Family Rules

A few years ago I was watching Super Nanny.

She was discussing the idea of making a list of family rules.

I felt that this was such a great way to take the opportunity to talk with our girls about our expectations and the guidelines that we expect them to follow in our home, as well as in the real world.

I immediately jotted down a few things that I felt were important to us.

When we sat down with the girls to talk about these "rules", Mia was 3 and Sophie was 2.

I remember how interested they were in hearing all about these rules and how they were excited to show us how good they would be at following them!

I recently typed up our "Family Rules" and framed it.

It sits on my desk in our kitchen where everyone can see it daily.

Our Family Rules are as follows:

Be loving.

Be kind.

Be a good listener.

Put our family first.

Eat dinner together as a family.

Bring one topic to the dinner table each night.

Never yell.

Never hit.

Share your things with each other.

If upset, use your words to talk about your feelings.

Everyone must help with household chores.

Say your prayers every night.

No TV during dinner.

No cell phones during dinner.

No shoes on the carpet.

Make your bed every morning.

Do NOT interrupt.

Say please and thank you.

They are not extremely deep or philosophical, as the girls are still all under the age of 5.

But I feel it helps them know their boundaries and what is expected of them.

In my opinion, there is no greater comfort to a child than having structure and knowing what is expected of them.

After making my list, I realize there are SEVERAL

more things I could have added.

Such as.......

always wear your helmet when riding your horse....

(Gracie immediately yells for her "Hat" as soon as she hops on!)

get your beauty sleep......

and LIVE, LAUGH and LOVE in 2010!

(Don't you love my Williams-Sonoma Pig?! It's one of my favorite birthday gifts from last summer from my Mother & Father in-law and my Sister & Brother in-law Angie & Farris!)

I will add those in the future I'm sure. :)

One of the rules I like to follow, yet it's not on our list, is take as many pictures as humanly possible and display them above your desk like a crazy person!

Here are a few close ups of my craziness...

It's a Wonderful Life, indeed!

Superstar Sophie

Guess who is a SUPERSTAR student?!

Sophia Grace, that's who.

She came home the other day with a "Certrificate" from preschool.

I knew exactly what it was before she pulled it out of her backpack.

It was her Certificate of Achievement in knowing the following:

Full name, Address, Phone Number & Birthday

I knew that this was what she so excited about because we had been practicing all of her "personal information" at home the weekend before.

Then, sure enough, her first day back at school after our practicing, she comes blazing out of the double doors at preschool smiling ear to ear with some very good news!

Way to go Soph!

The second one in your entire class of 3 year olds to get this certificate!

We are so proud of you!

Speaking of Sophie, I made her a fun little t-shirt dress for her to play in.

She wanted it "floor length," and Princess and the Frog, of course.

Her new favorite.

Her FOURTH birthday is coming up and she's celebrating with a

fun Princess and the Frog themed party.

Can NOT believe she's turning four.

Tears.

Even made a little headband to match.

(She almost loved this more than the dress.)

And another shot of a recent project.... I finally got around to making Sophie a recycled t-shirt dress of her own, after making Mia a Michigan one.

Sophie's is made out of Steve's old shirts and she loves it. She calls it her "Daddy Mazz" dress.

I can't wait to make some more....

Four Sister's Trip to Michigan

I feel so blessed to have three sisters.

God knew I needed sisters.

Three best friends for life.

They are the only three people that I can trust to help me

in so many areas I am CLUELESS about.

Hard to believe, but there are several.....hundred.

(like if the coat I am wearing looks like my husbands....keep reading you will understand)

Me and my sisters have talked, on several occasions, about

what growing up with three other girls did for us.

We grew up learning how to share everything under the sun.

Clothes, shoes, food, beds, make-up, PARENTS!

We believe it's made us who we are today.

We learned how to be happy for each other.

And other women in our lives.

We have talked about our friends who don't have sisters and how

different it must have been for them.

To be the ONLY girl in the house.

So incredibly different.

No make-up or bras to share.

They got everything new and it was all theirs.

They never had to share any milestone that a girl has growing up.

We know we were given each other for a reason and feel so

lucky that we never had to hope to find true friends like some girls may.

We never had to search for a best friend.

We have always had each other.

And thankfully, being one of four girls has made us who we are today.

Four crazy girls who know how to share happy times and moments,

clothes, make-up and bras,

while being proud of each other's accomplishments.

I am truly thankful for all of the unique attributes that

each one of us bring into each other's lives.

And now, a few pics from our recent GIRL'S WEEKEND trip to Michigan to visit the youngest sister, Maggie.

(She was recently selected as one the the USA Softball's Top 50 players to watch this season.... you can read about it here! We are so proud of her!!)

Welcome Viefhaus sisters!

Haley and Maggie as we were getting ready to head out for our first night of fun.

