River Vacation 2010

Our annual trip to my parents cabin near Harpers Ferry, IA was great, as usual. We had 3 days of wonderful weather, with lots of fun boat trips that included the tube, kneeboard, floating down the river in our life jackets, etc. The river was up, so there weren't any sandbars, and that was a bummer. But we still made the best of it. Ellie got up on the kneeboard the FIRST time. And I'm SO mad at myself that I forgot my camera. But I couldn't have captured the feeling inside of me. I was just bursting with pride. I couldn't believe that she actually listened to Billy's instructions, executed them, and did it!! She was getting so bored on the tube, that we knew we had to get something else for her. Guess I need to look for some skis for next year!

Jack enjoyed the tube this year a little better - but he's a slow go kinda guy. If it got too rough or fast, he's start crying. Amelia went with a parent, but not by herself. She enjoyed it, but didn't want to get wet at all. The fireworks were canceled because of rain, but I had bought some in Wisconsin to do. We were able to get some done with the kids and they enjoyed that. We brought most home to do some other time.

Evelyn is 17 Months Today!

My baby is nearly a big girl. I'm feeling a little sad about that fact, because I love my babies. For those of you that knew Ellie as a little pip-squeak, Evelyn is the same. Busy and into everything. Go, go, go ... outside is her favorite place. Oh, and she has this ear-piercing scream that can send you over the edge. But her lingering hugs just melt your heart. And that dimple - you just can't miss that! She will be a dare-devil, certainly not the high maintenance princess that Amelia seems to be.

Not my problem!

Yesterday Evelyn was getting into something down the hall - I think probably into the bathroom. I was in the kitchen, so I asked Jack to grab her out. He responded, "She's not mine. She's yours!" Can't argue with that, can you?

Soccer

Jack's big wind up - for a small kick!

Ellie & Jack both played soccer this spring. Neither are really into it much -- so I'll probably regret signing them up for a week long Soccer Camp this summer. My hope is that if they get better, then they'll like it. Who likes doing something you're crappy at?

Ellie did improve this year by not dancing or skipping on the field. She did get one goal that I got to see! She was one of only two girls on her team and the boys kind of hogged the ball. But mostly because the two girls weren't going after it more. So we need to work on excitement and getting after the ball.

Jack's first year this year. He ran a lot - but not normally near the ball. We didn't ever really see him standing around, but we could tell that he was usually being Spiderman or trying to catch bugs around him. We'll give him props for keeping his feet moving though. The first few games the coach would ask if anyone needed a break and Jack would always be the first to ask. So he was sitting out a lot. We told him not to do that anymore and he did better.

Overall, good experience. We are thankful for our Park & Rec program and the parent volunteers. I don't know a lick about soccer - so I'm not much help.

Sisters

Here are some instances where the girls are playing well together. Ellie had them dressed as princesses in the picture above!

Amelia was doing this for quite awhile before the video. She got tired! I love Evelyn's laugh.

Amelia Turns 3!

Amelia Marie with her Princess Cake

She wasn't quite sure what to think when everyone started singing

Amelia turned 3 yesterday - wow! Just 4 years ago this coming weekend I was moving to Huxley. A single mom with 2 little kids. The world on my shoulders and not a clue of what God had in store for me. I was really reflecting on that yesterday. When you think life has you in quite a pickle, it doesn't take long for things to turn around. I knew I wanted to get married again, and I knew that I wanted more kids ... and I am so blessed!

Amelia continues to be our comedian. Her facial expressions, random sentences, and just silliness bring a daily smile to your face. On the other hand, she is a 3-yr old "princess" that gets a little demanding and whiny too!

She plays role of little sister and big sister quite well. She enjoys playing house and dress up with Ellie. Also, playing outside and keeping up with Jack & Ellie around the yard. Jack and her continue to bicker and fight. They have to be separated daily. Her and Evelyn are quite cute though. Evelyn is now trying to keep up with her and they play real cute together.

Amelia is not necessarily a mama or daddy's girl. She's usually wanting the other when that one is gone. She cuddles and warms up nicely to either of us regularly. She's generous with hugs and kisses - and pleases and thank yous. Overall, she seems to be growing up to be a pretty sweet girl.

Busy birds

We've been fighting with some black birds trying to make our grill their home. At first we had left the grill cover off and so we felt, rightfully so, that it was our fault when we found a few twigs and sticks in there. We were smarter and put the grill cover on.

Awhile later, probably about 4-5 days ... we come back to find THIS! Busy, busy birds that had flew under the grill cover and up the side to the small holes to build this monstrous nest! I can't believe how many trips they made under the cover. These birds totally get an A+ for hard work!

I felt really bad taking it out and burning it. Luckily no eggs had been laid in it yet.

Next step - aluminum foil the holes. NOPE! New nest started again! When will these birds find a new place to call home?

Last step - duct tape the holes. Yep.

Evelyn Walks!

