The Birthday Party

This is the first year I've done a real "kids" birthday party for Erin. Since she has been in school she's been invited to several parties and had a blast at each of them. So when April came around Erin was determined to have "all her school friends" at her Birthday Party.



I rented out the shelter at our local park and we invited all her school friends and then some friends from Annie as well as a few family friends. We went all out and planned some games (a Pinata and Pin the Tail on the Donkey), put together goodie bags, had bubbles and cake and fruit. I planned the time for being right after soccer. That worked and it didn't. We held it in the same park as the soccer fields, but it rained for 2 days before and everything on the fields was really muddy. So Tom had to take Erin and Jeff home to get her cleaned up and changed and fed between the end of soccer and the party. They gave him a bit of a hard time and Erin was slightly late to her own Birthday Party.



The first thing all the kiddos wanted to do was play on the playground. This was a great way for some of the kids and parents to get to know each other. They all had a blast on the playground -- climbing, swinging, sliding. They played there for almost an hour and then Tom got the games set up. Erin has been super excited about her Pinata (or Fiesta as she calls it). We got one shaped like a soccer ball and she helped fill it with candy. This was some powerful pinata. It took each kiddo two rounds of whacking to get it open - some of them throwing some powerful blows. Even Jeffrey got his turn to hit it -something he rarely gets encouraged to do.



After that we played a rousing game of pin the tail on the donkey followed by cake. Erin picked out a chocolate cake with red roses from the grocery store. I asked the lady at the bakery to write "Happy Birthday Erin" on it and when she gave it to me it looked like a 5th grader had done it. So I vamped and added some of Erin's Little Pets to the mix and ended up with a darned cute cake. And the best thing of all...the whole thing got eaten and none had to come back home!!!!!



We finished the party by opening presents and thanking every one with big hugs. Then daddy put on a juggling show much to the delight of the party goers. We all know daddy can certainly be a ham and the kids thought he was just the funniest thing. We've certainly got a special daddy hanging around here.



After that, the party broke out. Erin handed out her party bottles filled with a bouncy ball, some bubbles, a popping toy, candy, stickers and a pencil. She was so very very proud of them, and all the kids thought they were super cool.



So here's the picture overload. I can't believe my baby girl is almost 5. She looked like such a big girl today running and playing with all her friends. I'm getting just a little teary thinking how proud of her I am at becoming such a beautiful young girl.

After Putting Together all Her Goodie Bottles

Playing With Her Friend Abbey At the Playground

Climbing the Wrong Way Up the Big Slide - Only Gets Away With That When Mommy's Taking Pictures

Telling Daddy How Old She Is and How Many Swings At the Pinata She Should Get

Swinging Away

Birthday Girl With Her Doctored Cake

Digging Into Those Presents With A Little Help From Her Friends

Annie

So this past weekend was the production of Annie. Boy was Erin excited about it. She absolutely LOVED being in the show. It was extra cool because in one scene I got to play Erin's mommy so was on stage right with her. It took a little practice for her to behave well with mommy on stage, but we got it down. She was a little girl that Annie meets on the street after running away from the orphanage. Then she got to be in a radio show scene. She had 3 songs that they got to sing....Dumb Dog (her personal favorite), Tomorrow, and Fully Dressed. She was sad at first that she wouldn't get to sing Hard Knock Life, but maybe next time we do Annie.

We had 4 shows over the weekend and by Saturday evening everyone was getting pooped. The two sweeties playing my kids on stage, actually sat down and refused to get up. I eventually prodded them up and they sang loud enough to be heard but not with their usual gusto. As you'll see in the video, Erin's a screamer. She screams all the songs. No one can complain that they can't hear her. It actually makes me snicker to hear it.

I'm so glad that Erin really enjoys the plays. She's starting to make a few friends and certainly LOVES being on stage once the curtain goes up (not a big fan of the rehearsals). So here are a few pictures. It's really hard to get pictures while she's on stage so this is the best I've got. And one from backstage with mommy. She got to wear her pretty green Christmas dress too and was very excited about that.

A Few Pictures From Yesterday

Jeffrey had a great day yesterday. This was the first year he was really aware that it was his birthday... although to him that meant presents and cake. Not sure he really gets the point behind everything.

We went to the gym in the morning where he told all the "teachers" it was his birthday and that he was 3 years old. He picked out his own cake at the grocery store - blue icing with balloons and wanted some fried chicken for lunch. After lunch we had quiet time until daddy got home (that's when I wrapped all his presents).

Tom got home about 3:00. I'd told Jeffrey that he couldn't open his presents until daddy got home. The second Tom walked in the door, he started ripping the paper off. It was hilarious. He had everything opened in less than 5 minutes. Right now the big hit seems to be the Mac Truck (from Cars) that his Noni and Grandpa got him. But everything's gotten some attention.

