A Heart for Mommy...

How sweet is this??? We were home sick again today and Emma was enjoying coloring as usual. She gave me this paper as she told me, "I made you a heart Mommy." So, of course, I immediately wrote her quote on it, dated it, and scanned it into the computer to be preserved for posterity. :) Who knew she could draw a heart already? I was impressed with her circle a couple months back... I love this kid.

Flower Boxes!

Lowe's home improvement store does a wonderful program for kids on Saturday mornings where they get to build something new each week. This was the second time I have taken Emma and she really enjoyed it! Last time Emma & her friends got to make kaliedoscopes. This time we made "see me grow" flower boxes ~ little planters with a plexiglass side so the kids can watch plant formation, root to shoot. They turned out really cute. We had gone out to dinner with some of our playgroup friends Friday night and while we were chatting, we decided to bring the kids to this the following morning. Plus I had Karen and her kids with us and Lucy and Tim, so we ended up being quite a large group. I think we had 8 little ones with us. Fun fun fun... lots of hammering going on so it got a bit loud, but the kids enjoyed it. I didn't get a chance to take any pictures but luckily our friends Erin & Jen had their cameras so we got a couple shots of Emma. Karen already had her kids in the car, so they missed the group shot at the end too. I love that shot though. How cute are our little girls all decked out in aprons and safety goggles, holding up their masterpieces?

New Bathroom!

We got a new bathroom this week, courtesy of Tim's blood, sweat, and tears! He's spent the past couple weeks over here completely ripping out the bathroom, all the way down to the foundation (I could actually see the ground below the house). Apparently the old plumbing had been leaking and needed to be replaced, plus the old tile was kind of ugly (as you can see from the 1st picture). So he gutted the whole thing, with some help from Scott, and built us a brand new bathroom! It's wonderful and Emma loves taking a bath in "her" new bathroom that "my uncle Tim builded for me!"

Stubborn as............... her Mom!

Wow. This little girl is as strong willed as the day is long. I caught this picture of her yesterday after she had finally resigned herself to sitting in time out. I had to put her back there FOUR times before she stayed. And then, when her two minutes were up, she refused to come out of time out! What is that?! She said, "no, I'm in time out, remember?" She literally laid on the floor and played with a tissue for an hour and a half before she agreed to talk to me and apologize for her behavior. I can't believe this kid is only 2 and a half years old. The impending teen years do not look good for us... On the other hand, as tiring and trying as my daughter may be, I love her steadfast determination and her spunk. She truly believed she was right in continuing to hammer on the pounding bench after I had asked her to stop and she stood by her guns. Maybe this determination and sense of self will serve her well as an adult... if it doesn't drive me to the looney bin while she is still a toddler. :)

On a side note, Grandma Angie thinks this is just hilarious. Something about payback and raising a child just like myself... hmmm...I can't imagine what she is talking about. I'm sure I was just a pleasure as a child...

Kiddie Update!

Not much new to report, just thought I'd share a couple pictures and some updates on the little ones. The photos are from a couple days ago when I was home with Emma & babysitting TJ. We were out of apple juice (oh, the horror!) and I only had one car seat in my jeep so we decided to take a walk down to CVS. I'm glad to see they both still fit in the double stroller and, since we rarely use it, it is almost a treat for them. So they are excited to ride in it and there are none of the usual stroller protests. The funny thing is that they don't even fight for position. TJ always wants the back and Emma always likes to be up front. In addition to apple juice, the kids each got a tiny bag of chips as a goodie. TJ got his favorite Doritos and Emma loves her Hot Cheetos. I kept telling her that they would be hot and I didn't bring any drinks with us. She didn't care though. She loved both eating them AND showing off her orange stained fingers for the camera.

Both kids have had checkups within the past week or so also. TJ is currently 36 1/2 inches tall and 29 pounds. Emma comes in at 38 1/2 inches and 37 1/2 pounds. I can't believe how fast she is growing! Even their shoe sizes... TJ is a 6 while Emma is a 9. And she is 6 months younger than him! This puts her (as usual) above the 90th percentile for both height and weight. She is still proportional, just... solid. :) And absolutely beautiful.

Chasing Fairies!

One of my coupon sites was running a promo with a credit for a free tooth fairy photo. Emma isn't at the point yet where she is losing teeth, but I thought I would make one with her just chasing a fairy... I think it turned out so cute. Looks like she almost caught this one!

The Park & Ava's Party!

