Japanese Kokeshi Dolls

These are two Kokeshi dolls I made for my friend Shelly's birthday! I really impressed myself with my own talent in making these. Yay for me!

Ice Cream & Honeysuckle

 Izzy and I were playing outside when all of a sudden we hear music.  Izzy's eyes get big and she starts bouncing up and down.  "Is that an ice cream truck?"  She asks as she looks around and then finally spots it coming down the road (something that NEVER happens) "It is an ice cream truck!"  She was so excited.  So, I spoiled her and bought her a Tweety bird ice cream.

 She enjoyed eating it outside and kept saying, "It's the perfect day to eat ice cream outside.  This is the best day ever."  She was really excited to find out that the eyes were gumballs. 

After her ice cream we continued playing and she decided to go over to the huge honeysuckle bush in our yard (you can actually see the top of it to the left of her in the above picture).  She loves to suck out the sweet juice from the blossoms.  We had a great time outside.  When Clay got home he took her down to Myrtle Pt. Park and they wandered around the trails.  I sprayed them down with bug spray before they left and then we'll have the fun job of checking for ticks when they get back.  I decided to be a bum and relax and blog instead.  :)

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day Clay and Izzy fixed me French toast and served it to me in bed.  They also got me this beautiful silk rose.  There is a button on the vase and when you push it the rose opens up and reveals a secret message.

My dad always takes Izzy to pick out a hanging basket of flowers for me every Mother's day.  She picked out a really pretty one that had all my favorite colors in it, orange, pink and purple.  I love my family.  They make me feel really special.

Flowers and The Izzinator (photo dump)

 I LOVE this time of year, when all the beautiful flowers bloom.  I enjoy taking pictures of them.  So here are all the lovely flowers outside our house.

 I love this picture of my Izzy, she looks so sweet.

 If you keep up with me on Facebook, then you will know about Izzy's little pet snake, Willis.  He is a Blind Snake (completely harmless, can't even bite and he eats earthworms, and looks like one too).  We found him out in our yard and Izzy wanted to keep him so we let her.  She has a little tank with dirt for him (which he burrows in) and we feed him worms we find in the yard every weekend, and keep the dirt moist with a water spritzer. 

 Izzy LOVES to play with Willis.  She is very gentle with him and takes good care of him.

 One day, Izzy was playing in her room and I told her I was going to take a shower.  When I got out, 10 mins. later, I found her like this in her bed.  She was one tuckered out little girl.

 Izzy loves to play among the rows of trees in our front yard.  She sometimes pretends it's the castle of an evil giant and she is sneaking around, looking for treasure.  Such an imagination.

 The other day we were over at my parents and I found Izzy just chilling out on the deck eating some string cheese.  She would live outside if I let her.

 For school she had to make a homemade bubble wand.  We took a soda bottle and cut the top portion off.  She holds if by the mouth piece, dips the bottom in and blows through it.  It works great.

My mom surprised my sister and me by getting each of us the new iPad3!  Izzy loves to play on it.  I have fun kids games and Dr. Seuss books that read to her on it.  Here she is snuggled in my bed, with my sweater on, playing on the iPad.  I love my little girl so much.  I can't believe how grown-up she has become.  I enjoy her so much and cherish all the fun times we share and all the things I am able to teach her.  I am grateful to be her mommy. 

Haircuts

About time I update my blog, huh?  Anyway, my mom took Izzy and me to get haircuts today.  The lady who did Izzy's hair didn't cut it as short as I thought she would, but Izzy is happy with it so that's all that matters.  I love having short hair again.  My hair gets too heavy when it's long and then it just sort of lays flat against my head.....not many styling options then......

We had a great time out with my mom today.  We had to live up the last day of Spring Break.  After our haircuts, we went to Target (love that store) and then my mom came over to our house and we ate lunch together.  After she went back home, Izzy and I played outside, b/c it was so lovely today, and then we watched a movie together, played restaurant, and got all silly excited when Clay/daddy got home.  I love my family!

Ready, Aim, Fire!

Souvenir from the first gun I ever had the pleasure of shooting, a 9mm rifle. I also shot an AR-15, 410, M1 carbine, 22 and a 45 colt revolver! I think I'm addicted now.... And I'm a good shot, and was told I don't shoot like a girl! :)

I had such a fun time, and I can't wait to do it again.  Clay took me and J.t. (Clay's cousin) over to his boss's house (they're good friends) so J.T. and I could both learn how to shoot.  I stuck to the guns that didn't have much kick to them, I didn't want to be sore and hating life afterward, I wanted my first time to be an enjoyable experience (and it was).  Though, I must say I'm not big on the handguns, give me a rifle or shotgun, I like the BIG stuff; it's easier to handle and I felt more in-control.  Clay shot everything I did (except for the M1 Carbine, it kept jamming) plus he got to shoot an AK-47, 12 ga, 20 ga, Henrys 45 cal Rifle, Glock 45, 2 different 30-30's, 7mm Mag, and a WWII Russian Moslan Nagont.  

I'd say we had a pretty awesome day, and I am now a gun nut.  I want to become more experienced........and possibly look into getting an AR-15 of my own, b/c that was my favorite gun to shoot.  I. Freaking. Loved. It!  Clay is all proud of me and thinks it's cool that I want a military grade weapon.  What can I say, I know the good stuff when I shoot it.  :)

A Fun Day!

