We're heading to Disney World!

We enjoyed a beautiful day at the beach yesterday. We looked for shells, made a sand castle, swam in the pool, had a picnic lunch at the beach and just enjoyed the day. We were able to be outside almost all afternoon. We rented an umbrella and beach chairs and James took a two hour nap on a lounge chair under the shade of the umbrella. While it took awhile to get him to fall asleep, it was great once he was sleeping as it meant that no one had to stay in the hotel with him and miss out on our ocean time. Isabella enjoyed playing in the surf with Mark and swimming in the pool, too! The only bummer is that everyone but James is a little pink today. We used SPF 50 and reapplied multiple times, but our family's pale MN skin that hasn't seen the light of day since last September was no match for the Florida sun. Hopefully the pink will disappear soon!

We will do a little beach walking this a.m. and then pack up and drive to Disney World later this afternoon. I don't think we'll give many, if any updates from Disney...I'm sure we'll have to pay for our connection there.

We Made It!

We made it to Florida safe and sound and without any travel difficulties. We arrived at our hotel on Cocoa Beach at dusk. We had enough time to walk down to the beach area just to take a

peek and now the kids are really excited for tomorrow. We hope to have good weather and lots of fun in the sand and surf tomorrow. For now, here's a picture of James sound asleep on the plane. He's using my lap as a pillow and if you look close, you will see that James is wearing his new "wings". He handled his first plane ride like a champ! Ella was a great traveler today, too!

Riding in an airplane!!!!

We are all set to leave and the kids are wound up! James is standing at our door holding all of his special blankies and saying over and over again, "Ready to go bye bye, ready to go bye bye!" Ella has been dressed and ready since the moment she got out of bed. Since it is snowing a bit here again, Mark and I are thinking we picked a great time to leave MN for Florida!!! Hope you all have a great week...I know we will!!!

We're Going to Disney World!

We've been talking about taking a trip to Disney World for awhile and we finally finalized all our plans. Ella is at the perfect age to enjoy the wonder of all things princess and Disney. She is super excited to travel and very excited to go to Disney World. We haven't gone on any far away trips together since James arrived. The last time Ella rode an airplane was when she had just turned two and we went to Florida then, too. Mark had to go there for work so Ella and I went along for the ride. While Mark worked, we hung out at the beach. It was a really fun trip! After Mark finished his work obligations we ended our trip with one day at the Magic Kingdom. Technically, James has never flown (He was along for the last Florida trip as I was about 11 weeks PG). So, this trip will be quite the adventure for him. Actually, I hope it is an exciting adventure for all of us. We will stay two nights at Cocoa beach and four nights on Disney property. I'm sure we'll come home completely exhausted, but hopefully we'll have huge smiles on our faces and wonderful stories to tell. I plan to post lots of pictures when we return!

Grandma Ruth Update

Grandma had her surgery yesterday afternoon and after a night in the ICU, she is now resting in a regular hospital room. The kids and I were up to see her today and she looks much better than she did on Tuesday a.m. The doctors hope to have her up and walking soon! After a few days, she'll be transferred to a nursing home to continue her recovery.

One little funny from our hospital visits. On the wall of a main hospital hallway there are several framed pictures of nuns. They are really portraits of the Sisters that helped make St. Marys Hospital the great place it is today, but each time Ella sees the pictures she has a different explanation. She points them out to me and says, "Look, Mom! Those are the ladies from the Sound of Music." I have tried to explain that they really aren't...but she won't listen to me.

Grandma Ruth

This is a picture of my Grandma Ruth, my dad's mom, taken at Ella's Birthday Party on Saturday. My Grandma Ruth will be 95 years old on Mother's Day and she is very special lady. Growing up, I saw a lot of her as my grandparents' house was just down the hill from mine on our family's farm. As a child, I would run down the hill after school to go show off a report card, share an accomplishment, or just to get a cookie or a hug. Her cookie jar was always full. It has been wonderful to have my children experience the joy of climbing up Grandma's steps, playing with her toys (the same ones I played with as a child) and getting a treat. And, she loves to have us visit. Though grandma's treats are now mostly store bought, the visits haven't changed too much from how I remember them as a child. Grandma has stayed a constant in my life and my brothers and I have talked about how after all these years, Grandma still looks the same. She loves to shop, dresses sharply, has a lot of spunk and has been living on her own in her house on the farm. Still, we all know that she has changed and aged. She's had a stroke and a few other medical setbacks in the past few years, but she has always managed to return to and thrive in the home she loves.

