First neighborhood fire of the summer, at the Smith's. I love our neighborhood and the great friends we have made.
All the third cousins together for Mother's Day helping Great Grandma Ruby clean up her yard for the summer.
Great Grandma Ruby on Mother's Day!
My Mother's Day gift.
Love these silly little ladies.
This paper reads, "When I grow up I want to be a mommy."
Izzy and her teacher Ms. Courtney.
Izzy and Brittany (a teacher and babysitter.)
Izzy and Regan.
Chillin' at Lazlos on the Lawn.
Grandma D. and four of the seven grand kids.
Mark, Trish (Mark's sister), and Barb (Mark's mom).
Izzy trying to get Addie on stage to dance.
Addie doing her own thing.
My girls are growing before my eyes and I just don't know what to do. Izzy is becoming my stubborn but sweet little girl. She won't listen and I haven't quite figured out how to make this better. When I try to tell her what she is in trouble for or not doing right she comes back with something every time. She is definitely quick on her toes. So my anxious self started looking up to see if this was normal for a four year old to be so...so...strong headed and mouthy. Even lying at times to get herself out of trouble. One article I read put me at ease saying it was normal and that these children tend to have higher IQ's. Whew, (because everything you read is right) I have the next Einstein at this rate. We also got Izzy a booster seat for the car. I thought it would make my life a little easier and she could buckle herself in. Well, the way the seat sits in my car, the buckle is behind her and she has a heck of a time. But, the neat thing is that she was so excited she was going to tell all of her friends at school the next day. At the end of that week my friend's sweet husband, Ryan, picked Iz up from school and took her and his daughter Ella to the zoo. He also took them for pizza. What a brave man. Also Izzy became a pre-school graduate. Grandma D., Aunt Trish, Konner, and Ladelle came and we all went to Lazlos on the Lawn for dinner. Watch our Fire Ridge Elementary, here she comes. Addie is becoming quite the character. She is always pleading the 5th, "I not know," she says. She is my funny witty little child. She has been talking about mermaids being chased by the monsters which are sharks. I'm not sure where she gets that from. Addie is also my clumsy child and stairs are not her forte. Mark and I took the girls to the play area at the school down the street. I went up with Addie a couple of times and she did great. The one time I didn't go with her she went to sit down at the top of the slide and sat at the edge of the stairs and fell all the way down backwards. They were metal stairs and so it scared me. I screamed for Mark and I've never seen him fly up a play set that fast in my life. Then Addie talked about it all night and how she scared Mommy. Addie is also my cuddly lovey babe. When I lay down with her at night (we got rid of the crib this month :( ) she will put both hands on my face, like she's trying to feel all the details of my face. She also will lay there with me and pull out her paci and lean in for a quick goodnight kiss. These are the days I will miss when my girls are all grown up and the cuddly, sensitive side of them is gone.
Both girls went to the dentist this month and did great. Izzy usually freaks out and this time she laid there like a champ. Addie did great. It was like she had been there a 100 times, not her first time.
This month Mark and I also took time for ourselves and we had a blast. First we went to our friend, Mads's, art show. It's in a back alley in Benson and always fun to see his new creations. We have a few hanging in our home. In the middle of June, Mark and I went to Dallas to see our friends, the Laun's, and take in a Dave Matthews show. This was a great show. Instead of having an opening act they opened with an acoustic act and then finished with the electric instruments.
The girls and I went home for Mother's Day and helped Great Grandma Ruby clean up her yard for the Spring. This was her first Spring without Grandpa and he did all the yard work. My cousins and their families came up from Kansas and helped us out. They stayed at a hotel so the kids had a blast swimming. It was great to get together with them all. It isn't done often enough.
I am excited for the summer and hope everyone has a great one. Until next month.
Ariann
