Emme In Her Cute Dress

I shared this picture on Facebook today, but I just think it's too cute not to share on here as well. Some of you aren't on Facebook all the time anyway so I didn't want you to miss out. I love this dress on my little Emme. She got it for her birthday last August, and I just love it! I pulled it out of her closet again since it was a pretty decent today weather wise. I want to get some use out of it before she outgrows it! I felt like dressing her up a little in more than jeans, although we really didn't have anywhere to go. We ran a couple errands and she was a hit with many shoppers while we were out getting the "awwww so cute!" I have to agree that she is pretty adorable and looks oh so cute in this dress today. So nothing more than a photo to share today of my cutie patootie. Short and sweet. Here's my precious Emmaline cheesing it up for the camera.

School Ice Cream Social

Tonight we had Evan's school ice cream social. The school holds this event at one of the local parks every year during the last week of school. Last year it was really cold I remember when we went. This year it wasn't much better. While the sun was out, it was still windy and chilly and not the warm weather you'd hope for when having an ice cream social. I was too chilly to eat any ice cream, but Greg and the kids enjoyed it. It was still fun nonetheless, and the kids enjoyed the ice cream, but even more probably was playing at the park! Thanks to the MSU CDL Parent Council for putting on this event! Here's some pictures of our little school outing last night. Enjoy!

Evan & Emmaline deeply enthralled with their bowls of ice cream (vanilla w/ sprinkles).

Emmaline enjoying the swing. Last year she didn't want anything to do with swings, and this year she seems to love swinging!

Brother & sister having some fun on the tire swing!

Evan going down the twist pole!

A Fun Weekend!

It's been a fun weekend despite the crappy weather we've had. After we got Em's hair cut on Saturday we headed to Spartan Stadium to watch our beloved Spartan football team play in the spring practice Green/White game. You know how I LOVE football so football in April is right up my alley. We debated about going though because of the weather, but since we were already out we decided to give it a chance. We lucked out because it didn't start raining until the beginning of the fourth quarter. By then we were ready to leave though because Em hadn't napped yet and the game wasn't all that exciting so it was a good time to go. I'm hoping that they have some trick plays up their sleeves when the regular season starts in September. It was fun to go though because hey, it's football, and since regular games are all so expensive to do as a family outing this was a great opportunity to take the kids. They enjoyed it. Well Evan really liked the football part, while Em was busy watching Sparty. She LOVES Sparty! Plus we got to sit on like the 40 yard line and that would never happen if we bought regular tickets. Evan even got to see his favorite former MSU football player, Javon Ringer who was down on the sidelines so he was really excited! Here's a few photos from our football outing.

The kids in Spartans Stadium waiting for the game to start. (It was a little bright for Ev)

Opening kickoff!

The star quarterback Kirk Cousins taking his first hand at the ball. I'm glad MSU has one starting quarterback this year and they won't be going back and forth like last year!

Last night we went over to our friends Ahna & Jason's house for a little birthday party. They welcomed kids too so we took Evan and Em. It was nice to get out for awhile and hang with some neighbors and catch up. We couldn't stay all that long since it got to be Em's bedtime, but it was still fun. Thanks for the invite Ahna & Jason!

Today was a dreary day and it rained off and on. We ran some errands, had lunch with Greg's mom and by the time we got home it was time to go to bunco. My friend Eileen had bunco this month and it was "spring themed bunco." A good time was had by all and this had to be one of my best bunco games ever. I had 14 wins out of 18 and two big buncos. At one point I even had 5 baby bunco gifts! I ended up winning $20, and my friend Carla and I tied for most big buncos so we had a roll off and she won the money for that part. If I would of won I could of come home with $45. Oh well. I did still come home with some money, a big bunco prize, and two baby bunco prizes.

Here are the prizes I came home with!

It was nice once again to have girl's night. Thanks to Eileen for hostessing and serving the best Sangria I've ever had! It was so tasty and we all agreed it was a hit! Now it's time for a new week to start and I just can't believe my Evan only has four days of school left. Is that really possible? And how is it possible that by Saturday it will be May 1st?