Haley, Mags and Adie

Models.

Group shot!

We NEVER get these with Maggie gone so much!

Love this one.

Thankfully, Maggie asked me to take off "Steve's" coat prior to posing.

Too bad it wasn't Steve's, it was MINE.

On our way!

Love this one!

Lipstick?!

Look out!


Laughs.

Maggie and her friend Adam.

Secrets.

Leaving our first stop.

Craziness.

I could NOT walk in Maggie's heels.

After I insisted, while getting ready, that I liked "this kind of heel!"

A workout session the next morning....

we all did Jillian's Shred following this.

Then we ate Enchiladas.

Skinny.

Showing the evil heels I wore the night before.

So wobbly.


Getting ready for night #2.

Me and Ads

Me and Hales

Three out of four.

All four for another group shot.

We arrived at a real live dance club.

Hilarious, as I am 30 years old friends.

Twins shot!

The softball dance

Maggie may or may not have gotten on stage to perform Single Ladies.

After the club.

Quickie Burger I believe was the name?

Good thing Maggie let me borrow BLUEBERRY since we had to walk 3 miles in the FRIGID cold Michigan weather. With NO coat mind you!

Heading home on the plane.

Look who else loved BLUEBERRY!

When I got home Gracie had to try it on :)

Thanks for letting me borrow it Maggie and we will miss you!

Thank you so much for having all three of us up to visit you, and thus, forcing me to get on a plane, yet again, and endure a few more mini panic attacks.

It was well worth it!

See you soon!

You Must Watch This Video (and then throw your potato peeler away forever)

I am just going to warn you about this heaven-sent You Tube Video

you are about to watch. It will probably make you want to be my

best friend forever for sharing it with you.

But, only because my mom sent it to me.
So actually, you should be thanking her for sending in my way.
So feel free to give a shout out to Onda in the comment section....

Alright, get ready to be so excited to never have to use a potato peeler ever again.

I know I sure am.
And so is my hubby Steve.

If it weren't so annoyingly time consuming, and if I

had a peeler that actually worked and didn't make me bleed,

I would make him his MASHED POTATOES, that he lives for, more often.

Now I will.
And I think you will too.
Enjoy.

(Be sure to scroll down and hit pause on music so you can hear!)

Holla to Onda for sharing!

What Did You Do All Day?

Don't you just LOVE this question?
What did you do all day?
I know I sure do.

I don't think my husband Steve has ever asked this is the negative connotation, that can easily be interpreted by the multi-tasking, over achieving, stressed out and exhausted Mom of three, but sometimes I feel like saying, "Well, honey cakes, what DIDN'T I do today?"

But I do not.

Instead I try to give him all the details that he missed out on during our amazing day together.

I tell him how caught Gracie dancing to the rhythm of our black lab Gussie drinking her water.

And how we played "Get You" for an hour and that this entails me saying, "Gracie, I'm going to get you!" And then her repeating back to me, "GET YOU!" over and over again while smiling ear to ear running around the living room.

And I can't forget about the cute fact that for approximately two hours she said "Your Velcome" every time I handed her something instead of thank you.


I also tell him how Sophie said to me, "Mommy, tickle my neck!" Then when I did she giggled, "Daddy do's that to me all the time."

And then I fill him in that Sophie hurt her "nickle" today. And when he asks me what that means I will explain that she pointed to her ankle when she said, "Ouch, Mom, I hurt my nickle!"

I also tell him that when we opened up the special cat food that Santa left for Booty Cat Sophie took a sniff and said, "Wow, that smells like steak!"



I can't forget to explain to him how bright Mia is and how she can read about 100% more words than she could last week.

And how she sat at the kitchen table doing a Kindergarten workbook for an hour smiling at her accomplishments.

I will tell him how she is so proud of doing her daily chore of taking care of our dogs and eagerly asks me if it's time to feed them dinner.

I am so excited to fill him in about her AWESOME new song she is learning in Kindergarten that has her reciting every single President of the United States in order!



But this particular day, when he came home and said, "What did you do all day?" I was able to give him a glimpse with these fun pictures I took in the late morning.

They were playing in their hot spot, the landing between two sections of stairs leading up to our second floor.

They were smiling.
Laughing.
Joking.
Hugging.
Loving one another.

This picture is my favorite and I feel it completely summarizes my life at this very moment.

Three crazy blondes.

Loving each other.

There is nothing better.

Life is Like a Box of........

babies?!!

Indeed, in our family, yes, life is like a box of babies.

You never know which one will be flying around the frozen pond all bundled up so tight that they can barely move.

So typical for our family.

My mom and dad's little pond froze last weekend due to the week of non-stop below zero wind chill weather. Steve and I packed up the three stooges for a fun day of ice skating.

The trek in the snow down to the pond begins.

