Successful Shopping Venture!

DadOf3 and Princess had a great time shopping yesterday! Here are some of their finds!

Daddy and Daughter Date Day!

I love posting this! My husband took a 1/2 day off from work today to spend with our daughter. He will do the same for our oldest son in the very near future.

Princess and DadOf3 are having a Daddy and Daughter Date Day!

Last year before Princess started Kindergarten, DadOf3 took Princess dress shopping. Oh my! She remembers that day well and has been asking for several weeks when she and Daddy can go dress shopping again! She loved getting some fun dresses and spending some special time with Daddy.

This year they are making a whole afternoon of it! They are going dress shopping, stopping at McDonald's for a bite to eat, and then heading to a movie.

I think it is so special for the Dads out there to spend one on one time with their children. Girl's will look at this time as a model of how boys should treat them when they are older. Boys will look at this time as a model of how to behave themselves. I am a stay at home Mom so I have many opportunities to spend one on one time with my kids. Dad's have to make a special effort to do this.

Did I mention that I married the most wonderful man in the world? :)

MOPS Retreat

I had a great time this weekend, although it was a lot busier than I prefer my weekends to be!

Friday, DadOf3 and the kids drove me to another MOPS mom's house and we carpooled together with another gal to a lake house where we met with 14 other women to plan our upcoming year in MOPS. We stayed overnight at the lake house and had lots of time to bond with the rest of the MOPS leaders for the new year.

MOPS is a wonderful organization for moms. Its official mission is this: MOPS International exists to encourage, equip and develop every mother of preschoolers to realize her potential as a woman, mother and leader in the name of Jesus Christ.

This wonderful organization is for every mother of a pre-schooler. It provides a low-key, conversation-filled morning where pre-schoolers are watched by loving childcare workers. That of course means that each mother gets a break, gets time to eat breakfast without helping anybody else, and gets to congregate with other mothers in the same season of life.

This will be my 5th year in MOPS. I wish I would have found it sooner! I look forward to being on the leadership team for our branch of MOPS. There are MOPS organizations all over the world. If you are interested click here for more information for finding a MOPS near you!

What to do on another rainy day: Pump It Up!

If you are having a rainy summer like us, check out a Pump It Up near you! This is an inflatable playground that normally is rented out for birthday parties and get togethers. The Pump It Up nearest to us has morning play times on Mondays and Thursdays. It is a little pricey at $5 per kid, but it was great! The kids got to burn off some steam and I felt good about that. We have not been to the park in two weeks, and that has to be some sort of record for us. We love the park! I love that they can play and get some fresh air and exercise and I like that I can get some exercise too! This Pump It Up was the next best thing!

Throwback Thursday!

This Throwback Thursday (brainchild of the Pinks and Blues Girls) is dedicated to my Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa passed away last February at 91 years old. I miss him a lot. I used to write to him at least every other week. The kids would color pictures for him too. Princess still remembers this. I never really knew my great grandparents so I am extremely thankful that my kids were able to meet their Great Grandpa! Grandma passed away in 1990.

These two have been wonderfully positive influences in my life and I hope that the stories I pass on to my children inspire them as much as they have inspired me! My mom made a book for Princess the year she was born. I scanned all of the pictures in to share them with my sister and my nephew.

<==Grandma and Grandpa with two of my older cousins.










<==My sister and my Grandma shared the same birthday so we always celebrated together! Grandpa and I had birthdays that were only 5 days apart!











<==Grandpa meeting Princess for the first time at his house.

Grandpa with Princess and Prince when we were expecting the Knight! The last pictures is of Grandpa, my mom, and me with all three of my kids!

Happy First Day Of Kindergarten, Nephew!

My nephew's first day of Kindergarten is THURSDAY! Here's to my nephew and his first taste of formal education!

This picture is my nephew and his Kindergarten teacher.

Wordless Wednesday!

I Finished the Book!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was wonderful! JK Rowling has not disappointed! That is all I will say about that - I don't want to spoil it for anyone!

The kids and I went to my last Bible study this morning. It was a good study and I met some really neat women.

