Pokagon Trip, June 2011

Last month we took the kids to the beach at Pokagon and to ride horses at the stables at Pokagon. This was Colt's first time riding and he had a great time! I unfortunatle can't swim in lakes, so I got to bask in the sunshine : )

Picking Strawberries & Jam Making

Every year we take the kids up to Wawaka to LeCount's strawberry farm to pick strawberries. The kids have a great time and we get some pretty great berries. This year was especially fun since Colt got to really help. He was so excited everytime he found a berry, it was so funny!! That night, I made strawberry jam. It turned out so delicious, if I do say so myself! : )

TeeBall ans LOB Softball, May

We started baseball/softball season in May. This is Ella's first year for tee ball. She's on the team Pythons and she's doing a great job!! This is Grace's third year playing, so she is playing on an all girls softball team. She is on team Inferno. He hitting and catching are improving dramatically!

Disney on Ice

Every year we try to go to Disney on Ice when it comes to town. We didn't go last year because it was the same show we saw the year before, so we were excited to see that they brought a new show to our town this year! This year they out on the Princess Classics stories - a short synopsis of the stories that we all know and love: Aladdin, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Mulan. Grace's Girl Scout troop got tickets for the girls, so all we had to pay for were tickets for Ella and me. We decided to make a girls' night out and went to Pizza Hut for dinner and then the show. We had such a great time! The only down side was the camera's battery ran down (I neglected to charge it before we left) right before Cinderella came on the ice. I did, however, get some really great pictures of the other princesses. This was by far the BEST one we've seen yet! Maybe next year, we'll get to take Daddy and Colt : )

Tobogganing!!

Lastnight we took the girls tobogganing up at Pokagon State Park. We had a great time! The weather wasn't terrible - windy though. We went down twice since the lines were pretty long. 34 MPH the first time, 36 the second. Guess who got to sit in front both times... : )

Hot cocoa at the warming station... YUMMY!

What a Busy Weekend!!

On Wednesday, Grace lost a tooth and received a $2 prize for her treasure from the Tooth Fairy. I tend to forget how excited kids get when they lose teeth.I don't particularly like this picture of her, but she wanted to show off her tooth space. We call this face the "extreme cheese." Thursday we had a day off from school since it was -22 degrees outside. It was a nice surprise to wake up at 5:30am and be able to go back to sleep after dropping Grace off at school for once. It's usually her school that has the day off, not ours.

Saturday was the big second birthday bash for my friend and babysitter, Tara's, little boy and Colt's best friend and wrestling buddy. He had a Spongebob birthday, so of course, my kids were in heaven.

Sunday was Uncle Mark and Aunt Deb's birthday. We celebrated with them at their home up in Stroh."AHHH! Sunday night bathtime!" Grace wanted lots of bubbles, so I gave her lots of bubbles ; ) My Valentine's Day surprise at work. I love lilies and this year, Chris got me a beautiful rose/lily arrangement. I especially like it when he sends them to me at work.

Adventures with Peter Pan

Saturday, we took the kids to the Botanical Conservatory for the Peter Pan exhibit. It was great!! The kids a blast on the life sized pirate ship. There were sections filled with crafts and games, a snack area where the kids could make an edible fairy wand, and the fairy forest with bubbles. Colt especially liked the bubbles : ) I liked the little crocodile that made a tick-tock sound just like the movie. It was a nice way to get out of the mini blizzard that was hitting us in the afternoon.

Blizzard of 2011

Earlier this week we had two days of nothing but pure unabashed snow. Ft. Wayne schools closed for those two days and then had two-hour delays the rest of the week - which is really unlike them! Grace ended up having three snow days. I think we ended up getting somewhere between 10-12 inches total. We also had another blizzard of sorts Saturday morning/afternoon which gave us about 4-5 more inches. So much for all the shoveling I did : )

Happy New Year!

Yesterday we celebrated New Year's Eve at my parents' house. My brother Donnie brought his kids as well. It's rare that we get everybody in the house at the same time with our significant others : ) Grace and Kylee, my brother Donnie's oldest girl.

Ella and Peyton, Donnie's youngest girl.

Colt and my youngest brother, Tyler.

Unfortunately, Donnie's oldest boy Keegan was unable to join us and I didn't get a good picture of his youngest, Baby Remy.

Ice Skating

Last Wednesday I took the girls ice skating at Headwaters Park downtown. We were very exited to go, however, when we got there, the amount of people there already was very daunting. I hadn't skated since I was about 12 or so, so I was way out of practice. The girls had never ice skated at all, so I knew I was in for it : ) Turns out I was right: we kept getting kicked at and pushed by teenagers, it was so busy that we could barely get beside the wall so I could steady the girls, and then Grace fell pretty hard and hurt her knee : ( We only got around the rink once when Ella said "this is horrible!" so we left. I think it would have been much more fun if I had had a chance to practice a little first and it wasn't so crowded. Maybe we'll try again before it closes for the season and maybe then it will be a better experience for the girls.

