e's birthday party

a princess party for my 4 YEAR OLD elena...

lanie's birthday falls smack in the middle of several family birthdays and we actually had everyone here....so i had prince and princess cupcakes made for all of the birthdays.....uncle e, super jan, elena, me, nona, heidi, and great grandpa john (and of course adelyn and landen got their name on one too).

dreamsicle cocktails for a few of the princesses....

the princess of honor was flying high having everyone here to celebrate with her...

another princess was flying high on a starburst candy dish....

4 YEARS OLD...

elena and landen kept themselves quite busy...doing tricks...

great uncle tom was also here from colorado....and nona was suprised too by gina and landen coming from california....i was not so surprised when my brother tony was drinking from my cup....

my princesses....being not so princess like....

about to sing happy birthday...

e's 4th birthday from Molly Leone on Vimeo.

i feel so lucky to share my birthday with my daughter...

more of the birthdays...super jan, heidi and uncle e....

made a wish and blew it out...

excited that she now gets to eat cake!

mmm mmm mmm...

frosting first of course...

gina, mom and heidi...

me and my mom...

present time...

presents, presents, presents...and yes adelyn got something from just about everyone too. it needs to stop!

sa-weet new personalized hats from heidi and shane....

i hope the girls know how lucky they are to have all this family around them for such a special day...

great grandpa john turned 87!!! and nona turned 93!!!

we all got to exchange gifts....in person!

uncle t-bone and natalie putting together the scooter they got her...

the happy birthday princess....

the three musketeers on the slide all night....they were so amused with themselves, it was hilarious...

play play play

penny drops...

slide fun...

trying out her new scooter...she loves it...

the proud parents...

with our 2 girls...

it means so much to all of our family that came and celebrated with us! thank you!

"I am thankful for the mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends." ~Nancie J. Carmody

it's always a surprise

after about a week and a half of my aunt being here, we headed to the airport to pick up her daughter/my cousin, heidi.....well, at least that's what she thought...

surprise super jan from Molly Leone on Vimeo.

her other daughter/heidi's sister/my other cousin, gina, ended up coming as well and brought her youngest, landen. ya following? this has been an ongoing thing between us....we're always trying to suprise each other. so heidi and i were the only ones that knew gina and landen were coming. ;) so happy to have them here!!!

"Sisters are there, no matter how much time and how many miles are between you. A girl friend is never farther away than needing her can reach." -Unknown

new beds!!!

they finally arrived and while we were away having our girls day....daddy was putting them together! they are bunk beds, but we decided not to bunk them quite yet.....so they're taking up the whole room. but that's ok. right now they enjoy sleeping together....emphasis on right now.

thee best thing about the new beds is that elena has stopped sucking her thumb and spitting (yep, she would gather her spit as she sucked her thumb and spit it out onto her matress - not fun)!! here's a flashback to remind you....

spitty magee from Molly Leone on Vimeo.

but it is NO more! for almost 2 months now! woohoo!!

the other great thing (or not great thing depending how you look at it) is that we can lay with them when needed.

that is....if there's room. ad's become quite the hoarder. she's slept with stickers, blocks, you name it!

our lullabies have remained the same and i wanted to share miss adelyn singing with us....

adde's lullabies from Molly Leone on Vimeo.

while the new beds are awesome, sleep for the girls has still been less than awesome. :( there has been a slight improvement and i'm hoping it continues. ::fingers crossed::

"People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one." ~Leo J. Burke

girls day

three weeks ago my aunty jan came from california for a 2 1/2 week visit. we were all over the moon to see her and get some nice quality time with her!

i had set up a girls day for me, my girls, my mom and my aunt in the city while she was here. i got tickets to the "pinkalicious" play and had shopping at the american girl doll store and lunch planned as well. sounds perfect, right?!

i was pretty sure it was until we got about 25 miles outside of the city and came to dead stop traffic. sadly there had been a fatal accident earlier and as result we ended up sitting on the highway for an hour and a half....making us a 1/2 hr late for the play. :( we did our shopping instead...

this was our first time to the american girl doll store and boy, was it something!

lanie next to the lanie doll. she has the lanie doll, but both girls chose to bring their bity babies instead.

we then got a fancy ride around the city in a horse and carriage.....the first for ALL of us!

elena thought the water tower was rapunzul's...pretty close.

we made wishes...

and threw them in the fountain hoping they'd come true...

we headed to uncle t-bone's....

where he gave the girls their first licorice!! ad wasn't much of a fan...

we headed to lunch with uncle t-bone, escorted him back to work and then stopped at uncle e's and aunty steph's to see them really quick....and uncle e got a tad dizzy playing duck duck goose with the girls...

we were all so disappointed about the traffic situation (ok mostly me, the girls didn't even know otherwise), but we made the best of it and it was really such a great day!!!

