Playing catch-up....Here comes the 2009 Review

Feeling the Mothers Day love :)

Ella waited a week (with much anticipation) for Mothers Day. They made adorable picture frames at school for all the mommies. They were supposed to make them on Monday, but Ella was out on Monday because I was sick. She worried herself sick because she didn't get to go to school to make my Momma's Day surprise. I convinced her they would let her make it up on Wednesday. I was sick Wednesday as well so Matt took Ella to school. When he picked her up he asked her what they had done at school that day. She quickly responded (rather sneeky), "Nothing!". Matt told her they had to have done something that day. She then said, "Well, we did something, but I can't tell you it is a secret." When they got home Ella informed me that I could not open her backpack, because my mommas day surprise was in there. "No peeking," she said. Everytime I would ask her what my surprise was she always responded with, "It's a surprise. I can't tell you." She was very good at keeping her secret.

From Wednesday on the anticipation built for her. Everyday she would tell me that on Momma's Day she was going to get up really early and sneak into my room with my present and yell, "Happy Momma's Day!" Then she said they were going to take me out to a "menu" restaurant (guess no McDonalds for us) and then we were going to come home and that I was supposed to clean the house and be extra nice to everyone all day LOL! I think she got those last two a little reversed, but I thought it was cute.

Mothers Day didn't turn out quite like Ella had planned, but I still feel blessed just the same. Saturday night I got terribly ill with this darn stomach bug I have been fighting for 2 weeks. So needless to say I was in bed all Sunday and missed our celebrations. But, Ella rushed into my room bright and early yelling, "Daddy, daddy, it's momma's day! Get the presents." Unfortunately, daddy wasn't here at the time, because he was making a run to Krogers at 6:30 am for my Mothers Day breakfast, lunch, and dinner of ginger ale & popsicles. Ella could hardly wait for daddy to get back so they could give me my gifts & cards.

I thought it was sweet that Matt took the girls out Saturday so that they could pick out exactly what they wanted me to have. Very brave for him to take both out to the mall alone! Apparently, Ella wanted to get me some pretty "awesome" mismatched jewelry. Luckily, Matt was able to steer her in the right direction on that. Shopping trips with our girls are just not complete without a little embarrassment. On this occasion Addie decided to shoplift a pair of earrings. At least the store was busy and Matt was able to place them back in their home quietly. Ella then told Matt that she knew exactly what I wanted for Mothers Day. So they drove to Target where she picked out the "perfect" tumblers. Afterall, she told Matt cups are exactly what I said I wanted for Mothers Day. LOL!

They were the best gifts in the world, because they were picked out with love :)

I must have been good this year cause I got not 1, not 2, but 4 of these bad boys. Sweet!!!

My new necklace and bracelet are really pretty. But, I told Matt I will have to go buy a new top to match them hehe :)

Signs of Spring

Nothing says, "spring is here" like bunnies, daffodils, & kites. Yesterday gave us the opportunity to experience all three. We were blessed with temperatures in the mid-70's yesterday, and we decided to take full advantage of it.



Joe & Betty's neighbor has a pet bunny that she brought over for the girls to see yesterday afternoon. Ella was anxious to see 'Crockpot', but Addie was a little more hesitant.

The girls enjoyed the daffodils that Grandma Kunkel has planted. If we would have stayed much longer there wouldn't have been any blooms left, because Addie's favorite thing to do is pick them all off.

Isn't Matt "purty" with the flower Addie gave him? It added a nice flair to his look doing yard work. Yes he will kill me, but I couldn't resist.


Yesterday was a perfect day for kite flying. We bought Ella a Barbie kite & Addie a Sesame Street kite. Grandma & Grandpa went to the park with us to practice flying them. Addie was in total amazement of it, but Ella got mad and thought we were going to break her Barbie kite. She made Matt reel it in and forget it. She said it wasn't for flying, but rather for hanging in her room....sorry Ella not happening. After the girls got bored Grandpa took them up to swing and Matt and I stood there flying our kiddie kites for quite awhile...too bad I don't have a picture of him with his Barbie kite for blackmail :) (Ella didn't like it too much that we went against her wishes, but she got over it.) I quit paying attention of one second and my kite went flying out of my hand. Matt got a good kick out of that yelling, "Run Forrest, Run!" as I made an idiot of myself chasing it up the hill and into a tree. Surprisingly enough that cheap little $3.50 kite survived being pulled down out of two tree limbs. It still flies just perfect.

Celebrating with Tay on her 9th B-Day

I will never forget the day when this little girlie came into our lives! Can't believe it was over 9 years ago, but one thing is for sure the fam would not be the same without her!

As good as a pic of all five together can get!! A pretty good one if I do say so myself! If you click on the pictures in the blog it will enlarge them!

