Wordless Wednesday 6/3 (Princess Crash!)

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Blog Friends become REAL Friends

In the past few months since I began blogging, I’ve had the opportunity to meet my online friends IN REAL LIFE. They are actual people just like me!

I’ve been really behind on blogging as I still need to blog about my Blissdom trip. But first, I want to write about the great local ladies I met last month.

After emailing back and forth for several months and discussing how we needed to meet up,  Cherie aka The Queen of Free and I finally set a date and opened it up to anyone who wanted to come. I was going to cry if no one showed up.

So after finally finding Joanna through twitter. I still feel bad that Sarah and I were chatting outside and didn’t even know Joanna was sitting inside waiting for us. We think she walked in with the high school volleyball players and just blended right in. Cherie was running late because of the traffic. She was coming all the way from the Southside.

Sarah and I actually kind of saw each other briefly at the Ridemakerz Event back in December but we didn’t really have the opportunity to talk since we were occupied with our children that day. I found out that it is a very small world as her husband works for a company that we interact with.

While we came together for our love of blogging, I think we chatted about non-blogging stuff just as much. I had a blast and hope I can make it to the next one. We closed down MacAllister’s on that Saturday night! I think they were ready to get rid of us but scared to kick us out since we were armed with laptops!

Baseball Nightmares.

So will my 8 year old son have nightmares after this past weekend’s baseball game?

He says no.

But when you look up at the game and your child is being chased by the ENTIRE opposing team, you wonder what your child is going to dream about.

It was a game that was really just a comedy of errors. Mostly due to an pimpled faced umpire. I will give it to the ump, he has given us a story we will never forget.

Long after we forget who we played, the outcome of the game, or the date, we will never forget the comedic relief in an tense game.

Here’s the scenario. Peyton, my eight year old son, was on second base. Next batter strikes out. The opposing team all starts to head to the dug out. Peyton heads back to our dug out.

The moms in the stands are trying to figure out how there is 3 outs. Who got out? We are all kind of shaking our heads and looking around. There is only two outs, right?

All of the sudden I look up and I see Peyton racing back out to second base and being chased by the entire opposing team. Really, only one kid could get him out but the whole team was chasing after him.

Lucky for Peyton, he gets his speed from his dad and made it back to second base quickly. Plus, the catcher who was running with the ball tripped. Though, I really doubt they could have outrun a kid who looked like he was running for his life.

Pretty hilarious and it is too bad youtube wasn’t there to film it. Anyone else catch that Michael Scottism?

So that wasn’t even all. There are more unforgettable moments in that game.

It is the top of the 5th inning. The opposing team has a runner on third base.  The runner attempts to steal home. Mind you, it is not a passed ball. So our catcher looking perplexed, stands there with the ball to tag the runner and gets plowed over. (Runners are suppose to slide in any situation like that so he is out regardless.)

Still there is more.

The last  involved the very last moment of the game. The scene: 2 outs. 2 strikes. Our team down by a mere 4 runs. Umpire calls a strike on our batter as the ball is leaving the pitcher’s hands and quickly exits the field. The ball was in the dirt. Hardly, a strike.

Game over. We lost. But we really improved.

{We faced the same team again the next day. We had an adult umpire, which gave me much confidence in how fair the game would be judged. We won by several runs. Amazing how decent umpiring can change the outcome of a game.}

Wordless Wednesday 4/22 (I can sleep anywhere version)

Wordless Wednesday 4/15 (Spring Edition)

These are pictures from 2008.

I won’t get to enjoy this tree this year as a bad storm took it out last year. Sadly, we lost three of our Pear Trees last year. Spring is my favorite time for flowers as I love to see my bulbs pop up and trees start flowering.

Easter Vigil Service: He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed

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This was our first Easter Vigil Services as Catholics. This is our one year anniversary in the Catholic Church. We also had more to celebrate as my younger brother (above with his sponsor) joined the church and was baptized at the Easter Vigil Service.

