Pajama Shenanigans

My kids have been into some weird pajama pairings lately.  These pictures don't really prove my point, but I wanted to snap some pictures of them and write it down because I never want to forget it!

For about two weeks Marshall wore play clothes under his pajamas.  This amounted to a lot more laundry for me!  His reasoning:  in case he throws up in the middle of the night he can just take off his top layer of pajamas and go right back to bed.  :)

Rachel pretty much only wears play clothes to bed, complete with a sweater some nights.  If we bathe her that night she will request to put play clothes on.  If she doesn't get a bath, she just sleeps in exactly what she wore that day.  Clearly, she is the third child, this never would have flown with Marshall.  

Bridget is our most normal one currently, though this particular night she did wear pants under her nightgown.  :)

Where do kids come up with these ideas?!  Love them though.  :)

A Celebration For Mrs. Roethe

Marshall's first grade teacher, Mrs. Roethe, has been incredible.  I had heard all summer long that Mrs. Roethe was the teacher to get, so we were pretty excited when we found out Marshall would be in her class.  By the second day of school I was in love with her.  She was so warm, and genuinely wanted to know and love these kids, and our entire family as well!  She expected so much of the kids in her class, and was able to ask so much of them, without being demanding or overbearing.  In my school experience, I only had a handful of teachers like this.  I consider it a real art to master those fine lines, but Mrs. Roethe was able to do it flawlessly.  

One day in October Marshall came home from school so happy and informed me that Mrs. Roethe was going to have a baby!  He was ecstatic, but I was so sad!  This meant she would not be finishing the school year with the kids.  Never have I been so sad for someone to have a baby!  But, the kids soaked up their time with her, as did I, and I worked with some moms to organize a little baby shower for her during her last week at school.

The party was on St. Patrick's Day, hence all the green.  :)  The kids were so cute with Mrs. Roethe, literally showering her with gifts and a whole lot of excitement.  

 Rachel got to join me for this outing and had a ball being with the big kids, and especially with Marshall.  

Seriously, look at that smile on Marshall's face?!?!  He doesn't smile like that for just anyone!  Mrs. Roethe surely holds a special place in both our hearts.  

New Bed

Back in February, Rachel decided to climb out of her crib one afternoon instead of napping.  Marshall and I were dumbfounded when she walked out of her room.  I hadn't heard a thud or a clunk, nothing!  She is stealthy.  That night she demonstrated her new feat for all of us.  This girl is so strong that she could execute it without a peep.  The next few days she would frequently tell us, "I so strong, I climb out crib all by myself."  

Despite her charm and wit, this had me really down!  Our plan was to keep her in a crib until we moved to Utah.  This was also a huge reason I put Bridget in afternoon kindergarten.  I figured Rachel would nap every afternoon, or at least stay in her crib, and I would have 2 1/2 hours to myself.  It had been going so well for so long.  

Well, after much deliberating, we bit the bullet and broke down the crib and borrowed the Hassell's toddler bed.  Her first night in it was March 15...and it was a rough hour and a half.  You can just tell by that face this wasn't going to be easy.  

I am happy to report though, that despite a rough first night, she has really mastered this thing, better than Marshall and Bridget!  She hasn't come out of her room in over a week.  The last night she came out of her room I had put her to bed, turned off the light and closed the door.  I went across the hall to Marshall and Bridget's room to tuck them in and say good night.  When I left their room I found Rachel sitting in the hallway, with her door shut, her arms folded and she was just glaring at me!  I had to stop myself from laughing!  She was not too thrilled that I put her back in her room, but she did not come back out!  Last night she actually put herself to bed without any of us knowing.  Perfect!

As for naps, they are now non-existent, but I have really doubled down on quiet time, something I didn't enforce with Marshall and Bridget.  She is getting better at staying in her room and just playing quietly, and we have worked up to 45 minutes, so at least I still get a bit of a break in the afternoons!  

So now we have three kids in beds and the crib isn't in use for the first time in almost eight years!  They are all growing up so fast.

Bridget At Five

Bridget might be my child who never ages in my mind.  I honestly cannot believe that she is five.  That seems so incredibly old to me and I just can't believe it!  She is just a true delight to be around though and I am so glad I have her as my daughter!  Here are some things about Bridget at age five:

Bridget is 43 inches tall.  She grew four inches in the last year!  No wonder she keeps growing out of her pants!  She weighs 37 lbs.  

