Addy & Lilly Take Columbus

When Grandpa Ian called and invited us all to go on a business trip to Columbus (OH) with him, we didn't hesitate--a fun family outing with grandparents--yes please! The girls love staying in a hotel and swimming in the hotel pool. We visited the Center of Science & Industry (COSI), adding another museum stamp to their passports.

We took them out for one of their first "fine" dining experiences and they did great! Lindey's in German Village was amazing food, amazing service and they LOVED our dining divas. Certainly not something we will do often, but they felt so special and their behavior was amazing.

We hit up Easton shopping center the next day and Grandpa & Dad took the girls to see Lion King in 3D while Grandma & I shopped. It was a great trip! Enjoy the pictures.

Lilly, testing gravity & pulleys with Grandpa at COSI

Addy LOVED the water exhibits

Addy finished her fancy dinner with lemon sorbet


Lilly opted for the standard vanilla ice cream

We stopped for some pictures at a park in German Village (Lilly & Mom)

Thanks for a fun trip Grandma & Grandpa!

IND-->ATL

Confession Time....my girls will be 4 in less than 3 months and we don't travel with them. They are spoiled beyond belief, but typically spoiled in the state. We have access to a beautiful lakehouse in northern Indiana and we've done a couple long car trips, but all less than 5 hours in their lifetime. The trips we've taken we've opted to do as a couple, leaving them at home basking in the glory of being the only grandkids on both sides of our family.

So, when we caught wind that Jeremy's good friend was getting married in Atlanta and knowing my high-school girlfriend relocated her family there last year AND we have wonderful family friends in that area, we decided the Memorial Day Weekend trip was in order. We planned to drive as a foursome, but my parents wanted to join in the fun to see our close friends, so Grandpa's frequent flyer miles were cashed in for Addy & Lilly's first flight! I thought it was important to have our car/car-seats and not pay out the a@# to fly with golf clubs and all our 'stuff', so we drove in the peace & quiet while the girls hit the sky! We were given strict instructions by Lilly, to make sure we "followed the big plane, not the little plane down to Atlanta." So that is what we did!

Once there, we hit great playgrounds, pools, the American Girl Place & the Georgia Aquarium. It was fun and a trip we will certainly do again. Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Sadler for your help--the trip wouldn't have been possible without you!

Addy, waiting for her ride to the airport, she'd been packed for days!

The sting-ray exhibit at the aquarium--they loved it!


The girls and little Dakota Rose--showing this girl what power-shopping is!


A & L and their dolls waiting for their lunch at the bistro-I'd spoken to a lot of skeptics about this place, but it is marketing genius and the girls were in awe!

Lilly, came round the table to thank her mama for bringing her!

Who knew my brother was a romantic?

Many folks know the story, but Jeremy proposed on the beach in Florida, the catalyst to us deciding to get married on the beach just a year after the engagement. He's not the most romantic guy, but it was wonderful and his mom was just thankful the ring didn't appear somewhere mid-flight and he didn't propose to me sitting in coach eating peanuts. Hard to believe that was seven years ago now! Until last weekend, I thought my brother was pretty similar to Jeremy in the romance category, but perhaps they all have a bit of a hopeless romantic bottled up inside!

I've known A LOT of proposal stories, but my brother's now takes the cake! He's been conspiring since NOVEMBER--with the ring bought, permission from her father given weeks ago, but he waited until all the stars alligned and it was perfect! He invited her family from Michigan and us from Indianapolis (Aunt Cat you were SOOOOOOO missed!) to Joseph Decuis Restaurant in Roanoke, IN. She thought she was attending a vendor appreciation dinner and they did a tour of the farm, complete with a winter sleigh ride. He proposed, she said yes, they then headed to the restaurant for dinner. A private room with all of us and her entire family awaited them! Good food, great atmosphere and a fabulous beginning for the two of them! Congrats to Maggie & Jon!

Complete shock as she came in the room!

The three look-outs watching out the window for their truck to pull up tot he restaurant. Charlie is in the middle--Maggie's ADORABLE nephew--apparently Lilly knew love was in the air!