We went for a walk after opening presents since it was a gorgeous day out. Jeffrey insisted on wearing his Crocs and wiped out on the dirt road. He skinned his knee and scraped his elbow - poor kiddo. Still he had fun. Dinner consisted of Mac & Cheese from a box, hot dogs and broccoli - all at Jeffrey's request. Then he got to dig into his cake. He even got a special phone call from Grandma right when we were singing him Happy Birthday so she got to sing along.

Mommy had rehearsal last night so the kids and daddy went to hang out at a friends house with a bunch of friends. We expected to celebrate Jeffrey's birthday with them. On the way into town Jeffrey fell asleep in the car. I moved him inside where he proceeded to sleep until 11 PM, much to the chagrin of his sister who wanted more cake. She even tried poking and tickling him but he refused to get up. I guess the busy day (and previous weekend) just tuckered him out.

So here are a few pictures of the Birthday Boy from yesterday.

Happy Birthday Jeffrey Anderson

From this......

. . . to this.

I can't believe it's been 3 years. And some days I can't believe it's been ONLY 3 years. How time flies, and how much my little man has grown this past year. He went from a little toddler who babbled and tried to sing songs, couldn't stand story time and tripped over his own toes more often than not to a little man who loves to sing and dance, lives for story time and going to mommy's gym and well...still trips over his own toes a lot, but he can do a darned good somersault.

We don't go to the Dr's until next week so I don't have "stats" for everyone but lets just say tall and tough. I understand now why people think he and Erin are twins because when standing together they really do look it.

He's grown and changed so much. He LOVES reading and story time right now, is a total water baby and is even starting to make some friends at gymnastics and at mommy's gym. He can still be quite a handful especially when he doesn't get his way. But the ability to talk about things has helped with that a ton. So rather than just throw himself down on the ground and scream every time, now it's only 7 our of 10 times he doesn't get what he wants.

Here's a list of his favorite things right now:

Movie: The Incredibles

Song: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Book: This changes from week to week depending on what we bring back from the library. Generally there's a truck involved.

Toy: Anything with wheels. Even better if it's Lightning McQueen.

Game: Mouse Trap (thanks Noni)

TV Show: Either Little Einsteins or Dora.....or the Food Network.

Food: Bread...can he put away some bread.

Drink: Lemonade

Dinner: Pasta, although he asked for Mac & Cheese and hot dogs and broccoli for dinner tonight.

And here's what some of you have been waiting for....Jeffrey's 3rd Birthday Montage.

Frido the Caterpillar

We have a temporary new addition to the family....Frido the caterpillar. We found Frido (Erin's name for him, I thought Fuzzy was a cute name) on Erin's shirt in the middle of soccer last Saturday. Not sure how he got there. So I pulled it off and held it in my hands so the kids who were sitting nearby on the sideline could see it. I ended up holding onto Frido for the rest of the game (about 30 minutes). Every time kids on the team would switch off they'd run over to take turns holding him. Apparently I'm hired for sideline entertainment for next week too.

Anyway we managed to get Frido home in an empty cup from the car. Tom put some holes in the lid of a Bell jar. Erin and Tom went outside to find a few sticks to put inside with him and Erin picked him some grass. So now Frido is living on the kitchen counter. Both kids love to look at him. He doesn't really do a lot, but it's been fun watching him/her climb around the sticks in the jar. Equally fun watching Erin and Jeffrey get up in the morning and have to come check on Frido. I doubt Frido's going to be spending an eternity with us but it been fun having him around in the meantime.

It's Official

I'm now a Soccer Mom. That's right. Erin had her first day of soccer today. She's been talking about playing soccer for years now. I'm not sure where she got so interested in it or excited by it, but she's been wanting to play soccer for a very long time. Last fall she just missed the age cut-off so this is her first official soccer season. When I told her that she was going to get to play soccer this spring she went screaming and jumping around the house. We got all her gear last week (last Saturday was supposed to be the first day, but it got rained out). She's got the whole set-up. Cleats, shin guards, a water bottle, and a very cool pink soccer ball. They're the orange team so orange shirts and socks finish out the uniform.

All week she's been asking me "When's soccer?" "How many more sleeps?" This morning she was up bright and early super excited about it. She got her soccer shirt first thing when we got there. Clearly I'm going to have to buy longer black shorts. She was the one on the field who looked like she had no shorts on at all. Her number is 11.

They did some practice skills to start. She wasn't sure about these, because she really just wanted to kick her pink soccer ball into the net. Eventually she figured out what the others were doing and decided to take a go at it. Her favorite part was still when she got to kick the ball into the net.

