Schloemer Sixpack

Blank Park Zoo

2011-09-03T21:27:00.000-05:00

We did a lot this Summer but we still had a lot more that we wanted to do. A zoo trip was on that list. School started a few weeks ago but Fall hasn't officially begun so I don't think we're too off track. I'm glad we went now because there was a fancy dinosaur exhibit that has only three days left. We loved our day at the zoo (even though it rained a lot) and have the pictures to prove it, as always.

9/3 - Spencer loves all things to do with America. It's interesting to watch him get excited. We saw this Bald Eagle and he was so fascinated with it. It's kind of in the dark back in the cage but he was quite a happy camper to see one "in real life!"

9/3 - The zoo had a fancy robotic dinosaur exhibit this time and the kids loved it. Amelia really liked this one. Every time it turned toward her she would smile and say, "He's looking at me!" She had an especially good connection with this one.

9/3 - We told Miya we were going to see dinosaurs and she was quite excited until we walked around the corner to the exhibit. She freaked out and grabbed my hand and said, "They don't have cages!" I smiled and explained that these were just big toys not real dinosaurs and while they could move their heads they couldn't come get her. She was not convinced until she saw the babies hatching, it was love at first sight and they won her over to the robotic dinosaur movement.

9/3 - I love how Spencer is slightly freaked out in this one. He seemed okay until it turned toward him and opened it's mouth, then it was leaning back so far onto Aaron that he almost fell over.

9/3 - Alex LOVED the dinosaurs. He really wanted to make friends with all of them and was his usually smiley self as he tried to touch each one.

9/3 - Spencer was roaring in his cutout dinosaur. I'm glad I got a clear shot because I was busy laughing at his cuteness.

9/3 - Miya wanted to be the triceratops. I think she pulled it off nicely.

9/3 - Amelia was all smiles as she posed in her dinosaur.

9/3 - I think this is the happiest T-Rex you'll ever meet and a cutie to boot.

9/3 - The three lions they had were all plopped on a ledge right next to the window. They were watching the rain and we were watching them. Apparently lions don't like the rain or maybe this one didn't want to mess up his hair. Either way Alex loved getting up close.

9/3 - You can tell how wet we got in this picture. Poor Aaron was quite soaked with no coat (he really doesn't like to use them). However, it was worth the wet to see the lions so up close.

9/3 - This tiger did not have the same aversion to rain that the lions did because it was walking all over the place. Alex was following it with his eyes and his chubby pointing finger.

9/3 - Amelia probably liked these goats the best of the whole zoo trip. They had some babies among them and she adores baby anything. If there is a small version and a large version of something, anything, it's a baby and a mommy or a baby and a daddy if it's more manly. She sat and looked at these for a while and kept saying, "I like the baby ones. They're so cute!"

9/3 - I think Alex and this llama had quite the connection. It was pacing looking for a handout and Alex was waiting for a touch. Neither of them got what they wanted in the end but I think they were both better off. We got some good smiles and a few giggles out of the llama.

9/3 - I'm always amazed at how this fish can pack in there and wait for the food to be dropped into their seriously large mouths. Amelia noticed the mouths too and was also amazed at how wide the could open.

9/3 - Alex really wanted to go swimming with the fish. It probably seemed like the perfect combination to him. Water + New Animal = Fun! Aaron had to grip him pretty tight as he wiggled and smiled down at he new friends.

9/3 - See what I mean about the tightly packed fish? It's craziness.

9/3 - Amelia really wanted to sit on the giant frog but it was soaking wet and at this point in the zoo trip her bottom was the only dry part of her. We compromised and I let her stand. It seemed to be good enough.

9/3 - Spencer, Miya, and Alex loved the otters. Amelia loved the otters in theory. It's much like how she loves cats in theory but when either of them come too close she'll cover her ears and scream in terror. She did this today. When the otter swam off she said (in a super happy voice), "I like it the otter!"

9/3 - Pink Flamingos have always been Miya's favorite zoo animal. She also likes the ones available for lawn decoration and has failed in her many attempts to try to convince me that we need one.

9/3 - I really liked this cute bird. It had fun colors and was so tiny. Bird legs are also one of my favorite things. They have such big round bodies and teeny tiny legs it just makes me smile every time.

9/3 - Blue is my favorite color, although if you ask Aaron it's green (you can choose who to trust on this one) so when I saw this frogs I was in love. Look how fancy blue! They could probably kill me or something but they'd sure look good doing it.

9/3 - Alex found another fascinating new animal to touch. He tried to pick it up and take it with him too but he couldn't get a good grip on it before Aaron pulled him away, poor baby.

9/3 - Alex had another bonding moment with the caimen. It was floating, sort of, with it's head poked out the top and Alex was giving it some love though the glass.

9/3 - These birds were so beautiful! They are actually what prompted the zoo trip in the first place and they were the last animal we saw. We were reading our animal book at home then we got to the zoo animal part. Then all the kids in turn tried to convince me that we needed to pack up right then to go see this beautiful bird in person. It works, just a few days late.

Alex can say a few words but doesn't really talk a lot yet. He likes to communicate in grunts and squeaks. It was amazing how much these birds sounded just like Alex when they squawked back and forth.

Miya is FIVE!

2011-08-28T18:04:00.000-05:00

8/23 - Miya and I went on a little date two days before her birthday. First we went to Target and got her pictures taken there. She was adorable and so sassy I loved it! I usually only get three poses of each kid and it was so hard to pick just three. After the pictures we went out to dinner together. She said she wanted spaghetti and I instantly thought of Fazoli's. I love their bread sticks and so does Miya. She had a spaghetti kids meal and discovered that it's fun to dip her bread in the sauce.

8/23 - I got a picture of Miya and me on our date.

8/24 - The night before Miya's birthday everyone pitched in to help decorate. It was a lot of fun to have Miya's input about the decorations. They all helped me stretch out the balloons so they were easier to blow up. We did five because she turned five.

8/24 - Miya was the most excited about the streamers. She wanted red and blue twisted together. With Alex's white balloon it all looked quite patriotic for a little while.

8/25 - Miya had school on her birthday. I missed her and Aaron went to the school and had lunch with her and they played together at recess. After Miya got home from school we made a chocolate cake together. She loves her cute apron that has her name on it. For the first time I let her help me break open the eggs and she did a fabulous job. She got all of the egg and none of the shell into the bowl and we were both so proud of her.

8/25 - Miya also helped pour the cake mix into the bowl. It took a lot of concentration to get it in there without getting everywhere else but she did well.

8/25 - Later Miya was giving me a play by play as she stirred up the batter. "Look mom, it's getting darker! Look the eggs are mixing in! Now it looks kind of wet all over." It was pretty cute to listen too and to watch her as we baked together.

We opened presents while we waited for the cake to bake. She got a card from Aunt Suzi, another one from Grandma and Grandpa, and a third from Spencer. She also got three more present from Mom and Dad in addition to the bike that she opened early with the helmet and matching water bottle from Nana and Papa. It was quite the haul.

8/25 - She loved the card from Spencer and I love the 25 candles because her birthday is on the 25th. The cake looked really fancy too and Spencer colored it in Miya's favorite colors.

8/25 - Littlest Pet Shop has become Miya's new love and this present has some of the coolest ones I've seen. It has a dog that can walk by itself and push a wagon. They were a big hit with everyone.

8/25 - She got another set of pet shops too. These have sparkles all over and they are just so girly.

8/25 - I secretly made her these animals and she loves them. It was quite hard not to let her see what I was working on and involved some working at night but totally worth the ooh face when she opened it up.

8/25 - Here is the fancy pet shop dog walking back to his house. Everyone was cheering it on.

8/25 - She has quite the collection and I can think of two that weren't there but there may be more. I love the big grin.

8/25 - Notice the tongue as she is frosting? She did a great job and only needed a little help spreading it around.

8/25 - Miya is learning how to write her numbers and she has a little poem that we said together as we both did the sprinkles to make her #5. It was a chocolate cake with Butter Cream frosting. It looked and tasted good and she had a great day.

Ride to the Park

2011-08-23T21:50:00.000-05:00

8/20 - The kids all wanted to go to the park so we made a fun evening of it. Spencer and Miya rode their bikes while Amelia and I walked beside them. Aaron took the car in case of potty emergencies and so he could go get our pizza for a picnic dinner later.

Earlier that day poor Alex fell off the couch and cut under his eye on the end table. It looks pretty bad but didn't really bleed at all. Alex loves the swings and I think the fun day helped him forget about his cut.

8/20 - Amelia loves to swing. We have swings at home but there are bushes that hinder a good push so she can never get as high as she wants to. Thus, the park has the best swing with how she can get so high.

8/20 - Aaron decided to swing with the kids. Wait. Where's Aaron? Alex can't find him either. He swung so high that he wasn't even in the picture.

8/20 - After taking four very large steps backward I was able to get Aaron in the picture. I can't believe how high he was I would not be comfortable going that high and I'm afraid of very little.

8/20 - Having ridden his bike to the park Spencer had on his fabulous helmet, which he loves to pieces. He hardly takes it off in case he has to make a quick get away on his bike. It's also great for safety on the climbing wall.

8/20 - This slide is about eight feet off the ground but Alex has no fear. He backed right off the edge with a smile on his face.

8/20 - I expected him to be freaked out when he got to the bottom but he was laughing the whole way down and was super happy at the end. He went at least ten more times after this before we had to pry him away for dinner.

8/20 - I think this picture is pretty cool with the kids in focus and the blurry background. I was on the merry-go-round with them and we were zooming.

8/20 - Miya is quite talented with the swings. Since she was about 2.5 she could pump her own legs to make herself go and get higher. Spencer was struggling with it and she was coaching him on proper swinging techniques. It's fun when they help each other learn.

8/20 - Spencer and Miya were racing their bikes on a basketball court while at the park. Spencer was ahead until Miya made a quick turn and had a shortcut to the finish line. Spencer called her on her cheating but she told him he never said what shape the course was and totally got him on a technicality.

