A last and two firsts

School has started.

I'm still trying to let that sink in.

School has started and the oh so busy schedule has started as well.

Sigh.

Can't we have summer for a bit longer?

Please.

Pretty please??

These two girls were SOOOOOO excited for school to start.

They both had picked out their first day of school outfits roughly five days before school started.

I think they looked pretty spiffy personally.

Last.

This girl is in her last year of elementary school.

She's one of the big kids on campus.

5th grade, I cannot believe it.

I swear she was a kindergartner yesterday.

Adison is so excited because this year they get to do band or strings.

She's really hoping to do violin, we should find out next week.

I'll keep you posted.

First.

Ainsley started kindergarten.

Again, I feel like just yesterday she was a little 9 month old going with me to take Adison to kindergarten.

She had been pretty nervous but then we found out that she was going to have Adison's kindergarten teacher as her teacher as well.

I was beyond pleased.

We also had Sneak Peek the day evening before school started and that really got her pumped.

She was so cute getting her backpack all ready and packing her lunch.

It was a riot watching her pick out her backpack and lunch bag {she picked Hello Kitty, shocker!}.

I couldn't leave Miss Abby out of the first day of school pics.

My girls are growing up!

Tears.

She held it together so well and then the tears started falling.

I knew they were coming because she had her little hands on her face.

When the dam first broke she had both hands on her little cheeks, that's a tell tale sign that Lee is going to lose it.

I held it together until she didn't, I managed to get teary but never actually cry.

It was so hard to keep it together, I knew this day would be hard for my little home-body, mama-loving girl.

She was so brave though you guys and her little excited face when school got out was priceless.

She told me in the van on the way home, "I cried because I missed you, then I forgot about you and didn't cry."

Poor Abby.

That first day that both of her sisters were gone was a tough one.

She kept telling me, "I want to stay home, I don't want to go anywhere without my sisters."
Cue the heartbreak, I felt so bad for this girl.

We met up with some friends at the library who knew that Miss Abby was having a hard time without her sisters, especially Ainsley.

I just love good friends that surround you and your children.

A week after the older two girls started school, Abby started preschool.

After the epic meltdown and shutdown that homegirl had at a preschool screening we decided to hold off on the whole preschool thing.

This shy girl wanted to stay at home which was fine by me, she's three.

She can stay by my side, no problems!

But then, one of my dear friends, Sarah, invited Abby to join her daughter in some homeschool preschool.

Let me tell ya, despite some tears the morning of before we left the house, she LOVED it!

Not a tear nor a turn of the head as I left happened.

She was a rockstar!

I feel like this is the exact right place for her to be, doing school with one of her best little friends and her mama who loves my girl so much.

It's perfection.

So, here we are, back at it.

Signing planners, looking at papers, making sure homework is done and lunches are packed.

Run Adison Run!

Adison had her Spring Fun Run for school on Monday.

She was really looking forward to it and I was really looking forward to cheering her on!

Oh the excitement I felt when she came into view.

Running running running

She finished fourth among the girls and was pleased as punch.

You could see how excited she was to get close to the finish line, to hear the whooping, the hollering, her name being yelled.

It's kinda fuzzy, but can you see that big grin on her face?

I saw it and felt it spread to my face as well.

That girl is pure sunshine.

After they had the race there was a carnival.

Abby wanted to be held the entire time and I would have loved to have been able to do it, but my arms were getting sore.

I eventually asked K is he thought she could fit between me and the backpack {diaper bag}.

She did and couldn't have been happier.

I could feel her little body relax into mine, I love having her close to me.

Ainsley was thrilled at all the bouncy houses they had.

This one had a mini-obstacle course and a big slide.

Her little best friend Kaylin went on it with her several times.

There is something about watching to little girls run hand-in-hand, with excited giggles that makes everything feel okay in the world.

She then went over to an actual bouncy house where she bounced around like a loon.

Then, without any indication, she ran headfirst into a big blow up column and went flying backwards.

It was a riot.

This is Adison and her bff, Emmy.

They were gladiators.

Teeny tiny little gladiators.

It was epic.

We had such a fun night.
Catching up with friends.

Children playing and having fun.

