Gram/Fashion Show/Carinval/Snow

Gram is here!  We have been very busy and having a blast!  Gram got here on Wednesday morning and of course the first thing that we had to do was go on a shopping spree for the girls.  I don't do a lot of shoping for the kids on my own but a couple times a year with my mom is plenty!  On the way home I mentioned that we needed to show Daddy all the clothes we got and Kiara said "WE SHOULD HAVE A FASHION SHOW!" So that is what we did.

Mckenna & Kiara in thier favorite outfits!

Ava in one of her new outfits - hanging out with Gram!

On Friday we had a lot of plans.  I was going to take Tom to the airport for the Combine, Kiara had school, Gram was going to take Mckenna to gymnastics, and that evening we had Kiara's school carnival - the girls were so excited.  None of those events happened because a huge storm hit.  We got 18 inches of snow.  Tom's flight got cancelled and so did everything else.  When we woke up we had about a foot and we knew that Tom was not going to leave until the next day.  The girls were so bummed that the school carnival was cancelled so we decided that we better have a carnival at our house.  We spend most of the day getting ready and around 4pm the carnival began.......

We had about 10 games set up. This game was rolling 4 plastic golf balls down the slide and trying to get them into a bucket.  Look at that concentration...

This was Kiara and Mckenna's nail painting station.  We couldn't get Tom to participate because he didn't want his nails painted before heading to the Combine but I think we might be able to next time :)!





This is the only video we took but it is a pretty good one of the bowling game we had set up.  Ben gave this bowling set to Kiara one Christmas and we all love playing it!!

Today Kiara, Mckenna, and I went out to play in the snow.  

This is the mound of snow from the plows. 

The girls love hanging out with their Gram (as you can see on their faces)!!

A few more pictures of Grandpa's visit

We had a tough day yesterday with a few rounds of tears from Kiara and Mckenna.  We all had so much fun with Grandpa it was a bit of a let down when he left.  Today I told Kiara that she was having such a good day and that I was really proud of her.  She looked at me and said something like - So it takes 1 day after Grandpa leaves for me to feel better!  So sweet. 

Show on the couch with Grandpa!

Tom and Grandpa took Kiara and Mckenna to the rec center to play basketball.

Ava and Grandpa playing peek a boo

books, books, books

It was such a special, fun time with Grandpa.  Thank you Grandpa - we love you :)!

Yesterday it snowed again.  We got about 7 inches of snow and Kiara and Mckenna went outside to play this afternoon.  Now we are getting very excited for our next visitor - GRAM!!! Gram comes tomorrow morning and we are looking forward to a fun week!

Grandpa is here!!

Deborah: "Mckenna what have you done with Grandpa?"
Mckenna:   "I played with Grandpa with my barn.  We did puzzles.  We did a horse race.  He taked us to a park.  He goed out to dinner (lunch) and gymnastics and ice cream with me."
Deborah: "Anything else you want to say about Grandpa?"
Mckenna: "I love him."

Kiara:  he wint to ise crim and to luncs and he pict me up and we wint to the librari. we bot a book abot hapstrs and a barbie movie namd barbie fairytopia.

Ava loves Grandpa too!!

I promise we do not make our kids wear helmets on swings :)!

The park by our house. 

We haven't been here in about 3 months but the snow is gone and it has been beautiful.  It was 55 degrees yesterday, a little windy but we went out for a 1 1/2 hour bike/rollerblade/scooter/walk. 

Today Grandpa, Daddy, Kiara, and Mckenna are going to a movie and to play putt putt.  This means Ava and I will be at home, by ourselves, for about 4 hours.  Fun for everyone!!!

my hapstr.

my hapstrs name is brownie.

heres a pichr of brownie

heres a pichr of her cage

heres a pichr of browie on top of her house

hers a pichr of me holding her

Winter in Cleveland...

As a kid growing up in Seattle during the winter it was hit or miss if enough snow would fall and stick to go sledding.  That is not the case here in Ohio.  I remember on the few occasions that it did snow growing up that we would head to the dead end hill by Robert Frost and sled head first toward a cement wall that sperated the Kinsgate neighborhood from I-405.

The past two Saturday's Kiara, Mckenna, and myself have headed to the Pawpaw Sledding Area just a 1/2 mile down the road from our house in the Cleveland Metro Park System.  It is by far my favorite thing to do with the girls outdoors during the winter here in Ohio.  I think they have fun, I know their daddy has fun!  Here are some pics and videos from last Saturday... 

 

The girls are crazy excited for Grandpa to come this Wednesday...maybe we can get him out on the hill!

Family Game Night!

Mckenna got a few new games for her birthday and so we decided to have a game night where we play a lot of games, enjoy treats, and of course keep score.  Kiara and Mckenna set up 6 games around our house and Kiara made a score board.  The girls got out treats (one for each game) and game night began.....

DVD Bingo - LOVE this game

Playing Bingo and trying to keep Ava happy.  Tom and Kiara both got BINGOS!