8/20 - After a thorough explanation of the course and a walk though they were ready to go again. I love how they both have their game faces on while I'm saying "ready, set, go!"

8/20 - Amelia loves to run and is adorable how she does it. It involves A LOT of arm pumping and twisting of the upper body. I can't get enough and have her run to make me smile whenever we go outside.

First Day of School

2011-08-18T08:48:00.002-05:00

8/18 - First day of school! Miya was so excited to start Kindergarten! She got a fancy new Hello Kitty shirt to wear on her first day and she paired it with her favorite blinged out sparkle skirt.

8/18 - Spencer can't wait to see what first grade is all about. He told me, "I'm ready to make so many new friends today!" I love his can do attitude and his fancy Star Wars shirt.

8/18 - Spencer and Miya with their friend Jesse. Jesse lives down the street and popped over with his dad and baby brother to our house and we all walked to the bus stop together. It was so fun to have someone to talk to at the bus stop.

8/18 - They ride the shark bus but they stop and have to switch to the owl bus later. I'm concerned about the switching but I"m sure they'll do fine. Miya had a hard time getting on the bus because she kept stopping and smiling for more pictures. She wanted this day put in her scrapbook.

8/18 - Spencer and Miya sat with Jesse in the same row on the bus. They were so cute grinning at me out the window.

8/18 - They are in the first window behind the driver and loved waving and blowing kisses as the bus drove off. I'm excited for them to have another new adventure!

I uploaded videos to Facebook where they tell all about their first day. It literally took three hours to load them there and I just don't have the time/energy to load them here. If you want to go see them here's the links...

Spencer's First Day of School

Miya's First Day of School

Back to School Night

2011-08-18T08:26:00.001-05:00

8/16 - Spencer was really excited about his school supplies this year. I was surprised at how many of each thing he needed like the 10 glue sticks and 12 pencils. He loved his fun folders and reused his backpack from last year. He got lace up shoes and some velcro ones for gym that are a size 13, he's so big! We got a picture of him with all his goodies just before back to school night when we dropped it all off in his new classroom.

8/16 - I seriously love buying school supplies. It's my all time favorite thing! I used to buy new markers and crayons every year even when I didn't have school kids. Shopping for Miya's first school supplies was so much fun! I love her cute folders, especially the one with the kitty on it because it's just so my Miya. Her backpack is so fun with the camo animal print. For kindergarten they need 12" square pillows so I made her one with two little pillow cases. Now she can't wait for nap time at school. Her gym shoes are super fancy with sparkles on the sides and are a size 13, same as Spencer this year.

8/16 - Miya already loves her teacher Mrs. Upah. Spencer had her last year and she has heard so many fun stories. Miya bravely walked right up to her and started chatting away.

8/16 - I love how adorable Miya looks at her new desk! I can't wait to hear about her adventures in kindergarten.

8/16 - Spencer is a big first grader this year and his teacher is Mrs. Dietrich. He was a bit shy with her but warmed up quickly. He loves that she has a baby in her belly due in October.

8/16 - Miya and Spencer had a talk about buses last week and he told her there were no seat belts or car seats. She freaked out just like he did last year. Spencer reassured her that she would be safe as long as she stayed sitting and told her that buses don't go very fast "and that's a problem if you have to go potty really bad!" Thus he suggested she always go before she gets on the bus. As a result of this fun conversation Miya was not worried and all smiles when she hopped on the bus out front at back to school night and all the kids loved playing on it for a few minutes.

8/16 - Spencer went to the back of the bus to check it out. He never got to sit in the back last year because all the big kids were there. Plus, he was a big fan of sitting next to the emergency exit door, "just in case there's a problem."

8/16 - Spencer looks pretty adorable in front of the sign for his school. This elementary holds kindergarten through second grade.

8/16 - Miya was telling me all the letters on the sign and is totally ready for kindergarten at Ballard West Elementary.

Spencer is SIX!

2011-08-16T12:57:00.001-05:00

8/15 - Spencer's sixth birthday fun started early. He wanted to decorate with me and on his birthday morning so he and I got up at 7am when he usually does and had some fun alone time while Dad was at work and the other kids slept in. We blew up balloons, put up streamers, and stuck our balloon window clings to the windows we washed. He stretched out the balloons while I blew them up and we got six "because I'm six today!"

8/15 - We were still waiting for the other kids to get up and decided to make his birthday pie. Spencer tried Key Lime Pie on Dad's birthday and really wanted it for his. We were excited to cook together just the two of us.

8/15 - Spencer was a great helper while making the pie. He is really good at measuring out things and pouring. Squeezing out the key lime juice into the measuring cup was one of his favorite parts. He also helped separate out the egg yolks. It took six eggs and he pointed out, "I'm six and it took six eggs! That's pretty interesting."

8/15 - Spencer got money from Grandma and Grandpa as well as Aunt Suzi. Combined it was $15 and as you can see he was so excited! He said, "I got fifteen dollars and I was born on the fifteenth. That's pretty cool!"

8/15 - Star Wars recently became Spencer's love. We already had episodes 1-3 and we watched them together and loved them. I found episodes 4-6 on Amazon for a great deal and had them shipped to us. One the box arrived I told him it was his birthday present but he had a few more days until he could open it. He guessed it was a bike, it'd be hard to fit one in that box. Spencer requested that I just wrap the shipping box so he could open the package himself and also requested bows on all of his presents this year. This one had a fancy blue bow.

8/15 - Another present from us was Star Wars figurines. He was so excited because they matched the movie box. He got six of them in all and noticed that six is how old his is today.

8/15 - STAR WARS! They were all pretty excited to watch the show together.

8/15 - The kids each had some figurines to play with as they watched. They all loved it when the one in their hand came up on the screen.

8/15 - Spencer and I went on a little date for his birthday. First we went to Target and got his pictures taken. Then we went to Wal-Mart to spend his birthday money. He was eying a Transformers Ratchet toy before and was so excited he had enough money to get it. I adore the action shot and his wad of cash.

8/15 - He was such a good little shopper. For his $15 he got a fancy Transformer, three cool matchbox cars, and a candy bar. He had 38 cents left over and a bag full of fun.

8/15 - To finish our date we went to Quiznos for lunch. Spencer had developed leaps and bounds with his reading lately and read the sign himself. He noticed, "It says Quiznos Sub. If it said Quiznos Submarine then they'd be on vacation!" HA! I love it! He had a turkey and cheese sandwich with olives, a chocolate chip cookie, and sierra mist to drink.

8/15 - Spencer's last present was this awesome bike. He was beyond excited for it because ever since he was 18 months he's had a tricycle we got at an after Christmas sale. Poor little guy just the day before was riding around on his tiny trike wishing for a big boy bike. I'm so glad we were able to pull it off. Notice also the fancy gold bow even though it wasn't wrapped I think it met Spencer's "every present needs a bow" request.

8/15 - I was worried that he'd have a hard time with his bike because he's always been on a trike. With occasional help from the training wheels he did a really great job.

8/15 - Miya's birthday is ten days after Spencer's and we were going to make her wait for her bike until her birthday but we couldn't last. She was so sweet to Spencer about his new bike and didn't complain once as she followed him around on the old trike that it melted my heart and we surprised her with her bike today too. She was totally not expecting it and was so happy. The basket is her favorite part.

8/15 - Miya hopped right on and was off with a smile.

8/15 - Nana and Papa sent Spencer's and Miya's presents in the same box and it arrived after lunch time. The kids were excited to be able to open it together.

8/15 - They heard about Spencer and Miya's new bikes and offered to buy them helmets to go with them. I was so excited that she offered to take care of that for us. They are both really awesome helmets. Spencer got Transformers and it even came with a bell and he just LOVES to ring! Miya got her favorite Littlest Pet Shop and it came with a water bottle that came in handy in our Iowa heat.

8/15 - We attached Spencer's bell and put on his helmet and he was ready to go for a fun ride.

8/15 - Miya looks pretty adorable sporting her new helmet and drinking from her fabulous water bottle.

8/15 - The kids tried riding around on our sidewalk but it's broken and grass infested so we went three blocks over to the fancy trail and they were all able to ride there. It is so flat and so straight that it's perfect for beginning riders.

8/15 - Miya and Spencer were little riding experts on the trail. They just took off and we went about two miles round trip. It was awesome!

8/15 - Spencer looks so cool all geared up on his new bike on the trail.

8/15 - Miya liked to stick to the side of the trail. She got going really fast and also loved stopping for water breaks with her fancy attached water bottle.

8/15 - The bike trail leads over some railroad tracks and there happened to be a train going by right as we crossed over it. The kids loved it until the friendly conductor blew the horn and made them cry it was so loud, poor babies.

8/15 - We had mac n cheese for dinner because it's Spencer's "favorite yellow thing." After that we had our key lime pie dessert. Spencer wanted to reuse his Spiderman candle from last year but it had a hard time staying in the pie and Aaron had to hold it up while we sang and Spencer blew out the candles. We were all excited for a piece and love birthday pie! After dessert we had to run to the bank, which is quite a drive for us. To make it up to the kids for having to sit in the car so long we got them ice cream cones at Dairy Queen on the way home. It was a full and really fun day.

Family Pictures

2011-08-14T20:02:00.000-05:00

8/10/2011 - My friend Shanna Bollwinkel took our family pictures this year and did an awesome job. I have been having a crazy hard time narrowing it down. She gave us edited images in black and white too but it takes forever to upload to blogger so you can image what how fabulous those look.

Two Holes in One Miya

2011-08-13T19:43:00.001-05:00

8/13 - I've wanted to pierce Miya's ears since her birth but I wanted her to have a choice. So I decided to wait until she asked for it. It only took five years! Last night she was talking to me and said she wanted to get her ears pierced so she could get married. I'm not quite sure on the logic and explained that she'll have to wait a while to get married even if she gets them pierced. I also told her that it would hurt a little like a shot at the doctor. She said she didn't care and she wanted pretty earrings. I checked and double checked and then today while we were already out shopping we stopped by the mall and got it done.

