Crazy Babble

St. Patrick's Day

The leprechans showed up at our house again this year!  They made a HUGE mess in our playroom...

...they left footprints on our table, turned our milk green, and gave us Lucky Charms for breakfast!  They also left us some Lucky Charms lip balm, green M&Ms, some crazy headbands,

and some hilarious hats!

Oma was sleeping in our living room, and those silly leprechauns walked all over her!  We can't believe she slept though it!

We think Audrey makes an adorable leprechaun...

Last year, Uncle Bill came over on St. Patrick's Day wearing a red shirt.  When the girls asked him why he wasn't wearing green, he told us the leprechauns stole all of his green shirts!  This year, while Uncle Bill was sleeping, the leprechauns dressed him up like one of them!  He had to come over to show us what happened...

We had a rainbow lunch that ended with a Pot of Gold (lemon pudding) and corned beef and cabbage for dinner--it was such a fun day!

Zoo Classes with Oma

Oma spent a few days with us and took Lucy and Ella to zoo classes!  Lucy's was called "Junior Vet" and was all about taking care of the animals at the zoo.  They heard a story about some penguins who swallowed coins that people had thrown into the habitat and needed surgery to have the coins removed.  Oma set up an OR in the playroom and Lucy and Ella did surgery on some stuffed penguins who had also swallowed some coins!  The girls felt very official, wearing their surgeons' caps and saying things like "stat!" and "we need to order a CT!"  I'm happy to say that after an afternoon of recovery, both penguins are doing just fine.

Ella's class was called "Chameleons and Snakes."  Here she is in her chameleon costume, complete with a super long tongue for catching bugs.

Thanks for all the fun, Oma!

Grandma's 80th Birthday

My Grandma Werner--the girls call her "GG" for Great Grandma--turned 80 this year!  She is a very special lady who has taught us all the importance of family.  She is very talented behind the sewing machine and is very generous with her time...we all have worn many things and have decorated our rooms/houses/offices/stores/restaurants with many things handmade by Grandma.  Grandma's talents extend into the kitchen...her food is instant comfort for the family, and her desserts are legendary.  We can all say with absolute certainty that she is always thinking of us and is in tune with all of our crazy lives.  Her dedication to family is inspiring! 

We celebrated Grandma's 80 years with a party at my parents' clubhouse.  The day started with the family gathering for lunch and cake.  The great-grandchildren colored in coloring books filled with pages dedicated to Grandma, and she received an amazing gift from her 7 kids--they had her wedding ring re-done so that she could wear it again.  The rest of the day was filled with surprise guests that Grandma would have never expected to see--extended family, old friends and former coworkers.  It was so sweet to see her emotion and disbelief each time another guest walked in!

Grandma, we love you and thank you for all the ways you have touched our lives!

Lucy and Ella with GG

Opening her ring

Grandma's wedding ring

Happy Birthday dear Grandma...

Lainy, Ella, and Lucy helping with the candles

Four generations of Werner women

Me, Audrey, Simon, and Christy

Kaylee, Ella, Lucy, Lainy, and Ava

Audrey and Grandpa

Uncle Tom and Bill

yum...

Auntie Donna and Ava

Ken and Daniel

Joey, Grace, Ava, Lucy, Ella, Kaylee, Lainy, Max, Daniel, Simon, Sam, Marc, and Audrey

Grandma with the youngest of her 16 grandchildren (Joey) and 12 of her 21 great-grandchildren

The kids singing to Grandma

Grandma with her kids: Tom, Chris, Gail, Annie, Bob, Donna, and Mary

Grandma and her dear friend Myrtle

Lindsey, Ella, and Bill

Bob, Gail, Dave, and Tracy

The birthday girl!

Nicknames

Greg, Lucy, Ella, and I are responsible for creating quite a few (very silly) nicknames for our sweet little baby...

Hunchker Bunchkers

Schnoogers

Stinky Baby

Chubbington

Cootser Bootser

Cutes Patoots

Chubber Bubbers

Smile Machine

Chunk-a-dunk

Pile of Smiles

Sugar Boogs

Baby Booskers

7 Months

Audrey is 7 months old! She has been trying new foods all month, and we have yet to find one she doesn't love. She seems to get particularly excited about green beans and apricots, though. Audrey's hair is cracking us up...she has a little fuzzhead mohawk thing going on. She absolutely loves her toys--shaking rattles and putting everything in her mouth is how she spends a majority of the day. She can roll pretty much anywhere, and is working on sitting up. You can't hold Audrey without her grabbing for anything within reach, especially things that crinkle and crunch. She loves her Johnny Jump Up and finds peek-a-boo hilarious. Bathtime has gotten interesting--she figured out how to splash and can't get enough! Audrey absolutely loves her voice and continues to talk and sing all day long. Her favorite thing is when we babble her lips while she sings...she brings our fingers to her mouth to make us do it--hysterical!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

My parents and the Simek family joined us to celebrate Greg's birthday with a yummy dinner at the Silver Spur Texas Smokehouse in Elm Grove.

The way Ella says the name of the restaurant is hilarious...

Here's Lucy telling all about Daddy's birthday...