Here are the pictures from Lynzi's Kindergarten Preview:
~Kinder Lynzi~
~Lynzi and Asher~
~growing uP~
~Evan is our next door neighbor and they are excited to start Kindergarten together~
~in front of her school~
~Lynzi finishing her juice with Mommy~
~Evan and Lynzi ready to go in~
~Kindergarten Classroom~
~Evan is all smiles after the bus ride~
~Evan and his mom Angie~
~Asher boy...thinks he's ready for Kindergarten too~Little Miss Lynzi has been a busy girl lately. She started soccer practice again. We were glad to find out that has her same great coaches as last season. This season, her team will be navy blue and they deemed themselves the "Sharks" (much to Lynzi's disagreement...she thought they should be the "Kitties"!!!) Haha. She's one of the youngest on the team this year but she's pretty much the tallest too!
The most exciting news of the day is that she got to go to "Kindergarten Preview" at her elementary school today. She has been counting down the days for this (and at first she thought she was actually starting school on this day...so we had to get that straight!) She was so happy to get up and go today. I think I was as excited as she was! Ryan came home from work to go with us. Our next door neighbor boy (Evan) is starting Kindergarten too, so we left at the same time so they could go in together. When we walked in, they directed us to the cafeteria, where they had donut holes and apple juice for the kids. Parents turned in paperwork and signed the kids up for their kindergarten screenings, which are in May. Then the principal greeted us and introduced the Kindergarten teachers. They split the room in half and sent one group to one of the Kinder classrooms with 3 of the teachers and the other group to another classroom with the other 3 teachers. The kids sat on the rug and parents in the chairs. They gave us a sheet of what the kids need to know before the fall (all of which Lynzi already knew, OF COURSE!!!) The teachers talked to the kids and one read a book (which each child got a copy of, along with an alphabet chart!) Then they sang a song and learned the dance moves. Then came Lynzi's favorite part...THE BUS RIDE! They lined up and walked out to the curb, where the bus was waiting for them. The teachers rode with them and parents stayed behind to finish paperwork. She was all smiles and can't wait to start school "FOR REAL," as she states it!
A few funny things she said on the way home. She was looking over the alphabet chart they gave her and saying the letter with the picture that is next to it. She got to Q and there was a quarter pictured (she doesn't have all of her coins down yet) and she said, "Q, q, PENNY!" And she stopped for a minute because she knew that didn't sound quite right!!! Then I was going over the "need to know" paper with her and it had normal personal info (name, parents' names, bday, etc). This question wasn't on there, but I just asked her anyways b/c she's told me the answer just out of the blue before. So I asked her "where were you born?" (As in, what state?) She looked at me and said, "I don't know....a hospital?!?!?" (Like, duh...where else would I have been born?!?!!!) It was funny.
This week she has 3 birthday parties to go to and a playdate! Good thing soccer practice is cancelled for spring break!!!
Lovin' this girl...but have to post pics later because my memory stick won't work in my computer right now. :(
We moved Asher to his "big boy" bed!!! He got his cast off yesterday (Tuesday) and we were afraid of him crawling out of his bed and hurting his sensitive leg (I'm not sure he would've tried it because it's so sensitive, but it's such a normal/routine thing for him to hop out of his crib that he might not think about it until it's too late!) So we changed his crib into the toddler bed last night before bed! He did great and was pretty excited about it. Lynzi thought it looked like a train for some reason, so she deemed it his "choo choo bed" and of course he liked it all the more better then. Now when we mention his big boy bed he grins from ear to ear and says, "choo choo!" He still hasn't put any real weight on his leg since the cast came off yesterday, so I also thought it might be a good time for the transition into the toddler bed since he wouldn't be so apt to getting out and roaming around the room b/c he's not getting around great just yet. So my other thought was that he would start with a good habit of staying in his bed! Anyways, we did our normal bedtime routine with him and he only got out once after we left...then went right to sleep after that and slept all night! I just now put him down for his nap and he did great again. Yay. :)
I had mentioned awhile back in an Asher update that he had started potty training and had really taken an interest in it. Well, as you can imagine...that came to a screeching halt once we got the cast on! That would have gotten messy really quick. So I'm hoping that once he's acclimated to his cast-less leg once again that he'll breeze right back into potty training...we'll see how that goes!!!
