A day in the life of a princess

This afternoon was the day for Princess Laney.

While Ella was playing at Carly's, Laney started dressing up in her Dora Princess attire.

So here is her afternoon:

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Mom....Do I have to sweep again....I feel like Cinderella!

At least I will enjoy myself...I will sweep the stairs!

Enough of this...break time...let's play my drum!

I better tell my people that I will be late tonight...this house needs a lot of cleaning! Notice mommy's cell phone in her hand...starting early :)

No, really. I am going to be late. I have lots of cleaning to do!

But that was it...time to sweep some more. How does she sweep in high heels? She must have learned that from her mama!

Time for a snack break. Are meals included in my paycheck?

Sweeping the hallway or really just running away!

Never Say Never

Today was the day. The day of all days! I succumbed to my inner soccer mom. We have debated about a van for a while but with two girls, knew that we needed the room and the comfort a van offers. There were certain things I wanted (the dual sliding doors, a light color, lots of storage room) and after reading reviews and listening to friends' advice, we decided on the Honda Odyssey. It's silver with gray leather interior and someday I will learn what all the buttons do. After running an errand with Ella, I couldn't figure out how to get the doors to open automatically and she was "kinda" stuck for a while. She didn't mind....she was intoxicated by the new car smell.

I have to say, I LOVE IT! I said many, many times in my life that I would NEVER have a mini van. But now that we bought it, I am so glad we did. We have some recent trips coming up and between the extra room and the DVD system, it will be a more comfortable trip for us ALL.

Do you hear that...it's the Hallelujah Chorus! Hallelujah...hallelujah!
Oh, that's me singing :)

A walk on the canal

After the "late" evening last night we thought we would let the girls relax this morning. We put Laney down for her morning nap which ended up lasting till early afternoon (4 hour long nap....I want to do that!) but once she got up we thought it would be fun to go down to the canal. We hadn't been there since Ella was a baby so since the weather was cooperating, we thought we would head downtown. We walked a lot and although it was very hot we enjoyed showing the girls the paddle boats, the pretty flowers, the waterfalls and all the happenings down there. It was really a nice visit although Ella just wanted to jump in the water (she had her suit on so couldn't quit understand why we wouldn't let her) and get ice cream (which of course we couldn't find).

Trying to restrain Ella from jumping in the water

The girls enjoying the canal the way it should be.....being pushed in a stroller!

Ella and J

We sealed the day with a kiss on the carousel at the Children's Museum.
This picture looked much prettier in my mind!

Fishers Concert

Who doesn't love a good ice cream treat?

Tonight we went to an outdoor concert in the heart of Fishers. Dave and Rae, a local group, performed and ice cream treats were provided free, celebrating the fact that Fishers was rated in Money Magazine's top 10 places to live in the US. Any celebration for ice cream is a celebration to me.

We had a great group of friends that joined join us, and the kids all did so well. We didn't get home until 8:30, way past Laney's bed time of 6pm, but both girls really enjoyed themselves. Laney enjoyed dancing and Ella enjoyed playing with Abby. The moms often joke that during playdates we rarely get to have an adult conversation so for once we finally got to sit down and chat. It was nice to finish a full thought!

Marielle, Gabby and Reese sharing the bubbles. Reese was so good with the younger girls, helping them blow bubbles and making sure the bubble juice didn't spill.

This picture was tough to get as both girls just wanted to dance and hug each other. Steph and I always said how they would be best friends and now we have gotten there. The first three years of their life it was a forced friendship, but now they want to play together. Yeah for Steph and I, who just want to hang out!

Now the proud moms

Emily and Gabby, who is raising the roof.

Joel and Jason

Ryan and Kristy. I have to admit, this is a darn good pic!

Gabby, doing something cute. I forget what, but I know it was cute!
Gabby is adorable!

Cute little Clare. I can't believe she is going to be 1 in two weeks!

Cousins Grace and Ryan enjoying the bubbles.
The wagon was a big hit!

What amazes me......