"The world wouldn't be the same without women, and neither would I. When we began this adventure called womanhood, we had no idea of the incredible joys or sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we would need each other." - Unknown

swim lessons

swim lessons have come to an end....weeks ago.

but i'm just getting around to telling you how perfect your form was/is this summer miss elena!

both of you truly just like to play...and i can't blame you...

but you both got down to learning when you needed to...

you have excellent form....perfectly pointed toes and everything.

elena, your front float is superb. you're not into trying it alone yet though. hopefully next year.

e swim lesson 3 from Molly Leone on Vimeo.

adelyn, you don't have the fear.....but you also don't really have the listening skills and/or desire to really learn how to swim just yet. ;)

you sure loved "swimming" around the pool though. and your kicks are awesome!

"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

overwhlemed

i'm in a blogging slump. so much has happened in the last 3 weeks and i'll get on it....soon. but for now...a video. i caught the girls singing lullabies to their puppy 'gogo.'

gogo to sleep from Molly Leone on Vimeo.

"A characteristic of the normal child is he doesn't act that way very often." ~Author Unknown

4 years old

our princess turns 4 years old today! we cannot believe it. the party already happened...
but you've been rocking our world for 4 WHOLE years!! wow!
little lanie jae, i am not ready for you to be 4 years old. you are getting further away from the toddler years and it makes me sad. you start preschool tomorrow! you love to be quizzed....in math and reading. i think you really like to learn and lately you've been interested in learning definitions. you seem to have that photographic memory and are a smartie pants. you count to 100, but often need help with the 10's.....as you sometimes say 39, thirty-ten. you're coordinated and are always pointing your toes, straightening your arms, etc. one of your accomplishments this summer was mastering a penny-drop on the swingset rings (over 2 months ago).
you are the sweetest, most thoughtful little girl. you are so kind to everyone and always handing out compliments. you are very forgiving and can't hold a grudge for anything. you definitely have sass sometimes. it can really drive us nuts....but to be honest, i kinda like it. and i know it will serve you well in the long run! you have a great sense of humor and love to joke around. you have a great laugh! you are really very fun and outgoing. you get along with everyone. you don't usually join in when you're peers are misbehaving....you sometimes tattle and always observe. you're a very mature little girl. one of my favorite things about you is how assertive you are!
you love everything fancy right now. you want to wear only dresses and are usually frosted with matching jewelry and hair accessories.....even with your pajamas, which of course are usually night gowns. princesses and barbies are two of your favorites. and you still adore being a mommy to all of your dolls. you pretend to be pregnant almost daily and often have twins or triplets. you still sometimes nurse your babies. you also play with little people a lot. basically whatever you can to set up a family/house situation.
your favorite movie lately is happy feet. you still have a passion for animals and are still always asking questions about them trying to learn more. you love to sing and dance and it's probably your absolute favorite thing to do. you pretend to turn on music and then truly perform....singing and dancing like a superstar! we really see the spunk come out. you have some very interesting versus, as you make up all of your own songs.

e songs from Molly Leone on Vimeo.

just this past week you have shown a lot of fear when going to bed and during the night if you wake up. i'm hoping it's just a phase, but i'm really sympathizing with you. you have really LOVED your sleep up until this. you're still a champion eater. drawing remains another favorite of yours and you seem to have some artisitic skill.

elena, you light up a room and have for sure brightened up our lives. thank you for being such an amazing and fun little girl! you have taught daddy and i so much about ourselves and about life. we love seeing you blossom, but don't grow up too fast! thank you for being you, sweet elena! you are so very loved!

"Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Elena
Happy birthday to youuuuuu!" - Elena's family

laundry help

the only thing i like about them getting older....their desire to help! (otherwise, it's perfectly fine if they stay little sweet cuddly babies.) if i grab the broom, they're grabbing they're little sweepers. if i grab the vacuum, they're vacuuming with their vacuums. if i grab a dust cloth, they're grabbing tiny baby blankets and following right behind me. and etc, etc, etc.

lanie's got the pants down and adde's my shaker-outer. and a shaker-outer, she is.

laundry help from Molly Leone on Vimeo.

now if only we could continue this desire into their adolescence. bwahaha. that's alright, I WILL take advantage while i can.

thanks girls! you have no idea how much you're actually helping me, truly.

"Our house is clean enough to be healthy, and dirty enough to be happy." ~Author Unknown