Daddy Daughter Dance and Start of Baseball Season

Brian and Annabelle went to Covenant's 1st Annual Daddy Daughter Dance.  They had so much fun.  When I was curling Annabelle's hair before they left, she said, "I am SO excited!"

A picture before they left the house.

A pic from the dance. 

Some action shots. 

 

A group shot of the first grade girls.  Back row: Lily Pace, Annabelle, Ann Elise Goebel, Hannah Ratliff, Gentry Lewis, Lily Stueve, Bailey Shannon, Adelaide Breed, Lily Stewart, Stella Stimson, Ann Holland Crow, and Josie Marie McNutt.  Front row: Anais Arcucci, Audrey Thomason, Hadley Sullivan, Kaylee McDonald, Lily Thompson, and Zoe Seale.

 

Baseball season for Caden has begun.  They've moved up from coach pitch to kid pitch.  Caden pitched in the first game, and he did a great job! 

 

Here's a video of one of his strikes.

 

Annabelle's preschool friend, Cate Purser celebrated her 7th birthday with a science lab party.  Annabelle, Cate, and Belle Hartgrove at the end of the party.  

The girls loved the dry ice. 

We headed to the ballpark for the Rangers' season opening series.  The view from our seats. 

 

A family selfie. 

 

Annabelle's favorite part was the racing bobble heads. 



Nashville for Becky's Wedding

Brian and Laura headed to Nashville for Rebekah and Steve's wedding.  It was great to see them so happy and to have a nice weekend away. 

They had a get together after the rehearsal dinner Friday night.  A Laura and Brian selfie.

 

Laura and Melissa. 

 

Melissa, Brian, Brian, and Laura in the photo booth. 

 

Laura and Becky. 

 

Melissa, Becky, Laura, and another Topeka friend, Caroline. 

 

Becky and Brian. 

 

Laura, Becky, Steve, and Becky's step brother. 

 

 

Saturday morning, we walked around Vanderbilt and Centennial Park.  A picture with the Parthenon in the background. 

 

I headed to the venue early to hang out with Becky while she was setting up and getting ready.  One of her picture boards...the middle left picture is from our high school graduation.

Becky and Cindy before the ceremony. 

 

Melissa, Becky, and Laura before Becky headed down to take official photos. 

 

Brian and Laura before the ceremony.

 

During the ceremony. 

 

Laura, Becky and Melissa during the reception. 

 

Topeka friends: Aaron Grill, Jesse Deister, Melissa, and Laura. 

 

Jesse was one of the first people we met when we moved to Topeka when I was 7.  It was crazy catching up, as I hadn't seen him since 1997. 



Building a Dollhouse

Annabelle has so many things for Violet and Maryellen that we needed a better system for organizing them.  So I started looking for dollhouses for them.  They are hard to find, and they are pricey!  I found one on etsy for $1,500, so I decided that I would try making one.  I knew it would be hard to do it alone, so I asked Papa to help.  We worked on it over Spring Break; it was hard work, but the finished product turned out great!

This was my inspiration; the $1,500 dollhouse.

 

I purchased plans from etsy, and then adjusted them to make the rooms and ceilings slightly different sizes.  Once our plans were set, we had to get the wood/supplies from Home Depot to our house...fortunately, the Bakers helped us out and Bryan Baker delivered it for us.  Laura starting to measure. 

 

Papa sawing. 

 

Annabelle was watching from the car (because of the noise).  She snapped a picture of us hard at work. 

 

Caden and Annabelle helped by sweeping saw dust. 

 

Day one: all sawing finished.  Papa and Annabelle in front of all the pieces ready for sanding. 

 

Day two:  sanding and painting.  More clean up needed!

 

Painting is complete.  Now we just had to wait for it all to dry.  

 

Lining up window sills to hammer them in. 

Because of the anticipated weight of the finished product, we carried the pieces up the stairs to complete assembly upstairs.  Papa, Annabelle, and Nana posing during the construction process. 

 

Mommy and Papa drilling in the first floor wall and ceiling. 

 

Lining everything up. 

 

Discussing alignment. 

 

Putting the bathroom floor down. 

 

Assembly of the second floor. 

 

Getting close.  

Violet checking out her new house.   

 

Ready to move in, except for the baseboards. 

 

Annabelle used birthday money to purchase a kitchen. 

 

Caden helping Annabelle set up the new kitchen. 

 

Annabelle ended up using some of her money to purchase new beds for Maryellen and Violet, and then the green bed is now Aiden's.  And I made a Cowboys blanket for Aiden's bed. She also used some money to purchase a toilet, shower, and sink for the bathroom.  Now she is asking me to build her a couch, chair, and coffee table...Mommy needs a little break, but maybe in the next few months.

 

 

Friday we headed over to Fort Worth to see Meredith and her boys.  I didn't get a picture of the older boys, but here's a picture of Annabelle and Asher. 

 

We bunny-sat over Spring Break.  Teddy was so cuddly, and the kids enjoyed having him.