Family Fun Day

Shh, don't tell anyone..... we played hooky!
That's right! The Rousehouse took a school day
and turned it into the first annual Rousehouse Family Fun Day!
And, we had a blast.



It all started with Dave suggesting that we let the girls stay home
from school and take them to the Zoo and Science Center for a
day of fun and learning. It seems like the weekends are constantly
full of activities, projects and catching up and we can never find time
to do fun thing together, just our family.



Now, for those of you who know me, you can imagine how difficult
this was for me. For several reasons:
1. I'm a doer. I can't "skip" out on a day just for fun. I have
things I have to do!
2. I had some serious concerns about introducing "skipping"
to my children. I know this will come as a shock to some of you,
but I had a bit of an issue with skipping school when I was younger,
like HS through undergraduate school!
3. Again, I'm busy. I have lots to do. I can't take an entire day off to go play!



Well, thankfully my husband convinced me and we had the BEST day ever!
It started with breakfast at our neighborhood Cozy Cafe then off to the zoo.
The weather couldn't have been more beautiful. The animals were awake and
we even caught a sea lion show! The girls played at the playarea at the zoo for
a long time and didn't fight once!



Then we went to Spaghetti Works for lunch, one of our favorites, then over to
the Science Center for the afternoon. We all agreed, this was our best trip to the
Sci Center ever! There were about 10 people there, so we had the place to ourselves.
Literally, we were the only people playing in 2 of the areas we went to. The best
part was the Deep Freeze Experiment we attended. It was our family, one
other family and a great young lady scientist. We got to experiment with dry ice
and liquid nitrogen (we'll she handled that, a little dangerous for us!). It was so
cool! I loved watching both of my girls get really into it, answering questions
and making predictions! It is definitely in my top 10 best family experiences ever!


From there, we headed to the ball park for Claire's softball team, Parents vs. Kids
game and then to Pizza Ranch for dinner and, finally, home.



We had so much fun! I can't believe how special a normal old Tuesday became
when we chose to put family first and spend some quality, educational time together.
We didn't argue, fight or even bicker. We laughed and discovered and enjoyed
our time together.


Now, I don't suggest that we all pull our kids out of school and "play" all the time,
but I do have a new appreciation for the "staycation"!


On our drive home, we all agreed that this is a new family tradition (see previous
Tradition post if you don't know my love for them!). Once a year, in the spring,
we are all "skipping" out of life to enjoy a fun day together!


Here are some of the 117 pictures I took that day~



My beautiful girls!





Zoo fun!




Look at all those fish!




More fun at the Zoo playarea

My little monkey! She hung on these bars forever!

Science Center exploration

The girls' hand "prints" above them

An exhausting, but fun day!

Superstar!!

Presenting: Ella Rouse, superstar from Mrs. Swanson's Superstar Kindergarten Class!


As is tradition, we all dressed up to attend the annual Kindergarten Music Performance.

It was as entertaining as always. My favorite part: watching Ella smile, then fix her hair, smile, then adjust her dress, smile, then chat with a neighbor, smile, then fix her hair.....

My beautiful Ella, had to wear open-toe shoes
to show off the recent pedicure!




Doing the "Wagon Wheel"




Avery enjoying the show


Big sister's love and support is the best!

E.A.T.

Events. Activities. Trips.

Happy Mother's Day! I hope everyone had a great day. I certainly did. I got to do some of my favorite things:
1. go to church
2. eat out
3. take nap
4. take my girls to parties/playdates
5. grill
6. play cards
It really doesn't get any better than that!


I also got called to take inventory, as I so often need to do, of my life, my parenting.
Pastor Mike (God bless him, he is amazing!) reminded us today of some very important "rules of parenting". 1. Discipline, but don't smother 2. Spend quality time, not activity time


So, how am I doing?
1. The discipline thing is tough, but I think we're on the right track. We try to give the girls some space to make decisions and then allow for those natural consequences to happen. We try to set clear expectations (have you seen all of our chore charts around the house?) and then have clear consequences if those aren't done. I need to improve on my communication (stop yelling!) and my follow through with Avery (oh it's so much easier to just do it myself or to giggle at that kid, she's just too cute!).


2. Quality time, not activities. I'm sorry what? I spend a ton of time with the kiddos (back and forth to swimming 3x/week, softball 2x/week, on the way to grammys or the grocery store) those count, right? Well, they do, but I also have to make sure that we are carving out time for some good, old fashioned family time. What I have to do is make sure that my E.A.T. (event, activities, trips) are not more important than our quiet, slow moments together.


