adorably mischievous...

7:45 is bed time around here,
no games, no exceptions... or so i thought!

i heard giggles of laughter coming out of the girls room tonight at 8:30pm...
i cracked the door open, peeked in and found this...




there is just something so sweet about sisters... i can hardly stand it!
(yes, even when they are up to no good with each other).

one week down, forty one more to go...

it's been one whole week...
one whole week of the new schedule i have laid out for us being in effect.

which means:
one whole week of levi being away at school,
one whole week of just the girls at home all day.
one whole week of going pretty much nowhere but school and back,
one whole week of strict wake up times, breakfast times, nap times, lunch times, dinner times, bath times, and bed times.


and while my kids have seem to have fallen right into this new way of life,
i, oddly enough, am a bit exhausted!
my carefree days have been traded in for constant routine.
one thing after the other all day...
don't get me wrong, it is great!
very in my nature, and makes me feel secure.

but, i have learned in this one whole week that has been,
life as i have known it for the past four years has forever changed....

while i still have babies at home to care for, i all of a sudden have accumulated the attribute of being a school aged child's mother.
and boy is it exhausting! :P

it's funny how in just one little week saturdays have suddenly become my new favorite day again, just like when i was in school! :)

levi's a real life preschooler...

i know, i know...
by now you are tired of my blogging today...
i just can't help it, today was an important day!




while i can't fully tell you what the house is like without levi around (because we were hardly at home today without him)...
i can say this, it is unusually quiet.
and i miss him. :(

he on the other hand...
shows no signs of missing me.
although tonight when i tucked him in and asked him once more what his favorite thing about school was...

he said (once again) "nap time", but then he added "but, i miss you mama... just a little, little bit" with a sad look on his face.
which funny thing is that was first moment tears actually ran down my cheeks today.

my little boy is so big,
just looking at him in the pictures i took this morning.
somehow he looks even bigger to me today then he did even last night.

he walked right in, no problems, no quarrels.
and when we picked him up mrs. koch said he did GREAT!
which makes this mama happy, but sad at the same time.





i will say i feel so happy to have him at tabernacle.
both brian and i talked about how we feel so "at home" every time we step foot on the school grounds.
it feels right, like this is where we are supposed to be, like this is where we will adjust what needs be in order for our children to stay. this is the place i am trusting to love and care for my children, when i am unable to be there loving and caring for them myself.

yes, today was a good day indeed.

a special day for my special girl...

today was a big day for alivia...
not just because it was her birthday but because this was her first day without her big brother.

i wasn't sure how she would be taking it, i feared she would think she would be going to school too.

so...
i made the day extra special for her.
she got her very first hair cut
(which made mommy a little sad).



followed by her very first manicure/pedicure combo!





and let me just say...
simply adorable!
i took in every girly second, and i can tell by her look of utter amazement...
she did too.

splendidly fun, girly mama daughter time!


later we picked up daddy and sissy and headed down to the cookie mall for lunch and build a bear...
just daddy and all his girls. :)
as you can tell by alivia's creation, she has a bit of an imagination....





a day i will never forget filled with girlish giggles and smiles.

the day we added pink...

i'm not sure why but...
for some reason i always assumed i would have a house full of boys. seriously, even before levi was born brian and imagined a life full of sons. smelly clothes full of sweat and food vanishing quicker then i could replace it kinda life. i knew my heart wanted girls, but i honestly thought god desire for us was to have boys....

the whole first three months of my second pregnancy i kept telling brian to "think pink". hoping somehow god would hear my heart and bring me my girl.
and sure enough, he heard our prayers and granted them by giving us the most girly girl we know!

alivia,
you've never ripped out hair bows, you love to paint your nails, you prefer dresses to shorts and pants. your first word was "shoes" for crying out loud. you refer to things as "so cute" and "purdy". your tender and sweet with attitude and sass only a true girl can possess. the world melts at the sight of your smiley dimples. you scream at the sight of bugs and lizards, you freak out when your hands get dirty. you love dress up, tea parties, and baby dolls. your smart and fearless, you beg to twirl and dance with daddy. you are the girl we prayed and desired for.

our life was blessed beyond what we ever thought was possible 3 years ago when god gave us a touch of pink bundled up in a whole lotta girl!

just a reminder...

i really don't want to be writing this now...
but i must because it was brought to my attention that the words of my blog are being taken word for word....
after hearing this news, i once again reminded myself that it doesn't matter much to me.
it's just freaky, not to mention the point that it is in fact a crime.