Once in the chair she reassured me that she really wanted them done and asked me to help her "be more brave." It was so sweet.

8/13 - Here she is in the after shot. She was really freaked out by the pen to mark the spot. She didn't like that the woman drew on her. Miya cried for a little bit after the first ear. Then Miya told her to just do the other one. After the second one she cried until she saw the suckers. Miya stopped crying and picked out her sucker and was perfectly happy after that.

She loved the little pink bag that came with the piercing it had cleanser in it.

8/13 - Here's a close up shot of Miya with her new gold ball earrings. I let her pick whichever pair she wanted and that's what she picked. She's totally my little girl. All of my earrings are the stud type and plain colors. I love how cute and girly she is with them in.

In her own words: "I sat in the chair. The girl came over. She marked my ear. Then she put my earrings in. I cried, a lot, and then got a sucker and was happy. I like my pink bag. My earrings are beautiful!"

Clean House - The Doll Family

2011-08-13T19:39:00.000-05:00

8/12 - We love the show "Clean House" it's that show that rescues family from a cluttered home they sell the clutter at a yard sale and match the proceeds up to $1,000. They then use that money to clean up, organize, and "fabulize" their home.

The kids have been acting it out all over the house. Miya made Spencer's bed and cleaned up his toys and found his old Zebra rug and fixed up his room and replayed scenes from the show. Here they decided to act it out using their dollhouse. Notice all the clutter? They did a fabulous job at that part.

8/12 - It's was big reveal day and Miya was playing the host while Spencer was being the homeowner. His little guy was "blindfolded" and Miya asked him how the old room make him feel. He said he was scared it was all going to crowd him out. Then Miya said, (with a little Southern accent I might add) "Well, take off your blindfold and look at it now!" Spencer oohed and aahed over his fancy new house.

All Tied Up

2011-08-12T22:30:00.000-05:00

8/11 - I've already started Christmas crafts. I wanted my kids to have big fun blankets to snuggle with on the couch. I love to crochet and thus the bullseye blankets were born. We all went to Wal-Mart and I let them each pick whichever two colors they wanted. This is Spencer's. I love how it's so big that it fits all four of them under it. That means he won't outgrow it any time soon. I can snuggle up with it but I'm sure he'll be taller than me one day.

8/12 - Spencer got shoes with laces this year and practiced for a week to be able to tie them. He's really got it down now and can do it without any help or prompting. He will sometimes say the steps out loud as he works. First make an X and put one through the whole.

8/12 - Then make two bunny ears.

8/12 - Make an X with the bunny ears and wrap one around and through the hole.

8/12 - Pull tight.

8/12 - TA DA! A perfectly tied shoe and one super happy boy.

Fun at Home

2011-08-12T22:20:00.000-05:00

8/8 - Spencer has had some fabulous and free ideas for family fun lately. He suggested we race matchbox cars while crawling. I was telling him how I'd beat him by picking the fastest car when he informed me that it's your body that makes you win not the toy car. Silly Mom! While it looks like I'm beating him here he actually just dropped his car and totally annihilated me even with his setback. Notice my tongue hanging out? Totally didn't help. Spencer graciously told me he'd let me win the next round and crawled at a snails pace to make up for my old age.

8/8 - Apparently sticking out your tongue is genetic Miya and Spencer both have their tongues out as they raced each other. Miya won this race by sliding to the finish line.

8/8 - I raced Amelia thinking I could be her since I couldn't take on Spencer. No so! Apparently my kids are just super fast. I figure they've spent a larger majority of their lives trying to crawl and I'm totally justified in my loss.

8/8 - Miya was the judge to see who won. It was close but Amelia beat me.

8/8 - I raced Miya next. I was getting pretty tired at this point so even with the road block that was Amelia, Miya still won.

8/8 - I lost severely to Spencer in the last race but this time I had a better excuse. Amelia wanted to ride on my back and Alex was holding onto my hip as I crawled along.

8/10 - The kids and I had a dance party while Aaron was at work. We put on Carrie Underwood and then Glee Volume 1 and shook our grove things. I love that Amelia got her doll out for a partner to dance with. I did actually dance with each of them in turn and we had a lot of fun. Alex loved dancing with everyone and Miya liked it better with a partner and also wasn't picky.

8/10 - Miya and Spencer were so cute holding hands and spinning around. They used several different hand holds and decided that while this was more secure one handed spinning was more fun. Amelia is just off the picture spinning with her doll and Alex watched.

8/10 - Amelia was helping her baby dance to the music. Baby had some good moves and Amelia is so cute with her.

8/10 - We had some solo dance time at the end and Miya had some great moves. I loved taking this pictures and watching them move around.

8/10 - Spencer likes a lot of twists and turns when he dances, especially while sitting on the floor. I think he was a break dancer in another life.

8/10 - He was playing the guitar along with the music then he informed me that we need a real guitar so he didn't have to make the music with he mouth. Then he would be able to sing and play at the same time. Little guy has a point.

Splashing in the Rain

2011-08-12T21:57:00.000-05:00

8/4 - It was nap time and the big kids were restless and having a hard time being quiet enough so I let them go out and play in the rain. This is Spencer after just three minutes. It was raining pretty hard but he loved it and kept warmer with his coat on, which was also sopping wet.

8/4 - Miya noticed the rain spilling over from neighbor Mark's gutters and decided to catch it in an old ice cream bucket. It was dripping all over her too but she didn't mind. She loves the rain and getting wet and messy.

8/4 - The bucket filled up so naturally she took off her left boot and started to catch the rain in that. She decided that the bucket would make a good boot substitute and used it as she filled up her boot and dumped it onto the big white bucket next to her.

8/4 - My soggy kids loved playing in the rain. They agreed to take a picture as long as it didn't mean they had to come inside.

8/4 - Living on a corner we have a spare driveway behind our house. It has massive puddles in it which Spencer and Miya thought would be great for splashing in. I stayed inside and thus the glare from the window.

8/4 - They had a little splashing contest and Spencer leapt pretty high in order to get his splash on.

8/4 - I'm not sure what motivated Miya to take her boots off and use them to scoop up water but it was fun to watch. She'd get them all full and then put her foot in and the water would come spilling over the top. Then she'd say, "Oh MAN!" Then she'd take it off and try again.

When Locusts Attack!

2011-08-06T22:26:00.000-05:00

8/6 - I'm fairly certain this is a locust. The picture does not do justice to the size of this thing. It's body is like four inches long and then the legs, yuck! I was peacefully watching Drop Dead Diva (LOVE!) when it flew over and landed on my foot. Seriously?!?! I HATE things with wings and they ALWAYS attack me! There was a bat hiding in the curtains in my room that flew out and latched onto my hair. It was a three day ordeal finding it and ridding our house of that animal. There was a bird outside the bank that flew at me and landed on my head and started ripping out my hair. There was a seagull in Disneyworld that body slammed my head landed and then screeched at me. Now the locust that's haunting me and ruining my peaceful kid-free experience. Do all the winged things of the world unite to plot against me?

Aaron is 31!

2011-07-27T21:05:00.001-05:00

7/27 - The kids each made Aaron a card for his 31st birthday. We made them the night before and they were so excited they kept talking about it so we opened the cards and his present first thing in the morning.

7/27 - This is how it always is when Aaron his home. He is surrounded by kids who all want to be right next to him. It was even worse when he was opening his present. Aaron told me to consider the bathroom remodel his present but you can't have a birthday without opening anything. The kids and I picked out the movie Tron. We'd never seen it before and Spencer thought the cover looked awesome. We watched it before lunch and loved it. I can't believe it took us this long to see.

7/27 - The kids all had to show off their cards. They stamped stuff on the front and picked what to write on the inside. Spencer and Miya did all of their own writing and I was so proud of them. Alex wasn't old enough to use the stamps but he colored a piece of art on the front of his.

7/27 - Aaron doesn't like birthday cake so we always have a yummy substitute. This year he opted for a Key Lime Pie. I gotta say I make a mean Key Lime pie but it needs just the right juice and I had to go to a few stores to find the right kind. I arranged his 31 candles and probably got a tan bringing it to him with all that flame. The kids were excited to sing Happy Birthday.

7/27 - The candles melted crazy fast. Maybe it has something to do with this heat wave we're having but it was a gooey mess when he blew them out. I'm glad the wax came off easily though.

7/27 - They say the way to a man's heart is though his stomach and I ran with that thought while celebrating Aaron's birthday today. We had a fairly boring cereal breakfast but we had sauteed mushroom cheeseburgers for lunch. Key Lime pie for dessert. Lots of chips and candy. Then finally Brazilian Limeade for an afternoon treat. I think it was the year of the limes or something. He requested the Limeade specifically and it's quite tasty. It has limes and sweetened condensed milk and it's oh so yummy. After this he had to go to work an afternoon shift at Union Pacific with the heat index over 100. I hope the fabulous morning made up for the lame evening.

Meet Princess Sally

2011-07-24T21:13:00.001-05:00

7/23 - We got a pet Guinea Pig and we love her! Her name is Princess Sally. It's been a long time in the making. Aaron and I decided to get a pet about a year ago but had a really hard time deciding what would be good. Cats and dogs were out because of allergies. We had a fish before but it wasn't too exciting. After several months and even more google searches we narrowed it down to a Hamster or a Guinea Pig. Since hamsters are easily crushed and eat their own poop (YUCK!) we opted on Princess Sally. Miya picked Sally and Spencer picked Princess as names and we thought why not just mash them together?

Miya especially is in love with Princess Sally but all the kids adore her. When we went to the pet store we didn't even tell the kids what we were planning on and all three big ones went straight to the Guinea pigs and picked out this one. We went out to dinner and came back and the decision was the same so we bought her and took her home.

7/23 - Alex is just crazy about her. He made the cutest little happy face when I picked her up in the store and was so gentle petting her. I think he was trying to tickle her too which was so funny to watch. He also likes to point out her toes. I think he likes that part the best.

7/23 - I love Spencer's expression with Alex is banging on the cage. We told Alex no and that it would scare her but he was just so excited. You can see Princess Sally in there right under Alex probably hoping her new cage will support him.

