Turkey Time!

Well, it's that time again!  Turkey season is in full swing and Jason headed out to the farm the first morning he could.  Usually around this time he's asking or should I say bugging, if I want to join him, however with Charli on the way and having Ansley it just wasn't the best timing. Whew!  The thought of sitting in the blind this year with a constant stitch in my side (more on that later) does not seem like much fun.  Thankfully, on the first morning at 6:30 a.m. he called one in and got it!  I say thankfully, because now he won't be going out every morning to try to kill one (that means more sleep for me :)).  Here's a few pictures of his big kill!

Ansley was so excited and of course Jason was a bit proud too!

She kept wanting to check out his feathers 

And then she realized what an ugly, strange looking face he had.  It turned into a little science class :)

Jason can't wait until Ansley's a little older to take her on a big turkey hunt with him.  However, I'm not so sure I'll EVER be ready for that day! Ha!

    

Beach Party at South!

Our Parents As Teacher's friend, Amanda helped organize a beach party bash at South Elementary for the kiddos last week.  They really put a lot of thought into making it really fun for the kids by having sensory activities, treats, and also lots of physical play.  There was a sand and water table, a volleyball net with beach balls, balloons, sidewalk chalk, paint and other crafting activities.  Ansley loved it!  We actually had a really hard time prying her away from it all.  She just didn't want to leave!
Here are a few pictures from her fun filled evening.

We jumped right in with the fishing activity.  She spotted the food immediately and insisted we start there. That's my girl!

It went a little like this....grab your fishing rod (the pretzel), dip it in the cheese, and try to catch a goldfish.  It was fun and yummy! 

Next up, sand castles (Ansley was adamant about bringing her princess pail she got for Easter from Mimi and BB)! 

Checking out the sea animals in the kiddie pool 

She loved seeing the little crab aka Sebastian from the Little Mermaid :)

Then it was balloon spatting time??? Ha!  This was one of her favorite activities.  She was all over that gym floor trying to keep up with her balloon! 

Daddy and Ansley making a starfish with glue and sand. 

And then for her little "hand crab".  She was soooo proud! 

What a fun night!  It was a great evening to get out as a family and allow Ansley to just play.  Best part....it was free!  

Easter 2012

We had a very busy, but wonderful Easter weekend!  It was filled with lots of Easter egg hunting, candy, outdoor play, and of course, the celebration of our risen Savior!  Ansley was definitely on cloud 9, asking us after every fun activity..."wha we gonna do next mommy?" She was cracking us up!  Saturday we headed to my aunt and uncle's church, Harmony in Marble Hill for Easter egg hunting.  They put out 15,000 eggs!  The fields were covered!  It was so fun for the kiddos.

This girl was loving it!

Can you see the massive amounts of eggs around her? Wow. 

The purple eggs were her favorite...she was pretty selective. 

Precious. 

My sweet girl 

Our little family 

We were emptying eggs and Ansley found a few tootsie rolls to munch on, as you can see. 

My cousin, Laura and her daughter, Chiara helping us sort.  It was a big job with all those eggs! 

She had picked up several resurrection eggs and some eggs with little things in them, such as a stone (the stone that was rolled away), praying hands (for both Mary's that prayed for Him), dice (for the people gambling for his clothes and so many other examples).  They did such a great job explaining it all to the kids.  This is Ansley telling my cousin Cassidy why her egg is empty...He's alive!! 

Look at all those eggs! 

My cousins, Shelby and Cassidy with Ansley as she digs in the giant tub of eggs. 

After our fun Easter egg hunt at Harmony we went to visit the Easter bunny at Bloom (it has been an Easter tradition).  However, she was NOT having it, so we took a few sugar cookies for the road and scooted on out pretty quickly!  After a much needed nap, we headed to P & P's house so Ansley and Brynn could open their Easter baskets.  Let's just say, the princesses the girls got were a BIG hit!!  That's all Ansley seemed to care about for the rest of the evening.