In bible study a few months we were asked to think about what qualities our kids have that amaze and surprise us. Here is my list from today:

1) Ella's patience. She definitely got this from Jason as I have little to none. I have gotten much better but still constantly work on it. Today, we all went shopping and Ella picked out a craft she wanted to do. It was a carriage, like from Cinderella, and involved gluing, putting on stickers, coloring, etc. It was for ages 5+ so I was not so sure she would have the patience to do it. Before dinner, she sat down, pulled out all the pieces, organized them and then tried to put it together. Was she successful, no, but boy was she having fun. She kept referring to the box to see what it should look like. After dinner, Jason and Ella sat down and finished the craft. It was great to see that! J--you are such an amazing father!!!

Jason did make her promise that next time they build a model car, a rocket, an airplane...something more manly :)

2) Laney's sense of humor. I can sometimes find this girl doing the silliest things. Today was her first adventure with pigtails. She looked adorable in them but of course loved trying to pull them out. The whole way home from the pool I heard her say tail, tail. No idea what she was talking about but when I looked back, there she was twirling her pig tails.


3) Ella's sense of "what is in." I say this with complete sarcasm because her fashion sense is hysterical. Today I had the worse headache! I look over and Ella was in her new hat, sunglasses (upside down) and shoes (on the wrong feet) eating a popsicle.

Somehow after seeing this, my head wasn't pounding quite as much.

4) How adapting to different situations Laney is. Laney is exposed to so much more than Ella was at her age because she has a bigger sis to show her the way. Today we were at the pool and although she was tired, she played for a little bit and then just snuggled with me the rest of the time. I am sure she would have preferred to be in own her bed but thought maybe a snuggle with mommy would suffice.

But all I know is that I learn more and more about these girls everyday. I don't know how that is possible since I am with then 24/7 but they still amaze me. Laney is into shoes (anybody's work just fine), Ella is into independence (packing a suitcase for Nana's house, picking out her clothes, getting diapers for Laney) and both keep us busy!

Got Noise?

Today we had an afternoon play date with Carly. Her mom, Jen, and I always say that they kind of have that sister bond in the fact that they want to be near each other yet argue most of the time they play together.
But to calm them down, I gave them some instruments
and away they went.

Why would you pay for a concert when you can
have these kids play for free?

The girls before their big performance. I called Carly's instrument a flute but I am sure that is not what it really is. Ella is on the harmonica.

Introducing:
Carly on the flute thing
Ella on the harmonica
Windsor as lead singer
Laney as the upset customer who is mad she paid for this show!
Mom as the woman with a headache

The new babies in our lives

There are have been so many wonderful additions to our friends' lives lately that I wanted to post some pictures of these adorable babies that mean so much to us.

Katie Madeline Baker (mom, Jess, is one of my best friends from college)

Born April 16, 2008
7lbs 12 oz

Molly Clarke with mom, Patty.
Molly was born April 2008. Currently she weighs 14#. Patty lives next door with her husband, Pat (cute, right?) and their 2 year old daughter, Maureen.

Kylie Sue Wrin

June 22
9lbs 4 oz
Melissa and I work together

Brayden Brashear (his mom, Jen, and I used to work together and
Ella and her son, Parker, are the same age).
June 18th
8lbs 15 oz

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Brennan Edward Pirk
May 11th
9# 5 oz
Karen and I went to high school together and still remain very close!

Big Brother Hayden

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Charlotte Ryan Little
March 18th
5# 15 oz
Charlotte's daddy (Travis aka t-bone) went to college with Jason
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And there are more babies a comin':

Kathryn, Liz, Brooke, Lindsey (and everybody else in my mom's group--seriously, like 50% of them are pregnant).
I can't wait to add your babies on here!!!!!

Ahoy Matie

Last night Jason and I joined two other couples for a night of boating. Tim and Heidi have a beautiful house on Morse Reservoir and a boat always ready to go out. Scott and Christie also joined us. We had food and drinks while we boated around looking at the homes and enjoying the company. And secretly picking out which house we should buy :)

We have started having monthly gatherings (or close to it) with these two couples. They are great friends and we look forward to the New York City trip with them in October!

The captain and his wife (aka Tim and Heidi)

This might be a "framer"

Christie and Scott

The girls--Heidi, Me, Christie

Something to make you smile on a Friday

In case you are wondering, Jason has a pair of these pants and those are definitely my moves!

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A sing along

Today the girls and I went to the pool with the Springborns. Thursday mornings have turned into our swimming day as Forrest Park opens the baby pool and splash pad to pretty much just younger kids. The baby pool is a zero entry pool so the girls can walk on in and the tallest it gets is 36" so even Ella feels comfortable in the deep end with her raft. Laney would just prefer to sit and have a snack but really does love the sprinkler part and the frog slide.

