Zayda's 5th Birthday Party

Wow! What a day! We had a very busy birthday party with 2 parties in the same day. We had her friend birthday party first in the morning. Zayda had decided that she wanted it to be a scooby doo theme. We had many activities that the girls seemed to really like. They decorated a picture of scooby and got to decorate his collar with fancy beads. They played pin the bone on scooby's mouth. They even got to solve a scooby mystery of the missing birthday presents. Thankfully, they were successful and the presents were recovered safely. They took home a party favor of a tie dyed shirt that they got to tie dye themselves. They all seemed to have a great time.

Scooby doo's pictured from left to right: Avery, Lauren, Megan and Zayda

Abbie and Sophie joined us after the scooby doo picture was taken.

After her party with all of her friends, we had a party for her with all of our family. We had a great time with everyone. The food was great and everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves. Zayda got a lot of wonderful presents and we all enjoyed the cake and ice cream. We always love getting together with all of the cousins. We had our playgroup friends join us this year too and it was great to have them there sharing such a special day with us.

A Very "Fancy" Day

Zayda was very excited to go to school. This month at school, has been reading awareness month. They have been participating in book-it and have been reading storybooks all month. Today was very special for a couple of reasons. First, it was storybook dress-up day. Each child was supposed to dress up like their favorite storybook character and then they were supposed to bring in the book and they read all of the books in class. Zayda was "Fancy Nancy." If you are a parent of a little girl, these books are a must!! They are beautifully illustrated and they are hilarious. Zayda loves these books. Second, it was her birthday party day at school. I went in to help with snack time which we brought in a birthday cookie cake. She was very excited that Garrett and I came to visit her class. I don't know how her teachers keep 16 kiddos under control but her classroom during snack time was like a fine oiled machine. I did have to laugh to myself to hear all of their little 5 year old conversations. They were hysterical. They think their conversations are so grown up and they are just adorable to listen to.

A Walk in the Park...Not So Much

We are addicted to nice weather and when it is nice out, we can't stay away. Zayda did go to school on Wednesday but when I picked her up, we headed out for another picnic and to Independence Park for some good outside fun. It was much different from last year when I could just put Garrett in a swing and watch Zayda. This year I had 2 kiddos that were all over that park!! It is a great park, it has a seperate toddler area that is great and you can see both areas from either side. Zayda was very excited that she could do the monkey bars all by herself this year. Garrett found a slide that he loved and probably went down it 100 times. They did both enjoy swinging for awhile too.

This park also has several different types of swings for handicapped kids and this is one of the swings that is there. Zayda has always liked swinging in this swing and Garrett of course has to do everything that Zayda does. I had Garrett sitting in one swing barely swinging since I couldn't strap him in and Zayda in the one right next to him and she wanted a push. So, I took one step over to give her a push and then heard a thud. Yep, Garrett fell right out of his swing onto the ground. Then to make it even worse, he stood up to come to me just as the swing was coming forward and whacked him right in the forehead. I was so embarassed and I felt so bad for my little guy. I guess he must have a hard head though because he only cried for a couple of minutes and then it was back to playing. I guess, they'll just have to give me another plaque to put on my mother of the year award for that one. HA! HA!

St. Patrick's Day

This year I was a bit of bad mother for St. Patrick's Day. I taught Zayda how to play hookey from school and we packed up the car and headed downtown for the St. Patrick's Day Parade. The kids had a absolute ball. I wasn't sure how Garrett would do but he sat through the entire parade and loved it. He especially liked any kind of moving vehicle - police motorcycles, bicycles, firetrucks and even the cars caring people. He would wave at the cars with people and say "Go Bye Bye." Zayda loved the gymnasts, marching bands - especially the ones with the "twirl girls", and both of them loved the 10 person tricycle.

After the parade we headed over towards the canal. I had packed our lunches and I told Zayda that we would have a picnic along the canal. On the way to the canal, we needed to take a potty break so, we stopped at the Indiana Historical Society to go potty. I told Zayda that her mommy and daddy had their reception there after their wedding. She really loves a big party and told me that she wished she could have come to our party but that she was still up in heaven with Jesus when we got married. (too cute) Then we headed down to the canal and it was so nice that we ended up walking all the way down to Military Park for our picnic. We had a great lunch, the kids were so good and after we were done eating they got to run around and play in the open area.