For those that don’t know, I was baptized Catholic, raised in a Baptist type church, and then joined the Lutheran Church with my husband (Bryan) when we first got married. When we joined the Lutheran Church in our town, the pastor was my husband’s best friend’s dad and is one of the main reason we loved the Lutheran Church. He is such a good man and his sermons were very enjoyable to listen to. He is a kind hearted and very compassionate man.

However, we just didn’t feel like we fit in as it seemed to be a more aging congregation. So after a few years of joining, we drifted away.

After awhile, I felt drawn back to my Catholic roots.  As a child, we would attend for special occasions for my relatives. It was always a treat to attend Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

So, I started attending RCIA classes at our local parish and was encouraged by my parents. My dad is a recent convert and my mom had went back to the church.

I didn’t feel like I knew enough (and honestly still don’t – it is always a learning process!) after a few months of RCIA in 2007 so I decided to take another year of RCIA classes. The second year, my husband decided to join me and on Easter Sunday 2008, we both joined together.

When asked how the service was going to go down, our Priest would just say “Trust me.” Uh, okay. Trust you. I knew something was up with that statement because we hadn’t been married in the Catholic Faith and knew that was kind of a glitch.

So it didn’t surprise me at all when we had to renew our marriage vows in front of the entire Sunday Service but the look of shock on Bryan’s face was priceless. It was very nice and we even had to “kiss” at the end. It was probably the final time we ever kissed in public.

Spring Break at the Children's Museum in Indianapolis

All the people walking into the Children's Museum.

It is Spring Break here and this year we didn’t go to Florida for various reasons. The main reason being the state of the economy and considering our company has numerous employees laid off, we didn’t feel right going on vacation. So we stayed home but we did decide to do something fun with the kids.

We considered doing a weekend trip to Great Wolf Lodge with several friends. After looking at the outrageous prices on Spring Break ($500/night), we decided that didn’t make an economical sense either. We were really hoping to do that but even with a discount code, it would have been $400/night. Practically double the normal rate and this was just for a regular room.

Our plan was to go to the Zoo this morning but the weather dicated no. It was rainy, cold, and windy. Not a good combination. Especially when you have a child who has a cough already.

So we ended up at our second choice – the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. It was only second choice because we knew it would be packed and at least at the Zoo, there is plenty of room to move around. Though, I bet if we would have went today, we would have had the place to ourselves!

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Started off the morning with my daughter, who is 10, texting me to tell me that her friend didn’t want to go now so I had to take her home. The “friend” only wanted to go if we went to the Zoo. Though, she had warned her that if the weather was bad we would go to the Children’s Museum instead and she said that was fine. I will note, the friend had went to the Museum the day before but knew it was still a real possibilty. So I had to drive 10 minutes out of my way to get her home – which caused me to be late meeting my sister-in-laws.

On a side note, my daughter was VERY upset about this development – cried after the other girl told her this. What kind of friend doesn’t still want to go? Isn’t it about spending time with your friend and not the location? I was irritated too. I can guarantee (yep, that is a guarantee) if my daughter wanted to come home, I would have told her tough cookies. That’s just rude.

So we get to Indy without any major disasters happening. Traffic is crazy on the way there. There is construction around the Museum so the skywalk is closed. The horror of having to walk in a light drizzle.

Hannah and her boyfriend

We had fun waiting in line. Took some pictures while standing in line with the lego guys and exhibit advertisements. Love the little Lego Men with their hard hats.

Once we get inside the people mover lady was a little bossy. She told us since we had a large group we needed to have one person get the tickets and the others go stand in the middle. Reminder, there are 3 family groups with 4 adults and 7 children. We all had different payment methods and if we took turns getting the tickets it would have took forever.

So with a little disgusted look from the people mover lady, we ignored her advice. I know they want to make the lines appear to be shorter but that didn’t work for us as I don’t think one of us adults could have controlled 7 children for 15 minutes. I don’t like the odds of that adult/child ratio.

I have to do a little bathroom review. The little toilets were so cute and the little one who is recently potty trained LOVED using the kid sized facilities. I wish every bathroom was set up for the little ones. With small sinks and paper towels at their level – they really can do it themselves.