~Plagiarism
a piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is presented as being your own work
the act of plagiarizing; taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own.

now that is all i am going to say about it, and will drop the topic completely.

a mermaid and her princess party...

alivia woke up first thing this morning knowing today was the day of her party...
she ran into our room proclaiming that her "baday party" was out there in the kitchen.
this is what she woke up to.



there was absolutely no doubt what her birthday party was going to be this year.
she has been talking about it for the last 6 months, with opinions all her own.

and because of the theme she picked i really thought it would be fun to have a dress up party.
and so glad too, cause it was covered in cuteness!

from the fish net on the table,
to steamers that gave the feel as though we were under water.
the mermaid cake, and live gold fish favors!



oh yea, and lots of princesses, a couple buzz lightyears and one adorable tinker bell.

a fun party filled with family
to help celebrate one special girl turning three.









and although i absolutely love planning parties...
with all my creative ideas running through my head,
i am so very glad that my birthday party planning has come to an end this year.
time to breath again!

a little bit of rambling...

i'm not going to lie...
it was weird..


i know i am a married woman, mother to three and home owner...
but i still think of myself as a kid most days....
like i never really grew up but rather just "play house".

but then tonight sitting in the auditorium with a room filled with other parents my age (and sum actually younger) it kinda really hit me...

i am my mother!

making lists as the principal talked of things i would need to know.
referencing my handbook as he read out loud.
getting involved in social events
heck, i plan on signing up for the PTA for crying out loud.

as much as i see this as a monumental moment for my first born...
i kinda also think of it as a monumental moment for myself.

committing to be the "june cleaver" mom.
cheering at sporting events, chaperoning on field trips, planning and preparing for school events.

although today it is only K4 i couldn't help but think about the future and the future meetings i will have in that building.
praying that they do infact open the doors to a high school in 2015....
i can actually see myself sitting there for the next almost 20 years of my life as i watch and get involved in my children's school lives...

yep, tonight i go to bed feeling a little more "grown up"....
well, slightly anyway...

can you believe that? one week...

one week left...
can you believe that?
one week...

it's going to be so weird around here without levi.
i know that both of them were in "school" last year but,
3 days a week for 3 hours is nothing when you compare it to 5 days a week 6 and 1/2 hours a day!
crazy thought!

so this leaves us this week of cramming in some fun things mixed with the absolute of bedtime.
8pm.

on another "one week" thought...
alivia is going to be 3 in one week!
can you believe that?
one week...

life is just flying by quicker then i can keep track of it!

anyway,
we took the kids to jungle gardens today.
had a pleasant outdoor lunch and then strolled around looking at turtles, petting snakes and feeding flamingos.
if you haven't noticed...
my kids really love activities that involve animals,
they get that from their daddy.

a fun "last monday"
cause levi starts school in ONE WEEK...

can you believe that?
one week...

soaking in summer...

can you even believe that this summer is quickly drawing to an end?
seriously, where did it go?
we fit in plenty of fun summer things, not all that i wanted to...
but...
we do live in florida, so we still will have plenty of hot days and weekends to squeeze in some other fun activities.

levi and alivia both really took a liking to the pool.
i asked them yesterday what was the most fun they had this summer and what they wanted to do yesterday, while telling levi that pretty soon he will be in school and won't be able to do the things he is used to just doing....

i planned on taking them back to the aquarium (because i thought forsure that is what they were going to say)...
but, much to my surprise they simply asked to go to nana and papa's house and swim.
so, that is exactly what we did.

they learned so much this summer.
i am so proud of both of them! both are able to "save" themselves should they ever fall in.
alivia finally will jump in (only when i am in the pool and she can swim to me if she is without her hot pink tube)

and levi, well he is s true little fish.
constantly saying "mom, watch this" or "mom look what i can do".



here is their most fun thing about swimming...
jumping in!
if you look close you can see alivia jumping right in too!

three little faces i love to love...

levi is steadily turing into his daddy day by day...
pretty soon, it may be hard to tell who is who!




alivia (i mean "cinderella mermaid") always finds her lost slipper...
no matter where the evil step mom (i mean "my mommy?") hides it!



and nataley faye bay just loves to eat food!
seriously, she would sit in her high chair all day and do nothing but eat...
if only i would let her!

change over...

alright,
i'm to far gone in all my sewing adventures!
seriously, i dream about sewing and fabric!!!

and this blog is about my kids, not my sewing...
so, i am starting a new blog for all my crafty stuff. :)

feel free to follow, or not...
i won't be offended, i promise.

i just kinda think it will be fun to look back and say "i can't believe i was once proud of that"
when i become an "advanced" sewer!

:)

anyway,
here is the link to my new crafty blog.
enjoy and laugh along with me!

bello night

my in- laws church had a special night tonight to celebrate their pastor's (pastor steve) birthday.

so, i loaded up the car and headed on over with alyson to enjoy a circus in the sanctuary with bello the clown!
and although i myself did not get to actually see too much of it (because it was WAY too loud for nataley and she freaked out every time i attempted to open the door) we all had a blast!

i did get to peek in for the last little bit when nataley calmed down and decided that it was fun, clapping right along like she had enjoyed it all along. and i couldn't help but smile to myself when i saw levi and alivia laughing at the trapeze act, understanding all the jokes that went with it.

a really great experience....
and the cake was yummy too! :)


ps....
this picture is HILARIOUS to me.
seriously, makes me laugh every time i look at it.

i guess bello is only funny from far away! ;)

summer birthday kiddies...

honestly,
brian and i never fully planned to have the kids birthdays run june, july and august.
and most of the time i am glad that's how it goes...
only the month of august when i am broke from june and july and still have to plan something for alivia do i wish it was differently.

but, anyways...
that's not the story here.

what rocks about it is that i was able to do a photo shoot for all three kids birthdays, and will probably do so in the future.

so now...
here is the awesomeness that is krystal showing the beauty that is my children.
seriously,
i had a hard time picking my favorites!