Out of town husband

Ben was in Arizona for work this week, leaving me without relief at the end of the day. What got me through was some Grandma distraction, an aunt and uncle to babysit while I had a concert, an encouraging e-mail from a MOPS friend, a play date, a shopping outing, one Skype call, and leaning on God. God's still shaping me, but I AM an awesome mom. And you know what, we not only survived, we had little special moments. Unfortunately all I have to show for it in pictures are these two of Abigail opening her baptism birthday gift. 

 She got Aladdin themed Squinkies to add to her collection and a Sophia painting book. This, also, helped keep Abigail and Lydia both busy and happy.

I don't know how single moms or moms whose husbands travel a lot do it. I do know being a mom is not easy no matter your situation, and it feels SO good to rest and relax in my husband's arms.

Breaker Bay @ Blue Harbor

We (with Stacy, Aaliyah, Violet, Sarah, Matt, Gma Linda) spent a day in 78 humid degrees of delight at Breaker Bay. My camera lens did not adjust as quickly to this environment, so my family picture is all fog.

At any rate, the kids were right at home in the splash pad area.

Which was right next to the ship bucket dump.

Can you spot Ben and Lydia getting dumped on? Matt loves this attraction.

They replaced the kiddie slides with a riptide surf simulator. Sarah, Ben and I all had fun with it. But without the kiddie slides, Lydia had to build up the courage to go down the green and blue slides by herself. Sitting on a lap is not allowed.

 She went down the green slide, loved it, and got off so fast.

 Grandma Linda went down the blue side next to her. I can post a funny picture of her because it's her birthday.

After innumerable trips around the lazy river we went out to Pizza Ranch. 

Happy 63rd Birthday, Mom!

"He is Risen!" "My Tooth is Loose!"

"He is Risen!"  "My Tooth is Loose!"

The first phrase is part of the most important event in all of history. The second phrase is just part of a little milestone in Lydia's life. Both happened on Easter day. 

 Easter weekend started off with a special message at church that concluded with everyone standing and singing, "pray, praise, and shout hooray! Jesus is alive!" repeatedly and faster each time.

 Then the children divided into two groups: ages 0-3 and 4-12 and processed outside for an egg hunt. The older group thinks it's a race; and the young group knows it's a hunt for a few choice eggs. Lydia came in to the young area to help make it a clean sweep since she was crushed by her competition, and the youngsters were fine leaving behind countless eggs after they found the ones they liked. 

 At home on Sunday morning, the clever Easter bunny (Ben) left a fun way for the girls to find their hidden Easter baskets. We wrapped up the yarn behind them as they followed it around and around and around to finally the closet!

 We went to Easter church service and then over to the Fernandez' for a wonderful dinner. It was amazing how well the children sat at their own table or were off playing together and the adults could sit, eat, and talk. It's such a luxury. We've come a long way in that department in two years and I think we should enjoy it because it's going to get upset again when Baby Boy Fernandez comes in August!!

Aaliyah and Violet's other cousins, Zach and Julia, may be due major credit for our enjoyable dinner and egg hunt because they were awesome and super helpful with the girls for both.

 Once we took a picture and gave the green light, they scattered and conquered in their pretty puffy pastel dresses.

Oh what fun it is to find colorful Easter eggs all around. We were all glad that the forecast "stray showers" kept their distance and we could have fun outside. 

 In fact, egg hunts are so much fun that Sarah suggested we have an adult version next time. Why should the kids have all the fun? I agree!

 Well, we enjoyed watching the children from the deck, and we certainly enjoyed this Pinterest-win carrot cake! Awesome! But this is the cake. 

This is the cake with the orange white chocolate covered strawberries that Lydia bit into that set her right bottom incisor loose. Everyone we come across knows the story, and now you do too, of how Lydia got her first loose tooth. Now we wiggle, wiggle, wiggle. How much time do I have to figure this tooth fairy thing out? ;)

Hoppy Times

Lydia's  not shy to wear the Happy Birthday hat on her Baptism Birthday!
She got a little Legos Friends set and is good at following the directions.

DADDY  LOVE

It was Very Fairy Princess Day at the Domes. Garden fairies could be found all around.

Lydia took this picture of the pond frog.

 The live fairies sprinkled fairy dust on their heads and posed pretty.

I don't think Lydia recognized this creepy Cruella Deville from the movie or understood that she was supposed to be a villain. "Aw, she has a cute puppy." Yes, remember, because she steals them and kills them!!

When dyeing eggs, we dye our fingers too!

Abigail makes sure each Easter egg had a cute little sticker.

And lastly, I found a big bunny hopping around my house, so I gave it a carrot. Maybe it'll stick around till Easter. ;)

Ready to Travel?

Driving in the car.

Under the table because it's raining.

Should we take another road trip, for real? Yes?

Are you ready to see different country? Yeah?

 Then just look straight into the camera...

 There.

Perfect.

outside Cracker Barrel, Kenosha

Yes, I think it's time to make our move and get these girls their very first passport cards and plan a summer trip to Niagara Falls and Toronto, Canada!

An Elegant Spa Night

We started off with a mint foot soak, you'll just have to picture all three of us squished in a bucket of water. Then a foot scrub and foot massage. The girls love it when I massage their feet. In fact, if they are having trouble going to sleep, they request "sleeping lotion," which is just some lotion and a massage by Masseuse Mom. So, then we stretched little toes into those toe holders and did polish. They are learning patience when they have to wait for the polish to dry, it's not all vanity and fun! Then makeovers! With some leftover Mary Kay samples, so we all got Double Espresso and Espresso Double eye color...

It's not for all eye types ;)  Lydia had some new princess lipsticks from her birthday party, so we used those. Then Lydia threw on a scarf and pretended she was a movie star!

Such an elegant movie star!

That's her new favorite word, elegant.

"Word up!"

(That's Word Girl's famous exiting phrase, just in case you didn't know because you don't spend all your days watching PBS Kids shows.)

March Activities and Party!

Last Sunday we went to Family Swim at Swimtastic. When I go to a pool, indoors or out, and it's not even 30 degrees outside, you know I'm getting desperate for activity. But I said if we're going swimming, then we have to go get frozen yogurt afterwards.

 'Enjoy Life. Eat Healthy.' See those words on the wall? Well, the funny thing here is that Lydia 'topped' her healthy frozen yogurt with loads of crushed Oreos. YoFresh!

 On Monday Abigail started her Tumbling class through the Rec Dept. She had an awesome time and did so well waiting her turn to do forward and backward somersaults! 

 We got more snow this week, and I decided to bring some of it inside again for the girls to play with. They made a snowman formation and named him pickle, scooped the snow around, ate some, and I swear they played with that sink of cold stuff for hours! On Friday, after a week on community helpers in 4-K, the kids got to dress up as what they want to be when they grow up. Lydia was thrilled to go to school dressed up as a ballerina.

On Saturday, we had Abigail's Minnie Mouse themed birthday party.

Abigail got a cool Disney Look & Find board game. We all played it after cake, trying as a team to get to the finish before the clock struck midnight.

The cake we made was an awesome rainbow cake. The girls enjoyed stirring all six bowls of different colored batter and helping me get the colors right. Red-Orange-Yellow-Green-Blue-Purple.

"Birthday parties are so much fun, Especially when it's your third one!"