Pictures

I did post a few pics on the blog, but need to download more from the camera. I will do that soon. Promise!

Summer!

A friend of mine recently gave me a hard time about not keeping up with my blog. She's right. I've been lazy. In my defense we have had a super busy summer. We've had a hog roast, 2 district conventions, family gatherings and oh we all had the swine flu. Just kidding on the latter, but we did all get a nasty virus. There was 3 continuous weeks where someone in our family was sick. Not fun! One note on the district convention, Jake had an interview and did awesome. Not much pressure, only 5,000 people staring at you, but he didn't even sound nervous. I was a proud wife.
We got an above ground pool this year and Maya loves it. She's an absolute fish! We have been in it almost every single day. This week I am on vacation and she is taking swimming lessons at Indiana University. We've had lots of fun this week. Several of us ladies put our kids in the same time slot so they can do the lesson and we can visit. Afterwards we all took the kids to the park. It has been nice being a temporary stay at home mom.
We have several things coming up that will be fun. My cousin Mallory is getting married in September and so we have her bridal shower coming up. Jake's cousin is having a baby and we have her baby shower to go to on Sunday. Maya keeps forgetting it is a baby shower and she calls it a baby shampoo! I'm having some technical difficulties on getting pictures posted. I will try again and if not, I will have Jake assist me with that tonight. I'm off to enjoy the rest of the peace and quiet of nap time!

Busy, busy

Well we got a swing set. The girls love it and mommy loves it too. Daddy didn't even get too frustrated putting it together. Ha! We've been outside a lot lately playing and getting the garden ready. Last weekend was rainy, but that was okay because we were at our Circuit Assembly in Indianapolis. The girls did really well despite the 2 long days. Saturday night we got to visit with their cousin Noah. He has grown so much since we saw him and the girls absolutely adore him. Maya kept saying baby Noah is soooo cute!

This weekend the girls have been invited to a tea party. They are beyond excited about it. I will bring my camera along and take some pics. Grandma and Grandpa Hanft are camping this weekend and we are going to join them for dinner and the campfire. The girls are dying to roast marshmellows. Bella is hilarious to watch because she wants to do it herself, but her marshmellow is 5 feet away from the fire. It keeps her happy though and I'm glad she stays away from the fire.

Maya's dance class performed at one of the local nursing homes last Friday. They did a fantastic job. I think all the girls actually thrived on having an audience. Hopefully, they will do that well the day of the big recital. When it was over Maya said mommy that was so much fun! To hear that makes the sacrifice of the time and money so worth it. I think she is a natural performer, but we all knew that.

I am leaving town on Tuesday and won't be back until Friday night to go to a conference for school business officials. Usually when I go to conferences it is just for the day, but this is an all week thing in Ft. Wayne. It is going to be very helpful for my job, but I will really miss Jake and the kids. Also, I am going to miss Maya's dress rehearsal for the recital, but Jake and my mom will take her. Hopefully, everybody will still be alive when I return. Ha!

Bourbon Trail

Well my sister and her husband came into town from California and we hit the road for the bourbon trail in Kentucky. I can't say I'm much of a bourbon drinker, but it was lots of fun to sample. The girls did really well and didn't get too bored while we took the tours. One of the bourbon distilleries had chocolate chip cookies and another you got to ride a bus and there was a cat that kept following us around. These were all elements to keeping the girls entertained and happy! The next time we are in that area I would like to take a tour of some of the horse farms. They are gorgeous just to drive around and look at. Sadly, Danny and Kristy had to fly home, but hopefully we can see them again soon. Check out the pics that follow from our trip.

Last weekend was gorgeous! I am a summer girl and just the feeling of warm sunshine is wonderful. Grandpa and Grandma Richart picked the girls up and they went off to one of the state parks to hike and play around. They had a blast and mommy and daddy enjoyed the quiet time. We went shopping and bought them a sandbox. We've had only a few episodes of sand in the eyes and crying. Hopefully, in the next few days we will get a swing set bought. My goal is to get lots of outside things to entertain and then it is amazing how clean the house stays! We have lots of fun things coming up now that the weather is nice. I will make a point of staying on top of the blog with recent pics of it all.

Spring

Where does the time go? It has been over a month since I last posted. Life has been hectic lately. The lady that does payroll in our office is on maternity leave and even though she trained somebody else to fill in, guess who is being roped in constantly to help out? Lucky me. It is calming down somewhat. Our schools have spring break this week so I am able to do alot to catch up while everyone is gone. Our local high school had their 15 minutes of fame this week. The marching band has been in Ireland to march in the St. Patrick's Day parade and the Today Show is in Ireland also. They were the only American band featured on the show by Al Roker. It was pretty cool to watch.

