Cheese Fest!

Mira, Amelia, and I went to Pine Island this weekend for Cheese Fest! We had a great time at Jeff and Sara's house Saturday night, then stayed at Kelly and Duey's house overnight. Sunday was a little rainy, but that didn't stop us from taking part in the carnival in town. The kids rode the rides, ate fair food, and played some games. Sadly, I don't have photos of that part since I didn't want my camera to get wet. I did take just a couple at the parade that afternoon . . . alas none of the actual parade!

The entire gang at the parade:

Kissy, kissy, kissy

Mira and I took a walk with Winter tonight and got a little one-on-one time. I started asking her if she was excited for first grade next year, and we got to talking about Isaac, her "boyfriend" who is also at her daycare and in her class. Let's just say they spend a fair amount of time together.

I asked Mira if Isaac was still her boyfriend. She said yes, then said, "We kissed at the bus stop! On the lips! Three times!"

Uh-oh. I said, "So, did you like it?"

"Yes!" was Mira's reply.

Crap. "So, what did you like about it?" I asked.

"His slushy lips!"

Romantic. Now what do I do? I think she's a bit young to be kissing boys! I told her she can't do anything other than hold hands right now. Help!

Memorial Day party

We spent yesterday afternoon at Randy and Terrie's for a Memorial Day party. It was fun! Good food, a few friends and relatives. Too bad it was windy and chilly for no one was able to go swimming. But the kids loved fishing off the dock and caught plenty of sunfish!

Amelia doing a happy dance after she caught her first fish:
Mira and one of her many sunfish:
The sweetest picture of the day:
Thanks to Randy and Terrie for a fun afternoon!

Happy 6th birthday, Mira!

Wow! Mira is officially six years old today! It seems like she's been 10 for a couple years now, but she's officially six! She started the day with a present (four new lip glosses and a carrying case) and had cake and ice cream and more presents at the end of the day. She picked cheeseburgers, strawberries, and Cheetos (what is it with my kids and Cheetos?) for her birthday dinner. Then we had a chocolate princess cake.
Mira opened a case of 50 pip-squeak markers, drawing paper, and the book "Where the Sidewalk Ends." She really loves "Falling Up," so she was excited to get more Shel Silverstein poems.
We topped off the night with a trip to the park and a much-needed bath. It was a great day!
Happy birthday to you, Mira! We love your sweet, stubborn, sassy self. You are just like your mom!

Slumber party

Amelia received a princess sleeping bag for her birthday. She loves it! She's sleeping in it every night. Tonight Mira found her sleeping bag, so they decided to have a slumber party on the floor. They even got Daddy to join them:

We'll see if they make it all night on the floor . . .

UPDATE: Yeah, they made it about 20 minutes then got back into their respective beds, with their sleeping bags, of course!

Almost like Christmas

Today we had the family birthday party for Mira and Amelia. All our immediate family was there and it was so good to see them! We set up the bounce house for the kids and were able to spend most of the afternoon outside, despite the humidity.
Chesney was really taken with Winter. I think there is a new puppy on the horizen for the Jahnke family!
Mira and Amelia got so many wonderful presents, most of which Chris and I spent the evening opening and assembling. I think I might go into business doing that for others! How much can one make assembling games, bikes, and toys? Make us an offer!

Amelia looked beautiful in her new leotard and tutu. She'll be starting ballet in a month and showed off her best move:
Mira and cousin Abby during gift opening:
Grandpa Wayne's birthday was on party day this year. He got a piece of carrot cake and a round of "Happy Birthday":
Mira and Amelia shared a cake this year. Mira said she'd prefer her own cake, so despite the cost savings, we'll probably do their own cakes next year.
Playing with their new bubble maker (and, yes, Mira's leotard is two sizes too small):
Amelia and her princess scooter:
Thanks to everyone for coming and making their birthday party special. You were all so generous. We loved seeing you.

New library!

After waiting patiently for 2 years, then having our local library closed for 5 weeks, our new library is officially open and, oh, it's glorious!