Emmaline's First Haircut

Today we finally did it. After much talk about and debating if we should or shouldn't, we finally took Emmaline for her first real haircut. I've trimmed her bangs here and there (sometimes better than others), but she's never had the length cut. We finally decided it was time to get it cleaned up and the bangs cut straight before we head off on vacation in another month. It was much needed and glad we did it. We didn't get much cut off though. Just enough off the back to clean it up a little and the bangs trimmed so she can see. Emmaline was all excited when we left to go get her haircut, but by the time she got in the chair she wasn't too happy. She didn't like the cape put on her and she wasn't too excited to get the haircut. Her brother was super helpful telling her it would be o.k. and that he sits there like a big boy when he gets his haircut so she could do it. She did settle down after a few minutes, but had to hold mine or Greg's hand the whole time. Overall she did really good for her first time. Much better than Evan did when he was younger and we took him for his first haircut. Here's some pics of my little girl and her new haircut. It's really not much different than before, but you can tell she got a haircut.

Here's the back before...

Here's the back after...

Here she is getting her bangs cut... (holding Greg's hand)

Finishing touches on the bangs... (holding my hand now)

All finished, but not overly thrilled with the whole experience!

A little happier now that she's home!

That's my smiling Little Miss Sunshine that I know!

Parent Teacher Conferences

Yesterday was a busy afternoon. Emmaline and I headed to Evan's school to do the last "official" day of library cart. Next week is Evan's last week of school so that means no more library duty. I just had to check in all the books and then send notices home to those who still had books out. We want to make sure we get all the books back so we ended library a week earlier than school ends. It went pretty fast and Emmaline was a great little helper. She took the books out of the student's envelopes, I put the cards back in the book, and she put the books on the cart. Great teamwork we had. She was eager to start pushing the cart down the hallway to the classes, but I had to explain to her that we weren't doing that part this time. It's been a little hectic some weeks doing the library cart with Em in tow, but overall it's been fun. Seeing the kids eager to get books is just wonderful. Being able to spend some time at Evan's school too is also wonderful. I'll have to make another stop in next week to pull together a few odds and ends, but overall most of the library work is done.

After library duty we had parent teacher conferences. The week before I had been talking to Evan's teacher and she said she couldn't wait to talk to us about Evan. I took that as a good sign the way she said it. Then before school I asked Evan what Ms. Schulze was going to say about him and he responded, "It's definitely going to be good." Sure enough my feeling was right, and Evan's response was right. I couldn't have been more delighted when I walked out of there yesterday. Here's some of the things his teacher told us:

• He's kind, cooperative, respectful of others
• Follows the expectations of the teachers
• Positive attitude towards school
• Demonstrates pro-social behaviors
• Good listening skills
• Participates in singing & movement activities (Of course he does, my Evan is always singing)
• Writes his name and words other than his name
• Creative and imaginative
• Knows the sounds of letters

These were just some of the things. Last year in preschool Evan had a hard time wanting to be away from mom & dad. This year he's completely changed and loves being in school and is always going up to other kids asking them to play, making sure they have someone to play with. She also let us know he likes to help others if they need something and offers to give his toys to others if they want to play with it. He's been a real delight to have in class and she told us we've done a really good job with Evan. All nice things to hear. I'm very proud of you Evan, keep up the good work in all your school years!

The Post Weekend Update

Here it is going on 10:00pm, and I'm just getting to blogging. The migraine is gone, and I promised you so here's the post weekend update of our happenings. Friday night we just hung out at home. It was too cold to go out, at least for me. Greg didn't feel like sitting at home all night so he and Evan went to the bookstore while Em and I stayed home. Saturday wasn't much more exciting. We were kind of slow going in the morning, then finally got out and made a Sam's run. Later on we made a Target run and on the way home picked up a pizza. We had a free one coming because they messed up our order a few weeks ago so that was nice. We brought it home and watched Alice In Wonderland with the kiddos and had a little pizza/movie party. It was a nice family evening hanging out. Emmaline really loved the movie. Her eyes were pretty much glued to the T.V. the whole time. Now we just need to watch her new Princess and the Frog movie. She's watched it before, but I'd like to see it too.