After the skills, they held a scrimmage against the Yellow team. 4 on 4 with all the kids getting a chance to play. Erin ran after the ball as much as she could. She even got a few kicks in on it. Coach let her do a corner kick, and a throw-in too (which she really enjoyed and decided to do underhand instead of overhand). People describe under 6 soccer as herding cats.....and yeah that's pretty much what it is. The kids run and kick the ball whichever way they can. If they do score a goal (no goalies) it's an all out party. These two teams were actually pretty good at the scoring....not so great at the defense. But the best part was that everyone had lots of fun.

Next week they get professional team pictures done. I'll try to scan and upload them once I get them back. She was pretty tired after everything was done, and a little sad that she didn't get to kick the ball into the goal, but is already asking me when she gets to go to soccer again.

Pretty Pretty Growing Flowers

I try every year to take some pictures of the kids with my daffodils. I planted them the fall Jeffrey was born and have taken some pictures of the kids with them every year that they have bloomed. Last fall I added another section of daffodils and tulips. They're coming up beautifully and the kids get so excited every time we go outside to point out the flowers that are blooming or even about to bloom. I love that they get so excited by it. Here are some pictures from the past few years so you can see how everyone has grown and a couple from this year - yes Jeffrey has a boo-boo strip on his chin - he was messing around on the back of the couch a few days ago. One of these days he'll learn.

Spring 2006

Spring 2007

Today

Walking in Memphis (and Tennessee in general)

Noni had a meeting in Memphis last week. She thought it would be super fun if mommy and the kids went along for the road trip. Having only driven through Memphis myself I figured it would be a great chance for the kids to see some stuff - like the Mississippi River or the Smokey Mountains.

We decided to break the drive into 2 days over and 3 days back. In general we made sure we stopped at hotels with indoor swimming pools so the kiddos could get some energy out after being cooped up in the car. We also left time for fun spontaneous things like lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. The first night we stayed outside Knoxville and ate dinner right along the Tennessee River followed by a fun river walk (until the rain started).

Once we arrived in Memphis we had an awesome time. Our hotel was right on Beale street (think "walking with my feet 10 feet off of Beale"). The first night we were there we were taking in the atmosphere. There was blues/rock music coming from every restaurant (as well as beer everywhere but not so bad we felt uncomfortable with the kiddos). We were passing by one restaurant where one of the musicians was taking a smoke break. He was standing outside with a trumpet in his hands. My music buffs got excited about seeing a man with a trumpet and pointed at him. He gave them a smile, put the horn to his lips, and gave them their very own serenade. If I had only had my camera out to take a video. That is something they probably will never again experience.

There are TONS of museums in Memphis. We visited a Children's Museum which the kids loved. Noni and mom took time out for the Civil Rights Museum which is housed in the motel where MLK was shot. It was pretty powerful standing right there less than a week before the 40th Anniversary of his assassination. The kids didn't get much out of that visit, but they were a little young for it. They hung in as long as they could - long enough for mommy and Noni to see it. We had a couple of other Museums on the list that we didn't have time for and will have to go back again sometime to see.

Weather along the trip was pretty wet. We had rain almost every day. The one day that we were spared the rain we decided to take a riverboat ride along the Mississippi. The boat was a big old replica paddle boat. Jeff wasn't too sure at first but when he realized how big it really was he felt fine. Our tour was about 90 minutes long and we got lots of cool info on Memphis history and the river. The river was really high on its banks (about a mile wide where we were). The ride was windy and a little cool, but the sun came out for us near the end. Erin loved taking pictures of the boat and the barges on the river. Jeffrey got so relaxed he was sound asleep by the end of the trip. I was able to get him off the boat, into the car, and back into the hotel before he woke up completely.

That afternoon was the day we also visited the Peabody Hotel. It was just a block up from where we were staying. Every day at 5 PM, 3 ducks come out of the fountain in the hotel, walk a little red carpet and get into an elevator. I guess they've been doing this for years. We got there for one evening, and close to 100 people were in the hotel lobby. Erin squeaked her way up to the front to watch the ducks....which took about 10 seconds and then it was over. Cool to say we did it, but not a ton to see really.

The biggest hit of the trip was the Memphis Zoo. While Noni had her meeting, mommy took the kids to the zoo. It was a cloudy and cool afternoon and the animals were really active. We got to see pandas, elephants, monkeys, a rhino, ostrich...all the zoo basics. The kids favorite part was the "arctic zone" where the polar bears and the sea lions were. We watched the polar bear swim for about 30 minutes. Then checked out the sea lions for another 1/2 hour before catching the sea lion show. The show was very cool - the kids like how the sea lions jumped, but the best part was before the show when one of the sea lions was "talking". Erin barked back at it and it made the noise again. They had this conversation for about a minute, and Erin and Jeff are still talking about it.