I think we visited every exhibit at the museum. One of the favorite areas for my children was the Science area. They had a blast playing in the water and think they all came out of there a little soaked. I’ve added our story along with pictures on Whrrl, which is a really cool new site that allows you to upload pictures as you go and add pictures to it. If you have an iPhone, I bet it is much more fun with their app. I had a Blackberry Storm and added the pictures as we went along today but was very limited on what I could do.

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I know going to these places is expensive but the cost of the food was a little ridiculous for the substandard food. I wasn’t impressed with our $5.49 lunch which include 3 chicken strips, tater tots, and a juice box. (We originally were just going to snack and eat after leaving but we were all famished!) Then we had the issue where people were saving seats before they got their food and that always leads to a backlog of tables with savers while people with trays are walking around aimlessly. After 5 minutes of searching for an empty table, I finally happened among two young ladies who were leaving their table. No enough chairs so I had to stand for awhile until I decided to make my daughter share her seat with me.

I let each of the kids pick out a $5 item in the gift shop and they all stuck to it with no whining. WOW! I think they were worn out by then. I know I was.

P.S. If you have never been to the Children’s Museum or are planning a trip to Indianapolis, I highly recommend taking your kids. There is fun stuff for kids of all ages. It is truly one of the gems of Indianapolis.

One more thing on a somewhat unrelated note, when we left the parking garage (free parking, BTW), I went out the wrong exit, which made me go south instead of north. I went down one block to make the turn around to get back to Meridian Street. We encountered a homeless guy asking for money and we handed him a bag of chips out the window. He told us thank you, which we appreciated. I hope it helps him out for the night and wish I could do more but you just never know in those kind of situations if the person is legit. Sadly, we saw several more homeless on our way home and not all were in Indianapolis, I saw two in the Carmel area. It is the highest number I’ve witnessed lately and sadly, I think it is going to get worse.

Style by Sofia

Sofia, who is almost three years old, is starting to get extremely picky about her clothes.

You know the drill.

Mom picks out outfit.

Kid says I don’t want to wear that one. (Even though yesterday it was a favorite!)

Mom picks out another outfit.

Kid says I don’t like <insert outfit description>.

Until Mom finally gives up and say wear whatever you want to wear, it is not worth the hassle.

That’s the stage we are at right now. One day the argument was over socks. I kid you not, socks. She was upset because they weren’t pink and didn’t have bows on them. Let me tell ya, I haven’t intentionally raised her to like pink bows. Until recently, she was happy as could be wearing one of her brother’s shirts with dinosaursor a Colts jersey. I blame the other girls at daycare.

Now that we are getting picky. Is she a teenager already?

Sofia Approved Outfits

This outfit is brand spanking new colorful outfit from The Children’s Place. Of course, we bought it on sale and used a coupon. I knew she would love it because it has pink in it. In fact, she wanted to wear it today with a shirt that completely clashed.
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This is a funny one. This one is actually suppose to be a dress but it is too short on her so it is a long sweater-shirt! Of course, she loves it because it is pink!
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Another piece from Children’s Place past…bright and fun skirt! Again, it is pink so Sofia approved!

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Dressed in all pink…with a little belly showing…

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Past Mom Approved Outfits

Again, don’t try to blame the pink obsession on me…though, these are some cute pink outfits from her baby days…and most of the favorites are from one of our favorite stores for quality, inexpensive clothes…(Guess which store?)

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This one is one of my favorite pictures…outfit is all Children’s Place circa 2007. This was a favorite outfit too because her older sister had a matching outfit. That is one of the reasons I have loved shopping at Children Place because you can get similar outfits in all sizes. Great for matching siblings for family pictures, holidays, or just F-U-N.

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Another fun outfit from Children’s Place. Love this one because the green brings out her eyes!

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See I didn’t always dress her in pink. Some green got thrown in the mix too. Another Children’s Place shirt circa 2007.
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More green. Okay, I get it. I like green. She likes pink.

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Does your child have their own style?

This post was written for a contest at TwitterMoms.com to win Children’s Place Gift Certificate. I have received nothing for posting this but I do want to win the most creative or most commented post!

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