Dinner with the Bowers

We headed to New Washington last night to have dinner with the Bowers. We had planned to have dinner together before Christmas, but the Bower boys were sick. We were looking forward to hanging out with them.
Grace spent an hour getting ready to go. She had pink lip stick from her nose to her chin.
The pictures just don't do the make-up justice. I had fixed her hair for her before we left, but she spent the 30-minute drive rearranging her hair clips.
The Bowers served pizza . . . Grace's FAVORITE food! I had been in the mood for pizza all week, so it hit the spot!
The kids had a BLAST playing together! They actually said that in the car as we were leaving. Landon has a ton of dress-up clothes. The kids had so much fun dressing up and pretend playing.
Landon was a police officer and a fire fighter. I'm pretty sure both dads were arrested multiple times last night. Haha!
Here they go to rescue animals from a fire!
Landon has some really cool tool toys. The boys were using a jack hammer and a drill to attack Dan.
Dan was rowdy right along with the kids.
To get the kids to calm down a bit, we let them open their gifts to each other. The Bowers got Gabriel a Ben 10 car. He loves it!
Grace got nail polish, lip glosses, and a Princess headband. As she opened her gift, she said again, "I LOVE make-up!"
The boys checked out the Ben 10 car, and Grace explained to Melissa how she doesn't like headbands with "the pokey things on them." I love how she describes and explains things with her hands. Her facial expressions crack me up too!

We had such a good time hanging out with the Bowers last night! There is a little more to this story, but that is coming later when I have more details to share. The Bowers feel like they are cursed when we come over. We probably won't be invited back to their house again . . . I'll explain more soon!

Baby Doll Daycare

Grace has been running a daycare for her baby dolls and stuffed animals in the living room this afternoon. She's been saying things to them like "You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit!" And "No chit chat! Be quiet!" Maybe she's missing school a little bit??

Indy Children's Museum

Wednesday Alicia and I loaded up in her minivan and headed to Indianapolis to visit the Children's Museum. When the two of us make this trek, I always feel like we are Thelma and Louise . . . with 5 kids! Haha! We have such a good time, but we always have moments when we look at each other and wonder if we are out of our minds.
Rowdy boys in the back and cute girls in the middle
We had our picture taken on the way in to the museum this time. Last time we waited until right before we left, and we got a picture of five tired kids. Live and Learn, I tell ya!
We started on the fourth floor at Science Works because we didn't really get to explore there much last time.
Sweet Nora is such a good sport. She was a trooper Wednesday. She had three little half-hour naps all day long. There was just too much going on for a girl to sleep!
In the Science Works area, there is a Health House that teaches kids about healthy eating choices, good hygiene, and being active.
Grace and Jake posed with the Couch Potato.
The kids also played in the bathroom at the Health House. The learned about hand washing, brushing teeth, and bathing.
Our next stop was the House of Mirrors. I really liked the mirror at the entrance because I looked tall and thin. Too bad my bedroom mirror doesn't make me look like that!
We brought our lunches and ate in the "picnic" area. As Alicia cleaned up, the kids played with the rented stroller. They are so silly!
Dinosphere was one of our next stops after lunch. The kids LOVE the Dinosphere!
Grace could not wait to dress up like a dinosaur. The kids played for the longest time in the Dino Dress-up area. They were so funny!
One of our last stops was the Jolly Days area. The kids got to "ice skate," "ice fish," and climb in an ice castle.

The museum was more crowded than I've ever seen it! As we were coming down the ramp from the parking garage, we just saw a sea of people waiting to get in. The exhibits themselves were not terribly crowded and difficult to get around, but transition areas between exhibits and the restrooms were really crowded. Some of our favorite areas (Playscape, Jolly Days Slide, and the trains) were pretty crowded so we avoided a few of those areas. It was fine, though, because we got to see some different areas. We had a super-fun day! And we're already looking forward to our next trip!

Big Day!

Grace had a play date with Cassidy Tuesday. She was gone from noon until a little after 5 p.m. After eating most of her dinner and being told to sit down and chill out, I noticed that she was unusually quiet. This sleeping little angel is what I saw. It was quarter til seven. Oh my!
NO ONE at our house takes a nap without a snuggle buddy, and Grace is no exception. Hershey was happy to cuddle up to Grace and keep her company while she napped. I woke Grace up to quickly give her a bath. She cried for the entire bath time. I carried her upstairs and put her in bed. She slept until 7:30 the next morning.