We left Memphis on Wednesday morning. We took a route that brought us through southern TN for the trip home. We stopped at Shiloh (the Civil War battlefield) where both kids though the cannons and monuments were pretty cool. The next day we drove through the Smokey Mountains. What a gorgeous drive. Part of it ran along this mountain river that was one of the most beautiful natural things I've ever seen. We drove up to the top of Clingman's Dome (the highest point in TN) but it was pretty socked in with clouds. Not too much to see. Jeffrey thought the foggy-fog was pretty impressive though.

We had such a wonderful time and got to see and experience so many new things. There were even things that we missed that we're just going to have to go back for some day. We are very glad that Noni had this meeting that gave us the opportunity for such a fun trip. Hope you enjoy the little slideshow....there were just too many cool pictures to share.

Potty Talk

Literally -- potty talk. Jeffrey's made some huge strides in his potty usage lately. He goes on his own when we're at home and when we're out and about he'll tell me he need to go potty. But sometimes things in the potty can get a little funny, especially when we're visiting some of the public restrooms in the area.

On our most recent trip to the grocery store, we stopped off after having lunch at Red Robin. The kids had guzzled their lemonades so I knew we were going to have to stop. Anyway it's not the cleanest of bathrooms so I was trying to help Jeffrey move the process along. While trying to juggle Erin's "Froggy" from school, my jacket and purse and help Jeff at the potty I went to "hold it down". He immediately swatted my hand away. "You No Touch that Mommy. It's FRAGILE. You hear me? You no touch. It's Fragile." I almost peed in my own pants I was laughing so hard at him.

While on our recent vacation with Noni we had several LONG days in the car. On our first day we stopped at a rest stop for some travel info, a leg stretch, a drink and a snack...and of course a potty trip. I took Jeffrey in and set him up. He made a few grunts and looked at me.."I no like poopie mommy." I tried to talk him into to trying for just a few minutes but he only got more upset. My last resort was to sing to him....so there I was, squatting on the floor in front of the potty in a public bathroom singing "This Old Man." Who knows what the lady sitting next to us thought. But you know what? It worked. And it worked again a few days later when we had the same issue (only this time at a Chilis and the requested accompaniment was Wheels on the Bus).

And to go along with those long car trips come the inevitable - "Need go potty mommy." - when there's no bathroom in sight. OK Jeffrey can you hold it, I asked. "No mommy." "OK bud, we'll we're gonna find a place to pull over and you can pee in the grass." "NOOOOOOOOO mommy, NOOOOO pee-pee in the grass. Pee-pee in the potty. Pee-pee in the bafoom. I NO pee-pee in the grass." This repeated over and over until I finally found the boy a potty. His sister on the other hand had no issues peeing in the grass. For the rest of the trip anytime I asked if either needed to go potty he'd get all upset and cry "No pee-pee in the grass."

So as you can see, we're making progress and having loads of laughs along the path to self-sufficient potty usage.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

I just wanted to share a couple of other pictures of our Easter Day. It was beautiful and sunny (if a bit cool) here so we got some nice pictures. We also got a "family" picture at the church that didn't come out half bad. Erin LOVED her dress, and she picked it out all on her own. Jeffrey wasn't so keen when I first started getting him dressed. He started bolting to his room looking for "his pants". Erin thought she was helping at one point and told him he'd look just like a prince. That only made him run screaming for daddy - "I don't wanna be a prince." But once he got downstairs and saw his Easter basket he completely forgot about his clothes.


Anyway here's a handful of pictures from our Easter Day.

Checking out the goodies in her basket.

Showing off an egg with her daddy.....sadly with closed eyes.

Sitting together on the stairs.

Just lounging around...

Eggs...Eggs...Eggs...

Well Easter has become less about Jesus and more about Eggs. I try not to make it that way, but with 4 egg hunts in one week it's bound to become more about the eggs and candy. We did make it to church on Sunday morning (where they had one more egg hunt) and read an Easter story at Erin's school (where they had another egg hunt).


This was the first year we decided to color our own eggs. Previously we've always just hidden little plastic eggs with jelly beans or other small candies in there. The kids had a blast coloring them. Erin thought it was really fun to scribble on her eggs with the wax crayon before dipping them. Her favorite colors were the teal one and the pinky/purple color. Jeffrey was all about the red. Each of his eggs went into the red dye. When they were dry on Saturday we took and put little "tattoos" on the eggs. Then Sunday morning when we got back from church the "Easter bunny" took and hid them around the deck.



But the egg hunts were the hit of the week. We had our first one last Saturday (see previous post). Then on Thursday the library set up an egg hunt after story time. Both the kiddos were cranky on Thursday and they were only allowed to find 5 eggs each (so everyone would get some). Needless to say there were some tears shed at the library egg hunt.




