Their very own CAR!!!

Oh my gosh I would so love to be a kid again! Okay maybe not all the time, but I LOVE playing w/ them and their stuff... Nanni, Poppy and Uncle Rob went together to get the girls a group gift for their collective birthdays (Grace 03/26 & Eva 04/27). So they come by late this afternoon - both girls are playing in the basement, when we let them come up to the living room - eyes covered... and then they see it! Not sure if they saw it first or heard me squealing;-) Okay so I wasn't squealing on the outside but on the inside I was totally doing cartwheels!!!

Sitting in the living room is a perfectly pink, two seater, convertible... MUSTANG!!! Who really gets lucky enough to get a car for their birthday? I only wish it was me! The girls were in H E A V E N. And Grace knew immediately what to do, she jumped in - Eva a little slower behind her, turned the radio on and threwit into reverse nearly taking out the coffee table! Whew - good think we know a good insurance agent (Uncle Rob) - wink wink!

Even though it was FREEZING out the girls went outside in their car w/ bike helmets on -- too cute! And drove all around the yard, driveway you name it! Grace is a great driver; Matt even advanced her from the training speed of 2.5 mph to 5 mph - she loved the increase in speed. Grace was so sweet to, she wanted to let Eva drive, but Eva can't even reach the peddles, so Grace let her sit in the drivers seat, then Grace pushed the gas w/ her leg over the console and helped her steer... too sweet! For the most part though Eva is totally happy as a passenger:-)

When it was time to come in, as everyone was coming over for cake and ice cream, Eva stood in the garage and cried - then when that didn't work SCREAMED, car... car... car.... When everyone arrived, she walked around saying, "drive drive drive" it was sweet knowing she liked the present so much!

The Barbie Car...

More cake... how long can a birthday really last???

Oh boy... now who got Grace this again???

Grace's 5th birthday party!!!

Wow - I can not believe Grace is FIVE. Seems like just yesterday! Okay so the big party was today, and let me tell you like 6 minutes into it I thought it had been going on for HOURS! Luckily that wore off and the kids seemed to calm down some, either that or my nerves were so frazzled I didn't notice any more:-) We had the jumpy house set up in the basement, w/ all of Grace's dress-up clothes down there too. Cake, ice cream, drinks, down there too! The kids were all in the jumpy house - Matt tried to enforce the "3 person rule" but it didn't work out so well. Eva would get in the house and didn't even need to jump, she was so little compared to everyone else she was knocked about - no jumping required!

The girls went from dressing up to jumping, randomly having to tell one of them to wear some clothing. The took a brief break to eat cake and ice cream - who would have know they would all of such strong opinions on what part of the cake they got - wow! After cake, back to jumping and then a brief pause for opening presents. Grace was very good about saying thank you, etc... I was proud of her:-)

Then back to dress-up and "Rocking Out to Hannah Montana" and before I knew it 3:00 p.m. had rolled around and in came parents -- yeah! Another year to go before we have to do it again:-) Oh I should say another year before we GET to do it again, right;-) For now I'm happy keeping her little as long as I can!

Party Attendees: Macy Kirshbaum, Riley Lee, Evelyn Kiefer, Jyllian Antle, Ella Griggs, Emma Lux, Molly Benson, Jaidyn Tackett, Eva Lux and Megan (?? from Brenda's) + Grams, Kim, Nanni, Poppy, Jess, Lisa, Brad, Mom & Dad:-)

Cake by: Wanda Botteroff

The playhouse...

Today Matt & Josh decided to pour the pad for the playhouse... of course that involved concrete and we all know what that means, right??? Of course - letting the girls make their mark! Matt took both girls out so they could put their hand in the concrete - Grace of course was ready right away (she's my dare devil), but not Eva... no matter how much we tried to convince her she didn't want to do it. She just buried her head in Daddy's shoulder, BUT once she saw Grace do it - guess what! She changed her mind, you know she has to do what Grace does:-)

Silly girl...

A bird in the house??

This morning we got home from meeting w/ Matt in Rushville, and I'm trying to get caught up making beds, etc... when Grace comes running in saying, "I'm scared! There is a bird in the kitchen!" Of course, I'm thinking - when was the last time I had the windows open? B/c my mother-in-law commented on how we needed to get our screens in the windows... but no way has a bird been hanging out in the house for a few days, right?

So I'm looking around I don't see a bird - but I really hear a bird, so where is he? The baby monitor in the kitchen, maybe it's picking up noise from upstairs? So I get close to it - the monitor is near the cook top - that's when I hear, "chirp, chirp... bang, bang, bang". Oh my gosh - the bird is in the hood over the cook top!

I call Matt in a panic, I really don't like birds and I'm wondering if he can get in the house... Matt's too far away to come home and take care of it - he called his dad but he was out too. I called Mom, who said "oh we used to get those in the fireplace all the time... your dad would just leave them - they die or get out". Okay that might work for a fireplace, but dead bird over your cook top I don't think so! So I called Debbie:-) Debbie knows EVERYTHING when it comes to kitchens. She said make sure the damper is open, and turn the fan on as high as it goes (I was afraid I might chop him up so I didn't have the fan on).

The girls and I did this, and then ran outside - thinking we'd see a dazed and confused bird come tumbling out... but no bird. I would turn the fan off and on checking to see if he was out - this went on for at least an hour before I didn't hear the bird again.

Post situation: Matt opened the hood and checked the inside to make sure there weren't any feathers - or worse (what a scared bird might leave behind!) but luckily there wasn't... he's going to add a screen in addition to the damper:-)

Birthday w/ Grams...

Grace's 5th birthday!!!

Miss Eva...

5 going on 16....