A "Girl Chatter" Day with Aunt Karen

Aunt Karen surprised Madeline on her birthday with tickets to the Steben's Children's Theatre in Mason City. Zella and I got to tag along and we had a great time. The girls had never been to a play before and they didn't know what to expect. The play was Snoopy!!! and they loved it! It was fun to see them smiling and hear them laughing at all the jokes. The cast was really talented. We definitely plan on going back.

Whenever "the girls" get together to do something fun Madeline and Zella refer to it as "Girl Chatter" time. This was one of the most fun girl chatter times we've had. :)

Not all my pictures turned out, but here are a few:

Posing for the camera while we wait for Aunt Karen and Gracie to pick us up.

Zella's famous wink.

In the theatre.

Enjoying ice cream afterwards.

Thanks Aunt Karen!

Good Advice

Wordless Wednesday (Well, Kinda)

I know this is supposed to be wordless, but I did add a few captions in case you're wondering who you're looking at.

Violet and cousin Lily.

Granny and Violet.

My niece Claire's 2nd birthday party at Lion's Park.

The birthday girl opening presents.

Zella, Madeline and cousin Grace eating cupcakes.

Old Garage Studio

Remember when I said I think of Travis as a professional problem solver? Well part of the reason I think that is he can take anything and make it into something. (Okay, he's also an artist...that may have something to do with it.)


He took this old one car garage someone gave him for free:

Can you believe this was free? lol

Side view, before

and it is turning it into something beautiful. When I saw an old, ugly, useless building, he saw a future art studio. He solved his problem of no creative space in our current home.

Front view, after...LOVE the windows!

Side view, after

As far as the inside goes, it is thisclose to being done. Electrical, insulation, sheet rock, fixtures, painting, floor DONE. Next up, trim.

At least moving his stuff in will be easy since it's attached to our garage. :) I love that he positioned some of the windows so he could watch the girls play on the swing set in the backyard.


Can't wait! I'll share photos of the inside soon.

Road Trip with Papa

Bike Day

Madeline's 4-year preschool class had "Bike Day" last week. They have been learning about bike safety and got a chance use what they've learned. It was a lot of fun. The weather was beautiful!

Madeline cruising around the safety cones.


Mrs. Sue 4 year afternoon preschool class


Taking a break for ice cream

Holding hands

Granny and the girls

Miss Violet

Three Truths and a Lie

Time for another round of the exciting "Three Truths and a Lie". I'm sure you've played it before, right? I make three statements. Three are true, and one is a lie (hence the name). You guess the lie. Ready?

1. I caught Violet with her hand in the toilet, splashing away.

2. I caught Violet with her hand in the dog water, splashing away.

3. I caught Violet with her hand in my glass of water, splashing away.

And the lie is....

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Number three. The only water she hasn't splashed in is in my glass. I wish I could say the lie was the toilet, but oh well. I was standing RIGHT THERE. It's just that she is waaaaaay faster than me. Seriously. Way faster. At least I had just cleaned it. (But still. Toilet water. Ack.)

Round Two:

1. I took violin lessons in college.

2. I love to garden.

3. I can't stand the smell/sight/taste/thought of coffee.

And the lie is:

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Number two. I have little interest in gardening. Luckily Travis loves to garden/mow, etc. so I still get to enjoy the loveliness.

I did briefly take violin lessons in college. Travis bought me a violin as a wedding gift and I would LOVE to take lessons again.

I do not understand America's obsession with coffee. My dislike is times 100 when I'm pregnant. Serious disdain.

Happy Friday!

MIA

I haven't been able to log into my blogger account for some reason but finally got it fixed. I have a lot to catch up on. I still haven't posted pics from Violet's first birthday party and that was on Valentine's Day! How lame is that?

We have been very busy lately. Some fun stuff, some not so fun. The not so fun stuff is looking up (hopefully will stay that way) so I am dropping the worry wart routine and trying to get back to my glass-half-full self. I hate to have lost it in the first place. Although I know a lot of people find persistent optimism annoying I have missed it! :) Enough speaking in code.... (another irritating quality of mine).

The girls have been keeping me very busy. I have lots of pictures to share but not much time at the moment. But I simply cannot let another day go by without showing you this photo of Zella winking. She is so sassy!

More later,

Lori