Perfect Pair!

The blended families--Cheers!

Amateur Photography

The girls each got a Fisher Price Kid Tough digital camera from Santa, so I thought I'd dedicate a blog to some of their shots. I figured it would be a good glimpse of life through their eyes. After reviewing over 200 photos, I learned a few things. 1. Daddy takes far too many naps. 2. Mommy drinks far too much wine. 3. The girls watch far too much Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Enjoy!

Lilly behind the lens

The best photographers need to fuel up before their shoots

One of 7 napping daddy pictures

When I showed this to Addy, she said, "I was taking pictures of my best friends"

Mommy

Mickey

Addy on Christmas night

Grandpa Ian, probably taken by Addy as he would fall into the best friend category too!

Blessed Beyond Measure-Christmas 2010

I'm procrastinating putting the decorations away and still eating leftovers, not quite ready to kiss the holiday good-bye. It was a good one. Magical, to say the least. A & L's excitement and anticipation had me awake at 5:30 on Christmas Day. I lived my best holiday through them. A great benefit of being a mom, I guess. We had visitors and gifts and I'll surely rank their favorites on a later blog when I see which span the test of some time. I'll get to my thank-you notes, clean the fridge and edit some pictures, slowly ticking off the to-do list. However, my biggest hope is that the feelings revisit my heart and theirs again before next December.

The tree-taken at about 6:30 a.m.--just before the girls walked down!
Letter to Santa--written verbatim--gotta love the potty reminder!

Evidence that he had come and gone and taken that silly Elf on the Shelf with him!

Bedtime stories with dad!

Holiday walk in the snow with Uncle Joe

Christmas Eve before church--Daddy post-lasik! It's still weird seeing him without glasses! (Lilly, on the other hand looks like she might need them :-)

Picture from the Ash grandparents holiday card!

Picture from the Sadler holiday card (yes, A & L graced 3 holiday cards in 2010-we are really trying NOT to let the popularity get to their heads!)

Humbled to host this crew at our home for dinner every year! We feel the love!

Halloween Hangover...

Not sure where October went, but the final weekend was occupied by a Hayride & Picnic with our twin friends, a costume/birthday party for a friend, neighborhood gathering & parade, and trick-or-treating with both grandparents here celebrating our chicken & egg. Now, I'm trying to wrap my brain around November and rid the house of any evidence of any Halloween candy.

The week leading up to Halloween, EVERYONE asked the girls what they were going to be. Most anticipated hearing "princess" or "fairy" or "ladybug." I was afraid the girls would be swayed and would want to go as princesses instead (because don't get me wrong-they love princesses), but they were troopers, each time proclaiming proudly that they were going as a chicken and an egg! Overall, they were great trick-or-treaters and tolerated Daddy driving them all over town to show them off before getting to do any actual door-to-door action.

During the neighborhood gathering & parade, we realized we hadn't quite prepared them for the 'scary' costumes. Lilly took one look at some kid draped in black cloth (head to toe) with a bloody stump on top of his head and FREAKED. Girlfriend had to come back to the house and ran upstairs insisting that she'd rather go to bed than participate in Halloween. It was so sad, but after some coaching, she rallied. With her daddy by her side, she braved the neighborhood again. The grandpas' recounted a couple of times having to cross the street to avoid the "scary" guys". Luckily, we had no long-term side effects of the trauma.

Addy was a doll and told anyone who asked that her Ga Ga Jody had made her costume. She has a new-found love of NERDS and I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing as she eats them one-at-a-time, so a mini box can occupy her attention for up to 30 minutes. She adored watching the older kids and idolize our neighbors, so any holiday that means she spends time with them, she's on board!

Enjoy the pictures!

Lilly on the hayride

A wind-blown Addy on the hayride

Braving the big-hill slide at a park nearby during the twins club picnic

Mom's turn!

Addy-layered and ready to go! (it was a chilly Halloween night in Indiana!)

Lilly-ready to fill her bag!

