Dance Dance Revolution

Not really. But, anybody else remember how much fun that game was when it first came out? Holy moly. We played DDR every Sunday night at my parents house. My dad was a beast!

Jadyn's dance recital was this past weekend. She did a great job. Her studio did Alice and Wonderland. She was a butterfly. She said her favorite part was bows because she liked all the clapping. Seriously, who's child is this? I have several pictures because Grandpa Mel and Grandma Carmen are out of town and didn't get to see it. I wanted to make sure they saw plenty of pictures (and I sent them a video).

She was so excited her cousins came to see her!

We have a smitten Daddy at our house.

This is when she spotted me. She waved. I LOVED it. :)

See! Still looking right at me. Love her!

She made this friend during all their bows practices. They ran toward each other. So cute! I love seeing her giggle with friends.

Even after all the practices this week she was still super excited about both of her performances. She did awesome! Love my girl!

Costumes

When people ask if we celebrate Halloween, I laugh. There was much debate in the social media world this year about whether or not Christians should celebrate Halloween. I read several great points on both sides of the argument but the one that stuck out to me the most was this: "Why wouldn't I let my little princess wear her dresses outside of the house for one day of the year." I loved it!
We don't go up and down neighborhoods gathering candy. We visit a few people we know and let the girls "trick or treat" there. This year we got to help pass out candy at Uncle Rod and Aunt Kathy's house since Roddy is recovering from surgery.

Jadyn had two costumes this year. She wore one to her Awana Fall Festival party and the other one on Halloween night. Miss Gayle did Jadyn's Snow White hair in hopes she would win the costume contest. She didn't win, but she didn't even realize she didn't win - so it all worked out!

Halloween night Jadyn went as Supergirl. The little girls went as a lady bug and bumble bee. Surprisingly enough they loved wearing their costumes and left them on all night long. 

We had a blast visiting friends and wearing costumes. If Jadyn had it her way we would do this every night! :) 

Typically

Typically this is a family blog. You know, the kind where I post pics of my kiddos. Well, today I need to get a few things off my chest. Things I think many of you will agree with, some you will disagree with and mostly because I believe in "keeping it real." Oh, and I'm doing a list because my good friend, Raylene, will tell you that I do it best this way.

1. Christmas Music. I need the world to know that it's okay to listen to Christmas music now. There are some of us who happen to love this type of music and waiting until Thanksgiving doesn't give us enough time to enjoy the music. I'm not skipping thanksgiving if I start listening to Christmas music now. Don't judge me if I listen to it now. I like it. I want to listen to it. Get over it and stop being judgy (I made that word up. Just call me Shakespeare.) about it.

2. People. Sometimes people are hard. I don't get it. If we would all just do what the Lord has called us to do there just wouldn't be a problem. I have a few people in my life right now who feel the need to do the work of the Holy Spirit. Guess what. The Holy Spirit doesn't need help. The Holy Spirit is God. Get it? The Lord gives us each jobs to do. If we do those to the best of our ability we should keep busy. When we don't do those to the best of our ability we tend to mettle in other people's business and then we aren't being obedient.

3. Seasons. There is a whole lot to be said about seasons. Seasons are used for a variety of different metaphors in literature and in life. I'm going though a difficult season in life right now. For me, this would be winter. Winter is not my favorite. I am not friends with winter. This season in my life is not fun. Parts of it are. My kids? Awesome. My hubby? rock star. (Just to squelch any rumors getting ready to start up.) I just started a new Bible Study and the first lesson immediately hit home. I love it when God does that. I know that we have these rough patches in life for a reason. I know I have a God who has a plan for me. I just don't like going though the rough stuff and I look very much forward to spring. :)

4. Students. I have some pretty cool students (hi those of you who are reading!). I have "Life Lessons with Mrs. Franz" in one of my classes and it's a blast. I got to lay on the ground and pretend I was a snake today (no pictures). I have a group that is always ready to try something new and a group that I have to pull teeth to get to do something new. You know what? Every group is awesome. We have fun. We learn, we laugh, we talk about God, and we love each other (I think. Well I do, I shouldn't speak for them). It's frustrating when little things take the joy away from the students. When people get lost in the details and forget to look at the big picture. I try to ask myself every day, "Did I show them Jesus?" Some days I know I'm successful and other days I know I wasn't. I'm human? Remember I make mistakes! I make typos! Guess what? It's okay! God gets it and usually my kiddos get it too.