So, as for his leg, when they took off the cast...the lady had her circular saw thing and warned us that it was really loud and he'd probably cry from the noise, but assured us that it wouldn't cut or hurt him...it just vibrates, so it tickles. She turned it on and started cutting the cast off and Asher looked up at his Daddy and started cracking up!!! It was so cute...he was all smiles as he just giggled. The nurse was quite impressed since she expected tears! Then they took him to x-ray. The doctor came in to look at it and said that it was actually a clear break, rather than the "classic toddler fracture" that he originally thought it was. But he felt like Asher would be okay to go without another cast. We have another appointment for a final x-ray in 3 months to make sure the growth plates are growing back the way they're supposed to. So, now we're just helping him figure out how to walk on that leg again.
Oh, and the poor baby has an ear infection! You would NEVER know it though. Sunday he woke up and kept pointing to his ear and saying, "ouch". He did it consistently throughout the day, but was completely fine otherwise, with no other symptoms. I went ahead and made him an appointment on Monday morning and she looked at the non-hurting ear and said it looked gorgeous, then she looked at the left ear and said, "He's right...he has an ear infection!" I asked why he wouldn't have a fever, since there is infection and she said fever is not a good indicator of an ear infection...it's behavior change to watch out for. But she said in Asher's case, I guess that's not a good indicator either...as he happily hobbled (this was the day before his cast came off) out of her room! The doctor told the nurse as we walked out, "That is the HAPPIEST ear infection I've ever seen!" :)
Still as sweet as ever....
~last pic with cast on~
~cast coming off~
~watching intently as she starts cutting it off~
~Daddy laughing at Asher laughing~
I was taking these with Ryan's phone and everybody's heads were in my way, so I couldn't see what I was getting....but I thought this ended up pretty cute (even though 1/2 his face it cut off...you can still see how cute his expression is!!!)
~happy boy~
~there goes the top half~
~safe in daddy's arms~
"hmmmmm, now what do I do!?!?"
~skinny leg~
~gettin some lovin'~
~big boy bed~
~sleepy boy...long day~Lynzi's birthday was last Thursday and we had so much fun celebrating ALL week! We had her birthday party on Monday night, while Grammi and PawPaw were still in town...it was at Incredible Pizza (or "Crediblin Pizza" as Lynzi calls it!) She had 15 little friends (and 14 adults) to help her celebrate...Strawberry Shortcake style!!! Here are some fun pictures from the birthday party:
~Birthday Princess~
~Happy Birthday Lynzi~
~Daddy, Birthday Girl, Mommy~
~F-I-V-E~
~The Party Crowd~
~Lynzi and Gideon~
~cutie by the car~
~proud of her very own birthday sign~
~L-Y-N-Z-I~
"happy birthday to me"
~Pretty girl with prezzies and "pupcakes"~
"cheese...can i open my presents now!?!?!"
~spinning the prize wheel~
"oooh, a piggy bank..."
~pin the gem on Strawberry's tiara~
~Daddy and Li'l Bubba~ 
~driving...one of his may favorite things to do~
~Asher the race car driver~Now for our trip! Back at Thanksgiving for my 30th birthday, my most fantastically amazing husband gave me a trip to my all time want to go to destination...New York City!!! He found a great deal on airline tickets, so he booked them for Feb. 23-27...right between the kid's birthdays and asked Mom and Dad if they could plan to come and stay with the kids. So it was all planned and I was shocked and so excited! It worked out so perfectly because we had a free night at a choice privaleges hotel (comfort inn) and there is one right in Times Square. We also had a lot of reward points racked up from our credit card...so we cashed in on those and got cash back for our trip. So God totally provided us an amazing trip for practically nothing out of pocket!!! And amazing it was!!!
It was so wonderful to get away and just hang out together...just the two of us (in the Big Apple, no less!!!) We did pretty much everything that we hoped to do, except go up the Empire State Building and ice skate (both because of the weather). They had a record snow storm while we were there, which was fine with us! We never mind a little snow (or a lot!) It made for some sloshy streets, but that was okay too!
