Goodbye Pie-A

Today is the day that Maddie says goodbye to her favorite thing in the world, her binky. It is called a Pie-A in our house. Bailey started it and we never changed that. Maddie loves it with a passion. She hums when she gets it and rocks back and forth. She would use it all the time if we let her. I am REALLY REALLY nervous about getting rid of it. Therefore, I am writing this blog to make myself do it. We gave quite a few of the pie-a's to Claire after Maddie's birthday party. Trying to get Maddie to understand she is a big girl now and pie-a's are for babies. I let her keep 1 for her shots today, as soon as she wakes up from her nap I am going to cut the end off. Wish us luck as Maddie is the best sleeper in the house and I really hope that this doesn't change that. Here is a picture of her last nap with a pie-a.

Maddie Jay is 2!!

Little Maddie Jay had a cupcake birthday party. We borrowed almost everything cupcake from Addy who just had a cupcake party. It was such a great idea that we stole it. We had the kids decorate their own cupcakes. Aunt Julie wrote the kids' names on aprons and cups. Thanks Aunt Julie!! My parents helped with cleaning and multiple trips to the grocery store. The party was a group effort, but overall it was a blast. I still can't believe she is 2!!

I bought some cupcake pops from Sara Eddy. The kids really loved them.

We finished off the party with dress up time. Fun was had by the "King" as well as all the "Princesses".

cupcake crayons

We finished our amazing weekend with Jodi's family at the beach if you want to see more pics of the fun, check out her blog here. We had a blast, and finished off the weekend with Mom and Dad and LOTS of swimming. I am now back at work....planning Maddie's cupcake party. I was searching on ETSY for cupcake ideas. I came across cupcake crayons to buy. Then found out that I can make them pretty easy. I don't think they look like cupcakes, more like peanut butter cups. However, fun was had by all. First you peel all your old crayons. Place them in the muffin pan. Place in the oven at 250.

Wait for them to melt, and wait, and wait...........

Take them out of the oven...and you have a NEW cupcake crayons for free.

I hope the kids will enjoy coloring with them at the party.

Beach Trip

The girls and I headed to the beach with Jodi, Jacob, and Claire for a few days. I forgot my camera, so I am stealing Jodi's pics and computer as we speak. I just had to share some of the fun we are having, while I have the chance. Hopefully I can do it again before they leave. We had quite the time finding our hotel and I am a little embarrassed to say that I am unsure what town I am in. I think it is Ocean Shore, could be Oceanview, or Oceanside. First we tried to check into the wrong place, then Jodi's GPS took us down a dead end gravel road. We finally found the place, first off we went swimming. Bailey has been asking to go swimming for 2 weeks, ever since she found out we were coming. Luckily this place has an indoor pool, unlike the first place we tried to check into. Oops..wrong hotel....wrong town. Luckily the kids didn't care.

He we are on our LONG drive.

BEAUTIFUL baby Claire.

Here are a few pics from the park.

Look at how lucky these cousins are to sleep in the same bed and get to play at the beach. I am currently in shock that we actually got 4 kids to sleep by 8:30.....we did it!

Craft Time

While I was making my thank you cards for Maddie's upcoming birthday, I got out the stamps and stickers for the girls to use. They always want to craft just like me. This was the first time Maddie got to use the stamps. In their stamp box, they have a few stamp markers. I have decided that I am going to throw those away. Here is why.

This is what Maddie did whenever we told her we had to wash her face.

It really was fun. She still has a pink neck.

I want to be just like big sister.

Being the youngest of 4 girls, I understand how Maddie wants to be just like her big sister. I always wanted to do whatever my sisters were doing. I wanted to be just like them. I was lucky enough to have sisters that let me tag along. Recently Bailey has really been into sliding down the stairs on a blanket.....over and over again.....laughing the entire time. Therefore, little sister wants to see what all the fun is about.

Notice Maddie's blanket (a rug from Bailey's doll house).

It was so cute....every time she would straighten the blanket out (just like big sister), get all ready and then laugh the whole way down (just like big sister). Jason and I laughed forever watching the two of them slide down the stairs.....together. I think Bailey is going to be a great big sis.

Easter

Easter was a BLAST! We colored eggs, had our own little egg hunt. Got to eat lunch with the Spinks, thanks Jen. Then we ate WAY too much candy. Hope you all had a fun Easter as well.

Daddy's princesses.

LOVED getting to visit and relax with my sis. I am a little jealous of her tan. Look how pale I look next to her.

Bailey LOVES dogs. Hopefully she will stay content with visiting dogs. We don't want a dog, at least not yet.

PS. Thanks for all the presents from the Easter Bunny. Nanas you ROCK! We only added one thing to their baskets and that was shoes because I wanted them to have shoes they could put on by themselves.

Very Blessed

My girls are blessed with amazing people that LOVE them. I have 2 families....my Castro/Reslock family and my Nielson/Weaver family. Therefore, my girls are blessed with lots and lots of amazing Nanas, Papas, Aunts, and Uncles. Yesterday we received a package from Nana Pam and Papa Tim. The girls get VERY excited about getting mail. I get almost as excited as they do, it is like I am getting a present as well. This is what they got. They are very spoiled.

Opening the package takes teamwork.

New Boots to go along with our rainy weather. As you can see from the cheesy grins. They are very pleased with their package. They also got sidewalk chalk for a "sunny day". Hopefully we will get one of those soon. Thanks Nana Pam and Papa Tim. In the near future the Easter Bunny is really the girls other Nanas and Papas. I think they have the best relatives in the world.

Spring Break

It is our Spring Break and it is POURING here. It has been raining every day. We have been planning day trips, as our spring break revolves around baseball. Therefore, we can't go very far. We started the weekend off by going up to Nana and Papa Castro's house. I took Jason to the Hard Rock Cafe in Seattle. It was kind of a birthday surprise for him. He always has to go to the Hard Rock in every city we vacation to. We have quite a collection of glasses now. The one in Seattle just opened in February, so I kept it a secret from him until I took him there. We had a nice date day. Thanks Nana and Papa. Then we went swimming in Astoria. For those of you who haven't been to the Astoria Aquatic Center, it is great cheap fun, $12.00 for the whole family. Bailey could have stayed for hours. Maddie got hungry, so we then went to the Wet Dog Cafe. Also a great place to eat in Astoria. It is a little brewery and they have great kids activities and menu. Then yesterday between the rain showers we went to the zoo. We had 4 free tickets from Nana Judy. Thanks Mom. We went there after nap time, and we stayed until they kicked us out after 5:00. Didn't know it was already closed until they locked the door on the bald eagle viewing area. The girls were troopers, and it didn't rain one drop on us while we were there. Just the whole drive down and back. Here are a few pics.

Our Crazy Castle

I have no idea why I think I will follow through with this. However, I like to scrapbook memories for the girls. I figured this would be a great way to share and keep our memories forever. I chose the Castro Castle, because Bailey has been a princess since she first heard about "Gigi God's Little Princess"(Great Christian book series if you haven't heard of it). Ever since then, I have been a "Queen" and Jason has been "The King". He used to be just called "King", then it moved to "Lion King" as he crawled around on the floor with the girls. Now as Bailey rides on his back and they chase Maddie (steak)...Jason is officially known as "Lion". In public Bailey will yell out "Lion", when looking for her dad. It is rather funny. I hope you enjoy watching our two little princesses grow up.