Rays and starfish and sharks.... oh my!!!!

Today we were lucky enough to spend the day with the Strassner's at the Long Beach Aquarium. It was the first time that our family had been there, so we were really excited to see what they had there!She wore this sunny outfit-- which was the best idea! She was very much the explorer at the aquarium and it was easy to spot our little yellow blur as she ran from tank to tank.Libi loved watching the fish swim. We need to work on our fish identification though because she thought all the big fish were either whales or dolphins-- oops!Daddy requested that we feed the lorakeets. We went there first thing so the birds were very hungry. None of the kids would hold the food, but Howard, Ron and I enjoyed the task!They had lots to touch there-- sharks,rays,and tide pool animals (starfish, anemone, urchins, and sea cucumbers.)We had lunch at Bubba Gumps where Ron aced the trivia on the movie. Howard and I each chimed in with an answer or two, but Ron knew EVERYTHING!! It was kinda scary how much he knew about the flick.

We did not realize it, but the kids meal came with blue Jello. Libi has never experienced blue Jello, but she greatly enjoyed it!!! She licked the cup clean-- just like the lorakeets! Silly girl!

I wonder what our next adventure with the Strassner's will be? Is it bug time yet?

A Fabulously Frenzied Friday

This morning Libs was quite the participant in music class. She was always right next to Miss Moira and parroting all that she did.We got to play with kittens today, which was new. We were trying to make them jump into the air, but with Libi on top of the parachute it was very difficult.When I got home I noticed this site in the Rose Petal cottage bassinet. Libs has been working on lining things up and putting them in patterns, but this was new. The only question I have is where are the other two dwarfs???While we were setting up for the movie night tonight we saw this lovely site: the moon and Venus. This picture doesn't do it justice but Ron did such a good job of trying to capture it.We played host to some of my MOPS friends to a movie night in our backyard. I believe it was Libi's first time seeing the Lion King and she really enjoyed it! She was very interested in Simba and all the music.Afterwards the girls enjoyed dancing and making hand puppets in front of the screen. They were so funny to watch!

Tomorrow we head to the aquarium with the Strassners-- Yippee for the weekend!

Lazy day...

Libs and I relished not having anything on our to-do list today so we stayed at home all day.Libs enjoying playing with her toys, reading stories, and taking a nearly three hour nap!!

In the evening I was hosting a Mom's Night Out Scrapbook Party-- to which only Lara showed up to. The kids played with Ron in the living room while Lara and I worked on the book.Here is the only picture of the kids being quiet-- note the ice cream in the bowls!!! They all played nicely together and enjoyed each others company. Libi enjoyed watching the movie Sleeping Beauty with Aurora-- who appeared to be an expert on the flick!!!

Ash Wednesday..

was a very full day! Libs and I departed the house this morning for our weekly trip to Nana and Pop's house. She chatted and sang for a while, then complained that her hat wasn't on correctly and then fell asleep!!! Yep, she took her nap at 11 a.m. this morning!!!It only lasted about 40 minutes, but she woke up cranky and tantrumed for about 20 more minutes afterward. When she did snap out of it she had a great time visiting with her great-grandparents.She colored with Nana, played with Pop, and opened the annoying Christmas boxes (which I think are about to die.)We both enjoyed the nice weather and wore springy outfits-- sadly mine was sans hat! Libs wore her first long skirt ever today and she managed to climb, run and even sit nicely in it!
To help get her in the car, Pop gave her some flowers to smell on the way home. She spent the entire ride home smelling them, waving them like a wand and enjoying the sweet white flowers from her Pop. She even kept saying "Flowers from Pop!" over and over!

We went straight from Van Nuys to Santa Clarita to run some errands before Ash Wednesday services at St. Stephens. It was great to have a child friendly service for Libi. She was sad that there was not singing but she actually liked getting the ashes on her head and the "church cookie"-- a.k.a. the communion wafer in Libi-speak!

Post church we went to VUMC for a shortened Pioneer Club tonight. We had more parent volunteers than ever, which just goes to show that people will help you if they don't have to work very long or hard.

Tonight is Idol and the finale of Top Chef-- so we will be watching TV for hours, but I'm so excited to see how it all goes.

Happy Shrove Tuesday!!!

Today at MOPS we celebrated Mardi Gras and International Pancake Day. My darling daughter stole a mask off the table center pieces and wore it as we were cleaning up the rooms.She wasn't a huge fan of having it on her face, but she did love the beads that Laina gave her!Sadly we didn't have pancakes for dinner-- I was a bit pancaked out after making nearly 200 for the MOPS kids. Tomorrow we will try to make it to an Ash Wednesday service between Nana and Pops and Pioneer Club :)

M is for Monday...

Today we had MOPS set up and a Mom's Club Membership meeting-- it was a day full of M's!
The big feat for the day was Libi made it up the chain ladder for the first time. She carefully watched one of the other little girls do it and then she went up herself.You can see the look of accomplishment on her face! Once she was up though she decided that she wanted to come back down. I convinced her to take the stairs as opposed to going back the way she came.She and Maxton paired up today-- they were so cute both staring up at me with their blue eyes.We ended our visit to Oak Springs Park with a ride on the swings. There is nothing as much fun as a swing and a little girl yelling "Higher Mommy, higher!!!"

