Rice Babies and Retreats

Cille's class made rice babies and I got to help!  Cille's birth weight was 7 pounds, 14 ounces, making her my third largest baby and making her rice baby a little on the hefty side...

At the same time that Cille was making a child out of rice, Stella was celebrating the end of 4th grade with a class retreat designed to help them prepare for middle school...

Some of my favorite 4th grade moms were there to help out...and they were very enthusiastic volunteers, as you can see...

Their entire class!

Lots of these kids have been together since kindergarten, and some since Pre-K...

The teachers ended the retreat by giving each student the instruction manual for life.  We are so thankful for Stella's homeroom teacher, Mrs. Ware.  She is a giant of the faith who walked a very difficult path this school year, but she was the best example of unwavering faith in the face of tragedy.  She truly lived out for her students what it is to praise God and trust Him in ALL circumstances...

How fabulous that the most important lessons Stella learned in 4th grade were not academic ones.

Mother's Day Hike

Pretty much what I always want for Mother's Day is a nice hike, and where better to have it than Clark Creek Natural Area?  It's always great to gather the kids in front of the nearest public restrooms and take a family photo that you can cherish for years to come...

Chasing waterfalls...

If you are mentally parent shaming me for letting a kid with a cast get in muddy water, keep that opinion to yourself.  The cast was coming off the very next day...

Me and my little Coconut!

Cille may have needed to potty in this picture...

Watts has always been a swim shirt kind of guy but he finally decided to bare it all.  Check out those manly pecs!  Excuse me while I swoon...

Selfie with my Cille!  She gets her brown eyes and need for orthodonture from me...

Hugs from my Stelly Belly!

Before long she won't be willing to do this in public, and that makes me sad...

You can never have too many pictures of a three year old...

See...

what...

I mean?

Corinne loves the Kelty child carrier...

Swim trunks sagging a little...

I had a great day with my favorite people.  I am so blessed to be the taxi driver, full-time maid, and personal chef to these kids.  They have greatly enriched my life AND my resume.

Camping Out in the Zoo

If you're a regular reader of the blog (looking at you, Grandparents!) then you probably know that Madeline is just about our favorite person on earth and she makes our lives better in every single way.  Her adventurous spirit is just one of the things we love about her, and recently she invited Stella and Cille to join her for a night of tent camping in the Audubon Zoo.  The girls were thrilled!  We helped them pitch a tent, which took way longer than it should have because we could not remember how to set it up at first, and we even brought an air mattress for their camping comfort, although the tall air mattress turned out to be a mistake and we should have brought the one with a lower profile so that there would be more room for air circulation.  Poor Madeline really paid for this mistake, as the girls made her sleep in the middle and near about cuddled her to death in the heat...

They were all smiles while eating dinner before their night hike through the zoo...

These three are beautiful inside and out!

They even took a selfie in front of their tent, although it turned out a little crooked since they had to improvise a way to prop up the phone...

The girls had an awesome campout.  They met a New Orleans rat up close and personal (which was not supposed to be part of the experience), and the jaguar stayed in his cage, which was a plus.  In fact, they all said they would like to do it again!  Maybe next time the whole family can go, although we'll need a bigger tent and maybe some fans...

Dance Photos

Dance photo day is always crazy hectic and exhausting, but the end results this year were pretty fantastic...

The girls have to take a photo together for the program, so I usually have them wear the costumes that coordinate the best...

For individual shots I am a mean mom and make you wear the costume that I think is the most flattering on you.  Stella did not get to change, in spite of her desire to wear a purple sequined jazz costume...

I don't think she can argue with the results.  One day she will thank me...

Cille wore her tap costume for individual shots, and both girls had group photos done in an entirely different costume.

Thank goodness we made it through all the wardrobe changes without me losing my mind or any of the pieces of their costumes!  Now we can't wait for recital!

Zoo To Do for Kids

Madeline always has the best and most fun ideas, so when she told me about Zoo To Do for kids, I knew we had to go! 

Some of the things we learned were a bit disturbing...

The kids attended their first foam party...

Ate their weight in mini-snowballs and other yummy snacks...

And had a blast on the inflatables!

We had a great time hanging out with Madeline and her family at the zoo. We can't wait "To Do" it again!