After lunch, we started back along the canal. Zayda who is little Miss Social met some kids that were playing on a hill just past the Indiana State Museum. They were running up the hill and then would roll all the way down the hill. They were all playing tag and throwing footballs. I met their parents who were the nicest people ever. We were all amazed by the "green canal." I just thought that it would look like green water but this was so green that it looked like green slime. It was crazy! We finally headed home with worn out kiddos. Garrett fell asleep before we were even out of the parking garage. We got home at 4 pm just enough time for a little rest before gymnastics.

A Formal Flair

Tonight was a very special night for Zayda and Keith. They had a father / daughter dance at church. The theme this year was a cruise theme so the dress was formal attire. Zayda was so excited to get to wear her "wedding dress" again. It still fits her perfectly and it was a perfect occasion for her to wear it. She is certainly a girly girl so the thought of getting all dolled up was almost more than she could take. Let me just say that for all of you out there who have little girls, do these events while they are little because I am certain I will be well prepared for proms and formal dances some day. We spent the afternoon doing hair and painting nails and putting on make-up (which was just a little eye shadow and lip gloss) but none the less it took a couple of hours. But, she looked BEAUTIFUL!! Her daddy even surprised her with a wrist corsage which she called her flower bracelet and showed it off all night. Daddy then took us all out to Zayda's favorite "fancy" restaurant which is Texas Roadhouse or "the place with the peanuts." She kept saying that the restaurant was OOhh La La (Fancy Nancy book lingo). She was the hit of the restaurant and she told everyone that she was going to a fancy dance with her daddy. They had a great time and daddy even took her to Bonefish Grill after the dance for a fancy dessert!

On another note, Zayda had her 5 year check-up at the doctor today. She did great and she was even excited to get her shots because they have fancy bandaids. I wasn't sure if she would still be excited after her first shot but sure enough, she sat there with a grin on her face for all 3 of her shots. I was so proud of her. She grew 1.5 inches in the last year and weighed in at 34 lbs which is only 5 lbs heavier than her 19 mos. old baby brother. Go figure?! Now we can officially sign her up for kindergarten :)

Prayers for a Friend

Last night I went to a special dinner for a very dear friend of mine. Shelley Spate is a nurse that I have worked with for many years. She currently works on my unit as our unit manager. She and I used to go work out in the morning before we would go to work. We spent many mornings together in the YMCA gym. Recently, Shelley thought she was having gallbladder problems and when they did testing on her gallbladder it all came back normal. She then had an upper GI for a possible ulcer. During her upper GI, they discovered a tumor in her stomach that was diagnosed as Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. She has a very good prognosis but will still have to under-go chemotherapy. Several of us met with her last night for dinner just to show our support and wish her luck as she begins chemotherapy today. I ask for all of you - my friends and family to keep her in your thoughts and prayers as she fights this terrible disease.

Let's Go Bananas!!

Who knew that banana pudding could cause so much happiness. Maybe it was the fancy dishes or the whipped cream but put some banana pudding in front of these two and they are as happy as can be. Way to go Daddy - great idea!!

A Sticky Situation

With Brooks still on the mend, we were able to spend another day with Brady. We decided to head over to good ol' Rockville Indiana for the Maple Syrup Festival. We started the day having breakfast at Flapjacks in Danville. They served the kids drinks in coffee to go cups. Zayda and Brady just thought that was hillarious. They had a full adult conversation about blowing on their coffee because it was too hot and then sipping on it because "that's how you're supposed to drink coffee." (Don't worry, they really had chocolate milk - not coffee) Next, we headed off to a sugar camp to see how sap is turned into syrup. It was really pretty neat to see. The kids actually seemed to enjoy it too. We learned that sap that comes out of the trees is clear and that it actually fills up this whole bucket daily. They have a huge machine that boils, cleans, filters, and adds sugar to what becomes the pure maple syrup. We learned that it takes over 50 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. That's just crazy. The camp we visited has several different camps but we found out that the one we saw had over 3000 buckets of sap that they emptied daily. It was the smallest of all of their camps. That's just crazy!! I personally don't care for pure maple syrup but we did buy a jar of syrup for Keith and Zayda. They love it!! We sure hope that Brooks gets better soon, but we are sure enjoying spending time with Brady.