Now, Dave and I have been doing okay here, we did eat "dinner" together at 4:45 the other day, just so we could all eat together once that week, but we need to be more consistent. We need to make sure that we have time set aside that is for family. Time to catch up, hear what's going on at school (who does Ella have a crush on this week), what the girls are dealing with (friends, crazy bus driver), and reconnect with and encourage each other.


So, Dave and I talked about what we are doing and what we can do better.
We can do better at sitting down together. We can continue to have an extended family meal with grandparents once a week. We can continue to take a little time every night to snuggle and pray with the girls. We can make more time to serve together. We can try new things. Like breakfast, every morning, together. (If you know us, that is a toughie. God didn't make any of us early birds. But we can try.


Happy Mother's Day. Happy "get out and learn how to be an even better mommy" day. I love my family, my friends and the adventure of parenthood! Thanks for sharing this journey with me!

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride...

Well, actually, for us it's more like "always the flower girls"!

My girls were very fortunate to be able to participate in their former nanny's wedding last weekend. Claire was a Jr. bridesmaid and the little girls were flower girls.

They had a great time getting ready, having pictures taken, walking gracefully down the aisle and partying at the reception.

Claire looked beautiful, a little too grown up for my taste, but beautiful none the less.

Avery managed to make it down the aisle, tossing flowers and not yelling at Ella. She even cracked a smile a few times.
Ella flowed down the aisle, smiling and glowing, like the angel she is.

I sat in the pew at the end of the aisle, praying my kiddos all made it in one piece. Then, as soon as Avery made it into the pew, I slapped the Ipod playing Diego on her, and enjoyed the ceremony.

Afterward, we all headed to the reception, where we ate and danced and laughed with our friends and enjoyed the night.

I am very grateful for the opportunities my kids have. I am especially grateful that so many people want to share their special day with them. That they love my kids and want to have them around. It is humbling and special and I thank God for my sweet angels!

What a beautiful girl, and that hair!

My little angel...

I'm not saying a word about the "devil horns"

Now there is my sweet girl!

Enjoying our desserts......


And some more desserts.....

Good friends to share the fun with!

It is done!

Well, except for a few "details" in Claire's room, the new room project is done.
Everyone seems to be happy with their new rooms.

Avery loves her big girl room, except at night, when it's time to sleep!
It is fun to play in though......

Avery's new bed and armoire

She loves her new pictures and butterfly nightlight!

Still needs a bookshelf, but it's a work in progress......

Ella beautiful "fairy" room. Plenty of storage, we hope!

Claire's awesome and cool big kid room.

Plenty of room for her books and swim ribbons!

All in all, we couldn't be happier. I love walking by

each of the girls' rooms and seeing a little bit of their

personality on display. I can't believe that I am a

mom of 3 big girls! What a blessing!

I have 3 kids.....

When people ask me how many kids I have I say, "3. Two big girls and the baby."
Well, no more. Today, I have 3 big girls!


We spent the weekend painting, moving, packing, unpacking, sorting, storing, and building to create 3 "big-girl" rooms for our angels.


Our goals:
Claire - new pink room, new desk, no more bunk bed
Ella - new storage, new dresser, no more armoire
Avery - new art work, new bed, new dresser, no more changing table, no more crib


My goals:
Don't cry through the whole thing!


Here are some before and during pics as the process began:



Tearing down the bunk bed, finally!!



Ella's room. Where does she get all this stuff?!



Storing, sorting, and passing down....



My baby's room. We have used this crib and changing
table for all 3 girls. I'm sad to see it go, and yet also
excited for the future.


No more changing table. Too bad I can't
say the same for the diapers!

The process has begun. A few tears here, but not too bad.

Avery and Jack were "great" helpers!

Stay tuned for the After pics. They are beautiful!

Avery's Preschool Parade

One of the best things about my part-time job as an Academic Advisor is that Avery gets to go to preschool at the Child Development Center.
This place is amazing!
The teachers and staff are incredible.
They have the best activities and facility.
And, best of all, they do cool stuff! This year they celebrated the Week of the Young Child.
As part of the celebration, the kids participated in a parade around campus!
Avery enjoyed dressing in her favorite princess dress and walking around, but she held on to the candy for herself!