House Redecorating

We have been doing some redecorating around the house. With the baby coming in November Charlotte will be moving into Amelia's room. We found matching sleigh beds on Craigslist for a good price. I would like to repaint them and change a trim piece but in the mean time they are sturdy. You can also see Mia's new dresser (another garage sale find) in her closet. The girls also got matching bedding. Although currently Joe sleeps there at night and Charlotte just during the day until we buy another mattress.


My brother was very generous and gave us his TV. It wouldn't fit into our old entertainment center so we bought a simpler one and rearranged the living room. We also got a bookcase that allows for Joe's fish tank.

The Castle Birthday Cake

Here is Mia's awesome castle cake made and

decorated by none other than my mother!!

Isn't it adorable! If you want to see it closer just click on the picture.

Amelia's 6th Birthday

Amelia celebrated her 6th birthday this week. She completed her American Girl mini historical dolls. She also receive the historical books from her Arizona grandparents. Because she received so many little gift she received presents all throughout the day. For dinner we went to Famous Dave's and we sang Happy Birthday to a cookie-brownie.

The next day we had her birthday party. I wish I had taken more pictures but being pregnant with twelve girls in the house made that difficult. We made princess crowns and bottle cap necklaces. We had lunch and cake and then a pinata.

Here are some of the presents she received.

Here are all her mini dolls in her old suitcase

(my great $3 garage sale find.)

Her Illinois Grandma and Papa gave her this pioneer outfit for her doll.

The Dausman girls gave her a ballerina outfit and puppy dog.

The Brown girls gave her this great cookie set (Charlotte loves it, too.)

She also received a Barbie doll and clothes, candy, a book, headbands,

Strawberry Shortcake doll, Cinderell and gift cards. What a spoiled girl!!

The Cousins

This is the best shot I got. They had a great time together!

Santa's Village

I got a good deal on tickets to Santa's Village. It closed a few years ago due to gang activity. It just recently opened so we thought we would give it a try. I went there frequently as a kid and have great memories. Unfortunately a lot has changed. They sold most of the old rides and Santa no longer resides there. It was a hot day and had the kids not just been to Great America perhaps it would have been a little more fun. It took Charlotte a while to warm up to the idea of rides. They still have the mushrooms, but no polka dots. :(


The older kids enjoyed this ride but as you can see Charlotte was very unsure.





This ride had metal seats and was way too hot. I had to put my hand under Charlotte's legs so they wouldn't burn.



The truck ride was a winner.



The balloon ride was Charlotte's least favorite ride. It went 25 ft. into the air and she cried the whole time.




After lunch we enjoyed the race cars. Ben got the Bears' car and Joe got the Packers' car. Finally, Charlotte was starting to enjoy herself.





They still have the big slide. And now trees completely shade it so it is never a hot ride.



We had so much fun on the trucks, Charlotte wanted to ride one more time before we left.

Muddy Mess!

Charlotte went out with her baby doll to play after the kids had been playing in the sprinkler all afternoon. Apparently she found a muddy area and the two of them had fun!

Vacation Bible School 2011

The Summer of Baseball

This summer Ben and Mia are playing baseball. So we spend three to four nights at the baseball field. Even Charlotte likes to get into the action.




Here is Ben in action. He tends to play catcher, second base, and right field. He had a little bit of a hitting slump mid-season but now is hitting almost every time.




And here is Mia in action. She gets helpful batting tips from her coach "aka Dad" and she plays all over the field.