The Ma Family

I Needed A Project

Diane — Thu, 03 May 2012 22:23:42 +0000

Being out of work for a few months is not something that agrees with me at all. I start to get stir crazy and eventually I find a project to tackle. Something small, that won’t cost a lot and can be done in a few days. The last time I was unemployed I organized the pantry and I’m still enjoying it.

This time I set my sights on a project that was bigger and would require me to do something that I really hate doing – painting. I decided to change up the playroom. I was tired of looking at this all the time.

I really wanted to get rid of the shelves that we’ve been using to hold all kinds of stuff for the girls. So off we went to Ikea. I had an idea of what I wanted and actually thought I knew exactly what I’d buy. But then I found something even better than what I had envisioned. And to sweeten the deal, it was on clearance so we got it for a great price! I have to give a big thanks here to my 16 year old neighbor Molly who came over to help me with the final steps in building it.

Next on the list was deciding on a new color for the walls. For two girls, that blue had to go! I wasn’t really sure what I wanted and of course the girls requested PINK!!! However, Bill was having no discussions about pink paint in there. He had a valid point, we’d just have to paint it again in few years and well….see above for how I feel about that!

After Bill did some tooling around with colors we finally decided on ‘Restful’ from Sherwin Williams. We felt it complimented the Down Home color on the other walls in the common area of the house.

The girls love telling everyone who will listen about their ‘new’ playroom. Here is the finished product.

An artist….who knew?

Diane — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 18:28:05 +0000

My parents have been friends with and fans of a local artist for many years. His name is Andy Smith. You can see his works here.

Last year my mother gave my father four lessons with Andy as a gift. My dad dove into these lessons the same way he approaches everything in life, with full gusto!

Turns out my dad really has some talent. We’ve all been impressed by the watercolors he’s created.

Last weekend Andy had an open house for his students. We went to support my dad and it turns out he was placed next to his best friend who has also been taking classes. It was a fun time and I was really impressed by works from all of Andy’s students.

I was especially proud of my dad and his beautiful watercolors.

You can see the students’ works here. Just click on “my students’ paintings” on the right hand side. Then scroll down a bit until you see Jim Tanner. These are my dad’s works.

I told him that I’d really love one of his works for my birthday this year. I wonder which one he’ll pick out for me?

I can see the light….

Diane — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 13:27:19 +0000

….at the end of the Huggies tunnel. Wahoo!

Do you see this, this is a book that my girls loved because that blue button at the top makes the sound of a toilet flushing when you push it.

Recently Brynn made the transition from Pull Ups to underwear for naps. This means there is just more step for her to take to make us a Huggies-Free home. Being able to wear underwear to bed!

Last week I decided to take a look at the baby supplies we had on hand. I realized that I had a TON of Huggies wipes. I wanted them out of my house and I’m sharing the wealth with my brother and a friend of mine. You’re welcome!

I also discovered that there was a stash of Pull Ups in Rylee’s room as well as Brynn’s room. Oy! At the rate of using one Pull Up a day, I may never have to buy them again. Yes, that’s how many we have. Here’s hoping we don’t have to bring anymore into the house!

In the past month Rylee has made the transition from Pull Ups at night to underwear. She is feeling like such a big girl and I’m happy that she did it before she turned five. I swear, there were days when I thought that girl would be taking them to college with her.

Last night around 2am I heard Brynn fussing and went in to see what was wrong. She mumbled to me something about having to pee. I told her that’s why she had a Pull Up, to just pee in it. I know, I know….a part of me thinks I should have schlepped her to the bathroom to give it try. But the other part of me realized she wasn’t fully awake and that this trip to the potty could be a complete disaster for both of us.

This morning she did remember the event and talked to me about it. If she wakes up again and wants to pee in the potty then we will trek across the hall and hope for the best.

Could we be totally Huggies-Free by the end of the year? I guess I can dream!

