Friends...Part 2

Ross and I had a BBQ last night with our core group of friends. I've been friends with most of this group since 2005. Ross started coming around our group in 2006, so we have about 10 years of friendship with this group. Some of them have been friends longer than I've known them. I wrote about this same group in this blog post in 2012.
When I first met this group there were only two married couples and no kids. Now everyone is married and five out of the seven couples have kids. It's been fun to see everyone grow and change over the last 10 years. And now fun to see everyone's kids grow and change, too!

There were 12 kids here last night and we were able to get the best picture of them all together. This had to be the easiest kid picture to ever be taken - no joke! We got everyone rounded up, told them to sit down, and snapped the pictures. I was so surprised at how easy it was to do! Usually it's like pulling teeth to get kids rounded up like this. Granted, not everyone is smiling or looking at the camera, but that adds to the funness of this picture!

Free Money!

I've recently received these 5, one-dollar bills in the mail all for doing nothing! Well, I guess not quite nothing at all, but what I had to do for it is pretty easy!

I first received $2 in the mail asking me to complete a survey about my television habits and send it back in. About a month later I received another $2 in the mail from the same company asking me to complete a week-long radio survey and upon sending in the completed survey I would receive another $10 in the mail. Ross was also included in this radio survey so he received $2, too. Halfway through the survey week I received a letter reminding me about the survey and a one-dollar bill.

We completed the survey (which was not hard or time-consuming) and mailed it off this morning. Now we just need to wait for the company to send the $10 that we will each receive and hope for another survey for more money. I love free money like this!

Taking Care Of Baby

Last night we got the sweetest video of Lucy pretending like she was taking care of her Woody doll, as she would take care of a baby. She was holding Woody and bouncing up and down and rocking back and forth, even saying shhh to him, just as I do to Molly. It was so sweet! And when she was doing this Molly was laying on her playmat. I wasn't doing anything to Molly, so Lucy did this all on her own.

Here's the link to the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vjzXRdseB4

Hard Boiled Eggs

My Dad told me about a new (new to me) way to make hard boiled eggs and it works so well for me that I have to share it. Instead of making them on the stove with boiling water, you make them in the oven! I was a bit skeptical of this method but tried it myself and found that it works great. I don't make hard boiled eggs very often, but when I have in the past it seems like I never boil them right. Sometimes they seem overdone and sometimes underdone. I've made them three times now in the oven and it's great! Here's what you do:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Put a whole (unopened) egg in each individual cup of a 12-cup muffin pan.
Bake for 30 minutes, then remove and immediately place in an ice water bath.
Allow the eggs to cool, and then peel.

So Impressed!

I'm so impressed with Lucy and all that she says and does now. It seems like everyday she can say and understand more and more than the day before. She's getting to where she can kind of carry on a conversation with you and if I ask her to go get something and bring it to me, she can. She will be two next week and I really don't know if these are things she should be doing for her age or if she's a little ahead of the curve.

For quite a while now she's liked to play on our phones and on the iPad. She (like most kids her age I'm sure) knows exactly how to open the phone by pushing the correct button and swiping the screen, and then knows where all her game and video apps are. Honestly, the phone has been a life-saver at times when she's on the verge of a meltdown or has just maxed out when at the grocery store. It is just too easy not to use!

She recently found a Christmas game on the iPad and has started playing it most every day. It has songs to sing, a puzzle to put together, and color matching games. She's really enjoying the matching game. There's actually two matching games and she's mastered both of them. One is to match the colored key to the same colored present to unlock it and another is to match the colored present to the colored kid on the screen. At first I had to help her move the key to the present or the present to the child because she didn't have the action down correct to slide the key or present over. She wanted to put her whole hand on the iPad or just couldn't get the correct hold of it. So instead she held my hand and would direct my finger to the present she wanted to use and then move my hand to the correct matching child. After working on it a few days she finally got the moving action down and can now play the game herself. I am so impressed with her and proud of her ability to match the colors correctly!

Chapstick

I keep a tube of chapstick on my bedside table and put it on my lips every night before bed. Lucy likes to play in our room playing radio and has recently found my tube of chapstick. She has also learned how to take the cap off and put it on her lips, or attempt to put it on her lips.

One day Lucy, Molly, and I were sitting on my bed before Lucy's naptime watching one of her shows. Molly had fallen asleep in my arms so I got up to put her down in her crib. She woke up when I did this so I picked her up and sat with her a bit in the rocking chair in her room. Lucy had seemed pretty calm and sleepy so I knew she would be fine alone on my bed. I hoped, too, that she would just fall asleep.

After about five minutes I put Molly down again and went to check on Lucy. It was completely quiet in my room so I thought she was asleep, but I was wrong. When I walked in the room I smelled a sweet smell and wasn't quite sure what it was. I quickly realized that it was the smell of my chapstick which was all over Lucy's lips and face. Lucy was sitting on my bed putting the chapstick all over her face. It  was the funniest thing and I just started laughing so hard. She looked so innocent holding the tube in her hands rubbing it all over her face and moving her head, too. She said something to me, I don't remember what it was, but it was just so funny! I took the tube from her, which was pretty gross and slimy from her getting chapstick all over it and put it away. She's such a fun little girl!

The video below isn't from the time described above, but from yet another time she used my chapstick!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom!

 

 

Happy Mother's Day to my sister!

 

 

 

Happy Mother's day to me!

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday to Ross

Ross turned 36 last Saturday, May 2. It was a busy day, as we had Lucy's birthday party on that day, too. Ross is such a good sport to celebrate birthdays with me! I like to make a big deal about birthdays but he doesn't really care that much about celebrating them, at least his birthday, that is.

I gave him breakfast in bed that morning and then we got the girls up and started our busy day of getting ready for Lucy's party. He opened his presents that morning and I was so excited to give him his present from Lucy. In fact, I was so excited about it that I couldn't wait for Lucy to get up for him to open it and he opened it without her. It was an Olaf t-shirt. He really liked it and laughed when he opened it. He put it on and when we went to wake up Lucy, the first thing she said to him was, "It's Olaf."

The rest of the day was spent preparing for the party and then partying it up with our friends and family. It was such a nice day. Happy birthday, Ross. I love you!

Yummy cookies from Ross' Mom. She also made Toy Story cookies for Lucy. More about those later!

Two Years Old!

Lucy turned two last Tuesday, April 28! We had the best day celebrating with her. Ross took this week off from work so he was home with us on Tuesday. We gave her breakfast in bed (a family tradition from my side), took her to Bass Pro Shops to look at the fishies and turtles, had pizza and played games at Chuck E. Cheese, played outside at home, and had cake, ice cream, and presents. It was just a really great day and the weather was perfect, too!

We had a birthday party for her on Ross' birthday, May 2. It was such a great day. The weather was so nice and we were able to have everything outside in our backyard. Lots of Lucy's (and our) friends came to celebrate with her at her Toy Story-themed party. Such a wonderful time!

Lucy is such a joyful, energetic little girl and we do love her so much! She seems to be very social and although can be shy at times, she warms up to people very easily and loves to ham it up as much as she can. She is able to hold conversations with us and that is so neat! She is just a complete joy and we are so blessed to be her parents!

Looking at the fishies at Bass Pro Shops.

This is my favorite picture! She loved riding this carousel at Chuck E. Cheese. Such a sweet, sweet little girl!

I LOVE cake!

In her pretty Princess Elsa dress we gave her.

 

Happy birthday Lucy. We love you!