7/23 - Here's Aaron and the kids around her cage. She ran and hid before I could get a good shot but she's in there. The kids and I love her but Aaorn's not so sure. After we got her he said, "I've never had my very own rodent before." He also said that we need a 50 gallon drum of soap with the way we're going though it now. The kids all thoroughly wash after touching her at all.

7/23 - Amelia loves to pet her but isn't interested in holding her. She likes it when I hold her though and says, "Sally likes snuggle you!"

7/23 - Spencer is not very fond of animals so I was surprised when he liked her and even wanted to hold her a little bit. He was scared she was going to bite him or scratch him but it all worked out. I'm proud of him for being so brave with her.

7/23 - Alex really likes her and lets his enthusiasm out with his mouth while being really soft with his hands. He likes to try and tickle her. It's his new favorite thing with anybody, and to touch her feet.

7/24 - The morning after we got Princess Sally the Guinea Pig Miya had to put on her Guinea Pig shirt and hold her first thing. She was telling Sally all about her shirt and how there is a Guinea Pig named Winny on Wonder Pets. They had a nice long talk and some good snuggles. I think that they are each other's favorites.

7/24 - Spencer was checking her out while Miya did the holding. Sally and Spencer are still nervous with each other.

7/24 - Poor Amelia was trying to talk about all that she loved about Princess Sally and poked her in the eye. Princess Sally just jumped a little and blinked but Amelia was traumatized thinking she'd broken her forever. That started her love for this brown stuffed bear as a fun replacement for Sally. I had to get her picture with Miya because they both had their favorite animal sitting with them. Amelia did recover and now each time she pets her she tells me how she didn't poke her in the eye.

7/24 - Spencer liked snuggling with Princess Sally on the couch. She is quite the snuggle bug and will sit there not moving for as long as you care to have her there. She doesn't try to run off or get away. It's kind of fun.

7/24 - Google told us that they like to run around. I was not about to let her at my house but we put some baby gates up in the kitchen and she had a few minutes to roam around.

7/24 - Alex got down on the floor with her and was giggling with excitement to have her on the floor with him. She's super speedy but he got a few pets in here and there.

7/24 - Alex had to break out all of his considerable skills in crawling to keep up with her as she raced around our kitchen floor.

Mama Amelia

2011-07-24T20:52:00.000-05:00

7/21 - Amelia loves babies. She keeps telling me we need another one because "Alex big boy now!" Until I cave she is content with playing with her dolls. However, they have very lifelike problems that I must always solve so having an actual baby might be better. This baby had two poops in twenty minutes that I had to help her change. Then she couldn't sleep and needed to be swaddled and snuggled (she took care of that part).

7/21 - Amelia was snuggling her baby but sometimes one baby just isn't enough so she had to hop down and get baby number two. She then asked me to take her picture and told her babies to smile. After I took it she asked me if they smiled good and had to see the picture for quality control. I love this little girl!

Fun and First Steps

2011-07-19T08:34:00.000-05:00

7/13 - Spencer is such a great big brother. He loves playing with his little sisters and little brother. Amelia wanted to have a horsey ride and I wasn't feeling up to it so he let her hop on his back and carried her back and forth across the house until he was too tired to do it anymore. I was shocked he made it all the way once and was quite amazed when he kept going.

7/14 - This kids made this ingenious yet precarious stack in order to help them climb this tree. They'd been trying to climb it before but couldn't quite get up to the bottom branches.

7/15 - Alex found and applied Aaron's safety glasses. Pretty cute, huh? You should see Aaron in them.

7/15 - Alex has been on the verge of walking for what seemed like months now. I was convinced he could do it if he wanted to. I was playing with a fork I found on our carpet and Alex was standing near me. I could tell he wanted the fork so I told him to come get it and was surprised when he took three steps and did just that. I had to run and get the camera and have him try again which he did. Hurray for newly upwardly-mobile Alex.

7/15 - I kept having him walk to me again and again because it was just so darn fun. The big three were having fun with it too and you can see Amelia cheering him on.

7/15 - Eventually interest in the fork faded and I had to use his Woody doll as bait. It worked too! However, it's difficult to hold a Woody doll, take a picture, and coax on a baby at the same time. Thus, his little head is not all in the picture.

7/16 - For all four of the kids we've went out for ice cream to celebrate when they first walked. It was nearly bed time and Aaron was at work so we saved Alex's ice cream for the next day and we went to the Dairy Queen down the street. He got a Strawberry sundae and loved it.

7/16 - Here he's telling me to stop taking pictures and give him more sundae. Poor mom just had to capture this fun tradition.

7/16 - He decided on a little self-serve while I snagged just one more shot.

SummerFest

2011-07-09T20:33:00.000-05:00

7/9 - It's that time of year again, Ankeny SummerFest! As per our tradition we went over to the Wagner's house and enjoyed a wonderful feast while we waited for the parade to start. We went down the street to a spot they staked out the night before and got there just in time to see the start of the parade with a police car. The kids flopped right down on a blanket with Miya, Spencer, and Amelia in the middle with Wagner-kid end caps.

7/9 - Aaron and Alex enjoyed the start of the parade too but Alex couldn't be bothered to look at the camera.

7/9 - All six of the kids were shouted and pointed at this fancy firetruck. They loved the lights and the sirens.

7/9 - There was much oohing and aahing when this tractor went by. It was so tall and impressive as it drove by.

7/9 - Alex was using his amazing powers of standing during the parade and he loved waving at all the people who walked by. I almost captured his wave in the picture but my timing kept being off.

7/9 - Amelia looked so cute in her new hat courtesy of Faith and I loved that I didn't have to worry about her head burning as it often does with her super-blond hair.

7/9 - Spencer thought this float was the best one there. It was quite impressive with the lightning and the fire in the top which actually wiggled as it passed.

7/9 - Amelia's Mr. T impression. She collected every necklace that she could and put them right on.

7/9 - People kept giving candy right to Alex. Not just tossing it in his general direction but actually handing it too him. I guess it pays to be cute and small. He had a really hard time getting them open and tried with this one for about 10 minutes, even using his teeth, before he gave up. We did give him a piece of candy for his efforts, just not that one because it was too big.

7/9 - The bubble machine on this trailer was a big hit with my kids. They went a little far without even knowing because they were so captured by it.

7/9 - The float for a doggie daycare was Miya favorite. It doesn't get any better than a bunch of dogs walking by. After they passed she asked Aaron, "Can we go to a doggie daycare sometime?"

7/9 - The doggie daycare people passed out doggie treats for a snack. We don't have a dog but Miya didn't let that phase her. She noticed this cute dog at the beginning of the parade and was snuggling it intermittently the entire time. She instantly though of it when she found the dog treat.

7/9 - We went to the carnival and let the kids go on one ride. They all picked the bounce castle and our group were the only ones on it which made it more fun.

7/9 - Miya liked the slide but spent nearly all of her time inside bouncing.

7/9 - Amelia didn't like the bouncing and spent nearly all her time sliding.

7/9 - I love this picture of her! The face is just priceless on Faith's daughter. For the record I do know her name but Faith doesn't like them put on the internet and I totally respect that.

7/9 - Amelia was having a hard time in the bounce house but her best friend Spencer helped her go down the slide and she loved it. He's such a good helper.

7/9 - Amelia, Faith's daughter, and Spencer went down the slide together. They barely fit and Amelia ended up falling behind. Spencer was very popular with "Monkey" who held his hand the whole walk to the carnival and was squeezing so tight he couldn't get away despite his many repeated efforts.

7/9 - The men and kids went to the cardboard regatta while the Mom's got some quiet time together. We joined them for one race before my family had to leave in order to get Aaron to work on time. Faith's brother joined us with his two girls right before we left for the Carnival. It's not the best picture ever but I was about to fall into the pond and it's what I could come up with.

7/9 - The racing cardboard boats were pretty awesome to watch. Some of them fell apart rather quickly but others made it all the way around and back.

Alex on the Verge of Walking!

2011-07-08T10:22:00.001-05:00

7/7 - Alex loves his siblings and seems to do more skills for them then he does for his parents. Usually when I try to get him to practice walking he goes limp noodle on me and crawls but for Spencer he walked from one side of the house to the other and they were both really excited about it.

7/7 - The big kids wanted to see if they could each hold a hand and he would do it again. Sure enough again he went from one side of the house to the other holding Spencer and Miya's hands. They were all pretty excited that it worked. A few more laps like that and he might be able to do it on his own.

7/7 - The kids decided to use Alex's new skill of "walking" to play ring around the rosie. He did really well with them and even managed walking in a circle without difficulty.

7/7 - And they all fall down! I appreciate how Alex is loving Miya's hand.

7/7 - For the past two weeks or so Alex has started to stand on his own randomly. He doesn't hold on to anything he just stands there. He's getting pretty good at it and is become less wobbly. Next step - walking!

4th of July

2011-07-08T10:05:00.000-05:00

7/3 - We kicked off our Fourth of July celebration by watching the fireworks in Slater. They started at 10pm which worried me because my kids go to bed at 8pm but surprisingly they all made it there happy and kept happy the whole time. We took a group picture as we waited for the fireworks to start.

7/3 - I love the picture of Amelia silhouetted in the firework. You can even see her adorable pigtails. I got the idea off a website that told me how to take firework picture, it really helped.

7/3 - My awesome camera has a firework mode. Best thing ever invented if you ask me. It did all the settings for me and all I had to do was point the camera and hold it still for a few seconds while it took some pretty wonderful shots. I love them!

7/3 - More fancy fireworks.

7/3 - Slater fireworks again.

7/3 - I really love the sparkle ones at the bottom of this shot.

7/3 - So fancy firework!

7/4 - As per our Fourth of July tradition we have a fire and make s'mores. We also decided to cook our hot dogs on a fire this year too. Alex was on standby waiting for the fire to get started and poking a stick at the dirt.

