SIX!!!!

 Happy Birthday Marin!

It is so hard to believe that it's been six years since the morning I woke up & went about my day as usual. I went to the gym and then to work. About mid-day I realized that I was having some pretty significant contractions. Went in & they immediately sent me in to be induced. Hours later Marin was here. She has grown up so fast {too fast if you ask me!}.

Her big week continued yesterday with her kindergarten graduation ceremony. She did a fantastic job during her performance. We are so proud of her!

 Her teacher got up in front of the group & said a little something about each student. She said that Marin is a thinker & a planner... always asking questions & making sure that everything is ready. Marin is really going to miss her next year. She's done such an amazing job teaching Marin!

 Marin with Daddy & Mommy after her performance...

 And then a few with her bff's. The top is Isabelle {we call her Marin's crazy friend} She is so cute & such a spunky little thing. Marin is a completely different kid when Isabelle is around... they are crazy together & it really makes us laugh. Bottom is Marin's good friend/neighbor Aubrey. They have such a cute relationship & we look forward to watching them grow up together. They celebrated this past weekend with a sleepover!

Since Marin is busy tonight with soccer, we celebrated last night as a family by taking a trip to Chuck-E-Cheese. Marin, Margaux & Maeve had so much fun. We're having such a fun week together. Today I'll be having lunch with Marin @ school & then making cupcakes for soccer! More pics to come! Happy Birthday Marin!!! We love you!!! xoxo

It's birthday week for Marin!!!! She is soooo excited & has been counting down the days since May 1st. She started off the week losing tooth #2 while we were up north. She bit into her s'more and that left it hanging by a thread {mom finished pulling it of course!} The tooth fairy found us up there...

 Then today she had another big event... she scored her 1st goal in soccer!!!! We are so proud of her. The smile on her face was priceless. She actually came pretty close to scoring a few times. She's definitely getting better. Here she is tonight after her game...

Two more sleeps until her birthday. It's been a big week already. Can't wait to see what the rest of the week brings. Lots of birthday celebrations to come! xoxo

Our friends Jon & Ashley live in a neighborhood where each cul-du-sac has a fountain in it. Theirs has three frogs & our girls just LOVE them! They were sad all winter when they were turned off. This past week we went there so I could photograph Ashley {she's due with baby #2 in a few weeks}. The girls were SOOOOOO excited to see the frog fountain back on. It was a hot one, so lucky for them they got to climb on board!!! When we turn the corner to their house, Maeve can hardly contain herself...she gets that excited screaming "froggies, froggies!"

Hard to believe that just a few days ago it was 84 degrees & now today it's barely 60. No swimming for Memorial day but the days leading up to it sure were nice!

Margaux took her turn on one of the frogs...

And here is Marin on frog #3. How perfect that there are three of them... one for each of our chicks!

Prego Ashley even climbed on for a few shots. They were some of our favorite shots from the evening. However, she was not in her swim suit like our girls were! lol

They were only allowed on the frogs for a few mins. while I took their pictures. Then they were back to the beach/lake to swim. We're so excited for more summer weekends @ the Olson's this summer! We were there again yesterday w/o swim suits & no frogs for these girls. It was WAY too cold again.

Margaux is officially done with school! Her last day was Tuesday {the 21st} so we went there first thing in the morning for a short little ceremony. She and her classmates sang songs & did little finger movements to go along with the music. Margaux sang very well, but of course her hands stayed at her side! She did not want to do the movements! 

Afterwards each child was presented with a certificate for completing 3 year old preschool. I wanted to take her picture but that turned into this...

  We even had to leave the room because she wouldn't stop!!!! That is soooo not typical of our Margaux. She was tired & did not want me to take her picture!!! But she did have no problem standing & taking this picture with her teacher for my friend Kari! {Karis, Mrs. Weber & Margaux}

 Once we got home & things settled down I asked her if she would go outside & take a picture with her certificate. She was happy to smile for a few photos & that made me happy. She did so well, that I even got in a little mini-session with her that produced some AMAZING photos of my cute little 4 year old! {I will post those soon} Love you Margaux, we are so proud of you! On to 4 year old preschool!!! xoxoxo

This little one broke the mold a two nights ago. She's the first one to successfully attempt to get out of her crib! After she did it once, there was no stopping her. Gary & I tried so hard to be stern with her but we couldn't stop laughing. Sitting in the living room we would hear her blanket hit the floor & then shortly after we'd hear her hit the floor {not knowing how she was actually climbing out}. Then she'd come out into the hallway, shut her door {loudly} and walk out into the living room & sit right down on the couch next to us. Of course I snapped a few photos of her...

 

 After about 6 times getting out of bed, Gary went in her room & layed on the floor until she fell asleep. Then I heard her door slam @ 4am. Guess who was out of bed & met me in the hallway???

Needless to say, first thing Sunday morning {after Gary ran the Cellcom 1/2 marathon} we were taking down the crib. Gary asked me why I was taking pictures, I told him because the crib that has been a part of our home for the past SIX years!!! Sad to see another "baby" item go...

 Once the big girl bed was set up the girls could not wait to give it a try. Marin decided to have all of them pretend to sleep. I love Maeve's face in the top "sleeping" photo. Only a short moment after, Maeve decided that she didn't want the girls in her bed & it turned into yelling.

 Happy as pie once the other two left her bed & she had it all to herself with her beloved reindeer blanket. Now if I could only get her to sleep well & stay in her new big girl bed, that would be WONDERFUL. We're working on it but it's not going so well. I will keep you updated, but for now I am exhausted!

 Enjoy this quick video of her showing us how she climbed out. We asked her in the morning to show us so we knew how she was getting out. After watching this, we knew we had to get her in a bed. Only a matter of time & this accident prone child would have gotten herself hurt! So funny!

Happy Mother's Day to all our moms, grand-moms, etc.

I am happy to say that I get to spend the entire day with these crazies!

So far this morning they've already eaten the custard filled donuts {not sharing with me!} leaving the boring unfilled one behind, and showered me with their home made gifts that I absolutely LOVE, and are now doing cartwheels in the sunroom behind me as I type this message. {Gary is in the kitchen cooking bacon} We're headed to church, then hopefully on a walk together, and tonight we head to my Grandma's for an annual Mom's Day fish fry. Perfect low key day...

I love my crazies & wouldn't like to spend my day any other way! Happy Mother's Day to me!

Miss Margaux having some alone time with mommy...

 She's recently decided that she would rather not take a nap each afternoon. Great for her, but not so nice for mommy who enjoys an hour or so of quiet time each afternoon!!! She's really not that bad & always agrees to a bit of quiet time....usually coloring, doing a workbook page or doing learning activities on the ipad. {She had to drop the nap at some point soon anyways, she chose to do afternoon kindergarten in the fall so she could ride the bus with Marin.} Today she decided to color in the sunroom while sitting on her "margaux" pillow with her coloring book on a stool.

She's so darn cute!

 She's very serious about her coloring as well. She loves to take her time & does pretty well. Although she is not happy when she makes a mistake. I'm working with her on just letting it go or using a different color to color over her mistakes. It's not always easy to move on though!

 

Once we finished coloring we went to the mudroom to watch for Marin's bus. I was in the picture taking mood today & snapped this one of her looking out the window as well. I know I've said it a million times, but I LOVE her lashes. She has the best eyes, I could stare at them forever.

Tonight she's having her first sleepover at a friends house by herself. A big thing for a four year old who's never slept anywhere without mommy & daddy {except Grandma's!}. I look forward to her good morning phone call & hearing all about her fun night when she gets home. Such a big girl!!! xo