Well, on our way to the pool today I was playing a CD Ella has. It's the Vegetails singing a variety of songs. One of them is "God is so good." You know, the one you would sing as a child in church. I turn the radio down a bit and hear Ella singing "god, you're so good, god you're so good, god you're so good to me." If that wasn't enough, Laney chimes in saying "God, God, God."

The next song in our drive was "He's got the whole world, in his hands." Ella singing so proudly with her hands in a cup motion showing the whole world. Laney saying/talking very loudly "God, God, God."

It made me smile so big to hear them singing together (in their own ways). I then looked back and they were holding hands!

Other things from this AM:

1) I am packing up the car for the pool and I hear the barbie jeep speed out of the garage toward the street. I assumed it was Ella driving (you know what happens when you assume things..) and she can drive fairly well so I wasn't worried. Well, I turn around to make sure and it was Laney driving. Now she can't drive the huge barbie jeep yet, but she sure thinks that she can! The pedal was to the metal and I was running in a crazy fast fashion towards the street. Luckily, all the Willett Women are fine (the girls thought it was hysterical, by the way)....probably me running was the funniest part.

2) We were leaving the pool and Laney was throwing a fit. Not sure why but when I would pick her up, she would flail about. I was getting frustrated and then I realized what she wanted.....my friend Steph. Steph, who is a great friend and who watches the girls 2 days a week, picks Laney up and she calms right down. She didn't want me, she wanted Steph. Some moms might find this sad or be upset that their baby wants another mommy instead of herself, but I have to say, I was so incredibly happy. Why? Well, Steph is a very important person in our lives and to see that her and Laney have a great bond makes me feel better about working two days a week.

3) Both girls are napping. I want to be napping. When the girls wake up we are off to meet a little 3 week old baby, Kylie :)

And finger painting day

All afternoon Ella was begging to do fingerpaints. Well, while I was thinking about dinner I thought I would let her do it. She loves to paint! And given that she was smiling and saying cheese so readily, I was happy to let her paint away...my little budding artist.

Her masterpieces were for Nanas--so pretend to be surprised when you get these Nana Kay and Nana Dean. Must go now..she is painting her arms!!!

It's laundry day

The other day, my friend Rebecca had a post on how cute her girls were during a typical laundry time. Well, today it was Ella and Laney's turn. As I was putting clothes away I hear Ella telling Laney to sit down. Sit down in what, I am thinking? There Laney was, being pulled around in a laundry basket by Ella. It was so adorable and they were laughing the whole time--up and down the hallway. Then it was my turn to pull both girls, then their turn to pull me. Given that I barely fit in the thing, they thought that alone was too funny--luckily I couldn't take any pics of that!

The activities that require no planning
sometimes bring them the most joy!

Who is your favorite super hero?

This is our favorite Super Hero--super Big Papa!

Today we spent all morning at the Children's Museum. We have a membership and although the girls and I typically go during the week, it was nice to take daddy with us! For one, I would never dress up like the super hero. But in a blink of an eye, Jason was dressed and ready to take action. The girls loved the interactive play! You can't really tell, but Laney has on her super girl costume.

I couldn't resist this one. On our way down to the museum.

Going down the slide.

The favorite part of Ella's trip. She calls the museum the "up down" because of the wonderful merry-go-round.

3 Happy Willetts.
I can't wait for the day when I can get all of us smiling at one time!

Daddy and the girls going over the log bridge.

Hopefully she drives the taxi better than she does her Barbie Jeep.

Ella is a tough one to get to smile on camera. She has always been. But entice her with food, and she is ready for the "cheese".

Jason was loving the golf. Laney just liked saying swing.

Ella liked swinging the club. She was really trying!

This one is kind of long--sorry about that. I just love getting some of these every day moments on video.

Trips to the museum are becoming a little less work and a lot more enjoyable. Ella runs from activity to activity with the merry-go-round being her favorite. Laney was walking all over and enjoyed the sand table and the slide. The girls are having a fun time exploring together...not always sharing...but always asking where the other one is (Laney's 1st two words together? Where Ella?). Another successful day.