Mira, Amelia, and I went today to see the new space at the grand opening. It's right next to Lifetime Fitness, so we can do both on Saturday mornings. The space is triple the size of our old library and the children's section is huge!

The grand opening had an appearance by The Cat in the Hat. Amelia loved seeing him and kept hugging him and following him around. She was really taken with him.
Mira loved all the bins of books, even one devoted to just TV cartoon characters. She scooped up quite a few Scooby Doo books, while Amelia picked some Dora the Explorer titles.
It's a beautiful library. There is a reading porch that faces the pond on the back of it, complete with several adirondack chairs. I just wish it was covered as it was raining today when we went.

There are cool chairs shaped like a caterpillar in the children's section:
And there's a wall of fun things for them to do:
I'm sure we will spend many hours at this library. It's a great gathering place for our town.

Keep your eye on the ball!

Chris brought out the baseball set and gave Mira a few pitches. She was really getting the hang of it and even hit one that went across the street! I love seeing how proud she is of herself when she is learning a new skill.

Sign of a fun day

I look at these two tired, dirty, ice-cream filled faces with the birds' nest hair, and know we had a good day.
A long walk, bounce house in the yard, sand box, park (twice!), playdate with a classmate, and fun with a neighbor. What a glorious day.

Now let's go clean these two ragamuffins up. Tub time!

Happy Mother's Day!

Oh, I love my precious daughters!

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mothers out there! I want to say a big "I Love You!" to my mom. When people tell me I'm like my mom, it makes me proud.

We had a wonderful day yesterday! The girls let me sleep in until 7:30. Then I got cards and a hanging flower basket. Mira made me a drawing at school, complete with a real necklace on it. And her teacher filled out a sheet with questions about me that Mira answered. It was so cute!

We spent the day at Grandma Adeline's house. It was a full house this year! So many people came to celebrate. It was fun seeing all the kids play together (and there were a lot of little kids!), and I got to talk with so many family members that I don't see as often as I'd like.

Then we visited Chris' mom on the way home to wish her a happy Mother's Day. It was a very fun day!

Here is a group photo of all the moms and some of the kids yesterday:
My sister Kelly, Grandma Adeline, and me:
Me and my sister, finally back from Australia!:
Sadly, I didn't think to get a photo of me and my mom! I'll have to do that when she and my dad are up in a couple weeks.

There are many more photos from the day at: http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=544ab301579b3005&sid=2Jat2zdqxfR

Woo, Mother's Day!

Mira said to me today, "Mom! For Mother's Day tomorrow, you get to sleep in really, really late! Like, until 8 o'clock!"

I can't wait.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Amelia!

Amelia turned three today! She woke up all excited and said, "Today's my birthday! I'm a big girl now!" Indeed she is. Potty trained, no pacifiers, big girl bed, talks like a champ. We couldn't ask for anything more in our sweet baby.

We started the day with balloons and a present.
Amelia was thrilled to find a life-size Uniqua from the Backyardigans as her first present.

She brought it to daycare, where they had a party for her, complete with pizza and cupcakes.

When we got home, Amelia got to open a few more presents: the Happy Birthday Barbie from Mira was a hit. And she chose her birthday dinner: strawberries, Cheetos, and a pink cake. Yum!
It was really fun to see her blowing out the candle. She was so proud of herself!
Happy birthday, our sweet sweet girl. We love you so much!

Oh, and Chris and my 9th anniversary was yesterday. We had a lovely lunch (without the girls!) downtown, and then had movie night with Mira and Amelia. So, happy anniversary, Honey! You were my best decision ever. I love you!

Awesome.

I was driving with Mira and Amelia tonight to the club. Mira suddenly says, "Mom, if you're looking for me when I'm 16, I'll be driving that thing!"

Guess what she points to . . .

Awesome.

She thought it was a garbage truck.

Even more awesome.

Growing so fast

So Amelia started a story today with,

"When I was a little girl . . ."

Ha! She'll be three years old on Thursday. I can't believe she's grown up so much that she remembers when she was a little girl.