I think that's all. I have way more to say but the blogging world doesn't need details. Also, just to be safe, sometimes when I read people's blogs I think "Oh they must be talking about _______". Well, with the exception of #1 I am referring to multiple situations I have going on in life so don't waste your time trying to guess :)  I told you, life is crazy right now!

And just because I can:

Chiefs

So we kinda like football around here. Well, Greg and I do anyway. Jadyn is not sold on it yet but has learned that she's not going to get the TV on Sunday. :) Jemma used to love to watch the games but not so much anymore. I'm convinced one of them will love football as much as I do!
Our Chiefs are doing well this year so we got the girls shirts. Jaycie and Jemma wore theirs to church last week. They looked so cute I attempted a "photo shoot." Do you know what trying to take a group shot of 19mth old twins and a 5 year old looks like? If not here is an idea:

This is the best shot. It was the first shot. It went down hill from there...

Jaycie's hand.. HAHAHA

Finally free, I still didn't get good shots. Here's Jaycie in her cute outfit. 

 Jemma! 

Silver Dollar City

A couple of weekends ago we got to take the girls to Silver Dollar City. We go just about every year with Greg's grandparents and Aunt and Uncle, but this year my parents came down and went to SDC with us as well. It was so much fun. Jadyn is a SDC expert. She has been many times and is starting to ride some of the bigger rides. It is so cool! She loves the wet rides and rides them multiple times! This was the little girls first time. Unfortunately, I had the camera on the wrong setting and didn't know it so most of the pictures are blurry, but I did get a few that aren't and are very cute. :)

The little girls get to ride 2 rides - the frogs and the butterflies
Greg, My Dad, and Joey all crammed into the rides so the girls could ride.

Daddy and Jaycie on butterflies

Jadyn, Jemma, and Daddy. Jadyn and Jemma fought over who got to hold the button to make them fly. Haha. 

daddy and Jaycie on the butterflies

Before the frog ride started I caught this little beauty! Look at Jadyn's arm around Jemma. How sweet is that! 

 Jaycie loved the frogs. They are really bouncy and I may have threatened Joey to hold on to her tight. He obeyed. :) 

This one is before it started. I don't think she was quite sure what to expect. 

Jemma loved the frogs too! 

Oh and here's Papa. Watching him get in to the butterflies might have been more entertaining than the girls. The ride isn't exactly built for a 6'2'' man. :) 

We had a fabulous time! 

yesterday

Yesterday, I had a rough day. It was one of those days where one thing happened and it sent me into that nasty downward spiral of emotions. You know, the kind where the ugly cry happens frequently throughout the rest of the day. The kind where you go to bed exhausted. It was that kind of day. On top of it all, Greg had parent-teacher conferences and didn't get home until 8:00.

Thankfully, I have 3 amazing girls. My girls had no idea what was going on but knew that Mama was upset and spent lots of time snuggling with me. It was awesome.

I'm grateful that even in the midst of a trial the Lord sends us blessings.

(One of my blessings - Jemma - Playing in her toy basket!) 

A Fancy Nancy 5 year old!

Jadyn is 5. I just can't believe it. She is a fantastic 5 year old. She is smart, funny, kind, caring, a great big sister, and an awesome daughter. She loves Fancy Nancy, so we had a Fancy Nancy birthday party. Apparently we are a couple years too late on the FN bandwagon because there is a lot of party supplies but only available online.
I am really really resisting the whole friends party thing. I'm sure it's my own personal issue but I am hoping we never jump on that wagon. (A girl can dream, right?). I'm perfectly content with Jadyn and the other girls having family parties for the rest of their lives!
Here are a few pictures from this years party.