Pedicures

The girls and I decided that we were going to give each other pedicures - RAINBOW pedicures! They by no means look professional, but they loved it and it looks really cute : ) We also did our fingernails with a sparkly polish called Rockstar - Ella especially liked that!

Christmas 2010

The girls put out cookies for Santa. Ella wanted to take a drink of his milk just to "make sure it was nice and cold." We were lucky enough to be able to get the kids everything they asked for from Santa. Eventhough the reason for the season is not to get presents and material things, we love giving the kids presents. Among other things, Ella got her coveted Lalaloopsy dolls and the Littlest Pet Shop toys she asked for; Grace got her Nintendo DS and the Littlest Pet Shop toys; and Colt got a basketball hoop and a bunch of cars and trucks. Colt aslso got a Carhart coat just like Daddy's this year from Grandma Ruthie. They look like twins in their coats and Yankees hats : )
Every year before we go to Mass, we make the girls take their picture in front of the Christmas tree. They had really cute matching jackets and skirts to wear this year. I, unfortunately, didn't get to go this year because Colt was being very grouchy and uncooperative, so he and I stayed home while Chris took the girls.

Overall, it was a great year and a great Holiday season and hopefully we'll have a wonderful New Year!

Merry Christmas from the Singletons!

Merry Christmas from the Singletons! We hope your Christmas is a blessed one and you have a safe and happy New Year! Thank you for helping to make our year wonderful and we look forward to the year to come! ~God bless and keep you!

Grace's Christmas Program

Last Monday, Grace had her Christmas program at school. It was nice that the school put on a show that was just for the first graders and their guests. The place was packed and I can't imagine what it would look like if all grades were there! Grace is the angel in the middle. The other two cuties are friends from her class. She practiced so much, even Ella knows the songs : ) This was out first program and, of course, got every second on tape - she didn't have a program last year. It was refreshing to see a program filled with songs that reflect the reason for the season - Grace goes to Catholic school, so all the songs except one were Christ-oriented and there was also a Nativity skit. It was beautiful!

First Time Rollerskaters

Last Saturday, Chris and I took the kids to Bell's Skating Rink for the day. This was their first time ever skating and I haven't skated since 8th grade. They did great for their first time, but unfortunately they were just getting the hang of it when we had to leave. It was great fun!

Trick or Treat!

Instead of going to any neighborhoods this year, we decided to take the kids trick or treating at the zoo here in town. It was Colt's first real time going and he had a blast!! You can probably tell by the red candy all over his face : ) It was fun, safe, and we got a few great pictures too!

Playing in the Leaves

I haven't posted much lately, Chris and I have been SO busy with school obligations (we're teachers) that we've barely had time do sleep! We finally had a day that no one had us doing anything, today we took the kids to Ligonier's Fashion Farm Pumpkin Fantasy Land. It was fun and the kids had a really good time! I hadn't been there since I was a kid and it seemed to be MUCH more then than it is now : ) I thought the kids would enjoy the fact that I had gone there every year until I was 13 or so. They had mazes, a pumpkin jumpy thing, a pumpkin display that had pumpkins dressed as famous people and cartoon characters, and of course we bought some pumpkins to carve.
Afterwards we raked up some leaves and let the kids run through them. Colt had a blast! This was his first time for this and they were a MESS, but they had a ton of fun!!

American Girl Store/Chicago Girls Only Trip

Last Saturday, the girls and I went with my sister in law, Jennifer, my niece, Anna, and my mother in law, Ruthie to the American Girl Store in Chicago. It was so much fun!! We rode the train out of Waterloo which was a new experience for the three of us. Grace slept almost the whole way there and the whole way back. It was really nice since I didn't have to drive : ) While we were there, we shopped, looked at the sights - Grace was really impressed by the huge skyscrapers! - and looked at all the cool American Girl accessories. Luckily all three girls have a doll, so no one was left out. We also ate lunch there, which was really neat! We had a four course meal - which included cinnamon buns BEFORE the actual meal, much to Ella's delight! - and the food was thankfully VERY kid and mom friendly since we are all pretty picky : ) It was an experience that none of the girls will forget. Hopefully the girls and I will get to go to the store again around Christmas time with my mom if all plans come together. More pictures will come as I get them through email : )

Science Central Day

This weekend we took the kids to Science Central for the first time in five years. We had a great time and Colt really enjoyed the toddler area with the slide and water table. I enjoyed the perpetual motion device - let me tell you that I am WAY too old to be that dizzy! : )

Grace's 6th Birthday Party

We finally celebrated Grace's birthday party! We were going to celebrate at Chuck E. Cheese's, but decided at the last minute to just have cake and ice cream at the house since we all had to go to school the next day. With just a few family members (lots less than usual) we had a nice small garden party. She received lots of nice gifts and got to play with mu brother Donnie's kids.