The Two Bakers and My LIttle Elves...

Last week the girls and I went to see a children's play entitled The Elves and the Two Bakers. It was an interactive play and both girls got to be little elves. They were thrilled, especially Ellie. When she was picked to come up, she was as excited as an adult winning the lottery! It was very fun, and it was so nice to spend the day with them doing something we all enjoyed.

Easter in Buggystown

Easter in Buckeystown (Buggystown as the kids call it) was very fun. My mom fixed a larger than Thanksgiving meal, delicious, and we ate a ton. Then we gathered all 8 kids outside for an egg hunt. First we tried to take a grandkids picture since all of the girls were in matching dresses (so cute!). However, the fins (family nickname for twins) were not so cooperative. Zoe and Zachary tried to contain them as best as possible. Mom, the queen of equality (good job mom--it is appreciated) had exactly 20 eggs for each child and they were color coded. So MC found all of the orange eggs, Ellie found all of the yellow eggs, etc. It was great and my parents' yard is so big it took a while. Sophie (one of the twins) loved being outside and I was able to snap several pictures of her before the camera battery went dead (that's why there are no pictures of anyone else!)

Mary Claire also got to celebrate her birthday with her cousins. Mom got her a beautiful cake and she certainly felt special. She is very excited to be 5--this is a big one for her.

By the end of the day, the Fins stole the show. Mom gave them each a pair of sunglasses and before pajama time, they were the happiest little girls you have ever seen. It is truly fun to have identical twins in the family. I definitely feel blessed!

Easter in Severna Park

Our Easter was filled with tons of family events. I plan to document each one of those in order, so Mooneyhans your pictures will be posted next. As many of you know, the girls and I spent the week before Easter in Maryland and had fun seeing old friends and shopping at the outlets! I loved sleeping in each morning since Mom got the girls up, fed them breakfast, and entertained them every day! On Friday, we picked up Bennett from BWI (how exciting!) and then went to Severna Park to stay with Mom and Dad Wise. Holly had delicious chocolate coconut bird's nests made and the kids headed straight to the back yard. Later that evening, we dyed Easter eggs with Holly, Jacob, and Adam which was fun.

Saturday was an exciting blur of Easter events. Aunt Christina and Uncle AJ came that morning and immediately started playing with the kids. Uncle Bob and Aunt Melissa, the Easter Bunny, showed up with homemade flower cupcakes for the kids (which Mary Claire did not eat because she came down with ANOTHER bought of the fever, ugh). And Uncle Neil and Aunt April along with Patience, Charity, and Neilson to complete the family gathering. Once we were all together, we dressed the kids up and sent them outside into the COLD afternoon (it sleeted! Mary Claire kept asking, Why is Maryland so cold???) to hunt for eggs. Mary Claire cried because she was freezing (didn't know at this time she had a fever) and Elle loved every minute of the hunt. Jacob and Adam sweetly shared their eggs to give the girls more and Patience and Charity made sure they got the biggest baskets and were all over the yard picking up eggs. I loved seeing the kids have a good time.

Later that night, we celebrated something like 9 family birthdays. This is a typical Wise family party. I think Mom even made Scout the cat a cake. We had a great time but we were all exhausted after all the festivities!

Jeep Update

So here's why you don't befriend any guy you sell a car to, no matter how cute, charming, and greasemonkeyish he may be. Not two weeks after our friend "Coley" pulls away with our old/his new jeep, the transmission starts making a racket and has to be replaced COMPLETELY! Uh-oh! Lesson here: Once the pink slip is handed over, don't look back.

While the princess sleeps...

While the princess sleeps (Mary Claire has been very sick!)...the cowgirl comes out to play! Funny how this one chooses the Woody costume to dress up in while Mary Claire is out of commission. My question is how does Ellie know how to do the Woody pose? Weird!

Lordy Lordy, Look Who's 40!

Happy Birthday, Dear Kristen!

Photo op in front of the sign, Bono Baseball style.
The gals ready to eat!
Doesn't this look good? There was a TON of food!

Did you know that Kristen Newton just turned 40?!? Who would've guessed it?

For Kristen's 40th birthday (in February--sorry this blog is late) Sarah and Stacey planned a "favorite things" birthday outing to celebrate this special occasion. After sending out a mass fake email polling us about all of our favorite things (you know--disguised as one of those surveys you always get forwarded) Sarah and Stacey were able to put together a fun night of favorites for Kristen.

We showed up at Kristen's door with a basket of some of the favorites (purple balloons, Mountain Dew, Edwin McCain CD, Take 5 candy bar, Cheetos, etc.) and took her to dinner at Xanki (favorite restaurant). After that we walked to Dunkin Donuts for her favorite beverage (their coffee) and all bought a donut. Then we took her on her favorite date--a Barnes and Noble visit to read magazines! But we did more talking than reading, much to the chagrin of the other patrons there. Sarah and Stacey then presented Kristen with a scrapbook they had made filled with beautiful premade pages for Kristen to scrapbook the birthday events of the night. Wasn't that a cool idea?

I'm sure our Maryland family/friends have either heard of or met Kristen--Bennett and I have know her and her husband Korey since we were in Premarital counseling class back in 1999! Catherine and Stewart were in that class with us, too. That was a long time ago! Kristen is the best. She is, as many of you know, so kind, so caring...and at the same time so witty and hysterical. And if someone is out there praying for you and your family, it's Kristen.

We're glad she was born. Happy Birthday, Kristen. God bless your year 40!