Annabel's 5th Birthday

Thanks to Art, my mom and dad, and Kathryn for ALL of your help! Annabel had a great day!

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Zion

A few weeks ago we went to Zion along with FMS lower elementary students.  OMGoodness, did the kids have a blast!  Not much hiking was able to be done, but we did go on a few nice "paved" walks.  We will definitely do this again next year!

My 3 little sweethearts

Annabel taking a rest on our "hike".

 

Goodbye March

Here are some pictures of our fun-filled March-

Dr. Seuss Day was March 1
Maxwell was Fox in Socks and Annabel wore this adorable dress that I got on Etsy.

Teacher Appreciation Week was this past month and I put together these gifts for Maxwell and Annabel's teachers.

Maxwell's Leprechaun Trap

Our outing to Spring's Preserve during Spring Break

Annabel was invited to a "Tea Party" where they did makeovers and a fashion show.  The girls LOVED it, but it was a little creepy to me.  One too many porcelain dolls.

Taking a dip in the pool on Easter

Gabrielle turns 2!

Gabrielle's birthday fell on a Tuesday this year, but because we are so busy during the week we celebrated it on Saturday.  After breakfast she opened all of her wonderful birthday gifts and played with them for all of 5 minutes.  Ha!  I knew I shouldn't have bought more toys.  After that it was cake time.  She looked so happy when we were singing to her.  And she actually blew out her candles.  It was so sweet.  We all had fun playing with her on her big day.

Happy 2nd Birthday Gabrielle!

Spring Training '13

Rain, rain, and a little sunshine = RAINBOWS!  We saw more rainbows than we did in Hawaii.  Even though the weather was not very cooperative, we all still had fun.  On Friday we needed to find an indoor activity so we decided on the Sea Life Aquarium.  It wasn't the Shark Reef, but it did the job and entertained our kiddos.  On Saturday it rained a little on the way to the Cubs/Indians baseball game, but once we got there the sun peeked out and it turned out to be a great day.  Art caught a home run ball that was hit by a Cubs player.  His hand was swollen and black and blue for a whole week!  He claims he will never do that again.  Gabrielle lasted to the 6th inning and then the "breakdown" happened on the way to the car.  The day we left was a perfect day.  Sunny, no wind, and warm.  The kids rode bikes and played outside until our noon check out time.

Museums

It was a weekend of museums for Maxwell and Annabel.  The first was the New Discovery Children's Museum.  We were invited to a birthday party here before the museum was officially open to the public.  My friend's mother-in-law was the project manager for the museum, which was how she was able to have the private party.  We were able to go anytime between 10-5 with the party starting at 2:30.  So we arrived at 11:30 and we were the only ones there!  We had the entire place to ourselves with a full staff ready and on-hand.  So the kids got to experience every inch of the museum without any distractions.  The employees were eager to show them how everything worked.  The party was fun and most people stayed after to enjoy the museum, but we headed home to Gabrielle.
Feeling left out, Art took them to The Atomic Testing Museum the next day.  The kids enjoyed it, especially Maxwell.  Their visit was cut short though because Art was called into work.  Enjoy the pics!

Berlin Wall

World Trade Center

World Trade Center

 

February Fun!

I decided to change the background of the blog to a birthday theme since we will be celebrating so many birthdays in the next few months.  I can't believe I turned 37 yesterday!  Ugh!!  BUT, I had a wonderful weekend, thanks to Art!
On February 8, Art and Annabel attended the Father/Daughter dance at the school.  Annabel had the time of her life.  The theme of the dance was "A night in Paris with Daddy".  Art said the decorations were nicer than when he went to Prom.  They had a 15' Eiffel Tower!  I think Annabel will be looking forward to next year's dance. 
Maxwell had his last basketball game on Saturday and he had a really great season.  He had lots of fun with the other boys and 1 girl and they all made a pretty good team.  He has gotten so much better just in the past couple months.  He started playing tennis again, which will continue on until the end of the school year.  As for Annabel's dance, she started learning her recital piece and it is to the song "Under the Sea" (Little Mermaid).  She is over the moon about this!  Gabrielle and I started going to Rock and Roll Kids this month and she is loving it.  But she is kind of a bully.  She will take a toy from someone and act like she is going to give it back, but then runs the other way.  Last Friday we went and she ripped out a little girls hair bow and would not give it back to the girl!  If she was my first child I would have been mortified!  Being that she is my third it really didn't bother me. 
Maxwell and Annabel had "spirit week" last week and they really enjoyed participating.  Valentine's Day was a success as well.


Pictures taken at the dance
Notice her corsage! LOL

My favorite

Crazy hair day

Favorite character from a book/movie day ~ Annabel was the "beautiful butterfly"  in the "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"

"Harry Potter"

Valentine's Day

Annabel's Valentine's Day box

Annabel's Valentine cards she gave to her class

Can't forget Gabrielle

She loves her ride-along toys!