I Am a Princess!

Cute story about Abby: She was having a bath yesterday and kept throwing the washcloth out of the tub. I called her a "little Muchkin." She was quick to correct me, she is not a muchkin, but a princess. I thought "Oh no, here we go, just in time to share everything with a new baby sister!"

Then she surprised me further by saying, " I Princess Leia"! Ian has been reading and watching lots of Star Wars lately, and apparently, so has Abby. No Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty for her, she wants the action filled lifestyle of Princess Leia. ( I don't think she'll ever be able to pull off that hairstyle though!)

Just another lesson that each child definitely comes with her own personality, but certainly is influenced by her family!

Spring Break

We took advantage of the 2 warm days during spring break last week to play outside. Rachel is thrilled to be back to outdoor soccer. She practices on her own every chance she gets and is looking forward to their team's first game this weekend. Last night at practice, her coach suggested that the girls could be a little more aggressive. After practice he told me he had seen a totally new side of Rachel. Encouragement to be aggressive in any competitive situation is very dangerous for someone of Rachel's genetic make up!

Ian loves all things outdoors and quickly sheds his jackets as soon as I am out of sight! Cowboy boots are still his favorite shoes. I can only get him to wear anything else on gym day or for soccer. He was very pleased with himself the other day because he beat all of the kids in his class in a race, while wearing boots.

Abby is also so pleased to be outside again. She is fearless this spring and chooses big kid swings over baby swings every chance she gets. Tall slides are also so fun! She likes her little bike, but has definitely realized that until she figures out pedaling, running is much faster. She rides for about 1/2 the block to the playground and then quickly abandons her bike so she can catch up with the other kids. She is never one to be left out of fun.

It's hard to believe we have 7 weeks (or less!) until a new little girl joins our family. She is definitely growing and stretching out to find every available inch in my belly. I wish I could say I'll sleep better once she is born, but experience has told me that is definitely not true!

Evidence

My family has convinced me that it's only fair you get to see a "before" picture of me pregnant. Normally I get to just send pictures of a sweet newborn with an almost back to normal mommy, but here goes...

Spring?!

Could it really be spring? It sure felt like it yesterday. It was great to get outside and play and even dig in the flower beds a little. Abby was a bit timid at first about being on her bike, but soon discovered it was quite a good ride if she started out on the driveway, she could go fast and end up on the grass. Of course, every girl needs her purse and mardi-gras beads for a good bike ride! She had so much fun playing. She said to me "Like running!" When we were finished she crashed on the couch for two hours. It is raining today, but we are feeling hopeful!

Happy Easter!

March is seriously too cold to properly celebrate this holiday in Indiana! The Saturday before Easter, several local Easter egg hunts were scheduled, but attendance was surely low due to the freezing rain, sleet, and snow we received! The sun did come out Easter morning, but only Rachel and Shawn were feeling well enough to get dressed in Easter clothes and go to church. We were, however, well enough for and egg hunt indoors and lots of candy!
Abby has the greatest morning hair and loves her new plush bunny (another "friend" for her ever-growing collection!)
Ian has decided that bionicles are the new thing. He was pretty excited about this one in his Easter basket.

Rachel is truly growing up much faster than I can believe! Two more months until she can go to Young Women. She's counting days!

Science Fair

Ian won a ribbon at his school's science fair this February and was invited to participate in the Regional Science Fair at the State Fairgrounds this March. He had fun being there (especially getting to hang out with some new friends and play gameboy instead of being in school). His project was a test to see which breakfast cereal had the most iron. The surprising front runner-Cookie Crisp! Either it's more iron packed than the box said, or it has some kind of mystery metal that sticks to magnets. Who knows?

Ian's Birthday

Happy 7th birthday to Ian! He had a great weekend of birthday celebration. On Saturday the 16th, Shawn took Ian and a friend to a nearby arcade/Chucky Cheese type place. They had a blast and won lots of tickets. Both came back with a prizes-whoopie cushions, and candy of course! I'm sure his friend's mom was thrilled.

We had pizza and cake on Saturday, but since Sunday was his real birthday, we had to celebrate again. Definitely a lot of chocolate cake. Shawn always makes a celebration special. This time we sang Happy Birthday in 3 languages: English, Spanish and ??Russian?? (No, no one in our family speaks Russian. We all just did our best impressions. Guess which was Ian's favorite?)

Ian is a true cowboy at heart and was excited to get a real cowboy sleeping bag, his own flint for starting fires, and a horse blanket for the saddle stand he and Shawn are building to go in his room.