We were lucky enough to have her over at our house on Saturday for Ella's birthday party. She loves watching all the little ones in our family and they love her. Here's a picture of James snuggling with his Great Grandma Ruth.
Being the stubborn lady that she is, on Monday my Grandma decided she needed to wash her basement steps again, even though they were just cleaned by my aunt last week. She slipped on the steps and fell down. Luckily, my dad had just come in the house to deliver her newspaper and he found her right away. She was taken to the hospital by ambulance and we found out she has a broken hip. We are all so used to seeing Grandma Ruth going over recipes in her sunny kitchen, so it is very hard to see my spunky grandma in a hospital bed in pain. The doctors hope to operate on her tomorrow to screw her hip back together. They weren't able to do surgery today as she wasn't stable enough. I know I am so lucky to have had her so close to me through all my 31 years. I am even more blessed to have her loving presence in the lives of my children and husband. And I smile thinking how she's shared her wisdom with Mark as a great supporter of his budding gardening hobby. Please keep my grandma in your thoughts and prayers. We all love her so much!

Isabella's First Five Years--A Slide Show

I put this slide show together to show at Ella's birthday party on Saturday. I think it turned out pretty nice! The music is by Steven Curtis Chapman and the song is called "Cinderella" Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Isabella and a video of James singing to his sweet sister!

It was a very busy and special day for Isabella. She excitedly woke us up this morning at 6:30 a.m. and our alarm had not even gone off yet. Isabella was dressed and ready to begin her birthday. She asked us if she was five today and she double checked to make sure today was really Wednesday. The look on Ella's face was priceless when Mark teased her and said he thought it was Thursday. I quickly set the record straight that today was THE big day. Since we were all up so early, I had time to make birthday muffins and bake a birthday cake this morning before taking Ella to school. At school she was the "star helper" and her birthday was celebrated in all the glory of a "Special Day Birthday" at her school. She was beaming the entire time at preschool. It has been community helper week at preschool so I arranged a visit from a police officer for her preschool class to make the day extra special. All the kids enjoyed a tour of the inside of a police car, seeing the lights, hearing the sirens, and receiving their very own sticker police badge.

Following preschool, we met a preschool friend for lunch at McDonald's. We enjoyed time playing outside after lunch. The weather was finally warm, but still very windy. After rest time and work for Mommy, we went out to Applebee's for supper (Ella's choice). We then had a few minutes to open presents before Ella and I had choir practice. After we returned home from church, we continued our family party with singing and cake.

Isabella was very popular today. Several very special people called to wish her happy birthday. I think there are three different renditions of the birthday song dedicated to Ella recorded on our answering machine today! And, she was sung to at school, at home, at children's choir, over the phone, and at church by my adult church choir. It is wonderful to know that our little girl is loved by so many. And, she truly had a very special day.

To top off all her birthday excitement, Ella learned how to ride her bike without training wheels today. What a grown up five year old!! She decided on Monday to have Daddy take her training wheels off. She practiced a bit on Monday, attempted to ride in the 40 mph winds on Tuesday and found success this afternoon. She still is a little shaky and will need to perfect her skills, but she can do it!! I have videos from her first attempt and from today...I know I won't get them posted tonight, though! For now, you'll have to enjoy these birthday pics. We just can't believe how fast Isabella is growing up!!!

Star Helper with the special wand.

Being sung too by her classmates.

Sibling Love

Our Family!!!!

I can't resist posting this video. James was more than happy to sing to his sister tonight. He was also just as happy to eat cake...he ate two pieces...that is A LOT for James! As is tradition in our family, birthday candles are lit more than once. The first time is for the birthday person and the second time is for other little helpers. Please ignore Mark's and my singing in the video...we were just playing the roles of backup singers for James!

My baby is FIVE today!!!

Just born

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday (Her birthday was on Easter this year so we had an egg shaped cake)

4th Birthday

My baby is turning five today and I can hardly believe it! It seems like just a blink ago she was a tiny baby. She came into this world on April 16, 2003 at 5:32 p.m weighing 6 lbs 1 oz. and she has filled our days with joy and delight ever since. She has grown from a happy and easy-going infant into a talkative, thoughtful, giggly and sensitive little girl. She is so excited about turning five. Many of her friends and cousins close in age are already five and we have been counting down to this day for months. It is a very big deal to her. Today she will have her "special day" at preschool and we'll celebrate as a family. On Saturday, Isabella is thrilled to have all her family and friends join her for a big birthday celebration. Ella has requested a Hello Kitty cake. There will be lots of excitement at our house during the next few days!

My First Digi Scrap!

I'm really excited! I just finished my first digi scrapbook page. I was lucky enough to meet with Chris tonight get another little lesson in digi scrapping. I met with her last fall and we went over what types of tools I might need to be successful at this. Now that I have the new computer and the appropriate programs, I was able to get started with Chris' help. Tonight I completed my first layout and I am pretty proud. Hopefully, there will be many more to come...but don't expect me to be speedy!!

Traveling to Sioux Falls

I hope to get a few more pictures from our little adventure up on the blog soon. For now, here is the view I had of the backseats on our way to Sioux Falls. The kids traveled really well and the trip was quite pleasant. There were no tears from kids (or mommys) and everyone was in great spirits. We had a slow start since the roads around home were a little slick, but had smooth sailing the rest of the trip. We made one stop for lunch. This picture was taken right after lunch...can you guess where we stopped? Looked at James' head for a clue!

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