First stop: GiGi's and Wild Bill's house (great-grandparents)

Grandpa Dave, Grandpa Ian, Ga Ga Linda, Ga Ga Jody, Daddy, his chicken & his egg!

Easter 2010

Addy, Grandma Linda, Grandpa Ian & Lilly before heading to church

Buried in chocolate eggs, feeling full from over-indulging at brunch and overwhelmed by generous gifts from family, we are trying to remember who we celebrate this Easter! It certainly isn't the now famous Butler Bulldog (we'll go back to celebrating him tomorrow) and it isn't that white bunny that makes Addy cry. I love that Easter begins the Spring season and with the sun shining brightly today, we will continue to pass God's message on to our kiddos--as Addy told Father Mike this morning "Jesus has risen!" Happy Easter! Now, back to snagging candy from their baskets while they are napping. Enjoy the pictures.

A & L checking out the loot after an egg hunt in the backyard

Addy peaceful in church (this lasted atleast a couple minutes)

"I found another egg!"--Lilly, snagging an egg at church before brunch

Guest Blogger - Aunt Cat visits for the holiday

Three generations of red-heads on Christmas Eve

Addy & Lilly have said "Happy Birthday Baby Jesus!" approximately 400 times since I arrived last Wednesday. On Christmas Eve we went to church and they walked up to the nativity and wished Baby Jesus a happy birthday and then proceeded to have a little wrestling match over who got to hold Baby Jesus. They also enjoyed the electric candles at the service and kept turning them on and off. All in all I think they were very good at church; however, the irony of the two of them singing Silent Night was not lost on anyone in the congregation.

We left some cookies for Santa and some carrots for the reindeer and an Addy & Lilly dictated note that said (verbatim):

Writing our letter to Santa...

Dear Santa, Will you please bring me & sissy some gummis and some toys and some wine for Grandma and some french fries? Give Rudolph some carrots and enjoy the cookies and milk!

We had a little bit of a discussion about what Santa would like to drink, Lilly thought Santa would like a "cold beer." I think maybe someone needs to have an intervention with Addy & Lilly's mom & dad and grandparents.

On Christmas morning they were really excited to see if Santa ate the cookies and they got a note from Santa that thanked them for being such good girls and told them to have fun on their new bikes! So they ran into the family room and saw their new bikes - no tricycles here! They figured out that a much more fun way to ride a bike is to be pushed on the bike by an adult and have a race with sissy all over the house:)

The loot...Santa was good to everyone!

Lilly loved opening all her new books and gave them a quick flip through to make sure the books were to her liking. Addy loved opening up all her dolls for her dollhouse. They quickly zeroed in on their interests. They loved their magic fingerpaints from Uncle Jon - the fingerpaints only work on the magic paper - otherwise I think Mommy would have put Uncle Jon in a timeout. We made cupcakes together which was a little bit like the blind leading the blind - I told them I would have been better off making toast. A Christmas miracle happened and the cupcakes actually turned out pretty good!

Addy with a few of her new dolls

Baking Christmas cupcakes with Aunt Cat

Lilly with her new blanket from Jeremy's Aunt Cindy

Sadly they refused a nap on Christmas Day - but they were troopers through our 20 person dinner! They had a wonderful time at the party and seeing their family and "helping" to open up more presents.

My brillant, beautiful nieces are growing up though - they have opinions and god help you if you don't listen to them. They do operate on the whoever talks the loudest gets to speak rule. They each have a bit of a dictatorial streak in them and I think there is general consensus that they get that from their mom! They are so kind and loving - always giving hugs and kisses. I think we need to get Addy & Lilly run & hug on tv! They actually run at each other (olympic speed) and crash into a hug - all the while screaming at the top of their lungs "RUN AND HUG - RUN AND HUG!"

Addy & Lilly - I love you two! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year - Happy Birthday Baby Jesus! I cannot wait until I see you again - don't grow up too fast and try for the sake of your mommy and daddy to get some sleep - I think if you slept a little bit more mommy might need a little less wine and daddy might need a little less cold beer:)

Grandpa Ian with Lilly, Aunt Cat with Addy, checking out Baby Jesus in the church nativity