Can't wait for next year!

Happy Tuesday

Today has been a busy one.

It started out with me sleeping lousy again last night.

When I woke up this morning, I had that contented feeling of having a while longer to lay in bed.

WRONG.

My alarm had already gone off and I was still laying there.

ugh.

Once I got going though the morning went pretty smooth.

Today was the last day of school for the week, the bigs were excited to have so many days off.

I am excited too.

After getting Adison to school and picking up my niece, my friend Jennifer and I had a meeting with the kids' school principal to discuss getting parents involved at schools.

I love love love Adison's principal, she is AMAZING!

We had a great meeting and I was left feeling so grateful to have her as Adison's principal.

Afterwards Jennifer and her youngest two came over to play with Abby and Cameron.

They all had a nice time playing while Jennifer and I got to talk for a bit.

On to some random stuff:

~This is my current coffee creamer addiction.

Yum yum yum.

~I am so beyond ready to chow down on some Thanksgiving yumminess.

~I really want to see the new Muppets movie, I loved that show as a kid.

~I just finished reading a book called Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange. If you love Jane Austen then I think you will love this book. I just started reading another one of her books called Mr. Knightley's Diary. So good.

What books are you reading, who are some of your favorite authors?
I am always looking for something new to read.

The Good, the Bad & the Funny + a Halloween Party

The Good: this week FLEW by. Seriously, how is it Friday already? Such a wonderful question to be asking, so much better than, "Wow, how is it only Tuesday???" Halloween is upon us and the kids couldn't be more excited. Abby's costume fits, HOORAY! She is going to be a Pegasus and pretty cute one too, I will share pics probably on Monday. Adison has a school parade that day and I dress up the little girls for it too. Here is last year's post about it.

The Bad: hmmmm, I really can't think of anything other than this week was exhausting; wonderful, fun, busy, laundry-filled and EXHAUSTING.

The Funny: If you follow me on Twitter than you already heard the hilarity that was Ainsley the other night:

Good job daddy! Mommy, you didn't cook it, I'm not going to tell you good job.

Mama, I didn't get anything on my shirt. Know why? Because I'm a miracle.

Ainsley's Halloween Party!

Today, Ainsley had her first Halloween school party.

We sent her costume with her to school because the kids were going to do some trick or treating, she had a lot of fun.

By the time her party started they had their costumes off and were playing on the playground.

She was so excited when she saw Abby and I, I loved it!

When we got into her classroom, the kids immediately sat down to start their snack/craft.

They were going to make spider cookies.

Ainsley teacher was so nice, she even laid one out for Abby to make!

Abby was being really shy at first.

She didn't want to talk to anyone or have them talk to her, little stinker!

Lee was so excited to have Abby at her school, she wanted Abby to be wherever she was.

Abby was really into making the spider, too.

Here is a picture of the finished product.

It was super cute!

After the kids finished eating one of their spiders they then colored a Halloween picture.

Ainsley made sure that Abby was right there with her, she even got her paper and her crayon as well as making sure that Abby knew the rules.

After that they played pin the nose on the witch, it was so cute.

Then they had cupcakes, yum!

It was so nice to be able to watch Ainsley at school.

I was so impressed with how polite she was and how well she listened.

She did fabulously!
Way to go Lee!!!

On my heart and mind

1. Miss Annabelle, please continue praying for her. She is still in the hospital on the ventilator. They are waiting for some results to come back, but as of now they don't know what is going on. Krista {Mom} has some specific prayer requests on the new blog post.