On Sunday I headed to Grand Rapids for another Uppercase Living party. The party was in Grandville so it was back to familiar territory for me. The party went really well, and guess what? I got another party booked off it so I'm heading back to Grandville next month. I'm not complaining though. I'm happy to be having shows. It's starting to pick up for me, and I'm really enjoying it. If you're interested in anything check out my website lisakohuth.uppercaseliving.net.
UL has a new Celebrations catalog with some really neat kits at great prices. It's now available to look at on the website! It was a long day, but worth the day trip there and back. One thing about going without my kiddos in tow though, is I really really miss them when we're that far away from each other. Greg got in another bike ride while I was gone yesterday. He's gearing up for his first race in a couple weeks so I think he's going to be riding a lot between now and then, weather permitting.

Today the sun finally came out and it warmed up a little. After dinner we got outside for a bit, and while the kids played I mowed the lawn for the first time this spring. Holy cow, I didn't realize how long the backyard was already. It was probably about a week overdue! Em practiced on her big girl bike a little tonight while I was cutting grass. She was doing pretty good with some help from Daddy. It's the whole learning to steer and pedaling all at the same time thing. She got pedaling good a few times, but then headed right into the grass. She's got lots of time to learn, and I know she's got a good bike teacher in her daddy. So that catches you up to today in a nutshell.

I Really Want To Blog But...

Good evening readers! I really wanted to blog tonight, as well as do some other things, but it's been a long day and I developed a migraine (yes again) about 4pm and it's still with me. So not fun. While I wanted to tell you all about my weekend (not that is was super exciting), I really don't have it in me right now to write very much. I took some of my migraine medicine and it's making me sleepy. I think this will be an early night to bed for me. I've got a busy week ahead so I think I need my rest tonight. I promise I'll write more tomorrow (that is if I don't still have a migraine). I hope you all had a nice weekend and for cryin' out loud if it doesn't warm up soon I'm going to scream, or cry, or stay in bed. Ugh! One day it's 80, the next day it's 44. Seriously only in Michigan folks, only in Michigan. Sunshine, blue skies, and flip flops really need to be in my NEAR future! Before I call it a night though I would like to wish a congrats to our friends Carmen and Tony who welcomed their baby boy into the world this past Wednesday. This is the first I've had a chance to congratulate them on here. We got to meet Andres on Thursday when they came home from the hospital. Now I'm off to bed soon.

Construction In The Neighborhood

It's officially spring and the construction in the neighborhood has definitely started. We noticed a couple weeks ago when out on our walks there were a couple lots that had sold signs. Then we saw a digger sitting on one of the lots, and then nothing. It sat there and sat there. Finally yesterday all the sudden there were a ton of construction trucks going up and down the road. By the end of today, there are four lots that have been dug and ready for new houses to go up. When we started building our house four years ago we were under the impression that by now our phase would be complete. Well, then the housing market took a dump and you know how it is in Michigan. So needless to say our phase of the neighborhood isn't finished. It's been a slow winter for construction around here with not a one house going up. Now it looks like we'll be getting four new neighbors (well more than four depending on how many in each house, but you know what I mean). The construction is spread out a little, all on different streets, however three of the four are in the back of our phase so that means the trucks are going by our house. That also means it's making for early wake up times for my little one's with the noisy trucks passing by. Ugh!

The street we live on is the only way to get in and out of a majority of our phase. So that means it's the only way for the constructions trucks to get in and out. I think I told you that over the winter the plows really messed up our street, especially in front of our house and also a little further down. We had asphalt in our yard and I wasn't happy. I called and complained and because our phase isn't finished they won't put the final top coat on the road so that's why it's so messed up. They did tell me however that they would put a work order in to fix the road this spring and patch the huge holes. Well, I'm thinking that now that this construction has started that probably won't be happening for a long while. Another Ugh!

