The Fall

I guess it was just a matter of time, with the 4 active girls God gave us, that one would need medical assistance at one time or another.  Today while playing outside in the beautiful sunny Louisville weather, Rose was riding her bike on the sidewalk, going pretty fast, when she swerved to avoid pile driving Ava.  Instead she fell off the bike and jammed her chin on the sidewalk.

An ER visit and 3 stitches later, our brave 5 year old was back and in good spirits!

Poor girl

The only good thing about getting hurt is everyone gets a special treat!  Yay for cupcakes!

Although she put on a brave face the rest of the day, and told her worried sister (Ava) that she was fine.  She confided in me at bedtime, "Mom, I really don't like stitches."  Poor Rose....it was a rough day for her.

This was our 4th visit to the ER in 5 months (1. Paul got shocked when working on the water heater 2. Madeline pulled her arm out of the socket and 3. Madeline busted open the back of her head when she fell into the tub in my bathroom).  Luckily it was only the first one that needed any work done.  Hopefully the ER doctors don't begin to recognize us by name!

Hugs!

SNOW DAY!!!

My girls have been waiting all winter for a good, hearty snowfall and today their wishes came true! 

The trees were beautiful!

Although they started begging to go out as soon as they got out of bed this morning, we did manage to get some schooling in first and Ella down for a nap.

The freshly fallen snow was perfect for making snow angels

Then we just had to build a snowman.

The girls were just smitten with the snow :)

And "Mrs." Snowman was complete!

After an hour of hard playing, we finished our snow day with a nice hot cup of cocoa...with marshmallows, of course :)  It was a perfect snowy day....now we are ready for spring!

Hugs!

Holiday Celebrations

Holidays were always very special times at our house when I was growing up.  My parents went to great lengths to make sure each holiday was filled with memories.  I loved all the traditions we had and eagerly anticipated each celebration.

I want my children to grow up with that same love for the holidays.

Although Valentine's Day is mostly a Hallmark Holiday, it is a fun holiday to celebrate with the kids.  One special thing that we have done for the girls the past couple years is have some treats on the table for them to wake up to in the morning.  It starts the day off on a good note!

This often includes candy (of course), a new book or toy of some sort, and a homemade card with one of their favorite characters.

Their wonderful father also surprised each of his little princesses with their own rose (each with its own vase of course so they don't get mixed up)....they felt so grown up!

I got some beautiful roses of my own as well :)

I tried to make as much of the food that day Valentine-themed as possible.  We started off with a healthy dose of pink heart pancakes with red M&Ms for breakfast, heart-shaped pb & j sandwiches for lunch, and peppermint ice cream hearts between Oreo crumbs after dinner...yum! :)  And we definitely hit up the Papa Murphy's heart pizza earlier in the week!

Besides our family celebrations, we also had a Valentine's party with our homeschool group where they learned about St. Valentine, passed out Valentines to their friends, and decorated cookies.  Overall, I think the girls had a great holiday and hopefully felt very loved! :)

Paul and I even snuck in a little celebration in the evening with a glass of wine by the fire while watching Top Gun...I know...we are hopeless romantics ;)

Hugs!

Oh, Diet Coke

I know what I am about to say may shock many of you, but my Diet Coke drinking days are over.  I have not had a Diet Coke in 4 weeks!  That's right, I gave it up cold turkey (hopefully for good)...and all it took was one comment from a mom in my homeschool group about the affects of aspartame on your body.

As many of you know, Diet Coke had become my go-to on stressful days, when really I should have been relying on the Lord.  I used to limit myself to 2 a day, but lately had been drinking more like 4 a day!  I still miss it some days, but am trying not to cave into temptation.  I will have to find a cold substitute for hot summer days, but now I pretty much drink water and hot tea...lots of tea!

So, if you thought it was impossible for Danielle to give up Diet Coke...be amazed! :)  Where there is a will there is a way.

Hugs!

Homeschooling's best week yet!

Last week was probably the girls' favorite week of homeschooling so far.  Besides the basic math, phonics, and reading lessons, we talked about restaurants and different places to eat. On Tuesday we talked about bakeries, so after we finished our school work, I took the girls to Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen to let them see a bakery first hand.

I let each of them pick out a treat.  

Madeline picked a huge strawberry (pink) cupcake.

Rose picked a cookie "monster".

Ava picked an Oreo cupcake. 

(my favorite...I had to sample each one, of course :)

Needless to say, I got showered with thankful comments like, "you are the best mom ever!"  Maybe I need to take them there more often :)

When we got home, we furthered our knowledge on bakeries by doing some baking ourselves.  My little helpers and I attempted to make cake balls.  They didn't quite look bakery-ready, but they sure tasted good!

Rose taste-testing :)

On Wednesday we talked about pizzarias.  I tried to find a place where the girls could actually watch a pizza  being made, but they seem to be few and far between here in Louisville.  I decided to take them to Papa Murphys...I thought  they could at least watch them put the toppings on.  When we got there, it was just us and the owner.  I told him what we were studying and he decides to take the girls in the back to let them help make a pizza! 

The owner couldn't have been nicer to us and he was wonderful with the girls!  He has 2 young kids of his own, so luckily he was very patient with them and knew what they could and couldn't do. 

Each girl was given a dough ball big enough to make a large pizza.

They first flattened it by hand as best as the could.

Then they put it in a machine to make it into flat sheets.

Once on the pizza plate, they stretched it to fit just right.

Then they each got a block of mozzarella cheese and got to shred it using the cool cheese-shredding machine.  

This was their favorite part of pizza making!

Then it was time for the toppings!  We added LOTS of cheese!

Then sausage and pepperoni for the girls (of course) and some extra toppings on one half for mom and dad.

It turned out to be an incredible experience for the girls...so much better than I ever could have expected!

Then to finish the week off, we went to dinner as a family at Five Guys on Friday night!  

Lots of fun learning and good eating last week!

Hugs! 

Birthday Diva

Turning 5 is a very big deal...at least for a certain now 5 year-old at our house.  Rose has been talking about turning 5 for quite some time, so when her birthday finally came around on July 23, only a week after Ella was born, we had to do something special to celebrate.  She said she wanted a barbie/princess birthday and told me everything I needed to do to get ready...she was very specific.  We told her that she could pick one friend to come over and gave her a choice of activities that they could do together.  Of course she chose to go to a nail salon to get their nails painted...just like 'big girls' do.

We invited her best friend, Ally (from our old neighborhood), over and my mom (who was here helping me out) and I took the two girls and Ava to get their nails done.  They loved picking out their nail color and sitting together with their hands under the nail drier.  They even got designs on their nails...with sparkles!  While they were waiting for my mom and I to get our nails done, they watched a movie in a cute kids' pedicure chair  and pretended to give each other pedicures.  I love that it doesn't take much to please a five year old!

 The princess makeover continued at home with make-up, dress-up clothes, jewelry, and tiaras. 

And of course, no birthday party is complete without a pinata!  The girls each took a few wacks at a fairy pinata without much success, so Paul took the liberty of cracking it open.  With one swing, he successfully decapitated the little fairy and candy flew out everywhere.  

After presents, we finished off the party with the birthday girl's choice of food; pizza, juice boxes, apples, and a mermaid barbie cake.

The birthday diva must have had a great day because she said she wished she was turning 6 tomorrow so she could have another birthday!

Hugs!