2. My sorority sister's daughter, Amelia, is having heart surgery tomorrow. Her precious daughter was born with Downs Syndrome and will be having aorta reconstruction and pulmonary band. Lynda and Wade have set up a Caring Bridge Page for Amelia.

~~~~~~~~~~~
 Not too much going on otherwise.
Keeping busy.

This weekend we got all of Adison's school supplies.
Yep, this means that school is starting soon.
On one hand I am so ready to have a routine again and on the other hand I am dreading that routine.
Yes, confusing.

We had small group tonight.
It was such a wonderful time and I love sharing life with such great people.
Abby was actually not being shy towards the end and acted like her usual goofy self, ha ha.
The couple that host our small group had cupcakes tonight for dessert, yes, that made me oh so happy.
I am really hoping that our book that we will be studying comes in the mail tomorrow :)

Because I share all with you, I thought that I would share an oh so graceful moment with you:
I was walking into the living room {not watching where I was walking, of course} when I looked down and saw a toy on the floor. In an effort not step on said toy THAT HAD WHEELS ON IT, I attempted to turn the other way and kicked a wooden half-wall that is in between the living room and dining room. It tore off a portion of my toenail and actually bruised the nail itself, ouch. 

 

Some words

We have thoroughly enjoyed are time away from home.

The change of scenery and especially our time hanging out with the cousins and my sister-in-law has been just what was needed.

The kids haven't been fighting as much and Ainsley seems to be mellowing a bit.

It has been so nice chatting with Anna and just doing life together with our kiddos.

We are heading home tomorrow.

I am so ready to see K.

I really miss him and I know the kids have too.

Yesterday afternoon we braved the heat and went to Trader Joe's for the first time.

It had just opened and was PACKED.

It was seriously stressful as I had all the kids with me and there were people everywhere.

We picked up a few things and had fun looking at all the different things there.

This morning we {us + SIL + cousins} headed over to Target and had a blast.

We got some popcorn and the kids had a blast chomping on it and talking and holding hands.

Lee was affectionately calling two of her cousins "best friend".

Abby was so tired after our morning jaunt to Target that she slept through me carrying her upstairs AND changing her diaper.

I just realized that school starts really soon.

Yikes.

While I think it will be good to get into a routine again I really enjoy the fluidity of summer.

We basically do what we want to do when we want to.

Abby can nap whenever she wants to, Adison can sleep in a bit.

It's just a lot more relaxed.

Ugh, I am really tired.

Maybe that's why my creative juices aren't flowing...

I didn't sleep well last night and the girls got up EARLY.

I'm hoping to snap out of my creative funk right now so that I can write more entertaining posts.

Sorry for the bleh.

I *plan* on doing Good, Bad and Funny tonight.

Hopefully I will see you later :)



Wonderful Wednesday

This morning in our house was a crazy morning as most mornings are.

I loathe them.

Simply because there is so much whining, crying, asking, begging, searching to be done.

I am convinced that there is a clothes stealing elf in our house.

I have the hardest time finding clothes for Adison to wear to school.

{I used to get her clothes out the night before, but have recently gotten lazy and don't do it anymore.}
{Also, I only pick Adison's clothes because she could care less, sometimes she gets them, sometimes I do.}

I have searched high and low and still cannot find shorts for my eldest to wear.

After getting all three girls dressed and fed and ready for the day we head out to drop off Adison at school.

I really enjoy our times in the car together.

Adison is at the age where she has really interesting thoughts on things as well as really poignant questions.

We have been listening to TobyMac a lot lately.

{Like we usually do.}

He has one song that really gets Adison and Ainsley thinking and asking questions about Jesus.

I LOVE THIS!

After dropping Adison off at school we normally go walking with two of my dear friends.

Today though was a big day.

Today I enrolled at least Adison in swimming.

I was really hoping to get Ainsley enrolled as well, but as mentioned yesterday the lady NEVER returned my phone call.

Anyways, {grrr} Ainsley IS old enough to participate.

She had to be three {yep} and potty trained {yep}, so woo hoo!
She was really excited about it.

Since we didn't go on our walk this morning {something Lee looks forward to}, I told her that we could go to Target for a bit.

There wasn't really anything I was looking for, but who doesn't love a stroll around there?

While strolling I found this:

Anyone had this?

I seriously had to fight my inner self to get it.

I am one of those people that I find what I like and I STICK with it.

So, my inner self was saying:

Danna, you like French Vanilla.

French Vanilla is good.

Why mess with a good thing?

But then another part of me was saying:

Who knows, you might really like Vanilla Caramel.

You COULD like it BETTER than French Vanilla.

Go for it.

Try it.

You know you want to.

Does anyone else debate themselves like this?

Well, I do.

I decided to go with Vanilla Caramel.

I'll let you know how it goes.

We make it home and I feed Abby.

It was nap time and it was needed immediately.

Later while making lunch for Ainsley and myself, Lee pops out with:

Mama, if you don't eat your food I'm going to call you a refridgerator.

What?
I LOVE having a three year old!

They say the funniest and wackiest things EVER!

Prayer request:

There is a sweet little girl names Annabelle.

She had a heart transplant on Saturday.

She is doing really well, but would y'all mind lifting her up in prayer with me?

Wow, is it really Tuesday?

For some reason I thought that today was Thursday and yesterday was Wednesday.

I am thinking that this is due to my weekend being so busy that there was no resting going on.

Some interesting things going on around the House of Cupcakes:

1. Ainsley keeps telling me that she feels like she has a baby in her tummy.

Interesting.

This goes hand in hand with asking me ALL the time who she is going to marry.

2. My once loving and delightful little sister duo are now anything but.

They like to hit each other and take the other's toys away.

Sigh.

I know that this is just a taste of what is to come.

3. Adison has started working on multiplication in math.

When I discovered this yesterday I think a small part of me started crying.

WHEN DID MY BABY GET SO BIG????

In other news, my allergies are in full swing.

My head feels like it could explode from the pressure.

We get so little really nice weather here though that I vow to spend as much time outside as possible.

Summer is rapidly approaching and I know that means that we will once again be trapped in the house like we were much of the winter.

I am so happy that Adison takes swimming lessons indoors.

I am hoping to sign Ainsley up as well, but the lady will not return my call and does not answer her phone.

Grrr.

I realized this morning that I have almost reached 300 posts.

Yikes!

I can't believe that I have written that much!

Thanks to everyone that reads my blather :)

Anything specific that you guys would like me to blog about???

Abby's cranky/mad face.

Feeding her baby doll.

Lee giving her baby a shoulder ride.

{Yes, there is a baby on her shoulders, it's hiding behind all of her hair}

Yesterday after school Adison had Spanish Club.

While waiting for her to finish, the littles and I went to the school's playground for a bit.

Going down the slide by herself!

When did she get to be such a big girl???

Ainsley getting ready to go down the super fast slide.

Things are going really well around here.

Just busy as usual with enough time though to enjoy the moments and not get too overwhelmed.

I hope that you have a marvelous Tuesday!

Oh what a Friday: From crazy hair to poison control

Friday started out like any other day.

Me glancing over at the clock and dashing out of bed.

The day needed to start, get kids up, fed and dressed so we could take Adison to school.

Not 10 seconds after opening my eyes did I remember that they are having Spirit Week at school and today was Crazy Hair Day.

Adison had explained to me the previous afternoon what she wanted done and it didn't sound too bad.

But, the harsh reality hit bright and early Friday morning that it was an *extra* thing to do.

Our mornings are on a tight schedule but I knew that we could make it work.

She basically wanted to wear ALL of our flower hair clips in her hair so she looked like a garden.

That was my goal and I feel like it was pretty successful.

She also wore a pink and orange butterfly shirt to drive that garden theme home.

I decided to let her wear some body spray that smelled like flowers to give her that extra something.

She looked so cute!

After dropping her off the day went according to plan.

That plan included attacking the laundry, yes I got some of it done so it didn't, in fact, grow legs and attack out fair city.

We did have a fun little outing planned for the day and we went on a picnic with some friends that included some time to play and run around at the park.

We get back home, put the baby down for a nap and Ainsley and I hang out for a bit before picking up Adison from school.

Fast forward, I get Ainsley ready to pick up Adison.

I told her to wait by the back door like I do every day.

I tell her I am going to go to the bathroom and get Abby and then we need to leave.

I was gone MAYBE 90 seconds.

As I am walking into the kitchen I immediately know that something is wrong.

Ainsley just looked off and panicky.

I ask her what is wrong and she just points to the floor over by the fridge.

I look over and just then she starts puking.

Uh oh.

I see one of out dishwasher soap packs on the floor and the package is torn open.