Yes - finally at 15+ months, the child has decided to walk! It's been a very gradual process. No marked day of when it happened. Day by day, step by step - she finally decided it was better than crawling. The picture above is the wind blowing her hair - and snot running out her nose!

Cowboy Hat

I found this series of pictures on my camera today when I downloaded them. Ellie had some fun! I recently found an old 35mm in a box and gave it to her. She took a whole roll of 24 pictures in one day. I'm very interested to see what she took pictures of - and how they turn out. We need to take them to the store to get developed. Do they still do that?! So not only does she want to be a Target Rep when she grow up, but a Photographer too. Abbi, you have an apprentice!

Spaghetti, anyone?

So, I'm pretty sure every baby has a picture like this in their photo album of life, right? Evelyn enjoying some spaghetti - I love the grin on her face.

Jack Turns 5!

Holy wow -- Jack turned five a few weeks ago, on March 31st. He's really grown this winter. All his pants are too short and when looking at pictures from last summer of the kids - he's the one that has changed the most.

Kindergarten Round Up was last week. He was totally pumped and really enjoyed it. I think he'll do well in school - as long as he keeps the wrestling around to a minimum. I've worried about his lack of letter/number learning -- but he seems to be making big strides the past few months.

For his birthday he had a few friends come with us to some parks in Ankeny. It was a beautifully sunny, warm day! He wanted a Spiderman cake - and this is what I came up with. What is under that whipping white frosting is a strawberry jello cake. Yummo!

He's really into Legos these days and I recently purchased a huge bin of legos from a friend's garage sale. He builds and builds in his room everyday. He always wants my help building something, but I end up getting lost in sorting pieces. Wow - aren't I nerdy fun?!

Dirty Panties

Here was a recent conversation with Amelia -- who will be 3 next month:

"Mommy, I need new panties."
"Why?"
"Because these have toots in them."

And then today, after going to the bathroom, I noticed that her panties had some skid-marks in them. I asked her, "What happened?" She replied, "I don't know. They're dirty! I want new ones." I explained to her that sometime during the day she had went poop and hadn't asked for help to wipe and she got poop in her panties. Her response, while laughing, "That's funny, Mommy."

A robot

Ellie and Amelia were playing just now behind me here in the basement, as I work at my desk. I hear them starting to argue - Ellie wants Amelia to wear this certain dress, but Amelia is crying that she wants it off because it's "itchy." Finally, Ellie gives up and kind of rips it off her and hits her. Amelia comes crying to me...

Mom: Ellie, you didn't need to hit her.
Ellie: But I wanted her to wear that dress.
M: I understand, but you can't make her wear the dress. And you shouldn't hit her. You need to apologize.
E: And she won't stop crying.
M: I know. It's annoying when she whines and cries, but hitting her doesn't help. When you get frustrated, you just have to walk away.
E: Ok. But I wanted her to wear that dress. I wish she was a robot, so that she did whatever I wanted her to do.

Oh, Ellie -- if only all our kids were robots so we could get them to do what we wanted them to do!

Kids Dancing

If you haven't set up an account on Pandora.com yet - it's a great free site to create your own radio station. Billy recently set up a "dance music" station for the kids. Here are some highlights. I wish I had a program so I could cut and edit the best parts. (yes, I know, I need a Mac). And you'll notice that Jack is more into picking on Ellie than actually dancing. Oh, those little brothers!

A couple of tricks

Here are a few highlights of some things that Evelyn is doing. Blowing kisses, saying "all done" "bye-bye"

Princess Amelia

Amelia was dancing to Disney Princess music today - and I got these shots of her sitting in the window. It was fun to play with the image to get the cool coloring. #1 - i need a better program to do more, and #2 - i need more time to do it.

Not to be left out

Amelia didn't want to be left out of getting her picture taken too.

Many faces of Evelyn

Billy took this series of pictures of her the other night. Certainly some keepers!

Always a gun ... or a sword

True to his species, Jack never fails to make a gun or a sword out of anything. Here is the latest gun that was made out of some lego-type blocks.

Ellie's Ouch!

We diverted a trip to the ER this week by trying out the Mercy Urgent Care clinic in Ankeny. On Wednesday evening, Ellie was at our former neighbor's house playing with their daughter, Lauren. The two girls took the dog for a walk. Lulu decided to take off, Ellie decided to not let go of the leash and tripped. The retractable leash swung back and hit her in the forehead, splitting it open.

After consulting with our new neighbor, an ER nurse, we decided to take her in to see if it needed stitches. A scar on a boy = cool! A scar on a girl = more makeup. Five years from now, I didn't want to regret not taking her. So, instead of possibly waiting hours at Mary Greeley in Ames, we checked out the clinic south of us. It went well! Very clean, very quick, and very nice staff - not to mention, much cheaper.

She ended up with glue instead of stitches. Which means two of my kids have been glued in the past couple months -- good thing for the invention of that stuff! It should heal nicely -- we'll see a year from now how the scar does.