Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Birthday Girls--4 years old!!

Today, my M&Ms turned 4. They'd been waiting for this day to come.....I'd been waiting too. A different type of waiting, though. Their waiting was a 'OMGoodness I'm gonna be 4 and be so big' kind of way. Mine was 'OMGoodness they're gonna be 4 and not so little anymore' kind of way. You know, right?
We didn't really have any big and definite plans for the day. They'd already had their friend party, and their family party is on Saturday. However, it's really the first year that they know it's their birthday....like really know. I didn't want it to be boring, but I didn't want it to be so planned out for them that it wasn't what they wanted. This was hard since I'm a planner.
I didn't really have many gifts for them either. (I know, you're thinking...what a terrible mom). Hear me out.....my parents have already given them their 'Big Girl' bikes as you know, and we purchased the helmets to go along with them. Grandma Donna usually gives them more clothes than they can wear in a summer so I don't need to buy them clothes. We already have too many toys, several games, puzzles, etc, and I didn't have many other ideas for them. We bought them season passes to Arnold's Park over the weekend, so in a way, they had already gotten many of their presents.
So here's a recap of the big day...
7:15am Girls got up from bed (Brandon tended to them so I could get a little extra sleep) and had breakfast. Maysen chose toast with butter, Myah a blueberry waffle.
8:30am Girls got dressed (choosing their own clothes, of course....I'm up by now) and want to play outside with their spray bottles.
10:30am We load up in the van for a family trip to HyVee. I usually do the weekly grocery shopping on Monday -we were out of town-so it needed to get done today. The girls got to pick out their birthday balloons. Maysen chose Disney Princess
Myah chose Rocker Girl because it had a cool crown on it.
They also got to pick out a birthday cookie at the bakery since they will have a cake this weekend.

12:00pm The girls got to choose where they wanted to have lunch. They could go anywhere. They chose McDonald's. That's probably what I would have chosen when I was 4, too.
They each had a six piece nuggets and we shared a large fry amongst the 4 of us. They ate part of their cookies for dessert.
2:00pm Nap time (yes, I'm the mean mom that makes them take a nap on their birthday).
4:00pm M&M and mom head to the 'Big Bucket.' (See why we needed a nap...no one wants tired, crabby swimmers)
6:00pm We head home from the 'Big Bucket' and each freshly made chicken salad for supper along with watermelon and more cookie for dessert.
7:00pm Wound down the evening with a bike ride around the block with daddy.

7:30pm Invited William (backyard neighbor) over to help make Glow in the Dark chalk the girls had gotten at their friend party.
8:00pm Watched two DVR'd episodes of Go, Diego, Go! and headed to bed.

They asked if tomorrow would still be their birthday. We told them 'no,' but that they do get to have one more party on Saturday. I'm pretty sure they enjoyed their day.

***Over the weekend, we had done quite a bit of traveling. Here's some pics.
My dad spearheaded the Veteran's Memorial Park in Lake Mills. On Thursday, a group of volunteers put up 124 flags in honor of Memorial Day. Myah and Maysen were there to help.
The first flag to go up, and last to come down is that with Vernon Oakland's name on it. He was from Lake Mills and was killed in Vietnam.

M&M helped pick up the caps to the flag holders once the flags were in place.






The four walls are filled with names of citizens from the community who have been in the military. Clarence Christianson was my grandfather and Greg Christianson is my dad's brother.


The tank was restored (and welded shut!) a few years ago.


On Sunday, we made the first trip of the summer to Okoboji. We were only there a few hours and went to Arnold's Park with cousin Caden. His birthday is the day before M&M's so we got to do some celebrating together!
On the train.
Kiddie Coaster--by far the favorite for my girls!
Fish-a close second favorite!
Boats

Dragons--not quite the thrill they used to be.

The first Nutty Bar and Frozen Banana of the summer.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

What's Cookin' Wednesday

It's raining outside today so I tried to come up with a snack that the girls and I could make together that would use up some of our time. We made some soft pretzels adapted from a recipe in the June 2010 issue of Parents magazine.

What you'll need:
Flour
Frozen Bread Roll Dough
1 Egg
Salt
Sesame Seeds

What you'll do:
1. Thaw bread dough and let rise slightly.

2. Roll bread dough on floured surface into a 'snake' about 10" long. (I'll be honest with you, this was difficult. We ended up gently pulling the dough instead of rolling it).

3. Cross the two tails of the 'snake,' then twist and flip back over to top of loop to create your pretzel shape. As you can see, some of our dough tore in half so we just twisted it and made a long pretzel....presentation doesn't really matter to us as long as they taste great!

4. Brush pretzels with egg.


5. Sprinkle salt and sesame seeds on the top.


6. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes and enjoy! We bought some cheese dip to warm up and dip them in!


I have to admit...as sad as they looked going into the oven, they look delicious coming out!!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

What's Cookin' Wednesday

A 'twist' on an old favorite....Twirly Whirly Pizza!! This recipe is courtesy of September 2007 Parents Magazine.

