Monday, January 23, 2012

Father/Daughter Dance

Isabella had her annual date with her daddy last Saturday night.
They got all dressed up and headed out to the Girl Scout Father/Daughter Dance.
She was so cute when she was getting ready, telling me that she wanted to make sure to wear something that she wouldn't get too hot in. She said it was just too hot last year after spending all night on the dance floor.
Her dinner of choice for her fancy night out...Jersey Mike's!
Not too many years left of this little one getting excited about her daddy showing off his dance moves in front of friends :)
Next year he will have two dates for the dance... Miss Margaret is catching up way too quickly!
This daddy will be on cloud nine!

Crafty!

My first Pinterest craft complete!
Just a couple of hours with my BFF, our husbands away for the night, our kids running around like crazy people in their pajamas, a few glasses of wine, and voila!

LOVE!!!

Lil'Stinker


Last week, as I was in the living room listening to Isabella read and finish up homework, I noticed that my other little busy people were awfully quiet...

This is what I walked in on. Miss Caroline almost jumped out of her diaper when she looked up and saw my face. For a moment I freaked because I thought it was a sharpie, then I realized she had gotten ahold of a dry erase marker.
She definitely keeps this momma on her toes!

Update!

It is about time I got on here and gave you all an update as to what has been going on around here! I really thought things might slow down here after the holidays but once Christmas break came to an end we dove right back into school, swimming lessons, choir, dance, indoor soccer and the list goes on and on!
Isabella is still loving first grade!
Between doing science experiments at school and the tire swing, this girl is in heaven! She has been practicing for the last week on her first speaking part in this week's all school Mass. She is very excited but nervous all in one. I keep telling her to just imagine everyone else is in their underwear... she thinks I'm weird! Margaret almost dies laughing at this because, "Mom, why would people go to church in just their underwear?" Okay not the best vision to give my children in church, hoping she doesn't get up there and start laughing.
Think positive thoughts for her :)
Caroline is just loving life!
Poor thing gets toted to this place and that place to pickup, drop off, sit and watch for an hour here, play for a little bit there. It sometimes feels like a marathon getting all four in and out of the car. I recently sat and counted how many times I have to buckle or connect a car seat in one day...28 times today folks. And that was just between Caroline and Walter because, thank goodness, the other two can now do it themselves! I really shouldn't complain here because we have been blessed with some awesome weather this winter which has made getting around so much easier. Freezing temps, snow, and stuffing babies who have puffy coats into car seats is not my cup of tea.
Okay back to Miss C...
She kind of thinks she just runs things around here. Sometimes I just watch her interact with her siblings and in her own little language she tells them what to do... and they do it! I don't know how she pulls it off because I ask them to do things in simple English and they don't seem to understand. Something about this little girl has us all wrapped around her little finger.
Her (my) New Year's resolution was to give up her paci. Although she was only allowed to have it when she was sleeping she was still growing more and more attached to it each day. I knew that this needed to go, she had already had it longer than I allowed the others to have it and I just feel the longer you wait the harder it is for both mom and baby. I started out by snipping the end of the paci with the idea that each day I would snip a little more until it was gone. First day she put it in, took it out and said "boke". She then walked it to the trash can, threw it away, then asked for another one. I then realized that this was not going down how I imagined. Day six was our magical day, it finally clicked and she realized it was "boke" and no one was going to fix it! Six days of no nap, six nights of interrupted sleep, and we both survived... and I won this one :)
Congrats to my baby girl, she is paci free!
My next challenge is to get her to sit on my lap during Mass instead of behaving like a crazy orangutan. I look around at other children her age who just cuddle with their mom and fall asleep while Mass is being said. What am I doing wrong here? She is literally calm until we hit the pew and then for the next hour she is going bonkers!
Margaret is just plowing through Pre-K.
Kindergarten couldn't come soon enough in her eyes. Mine, on the other hand, will be shedding tears like crazy next fall as I send another one off into the big bad world. She has started a new dance class and is very excited! After her first class she asked me, "Mom, do you think I can be in the Nutcracker and still be a doctor?" Of course!!!! Yes, she is my one who has talked about being a doctor since she could basically talk. I am so thankful that we have sugarcoated this road of long, exhausting, expensive, and did I mention horrible hours that one must endure to become a doctor. She doesn't think twice when she says it. She wants to work at the same hospital as her daddy, fix hearts, and eat lunch with him everyday! She says I can stop by and eat too! Thanks :)
Little man is hanging in there with all of us girlies.
There are times in the afternoon when we are all being crazy and I notice that he has wondered up to his room. When I peek in he is usually on the floor with about 150 Hotwheels. He loves to line them all up in perfect rows. Each one has a strategic place, he knows when one has been taken. He names them, talks to them, and probably thinks they are his brothers! I am so thankful that his preschool class has five boys, two girls. Even though he has learned to karate chop people, burp and fart at the table, and tell me that only daddy's can fix things I know that he needs his boy time!

