hostess at her tea parties, as she serves every one "chlorine tea" off of her Little Mermaid kickboard which serves as the table. Everyone is invited to come to a tea party anytime!!!

We also recenty tried out a Dora & Diego Water Slide! Although Lucy loved it, it was a little dangerous since she was sliding every time she stood up, so the water slide mysteriously disappeared during nap time one day. Luckily, she had already forgotten about it.

Needless to say Lucy is a little water baby, and would choose the pool over dry land any day!