The girls have been enjoying this spring like weather we have had. We have been riding bikes, playing at the park, and flying kites. The kites lasted one evening. Bella's princess kite crashed on our roof and broke and Maya's Barbie kite is stuck at the top of one of our huge trees in our back yard. Maybe Daddy needs to take them to an open field next time. Jake is getting all pumped up about his garden. He is planting several things, but one is corn and he said he is putting in 126 plants! Does that seem a little excessive for a family of four? lol! So if you like corn let us know.

Dentist

We made it through her appointment. When we got there she asked me if she had to get a shot. When I convinced her no she didn't then she was pretty excited. She hopped up in the chair and opened wide while he counted her teeth. However, when he started brushing her teeth and the flouride treatment the flip out began. He didn't act like it was a big deal. Since he is a pediatric dentist I am sure he has seen it all. Once she got her stickers, plastic ring, and new toothbrush she was over it real quick. We met Grandma Hanft and Isabella afterwards for lunch and Maya seemed awfully proud of herself that she went to the dentist.

We found out last night that Maya's dance recital is Sunday, May 17th. It is going to be at the Buskirk-Chumley theater on Kirkwood, which is downtown. It is a theater that was restored and even John Mellencamp has performed on that stage. It will be a really cool venue to go to.

Grandma and Grandpa Hanft got a new van yesterday. It has a DVD player in it so the girls are in awe that they have their own TV in grandma's van. They will never want to ride with Jake and I again! It is going to be in the 50's today and tomorrow. Yippee!!!!

Snow, baby, Super Bowl party, dentist oh my!

We finally got our big snow last week. We got 13 inches which was enough for my work to call and say stay home. I had no problem with that. Jake stayed home too. Jake got Bella all dressed to go out in the snow and she loved it. She probably stayed out there with him for 45 minutes. I have a few pics I will post later. Maya on the other hand, who has been talking all along about wanting to make a snow man, decided she would rather stay in and watch movies. It is still super cold, only 2 degrees this morning.
Aunt Erica and Uncle Kris had their baby last week. We went to visit them in the hospital and the girls just love their cousin Noah. Maya has to adjust to the fact that she has to share Grandma and Grandpa Richart. I think that will take some time. lol.

We had a few of our buddies come over for the Super Bowl on Sunday. I wasn't that into it since the Colts weren't in it, but the food that everybody made was out of this world! I am getting ready to take Maya to her first dentist appointment. This girl hates to get her teeth brushed every night so this visit should be interesting. She acts excited about it, but I'm sure that will change. I will keep you posted.

pajama day

The girls had fun staying home with daddy today. They never made it out of their pj's which was just fine with them. We are supposed to get snow tonight and then all day tomorrow. This is our first chance of a big snow so hopefully it will happen. Maya especially has been wanting to make a snowman all winter. Grandma and Grandpa Hanft are flying home tomorrow from California. We are very excited to have them back. I think the girls are ready to get back to their routine and also get the presents that grandma and grandpa brought back. lol. I'm posting some pics Grandma Hanft took at her house a couple of weeks ago.

Having fun

We have had a very busy week. Last weekend my cousin Mark and his wife Chris, along with their daughter Mallory and her boyfriend Eddie came to visit for the weekend. Maya loves Mallory and was so excited to see her. We all had lots of laughs and so much good food all weekend.

My parents left for their California trip on Tuesday so I have been home with the girls. We have been staying busy playing Candyland, reading books, watching movies and creating lots of beautiful artwork. I am saying that last part with sarcasm because I have no art ability at all. The girls already outshine me in this department! Grandpa Richart came down on Friday to hang out with the girls. The girls had a good old time and hopefully didn't drive grandpa too crazy. Jake is staying home with the girls on Monday and Tuesday. Goodbye clean house! Mallory brought a cd over with pics from our canoe trip last summer. I am going to post a few of the cuter ones. See ya later.

Movies

Well we made the kids day and took them to see the Tale of Despereaux. Jake and I weren't too impressed. There were a couple of funny parts, but we were pretty bored. The kids thought it was great though. Maya went to her dance class on Thursday and the girls got measured for their recital costumes. The teacher showed us and they are purple and very fru-fru. (I don't know if that's a word.) Anyway, I forget the song they are going to do, but the choreography is going to make them look like they are puppets. The recital is going to be in May and we should know the date in the next couple of weeks. My mom just bought the girls jewelry yesterday from Claire's and Maya just informed me she broke Bella's bracelet. Gotta go referee this one.

Pictures

Jake and I went through our pics and picked out some of our favorites to post. Some are clear back to our pick up trip of Isabella, but the others are fairly recent. We had a great time at Aunt Erica's baby shower this weekend. The girls got lots of playing time in with Jake's cousins kids. It was a pretty loud party! Maya was kind of freaked out by Erica's belly. She wasn't quite sure how to take that baby in mommy's tummy thing. Ha! It was back to reality today since the winter break is over. Since I am responsible for year-end, the next few weeks will not be fun at work. Can't wait until it is over!