Sea Monkeys Update

We had some Sea Monkeys hatch yesterday! They look like little white specks in the water. The only way we know that they are Sea Monkeys is that they move randomly around the tank. We did our first feeding today. It does not take much food to feed these tiny little boogers. I'm hoping that they will grow pretty quickly so we can see them better. The kids are not too interested in them right now because they are so difficult to see.

Grace got Sea Monkeys in her stocking. We purified the water today, and we will put the eggs in tomorrow. We're excited to see if hers will do as well as Gabriel's have so far.

Christmas Day

Gabriel was out of bed first on Christmas morning. We always wait until 8 a.m. when the grandparents, Uncle Brian, and Aunt Erin arrive before we begin opening gifts though.
Our first job was to take the expectant Mary from the Nativity and put out Mother Mary and Baby Jesus.
Gabriel took expectant Mary away, and Grace added Mother Mary with Baby Jesus. We talked for a moment about why we had to put Baby Jesus out on Christmas morning. I was so proud because the kids could really explain it to me.
The kids went through their stockings. Gabriel found a really cool fleece hat and matching gloves.
There were several books in his stocking, including a beginning chapter book about Lightning McQueen and a couple of math workbooks.
Grace showed Gabriel some lip gloss that was in her stocking . . . or as she calls it "lip chap."
"Mom, Santa brought socks!"
It took her a minute, but Grace noticed that Santa had brought an art table for her.
She got busy coloring right away.
Santa also brought Grace the Crayola Crayon Maker. She was so excited!
Mommy and Daddy got a family gift for us. The kids started opening the box and pulling out Wii games. Gabriel was so excited! Someone immediately asked, "How are you going to play those?" To which he replied, "We'll take them to Grandma and Papaw's house." He had not even noticed that there was a Wii in the box with the games.
Grace gave Gabriel a handheld video game. You know, a boy can never have too many video games.
Brian and Erin gave Grace a princess tent. Uncle Ed curled up inside it with Grace's Fur Real Puppy, Cookie.
The Ellnor's have a mandatory nap time on Christmas Day. Papaw thought he would get a head start on his.
After breakfast, Daddy and Uncle Ed hooked up the Wii, and we broke out the Kidz Bop game Uncle Ed and Aunt Stacey gave the kids.
Daddy showed Grace how to work the controller.
Grandma gave the Kidz Bop a try, and Grace danced along with her.
Aunt Stacey busted a move too.
Uncle Ed and Hershey got their mandatory nap time in.

Seriously . . . Gabriel, Grace, Stacey, and I laid down for naps after breakfast, Wii games, and showers. After naps we hung out for a bit, then headed to Grandma and Papaw's house for dinner.
Grace ate her dessert while sitting in Aunt Erin's lap.
Grandma got Wii Zumba for Christmas. It was a hit after dinner! Gabriel did an entire 20 minutes Zumba class.
Grace got tired while dancing and took her shirt off. Then her Baby Alive needed to eat, so she sat down like a good little mama and fed her baby.
Erin is the dog whisperer. Griffey, Lucy, and Hershey love to cuddle with her.
Grandma tried a little Zumba.
Before everyone started to head their separate ways (or lay down for another nap), we decided to get a group picture. Like I said before, our dogs are part of our family too.
Grace is a booty-shakin' Zumba fool!
The three youngest kids (Griffey, Gabe, and Grace) love hanging with Uncle Ed and Aunt Stacey.
Baby Alive was complaining that she was thirsty, so Daddy took over baby tending.
Uncle Ed decided to bust-a-move to Zumba.
I'm pretty sure he was doing a little freestyle dancing.
Papaw thought he would show us ALL how this Zumba-thing is done!
Uncle Ed is the best for wrestling and being silly. He was pretending to be a train, and Gabriel and Grace were the passengers.
Here they go for another ride. The kids were wound tight when we left Grandma and Papaw's house. Grace was so exhausted that she cried all the way home. She was suffering from some severe Christmas fun exhaustion. A nice long sleep was the only cure for her.

When Dan and I went to bed last night, I felt like my heart was swelling to the point of bursting. My heart swells with joy when I think about how wonderful our family is and how much fun we have when we're all together. It doesn't matter if we are hanging out with Grampy and Barbara or Uncle Brian and Erin. We always have a good time being together with our family. We are so blessed to have such a loving family. We are so blessed to have the joy and love that constantly surrounds us. Merry Christmas, Everyone!