Ties & Tiaras

Emma got to go to her first father-daughter dance yesterday, and she had an absolute blast. She got all dressed up in a beautiful dress, I french-braided her hair, and even painted her fingernails. She was all glammed up! Grandma Barb also made her a beautiful wrist corsage that she was very proud to wear and show off.

John also got pretty dressed up for the occasion, and they made a pretty cute pair for the evening. Apparently, all the Disney Princesses were there, and Emma danced her little tail off. She had such a good time. They stopped for supper at Buffalo Wild Wings on the way home, and Emma told me all about the dance once she got home. It was adorable to see her so excited. It was a sweet father-daughter bonding evening.

Elliott and I had a nice afternoon to ourselves. We just pretty much played at home, and enjoyed the quiet, and not having to fight over toys. It's amazing how well-behaved the kids can be on their own.

The weather is a horror right now, and I can tell the kids have been cooped up lately. They have been extra naughty and difficult, and I think it's because it has been cold and cloudy for like the last week. We want our sunshine and warmer weather back please!!! The forecast tells us it will get better later this week, but not before we get some snow and colder weather for the next couple days. Yuck.

Church softball league has started back up again, and we play tomorrow night, which will probably be cold and miserable. I love softball, but not when the games are wet, cold, and windy.

Today is pretty much a relax at home day, and clean up the house day. It's doing a combination of raining and snowing right now, and it's only 40 degrees outside. We have some plans for some deep cleaning, and grocery shopping once the kids are awake from their naps.

That's about all I have for right now. This next week will be a busy one! It's my birthday and then Nurse's Day is coming up on Saturday, it should be a fun week!! :) :)

Elliott and his cheese balls

Worked a late shift this week 

Preschool Graduation Picture. So adorable. 

Emma's wrist corsage 

Catching chickens 

French-braided hair

All ready for the dance 

Date night

Mommy and Elliott had fun too!!

Elena Julia Rosa.

I'm an auntie!! It's pretty exciting! It wasn't so long ago that John and I were wondering if we would ever be an aunt or uncle, and now we finally are. 

Rachel and Carlos had their baby girl on Tuesday, April 18th. Rachel was having some high blood pressure issues, so they decided to do a C-section and deliver the baby to prevent pre-eclampsia. Rachel was only 35 weeks pregnant, so Elena is pretty tiny. She was 5lbs 0.7oz when she was born, and she has even lost a little weight since birth, so she is even littler. 

On Friday, I drove to Mankato by myself to see Rachel and Elena. Elena is in a level 2 nursery, so nobody under age 12 is allowed inside. So, since the kids can't see Elena anyway, and I knew it was going to be a short trip, I just went by myself. I got to go inside the nursery and hold Elena, and she was just teeny tiny. There is like nothing to her. I am used to hauling Elliott around, so she seemed so little, it was ridiculous. Overall, she is doing pretty well. Her breathing and vital signs are all looking really good, she just needs to start gaining some weight back, or they will have to start an NG tube. She will be in a level 2 nursery for quite a while yet, but at least she's holding her own, and she got to stay in Mankato. 

Mom and Dad also came to see Rachel and Elena, and then we went out to eat at Olive Garden. It was nice to meet Elena, and also to see everyone and have a nice quiet, kidless meal. I spent the night at Rachel's house, and then stopped by the hospital to see everyone one more time, before heading back to Sioux Falls. 

John and the kids spent the day at Jim and Barb's, so I had a nice couple of hours at home to unpack and clean before heading out with some work friends for a birthday celebration. It was a fun evening, but I didn't stay long, I was ready to be home and see my kiddos again. 

Sunday was a busy day. We went to church in the morning, in which Emma sang during church, and then everyone had some good naps when we got back home. We also made our weekly Costco trip, and mowed lawn and cleaned up around the house. 

We also had softball practice last night, it's crazy to think that it's softball season already! We were all pretty rusty, but it got better the longer we were out there. We actually have a double header tonight, which will be fun, but also makes it a late night. 

Elena Julia

Easter 2017

I happened to blink, and another holiday has flown by. It's hard to believe Easter is already over! The entire Holy Week passed by pretty quickly, and pretty uneventfully. We had a "conference" for Emma at daycare, where basically they told us how she was doing, and what her strengths and weaknesses are going into Kindergarten in a couple months. Overall, she is doing really well, and should have no problem with Kindergarten this fall. So, it was all good news to hear. 

