Izzy's 4th Birthday Party

Well, it started out like this with lots of jumping and fun with friends.



And ended like this...


More details to come later, but she is in a full leg cast for the next 4-6 weeks. Yes, you read that correctly. 4-6 WEEKS!!!

Sweet Sweet Izzy

Izzy's birthday party is tomorrow afternoon and she is quite excited. This evening while tucking her into bed she told me that she wanted to open her presents at her birthday party (her party is at a bounce house place). I would really prefer that she does not do this but simply told her that if there is time then she could. I don't expect there to be time so hopefully it won't be an issue.

Onto the sweet sweet Izzy part...

I mentioned to her that she would be getting presents from her friends and that she needed to remember to thank every one for them. I also said, "you may get more than one of the same present, but you still need to say thank you." I thought by the look she gave me she was confused so I continued on and said, "if you do get two of the same thing then we could either take one back to the store and choose something else, or you might want to keep both of them. Like if you get two of the same book then you might want to take one back, but if you get two of the same Barbie then you might want to keep both of them so you have one for your friends to play with when they come over. Regardless you still need to say thank you to all your friends." ...her it comes...

She kept looking at my with this puzzled look in her eyes and then said, "but Mama, I will love all the presents because they are from my friends." How sweet is she?

Tomorrow I will tell you how she now hides her toys that she doesn't want Drew to play with :)

Oh, and keep reading as I already did an earlier post today!

Wii Fun

My super fabulous BIL and SIL loaned us a Wii just before Christmas with the option to buy. We really weren't sure whether or not we would get much use out of it. Heck, it took us a good month before we even opened the box. I think the first night we used it was on Christmas.

While we still weren't sure if we were hooked or not, we went ahead and bought some games- Pete said not to post anything on the blog because we still haven't committed to buying it yet. We got Dance Dance Revolution and Dora Saves the Snow Princess for Izzy. Pete is a total sap because he went to just buy DDR for me for my birthday, but because he had Izzy with him she talked him into Dora. I am sure the conversation went something like this:

Izzy: Daddy look, there is a Dora game.
Pete: Do you want it?
Izzy: sure.
Pete: Okay.

Sap I say. Total sucker for his girl.

Since then we have also purchased We Ski. Let me tell you that I think I had just as much fun watching Pete and the kids play, as they actually did skiing. I just want to say that Izzy is a natural "gamer". With the Dora game she is able to get it set up and play all on her own. I find that pretty impressive for a chick her age :)

The players: Izzy is on the left and Drew is on the right. Both kids designed their own Mii player. Here they are taking the lift to the top.


Pete pointing out some tips on proper form


Ready to hit the slopes


Every once in a while Izzy finds it funny to run into other skiers


They really do look funny when concentrating so hard







Do you like that Drew continues to sport his Buzz Lightyear Hat :)



I finally got Drew to give up a controller so that my two gamers could really tear up the slopes.


...Drew and I retreated to the kitchen so I could write a check to BIL and SIL cause it looks like the Wii is a keeper!

Then & Now

This picture was taken in August 2005



This picture was taken February 2009



Izzy used to sleep with her blanket pulled up over her head quite often as an infant. I might go so far to say that she did it as a defense mechanism once she started daycare. In Denver, once Pete left for training, Izzy went to daycare two days a week while I worked. I had not seen her sleep like this since we moved. Three days ago I looked in on her before bed and saw her this way. Then again for the next two nights. I have a theory, but am going to give it a few more days before I share it.

Here is a picture just cause it is cute. The kids got these capes for Christmas and insisted on wearing them to the birthday party yesterday.



Cute, huh?

The Valentine Tree

When Pete and I lived in our apartment in Denver, we didn't have the room or money for a Christmas tree. So, I bought us a small fake tree for Christmas 2002.

Fast forward to February 2009 and here it is


It is now our Valentine's Day Tree. As goofy as it sounds, and as much as Pete hates that I didn't let him pack it away with the Christmas decorations, Izzy had so much fun decorating it.

We cut out hearts, painted on some glue, and then went to town with the glitter.







My thought behind keeping the tree out year round is...well, why not? Izzy loves to do crafts and at least it will be fun to make decorations for on various holidays, right? She was so proud as I handed her the heart ornaments and she ran into the other room to hang them on the tree. Drew was the only one allowed in the toy room with her while she was decorating. Pete and I had to wait for the big reveal.

The final product not only had the hearts we made on it, but also a couple personal touches from the decorators.

A bug box was Izzy's personal touch

She told me then the bugs will have some place to rest while they look at our tree. Ummm, how many bugs are we expecting?

Here is the personal touch that Izzy chose to add for Drew


Tomorrow we are all going to a really fun birthday party at the Science Center. It will be a great day to be outside as we are expecting temps in the mid 60's. Hopefully I will have time to share all those pictures tomorrow evening!

More on Drew

This kid may very well give me gray (or is it grey) hair. So yesterday was a "snow day" here. Izzy doesn't go to school on Tuesday so it was no big deal. By 9:15 Delaney and gang were all here. Around 11, Rylie had joined our party. So, there were 3 moms, and 5 kids hanging out having a good time. Pete was also home and would pop out of his office to say hi and update us on his new facebook friends.

Anywho, Jen left with Mia around 11:30, but Delaney stayed to play. After the girls, and Drew, had lunch, Stephanie and I sat down at the counter to eat. While eating Drew came into the kitchen with a cup of water in his hand. He took a sip; looked me dead in the eyes and then spit the water out. I calmly said to him, "Drew, we do not spit out water. If you spit water out again then you will sit in a time out." So...

Drew takes another sip of water and holds it in his mouth all the while looking at me. I calmly repeat, "Drew, do not spit out that water. You need to swallow it or else Mommy will put you in a time out" The booger spits it out. Here is the kicker...

I stand up to go put him in a time out and he starts to run in place and take another sip of water and then spit it out! He was laughing the whole time - almost like since he knew he was headed to a time out why not get one more quick spit of water out?

To time out for 2 minutes he went. Honestly, it really does not phase him. I almost feel like he is mocking me. He sits in time out, and remains quiet for the most part. When the timer goes off, he apologizes and says he is sorry. He knows the routine and almost just goes through the motions for my sake. Part of me just wants to be like screw the time outs cause he doesn't even care! But, I know he is just trying to establish boundaries so I will play along and let him know who is boss :)

Boys are Gross at Any Age

Boys are icky. ...and it starts at a very young age!

Despite Drew's love of singing, dancing, tutus, and role playing, he is all boy. He, like most males, finds it hysterical to burp, fart and pick boogers. So tonight we are having a nice family dinner around the dining room table and here is what happens:

Drew burps, and then laughs at himself.
Molly: "Drew, after you burp you need to say excuse me."
Drew: "Excuse me. ...now can I laugh?" ...and he busts up laughing at himself and so do we.

I am the first to admit that I have a really have a hard time disciplining Drew. He is so darn funny and so stinkin cute! Thank goodness his sister sets such a good example.



...and handsome guy got a haircut today. Pete took him and said he whined a bit, but the barber is awesome and cuts his hair in like 4 minutes!