Pretty Pretty Princess Game!  This is a new one (thanks Jeff, Carin, & Ryan).  Tom won this game (notice the crown on his head) and I couldn't resist getting this picture.  This game is really cute - the girls love it!

More keeping Ava happy.  I think she is teething!!!

And the winner is................Kiara and Tom (after 4 games).

We didn't make it through all 6.  Mckenna started to lose it after game #3 and Ava was ready for bed.  It  is now 9 pm and Mckenna is still up.  I think all the treats might have been a bad idea but definitely worth it :)!

To patch or not to patch?

It is not really a question.  2 months ago when we began patching Ava's right eye, we needed to do it for 3-4 hours a day.  At our next appointment, the doctor up'd it to half the the day (around 6 hours).  Those six hours are not the best 6 hours of Ava's day.  She spends about 1 of those hours asleep, 2-3 in the bjorn, and the rest moving from place to place/thing to thing around the house.  All of that time is spent with me very close to her.  Yesterday she had the best day.  She was so happy, so content, spent 45 minutes sittting up in the living room with her sisters playing around her, and 45 minutes in the exersaucer while they did crafts.  Not once did she need to be in the Bjorn.  I did not have to be by her side, actually most of the time I was not in the same room.  It was so great.  There was just one problem, I never patched her.  She wore the patch for 1 1/2 hours while we were out but that was it.  I am really good about her wearing it for the whole time except when she is not feeling well or when I am tired of seeing her unhappy (which is about once a month).  Yesterday was that day for me.  Today we are back to the patch and back to her not being very happy.  It is probably a mistake to not patch Ava's eye for a day because I keep thinking about what she was like without it on.  Wearing the patch is VERY important to Ava.  We are working hard everyday to see if those little, beautiful eyes can work together so that she can have 2 eyes to see with for the rest of her life.  So back to the fussing it is, but for a very important reason.  Today I am trying something new.  She wore it for 3 hours this morning and right now we are taking a break.  She is sitting next to me, playing and laughing. 

The doctor advised against patching her twice a day because pealing off the patch two times a day could cause irritaion.  We will try it for now and see. 

Last night after dinner, Kiara and Mckenna had a bath while Ava was in the swing watching them.  We came downstairs for a show before bed (Strawberry Shortcake - the girls new favorite show) and I put Ava in the middle of them on the couch.  She lasted the whole show between her sisters and was very happy.  What a great ending to a great day!!

You know it was a good birthday when.........

your daughter says this:  "Momma, when is it going to be my next birthday?"  Mckenna Kay (Feburary 7th, 8:52 AM)

Mckenna, Ava, & Kiara before the party!

PUMP IT UP!!

Mckenna LOVED the slide.  The birthday girl showed no fear!

The birthday crew.  It was a great group of kids.  Mckenna's neighbor friends and friends from preschool.

Mckenna in the birthday chair. 

Tom (around 9 AM on February 6th): "Mckenna, you are 4!!"

Mckenna: "No I'm not."

Tom: "When are you turning 4?"

Mckenna: "At my party!"

For Mckenna, this is when she turned 4!

It was an awesome party, most importantly Mckenna felt like it was her special day.  We are fortunate to have met some great families through her pre-school and our neighborhood.  That being said, we felt a big void being away from family on her birthday.  It just wasn't the same.  After the party we came home, opened presents, and celebrated her some more.  We enjoyed the next few hours playing games and playing with lots of horses :)!   

A few changes today now that Mckenna is 4. 

#1) Mckenna didn't argue today when we told her to go potty because big girls need to go potty when their mom and dad tell them they need to. (This should last about 1 more day)

#2) Mckenna learned how to use tissues by herself in her bed.  She was so excited to tell us this when we checked on her after we put her to bed.  She tried this with not 1 or 2 tissues but about 30!

Love that little girl!  Happy Birthday Mckenna!!!

100 days at schol

I had my 100th day at my schol.

I got to take 10 of evriting.

I gest how mini then i contid how miny.

SNOW

We made it outside to play in the snow and were very surprised by what we found.  Check out these videos to see......

It was so much fun!  I was only out there for 20 minutes before Ava lost it inside by herself.  The girls probably would have spent hours if they could have :)!  Mean mommy called them in after 30 minutes because even though it looks like a beautiful day it was 20 degrees out (FEELS LIKE 10!!!!)! 

Kiaras frst tiping

Kiara and daddy afdr the fathr datr dans.

me in the hula hoop contest at the the fathr datr  dans.

me and ava smiling.

me and mckenna made this fort.

Snow Days

Here is what happens on snow day #2 in our house.  Mckenna set up the chairs, went downstairs and got dress up clothes for all (sorry you don't get to see my hat in the video) and explained to us how this recital was going to go :)  LOVE HER!!!

Later today, Ava having a good old time.....

Looks like we will be back in school tomorrow, phyical therapy for Ava, and maybe feeling good enough to play in the snow for a little bit!  We have A LOT of snow and I am looking forward to showing you some pics soon...