*by the way…Huggies in no way sponsored this post, we have been fans of their products for almost five years and we have pretty much only used their products. We love Huggies, but we’re ready to say good-bye!*

St. Patrick’s Fun

Diane — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 18:12:50 +0000

Our girls have been learning about St. Patrick’s Day at daycare. Rylee has been learning more than Brynn and has been fun telling us all the fun things she’s learned about potatoes and Leprechauns.

I decided to have some fun stuff for them on St. Patrick’s Day this year. They were both excited to see this for breakfast on Saturday…

Saturday evening Frank & Paula came over with Michael to hang out on the deck and let the kids have fun together.

We all had a great time. It was wonderful to be able to spend the time outside.

The kiddos enjoyed a dinner of green mac & cheese. Michael hadn’t had it before so he was with me in the kitchen to see the magic happen. He thought it was pretty neat.

After they finished up I gave them each a small bag with three different flavors of green Jelly Belly jellybeans. I think that really put them all over the top!

Us adults had some great meats & cheeses along with Southwest Egg Rolls for appetizers. Then we got to enjoy Bill’s wonderful pulled pork. He smoked that on the egg for hours. It went on Friday night and came off at some point Saturday afternoon. Deelish!

Great friends, fun music, wonderful food and unbeatable weather….perfect day in my book!

Brynn is 3!

Diane — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:56:18 +0000

How can that be? She was just a baby, sucking on two fingers and scooting backwards across the carpet.

This year Brynn was beyond excited for her birthday. She talked about the theme, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, since last summer. Thanks to some help from my sister-in-law Julie and my friend Erin she loved it. Erin made a great personalized banner with a Mickey Mouse theme.


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Julie made this amazing cake. She really did a great job on it and Brynn was in love with the cake. She was particularly excited that she got to keep the figurines to play with at home.


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This party was on February 4th and it was to celebrate not just Brynn’s birthday but her cousins’ Maiah and Zoie’s birthdays as well as their Dad, my brother Danny. Julie was so clever because she created “another” cake on the backside of Brynn’s Mickey cake for Maiah & Zoie. The girls had told Julie what colors they wanted on their cake and Julie hit it dead on.


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Not to slight Danny she made him his own cake. I will say he was a bit selfish and didn’t share his cake with anyone.

Since Brynn’s birthday was on a Saturday we made cupcakes for her to take to school on the Friday before. Both Rylee and Brynn helped to mix up the batter. I decorated them after Brynn went to bed and she was so excited to see these in the morning:


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Here are photos of her at school on her special day. She was excited because she got to be line leader too. That means she was first whenever they went out side to play and to come back inside. Her teacher, Miss Erika, made her the cute hat that she has proudly worn ever since she got it. Note the big difference in the before and after shots!


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Love ya like Brynn love cake! I like the bit of icing on her nose the best. (Of course she commented on how messy Ryland’s face is in the background.)

On Brynn’s birthday, this past Saturday, we headed out for a fun day that Bill and I planned a few months ago. Brynn couldn’t wait to get started on her fun day.

Our first stop was Adventure Aquarium. We took Maiah and Zoie many years ago when it was first remodeled. There’s a lot more fun stuff now and there’s still one area, for the kiddos, that is under construction and will open in the Spring.

Brynn’s favorite part was the Hippos. We had to go back to the exhibit about four times because she wanted to “see them again!”.

Bill and I really enjoyed the shark tunnel..


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Rylee said that “everything!” was her favorite. She really did enjoy the touch pools they had. Brynn wanted no part of them though.


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We got to see a 4D show too. We saw Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs and Sea Monsters. We really thought the girls would enjoy it, but we were wrong. Also, the 3D part of it was rather blurry. But didn’t Brynn look great in her glasses?

It was such a fun time for all of us. We’re thrilled that we got a super deal on an annual pass because we all want to go back again soon!


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After leaving there we headed toward home and Chuck E. Cheese. The girls really have a lot of fun playing the games and riding the few rides they have there. Rylee is definitely getting better at the games.

Once the girls turned in their tickets and gathered their loot it was time to head home for our family party. Brynn loved her ice cream cake and the gifts she got to open too!


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Happy 3rd Birthday to my Baby!

Love, Momma