 Thursday morning, while Izzy and I waited for the bus to pick her up, she found this big branch and thought it was neat.

Later we went to my mom and dad's for dinner and Izzy and Abby invited me to their tea party, or, "The one most beautiful tea party" as Abby called it.  Abby informed me that our tea was made from hot ingredients, hot chocolate, ingredients, edamame (soy beans) and peas......delicious, right?

Gingerbread House

Izzy and I made a Gingerbread house. She is so proud of the wonderful job she did. I did the icing and she decorated it with candy. It was a fun mother/daughter project. :)

Breakfast with Santa

Saturday morning I took Izzy to "Breakfast with Santa" at her school. She had so much fun. There were crafts to make ornaments, coloring pages, doughnuts and muffins, and Santa arrived on a fire truck. She was so excited when she got to go talk to Santa and tell him what she wanted. She wants the Headbanz Who am I game, the Jungle Speed game and a Wuggle Pet. She also played around with some of her friends, and I tell you this girl was born to run. They were running back and forth across the gym and the other girls were running like...well...girls. Izzy, on the other hand, was trucking it as fast as she could, practically flying as she sprinted back and forth. I think we might have to put her on the track team when she gets older. :)

The Right Thing To Do

The other night I forgot to give Izzy her breathing treatment before bed (she has to do it for a month because she had bronchitis). Clay and I were getting ready for bed and we heard a knock on our door. Izzy came in and reminded us that we forgot to do her treatment, so we gave it to her and sent her back to bed. The next morning I told her I was glad that she was such a big girl to remember that and to come tell us. She then said, "Yeah, I was laying in bed and I remembered we forgot to do it. And I really didn't want to but I knew it was the right thing to do." (This is the part where my mommy pride swelled beyond belief) I told her how proud I was of her for doing the right thing. This just goes to show that I must be doing a good job as a mommy.

Breaking Dawn pt. 1

A bunch of us went to go see the midnight showing of Breaking Dawn pt. 1. We had such a blast. It was a super fun evening. And since it was so late, we were a bit tired, and got a little goofy on the way home. I haven't laughed so much in a while. It was awesome.

Baltimore Zoo

We had a family outing to the Baltimore Zoo today. We caught the prairie dogs at feeding time, so we got to see them chowing down.

Izzy thought it was neat that the cheetah was right by the glass

We love the giraffes. There was a male and female and their names were Caesar and Angel. This is Angel.

I LOVE this picture of Izzy in the tortoise shell. It even spun around.

They had a petting zoo area where kids could pet and brush goats. Izzy loved it.

Izzy thought the huge African bullfrog was super cool.

After we were done at the zoo, we went to Arundel Mills mall. And my big girl decided she wanted to get her ears pierced. She got ruby studs since they are her birthstone. We had such a fun time today as a family, it was great.

Mesker Park Zoo in Evansville, IN

When we were in Indiana we took Izzy to the zoo. She was super excited when we found out they had a special giraffe feeding time. She thought their tongues were the coolest thing ever. We had so much fun wandering around looking at all the animals. Zoo's are simply the best!

You know you've been in a car too long when....

You start making up silly songs. Behold the Kissel family version of Jingle Bells:

Jingle bells, Izzy smells
Daddy laid an egg
The Mommy mobile lost a wheel
And Grandma got away, hey!

Abbyism

Abby: "Auntie Wiz, the teeny tiny monster is bound to eat my socks!"

Delicious Cannonball

Abby: "Uncle Kay, you're delicious, you're a delicious cannonball."

Super Cute!

Izzy made a birthday card for Abby (who turned 3 today) and it says: Happy Brfda to my ceyot littl cuzin Abby. For those of you who can't read 6 year old, here is a translation: Happy birthday to my cute little cousin Abby.

(And yes, I copied this message from my Facebook page. I'm lazy like that.) :)

Maryland Renaissance Festival

Saturday we went to the Renaissance Festival with my mom and dad. We had so much fun. Medieval Babes were there (a music group my dad and I love). Izzy dressed up like a princess and got a pretty flower headpiece and had her face painted. My little princess looked beautiful. We enjoyed walking around the little village visiting the different shops and food vendors. My parents took Izzy to the kiddie area while Clay and I went to go see a theater troupe called Shakespeare's Skum do a silly rendition of Hamlet. Basically, they do a super quick, totally hilarious, completely messed-up version of Shakespeare's different plays. There are only four actors, two men and two women, who play all the different parts. I highly recommend watching them if you get the chance. Izzy got tired so my mom and dad took her back to their hotel, because they stayed there for the weekend, and Clay and I stayed to watch the joust. We had a blast and can't wait to do it again sometime!

First Day of 1st Grade

My girl is a 1st grader now, I can't believe it! She was all bedecked in princess attire. She was so excited for her first day. We met her teacher yesterday, Mrs. Behrens, she is really nice and we both like her a lot. She had a great first day. She said her favorite part was recess (go figure). Her class also got freeze pops at the end of the day, and she really liked that too. And when she got home she, amazingly, wasn't worn out. She's had energy all evening. But now I have to go put my little ball of energy to bed.

Wrestling Match

Clay and Izzy love to pretend wrestle with each other. Yesterday, they were doing so and Izzy looked at Clay and said, "You're going down Kissel!" Too funny, right?