On Friday Erin's school held an Easter party and egg hunt. I prepared 12 eggs for both Erin and Jeffrey by putting their names on them ( and puppy stickers for Jeffrey's). When we got there all the eggs were spread around the lawn. Inside the kids were singing some Easter songs and even got the meet the Easter Bunny. When they got outside the kids were supposed to find the eggs with their names on them. Erin had the most fun finding Jeffrey's eggs for him. Then she went on to find her own.




We skipped Saturday's massive egg hunt at the high school. It was supposed to rain. But in all honesty mommy was just egg hunted out and daddy was busy brewing. But when we got back from church on Sunday we had one last hunt here at the house. The eggs we had dyed and a few plastic ones were all around outside - especially hiding in cool corners of the new deck. Although it was chilly it was finally sunny for an Easter. The kids had a blast running around and looking for all their special eggs that they had made.






Our last egg activity was taking 6 of our colored eggs and making Deviled Eggs. Erin helped mommy to peel the shells all on her own. Then she mashed the yolks and helped stir in the seasonings/dressing. It was her favorite part of Easter dinner and she ate 3 all on her own.


So although Easter is about so much more than eggs and candy, it seems we somehow made those eggs and candy pretty special. It's pretty easy when you involve your family.

Jeffrey's 10 Favorite Things to Do

I can't believe my little guy is going to be 3 in 2 months. He seems so much older yet still my little "baby" too. Active is certainly the word used to describe his daily activities. If he's awake he's moving.

So here are some of his favorite things to do.

10...Drive his Matchbox cars on his road "carpet", inevitably crashing them into each other.

9...Read stories in his glider in his room.

8...Climb into bed with mommy about 7 AM every weekday. Snuggle for a few minutes and then ask to watch "heroes" (Higglytown Heroes).

7...Sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Row Row Row Your Boat, especially with silly words like Row, Row, Row, Your Boat Gently Down the Stream. Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily. Life is Like a Bowl of Spaghetti.

6...Play Mouse Trap.

5...Work puzzles. He's mastered all of our 24-piece ones and is working on the 48-piece ones on his own too, but still needs a little help with those.

4...Get his own sticker from the drawer after going poop in the potty. That's right we're mostly potty trained here - WOOOOO.

3...Go to Bodo's Bagels with mommy after his gymnastics classes.

2...Play on Erin's computer.

1...Go to mommy's gym. This is generally the high-point of his day. He LOVES mommy's gym because he gets to play with kids his own age and mommy loves it because she gets a little break each day.

Out of the Mouth.....

Sometimes 4 year olds just say the funniest things....

At dinner our friend, Jacob, had stopped by. Erin, Jeffrey and I were finishing our meal. Jeffrey was being rather belligerent about eating. I made him eat a bite of mashed potatoes (how horrible of me, I know). He decided he was just going to start throwing a fit. The following scene ensued.

Jeffrey screaming.

Erin: "He doesn't like them mom!"

Mom: "Yes I know honey, but he needs to eat 1 bite AND I'm the mom."

Jeffrey: Screaming louder. "I'm Cold" (This is his current phrase when he's mad or grumpy or tired. I'm cold.)

Mr. Jacob: starts giggling at this phrase from Jeffrey. Mommy joins him.

Erin: Completely straight faced. "It's not funny Jacob."

Mommy and Jacob: Nearly fall out of their chairs with uncontrollable laughter.

Mr. Jacob: You're right Erin. It's not.


It may have been one of the most hilarious and precious moments ever. She so calmly and clearly told Mr. Jacob - a daddy in his own right - that Jeffrey's being cold was simply not funny. I'm still laughing about it. And I'm sure I'll still be laughing tomorrow.

Egg Hunt

Our county recreation department held their annual egg hunt this weekend. It's over at the park around the corner from the house so we made a point to go. This year they spread all the eggs over 2 full sized soccer fields. Erin and Jeffrey both had a great time wandering around a picking up their eggs. Both ended up with overflowing baskets. We also had a little time to play at the playground before the egg hunt got started. So here are a few pictures I wanted to share. The photographer from the local paper was taking pictures and asked if she could use one of Erin. So I'll need to make it a point to grab a copy of the paper this week and see if she made it in.

Erin's 10 Favorite things to do

Just thought it might be fun to post some of the more "mundane" or everyday things the kids have been up to recently. So here we have....Erin's 10 Favorite Things to Do.

10...Play on her V-Smile TV game. Right now Nemo and Ratatouille are her favorites.

9...Dress and un-dress her dolls which she has named Hailey and June.

8...Read books while she's supposed to be resting.

7...Go to school. I'm so glad she still loves it. And most important she's learning so much it's amazing.

6...Make up silly imagination games. Sometimes she's a dog, sometimes a pirate, sometimes an Incredible (mostly Violet).