The fourth house that is being built is in the front of the neighborhood. It's the only vacant lot in our phase that is before our house when coming into the neighborhood. All the other vacant lots for sale are past our house. As we've watched houses go up after ours, we are always anxious to see what color the house is going to be. There's supposed to be a three house rule as far as colors. Take our house for example- it's red so the house across the street, behind us, or next to us within three houses there can't be another house our same color. However we've quickly seen that rule change over the last couple years. I think it's because of the dump in the market and basically the builder just wants the neighborhood completed now so it doesn't matter what the color. A majority of the houses in our phase, are brown, beige, gray & white. There's like four different shades of brown, but still it's brown. While I don't have anything against a brown house or a white house, I just don't get why someone would want to have the same color house (especially when it's the same exact model) as the one across the street from them or next door to them. But people still do it and sorry, but I just think it's blah and boring. So when we see the siding go up on the new builds, it's usually "Oh another brown house, or oh another brown house." Shocker... or NOT! We have seen a couple pops of color with a blue or a sage green house go up so that's been nice. If you remember though we are the ONLY red house in the neighborhood. We kind of like it like that. It's easy to tell people where we live... "It's the red house!" So now that these new houses go up will wait and see what the colors will be. My guess is two browns, a gray, and a white. I'll be very surprised if we see a pop of color, but I'm all for it if there is. However, with this one house going up that's before ours we are keeping our fingers crossed it's not red. We know there's a good chance that it won't be since the red is an upgrade and many don't choose to do the upgrade siding. Hopefully those people that chose that lot feel the same as most. We don't mind sharing the "red house" name as long as it's past our house so we can at least still say, the first red house when giving directions. I'll keep you posted, but if it ends up being a red house, there's going to be a big UGH coming from this house!

Lego Creations

About a month or so ago Greg cleaned up a bunch of old Legos that were his when he was a kid. Evan quickly began to start building things with them. It soon became one of his favorite things to do at night with Daddy after Emme went to bed. Then he got some Lego kits to build specific things with... cars, boats, helicopters, etc. Some of the kits you can build more than one thing with the same pieces. First he had one Lego creation, then two, then three, and now he's starting to get quite a collection. The minute he gets them home he wants to get started on them. However we have this rule that he can only do the one's with really tiny pieces after Em is in bed because the teeny tiny pieces make me a little nervous should she get her hands on them. On Sunday while he was at Greg's mom's they went to Target and he got yet another Lego set. Sure enough the minute Emme went to bed last night, Evan was ready to put the Legos together. Greg told Evan that if he wanted to do the Legos last night that he would have to work on it by himself this time because Greg didn't really feel like doing Legos AGAIN. So Evan got the instructions out and laid out the pieces and started going at it. He actually ended up doing very well and only had a little bit of help from Greg. He basically did most of it himself though. I was very proud of my little guy. The creation he was building was a police car that was for ages 5-12. Here's a picture of all his lego creations so far.


The one on the bottom left is the little police car he did mostly by himself last night. Pretty good huh? I like the green and white one on the right. Evan calls this one his Spartan mobile!

Speaking of Spartans! I got behind on my blogging last week and forgot to mention our loss in the Final Four. I didn't want you to think I wouldn't talk about my beloved Spartans just because they lost since you heard so much about their wins. It was a disappointing end to our season, but I do commend the guys for getting as far as they did without Kalin Lucas and with a lot of injured guys. They played hard and should be very proud. The Final Four game was not the game that most had hoped for. Not just because they lost, but because of the way the second half went with those guys in black and white, but we'll just leave it at that. I think the whole tournament actually was poorly officiated, but it is what it is. Even though we got beat by Butler, we wanted them to win the championship game. I have a strong dislike for Duke as do many, and it's unfortunate that they get the title of champions. They had the easiest bracket and in my opinion Butler played that game more like a champion team than Duke. However once again it came down to calls. As for my Spartans, I'm hoping a couple of the players who are thinking of going pro decide not to and return for another year. Here's hoping we can have a great run in basketball next year! GO STATE!

My Next Project

Here it is Sunday evening and I've had quite a productive day. This morning we went out to breakfast with Greg's mom and his aunt & uncle. Then Greg's mom took the kids for the day and we got some work done around the house. We worked out in the yard for a little bit getting things cleaned up. A part of our front yard is in need of major repair from a mole we had last year and then a bunch of crabgrass. Hopefully we can get it going with some seed, fertilizer, etc. this spring so it's lookin' nice again. After doing some clean up outside, Greg headed off on a bike ride with a couple neighbor friends and I started on my next project. I began to tackle Em's bedroom. Time to clear out the fall/winter clothes and put in the spring/summer clothes. Once again I saved spring/summer clothes from last year that I for some reason thought would still fit this year and well.... that's just not the case. So I started making a pile of stuff for the garage sale and then I got smart. I actually started pricing the stuff as I was piling it up! I know I'm going to thank myself later. Yeah me for being on top of things for once! I wish I had done that when I did Evan's. I figured I might as well price as I'm piling it up then it's already to go come garage sale time. I cannot believe how many clothes my girl has! The pile of stuff that doesn't fit her anymore began to grow fast! Then the pile of new stuff to put in her closet and drawers was quite huge too. Some of the clothes are from my friend Marie though so that's always nice to have the clothes she lends me! I'd say I'm about half way done or maybe a little more. Greg got home from his bike ride and wanted to run to Menards to get stuff for the grass so I had to stop. Hopefully I can finish it up one day this week! I'm excited for all the new outfits she's going to be wearing now that the weather is hopefully warming up for good! I love dressing my little princess in cute girlie clothes! Spring/summer dresses in the near future for my little Emmers! Now I think I'm headed to bed early tonight. I've been up way too late this past week!