We got there on Tuesday evening and took our shuttle to the hotel (interesting experience in itself!) We FINALLY arrived at our hotel and it was pouring down rain. We checked in, dumped our stuff in our room and headed out...to TIMES SQUARE (which was literally less than 50 steps from our hotel!) It was 8:00 at night, but it looked like 2:00 in the afternoon in times square! We went to one restaurant and ate dinner, then to another for dessert (with a great view of Times Square!) It was so much fun just to sit and take it all in. Then we ran in the rain (thankfully we brought our umbrellas...which we used pretty much everyday, whether for rain or snow) to Rockafeller Center to check that out. So many interesting and exciting sights to see every corner you turn!
On Wednesday, we went to a little corner pizzaria for lunch...it was DELICIOUS!!! Then we went back to Rockafeller Plaza to see about ice skating, since it wasn't raining anymore and the snow hadn't started. But they were grooming the ice and we didn't want to wait....and we had really decided to try and ice skate in Central Park anyways. We went into the huge M&M's store then we ran over to the Gershwin Theater, where the broadway show "Wicked" plays. They hold a "lottery", where you put your name in a drawing to get front row seats for $26 (there are like 30 tickets total). I had high hopes that we'd get them, but we didn't! We decided not to purchase tickets online before we left because they were just too expensive, so we were hoping to get tickets through the lottery (held 2 1/2 hours before each show.) So since we didn't get the tickets, we went the the famous TKTS booth to see what they had available for other shows (Wicked is never available there...always sold out!) One of the ladies told us about a comedy show called, "Newsical" that was funny and tickets were very reasonable. She gave us a brochure and we walked away to decide what to do and this guy randomly passes us on the street and sees our brochure and says, "Oh, you HAVE to see "Newsical"...it's hilarious!" So we bought tickets for the matinee show. We headed toward the theater and when we get there, I'm thinking it's a mistake b/c it's a tiny little building and the theater is no bigger than our living room and kitchen put together! Nobody mentioned to us that it was an "off-broadway show"!!! Oh well. It was pretty funny. But we left really wishing we had seen a real broadway production....we were in New York City, afterall! So we decided to go back to the TKTS booth and find some guys that sell "extra" tickets to the most popular shows on broadway. We knew they were legit because they had been there all day, everyday since we had been there. They work for a company who buys leftover seats at a group rate and sells them online, then sell the extras on the street. So we bought tickets for a pretty good price and were excited to get a real broadway experience that evening. Before the show, we went to Serendipity for dinner. It is famous from the movie, "Serendipity", where they have frozen hot chocolate! It was this tiny little place with a huge menu and amazing food. And obviously the frozen ho chocolate was to die for, served in a huge mug with 2 straws!!! Then we caught a taxi and headed back to the Gershwin theater for the show. "Wicked" is about the two witches from the Wizard of Oz, before they met Dorothy. It's the story of how they came to be who they are. It was a really great story and a fabulous show! I never considered seeing it when I was originally deciding on a show, just because of the name. I really didn't know what it was about, but wasn't interested either. Then 3 different people told me about it and how great it was and there were no spiritual connotations or anything and all highly recommended it. I'm so glad we ended up seeing it. We had GREAT seats too.
Thursday it started snowing...hard! We went to Macy's...it was HUGE. We went to the 7th floor and there were still more, I don't even know how many there were total. It took up an entire block! And that is A LOT for NYC! Then we went over to the Empire State Building. Because of the snow, there wasn't any visibility, so we couldn't go up to the top. We did this cool virtual helicopter ride though (called SkyRide), to fly over New York City. It was pretty cool and it was good to get a grasp on what all was really there and to see it all from above. Then we went to another pizzaria...it was in the Empire State Building. Again, fantastic pizza! Ryan pointed to a particlar "pie" and asked if it was italian sausage and the guy said, "No, it's eggplant...we're all kosher!" So we had kosher pizza in the Empire State Building! Then we ventured over to Central Park via subway. The subways were really interesting. Central Park was gorgeous with a fresh blanket of snow covering it! It was fairly empty too, just a few hardcore runners out! We didn't stay too long because there wasn't much more to see other than the snow covered park. From there, we took a taxi to a huge cathedral (St. John's, I think.) It's a good think we left Central Park when we did b/c by the time we went to the cathedral and stopped by the New York City Public Library (which was pretty cool, too) and back to our rom to get ready for dinner....the local news was reporting a death in Central Park! The snow was so wet and heavy that a tree limb fell on a man and killed him! Like I said, there weren't that many people in the park and it had to have been the same time we were there, or within minutes. That evening, we went to dinner then to a movie ("When in Rome"...cute movie), then dessert!!! At first we thought it was a sillly idea to go to a movie when you're in New York City, but after we thought about it...it's not something we get to do very often, so we took advantage of it!