7/4 - Aaron loves to start fires with road flares. It's actually quite effective and really fast. I love how Amelia has her hands on her face. The smoke kept getting in her eyes but she still wanted to see what was going on so she would cover her eyes and them peek out before covering them again.

7/4 - Everyone was gathered around watching Aaron build the fire. Alex was the most impressed and he kept trying to get me to look at the fire instead of at him.

7/4 - I got a picture of my four festively dressed kids while Aaron was still building the fire. They look so cute!

7/4 - Spencer and Miya were struggling with cooking their hot dogs on the fire. They were afraid of getting burnt so they didn't want to get too close.

7/4 - Amelia loved the idea of cooking her hot doggie on the fire. She waved it around a lot in an attempt to get it fully in the flames.

7/4 - In the end the fire cooking was taking way too long for my kids interest level and I didn't want to sit there holding the sticks over the fire so Aaron ended up putting them on the grill. Good idea and much faster.

7/4 - We had a picnic outside to further the celebration. We all loved it except Miya who would freak out any time a bug came near her, or her food, or her plate. It was funny to watch her yell, "an ant!" at the teeny tiniest little bug ever.

7/4 - Since our first fourth together Aaron's always started the sparklers with a road flare. This year was no exception. Alex was instantly taken with the flare and didn't cry at all.

7/4 - Miya was very brave with her sparkler this year and loved waving it around in the air.

7/4 - Amelia was really excited about her sparkler. She was hopping up and down when I told her she could have one and loved waving it around too.

7/4 - Spencer loved the gold sparks but was really worried that it was going to "catch me on fire!" I reassured him that it was okay but he still held it pretty far away.

7/4 - Alex got to hold his own sparkler this year and I don't know who was more excited. He was waving it around a giggling and so was I. At one point he decided to switch hands and that was a little scary but we both made it unscathed.

7/4 - Aaron and the kids took their picture with the huge sparklers we got this year. Since we can only do really simple fireworks in Iowa we thought it'd be fun to branch out and get the big ones. It was nice because they lasted forever. I didn't have to constantly be lighting something for someone to hold.

7/4 - It was fun to get a picture by myself and to hold a big sparkler. They really lasted for a long time and were totally worth the extra money.

7/4 - Sassy Miya was dancing as she waved her sparkler around.

7/4 - Spencer liked the big sparklers better because he could hold them further from him without really trying.

7/4 - Amelia had a sassy pose with her sparkler and was so excited to have free reign with it this year.

7/4 - The best tradition we ever started was to cook S'mores on the fourth. We all love them and we are lucky enough to be able to build a fire in our own yard. - which is looking awfully jungle like in this picture.

7/4 - Happy guy Spencer was all about his s'more.

7/4 - Miya didn't think I was taking the picture fast enough she just wanted to bite.

7/4 - I adore the picture of Amelia with her s'more. She's such a cutie!

7/4 - Alex didn't get a s'more this year. I didn't want to even think about the mess he would make with it so we just gave him a graham cracker and he didn't know what he was missing.

7/4 - I like roasting marshmallows, I think it's a lot of fun to watch them cook and to sit over the fire.

Father's Day

2011-07-08T09:27:00.000-05:00

6/19 - A few years ago I took pictures of Aaron with each of his kids on Father's day and loved them. When I noticed he didn't have any pictures of the big three and him since then and that he didn't have one of just him and Alex since just after Alex was born I decided to revive that tradition this year. Thinking about it more I probably don't have any pictures of him with one kid because he's always surrounded by all of them. Today, like most days. He had both babies on his lap and a big kid on either side. They sure love their Daddy.

Alex and Aaron look so handsome! Alex is hands-down a daddy's boy. When Aaron even just leaves the room it's cause for tears, which he doesn't do when I leave the room until Dad isn't home. He even said "dada" months before he said "mama."

6/19 - Amelia and Aaron in their first picture alone (that I noticed) in two years. Amelia loves her daddy especially because he gives into her so easily and with a smile or a "pity peese" she gets whatever she wants. He's also great for snuggles and reading books.

6/19 - The way Miya is all nestled in says it all in this one. She can often be found sitting on Dad's lap or right next to him. She loves to snuggle and nap with him during the babies' nap time.

6/19 - This fun picture totally embodies the relationship these too have. It's all about fun! Whether it's playing together, coloring, or making cool things with Legos and Trios they have fun together. Even cooking is fun with these two.

Road Trip 2011

2011-07-08T09:15:00.000-05:00

5/30 - 6/12 - The path of our two week road trip took us through eight states and about 3,200 miles. Most of the driving time went really well and Alex, whose usually gets car sick, didn't get sick once the whole trip.

For the first week of our trip we took the northern route and saw some of the Kruse side of the family. Our first stop was to Mount Rushmore. Then we went to Yellowstone for two days. Finally we ended up in Rexburg, ID to visit with my brother and his family. There were too many pictures (107) to upload to the blog but here is the link to them on facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150221670156121.305622.589376120&l=74306c3c76

The second week of the trip we went to Utah to see the sights and visit Aaron's brother Steven and his new wife. Then we went to visit Aaron's parents at their home in Southern Colorado and ended that leg with a visit to his sister Rebecca in Denver. There were even more pictures from this half (180) so I have a link for them too...

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150221704886121.305637.589376120&l=ac05c0f77a

Overall it was a great trip and I'd definitely think about doing a road trip again. We got to see a lot of family and had a vacation jam packed with fun.

Hidey Bed

2011-07-08T08:36:00.000-05:00

5/25 - Spencer finished his last day of Kindergarten and to celebrate he asked if they could sleep downstairs. I was worried that they might not sleep but as it was the first night of Summer vacation I let them and they sure were happy. They all fit, more or less, on the "hidey bed" (as Amelia calls it) and had a good night. Their sleeping bags were slippery so at one point Miya slid off but I came down and helped her back on with her head on the other end so she had more room. They slept longer down there than they usually did upstairs and I got to sleep in, happy first day of Summer break to all of us!

Up A "Mountain" Trail

2011-05-23T19:40:00.004-05:00

5/23 - Miya got a fabulous new haircut today. Since her last haircut was about 2.5 years ago this was a big deal. She got it layered and a bunch of length cut off (probably 8"). It was also layered around her face so it wouldn't go in her mouth and get in her food, which was one of our biggest problems. I asked where she wanted to pose for her picture and she ran to and climbed the tree.

5/23 - Another cute shot of Miya modeling her new haircut.

5/23 - Alex has hated the grass a lot. He would cry whenever it would touch him and while he loved being outside he hated being put down. Even yesterday he was crying when we were out in the grass. Aaron put him down and he was happy as a clam. He'd run his fingers though the grass and even crawled around a little bit. Hurray for outdoor fun!

5/23 - We want for a while on the town trail. We've been on it several times but always went the other way. Today we went East and it was a lot more exciting. There were two bridges, one over train tracks and one over a river. We climbed this little incline and the big two were convinced it was a mountain. When we got to the top Spencer said, "Look how high up we are and look how small the car is!" I can't wait to show them what real mountains look like on our road trip this Summer.

5/23 - Spencer noticed that there were a bunch of trees lining the path. He said, "That's a forest. There are wolves in the forest. I'll watch out for the wolves and yell if I see one coming!" He was as good as his word and watched out for us on our whole walk.

5/23 - We told them they could run as far and as fast as they wanted. They couldn't contain themselves. Amelia runs with her whole body and I just love it. She's not as fast as the big two but she makes up for it in cuteness.

5/23 - The second bridge over the river. They loved watching it and looking around at the trees. On the way back to the car a train went under us on the train bridge. It was fun to see the top of one and to get the kids so close. We were all hot and pretty tired and Spencer suggested we go to "Dairy Cream" to cool off. It had been a while so we thought why not. It was fun but the guy who rang us up was the worst ever. We told him we wanted three sundaes one strawberry, one blueberry, and one hot fudge. He gave us one with all three toppings and charged us extra for it. It was difficult to end up with what we wanted but we had fun and enjoyed yummy ice cream to cool us off.

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T22:17:00.001-05:00

5/8 - I came down Mother's Day morning and found all these beautiful pictures colored just for me! It is the only thing I asked for but not the only thing I got (my Aaron spoils me). I love each and every one. Apparently they all worked for days on them.

5/8 - My favorite Mother's day tradition is to get pictures with each one of my kids. I love this one with Alex and he was excited to sit on the tree. Whenever Alex sits next to me he rests his little hand on my leg. I LOVE it!

5/8 - Miya and I. She is so snuggly and lovey I just can't get enough. Her favorite thing is watching shows with me tucked under a blanket all snuggled up.

5/8 - Spencer and I look crazy alike in this one. He loves to draw me pictures of all kinds of things. They always have a heart drawn on them somewhere too, "to show that I love you!' He especially likes to draw me pictures when I'm sad because he knows it always cheers me up.

5/8 - Me and Amelia with her super-cheesy grin. She shares my love of candy and always makes sure I get a piece when she does.

Up A Tree

2011-05-05T19:28:00.002-05:00

5/4 - My kids decided they were big enough to climb the tree. They tried it a little the day before but here they made it so far up.

5/4 - Spencer up in the tree. He was so proud of himself getting up all by himself and he showed Miya how to do it too.

5/4 - Miya was not content to just climb upon the bottom branches. She went as high as she could go and notice the no hands as she holds her flowers? She climbed up with them and was brave as could be standing on that branch like she was on the ground. This girl is crazy! Just so you know Miya's feet here are over my head. I stood upright to take this picture.

Alex: The Big ONE!

2011-05-01T10:36:00.000-05:00

4/29 - Alex's first Birthday was so fun to celebrate. Many of us were sick with the flu but we made the best of it and had a lot of fun. We blew up twelve balloons (one for each month he's been alive) and let him at them first thing after he woke up. He loved chasing them around.

4/29 - I like how's he's got this balloon in a choke hold. I think this was one of the best parts of his day.

4/29 - I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast and Alex was so excited to have it on his tray. After this picture he picked it up and sucked on it until he realized he could break it up and eat bites. He loved every gooey morsel.

