11 Years! 5-19-13

Andy & I celebrated our 11 year anniversary on May 19th! My mom was in town the weekend before, so we were able to go on a date without babysitting expense :) We went to dinner at Red Prime in downtown OKC - fabulous food & atmosphere!

Andy gave me this beautiful Winston & Newton watercolor set that he had bought at the Washington D.C. National Gallery of Art when he traveled there for work in April. How thoughtful is he?! I love it - the paint palette is even ceramic!! :)

Back in April we had gone to the NeedtoBreathe concert with some friends. The opening band was called Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors. They sang this song that I loved & reminds me of us - 

"So you got the morning, I got midnight.
You are patient, I'm always on time.
What would I do without you?
You got your sunshine, I got my rainclouds,
you got hope & I got my doubts,
What would I do without you?"

David is 2! May 11, 2013

We celebrated David's 2nd birthday a few weeks ago! Cannot believe he is 2! Wow! A few things about him - still doesn't talk much although he obeys commands pretty well, so I know he understands more than he says. He is happy most of the time & he loves to be the clown - always dancing, laughing, showing off. Boy, can he eat :)!! He loves being outside, playing in the water, taking baths...really doesn't have many dislikes that I can think of. He is really starting to show his opinion when he doesn't get his way though :) Or when a certain sibling takes something away from him!!

 Mommom made him this cute Raggedy Andy doll.

 Kate & Michael loved helping decorate the kitchen - Mommom & Daddy had to blow up all the balloons though, since I have never been able to blow up balloons!! 

He loved opening his presets & didn't want any help :) BB & Papa gave him a birthday card with music - we loved watching him dance to it :)

When I took D for his 2 yr well-check, he got a great report. Healthy ears with tubes still in place, no heart murmur (Yay!) & he weighed 24lbs, in the 15% in both weight & height. 

Kate's Preschool Program

I was really excited to see Kate perform in her end of year program at her preschool, because all year her favorite at school has been music. "Today is music, Mommy!" "I love music!" "Mommy, today I got to go to music!" She did a great job at her program - she sang all the songs & did all the motions & seemed to really enjoy herself. She got to stand next to her favorite school friend, Kaitlin. I love the pic where they are smiling at each other as they are singing. Such a fun night! 

Kindergarten Mother's Day Tea

The kindergarten classes at M's school had a Mother's Day Tea. Mommom was in town so she went with me & Kate. When we arrived, the kids called their moms into the classroom one at a time. Each child introduced their mom to their class & then handed their mom a tissue paper flower. I sat down at Michael's seat & had a plate & card he had made me. He read the card to me, then we watched a sweet video Mrs. Branch had made of the kids reciting a poem about moms. "Little bees have a mom to teach them how to buzz," was M's line :) All the kindergarteners performed songs for us in the auditorium. Then they showed us their flowers they had planted in honor of their mom in the Washington Irving  garden. It was a very special afternoon (& I may have teared up a few times!!)

Helping Oklahoma

Visit my art website to find out how my art can help the tornado victims! Thank you :)

http://alisanelsonstudio.com/2013/05/21/helpingoklahoma/

April

Perhaps one reason that I only posted one time in the month of April is that it was cRaZy. Sooo long, April. I will not miss you. And with the recent national events, I don't think much of the country will miss you either!! 

Our April was crazy with Andy having 2 work trips - a total of 20 days, several big art deadlines for me, the stomach bug, and just normal life busyness - me teaching art lessons, homework, dentist appts, M's school field trip etc. Mommom came to visit one of the weeks Andy was traveling, so that was wonderful!! I also ran the OKC Memorial 5K again this year. It was a lot of fun. 

A few things to remember -

Michael - One night he was taking pictures of Kate & David with my phone. He ran into the kitchen to show me a pic he had taken & said, "Mommy! You've got to see this! It is adorable!" 

One night while Andy was gone I was exhausted & stressing. I'm sure M could tell & he said, "Mommy, I learned this at school - Smile, take a deep breath, and relax." :) It was so cute & it worked!!
I can't believe we are done with Kindergarten in less than 3 weeks. WOW.

Kate - Her favorites right now: her princess puzzle, twirling & me painting her toenails 

"Mommy, can you paint my fingernails?" 

"Mommy, can you watch me twirl?" 

"Mommy, will you work my princess puzzle with me?"

She calls her Minnie lovey "Minnie with a dress on" - love it :)

She always notices my fingernails - "Mommy, are your fingernails a different color?" yes. "Are they blue?" It's called mint. "Ohhh. I like mint. Mint is a pretty color."
David - He loves his stuffed animals these days & he calls them all his "babies." When I get him out of bed in the morning he wants all his "babies" to get out of bed with him. We were in Hobby Lobby the other day & passed some stuffed animals. He pointed & said, "Babies!!"
He still spontaneously dances at the most random times. It is so funny.
While Andy was gone he loved to do FaceTime. He would just laugh & stare into the phone screen looking at Andy. It was really cute.
I can't believe he will be TWO next week!! Another WOW. 

1)NeedtoBreathe concert with hubby & friends 2)Finished the OKC Memorial 5K 3)Fun with my sweeties 4)Mommom, Michael & Kate reading :) 5)Sweet friend, Pati 6)David the stud 7)David the ham :) 8)Watching the rain 9)Soccer coach Andy & Michael's team

Easter 2013

We had a wonderful Easter. It sure was early - March 31st! Thankfully it was a beautiful day though! On Easter morning the kids opened their Easter baskets, we finished our Resurrection eggs & read in the Jesus Storybook Bible. We walked over to our neighborhood park to take some photos. It was muddy from a big rain the day before, so I specifically gave the "don't play in the mud" mom speech. We finished taking photos & of course, the mud found Kate :) - all over her brand new white sandles & her legs. Thankfully not on her dress though! We had to run back home & clean her up before we left for lunch. We were invited over to the Lodge's (our friends' parents house) for a wondeful lunch & Easter egg hunt. It was a great day!