If you lived in our neighborhood

you might see this...

Alyssa walking down the sidewalk holding Baby Cinderella and dragging her packed suitcase behind her...

or Alyssa posing with Baby Cinderella, asking "please take our picture."

or Alyssa giving her a piggy back ride..

or Baby Cinderella sleeping in the plants.

If you look inside, you will probably see Aiden creating a mess...

or Aiden loving on his sister.

Out back is where the cool kids hang out...

and climb...

and shoot some hoops!

And one thing you will always find is this!

Goodbye Caterpillar

We have been into bugs already this summer, Alyssa being their prime fan. We found a caterpillar (or inch worm, not really sure what it was) at my Mom and Dad's on Sunday that we brought home with us in a little plastic container. Alyssa sat and played with it for hours (no exaggeration) each day. He would crawl all over her hands, she set up obstacle courses for it on the island (can anyone say Clorox) and just loved to look at it. Well, this morning poor caterpillar (that was his name...the girl really puts no thought into naming anything) took his last breath. It was a sad moment or should I say second before she told him goodbye and threw him in the trash can. I assured her there will be lots of bugs to play with this summer...but maybe we should just keep them outside in their own environment. Then came the lightning bug crawling across the kitchen floor. Aiden & Alyssa played with him and then Alyssa kindly put him outside to live a long life :)

Aiden has been a bit of a pistol lately...I know he is a boy, but really this "boy" stuff isn't going to fly around here. Above is a picture of him trying to take a snooze on the end table.

Oh crud, Mom saw me! But at this point, climbing on things is welcome if it means he will stop hitting and throwing!!

That's all I've got for now...

Good times with old Friends

Saturday we drove up north to meet up with some old friends of ours. I have known Lisa since 2nd grade...I love the old friendships where you can just pick up right where you left off even with years passing between seeing each other. We had the best time!! We met at a candy factory where we sampled way too many candies and chocolates, then went out to lunch. The kids had a great time too and were tuckered out the whole ride home.

Alyssa playing with Aiden outside the candy factory, for some reason you were not allowed to take pictures inside? Perhaps they thought we would capture their secret recipe through the 4 windows looking into the "factory" area.

The most descent picture I got of the two.

Our Family.

Aiden wanted nothing to do with his grilled cheese, just the paper. Perhaps he had too much chips and salsa (oh, and Gummi Bears).

Should have asked for the to-go box at the beginning of the meal...he played with it forever!

Our clan...with Tim, Lisa, Timmy & Danny!

Me & Lisa.

Quiet ride home.

for everyone!

We had such a great time. I miss my old friends!!

~~Tracy~~

Last day of Preschool

Alyssa had her last day of Preschool on Thursday. She had a great year and I feel she learned a lot. She will miss going to school twice a week. I know she loved it and has already questioned me as to why she won't be going this week (or next...hope it's not ongoing :) For her last day, the class went on a picnic at the park/zoo. The whole family got to go and we had a great time.

So here is to LOTS of play dates over the summer to keep these active kiddos busy!!

My Mommy

Alyssa's was asked questions about me at school last week, her answers are in bold...
My mommy's name is Tracy & mommy
My mommy is 4 years old
Her hair is yellow, she is this tall feet tall
And weighs 4 pounds.
Her favorite thing to eat is carrots.
She is happy when I obey.
She is sad when I am grumpy.
Mommy's favorite color is blue & brown.
Her job around the house is climbing up the tree.
She likes to play games (hungry hippo) with me.
My mom is the best because she always loves me.

Cute...the only answer that puzzles me is the tree climbing??

Spring...

Once again I have fallen behind in my blogging. I am not sure why, but there has been a lot on my mind lately with different things going on with family and friends...know that there is a pretty good chance I have skimped on this for more needed things ;-) That means, however you will be getting yet another random post!

I will start with Alyssa. She is getting ready to end her first year of Preschool, only one year left with my little girl before she starts Kindergarten. She has loved her 2 day a week class and I must say I have too! I know I have mentioned the extreme Cinderella dress up she does often...um, I mean everyday. Well there may just be a change in that coming. Unfortunately she is trading her holy, ratty Cinderella gown for her hot pink bathrobe. Yes, she wore it out in public last week. To the mall. Luckily I met friends there, things seem less odd if you are with your other Mommy friends. Or at least that is what I am telling myself. And I bet people didn't even really notice...until she decided to walk instead of ride in the stroller :) She is very excited for the warm weather, I see many bike rides in our future!

Now onto Aiden, he is still my sweet sweet boy...sometimes it is just harder to see through his rottenness! He is really starting to talk, his newest word, which we have turned into "mud bud" is an answer to anything. He loves his sister and wants to be around her a little more than she would like. They will actually play pretty well together though and there is not a sweeter sight! We recently went out to eat with Todd's parents to Pepe's and found that he loves chips & salsa. He loved the salsa so much that when he was done with the chips he picked up the bowl and drank the salsa. It was quite the scene and I wished I had my camera! He is also loving the outdoors, but instead of riding a bike or sitting in the wagon, he wants to visit all the neighborhood dogs, or anyone playing with a ball!

Okay, the rest of the updates will be with the pictures:

Loving on Alyssa, who is "wrapped up like a baby".

Alyssa's school celebrated Day of The Child, where all the kids dressed up and got to walk down the red carpet and pose for pictures...her pic came out blurry :(

Aiden joined in for Chapel after the red carpet walk and danced with Alyssa during some fun songs.

Mother's Appreciation day at school, singing a song.

Another song, she held the E in OBEY, while singing a really cute song about obeying Mom and Dad. Ask her to sing it next time you see her.

My Dad and Uncle Todd watched Aiden for me while I went to the Appreciation day. This is how I found him when we got home. I guess he felt he was safer asleep.

Aiden playing with his blanket, he was walking all over the house with it over his head...

Then he laid down with it and rolled around the floor. He's strange at times.

With my two "little" loves on Mother's day. I feel so blessed to be a mother...Thank you God for giving me these children to raise for you . Hope all the Moms out there had a Great Mother's Day!

~~Tracy~~

Alyssa Says (Part Five)

I haven't posted these in awhile, so here you go:

(Talking to Aiden) "Jesus died for us to live. You have to ask Jesus to live in our heart. Yes Aiden that is the Bible."

“But I wanted to look like a tiger.” Alyssa’s response when asked why there were black ink stripes on her belly.

A: “Look at that big bird on top of Daddy’s house.” (pointing at the shed)
Todd: “That’s not my house.”
A: “No, your dirty stuff house…you have dirty stuff inside of there.”

Me: “You are so fancy.”
A: “No, I am so dancy.” (Starts dancing around the room)

“Did the dentist do work on your tooth? Let me see. Oh yeah, that one there is about to crawl out of your mouth.”

“Awww hello kitty cat. No, I can’t take a picture with you, you are a stinky cat. Good Bye. Hello cat, are you a clean or stinky cat? Oh, a clean cat, yes I will take my picture with you. (starts clicking away the pictures) Oh, that’s too many pictures, sorry. Bye and nice to meet you.”

"Hey, your baby is crying." (To my friend as we are walking through the mall)

And the best one was this morning when I walked downstairs...
"HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOMMY! I love you sooo much, let's have a big hug!" (The best part was she was the only one awake and just remembered what day it was)

~~Tracy~~