4/29 - I decided to let Alex help me make his cupcakes. He always follows me into the kitchen and grabs and my legs and climbs on stuff to see. I think the chef hat is the perfect touch.

4/29 - He was so excited to be helping he kept looking up and smiling at me.

4/29 - Stirring his batter. He's a professional.

4/29 - He was so excited about his presents. It made me want to buy him things more often.

4/29 - While he loved the presents he HATED the wrapping paper. He cried when it ripped or crinkled. He also would not touch it to help me open.

4/29 - Once freed from the wrapping paper he loved his new puzzles on the puzzle rack. Every day he plays with the puzzles we have and now he has four more to have fun with.

4/29 - I thought that the tissue paper would have been better than the wrapping paper since you just have to pull it out but no such luck. He wouldn't touch that either and hating the sounds it made.

4/29 - He got Buzz Lightyear to go with his Woody from Easter. He seems to like it but it doesn't compete with the daddy look-a-like Woody doll.

4/29 - We had pizza for dinner, which he loves. He usually eats a whole piece by himself. I typically cut it up but this was more fun for the picture.

4/29 - After our dinner break we opened the last two presents. He seems less afraid of the tissue paper this time and was excited to help extricate his new ball.

4/29 - Alex loves to play ball with his siblings but especially Amelia. She gets so excited and claps for him whenever he pushes it toward her. With her ample encouragement he's become quite adept at this game.

4/29 - Alex was again content to be on the sidelines with the present opening. However, as you can see he was very interested in what was going to come out of the box.

4/29 - Inspecting his new toys while munching on Woody's boot.

4/29 - Alex LOVES to play trains. However he's sort of Babyzilla about it and destroys everything. He was overjoyed at getting trains of his own and no one could tell him not to mess them up. He got so many parts with this train set. I love the animals, buildings, and such that it came with.

4/29 - Sitting on his train track Mr. Chewing on a sign. He loved it and smiled at me when I told the other kids it was okay.

4/29 - Fancy fun cupcake tower. I love the number one candle too. He was very excited about this part. He especially like when we sang to him because he's a musical sort. He tried to touch the little flame and was not happy with me when I blew it out but safety first, right?

4/29 - Inexplicably he was not interested in his cupcake. He'd be acting a bit tired and such but I thought that would perk him right up. He didn't even lick off the chocolate that he got on his hand in this picture. Later that night he got quite ill and explained the whole lack of interest thing. So, no cake eating pictures this year but I'm sure he'll be up for it next time.

4/29 - He ended his day playing with what I'm sure is his favorite present - his stack of puzzles. Maybe it's because he likes to make a big mess and they are well suited for this endeavor.

Easter Sunday

2011-04-26T07:48:00.000-05:00

4/24 - HAPPY EASTER! Here are our baskets all ready to go.

4/24 - Miya was awed by her new Littlest Pet Shop toys.

4/24 - Amelia simply adores Dora and came over to love her right away. It was a while before she noticed the candy in her basket because she was all about Dora.

4/24 - She did finally find the candy though and was excited that the eggs had something in them.

4/24 - Alex peaking over his new basket. We all have stuffed ones collected over the years from various stores. This year was Alex's first Easter and thus he didn't have a basket. I looked at several stores with no luck including Target and Wal-mart and luckily found the one at Hobby Lobby. I love Hobby Lobby!

4/24 - We were looking through the store for Easter/Birthday presents for Alex when we went past this Woody doll. He started squeaking and flapping and kicking. When I figured out what he wanted I gave it to him and he hugged it really tight before he tried to gnaw it out of the package. He was as excited on Easter as he was the first time he saw it. Notice he cute chubby finger pointing to it? LOVE IT!

4/24 - We freed him from the box. Ever notice how Woody looks a lot like Aaron? I did yesterday and maybe that's why Alex loves him so much.

4/24 - Spencer got a Lego police car and he was so excited about all the tiny pieces.

4/24 - Miya playing with her pet shop. She loves them, especially the little house.

4/24 - Alex noticed the eggs in his basket and managed to open them himself and shove the candy, wrapper and all, in his mouth.

4/24 - Amelia was quite attached to her Dora. She loves her cute shoes and her "booful" dress.

4/24 - I LOVE Legos. This present was as much for Spencer as it was for me. I love putting them together and making the new thing. I read the instructions while Spencer found the pieces we needed and we both put them on. Totally the best present of the day.

4/24 - The finished product. The back side opens up and you can put the dog that came with it inside.

4/24 - Here he's using the dog and the police car to chase down his other Lego car. The dog is getting the bad guy in the car with many growls.

4/24 - All dressed up for Easter. Spencer was so excited to have a white shirt again and wear a tie like Dad. He grew out of his a while ago. Amelia loved her flowers. Alex liked the feel of his new shirt and kept rubbing it. Miya calls this her Cinderella dress because it's pretty and blue.

4/24 - All ready to dye eggs. I told Miya we were going to dye and hunt for Easter eggs. She started crying and then squeaked out, "I don't want to die!" I tried not to laugh while I assured her I meant color them and that it would not hurt us or the eggs. She was still a little leery and didn't understand everyone else's excitement about dying.

4/24 - In with the first eggs.

4/24 - Amelia wasn't very good at softly putting it into the cup. It was usually a vigorous plop, good thing our table cloth is water and stain resistant. It shows no evidence of the egg dying.

4/24 - It was fun to dye eggs with Alex. He just wanted to chew on them and laugh at us when we tried to get him to put it in the cup and put it in his mouth instead.

4/24 - Miya was happy when her egg came out pink and no one died in the process. She was more interested in the whole process after this and dyed four in various colors.

4/24 - My independent Amelia loves when she can do things on her own. She was very careful getting the egg out and putting it in the muffin tin.

4/24 - Alex was even more interested in eating the egg when it came out orange.

4/24 - We let him dye another one thinking he'd remember what to do from last time. He remember well how to tease us and make us laugh.

4/24 - Spencer did all of his eggs on his own and checked them several times to see if they were dark enough. His little perfectionist tendencies are adorable.

4/24 - Dyed to perfection.

4/24 - Here we are with the finished product. Sixteen eggs of various colors and a lot of laughs later.

4/24 - I love Miya in this picture. It makes me laugh.

4/24 - Amelia was worried when Aaron took off the orange part of her egg. We eat them for dinner every Easter after we color them. I figure eating eggs is as festive as it gets.

4/24 - After all his attempts to eat the eggs while we were coloring them I was excited to have Alex try some. His yuck face says it all. He'd take a bite yuck face then spit it out. Then he'd take another bite and do the same thing. This continued until he'd bitten all of the egg like he was looking for the good part.

4/24 - The hunt! Alex loved it and had the best eye of the bunch spotting the eggs.

4/24 - He found another one at his level.

4/24 - Amelia was a human blur finding her eggs once she heard there was candy to be had there was no stopping her.

4/24 - She kind of stopped to show me her prized egg and then ran off again.

4/24 - Spencer found the most eggs but he'd point out the low ones to the babies and help them find eggs too he's such a good big brother.

4/24 - Another good find.

4/24 - Amelia found this one and said, "It's not for you baby, it's for me!"

4/24 - Miya was the best at finding the tricky ones. This one blended in well.

4/24 - Another great find.

4/24 - Alex found three eggs all by himself and was so proud to show them to everyone.

Accomplishments

2011-04-25T21:12:00.001-05:00

4/7 - Aaron had all the stuff out to make PBJ for the kids and Alex discovered it. We were surprised that he not only knew what was going on but could also climb up the chair and fetch the bread by himself.

4/13 - I gave Amelia her first ever haircut today. I cut off over two inches on the back to even it out some and left the rest. At first she thought I was just combing her hair and didn't seem to mind. Then she either heard or saw the scissors and thus began the freak out. She repeatedly cried, "DON'T CUT ME! I DON'T LIKE IT HAIRCUT!" I think I managed pretty well considering.

4/13 - After I was all done she decided it wasn't that bad and she even said, "I like it my new haircut." I love it! It's still long enough for her oh-so-cute pigtails and otherwise looks much more intentional instead of a my hair just grew this way appearance.

4/15 - We were playing on the floor and I looked over at Alex and found him with the Mr. Potato Head teeth in his mouth like this. I just had to go get the camera. I love his expression here too!

4/19 - The remodeling projects are coming along nicely. With his crazy work schedule Aaron doesn't have much time to work on it but loves the time he gets to spend on the house. Here he's sawing through a section of wall and so excited! Don't worry, there were no wires in it and the power was off just in case.

4/22 - The Accuquilt strikes again to create another stunning quilt for my nephew (Abby and Andy's firstborn). It's already coming together nicely.

4/22 - Alex was standing looking through the ball bin and let go to stand unsupported. It was his first time and he stood there for a while before he realized what happened and grabbed on again.

A Walk in the Park

2011-04-25T20:51:00.000-05:00

4/9 - It was in the 80s today and we decided to play at the park a little bit. Alex had some fun going down the slide. He went down a few times and loved it but the time I took the picture was a little crazy and he didn't want to go again after this.

4/7 - Miya showing off her sliding skills.

4/7 - Amelia's gotten so big since the last time we played at the park. She can now do the stair all by herself and loves to climb around.

4/7 - She can even go down the slide without help and loves it. She went again and again.

4/9 - Miya wanted to push Alex in the swing. They all loved it until Amelia walked behind the swing after this picture and got whacked three times in a row before I could catch her. Everyone needed a little calming down after that. Now she knows not to go by a swing when it's moving though.

4/9 - Aaron and Spencer played frisbee and they did really well. Spencer caught it almost as much as Aaron did but that's probably because Spencer not fabulous at throwing on target.

4/9 - Alex loving his swing time watching the frisbee game.

4/9 - Miya can hop up and swing herself. She's so cute pumping her legs to see how high she can go.

4/9 - I seriously laugh every time I see this picture. He was swinging and having a grand old time but then the swing stopped. I love his bored disenchanted look! He was also kicking his little foot trying to get going again. LOVE IT!