John and I both took Friday off, and we headed to Mankato for the weekend. The kids handled the trip pretty well, and we got to Mankato at around lunchtime. We went to Rachel's house first and let the kids run around and burn off a little energy, and then Rachel, John, the kids and I all went to Bounce Town. The kids loved it! They bounced, and ran, and played for a solid 3 hours. They were on the go constantly, and they had a blast. 

After Bounce Town, we ate supper at a Bar and Grill in town, and then headed to Rachel's house. We all watched the movie "Sing' which was pretty cute, and the kids really zoned into it, because they were so tired! After the movie, pretty much everyone headed to bed and called it a night. 

On Saturday, we took the kids to an Easter Egg Hunt close to Rachel's house. It had rained overnight, and was pretty chilly and wet, so there weren't many kids there, so Emma and Elliott made quite a haul of candy. They were pretty proud of themselves after the successful Easter Egg hunt.

We also ran some errands and then made some lunch at Rachel's house, and then the kids took some naps, since they were very tired and sleep deprived. My parents and Ryan came to town after our naps, and we grilled out with them, and just enjoyed some visiting. The kids loved all the attention, and they got spoiled with Easter Baskets from everybody. 

Sunday was Easter of course, and we enjoyed a wonderful day with family. My dad's entire side of the family was able to make it, so it was great to see everyone and catch up. Emma and Elliott loved playing with everyone, and we even had another easter egg hunt, and they loved going around and searching for those eggs. 

We didn't make it back to Sioux Falls until about 7:30pm, and we were all very tired. Monday was sort of a rough day, but we all survived. It was a great weekend away, but we were all ready to be back home. The kids handled the trip really well, especially since they were really out of their routine. It's getting a little easier to travel and be away with them, which is awesome. 

In other news, my sister has been having some pregnancy complications. Her blood pressure is elevated, and she has protein in her urine, and they are concerned about pre-eclampsia, so they are admitting her tonight, and she is scheduled for a C-section at 10:00pm. So, I may be an aunt this evening! It's exciting, and a little scary since she is only 35 weeks, and we aren't sure how the little one will handle being outside the womb so early, but my parents are there with her, and we will all be praying for the best outcome. 

On the way to daycare

At Bounce Town, in the ball pit 

Ready for an Easter Egg Hunt

"Smile!"

Collecting Easter Goodies 

Snuggles with Uncle Ryan 

Easter Egg Dying 

Emma loving every minute it!

Me and my kiddos

Daycare Fun

Palm Sunday

Apparently, the only time I have to blog anymore is Sunday nights. At least I'm consistent I guess. Another week is over, and here we are on Palm Sunday already.

This past week was kind of a rough one. I started feeling crummy on Tuesday, and really haven't started feeling any better until today. I don't know what I had. Maybe some nasty virus? But it sucked. I toughed it out and went to work all week, but it was a long week, and I felt awful.

Besides my personal turmoil, the week was pretty good. Emma had Kindergarten Roundup on Thursday, and she had an absolute blast. She was so wound up when I picked her up, she had so much to tell me about her day. She was also wore out. She ended up falling asleep at about 5pm, and then woke up really hard. She cried for about 20 minutes when she woke up, mostly because she was so upset that Kindergarten Roundup was over. She pretty much is over this daycare thing, and it ready for school full-time. I don't know that I am ready for her to be in school already. She's growing up too fast!!

Mrs. Knuth said she did a fantastic job and is more than ready for Kindergarten next year, so that was great news to hear. Although, I had no doubt that Emma would be ready for school this fall.

This weekend kept us pretty busy again. On Saturday morning we had Breakfast with the Easter Bunny at Hy-Vee. Emma was pretty jazzed to see the Easter Bunny and gave him plenty of hugs and hi-fives. Elliott didn't really know what to think of him. He liked pointing to him or giving him a hi-five, but he wasn't about to stand by him or touch him in any other way. It was pretty cute. We met up with Emily and Malia at Hy-Vee and had a nice time catching up with them.