We took the girls to the Opry at the Ryman for the first time on December 16. Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride, Julianne Hough (Matt's eye candy), and CHUCK WICKS (my eye candy) were there...hehe. The highlight for Ella was seeing Carrie for sure. At the end all three came out to sing together. Matt put Ella up on his shoulders when they were waving bye & Ella started waving so hard I think her hand about fell off. Carrie looked right up to Ella and waved. That was the highlight for her. She had to tell everyone that, "Carrie waved to me!" That was a nice moment for her!

Major Backtrack: Mammoth Cave, November 02, 2008

I could have swore I put this link on here of our trip to Mammoth Cave. We met Nanny & Pop-Pop up there to take some pictures of the girls in my favorite Big Sis/Lil Sis tees. Amanda let me borrow her camera so the pics turned out pretty good. After my snap happiness ended we decided to take a short walk on the nature trail. Man am I out of shape! Note to self...lay off the cheeseburger combo at McDonalds & the McCafe Lattes. Oh...and for goodness sake buy a treadmill. In the words of the Barren County Progress, "A good time was had by all."

http://picasaweb.google.com/kabk1213/MammothCaveNovember08#

Opryland Hotel, Nashville TN

We try to make it a yearly tradition to go to Nashville with the Edwards family to see the lights together and just enjoy each others company during the holidays. I know the lights are the same from year to year and braving the madhouse with 4 kids can be challenging...but we still manage to have fun everytime we go!

Addie's reaction to seeing the lights hanging from the ceiling.

Looking more like Christmas around here

The finished product...


The getting it ready...

Ella & Ella Bear posing with her pink Charlie Brown Christmas tree! She loves this tree. The day I brought it home she could not stop jabbering from excitement. She took the ornaments off and on a million times because she enjoyed decorating it so much.

Got our decorations up on Sunday. Ella enjoyed helping decorate the tree! She is getting at a really fun age where she really adds to the excitement of the season around here. We have her Christmas program, dance recital, cookie exchange with close friends, and her school Christmas party next week. I love the Christmas hustle and bustle. Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite time of year!!

Merry Christmas to all our family, friends, and online buddies! Matt & I feel very blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people! At the top of that list are our two beautiful girl! They fill our live with joy & excitement...and the occassional stress...but in the words of John Walker, "It's All Good!" We couldn't imagine life without them. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

PS2 Fun

Matt hoooked up the PS2 that we have had forever and the girls love it! I didn't realize that they still sold games for the thing much less childrens games. We got Barbie Island Princess to start with and Ella is doing really good with it. We just need to get a memory card to save the changes everytime we turn the system. It is a pain having to redo everything when you turn the system on again.

Dragon Park, Nashville TN

Dragon Park (that is what we call it) is right up from Vanderbilt and Ella was dying to take me and Addie there after her eye visit. Matt took her there the time before when we weren't with her so she was anxious to share. So we all braved the bitter cold to make Ella happy. Funny how kids are immune to the cold because they never noticed. After we got to go to Chili's...yum!!

We saw our first snow while in Missouri

Ella had a great time making snowballs with Gpa to throw at daddy. I think daddy threw his fair share too. Ella also had fun eating it. Oh well kids will be kids!

Family Photo Shoot

Okay for the first time in our family of 4 history we have FINALLY had professional pics made. I am super excited with how they turned out. I love Jim's style and highly recommend him...my plug...www.jvzphoto.com

This is one of the first shots Jim got of the girls & one of the best cause Addie quickly lost interest. But, in the beginning she thought it was fun to lay down on the ground and mimick sissy. After a minute of that she was done.

While Addie was busy raiding the playroom Ella was busy eating up the camera. I was surprised at how much she was getting into it. I really think it was because she watches Jon & Kate all the time and they have family photo shoots a lot on there. I am glad it made her feel special!!! Everyone deserves to feel like a supermodel no matter what age!

This pic of Matt & Ella really does capture the love they have with each other! Daddy is the fun one that can always get Ella laughing hysterically just like this. I could say it a million times, but she is a daddy's girl!

Background on this pic...we tried to get her to give me a peck on the cheek and she decided to go full make-out mode on my cheek. Girl has been watching too much Hannah Montana. She saw Hannah & her beau share a real kiss and it really intrigued her. No more Hannah for a long time cause daddy says she can't date or kiss till she is 30 and that is a long way to go. Can't be giving her ideas.

Addie would not get her hands out of her mouth for most of the shoot. I love it though, because this is exactly how she is when she gets nervous and uncertain of the situation.

I was playing peek-a-boo with her behind the camera.

Addie finally having fun!

The girls showing off their playful nature.

Playing at the park...

This was a few weeks ago, but thought I would share the pics of the girls playing at the 'bark park' with Payton. Heather introduced us to this park, and we love it much better than Three Springs. Much more peaceful. Ella was excited to get to play with Payton that day. She hadn't seen her in forever, but it doesn't take long for them to catch up!