Road Running

It must be springtime because my dear husband washed up his car--a 1970 yellow roadrunner. Yes, he got it back when he was in college. Yes, he still has it and drives it. Yes, I am actually a fan of muscle cars even though I am not driven by testosterone. Does that surprise you? It is also FAR too loud for the precious and sensitive ears of my sweet little baby girls to ride in....well, at least it has been in the past. But this year the girls started calling it THEIR yellow car and have been dying to take it out for a spin. All winter long they have been begging, and well, quite frankly, speed just happens to race through their veins, so how could I possibly continue to deprive them of the experience?

• Carseats? You betcha! Safety first! This, ladies and gentlemen, is the reason we purchased carseats with the 5-point harness system! Whoever said these things are not family cars was seriously mistaken.


• Ear protection? A MUST! Um, Jessa, will you please put yours on!


• Rule #1 I overheard Doug explaining:, "Now listen. If you want to ride with daddy, rule number one is DO NOT touch the car!" Never too young to learn rule #1!

And here they are heading out for their joyride:

And NOW here they are one trip to the river store and an ice cream cone later:

Strong work, honey. There is nothing to put the kids to sleep like the throbbing of that motor. You are a genius! But let me just take a moment to remind you that my '65 Belvo is still even faster.

PS. Did I mention they absolutely LOVED it? They talked about this ride for days! Watch out daddy, what happens when they want you to buy them one too?

April in Review

The Bunny, The Branding, The Blessing--April was a Busy one!Jessa was waaaay too cute not to post, but it does look like the LITTLE bunny got a BIG upset losing all those eggs... Whew! I thought we might not recover from THAT one!

THE BRANDING was a thrilling event this year. Ask me about it sometime.

The Blessing was Beautiful

Bonus footage: The first time I caught Emeline smiling with a camera!

Just try to tell me this is not the cutest thing ever!

Have You Met Our New Horse Ladybug?

Well, then let me introduce you.....this is Ladybug, our new horse.

And in case you can't see it so great in that photo, Jessa still ALWAYS wears her hat sideways!

My first week...

One Day Old

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!
My attempt at a photo session:4 days old!

I will contine to take pictures of Emmy with this same flower so we can watch her grow!

Buckled in and ready to hit the road! First trip to town after coming home from the hospital:

time to see Dr. Ally!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Introducing....

Emeline Grace Hipwell

8 lbs. 4 oz.

March 17, 2009

5:58am

22 1/2 inches VERY long

Five Alive!

First photo as a family of five! The girls are now giving kisses to their new sister!

Four No More

The very last picture as a family of four.


And the girls giving a farewell kiss to the big baby belly. I would have happily done the same had I been physically capable of such.

My Wish...

February 22nd-Kate turned 4!

Kate loved getting some "lip", or what the rest of us refer to as "chapstick". And, Chad, left to his own evil gift-selecting devices, of course picked something designed to bring Kate joy while at the same time bringing perpetual grief into the life of her now-a-professional-at-peeling-stickers-off-things mother. Oh, and did I mention there were also about a zillion little puzzle pieces and other things to constantly pick up off the floor? She loved it.

My wish for you

Is that this life becomes all that you want it to.

Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small

You never need to carry more than you can hold

And while you're out there gettin' where your gettin' to

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same thing too

Yah, this is my wish. (Rascal Flats Lyrics)

Kate, my princess. Was it really 4 years ago I became a mother? It was with you my life morphed, when I started becoming someone I never imagined I could be. It has been you, little missy, that has lead the way as I grow into motherhood. Thank goodness you are here to encourage my femininity, my little girly-girl! You are fearless, you are friendly, and boy-oh-boy are you FUNNY! You have a wonderful sense of humor and your great giggle gets everyone around you laughing along. You are a performer--you dance, you sing, you use the coffee table as your stage, and the whole world is your audience. You are so social and love culture, always wanting to go somewhere and see somebody. You steal everyone's spot and get jealous enough to cut-in to have daddy twirl you around the dining room. My little leftie, you love to write (exactly what we are not sure what quite yet) and always have a pen and pad of paper nearby--in your purse, on the table, or stashed nearby in a secret spot. You are a skirt-twirling, worm-digging, good "idea'a" generating, kitten-hanging-over-one-arm-toting, always flower-picking, snuggly-spot making, tootsie-roll-begging, little purse-stuffing, constantly giggling, hours in the bath-paddling, Kate-er-ate! You know what you want, and how to get it. You are loving and persuasive; it is with ease and finesse others give you what you want, and you flash that way-too-cute and completely irresistible smile to seal the deal. You are shockingly observant. You are daddy's little princess, and mommy's little shadow. When I look at you, I see me. Happy Birthday my Katerrater-mashed-patater.

Tip-Tap-N-Tumble

In February, for her birthday, Kate tried out some classes. I was sure her favorite would be the tap and ballet class, but boy was I WRONG! By FAR her favorite was the tumbling/gymnastics at Western Elite Academy, a wonderful facility in Nampa run by a fellow volleyballer--the phenomenal and talented Jackie! It was my favorite too because it is an affordable and really fun place where Kate and Jessa can have class together.. not to mention they have some really cool contraptions that I am just trying to muster up the guts to ask if I can try--like the spring-loaded floor thing that they use in the Olympics, and that back-handspring machine thingy- ma-rounder, and okay, okay, I even want to test out that funky rectangular trampoline just to see if maybe I could land a flip....I don't even mind signing a wavier.

Kate in action--she loved this little contraption...

and I got a real kick out of watching Jessa. This is the first time I realized how good Jessa is at following directions. She had barely turned two (the minimum age for this class) and was following the directions better than most of the other kids. Even the instructior said, "She really follows directions well!"

Now if only we could apply that to picking up the toys, holding the bottle of bubbles so they don't spill all over the floor, or sitting still while I brush that hair.....

I hope we go back soon!