signs of summer

ah, finally, a few refreshing signs that summer is, in fact, on its way.....

Ben's new buzz cut

watching the Cubs, while enjoying.....

Frosty Malts! mmm!!

The kids loved them, but asked why they were eating them with a stick?

We actually told them that it's just something mom and dad did when we were kids.

"it's just old-fashioned!"

twirl!

I never got around to posting about our Easter..... so rather than rehash it all now, I decided to just post this picture instead.

There's just something about a little girl twirling around in her fancy dress.

Adorable. But I'm biased, of course!

i've been "tagged", again

The picture is just for fun. I've had a couple requests for a pregnant photo from my far away friends, so what the heck!

As you may have noticed, I haven't blogged FOREVER. It's not that nothing's been going on, there has been plenty, I just wasn't feeling it to write about any of it I guess. So as a result, to spur some blogging, I've been tagged by my friend Sara.

So I'm to tell you 10 random things about myself, and then tag 5 friends afterwards. I'll be anxious to see how many of you knew these things about me, or if they're all a surprise.

1. I LOVE fountain soda. From the can is a distant, distant second.

2. I also enjoy chewing ice. It seems to be a pregnancy thing; I did it long ago until I cracked a tooth and had to have a root canal as a result, but I'm back at it now. ?

3. Am obsessed with smells. My favorite is new shoe smell. Ben looked at me like I was from Mars the other day after we bought him new shoes, I took them out of the box and went straight to my nose with them. He thought it was gross, which normally smelling shoes is, but they were brand new! I think this also may be a pregnancy thing.... not certain.

4. Baths. Pretty much daily during winter. Wonder how I'll relax once it's summer!! I look forward to evening for my bath. Jason always does bedtime with the kids, and that's my window of opportunity for a quiet bath alone!

5. OCD about blankets on the bed. Just ask my husband. If the blankets at my feet get wrinkled or tangled in any way, I have been known to get up, tear off ALL the covers and remake the whole bed. It makes me nuts. It makes me feel trapped and I start to panic.

6. I've always wanted to play the cello. Maybe when I'm an empty nester. :-)

7. I don't feel like I can start my day if I haven't heard the weather forecast. Maybe that's a glimpse of my controlling nature, but I don't feel well enough prepared unless I know what to expect with the weather.

8. What lifts my spirit the most is cranking up the music and having a dance party with the kids. Techno, hip hop, fun (clean) club music.....

9. I cry ridiculously easily. Cards, commercials, seeing anyone else cry, etc. Having kids has SHOT my emotions. I hope someday they'll recover and I can feel composed again.

10. Things I could ALWAYS shop for: bedding and pajamas. (hmm, does that reveal how much I love to sleep too?)

Ok, that wasn't so bad!! Did you learn anything about me? Well, I'm hoping to learn a little more about these 5 that I'm passing the tag onto: Laura, Amy, Steph, Leah and Ann. Have fun girls!

how can it be?

How can it be that our baby can be 4 already?? I have been thinking all day about how crazy fast it has gone, and how blessed we are to have this amazing little girl in our life. We experience so much joy on a daily basis because of this child and that completely overwhelms me.

Happy Birthday peanut. We love you SO much!

"where dreams come true"

Well, we made it! We've been on the vacation of a lifetime to Disney World with the kids.

We planned this trip many many months ago, before we knew we were expecting. But I'm so glad we had, and that we made the trip while our kids are the ages they are.

It really was magical, even for the adults! Everyone has asked me what my favorite part was, and I think it was just that the kids still "bought into it." They all enjoyed seeing the characters, and they all fell for the animation of 3D movies we saw. There are a few things that are etched in my head that I know I will remember forever, and those memories made the trip so worth it for me.

It was a little hard planning for it, we hadn't been there since Jason and I were kids ourselves, so we kinda went into it blindly; but we now have lots of tips for any of you thinking of making the trek!! We had a wonderful time together, the week went by way too fast, and we are still recovering from the exhaustion!

I've included some pictures, though I took so many, it was hard to choose, but it's some of the kids' favorite things from the trip.

there aren't many of us altogether, so I had to include this one!

Abby with Cinderella in the castle for lunch after her 'princess makeover'

Ben was so excited to have gone on this "mega" rollercoaster, Everest, with Jason

Matthew's favorite character turned out to be Pluto

The boys wanted to take this one for Uncle Brian, with the army guy from Toy Story

We made it back home, though no one wanted to return!