4/9 - Super Spencer catching the frisbee. He's pretty amazing with sports especially since neither of his parents are skilled in that area.

4/9 - Amelia walked over and hopped on the merry-go-round and was calling for me to push her. I got a "please Mom! I love you!"

4/9 - Amelia wanted to play frisbee too. They had a lot of fun even though Spencer threw a perfect shot and hit Amelia right in the chest. She would cover herself and flinch every time he threw it after that.

4/9 - Amelia's attempt was more of a grounder but she loved it.

4/9 - Alex was acting like he wanted down so I put him down for a crawl. I didn't want him to get grass stains so I put him on the gravel. As you can see he was not a fan. I love his bottom hand trying not to touch the rocks as he supports his weight.

4/9 - "I want to right it horse!" Too bad it was impossible to wiggle even for me and she got bored but I love the grin!

4/9 - Expert climbers.

4/9 - Spencer wanted me to take a picture of his amazing upside down climbing skills. He's pretty impressive.

Kindergarten Roundup Miya Style

2011-04-25T20:23:00.000-05:00

4/7 - Miya was so excited to go to the elementary school for Kindergarten Roundup. They test the kids on various things by playing games to see if they are ready for Kindergarten or if they need to go to Early Kindergarten for those who are not quite ready yet. We encouraged Miya to show off telling her that this was her time to shine. While we were there waiting we played around this bench.

4/7 - Miya was super jazzed to go to school for a day!


4/7 - Miya had so much fun at roundup! Here she is with her loot. We talked about it when she got home and here are the highlights... - We played cows - they put buckets on our feet and we had to walk around pretending there was cow poop, "bleck!" - Next they "wiggled the garpet and the balloons exploded out and they went up and down, up and down, up and down!" (balloons on a big sheet). - "They took my picture a little bit." - "I colored really good." - "They gave us cookies and white milk. It was been my yummiest kind ever!" - "The best part was when the balloons exploded." - We then asked her what the hardest part was. "Holding my chair still. I didn't want to be at the short table. The teacher was mad at me. The circle over the "i" in my name. The pencil was been having a hard time making it beautiful." I love how she blames the pencil.

4/18 - Miya got this fancy pencil at Kindergarten Roundup and she loved it so much she drew a picture of it. It's so close to the real one it amazed me. Sadly Amelia got a hold of it before I could take this picture so it has some erroneous scribbles on it but you can still see how adorable it is.

Teeth - Lost and Found

2011-04-25T20:16:00.000-05:00

4/3 - Spencer had another loose tooth and he didn't want to swallow it like the last one and asked me what I could do about that. I told him I could pull it but it might hurt a little. He told me it was worth it because then the tooth fairy would come. Here he is being so brave while I attempt to yank out his tooth.

4/3 - For some reason I was surprised when it came out. I was wiggling it and nothing seemed to be happening at all then all of the sudden POP! He said it didn't really hurt either.

4/3 - The conquering heroes. Now Spencer is missing both is bottom middle teeth.

4/3 - We didn't have anything to put the tooth in for under his pillow so I whipped up this cute tooth fairy bag. I had to make it big enough so the tooth fairy could find it without waking up the kid. The tooth applique was just fun to make.

4/19 - Spencer is holding his first lost tooth. It originally fell out on February 3rd. He promptly misplaced it. We figured he swallowed it. Then randomly we were playing on Miya's bed and he found something and it was his long lost tooth. Two months and sixteen days later it turned up on a bed that I've changed the sheets and blanket several times. CRAZY!

Alex Eleven Months

2011-03-29T23:01:00.001-05:00

3/29 - Alex is eleven months old today. This picture is cute because it shows a new thing he does. He likes to cover his mouth when he giggles. I don't know why but it's adorable!

Here are some highlights from his month: He still has just five teeth but is working on another. He refuses to eat baby food veggies but loves the real thing. He tried milk for the first time today out of my cup and LOVED it! He was excitedly kicking his feet and reaching for the cup for more. He no longer likes to be swaddled, which is quite the development since he's only slept that way since birth. He adores his blue crocheted blanket that I made him and seriously cannot sleep without it. He's woken up in the middle of the night crying and scratching around his crib in an effort to find it and when I tuck it in his hand he makes a little "ahhh" sound and goes back to sleep. He's my only baby to have a comfort item and it's been kind of fun. He lets go while standing but still can't make it last but he loves to practice anyway. Alex is not much of a talker. He'll say "Dada" which almost always refers to a family member." He will not say mama and I constantly harass him about it. I think I say it so much around him that now he thinks it's one of his many nicknames which include, Ah Boy, Mr. Chew, and Handsomes.

I am always amazed at how blue his eyes are. While he's always a happy guy in pictures he doesn't sit still well. He's always trying to come get me and the camera. I try and sit him down and get a picture and by the time it takes he's gone to a crawl and is right next to me. It make for an impressive blue eyed shot though.

Spencer, Miya, and Amelia love to stand around and watch while I take Alex's picture. He loves to look at them instead of me and they always make him smile.

Omaha Zoo

2011-03-29T22:48:00.000-05:00

Our last stop on our Spring Break trip to Omaha was to the Zoo (for previous stops see the four preceding posts). We had a blast and took a lot of pictures. I narrowed it down but there are still thirty-six. Since blogger takes so much longer than facebook to do anything I'm just going to add the link to the facebook album and you can ogle them there if you want. Here's a teaser...

3/17 - Day two was spent at the Omaha Zoo. I'd heard a lot of great things about ti and wasn't disappointed. Amelia wants to be a big girl and doesn't like the stroller any more but Miya would rather ride than walk any day. We got a lot of weird looks from people with the stroller configuration.

Facebook Zoo Pictures <--- Click for more pictures.

Hotel Kiddie Pool

2011-03-29T22:38:00.001-05:00

3/16 - We looked and looked for a hotel that would have a kiddie pool and there was only one but the pool was pretty awesome. It had a fountain and two slides and went from 8" to 3' perfect for our non-swimming kids.

Spencer was excited to get into the pool and play and loved that it was so warm it was just like a bath.

Cute Miya in her new swimsuit. It came with this skirt and looked so beautiful!

Miya saw the slide and wanted to try that out first thing. She looks scared but wasn't at all and was giggling the whole way down. She came up to me after to tell me how great it was and ask if she could go again.

Spencer totally face planted his first time down the slide. He had told me ha had to try again and do it differently next time. He managed it the next time and was so proud of himself.

I was worried that Alex wouldn't like it but I didn't plan on the water being this warm. He loved it and even fell asleep before we were done playing. He started with just a dip of the toes to make sure he liked it.

The A's were totally party poopers and just wanted to sit on the edge of the pool. Later they all got in and played but they were a bit reluctant at first.

Amelia was excited to splash and play in the water. She's a total water baby and loves when her fingers get all wrinkly.

They had the fountain in the middle and Spencer inched into it a little bit at a time until he was all the way under. He loves the shower and this was even better.

Alex decided to brave the pool by himself. He was smiling at everyone and splashing around.

Ignore my pasty white skin in this cute picture.

The pool was eight inches in the shallow end and we figured Alex could sit and try it out. He did well until a big wave came and splashed him. He didn't cry or anything it just made him float away a little bit. It's hard to be small.

Spencer's goal for the pool was to "swim for real, not pretend swim." He tried for a little bit but while he was doing well with his arms he was basically walking with his feet. A little boy let us borrow his tube and Spencer swam to the end of the pool and back without touching to bottom. I think it's time for some swimming lessons for this little guy!

Miya loved practicing her swimming too. My typical no fear Miya went to the deep end and held onto the wall to practice her kicking. Here she is in the shallow end splashing around.

Amelia got a turn with the borrowed tube and was tickled pink that it was covered in her favorite Elmo! She was walking around pointing to the Elmo and was just the happiest little girl ever, until the kid had to go. It was tragic with huge tears (not in the tantrum way but in a I'm sorry to see you go Elmo sort of way). We had to tell her she could wear her Elmo socks to bed and that made it all better.

Amelia wasn't interested in the slide at first but when Aaron said he'd catch her she was so excited and went down more than the big kids did.

LDS Temple and Mormon Trail Center

2011-03-29T22:10:00.000-05:00

3/16 - The Winter Quarters temple. It's a smaller temple but still beautiful. I loved the doors that were decorated with leaves and things. The kids were excited to touch it and Spencer was saying how he was excited to go in when he turns 12.

The side of the temple. It was amazing how just stepping on the grounds we could feel an increase of the Spirit of the Lord. I LOVE the temple!

We went to a Mormon Pioneer Museum that was full of fun stuff for us and the kids to look at. I didn't know if I wanted to go at first but I'm glad we made time for it. Amelia is distracted in this picture playing with her "LEAFY!" It was all about the leafy this trip. Each time one would touch her shoe she's yell, "leafy!" and pick it up and hang onto it. She got several in her hands. At this point she is using her leafy to touch the letters behind her.

Spencer and Miya the pioneers. They both loved dressing up and picking out their new clothes.

Back in the day a pioneer brought this flute and piccolo from Europe somewhere. I just thought they were beautiful and fascinating since I play the flute.

They were listening to the tour and looking so cute!

Fun and perfect for our age group they had these wagons you could pack with wood blocks. I tried my hand at it but I wasn't just trying to get in it there I wanted to make sure you could access the most important things and everyone moved on before I could finish. I guess that's what happens when you take a game too seriously.

Miya got all of her blocks in her wagon. I loved it! I don't think it would make it down the trail though.

Spencer's was a little more sturdy.

The kids got to pull a handcart around a little. The guide had them try to pull it over a little two inch rock and they couldn't do it by themselves. Aaron and I pitched in and even then it was hard. Pioneers had to be seriously buff.

The Durham Museum

2011-03-29T21:48:00.001-05:00

3/16 - Our next stop was the Durham Museum which was the old Omaha Union Station that Union Pacific passenger trains ran to back in the day (notice a train theme here?) The kids were excited to be able to play with and touch more train stuff.