Jadyn's fancy cake

 See Mom's new curtains? She made them herself. Aren't they cute?!?

 My sweet girl! 

 Presents! She was so good and thanked each person after she opened the gift. 

Her birthday crown! 

She read each birthday card. 

 Happy birthday sweet thing! We love you to the moon and back! 

Pumpkin Patch - 2013

We headed with the family to the pumpkin patch. We went to Johnson's Family Farm. They had tons of activities for the kiddos - well the older three. The younger two mainly had to watch from the wagon. It was the first chilly day of fall and the cold crisp air felt pretty good!

The older three flying the plane.

The older three in the wagon

 Cousins!! Everybody is kind of looking at the camera and looks happy! I say... SCORE!! :)

Jaycie and Papa on the wagon to the patch

My babies checking out the ducklings

Beauties!

Cousins! They love each other. It is so sweet.

Papa and Jaycie. Jaycie picked her own pumpkin.

Jemma! Hands free. :)

The Franzy Bunch - October 2013

18 mth check up

As you know, our babies are 18 months old. We just had their 18 month check up. It was kind of emotional for me - although I kept it well hidden.

Lately I've been thinking about and reminded of what a miracle they are. Some day I get to tell them that we prayed so hard for them! It made me think of the day we found out we were having twins. The doc sent me for an early ultrasound (she said to establish a due date, but I found out later she suspected multiples) and Greg couldn't go with me. When the lady told me there were two babies I burst in to tears. She asked me why and I told her I was so blessed. We prayed for so long just to get pregnant and the Lord saw fit to give us two babies at once! Telling Greg was awesome too. I just handed him the picture and let him figure it out. :) 

Just to see how much they've grown since their stay in the NICU was overwhelming. They are caught up on all fronts. Their growth curve is perfect. They even wore bows for me today! Good girls. 

Jaycie and Jemma

And let's not forget their crazy sister. Jadyn is such a blessing. She is a good help, she's so much fun to be around, and she loves to give me hugs. Seriously, she's awesome :) She cried when she found out her sisters had to get shots. She loves them so much! 

Did I mention...

Did I mention this school year is off to a rough start?
I have?
Okay, well I didn't want you to forget.

I do have a few things I'm working on - for me.
1. Being intentional with my kiddos. I come home exhausted every day from a crazy work day. I want to make my time count. We play on the floor, read books, snuggle, and snack. I enjoy being with the girlies. It also means my house is a mess most of the time, when I do laundry I have about 10 loads to do at a time (and FOLD - GROSS!), and I do not feel prepared for most upcoming events. I'm okay with them because I recognize the most important thing right now are my girls.

2. I am working on being aware of what's best for my oldest. These past few weeks we've had a few challenges that have made Greg and I stop to consider long term consequences of decisions we are making for Jadyn right now. Greg and I each have character flaws (shocking - I know) that we see we've passed on to Jadyn. We know that by being proactive while she is young we can help shape some of those issues. Our main goal right now is to teach her that as long as she always does her best we are proud of her. She's a bit of a perfectionist in some areas and really likes to be the best (stop snickering - it's not nice - I'm sorry okay?), so when she has an off day we want her to know it's okay - as long as she knows she gave God her best.

3. I'm learning that the Word of God is so life changing. This is one I knew, but it's so nice to see it again. Jadyn is in Awana's this year. She LOVES it. In fact, last night she asked me how many more days until Cubbies. She's on her first verse and while I know she isn't totally grasping the concepts yet - I know it's only a matter of time before she will start asking questions. We need to be ready!

I'm learning more things right now as well. Several I started to type and then deleted because I'm not quite ready to share. :)