I look back at her and then the REAL puking begins.
To say that I was terrified could be the understatment of the year.

After she is done I ask her what happened.

She said that she took a bite of the soap pack because she thought it was food.

What???
She clearly KNOWS that it is to wash the dishes, but she is 3 and who knows what she is really thinking.

I do the only thing possibles seeing that I now have 3 minutes to pick up Adison from school.

I wipe her up, get the kids in the car and call poison control.

They said that kids actually do this a lot because they think it looks like candy.
**I wish that I would have known this before, heads up to all of you that use these and have small children in your house.**

That she might vomit (already took care of that), have some diarrhea and be a bit sleepy from puking.

We also had to watch her for an inability to swallow, which the kind woman told me was really rare.

She also told me that those things supposedly taste AWFUL so most kids don't ingest that much of them.

Well, the diarrhea hit less than an hour later and I watched  her like a hawk for any additional issues.

Why is she so much scarier at 3 than she was at 2!?!

I have also not been letting her out of my sight for a moment, eating the soap pack is something that I NEVER in a million years thought that she would try to do, but she did. Sigh.

Today (Saturday) she is just fine and we both learned a valuable lesson.

She learned that eating a soap pack will make up puke and have AWFUL diarrhea.

I learned that my three year old cannot be trusted for even 90 seconds while I use the restroom and get her baby sister.

Seeing Adison's hair like this is amazing.

She has the straightest hair I have ever seen and it does NOT hold curl at all.

It lost all of this curl/body within a matter of hours

**All pictures were from my phone, sorry they are not the best quality.

Adison's school Christmas Party

Adison had her school Christmas party today.

I deserve the "Mother of the Year" award for forgetting my camera...again!

I am so annoyed with myself.

I just cannot remember to bring it.

Oh well.

Adison was really excited to see me there.

I hadn't told her that I was coming because my brother was coming over to watch the little ones for me and when little kids are involved, well you know, things don't always work out as planned.

Therefore, I didn't even mention coming.

I just didn't want to her to upset if I couldn't go for some reason.

When I got there it took her a while to notice that I had made it.

Then her face broke into this adorable grin and she squealed out, "MOMMY!"

It was wonderful.

I got to help the kiddos with "Santa Limbo."

They had the kiddos get in two lines, had them put on a Santa hat and a pillow under their shirts.
While cheery Christmas music played the kids limbo-ed under a strand of Christmas lights.

The kids LOVED it!

After that they made a darling snowman using marshmallows, a skewer, licorice, pretzels, Red Hots, an Oreo and mini-chocolate chips.

They turned out DARLING!
I will get a pic when she brings it home...if it makes it home.

Next they made a cute little foam picture frame.

The kids either got to make a reindeer or a snowman.

Adison picked the reindeer, it had more glittery pieces.

That's my girl!

Finally they got some food!

There were darling little chocolate covered pretzels, cupcakes, cookies, grapes, apple slices and a lot more!

They did such a good job of standing in line patiently, I was really impressed.

The party was a success!

Adison stayed at school to finish up her day.

I mean who would want to miss recess?
Certainly not my girl.

Apparently I am much older than I think I am

Yesterday afternoon as I pull up to Adison's school to pick her up I spot her running towards the car. My heart swelled and I couldn't wait to have my girl for the rest of the weekend. I miss her when she is at school! As I pull up and she is hopping into the van I notice her teachers coming towards me, heads shaking they have that *look*. If you have a "spirited" child you know what that *look* looks like. My heartbeat speeds up a little and a dialogue is running  through my head...but she has really been exhibiting amazing self-control lately...she has really been working hard on staying on task...she has been trying really hard to remember to raise her hand...etc.

My heart starts to break for this spirited child of mine that has so much energy and excitement for life that she can hardly sit still.

Then Mrs. L and Ms. F come over to the van and I roll down the window.

Adison informed the ENTIRE class and some parents today that you are 49 years old.

Uhh...what? Ha ha ha ha!

Yes, we didn't know that you were 49. You are looking good! Man, you have those Hollywood movie stars beat!

Well, you know...I try to take care of myself. I do what I can.

(Seriously though, I will be 30 in 3 weeks. Not that 49 is a bad thing, but I would really like to experience my 30s first.)

We all left with a really good laugh, I wonder how many parents believed her...