Adie helps assist Mia.

We made it!

Let the fun begin!

(See the bonfire my parent's made across the pond?!)

Meade was so cute sliding into the splits position.



Love it!

My dad then had the brilliant idea to put the little ones in a random box that happened to be down by the pond.

Gracie was a little squished.

She was peering at Grandpa.

Daddy and Gracie pose.

Steve is a pro skater, as he played hockey in high school.

He was able to blaze around the ice holding the girls spinning them all around.

They loved it!

Adie borrowed my hot figure skates for some fun.

Another shot of Gracie skating with Dad.

Grandpa decided to hold Gracie's hood like a leash since she thought it was acceptable to RUN on the ice rather than walk.

Snow Angels!

Super fun!

Mia posing on the perfect hill for sledding, however, we forgot the sled!

We put Mia and Sophie to work and they shoveled away.

Snow ball throw at Mom!

My mom may or may not have had to make a beverage run.

The perfect cooler.

Mommy and Sophie.

Showing my "Skilz."

And then some more.

Steve was doing my requested "twirl" with me.

Happy Winter Fun to All!

2009 Recap in Pictures {July-December}

Finally!

The rest of my 2009 recap in pictures!

The fact that it took me so long to get this posted gives you an idea of just how many pictures I take. I think I may have a slight camera obsession.... but that is for another post.

I feel, however, in twenty years, when my girls have grown up, they will appreciate all the camera clicking and blogging. Every milestone & memorable moment (literally) will be binded up for them to glance at anytime they'd like.

Here are a few pictures from July through December, 2009......

In July....

many s'mores were eaten....

Mia had her FIRST ever pedicure.....


Maggie posed with Gracie on the 4th of July....


and we also celebrated the 4th of July at my Uncle Keith & Aunt Cindy's amazing house.....There was a lake for fishing, trampolines for jumping, a baby deer to pet, and sparklers to wave.

Mia & Sophie posed for me, yet again!

Mia had her LAST day ever as a four year old. Tear.

And we celebrated her 5th birthday at a water park the next day!


She had a HORSE themed party for some friends a few days later.

Sophie loved riding the horse!

Mia made a wish.

And I did as well, at the end of this month.... I turned 30!

I celebrated with my family that night at a yummy Mexican Restaurant, then later in the week a fun party at our house!

In August....

Aunt Maggie took Mia horse back riding....

And Mia lost her FIRST tooth!

Mia also had her FIRST day of Kindergarten.

Major tears.

Maggie & Gracie posed at church after Meade's baptism.

In September.....

Mia & Sophie had their FIRST day of Dance Class together....

and hugged yet again.

We cheered as we watched Daddy coach softball.....

and Sophie cried on her very first day of school EVER.

Our family went to the annual fair...

and the girls and I made a SPOOKY banner to get ready for Halloween!

In October...

Gracie tested Daddy's new ear protectors...

and the girls posed by a haystack in Augusta, MO for our annual "every second Sunday in October" trip to the Sausage Supper and wineries.

A few days later we had our very first ER experience.

Poor Gracie had pneumonia.

We were back in action for the annual Rodeo though!

Yee Haw!

I made Mia a Michigan recycled t-shirt dress & Sophie a Halloween dish towel dress.

They posed in our living room showing off our awesome fall leaves view.

The girls had one of SEVERAL trampoline parties with Daddy.

And Maggie came in town for a fun party at Mom and Dad's house!

We posed in our hats from dad :)

I got a great group shot of almost all the cousins on my husband's side after baby Maddie's baptism. They are all too cute!

Gracie showed some MICHIGAN spirit and posed in Daddy's old (and dirty) hat!

We celebrated Halloween at Adie's house.

(This is the ONLY group shot where everyone is somewhat looking.)

We had a Daphne, a Dorothy a cat & a very grumpy Tiger.

In November....

Mia was "BIG CHIEF" at her elementary school.

And we had several super warm days to enjoy outside!

We went to the Zoo and the girls posed at the amazing entrance!

I made my girls some special Christmas pillowcases that they will get to use every year at Christmas time! They loved these.

Steve and I teamed up to make Mia & Sophie some fun shirts.

The girls posed in their fun Christmas gear after celebrating Mimo's birthday!!

Hats and shirts were gifts from Julie and Sophie's poncho was from one of her fabulous preschool teachers. So cute!

Speaking of preschool, Sophie celebrated Jesus' birthday and sang some special songs during her Christmas program.

Gracie helped hang candy canes.

And we celebrated yet another wonderful Christmas with our family and friends.

We even had a semi-WHITE Christmas this year!


We wrapped up the year 2009 in style at my sister Haley's house.

All the cousins posed in their matching skirts, made by Haley, and tie shirts that I made the boys so they could match the girls.