My Picasso...

Today was quite low-key-- we got tons of housework done today! Libi did have her own hot dog for the first time today. I cut it into three smaller hot dogs to be more like finger food and she proceeded to remove dog from bun and eat it all separately!
Later in the evening it was tubby time! I decided it was high time to break out the tub paints that Aunt Andrea gave her for Christmas. They were messier than I was anticipating-- as evidenced by the red and blue splotches on my shirt-- but fun none the less.Libs wanted to play with the containers more than finger paint, but eventually she caught on.Notice how all of the other toys lay untouched while she explores this new way to make a mess!Here is the artist in action. To get this shot I was hanging suspended over the tub-- I would like some credit for my flexibility :)Before she got out she was able to try the smelly paint from Grammy and Grampy. When she went to smell the candy apple scent she got more than she bargained for-- notice her green nose. She greatly enjoyed rolling the ball over her feet-- I think we're going to have a girl who loved pedicures later in life!

A slice of life on a Saturday...

I thought I would share with you what happens after we put Libi in bed at night. Ron sacks out on the sofa-- with his computer in his lap-- and Tobee curls up with Libi's toys. Mommy stays up to answer e-mail, catch up with folks on Facebook, and last night to watch TMZ.

Enough of yesterday.... on to our weekend!

My husband is a trooper-- he never really questions me when I ask him to do things that I know deep down he would rather not do. He went to see Mamma Mia with me, he attends Skipper Club with me every week, and today he went to a Piggies and Paws Party.It is one of those Tupperware like parties where someone sells you something and you feel obliged to buy. This particular product takes your handprint and turns it into a cute keepsake. My amazing hubby participated fully...we even got Libi to do her handprint...and her footprint that will be turned into a Tinkerbell fairy for her room.

After a nap and some play time Mommy and Daddy went out for a date night. When we came home Ron changed her into some jammies... sadly she has now outgrown her darling Gap striped pajamas.You will notice that she was watching Grease-- my musical loving girl! During the dancing scene she asked Daddy to dance with her.Such fun to have such a high spirited little girl!

Music with Moira...

Today at music class in honor of our song "Splish, Splash" Ms. Moira brought out the water tubs. Luckily the tub that Libi was at wasn't too much into splishing and splashing so she didn't get too wet!There was an older boy in our class today-- their family was doing a make up. Libi walked up to him, said "Hi", and then proceeded to dance near or with him during every song. I don't think he liked all of the hand holding that Libi wanted to do with him, but the Moms all thought it was very sweet.During the middle of class Ms. Moira had to leave to help some workers in the back and Libi did not like this turn of events. She stood at the gate leading to the back yelling, "Miss Moira come in!!" She stuck right by Moira for the rest of the class so that she wouldn't leave again.This picture is so fun for me. Every week Libs selects what instrument I am going to play-- I know that when she's thirteen she won't care what I do, but for now she wants me to participate and I love it!!!

Kidspace with Mom's Club...

It was an early morning for us as I was in charge of another Mom's club field trip. I have to brag for a moment about my daughter being the best traveler. We have been all over in our car lately and stuck in traffic for most of our travels but little Missy never complains. She might ask for her favorite music-- Doodlebops or Mamma Mia are car favs-- but other than that she is a pleasant traveling companion!We arrived early-- I don't know why I do, none of the other parents do-- so I let Libs try out the playground across from the museum. We stuck to the older kid area because it was closer to the parking lot and easier for me to see the gang arrive, but she bravely tried out some new apparatus.

I think my favorite thing that she did all day was cross the balance beam. This was about a foot off the floor with two springs to make it bounce, but my brave girl went across on her third try. The first time she only went two steps, the second time she got to the spring and stopped, but the third time she went all the way, only holding my hand. I'm sad that nobody was here to capture this milestone on film but I thought it was more important to hold her hand than to be her personal paparazzi!The nice thing about going on these trips is that we hand our cameras around to other Mommy's and get into the pictures with our kids! Here Libs and I are near the vine climbing area-- we forgot how much fun we have a Kidspace! If anyone who is reading this wants to go with us-- we are game!The kids had a great time together and they even posed for several pictures together-- not an easy task when you have 7 kids ranging from 1 year to 4 years old. I got some really fun shots of Libs and the other kids-- you can check those out at our family photo site.

Welcome to the 2's...

Today I got my real first taste of the terrible two's. Miss Lou Lou is beginning to tantrum at the drop of a hat when she doesn't get her way. This is highly frustrating to her mother and probably quite funny to all who are observing the spectacle.After a lovely lunch with Nana and Pop where Libs got some lovely Valentine's gift-- including a princess Hallmark card that sings a lovely princess song over and over and over and over-- we had a tantrum when it was time to go. She almost spent the night there as I couldn't get her out of the house. When we finally got out of the house she climbed into the passenger seat, across to the drivers seat and began to play with my buttons.Immediately after this picture I forcibly removed her from the drivers seat and carried her kicking and yelping to the backseat. When she got to her seat she was squirming so much that I couldn't buckle her in. At this point it was either laugh or cry-- so I chose to laugh... which might encourage the behavior.

Tonight at Skipper Club we had the same issue when it was time to leave the building. I hope that this is not a trend-- I can't take a whole year of this :)