Uncle Jason and baby Brynn

Ansley playing with her new princesses

Pamaw reading to the girls

On Easter we had a wonderful church service and then headed to my cousin's cabin for lunch.  We love to go out there because it's beautiful and there's so many things to do.

Ansley and Jansen opening their Easter buckets from Mimi & BB

Ansley with M & B 

We had to have one with Jansen too! 

Ansley and Daddy fishing on the dock (please note the skirt on Ansley...she refuses to wear anything but a dress these days.  Even when going to the cabin.)

She loves to be outdoors! 

Aunt Laura was helping with the little fishing buddies this time 

After a fun afternoon at the cabin we went to Pamaw and Pappaw's for dinner and another Easter egg hunt.  Ansley, Brynn, and Brooks had so much fun!

This is baby Brynn's new snarl.  She loves to scrunch that nose up now.  It's just too cute!

Here they are after their successful hunt.

She was so happy about getting more peeps!

Easter was so fun this year and the best part was that Ansley could verbalize why we celebrate it.  We are so thankful for our risen Savior!!

Baby Brynn's Birthday Bash!

We just celebrated Brynn's 1st birthday (I can't believe she's already 1!) and it was so fun!  Whitney did such a great job of planning and really made her owl theme adorable.  She had little chocolate nests, cupcakes made into an owl shape, Brynn's cute smash cake, a year's worth of pictures, and other cute decorations.  It was so sweet!

The smash cake that Whitney and I worked on 

   The birthday girl and Ryan & Whit

Uncle Jason wanted a few licks of Brynn's frosting. Ha! 

Presents! 

This little piano was a big hit among the kiddos.  We had to enforce the sharing skills. Ha! 

Happy Birthday sweet baby Ben!  We love you so much!

Our 3D Ultrasound

Our 3D ultrasound was a couple of weeks ago at Babycenter in Poplar Bluff and we got just a few pictures of Charli.  It was hard to get any great pics without a placenta or uterine wall in the way :), but the sonographer got a few of her button nose and beautiful little lips.  It seriously looks exactly like Ansley from what we can tell...but we shall see!

Ansley with her infamous head-tilt!

Me and my girl (and Charli's under there too!)

Ansley was so happy to see her

I didn't upload the cd of Charli images, but maybe soon I'll post a few.

Disney on Ice!

My friend Tracy (whom I grew up skating with) asked a couple of months ago if I wanted to bring Ansley to the Disney on Ice show in St. Louis.  I of course said, YES (Ansley is into all things Disney and I enjoy watching the skating)!  I then asked my sweet friend, Heather and her little girl Marlee if they wanted to join us.  Marlee is a huge Tangled fan and that was the main theme of the show, along with Princess and the Frog and Cinderella.  I knew it would be a big hit with the girls and I was hoping that I could "treat" Ansley to the show if she was potty-trained by then.  Thankfully, she had been accident free for about a week before the show and I thought that a 2-hour car ride would be ok with my newly potty-trained girl.  Turns out it was fine, other than a super fast drive from St. Mary's to Perryville...about a 15 minute drive, after Ansley tells me she has to tinkle really BAD! That was a little tricky, but other than that, it went smoothly.  We had so much fun and it was my former pair partner, Matt's show, so we were able to talk and visit with him.  It has been such a long time since we've seen each other (it's been years....and it's so crazy to think we used to be with each other 24/7 growing up!) and it was so nice to catch up and hear all the exciting things he's doing. He's been with Disney for about 14 years and has moved his way up.  Now, he helps with the choreography and basically watches and critiques the show from the audience's perspective.  He was able to sit with us and take notes, which was interesting because we got the inside scoop on all the skaters.  It was such a great day and so good to see Tracy too!  I have missed getting to hang out with her as well.  Overall, it was a fantastic day with the girls!

Ansley posing at Chili's (one of our favorite places to eat)

Here she is demonstrating her spiral (she loves to grab her ankle and pull her leg up).  Skillz.

I mean, come on....get this girl some ice!  :)