easter

We hosted a little Easter celebration at our house today, complete with an indoor egg hunt! Zack, Jennifer, and Jordan and Jonathan, Chelsea and Evelyn were our obliging guests.

Chelsea and Evelyn in their Easter dresses

The festivities began with a little bucket decorating so that everyone had appropriate egg collection gear.

Zack, Jordan and Madeline get their craft on

Jonathan and Evelyn worked as a team

After the buckets were sufficiently decorated, the hunt began. The older girls looked for eggs in the playroom downstairs while Evelyn got to search the living room floor for her treasures.

Can you spy the blue egg?

Evelyn and her easter bucket

Some of the eggs had jelly beans, but others held a much more exciting surprise for Madeline. The Easter Bunny had left her a word puzzle to solve in order to find the basket of goodies he had left for all the girls. Inside the "puzzle" eggs were letters that each had a number written on the back. Madeline put the letters in their corresponding numbered spots on the puzzle sheet and it said...


Off to the kitchen she ran and found the Easter Bunny's goodies to share with all the girls.

I wonder what the Easter Bunny will devise for next year...

baby gymnastics

Julia has discovered her feet! Her favorite activity now is to demonstrate her incredible flexibility and put her toes in her mouth.

can't let go

Julia fell asleep while playing in her bouncy seat... she managed to keep holding on to the toys despite being unconscious!

julia at four months

Julia's four month milestone occurred while we were in KS so her check-up was delayed until we returned home. While we were waiting for the pediatrician, a group pic was requested by M, so I happily obliged. The mirror above the exam table was perfect for just this occasion!


At four months, Julia:

• is 25.5 in long/tall (75th percentile) and weighs 15lbs 1oz (90th percentile)
• rolls from back to tummy
• is quite the active sleeper and is starting to escape her swaddle
• only sleeps for about 5 hours at a stretch at night
• is quite a happy, smiley baby
• wears 3 mo-sized onesies, but newborn pants because she's skinny
• is starting to suck on her first two fingers instead of a pacifier for soothing herself
• has a faux hawk, just like Madeline did at this age

love for my family

We were happy to have some of the extended Bartel family come visit us in Manhattan today. It had been too long since we had seen many of them! I wish NC wasn't so far away from KS. A special thanks goes to Larry and Cheryl for making the trip up from Wichita. As is typical at a Bartel gathering, there was lots of visiting, laughing and eating. Next time there will be more game playing!

Madeline showing off her new domino skills to Tante Kathleen.

fun with the bartel cousins

Noah and Elisa spent the day with us at Grandma & Grandpa's house. After breakfast, Grandma pulled out her big box of supplies and the kids got their craft on.

Grandpa helped glue the googly eyes on the handprint creations.

After naptime, Grandma taught Elisa & Madeline how to play dominoes. I have wonderful memories of playing dominoes with my Grandpa Funk, so it's fun to see this experience being passed on to the next generation.

Sheri & Katina arrived after school and we were able to catch all the kids for a cousins photo. Didn't even realize at the time that they were all wearing purple!

happy birthday, grandma l

To celebrate her birthday, Grandma L decided to treat the girls to an afternoon of fun in
Topeka. We had lunch at Cici's, played games at Chuck E Cheese, and ran around The Toy Store. It was a fun day!

Madeline & Peyton "riding" the rollercoaster at Chuck E Cheese

coloring

Doing her favorite activity in her favorite spot at Grandma & Grandpa Bartel's house...

quality time

Grandma B & Julia

bathtime in ks

Madeline asked to help with Julia's bath today. I love that she wants to help! Julia wasn't too sure about the accommodations at first, but she settled in as soon as she saw Madeline.

spidergirl

We needed a little outdoor fun today, so while Grandma B had a meeting, the girls and I played at City Park. My, how it has changed from when I was a girl! Madeline loved climbing on this rope structure.

out with the pacifier?

theta reunion

This weekend was a big celebration for the K-State Theta chapter's 50th anniversary. The timing worked out so that I could come to Kansas with the girls to participate in the celebration.

Heidi stayed with me at Mom & Dad's house for the weekend so that we had more opportunities to catch-up and she could spend some quality time with Madeline and Julia. We started off our reminiscing by having dinner at Rock-A-Belly (where else?!) last night and started to run into familiar faces there. This morning we toured the house to see what had changed (as well as what hadn't!) and what was going to change with the upcoming major remodel. We would take a few steps and then there would be another person I hadn't seen since college to greet and hug... it took us a long time to get through the house!

Bielenberg & Bartel

Then we went to high tea (or as Madeline called it, the Grownup Fancy Tea Party) and did more visiting.