Mia, Ella & Sophie.

MODELS.

Gracie & Meade.

ADORABLE.

The Viefhaus sisters got together for a cute shot.

Maggie, Marta, Adie & Haley

And here is an action shot of randomness & laughter.....

LOVE. THIS. PIC.

Haley & Adie posed with their fun hats!

Happy New Year!

Steve and I have been so blessed this year. We traveled, celebrated birthdays, spent time with our families and loved life.

We can only hope that 2010 will be as rewarding, memorable & joyous as 2009 was for us.

Here is to a healthy and happy 2010 filled with laughter and love to all!

2009 Recap in Pictures {Jan-June}

Welcome 2010!

We are so happy to finally meet you.

We hope you will bring us as much joy, laughter and love that the year 2009 did.

(Since I did not start my blog until this past year in March, so some of these pictures are never before seen.)

Here are just a few of the highlights from January through June that we will always cherish.....

In January....

Mia and Sophie posed as usual....

and hugged like they do so many times a day.

Thanks to Aunt Erin we went to see Disney Princesses on Ice!

It was beautiful.

We helped Mimo and Grandpa install hardwood floors.

And took a trip to Carbondale to visit Haley and her family!

In February.....

Gracie celebrated her first Valentine's Day with rosy cheeks.

Mia and Sophie raced..

(We hit up the park on a super warm day!)

and held hands.

The next day we were treating poor Gracie with the nebulizer.

In March......

There were more hugs....

and forts were built.

Gracie also started to walk!

Sophie had her last day ever as a two year old. Tear.

Then she turned THREE and we headed to McDonald's for her favorite meal.

(Look how she's making sure Ronnie's not getting to close to her!)

After lunch I took all three girls to the Magic House!

Sophie had a blast....

and loved pretending they were princesses in a castle.

The same night we headed to "watch night" at Mia's dance studio.

I snapped some pics of the birthday girl :)

Sophie had a fun Barbie and the Diamond Castle themed party....

and loved twirling in her tutu.

In April....

We celebrated Grandma Viefhaus' birthday!

Dyed Easter Eggs with their cousin Ella.

Went to see the Easter Bunny.

On Easter Ella dressed in the funky disco dots with them!

Mia had a fun field trip to the Butterfly House...

(tears were involved.... you can read about it here!)

The next day we took our own field trip (without Daddy. Boo.) to watch Maggie play against the University of Illinois.

In May.....

Sophie posed for me in my "slip" from when I was little.

We took another ROAD TRIP with the girls to Michigan to watch Maggie play.

We ALL stayed at the FARM and had such a fun time!!

Mia had her dance recital.

The girls bought treats from the ice cream man on several occasions.

Mia practiced hitting like Maggie.

The girls and Steve planted me my Mother's Day wish.... a Vegetable Garden!

Mia celebrated her July birthday at preschool with some yummy pudding dirt treats.

And then she GRADUATED!!

The girls got to visit my old high school (where Steve now works!) and they were pointing at my picture in the wall of fame!

There I am. So long ago.

Yet another road trip to Oklahoma City to watch Maggie!

So glad we got to witness her last game of the season..... and make it onto ESPN!

Gracie turned ONE!

I made my first shirts for Gracie's party.....matching cupcake tanks!

Gracie loved her cake!

In June.....

I made my first fleece blanket for Mia. Horses of Course!

We celebrated Father's Day and gave him this fun picture.

Sophie was the CUTEST flower girl in Steve's cousin Jenn's wedding.

And there was a lot of POOL fun taking place on our back patio.

(Stay tuned for July-December recap.....)

Happy New Year to you all!

Our Christmas Card {2009}

Hoping everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Merry Christmas 2009

A glimpse at the past few weeks around here....

Christmas party at the firehouse where my mom works!

An attempt to get all my girls looking.

FAIL...but still so cute.

I love this one!

My girls are their cousin Meade. Mia was so proud to get to hold him!

Craft time!

Mia showing off her garland.


Mia and Sophie showing Mommy their creations.

Santa arrived on this fire truck!


Here he is walking in......

and Sophie's reaction.

She wouldn't not sit on his lap so Steve and I were forced to join in the picture this year.

I do love how it turned out :)




Mommy and Soph after her fun Happy Birthday Jesus party at preschool.


She had the best time!

Sophie sporting her CUTENESS from Julie!

Have you seen anything more cute?

Gracie in her outfit.

And Mia loving hers.

All three girls together!

LOVE.

Gingerbread house making at Aunt Adie's house!

She kindly helped Gracie girl while I was at home sewing (struggling.)

Sophie showing her house off.

Mia working on hers.

Gracie hanging candy canes like one of the big girls.

I can not believe how fast December flew by.

Many more pics to come....

Hope that your Christmas was Merry and Bright!