Way Behind

Wow, here it is Saturday and you haven't heard from me since Monday. I'm way behind in the blogging world this week. Sorry readers. I'll try to do a brief update on what's been happening this past week and then I'll try harder to stay up to date. I told you my niece Kaite came to visit for a couple days during her spring break so that was nice to have some extra hands around.

Here's the week in a nutshell. On Monday I was able to run to the store before I picked Ev up from school without a kid in tow since Kaite watched Em. When I got home she had picked up all the toys in the living room and emptied the dishwasher! What a sweetie! On Tuesday, I had a doctors appointment so once again Kaite watched the kids. I didn't know though that when I got to the doctor I'd have so much fun. We were having bad storms that morning and while I was in the waiting room there was a tornado warning so I along with the staff and one other patient had to go in the basement. That was an interesting few minutes. My appt was at 11:30am so they weren't too busy since it was right before lunch time. I had been in the waiting room for 15 minutes until we had to go in the basement. Finally around noon we went back up and they took me right in the exam room. Maybe the tornado warning was a good thing because I've never seen the doctor come in so fast and get done. Don't worry, I don't feel like my time was jipped. I was glad she was in and out so I could get home. That afternoon Kaite helped me clean, organize, and pack up unwanted toys in the basement play area which was a huge help! It was much needed and it looks so much better down there. Thanks again Kaite for all your help! Greatly appreciated! Wednesday it was time for Kaite to head home. :( My mom came to pick her up and took her home. I know she was glad to get home and see her friends for the rest of her spring break, but I was really glad she came to visit for a few days. The kids really enjoy having her here, as do we! Since Kaite was here on Tuesday I switched library to Thursday at Evan's school so that was my afternoon on Thursday. On Friday it was freakin' cold here! The kids and I were in sweats all day and didn't go anywhere! Greg had to work a little late so we just chilled at home all day. I want the warm weather back so I can wear my flip flops!

That brings us to today which Em was supposed to have a playdate, but we had some last minute cancellations from her friends so we just called it off so we could get some things done. Greg and Evan went for a bike ride this afternoon while Em napped. He was riding over big dirt hills. I'm so proud of him on his bike!

So that's been our week. Now it looks like it's going to rain again so that probably means a quiet evening for us since we won't be able to go for a walk. Before I leave I'd like to wish my friend Carla a big congrats on the birth of her baby girl Annabel Grace on Wednesday! She didn't find out what she was having, and all along I thought a girl until the night before she was to have her c-section and got this feeling it was a boy. I guess I was sort of right! I love the name, it's really cute! Of course Grace is a winner since I have my Emmaline Grace! :)

Easter Fun!

It seems a little weird that Easter is done and over with so early in April, but in fact it is. The kids had a fun-filled Easter weekend that included lots of Easter eggs and lots of goodies! Their Easter fun actually started Thursday night when we went to dinner with Greg's mom since we weren't going to see her on Easter. They got their Easter baskets early and got a ton of Easter goodies. Everything from candy and money in the eggs to clothes and toys in the baskets. Here's their goodies!


Then on Saturday morning the first of three egg hunts started with the neighborhood Easter egg hunt. This was sort of a last minute thing a few of us threw together. In years past there's been a huge neighborhood hunt with a ton of kids and about five houses in a row that the backyards are covered in eggs. Becky that does my hair usually organizes this, but with her new baby it was just too much this year and it's gotten so big that the five yards really aren't enough. So we decided to do with a smaller group and it ended up being just as much fun! There were probably about 12 kids and we used one backyard. All the kids had a great time! Here's a couple photos from the fun!