5...Make bread with daddy. They've been making lots and lots of fresh bread recently. Erin likes to measure and knead.

4...Play on her computer daddy got her for Christmas.

3...Sing "Dumb Dog" from Annie. We must sing that close to 10 times a day at least. Erin knows all the words and which parts are "her parts" and which ones Annie sings. Generally mommy is Annie and Erin is everyone else.

2...Go to jumping class at mommy's gym. She gets to jump in a big moon-bounce type thing.

1....Wii bowling. She love it. Asks to bowl every day. And the scary thing...she's good. Almost reached Pro status already.

Grandparent's Day at School

Erin's school had a Grandparents Day at school yesterday. Each child was able to invited their grandparents to come to school with them. Since Grandma and Grandpa W. live too far away they weren't able to be there. Erin's Noni was able to take the morning off work and drive down though. Mommy kept it a big secret from Erin so that when Noni arrived at her school she would be surprised. I wasn't there to see it, but I hear there was quite a bit of excitement.

The kids put on a little program for their grandparents. They all gathered in the sanctuary of the church where the preschool is. The kids sang a bunch of songs including, "You are My Sunshine," "Little Bunny Foo Foo," and "Skinamarink." They also recited the Pledge of Allegiance (something I didn't know they were even working on). Then they had a little "tea" for their grandmas and grandpas. There was fruit and cheese and crackers and lemonade for the kids with coffee for Noni.

After the program was over several kids left with the grandparents. Erin wanted to stay and show Noni all around. They sat together for story time (Green Eggs and Ham) and Noni got to meet some of Erin's friends. Erin even showed Noni how she plays and runs around the playground.

When school was over Jeffrey and I met Noni and Erin for lunch at a local Chinese restaurant. It was so special to Erin that Noni was able to come down and visit her school. Maybe next time we'll have enough notice and Grandma W. will be able to schedule a trip for next year's Grandparent's Day at school.

Meeting New Baby Will

We got a chance to go up to New York this weekend and meet "new baby Will" as the kids call their new cousin. It was his baptism weekend and Erin has been looking forward to meeting her new baby cousin since he was born on January 1st (6 weeks early by the way. He's a trooper though and is already over 9 pounds. Way to go kiddo).

He's simply adorable. Both Erin and Jeffrey though he was pretty cool. Although I think Erin thought that maybe new baby Will would be a little more "fun". Cousin Rylie was there and it turned out that she was a little more fun to play with. That's ok though because mommy and daddy got some quality time with their new nephew. It's been almost 3 years since I changed such a tiny little diaper.

Erin did get a few chances to "hold" Will and to help out. Mostly we propped him against a pillow and put her arm behind him. She and Rylie did sit together to help give him a bottle at one point, which was quite precious.

Jeffrey also got in on the action. He loved to give baby Will kisses (sometimes a little too close to the mouth). Once we taught him - kiss on the head - it was a little better. He also wanted to help push Will in the swing. It was great to see him so interested in his baby cousin.

We had a great time with our family. It was so special to meet baby Will. We can't wait until May when we get to see you again.

More Singing

Here's some more singing. When I was taping Erin singing her Valentine's Day song they wanted to share some other songs. This is a very rare occasion (them actually letting me video the constant singing) so I thought I'd share with everyone. You can tell that by the end they were done with singing....and yes, that's Tinkerbell panties Erin's showing off.

He Was A Tree Cutter

Normally when I pick Erin up from school I ask her what she did that day? I start with asking about snack because she can usually remember that. Then she'll start to tell me about other things. The conversation went a little like this....

"What did you do in school today honey?"

"I dunno."

"What did you have for snack?"

"Teddy Bear crackers, grapes and bananas, but I didn't eat the bananas because my tummy doesn't like bananas." (she gagged on one at home last week - like mother like daughter) "Oh yeah and we talked about cherries."

"Cherries?"

"Yeah, like cherry trees? There was that guy who cut down all the cherry trees. I don't know his name."

"George Washington?"

"Yeah that's it. George Washinton. He was a tree cutter. He went around and cut down all the trees. Apple trees, cherry trees....all the fruit trees. That was what he did. All the trees in the forest that he didn't want he went and chopped them down. Especially the cherry trees."

"Oh really? Did he do anything else?"

"I already told you mom, he was a tree cutter."

"Ahhh ok. Was he also a president?"

"Oh yeah...that too. I don't want to be a President, that's what I told my teacher."

"So what do you want to do?"

"I want to be a tree cutter like George Washington."


Well at least she's aspiring to be like one of the founding fathers. And really...who wants to be President anyway.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone.