Bartel, Ruckert & Bielenberg


Look who we ran into as we were leaving the tea!

Our day of Theta concluded with dinner with the other gals who were initiated between 1990-2000, another stop at Rock-A-Belly, and a quick tour through Aggieville, including signing the paddle at Kite's. I think we were in bed, exhausted, before midnight... what a change from college days!

VonFeldt, Buccigrossi, Bielenberg, Bartel & Ruckert

beauty shot

Pickles + sunshine = happiness

making cards

This morning at breakfast M decided that she needed to make cards for all of her school friends. She could not progress with any other morning tasks until this idea was seen through, so I got out the crafting supplies (I'm learning to pick my battles). She drew, stickered and folded paper to her heart's content and then she practiced writing "From: Madeline" on all of the cards. We addressed the envelopes and stuck them into her backpack so she could deliver them at school the next day.

the indoctrination begins

Julia joined me today for her first chapter meeting! Last year's executive officer team gave Julia this onesie so she would have appropriate attire for meetings.

Seeing her in this little get-up reminds me of the song that we often sang at dinner during my college years...

Rock-a-bye, rock-a-bye my baby
Dream sweet dreams,
dream that someday maybe
You will be a Theta, too
and wear the black and gold...

rainy day fun

We've got a new favorite rainy day activity -- Hopper's House! Our friends, the Shermans, introduced us to this fun place and now the girls request this location every time we get together.

Taking a break from bouncing

The girls had a blast with all the dress-up costumes

Tutus are proper air hockey attire

my new stylist

Our between-quiet-time-and-supper activity today was to play barber (that's what Madeline calls everyone who cuts or styles hair). After what felt like a hour, Madeline pronounced me beautified. I think she used every clip in her stash!

holding pattern

Will settle for holding her toys in the bouncy seat...

... but prefers to hold our hand
(check out the beginning of her faux-hawk!)

happy st. patrick's day!

This evening we went to a St. Patty's party hosted by Josh's co-worker Shane and his family. This event is quite the annual shindig and we had a great time socializing with co-workers and meeting families from Shane's neighborhood. Josh was even recruited to play on the neighborhood soccer team! Madeline had a great time running around with a crew of older girls and Julia was quite popular with the not-quite-old-enough-to-be-grandparents crowd. I didn't think to get a family picture of all of us in our green finery (Julia had to settle for a green bow in her little fringe of hair), but did manage to get one of Julia and me...

teed off

Lately, Madeline has been really interested in golfing. Sadly, the only equipment we have is the little plastic play set she got a couple of birthdays ago. Even though both Josh and I took golf as a class at K-State, neither one of us has a set of clubs! When Josh gets home in the evening, Madeline meets him outside with her little clubs in hand and they play a "round" in the front yard. She usually takes a one-handed approach to swing the driver...

But every once in a while we see glimpses of some decent form...

julia at three months

At three months, Julia is

• very much dependent on her pacifiers, especially to settle down to sleep
  
• vocalizing with trills and shrieks
• busy growing all her hair back in (the faux-hawk is just starting to show)
• fascinated with her sister
• happy taking baths
• sleeping about 4 hrs in a stretch at night
• reaching for toys

outdoor art

One of Madeline's favorite outdoor activities at the old house was to decorate our fence and brick patio with her chalk drawings. We don't have either of those features at this house (yet!), but we do have a deck that is in desperate need of some beautification. After Linus and Madeline finished their breakfast (we had a sleepover last night with Adrian & Linus), we turned them loose on the deck with a bucket of chalk. They had a blast!

welcome, spring!

We were pleasantly surprised to have a nice crop of cheery daffodils pop up in the front flowerbeds.

Ever the attention hog, Pickles decided
she needed to be part of the picture, too.

hi, grandma!

fun at the mall

Grandma B wanted to check out a few stores in North Raleigh, so we turned it into a playdate at the mall up there. This train kept making laps around the children's play area (what better way to drum up business, right?!) and each time it approached, Madeline would stop what she was doing to wave at the train passengers until they passed by. It looked like fun so while Grandma kept Julia happy, M and I took a trip on the train.

This was our little car.
(Madeline insisted that her belly button
also be a part of the picture.)

It may not look like it, but she was so excited!

party time

It was a wonderful coincidence that while Grandma and Grandpa B were visiting that we were able to attend Evelyn's first birthday party.

Grandpa B and Julia waiting for the party to start

Linus and Madeline setting the mood

One of Chelsea's classmates is a balloon animal artist -- what an unexpected talent! He provided entertainment for all the party-goers, kids and adults alike. He was so creative and kind... Madeline was thrilled when he made her two unicorns and a rainbow.

The birthday girl and her parents

Happy birthday, sweet Evelyn!