Em & Evan, and friends Chloe & Duncan waiting for the egg hunt to start!

Evan and Em busy searching for eggs!

On Sunday we got up and the kids found their goodies from the Easter bunny and hunted for the eggs the Easter bunny left. Here they are checking out the goods in the Easter baskets.

Lookin' for eggs from the Easter bunny!

Then we headed to my Dad's for Easter and had a nice dinner there and the kids got more Easter goodies and had their third egg hunt! It was so nice to have beautiful weather for Easter this year so the kids didn't freeze outside looking for eggs. It was perfect! Here are some more Easter goodies they got.

Clothes and Target gift cards from Papa & Nana
The third egg hunt fun. Em spotted an egg up high.

Evan found a few right here!

Emme filled her basket so full she had to empty it before collecting more!

Back inside checking out what's in the eggs- candy & money!

Lots of fun for the kids and I can't believe how many goodies they got! I sure don't remember getting that many goodies for Easter. I think my basket had some eggs and candy. LOL. We finished the day by visiting my Aunt & Uncle, and cousins- The Sharkey clan! They had four new puppies and the kids wanted to see them so this was the perfect time to stop by. We rarely get to see them and it was so nice to catch up. We really have to get together more often. The last time we saw them was in May! Evan got into some b-ball action with all the cousins and had a blast! Here are most of them playing some hoops! What a fun day!

We couldn't stay too long because we had a couple hour drive home and we had to get back and take care of Molly! My niece, Kaite came back with us for a couple days to stay during her spring break so we're happy to have her here with us!

The Butterfly Gardens

On Thursday, Evan had an after school playdate with his friend Abby from school. Yes, the same Abby I've talked about before that he likes to sit next to and hold her hands. It wasn't a "play" playdate per say, but rather an outing. We met Abby, her mom, and siblings at the butterfly gardens at MSU. We had never been there before so the kids were excited to go somewhere new. There was a sign posted that said due to the unusual cold weather in the south (where they get the butterflies from) over the winter, the butterfly supply was less that previous years. Here's some pictures from our afternoon outing.

The zebra butterfly we spotted right away.
Emmaline, Evan, & Abby going over the little bridge in the butterfly garden. They really had fun going back and forth over the bridge. It was just their size.
Going through the "jungle" that was in the butterfly garden.
Evan & Emmaline on the little bench. Once again just their size.
Em and Evan coming over the bridge, AGAIN!
There was one tree that had caterpillars on it. They were hard to find at first, but after some careful searching we spotted a few. Here's one of them.
Another pretty butterfly we saw.

Some Pictures To Share

Happy April everyone! Is that possible? Time to change the calendars AGAIN! What a way to bring in April with 82 degree weather here in Michigan, and that's no April Fools joke! I can't remember the last time it was 82 on April 1st! This is going to be a quick post because I'm ready to go to bed. I just wanted to share a few pictures with you that I was going to post yesterday, but the battery died on my camera so I couldn't load the pics to my computer. I forgot to tell you that Monday I found out I was the winner of a "chat & win" contest on LMLM and I won a bouquet of fresh flowers! For a month they were giving away free flowers to five winners a week. All you had to do was answer the posted question and wait to see if your name was drawn. Well, the first two weeks I forgot about doing it. Finally last week I remembered and entered two times. The question was "What's growing around your house this spring?" The entry was open from Friday until Sunday and then Monday you had to check back to see if your name was posted as a winner. Well, I checked on Monday and was shocked to see my name! Some people had entered 10-20 times and I only entered twice. I was so excited to win fresh flowers from one of the local florists. It's not often fresh flowers are delivered to this household. To think I almost didn't even check to see if I was a winner. Here's my bouquet of tulips I received!

A few more pictures I wanted to share were from yesterday. After Em and I ran errands we had a little time before we had to pick Ev up from school so we went to watch the b-ball team leave for Indy. We didn't have time to get all the way to the Breslin so we stopped along the route they were taking to watch them pass by. We joined the other Spartan fans and waved them on their way to Indy for the Final Four! Here's the billboard by campus Em spotted right away!

Here's my Emme clapping away cheering as the team was coming down the road.

There goes the bus carrying the great Spartan b-ball team! (I know not a super exciting picture, but it was fun to see the Spartan spirit sending them on their way!)

GO STATE!