A Visit from Gram

Gram came to visit last weekend.  We had lots of fun!!  Friday we went shopping.  Emma got into the bling by the checkout counter.  Gram bought it all for her! 

 There were also training bras.  Anna was all over them.  She thought it was so cool to find bras that she could put on, and they almost looked her size.  Somehow I just didn't like it that my "baby girl" was doing this, but it took a while to get her to leave them alone, so I got a picture in the meantime. :) Thank goodness Gram didn't buy one!!

 They were all excited about the inside playground.  I haven't taken them to the mall since last summer.  It's a good place to go when it's hot outside.

 Friday night we went to see the KPHS band play their spring concert, thus the reason for Gram's trip.  This is the only picture I took from my camera.  I can't really take pictures of the stage.  Well I could but they would be dark and/or blurry.  Tony took a bunch, so I'll do a post of the concert when he downloads his camera.

 Saturday at the pool.  These pictures really make me smile! :)

Saturday night was the band banquet, for big people only.  Tony and Anton went to that while we had a girls night at Tin Roof.

 I don't remember what was going on here, but it looks like Gram saved Emma from falling or something.

 I don't know that she's ever posed with that kind of sass before.  Must be the new outfit Gram let her pick out and the flower clip!

 Emma hasn't gotten into sass yet, but she cracks me up!

 After dinner treat at Marble Slab. She picked chocolate.

 So did Emma.

 I think they managed to only get a couple of drops on their new duds.

 Gram is reading the Dutch version of Little Red Riding Hood for bedtime.  She had to make it up with the pictures. :)

Sunday morning...

 Sunday afternoon...

 They so love when Anton pretends he's a monster and chases them in circles around the stairs.  And yes, that is the Toy Story 3 poster still up on the wall from Emma's birthday.  They still play with the sheriff re-usable sticker badge.  :)

This is a common view of Anton... :)

 Emma is reading Anna a story.  Anna is probably pretending to be a dog here.  They've been playing that quite a bit lately.  One will the the dog and the other will be called "owner".   Not sure where got that because Junior doesn't call me owner. 

Thanks for a great weekend Gram!!!

Physics Project

Anton's physics class had a project last week where they teamed up and made boats.  It had to be made out of:  cardboard, duct tape, caulk and 2 liter bottles.  They had a race with their boats at his school pool yesterday.  Here is his team.

The boat "El Loco".

Getting in...

And they're off!!!

They had an early lead but then had a steering hiccup.

They pulled ahead again on the second lap!!!

And here's the video of their big win!!

Having a teenager for the most part is a blast!!!

Birthday Fun!

Anna and Emma both had little friends invite them to birthday parties last weekend.  Friday was Katie's 3rd bithday party at a playground (she's the one in the middle).  We are so glad God made Katie!!

 Here are 3 hot and sweaty girls eagerly awaiting the cupcakes to be served.

They played long and hard!  They both wanted to take a nap in my bed afterwards.  So sweet!

 Saturday was Abby's 4th birthday party at one of those jumping places.  Everyone had so much fun!

I mostly got to visit with some girlfriends while my girls played/jumped on their own, but Emma wanted me to do a couple of things with her.  I got some cute videos!

There's the birthday girl with her stylin' and very yummy cake.  We are so glad God made Abby!

On Sunday the preschool classes sang some songs at church.  It was so cute!!  She looked a little nervous, but she sang all the songs.  She often says that she wants to sing at the front of the church like Mrs. Jessica, so we were both excited for her debut!  I hope she can pick up some voice skills somewhere because I can't even sing our little meal blessing in tune.

Later on I let her get into this kiddie make-up kit that my mom got for all her girl grandchildren (the other 2 are quite a bit older than my girls).  Somehow we ended up with it, and Anna has been begging me to play with it.  I quickly figured out that it's something I need to supervise closely.

 I'm not sure why she thought to put it on like this, but I thought she did a pretty good job getting it even with both eyes.  You wouldn't know it now, but I used to LOVE LOVE LOVE makeup when I was younger.  I think I'll just get out a couple of tubes of lip gloss for now and put the rest away for a few years...

 Tony was in Holland visiting his mother this weekend.  When he came home, the girls wanted to fix his hair.  I guess Emma decided the pretty pink scrunchies would work better as bracelets, but if you look close you can see that she's trying to use the curling iron on his head. 

We are so blessed, and I am so thankful!

Tea Party, Swim Lessons, New Van

Anna's preschool had a "Tea" a couple of weeks ago.  It was precious.

 They sang a song for us.  Very sweet!

 Going back to class.  How I love my Anna!

 One night a couple of weeks ago, there was a helmet awareness BBall game for Joseph Stanton

& the drumline played.  (He's Anton's classmate who suffered a very traumatic brain injury while skateboratding without a helmet http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/thomasjosephstanton). Tony took the girls while I was at my Bible Study.  He didn't do so great with my camera, which is very unlike him, but here's a couple of pictures. 

 Anton is the tallest looking one in the green shirt 3 from the left.  By the way, everyone should wear a helmet when doing any activity with wheels under them - scooter, bike, skateboard.  Kids AND parents!!!!  How could you take care of your kids if you had a brain injury???!!!!  It doesn't take much - I know a girl who cracked a helmet when she fell on her bike in a parking lot, very very minor fall while riding very casually, but that could have been her head!

 We added a new car to the family last week - a minivan!!!  Anton now has the Jeep full time.  My girls were super excited about the van.  I never thought I would have one, but I really love it.

 It BARELY fits in the garage.  Tony cut out part of the trim on our garage so my mirros would fit through the door better.  I was really scared about pulling in/out, but I am getting used to it.

 Tony got the girls to help him make breakfast in bed on Mother's day. 

We all fit comfortably in one vehicle now!

They wanted to walk with Anton on the way to church.  Makes me smile!

 Not a great picture of my daughter or my husband, but look in the middle who joined us for dinner.  He's sitting in Anna's babydoll high chair.  It's Buzz Lightyear if you can't make him out.  Anna said he was hungry and wanted to eat with us. 

 This is from the second to last swim class this past Monday.

 Anna

 Joanna

 I can fit 3 car seats in my car now!!!!  We all had fun taking Joanna to swim lessons!

Here are some videos of the 3 girls swimming.  Anna is coming along really well.  Emma doesn't want to put her face in the water, but she had a great time.  Joanna had this fun swim dance thing going on, which I got on video.