This weekend I have a MOPS (Mother's Of Pre-Schoolers) retreat Friday night to Saturday afternoon. I am secretary for our MOPS group so that means I am on the planning team. We are all spending the night at a lake house one of the church members owns. It should be a great way for this group to bond and plan all at the same time. I am really looking forward to it, although I do wish that it would have happened a little later in the summer since I just got back from Iowa. My husband has been very giving of his time to me lately!

Back to making supper!

Checking In!

It has been another fun day in FamilyOf5Land! For the first time in three weeks, the kids and I took advantage of the free movies in our fair city. Once again it was a rainy day and we were happy to have something to do inside. See here and here and here for our other movie ventures!

Miney and Moe were none too pleased to be banished to the master bathroom (the only tiled and enclosed room) with their kitty litter, food and water while we were at the show. They were however very pleased when we came home. They have fount their "purrrs" and know how and when to use them! They were quite pitiful when we came home and made sure that we realized their neglect. Ha! These kitties are very lucky - they will be pampered and well loved for as long as they live!

The kids were the best they have ever been at the movies this summer. I wasn't even sure that we would make it to the movie this morning. We all slept in until around 8:00, DadOf3 included! Usually the Prince is up by 6:30 or 7:00, but he and the Princess were up being naughty last night. Because it is summer time, DadOf3 and I let it go unless they disturb the Knight. They were seriously up until 10:30, when DadOf3 and I headed for bed.

The kids and I saw The Rugrats Movie. It was released in 1998 so it was definitely not a new flick. It was however, quite entertaining! Everyone was into this movie. My 6 year old proclaimed as we left the theater that it was "the best movie we have ever seen!" While, I would not go that far, it was cute. It had a good message: baby brothers are not as bad as they seem.

I am half way through the new Harry Potter book. Since book 4, I have been one of the 1.5 million people who have pre-ordered the latest and greatest Harry Potter book. As with the others, I have not been disappointed this time around! I do wish I had some more time to read however. The only time I get is after everyone has gone to bed, usually 11:00 until 1:00 or 2:00 or until I fall asleep with the book on my lap. Yes, I have been dragging all week, and yes it has been worth it! I cannot wait to see what happens tonight!

Slow to post!

Here are some more pictures of the kittens! They already seem bigger than they were on Friday! They will not stay this size for long and I am so glad! As cute as they are, their favorite place to play "hide and seek" is up inside my couch! DadOf3 and I had to tip the couch and grab the kittens. Each day has been better. The kids, while still excited about the new kitties, are not chasing them around as much. They are learning that if they sit still, the kittens will come to them.






I have not been the best blogger this week. It has been a combination of adding two new members to our family (the kittens Miney and Moe) and the delivery of the 7th and final Harry Potter book! I am half way through the book, trying to savor each and every word. It has been a wonderfully imaginative series and I will encourage my children to read it when they are old enough. I am quite sad that the series is now finished but I do hope the author has more books in her!

I am in la la land today after having stayed up late the last two nights trying to get this book read. Pictures of Princess's birthday are coming as are more pictures of Miney and Moe.

Introducing Miney and Moe!

While we didn't go to Chuck E. Cheese or have a big birthday party for Princess, I think her 6th birthday will be one she will remember!

One of DadOf3's co-workers had a litter of kittens born under their porch. They rescued the kittens and are finding them good homes.

<==Princess after we had chosen 2 of the 4 kittens to take home <==Miney and Moe ate, drank some water, and used their litter box within an hour of being home. <==

















<==Princess is a proud new pet owner. While the kittens are not all hers, she THINKS they are! <==DadOf3 and the kittens! They took to Bill right away! <==Kitten close-up: Miney is on the left and Moe is on the right!

Princess's 6th Birthday Cake!

Here is Princess's cake. Man! Do I have a lot to learn in the cake making department! The directions told me to frost the entire cake with white frosting before decorating. If I do this again, I will not do that though. The cake itself had so much detail that it would have really helped when I was doing the detail frosting.

Princess was happy with her cake though so that is all that matters!

Throwback Thursday - Princess (two)!

Throwback Thursday take TWO:

I almost forgot my favorite baby picture of Princess. She was being held by my mother when she decided she was HUNGRY! She was basically attacking my mother's cheek!