Simple Pleasures Day!

If you haven't noticed already my posts this month have been sparse and in chunks. I haven't had quite as many free moments this past month or so....I (along with many others) have been busy planning a women's event at our church! A couple years ago when I joined our Women's Ministry Board I got the idea for a women's expo...well I didn't just come up with it on my own(I'm not that creative), my parents church had done something like this and I got the inspiration from that. Since I brought the idea up, guess who got to take it on? We are so blessed in our church to have women that enjoy volunteering and helping in any way that they can. That was my prerequisite....I had to have lots of help and God has blessed me with just that! Last years event went great and everyone wanted do it again. This year we are deciding to add a couple more things to the agenda, so that means more work. I really enjoy planning things...in fact I would enjoy it even more if it was my "job!" Check it out and here is an official invite for all you women out there! It is a ton of fun and you won't regret it...Hope to see you there!

Every women needs a day to totally rejuvenate themselves!

Come and take some time out of your busy schedule to relax, laugh, have fun with other women and think about what God has planned for you! Everything from complete makeovers to checking out local vendors......gourmet lunch to learning how to pinch your pennies ....come and join other women who are looking for a break from the day to day and indulge in the simple pleasures in life!

Music * Speakers * Lunch * Door prizes * Exhibitors * Workshops

Registration: $12 before March 23rd, or $15 at the door

Register by mail, online or Sundays in the E-Free church foyer

March 28th, 2009 8:30-3:30

First Evangelical Free Church 2008 24th St. Ames, IA 50010

www.amesefc.org

Check out our women's ministry blog here for more details such as the list and description of the workshops and list of exhibitors! You will also find a link on here to register online!

Kate is 1!

I can't believe just one year ago I was in the hospital with my brand new baby girl! All day today I keep trying to remember what I was doing and feeling one year ago! I know it is a worn out cliche, but time has really flown by! I just remember her like this

It's hard to believe that in just one year a baby can change so much.....
From sleepless nights to a great sleeper
From feedings every 3 hrs to..... today officially being weaned!!!!
Days in the bouncy seat to walking all over the place
Last but not least from your first toothless smile to a huge 6 toothed smile


For Kate's 1st Birthday Party we celebrated a couple days early over the weekend. My whole family got to come up and be with her! Saturday night we did the whole cake thing and opened presents! Here are a few of the highlights!

Her own little cake to dig into!

The cake for everyone to enjoy.....we had so much!

Not a big fan of the bib and hat!

After removing the bothersome bib and hat she was just fine. As you can see she was enjoying having Happy Birthday sung to her! We were trying to show her how to blow, but instead she grabbed the lit candle.... There is no evidence of a burn so it must have been that we scared her making her cry again! She quickly became happy again as we showed her how to dig in!

At first she was looking at us like, "are you sure I can do this?" As you can see she quickly figured out that it was ok!

She had plenty of help opening her presents!

We have been wanting to get the girls a wagon.....thanks Papa and Grandma Massner! I'm hoping that with the nice weather today we can give her a ride!

She enjoys her bouncing- spinning Zebra!

Happy 1st Birthday to my beautiful blue eyed Girl!

We love you~ Daddy, Mommy & Kenzie

Here is more pics to enjoy!

Beauty and the Beast!

Ever since Mackenzie has started Gymnastics we have wanted to take her to a Iowa State Gymnastics meet. This past weekend they had a Beauty and the Beast event where there was a gymnastics meet and wrestling meet going on at the same time on the floor! Since I like wrestling this was perfect. Aaron decided to stay home with Kate and my sister and brother in law were coming up so Amy came with us for a girls night out!

Mackenzie was excited to see Cy, but wasn't really sure about getting too close. Here is her first picture with him!!!

Mackenzie spotted people eating the famous Clone Cone and thought she needed to have one!

Shawn Johnson was there! She was signing autographs from 4-6, but we couldn't make it that early! At least we got to see her from a distance.....Mackenzie was pretty excited about that!
She is the one at the end of the table in the greenish-grey shirt! We really didn't see her do anything, she must have been doing something with reporting.

Can't wait to see her on Dancing with the Stars this season!

Mackenzie was pretty interested in watching until we moved to sit beside some friends and then she was a little distracted! It was a fun evening and Iowa State won in both meets!

Father Daughter Date Night!

This Valentine's Day was pretty special.... We got to share it with many people we love! Isn't that what the day is all about? Friday night Aaron and I got to go out and celebrate. We actually got to go to a movie....I can't remember that last movie we went to the theater to watch together. Then on Saturday my parents and brothers came up. We made dinner at home and just hung out and played games. Then on Sunday.....

Mackenzie showing off her Valentines!

Kate showing off her favorite part!

Father Daughter Date Night!
Our church put on a "Dance Party" for Valentine's Day. They brought in a Christian DJ couple from Florida who does events just like this. They were so good at involving everyone and not making you feel dumb if you didn't know how to dance! They choreographed dances, made you get a real workout and made it so much for for all generations!

Mackenzie was so excited...we had been talking about it and she kept wanting to know when the "dance party" was and her and her friend Kayley at gymnastics the wed. before kept yelling "Father Daughter Date Night!" It was so cute to see her excited about it! I asked my dad to come up and go with me while Aaron separately took Mackenzie....we debated over taking Kate and decided that she really has no clue and it would be a lot more fun for everyone involved if she stayed back with Grandma!

My dad got me a corsage.....the traditional picture of a date pinning on the flower!

Mackenzie all dolled up and ready to go!

Daddy putting her corsage on!