This year Valentine's Day has been a bigger deal because Erin is in school. She had to make home-made Valentines for everyone in class. She really worked hard on them and made them special. She LOVES using scissors so she cut out hearts, then cut out some paper doilies and glued them on. Then she used some foamie stickers and glitter glue to finish them off. She picked out which one was for which person in class and then wrote all of their names (well traced what mommy had written). It was great to see her so excited about working on the project.


They had a little party at school today and Erin invited mommy to come along. Jeffrey was a little cranky so we only went for the last half of it. They all made ice cream sundaes with lots of toppings (Before Jeff and I got there). Then they showed off their Valentines and explained how they made them. They all made little penguin cans to hold their Valentines and Erin went around and delivered them individually into the cans. All this time Jeffrey had gotten over his grumpies, found another little brother of someone in class to play with, and played quietly in the school room.


The first thing she did when we got home was dump them all over the table and check out all her loot. A lot of kids added candy to their cards (we didn't) so that added to the excitement. The ones from people she considers special friends she would get even more excited about. It's pretty special to see the excitement that comes from something as simple as a home-made Valentine.


And here's our home-made Valentine to all of you.

A Special Message from Erin

This is something she learned at school...and it was too cute not to share. The fact that she actually did it for the camera is another story.....

Winter Carnival Fun

We went to a Winter Carnival with some friends last Friday. It was at Erin's friend Julianna's school and they invited us to come along. When I told Erin about it she was very excited to get to see her friends.

The Carnival was a lot of fun. They had the gym at the school set up with a bunch of games. The kids played a beanbag toss (which Erin was very good at) and a bowling game. Erin wanted to try the basketball game but needed a little help from Julinanna's daddy Jason to lift her up closer to the basket. She did do very well at the football toss though. Jeffret tried his hand at most of the games (except the basketball). He even got the football through the hoop and knocked down a couple of the bowling pins on his own. We had his wearing his puppy backpack since it was pretty crowded. He was not a fan of the backpack this evening though and kept fighting it on us. Better him fight us than run off and get lost though.

The biggest hit of the night was the inflated "bouncy" slide. It was about 20-30 feet tall and one of those great big bouncy things. Erin waited patiently in line with Julianna's sister Kasia. She scampered up the "steps" to the top pretty quickly and came flying down the slide. Jeffrey was all ready to give it a try but took one step on the "bouncy" area and screamed running back to mommy. If we'd let Erin she would have played on the slide the entire night.

In the cafeteria the school was selling drinks and snacks. They also had a cakewalk set up for the kids. They walked around in a circle stepping on different numbers on the floor. When the music stopped someone would draw a number and whoever was standing on that number won a cupcake. Both Erin and Jeff had a huge blast with this game. They even each won a cupcake to take home for later snacking (since we'd been out to dinner before the carnival and has dessert there).

It was a lot of fun to hang out and be silly with our friends. Thanks so much for inviting us.

Progress

I realized I haven't updated the Jeffrey potty progress in a long while. It feels like I've been potty training him forever. He's the one who wanted to get started with it, but has days where it's a complete fight. He HATES to be interrupted from what he's doing to go potty. That doesn't mean he has accidents. It just means that if I ask him to go when he hasn't been in a while it's a huge fight. Still he's pretty much completely trained when he's awake. Wears his Cars or Little Einstein undies throughout the day. He may have a little accident on his way to rush to the potty but we deal with those in stride.

This week he seems to have also turned a big corner. He'd been in a phase of only pooping when in a pull-up. So every nap and morning he'd wake up with a huge stink. Since the fall he had gone through phases like that but this last one was the longest.....about a month. So last week I turned up the encouragement level. I'd make sure he sat long enough before nap time so that if he had to go he would. We read stories in the bathroom and I even promised him a new toy if he pooped in the potty and kept his pull-up clean through his nap. Well 2 days of promising and nothing but dirty nap times. Finally he was able to poop before nap and stay clean so he got his new toy. This seems to have made all the difference. He's been a regular on the potty before nap time since then. I'm hoping that this isn't just another phase, but the end of the dirty bums.

He even got up from his nap the other day, took his pull-up off and tossed it in the trash. Got on the "big" potty and did his business all on his own. Of course then he came downstairs naked trying to convince me he was "all done nap". He lost that battle, but got a big hug and high 5 for doing a great job with the potty.

He also pretty much got to do it all on his terms. Go when he wants, have whom he wants in the bathroom etc.... But as long as I'm not having to clean it up I'll let him keep his particularities.

So Yay!!! for Jeffrey. I've got a few more "prizes" tucked away in case we need them again, and Grandma is sending a few down as well but hopefully we've entered the newest phase of using the potty. It only took us about 9 months...sigh.

Is God Down There?