Honestly, I think it is a miracle she is growing because this girl lives off of crackers and dry cereal.  Her only form of meat is chicken nuggets.  She has recently gotten back into gogurt and string cheese, so that is good.  Her favorite fruit is watermelon, too bad it has such a short season!  She will also sometimes eat bananas, strawberries, apples, grapes, and canned pears.  :)  And after four years her only beverage is still just water!  

Thanks to only drinking water her teeth are amazing.  Not a single cavity and they are pristine.  

She loves going to junior kindergarten every day.  Her handwriting is so good, she knows all the letters, and all the sounds they make.  The other day she saw the word "fox" and told me what is said!

School has made her blossom into a little artist.  She loves art center and would do it every day if she could.  At home she loves to color, draw, cut, tape, glue and just create!  Her self-portraits and quite impressive and her most striking feature is her eyelashes.

She also loved dance class this year.  If you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up she will tell you an artist and a ballerina.

Bridget is such a great sister.  Yes, she has her moments of getting frustrated with Rachel, but who doesn't get frustrated with a two year old?  But really, Bridget is the best sister and the perfect middle child.  She plays so well with Marshall and will play just about anything with him.  I love listening to them in their room at night after we've put them to bed.  And she is a great little playmate for Rachel.  Their imaginations can soar and I love listening to them play with their ponies or princesses.  

Bridget gives the best hugs when we pick her up from school.  She squeezes me so tight and she does the same to Marshall when he comes out of the school building.  

She developed a real attachment to Richard this summer.  At times this summer she would just sob and sob for him.  He actually ended up making her a video on my phone and that came in handy many times!  It is rare she cries for him now, but he is still the first person she asks about almost every morning.  And she is also the most exuberant when he walks in the door from work.  

Bridget is a speedy bullet and her friends frequently tell me she is too fast for them.  

She can be shy, but has an abundance of friends, both old and new, with Max still being her favorite.

She spends the majority of her day skipping around, around the house, down the street, at the park, at the zoo.  This girl loves to skip.

She has a great zest for life and is so animated and loud at home.  In public she is quiet, shy, and usually reserved.  No one believes me when I tell them she is probably our loudest child.  

We love this girl and are so happy she is a part of our family!

  

Birthday Outing

We didn't have a friend birthday party for Bridget this year, but with it being her last Wisconsin birthday, I still wanted to have something special planned for her.  I came up with the idea to combine two of her very favorite things:  Max and art.  

Anna and Max picked us up Saturday morning, the day after her birthday, and the four of us spent half the day together.  I hope she always remembers it.

We began our day with story time.

With the story as our inspiration, the kids had a variety of opportunities to do some art themselves.

After that we just walked around the museum, enjoyed some lake views, and also watched the sails open and close on the museum.

After lunch in the museum cafe we spent some time outside and let the kids run wild.  They had a ball.

This picture makes me smile.  Max!  Love it!

These two, best of friends!

Bridget's Birthday

Bridget turned five on March 11th.  We had such a fun day celebrating this little lady.  

We started the morning off with donuts from Cranky Al's.  

Rachel was fairly certain it was her birthday as well.  She insisted she pose with Bridget.  They might be related.  :)

Bridget got spoiled by many people on her birthday.  Headband and bracelets courtesy of Papa Bill and a flower from her primary teacher.  

Bridget chose Murf's for dinner.  My kind of girl.  We dined on cheese curds and custard.  Perfect!

We ended the night with chocolate cake at home.  It was such a fun and special day for this special girl!

February Wrap-Up

The monthly photo dump from February...

Story and craft time at the downtown library.

A friend invited us over for a morning of snacks and a drive in movie in these classy cars.  My girls loved it!

Rachel in imagination land.  She gave each princess their own dot.  :)

We have known Nile Bridges since he was four.  Well, he's grown up now and is on the high school basketball team.  We went to one of his games one night.  They won and Nile did awesome.

After our trip to the Dells, Rachel ended up with the stomach flu.  :(

We dropped some things off at Babies R'Us one morning and then walked around the store.  The girls fell in love with some beds.