Mackenzie proudly showing it off!

My dad and I went out to eat before hand at The Cafe` a nice restaurant in town while Aaron and Mackenzie went to her favorite place Pizza Ranch!

Part of the package was we all got our picture taken when we got there! The whole evening was coordinated so well.... Snacks and all!

Aaron and Mackenzie had a blast! He wanted us to stay away from them to not distract her!

They had different times where the dads would be in the middle while the daughters stood in a circle around them and clapped while they did their thing and vice versa! Here's the dads rockin out to their air guitars!

Several of Mackenzie's friends were there and they literally were dancing and running around all night. Mackenzie actually had some rhythm in her dance moves....don't know where she got them, but they were pretty good!

The last dance Mackenzie and Papa finally got a dance!

Thanks Dad for the honor of a date with you!
Aaron thanks for making such a special night with our daughter that I hope she doesn't forget!

She's walking!

Last week while we were away Kate started walking.....taking about 5 steps before she fell. Now this week she is just taking off! You can tell she thinks she is pretty big stuff and really would rather walk than crawl....she's not lacking determination! She's going to be running by her 1st birthday in a week and a half....well maybe not, but I bet she'll be pretty good at it!



Sorry about having to turn your head sideways....as she was getting closer and I couldn't back up any further it was the only way to keep her in the picture!

6 vs. 1

It's been a while, but it's been a little busy around the Musselman household. This past week I got the privilege of watching my 4 nieces and nephews while their parents were on vacation for a week! When they asked me to do it I have to admit I was a little hesitant....4 kids plus my 2 by myself for a whole week. I said yes and was glad to help them out...knowing everything would be just fine. What I was most worried about was just me and the girls being away from Aaron for that long.....they're kind of attached to their daddy! Aaron took us down on Saturday night and they left early Sunday morning for the warm sunny beaches of Cancun! Aaron stuck around till the 3rd quarter of the Super Bowl....which we had a little party of our own before he headed back for the work week! It was so nice to have him there for a transition.

Sunday afternoon the girls had a blast sliding down the stairs on sleeping bags! I know safe, right?!? You know you haven't lived a life as a child until you have slide down the stairs on something....and most of us survived!

During the days while the kids were at school and we just did our daily things....play...eat...sleep...play some more! Monday night started our TV show party nights with The Bachelor and True Beauty, shows that all of us girls liked and they introduced my to their show called A day in the life of the American Teenager...or something like that! We made some monkey bread and I have to say I am a big fan of DVR/TVO! Mackenzie enjoyed the evenings with Nicholas!

Tuesday I got to go visit some good friends of ours that live about 45 min from there and that used to live by us. It was nice to have something to get out of the house for and the kids enjoyed each other....well Mackenzie and Rebekah did....the little ones were napping most of the time!

Tuesday and Wednesday night we had more TV show party's with American Idol and some fun dessert! We had fun cooking every night...Lynne had gotten us a lot of food and all we had to do was figure out what we wanted each night and cook it! One night I made an All American Cheesebuger Soup.....It was a BIG hit! I have to say looking at the recipe I was wondering how it was going to taste like cheeseburger, but it was really good. I'll have to post the recipe sometime!

Thursday then Elizabeth and the kids came down to see us for the day. It was so good to have playdates that week, and to catch up. We miss them a lot! That night Zach had some friends over to practice for their forensics(I would say "Speech") tournament that they were going to over the weekend. It was so much fun watching them act and they were amazing!

Here are some of the favorites of our time there:

Mackenzie loved their big shower. It is a walkin with two shower heads!!! I think I could get used to this house!

Kate enjoyed the tupperware drawer and as you can see she is standing by herself. She started walking while we were there, taking about 5 steps before falling!

Another one of Kate's favorites was Sassy their cat! She would followe her all around the house and get so excited. Sassy wasn't quite sure of what to think about this little creature that was not much bigger than herself....it's not another cat and it's not another dog?

Sassy would be on the steps and when the door was closed she would stick her paws under the door. We would sit upstairs on the other side of the door and get her to swipe her paws and play....Kate just thought that was so fun. She would stick her own hand under the door trying to get her to play!

Kate would reach out her hand and Sassy would kind of swipe at it and Kate would pull her hand away. She is declawed so it never hurt her and Kate would get so excited! By the end of the week Sassy would let Kate get close enough to pet her.

Then on Friday it was anticipation of daddy coming! The weather was awesome so we spent time outside playing. Then for lunch I decided to pass the time we would go to McDonalds and then the park. Aaron got to leave work early....thanks to his coworker who knew he wanted to come see us! It was so good to see him and a relief from sole parental duties for my girls! I could tell they were starting to react to being away from their normalcy and daddy!

Saturday I took Molly and Morgan out for a girls afternoon to express how thankful I was for all the help that they had given me with my girls and the chores around the house! I couldn't have done it without them! We went to Panera for lunch and then to a movie....and to top it off a stop at the custard place for some dessert! It was a nice break and we had fun!

Saturday night Jeremey and Elizabeth came down again so the guys could also hang out. We ordered Papa Murphys and played RockBand and Wii all night. It was SO much fun....I'm thinking about forming a band with all our skills...ha!

Aaron and Jeremey enjoying a little manly boxing match!

Overall we things went very well. God answered the many prayers on our behalf! It was really fun being able to bond with them as we don't get to see them all the time. All the kids kind of became like brothers and sisters to each other! I am happy to report that Matt and Lynne's trip went well and they enjoyed the vacation, but glad to be back with their children! This week we are just trying to get back into routine, but we miss the kids!