They had these statues around the old station and they'd talk when you got close to them. Miya sat down on the bench and very stealthily sled over, it was so funny. Spencer had to join her and they were plotting against the statues and where they would poke it to see if it was a real person.

They let us trade them a drivers' license for a stroller, it was a pretty good deal. It was pink which was unfortunate for baby Alex, but Amelia loved pushing it around.

Here are the kids walking around in an old caboose.

There was a little bed on the caboose and Spencer decided to take a rest.

Spencer and Miya hopping on a train.

They had a cute model train set complete with people and little cars.

Alex in the Pullman car taking a nap. I guess they planned these for shorter people because I know I wouldn't fit.

Spencer and Miya wanted to climb up on the bed too.

They had a Native American exhibit at the Durham and they had some fun stuff for the kids to play in.

The kids in the tee pee. Amelia loved pushing Alex around in it.

The kids with a buffalo. The bench the big two are sitting on is covered with a buffalo hide and we loved touching it. Amelia didn't like it. She kept saying, "I don't like it cow!"

I think they liked the street car the best. Amelia loved all the aisle room. I laughed seeing the new twisty light bulbs in the old train car.

Peeking out the window of the street car.

Spencer practicing his derails. They had a little experiment where the kids could see which type of wheel stayed on the track best. Spencer found all the wrong ones first.

This was a pretty fun thing. You push the handle and it makes the wheels go. The girls worked together to make it go really fast.

Kenefick Park - Omaha, NE

2011-03-29T21:21:00.000-05:00

3/16 - It was Spring Break and we took a two day trip to Omaha, Nebraska to see the sights and give a test run for our long trip this summer.

Our first stop was Kenefick Park. Right on the Iowa/Nebraska boarder there are two very large train engines and we've always wanted to stop and see them. It was the perfect opportunity. Next to the parking lot there are these ancient train wheels that look like they're rolling down the hill. It was a fun picture and the kids love playing around them and touching them.

Alex peaking through the center of a train wheel.

This is the Big Boy, the largest steam engine ever built. It was quite impressive. The wheels were bigger than I am. The kids were in awe as they looked at it up close.

This is the Centennial, the largest diesel engine ever built. It too was impressive and the kids loved it because it matches the trains that Aaron drives.

I don't think we were supposed to touch them, given the metal bars all the way around, but Aaron wanted to show the kids how the couplers worked. Aaron justified it by saying if they didn't want you to touch it they'd put up a big sign. He lifted a lever and moved stuff around and Spencer especially thought it was pretty cool. It's fun to have a train guy along when visiting train things. He had all sorts of inside knowledge.

I love the kids with the UP shield. Alex was loving pounding on it too.

The glare was pretty bad but I couldn't resist this picture to show how huge the wheels are on the Big Boy.

New and Fun Talents

2011-03-15T23:28:00.000-05:00

3/6 - Spencer got a set of Trios for Christmas and he adores them. There are only two things he does every day. Trios and color. He's getting really good at creating things with them. He made this helicopter all by himself. Doesn't it look awesome? I didn't even need him to tell me what it was.

3/6 - Alex wanted a little attention while I was taking Spencer's picture. This little guy loves getting his picture taken.

3/8 - Miya did her hair all by herself. She found the pretties and was in the bathroom for quite some time making herself beautiful. She came out and asked Aaron, "Don't I look beautiful Dad?" He loved it so much he took a picture.

3/10 - I was making waffles for the family and Alex was playing in the kitchen with me. Next thing I know he's crawling under the bar stool. I thought he was going to get stuck and bonk his head but he climbed in just fine and was so proud of himself.

3/10 - He decided to Mr. Chew the stool and was surprised when it scooted at the slightest push. He then decided that it would be the perfect walker and was walking around the kitchen chewing on the stool. You can even see him taking a step here. He doesn't typically walk but this heavy duty walker with roll bars gave him the confidence he needed.

3/10 - I was getting ready to take a picture of me and these two asked if they could have a picture together. They posed all by themselves. I love how they love each other!

3/10 - Me minus 20 pounds!! Ignore my undershirt. It typically doesn't do that in this shirt but it was really the best picture so I had to post it anyway. I started at the gym on November 30th and now I can run 5 miles in one hour (which I do four days a week typically) and I weigh in 20 pounds less. Woohoo!

Alex Ten Months!

2011-03-02T22:19:00.000-06:00

3/1 - Alex ten months. So Alex was born on the 29th of April. So he would have been ten months on the 29th of February but there was no such thing this year. Thus, I decided to take his picture on the first. Poor guy is sick and was just a lethargic lump in his pictures but a cute lump.

3/1 - He was much more energetic after I gave him a spatula to chew on. My Mr. Chew loves to munch on stuff. He is now the proud owner/operator of five teeth. He can scoot along the couch and tries to walk. However, his confidence exceeds his skill level and he falls before he can take a real step. Hopefully his skill will catch up soon. He loves to read books, and recently developed a love for the show "Shaun the Sheep." He's never watched TV before but he will watch and entire episode of this one sitting perfectly still. We have it on netflix streaming, good stuff.

3/1 - Amelia the picture crasher. She's sick too but looks cute making an effort to look happy.

3/1 - Alex is happiest when chewing on something or with his tongue flapping in the breeze. Here he's coming to get me. I escaped but not before he licked my pants. Gotta love babies.

Tax Return Lovin'

2011-03-02T22:13:00.000-06:00

We got a disgustingly large tax return back this year and being debt free for the first time ever we get to spend it on fun stuff! Here's the first installment...

2/26 - On my wishlist for quite some time was a new toy storage system. I mean look at what I was working with. Yuck! This is even cleaned up! We got the metal bins from a neighbor who was done with them and the rest was a hodgepodge smattering of stuff including a hospital vomit bucket and used diaper box. So when we got our tax return this was the first on my list to replace...

2/26 - Look at the beautiful after shot!! I love it! The bins were so cute and on clearance at Home Depot. Apparently people have something against stripes, not me! They are all sorted and labeled and oh so happy in their new homes. I even clean up on my own now because I'm an organization junkie and I love putting stuff where it goes. Oh happy day!

It's Getting Warmer!

2011-03-02T22:09:00.000-06:00

2/15 - It was unseasonably warm (in the high 40s) so we took the time to play outside. Aaron got two new trikes from a guy at work and the kids couldn't wait to try them out. Amelia was pretty good at steering but didn't want to have to pedal. She kept enlisting people to push her around.

2/15 - Amelia's cuteness as she's begging me to push her, "peas peas poo peas." Love it!

2/15 - Miya's more of a swing girl. She can hop up and pump all by herself. She loves to swing for a long time and look around at nature. She sure is an outdoorsy girl.

2/15 - Amelia loves the swing too. She has to be pushed but laughs every time totally making it worth the effort.

2/15 - Alex trying out the new manly trike. He was way too small for it but loved it just the same.

2/15 - Me and my handsome A boy.

2/15 - Spencer came home from school as we were playing outside and was so excited to play with us too. He loved the new trike and asks to ride it all the time now. Too bad it didn't stay warm for long.

A Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-03-02T21:59:00.001-06:00

2/14 - Nana and Papa had the cutest idea and mailed all the grandkids a valentine. They LOVED getting their own mail. Amelia came with me to check the mail and was overjoyed that one had her name on it.

2/14 - She loves Princesses and was excited about her money too. She kept saying, "I have monies!" She also repeatedly hugged her Ariel valentine.

2/14 - Spencer with his mail.

2/14 - He was concentrating on reading the back and so he wasn't looking. I love his focused cuteness.

2/14 - The drool dripping off the envelope is priceless. Mr. Chew at his finest!

2/14 - He was all about his valentine and was even holding his money in his hand like a good boy until right before I snapped the picture he shoved it in his mouth. Thank goodness he didn't swallow it!

2/14 - Aaron and I got a valentine too! I felt loved to be included.

2/14 - Isn't it cute!

2/14 - So we opened the door to take out trash and in walks this cat like he owns the place. It was hilarious! Miya was convinced it was a valentine present for her. She just loves all kinds of animals and this one was just living up all the loves from her.

2/14 - Alex was so excited about the cat too. This baby has no fear of anything. All the kids, even Spencer, still freak out at the vacuum (which we use twice a week) but Alex chases it and pushes it over. Here he's just loving on this cat.

2/14 - Amelia has always been terrified of cats. Dogs are scary but do not produce the blood curdling screams that cats do. So when this one walked it I was ready for it but she was surprisingly calm. She didn't go over to pet it or anything but didn't yell either. So silly me believed her when she said she wanted to see the cat. I picked Amelia up, then the cat. She was looking the other way and looked back right before the picture and was just horrified that she was sharing my lap with this filthy beast. Nana would be proud.

2/14 - More loving the cat in an attempted to boost it's ego after Amelia's freak out.

2/14 - On Valentine's day every year Aaron and I have had our picture taken together for the last several years. That way we have at least one taken every year. It's a good system and we're so cute!

2/14 - We got the kids each a little something for valentines so they wouldn't feel left out. Alex got a rattle hammer. The girls each got a Littlest Pet Shop thing and Spencer got a Lego car with guy. They all love their presents and it was just enough to make the day fun for them too. Amelia really did love her present she was still just freaked out about the cat. Poor girl even had nightmares that night that it was coming to get her and was jumpy for days. It was justified though because once the cat was hiding in our garage and jumped out at her when she was getting in the car and once it sneaked up to her on the deck.

2/14 - Aaron got the contents of this pink bag. Enough said.

2/14 - I got some gemstone earrings. I loved colored earrings. I love matching them to what I'm wearing and just have so much fun. However, over the last year I've had an epidemic of lost earrings. So sadly I only had two pair still complete. It was such a thoughtful present from my handsome guy. I love that they are each a different shape too!

2/15 - Miya's valentine didn't come until the next day. I gave her the option and asked if she wanted us all to wait or have her own special day. She voted for the special day and loved it. She told several people that it was her valentine's that day. CUTE!

2/14 - She just loved her valentine and her money but she especially loved having a valentines day all to herself.