We are now all caught up!
Hopefully I can get back in the swing of things here... I have missed bragging about my kids:)

Friday, December 30, 2011

Having Ourselves a Merry Little Christmas!

As this Holiday season is coming to a close I can't help but reflect on how fast this year has gone by.
We have been enjoying every single moment of our Christmas break. Staying in pj's, eating great food, playing board games, eating great food, and hanging with family and friends pretty much sums it up! Here are a few (ton) of snapshots of what we have been up to...

Our break started with Isabella's Christmas program at school. Something about hearing children rejoice and sing about the birth of Christ just puts me in the best mood! They did a beautiful job!
A fun visit with Great Grandma Jones
and Great Grandma Hogan.
Believe it or not, these are the children of two families. My BFF and I ventured out to Union Station with this crew to check out the train display and just breathe in everything Christmas!
Every little detail of the display is just amazing. A fun tradition that we have done ever since Isabella was a baby.
Celebrating with a birthday party for Jesus just would not be the same without our BFF's!
Isabella sang in the choir at Christmas Eve mass. We actually got a seat this year because we had to have her there so early.
We are so very blessed that our families merge together for this celebration. It means so much to me to have everyone together for these moments. These are memories that my children will have forever! The highlight of the night was playing the "Just Dance" game on the XBox Kinect. Wish I would have gotten pics of Mimi tearing up the dance floor!
Santa was very generous this year leaving a race track for this guy...
a kitchen for my busy bitty...
lots of doll accessories for this gal...
and some fun electronics for my bug!
Our Christmas would not have been complete without getting to hang with these guys...
COUSINS!!!
Even though it had been a very long time since they had seen one another you would have never guessed it. They are all crazy about each other and clicked instantly. I loved getting to see them all together!
With a few extra days of having daddy around we finally made it to campus to visit the Natural History Museum. Kids loved it! With the amazing weather we were able to walk a bit on campus and visit one of our favorite lunch spots on Mass.

Amazing that another year has come and gone!
Lots of changes coming for the Zimmermans in 2012!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Look who we ran into today...

I took Margaret in to the doctor to see what the deal was with her nasty cough that she has had for three weeks and can't quite get rid of. After finding out that she had walking pneumonia and a tutorial of how to used inhalers with a spacer we ran into this jolly old man in the waiting room...


Margaret couldn't believe her eyes! This was so unexpected that she knew it had to be for real... come on how could mom really plan this one! He had that true twinkle in his eye and the type of beard that didn't pull away from his chin.
Santa read her a story about a snowman, asked her what she was hoping for on Christmas morning, and was even special enough that Miss C spent some time on his lap...
guess it helps when you let her suck on a candy cane:)

As we were leaving the Dr office Margaret kept looking back at the building. I asked her what she was looking for. Her response..."I am looking to see if Santa's reindeer are on top, I think I heard the sleigh bells!"
Oh how I love the magic of Christmas!

Gymnastics

Here is my little bit showing off her stuff at her last gymnastics class this session!
Way to go Margaret!