What you'll need:
Refrigerated pizza dough
Pizza Sauce (I just used tomato sauce...it's cheaper and healthier!)
Mozzarella Cheese
Pizza toppings (we used mini pepperonis, mushrooms, green pepper, hamburger)

What you'll do:
1. Unroll dough from tube. Spread pizza sauce on top. (I also put a little olive oil on top of the dough first)


2. Place desired pizza toppings on top of sauce.


3. Roll up dough with toppings inside.


4. Slice into eight (8) pieces and arrange in a pie plate. A square baking dish would work just fine as well! Bake for 22-25 minutes at 400 degrees.


Are you in need of some kids' craft ideas? Well, you're in luck here! These two crafts are courtesy of my friend, Anne. She and her daughter, Lainey, came to play today.

Craft #1 Water Color Magic
What you'll need:
White Paper (we used card stock)
White Crayon
Water Color Paint set
Paint Brushes
Cup of Water


What you'll do:
1. Draw your desired design with the white crayon on the paper.


2. Use water colors to paint over the white crayon design.


3. Since the paint doesn't "stick" to the crayon, your secret design is revealed!


Craft #2 Celery/Pop Bottle Painting
What you'll need:
Bundle of Celery
Plastic Pop Bottle
Paper
Washable Paint

What you'll do:
1. Use "leafy" part of lettuce dipped in green paint to create grass effect at bottom of page.
2. Use a long piece of celery dipped in green paint to paint the stems of the flowers.
3. Use short pieces of celery dipped in the green paint to create leaves on the stems.
4. Dip bottom of plastic pop bottle in paint (your choice of color) and press at the top of the stems to create flowers.


Don't have time for a craft? Just go outside and blow bubbles!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Big Girl Bikes

Nana and Papa bought Myah and Maysen 'Big' bikes for their birthday. They are going to be celebrating their BirthMonth like my sister instead of just their birthday because of all of the parties they've had and gifts they've already received. Their big day isn't until the 31st, but we didn't want the bikes to be picked over by then. About a week ago, Brandon and I took the girls scouting for bikes and then Papa took them to Wal-Mart to buy them on Sunday after baptism.

We're all about safety in this household so we couldn't really do much riding until we got bike helmets. I took them to Target on Monday and we got some really cute ones. Myah chose a Barbie helmet and Maysen chose Dora! Their bikes are exactly the same (which is what they chose) so it was good to get different helmets. Monday night, we took a family bike ride/walk around the block!!

Getting ready to head out!


Here we go...really getting the hang of it!





Bringing up the rear, Mylie enjoyed being pushed by daddy.


Posing with their new bikes.....and begging to go around the block again!!!


We're looking forward to a summer of fun and family bike rides.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Our Weekend in Pictures

This weekend was a very busy one....especially for me (mom) because I had to plan food, activities, etc and orchestrate that everything gets done. Most of you know that I'm not a good designator. Life functions best when I just do things because I know how I want them done....what happened to 'letting things go', right??

On Saturday, we celebrated Myah and Maysen's upcoming birthday with their friends. It was a joint party with their friend, Trevor. Remember the record highs we had last week (98 degrees here last Tuesday)? Well, that was not the situation on Saturday. It was 45ish degrees, windy, and misty. Not the best day for a birthday party. Luckily, we had planned to have the party at Black's Heritage Farm and the fee included the rental of a cabin. We were able to have cake and ice cream and open presents inside, which was great.

M&M ready to head out for their friend birthday party.


The birthday kids! (Myah, Maysen, Trevor)


The crew of friends!


Their teachers were invited, too! AND they decided to come on their day off from these three and four-year-olds. Miss Tina and Miss Nichole


Each child got a Pony ride.
Myah's Turn


Maysen's turn


There were animals to pet and feed:

Llama


Pot Bellied Pigs


Goats


Bunny


Chicks


Getting ready to blow out their candles. We sang Happy Birthday three times, of course, so each could have their special turn. First Maysen, then Trevor, then Myah.


Tonja (Trevor's mom) made Pin the Bow on Minnie and Pin the Ears on Mickey games.


Plenty of gifts were opened! When you have twins, you bring home twice the number of gifts...yikes!!

On Sunday, we celebrated Mylie's baptism at church. All of our immediate family members were present as well as a few select close friends....these special people made the day extra special as we declared that we will work together to raise Mylie as a child of God.

The banner at the church and cake at the luncheon.


Mylie chilled with Papa during the church service. Not like this, though, she slept on his shoulder....too sweet!


My Uncle Scott is the pastor at our church (Collegiate United Methodist Church) and baptised Mylie. It's extra special to have had all three of my daughted baptised by him. Of course, I was baptised by him, also, so it's a neat family tradition.


Family Pictures:
The Smiths


Joined by sponsors Kelsey and Eric Williams


Joined by Kari's parents, Leon and Jane Christianson


Joined by Brandon's parents, Denny and Donna Smith


Joined by Kari's maternal grandparents, Don and Doris Grotewold


Joined by Kari's paternal grandmother, Dorothy Christianson


Four generations of great-grandmothers, grandmothers, moms, and daughters