Afterwards, we just enjoyed a gorgeous day at home. It ended up being 80 degrees outside, sunny, and not windy for a change, so we spent the rest of the day outside. We washed both cars, got out the patio furniture, played with the kids in the sandbox, and just pretty much ran around outside enjoying the beautiful weather. It was awesome. We had some pretty tired kids by 8:00pm.

Today was also fairly busy. We went to church and Emma sang during the service. Then we did Bible study while Emma had Sunday school. After that, we met up with Jeff and Darci and Ashley and Adam and had some lunch. Then we went to Falls Park to shoot some photos. There is a little backstory to this. The SDSU Alumni had some bricks that you could buy for $1000, and then you could put your name on this brick, and be a part of SDSU history. Since we didn't have $1000 lying around to spend on a brick, we decided to split it 3 ways and share a brick. Apparently, someone at the SDSU Alumni Office thought this was a cool idea, and wanted to do a story about it, and wanted a picture of the 6 of us. So, we then realized we don't really have a nice photo of the 6 of us, thus we met at Falls Park to take one.

It was also a great opportunity to finally get our kids together to play. So, we headed to the playground after photos, and the kids had a blast playing together.

The Easter Bunny made a surprise visit while we were away, and the kids were super excited to look at all the toys the Easter Bunny brought them. It was pretty adorable to watch them tear their Easter Baskets apart. Both kids were very happy with their treasures. Emma had a lot of questions about how the Easter Bunny knows what she likes, and how he got in the house, and where he got all the toys. She's getting too smart for her own good!!

Daycare Activities 

Emma ready for Kindergarten Roundup 

Cute little boy 

Visiting the Easter Bunny 

Emma, Malia, and the Easter Bunny 

The boys and their daughters 

Easter Baskets!!!

Emma finally owns Trolls!!!

Spring Has Sprung!

Whew, another crazy busy week/weekend has flown by! The weather finally turned a little nicer this week, and then this past weekend was absolutely beautiful.

Nothing too crazy happened this past week, we just had our typical week of work and routines, and kids fighting constantly, but overall it was a good week. We went to church on Wednesday evening for Lent, and the kids were very well behaved, and I helped serve Taco Bar. It was a good week.

Friday was pretty low-key. We pretty much just played with the kids at home, got them to bed at a decent time, and then enjoyed a quiet evening at home.

Saturday was a super busy day. We started it off by going to Scheels, and we were the very first people to enter Scheels, which I can honestly say I have never done before. The kids played in the play area for a solid 45 minutes, and then we rode the Ferris Wheel, and walked around the store. The kids loved it, and it was a lot of work trying to get them out of there.

After that, we dropped the boys off for some naps, and Emma and I went to the Library and did some crafts and then picked up the Trolls movie (which both kids are obsessed with and they both know almost all the words to all the songs) but it's a cute movie so I don't mind it too much.

Emma and I also went on a big grocery run, and she was a very good girl on our outing, so she got some popsicles, which she was very excited about. By the time we got home, the boys were up and we spent some time playing outside.

We went out to Jim and Barb's for supper, and checked out the progress on their new house. Basically it's a big hole right now, which made me super nervous with the kids running around all the afternoon. But, luckily, no one fell in the whole, so it was a good day! The kids had a blast like normal, running around, riding bikes, and eating a bunch of junk food.

Today was also a crazy, busy fest. We started off by going to church, and then Emma did Sunday School while the rest of us sat through Bible Study. Once again, the kids were pretty good, it just always feels like a marathon trying to get through a Sunday morning.

After some naps, we went Bowling at Empire Bowl with our church group. Bethel had a bowling outing, and it was pretty fun. It was a crazy, mess with all the little kids and trying to help them bowl, and keep them out of the way, and make them wait their turn, but otherwise it was really fun. I bowled a 117, which wasn't too bad, considering I haven't bowled in at least 6 years, and probably longer. But it was fun. And there was pizza and cake involved, so it was a good time.

After bowling, we decided it was too nice outside to just go home, so we took the kids to Sertoma Park, and they had a blast! We were there for at least an hour, and they were moving the entire time. It was a great ending to a wonderful weekend.

I am so not ready for Monday morning, but I guess it's coming whether I am ready or not, so here's to another week!!

Playing with the large dirt pile from the digging for the new house

Explaining the layout of the house 

Bowling

Bumper bowling

Snack time 

Loving the tire swing 

Fun at the park

Selfies