Sadly Erin's fish Marlin died sometime last Friday. When we first discovered it she was devastated. Cried so hard she made her head hurt. She just sobbed and sobbed. Tom and I tried to explain that Marlin had gotten very, very old in fish years, and that when that happens fish just sometimes die (also when they've been subjected to several attempts at "play" by a 2-year old). So Friday night Erin cried herself to sleep very upset that Marlin had died.

So all week we've been trying to decide what to do with Marlin. Erin wanted to send Marlin to God so God could take care of Marlin. Today when we were finishing cleaning out the tank (it's been a busy week) I reminded her that when daddy got home, we were going to take care of Marlin.

Will we send him to God?

That sounds like a good idea Erin.

But where is God. I can't see him?

That's a big question Erin.

I then proceeded by explaining that God is everywhere all the time. That God was giving her a hug as I did, that God was making the trees move around outside, that God was with her new baby Cousin Will when he was taking a nap or with Cousin Rylie when she was playing with Aunt Robyn. This was a long enough answer to completly confuse her and end the conversation.

Erin and I had talked about putting Marlin in the stream behind the house, since Marlin belonged in the water. But it's been really cold and no one really wanted to go stand by the stream in the cold. So after dinner tonight we decided to give Marlin a bathroom funeral.

We said goodbye to Marlin and explained again that we were going to send Marlin to God. Erin dumped him into the potty and clearly said "Goodbye Marlin." Tom then had her flush the potty and she watched Marlin swirl away. Immediately Erin looked up at me and said.....

Is God Down There?

Holding in the laughter as much as possible Tom and I said, yes honey I guess God is down there. I'm really hoping she doesn't need too much therapy when she grows up.

Sledding 101

We learned a lot about sledding toady - well Erin did. She is definitely mommy's little girl. She spent a good portion of the afternoon sliding down the hill at the side of the house. For her the faster the better. Jeffrey's not so comfortable with it. He'll slide for about 10 feet then throw all his appendages into the snow to slow himself down. Erin thinks it's great fun to bump into the trees.

Lessons learned.

1. A plastic tray works much better than a trash bag - until the tray breaks during an incident with a small tree.

2. Try to stay on the "sliding path" as much as possible.

3. For every time you slide down the hill.....you have to walk back up it.

4. To get the best ride down the hill one should lay as far back as possible and lift your feet in the air.

5. The shout "Bail Out" from mommy means you're about to hit a tree or the pricker bush.

6. Pushing Jeffrey down the hill is just about as fun as sliding down on your own.

7. Sliding on a trash bag results in a sore bum at the end of the afternoon.

8. Tandem sliding with brother doesn't always work really well.

9. Don't walk on the sliding path....it gets slick.

10. Most importantly, we need a real sled for premium sledding action.

Snow Day

Yay for another snow day - at least that's what the kids are saying. I, on the other hand, had other plans. We were set to go to the library (Erin and I need some more books to read together) then this afternoon head to the gym to try out a new class, grab some dinner, go back for Annie try-outs, and then game together with some friends. There's still a possibility we'll be able to get out this evening, but it's pretty sketchy.

Anyway the kids could care less. It wasn't snowing when Jeffrey woke up or when I got into the shower (At least not that I noticed) but when I got out of the shower there was a dusting of snow covering the ground. Forty minutes later there was at least an inch. Erin woke up begging to go out and play. I did presuade her to stop long enough to eat some breakfast.

So we bundled up. All of you moms out there know the process that means. Hit the potty, find gloves and hats, boots and snow pants. Make sure we don't have to go potty again. Then I need to make sure everything gets put on in the right order (mittens before coat, pants before boots). That whole process takes at least 20 minutes.

Once they were ready to head out, I got myself ready and followed them. They were running around giggling and laughing it up. Throwing snow on each other. Pushing each other down and laughing some more. By the time we got out there we had at least 3" on the ground. Erin wanted to make a snowman, but the snow was really light and fluffy and wouldn't even make a decent snowball.

We did decide to take a walk and went down to look at the stream. It's really pretty in the snow and you can hear the water running so much clearer because everything else is so quiet. The kids had fun throwing snow into the water since the stones were all covered up.

Back at the house Erin asked to go sledding. I went inside and found an old serving tray from the kitchen. After a few runs down the side hill we'd packed down a little path and had a pretty good sledding run. The kids thought that was the best thing ever. Not only was the sliding part fun, but each thought that the option of pushing the other down the hill was equally fun. They slid down the hill for about 30 minutes until one good push landed Erin against a tree and we cracked the sled. Erin laughed and laughed because she hit the tree. It was quite funny until she realized the sled had cracked, then she was devastated.

So we gathered up our cold fingers and runny noses and headed inside. The snow is still coming down so maybe we'll get back out later and I'll take a few pictures.

We didn't get to the library and probably won't make the gym, BUT we certainly did have some fun. Library and gym for tomorrow I guess.