Friday was our last full day there. We headed out to the World Trade Center to see Ground Zero. What a sight to see. It's incredible to see this big whole right in the middle of all these huge skyscrapers. On our way there, we both got a hot dog from a street vendor! It was all I hoped it would be...SO GOOD! Then we walked down to the Staten Island Ferry, which is a free ferry that passes right by the Statue of Liberty. It was foggy and snowy that day, but we still got a good look at Lady Liberty! She was so amazing to see up close and personal! After the ferry, we took the subway to Little Italy to go to the first pizza place that came to the United States! My friend told me about it and said it was delicious...and she was so right! It's called Lombardi's and they bake their pizza in a coal oven. It's a pretty famous place...they had an article in Rachael Ray's magazine framed where she said that it is her favorite place for take out pizza. We took the subway to Grand Central Station from there...very cool place to be! When we came up from the subway, before you actually get into Grand Central Station...there was a live band playing and this CRAZY lady dancing her heart out to the music (we actually got her on video!) It's amazing what all goes on underground in that city!!! We both could have sat there all day and just watched people, but there is far too much to do in NYC to sit for too long! We went back to Times Square and believe it or not went to McDonald's to eat dinner...haha! They have 4 seats that are perfectly prime to watch Times Square, so we did it! And I actually had a Big Mac, only my second time in my life to have one of those...I figured I might as well go all out in the Big Apple! Then we headed back to our rooom to get packed up.
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Oh and our hotel could not have been more perfect!!! Perfect location, perfectly clean, comfortable and modern and perfectly priced...all that AND free breakfast (which is rare in NYC!!!) Our flight home was Saturday, late morning. So that day was just pack up, check out and leave.
What an incredible, unforgettable, magnificentally wonderful time we had....just me and my honey! What a way to celebrate 30 years of life (and 15 of those we've been together...i love that!!!) Thank you, Ryan, for being such a blessing to me. I love you beyond words and I'm so grateful for you. I love you.
~So excited to be in NYC~
~just outside our hotel...times square in the background~
~the times square ball~
~snowing in Times Square~
~my heart in NYC~
~incredibly handsome door man~
~The Times Square Church founded by Dave Wilkerson~
~Subway sign in Times Square~
need a cab?
~Radio City Music Hall~
~Me and the Yellow M&M~
~King Kandy~
My very own personalized marquee..."Lace" 
~Famiglia....corner pizzaria...YUM~
~Fox News Live~
~Rockafeller Plaza~
~Frozen Hot Chocolate~
~Serendipity~
~The Clock at Serendipity~
~Wicked Secrets~
~Wicked the Broadway Musical~
~We found Spider Man~
~Lady Liberty Statue~
~Subway~
~Ryan heading into Subway~
~Laci coming out of Subway~
Don't ya love his warm cozy hat!!?!?
~falling on the tracks~
~subway driver~
~Fifth Avenue~
~cool city street~
~cool clock~
~Macy's~
~Empire State Building~
~Empire State Building Lobby~
~Central Park blanketed in snow~
~Central Park Entrance~
~New York City Library~
~St. John's Cathedral~
~Hot Dog Stand~
~Our reflection in front of the street vendor~
~behind this wall used to be the twin towers~
~the fire station that was first response~
~Ladder Co. 10~
~Ground Zero~
~Staten Island Ferry~
~Statue of Liberty~
~Foggy view~
~Grand Central Station Band~
~Grand Central Station~
~Lombardi's Pizza...Coal Oven~
~Y-U-M~
~Little Italy~
~McDonald's Times Square~
~Big Mac...Big Apple style~
~Comfort Inn -Midtown~