We've had a fun a and busy weekend! On Friday afternoon Emma, Mikayla, & I spent some time at the park. Emma enjoyed climbing on all the play equipment, as usual. The girls also found a wonderfully mucky mud puddle and and assortment of sticks that provided plenty of messy entertainment. Then we met up with Grandma & TJ for some frozen yogurt to celebrate a successful first day of preschool for TJ. He started school on Friday and did wonderfully!

On Saturday one of Emma's friends,little Miss Ava, turned 2 years old and had a Fairy Tea Party to celebrate! Karen & TJ came with us to the party too. All the little girls came to the party decked out in sparkly wings and tutu-type outfits. The little boys were to be pirates and gnomes. I repurposed Emma's halloween costume (yea Abby Cadabby!) and one of TJ's Christmas dress up gifts and the kids were good to go! All the little ones looked so cute! Unfortunately there was a line for the restroom at an inopportune time and... well, let's just say Emma wasn't able to finish the party in her costume. Poor kid had an accident right on the kitchen floor. And, to add insult to injury, her negligent mama (me!) had forgotten to bring any extra clothes with us so we had to raid TJ's diaper bag for little boy clothes that were about a size and a half too small. I pointed out to Em that this is what happens when you pee your pants... you have to wear BOY underwear! She was so completely NOT offended by that! Her exact words were, "Hey, wow! Aliens!" Great. My sweet little girl likes boys under-roos! We finished the day with a trip to McDonalds to grab an easy dinner while the kids got to play a bit and burn off some more energy.

Today we hung out around the house and had Tim & Jen & the kids over for dinner. Grandma made tacos and fried potatoes at Scott's request since he will be heading back out to Alaska in a couple days. The house is still a construction zone as Tim finishes up the bathroom remodel, but it's coming along. Emma was thrilled to see her cousins and has had a great time with Bubby especially these past couple days. He has been coming along with Tim to work here at the house and Emma has loved playing with him all weekend. She loves running around after the bigger kids and scootering up and down the sidewalk. I swear that kid thinks she is bigger that she really is. I keep thinking, "They (Tim & Kayla) are 10. You're 2 Emma. How are you keeping up with them?" But she does it and loves every minute of it. She also sleeps really well at night after a day with the big kids! :)

I'm 33?!?!

So hard to get a clear picture when you try to combine self-portraits, a squirmy two year old, and a cell phone camera... *sigh*




Well, I'm another year older. Which is not a bad thing, considering the alternative! I didn't have to be at work until 9 this morning (yea for "late start Thursdays!") so Emma & I went out to breakfast at Dennys and got my free birthday Grand Slam. Yea (again) for free meals! Since we were getting such a good deal, I let Emma choose a new soccer ball cup there too. She thinks its so neat that there are TWO straws and she can have TWO separate drinks at once in there. Then I dropped Em off at school and headed to work ~ fun, fun, fun ~ where Anita had brought a cake to class. I decided to skip classes after work and just come home with Emma. After doing some chores and washing some dishes, we decided to turn "Pizza Friday" into "Pizza Thursday" so I wouldn't have to cook. We just hung out, read some books, and watched Beauty and the Beast. It was a nice, low key birthday evening.

TJ's 3rd Birthday!!!

TJ turned 3 years old today! I can't believe how big the little man has gotten. I had classes again this evening, as usual, so I wasn't home for the festivities but apparently a good time was had by all. Karen made dinner for everyone and we made a "Cars" themed cake as well. TJ was insistent that he wanted a green cake with green frosting so the cake had lots of green "grass" frosting and Karen even dyed the batter too. Then he got to open his presents and the kid made out like a bandit, of course.... a toy laptop computer, backyardigans play-doh set, movies, jammies, a castle, etc. I'm sorry I missed celebrating this evening with everyone but I still love this little guy! Happy 3rd Birthday TJ!!!

Happy Easter!

We have had a wonderful week celebrating Easter with our family and friends! This week was Spring Break at Cal State so, although I was back at work, I had all my evenings and afternoons free to hang out with my girl!

We had two playdates with our friends. On Tuesday we took TJ and Katie with us too to meet our friends and have some frozen yogurt at Tiki Hut. The toppings bar was a big hit with the little ones (mini gummi bears on their yogurt!) as was climbing up and down the stairs and making faces at themselves in the store windows. On Thursday we went to Erin's house to have an Easter playdate where the kids made "stained glass" suncatchers out of tissue and sticky contact paper and little easter baskets out of milk cartons. They colored eggs too. Emma was very into that but does not have the most gentle of touches when plopping her eggs into the dye!

On Saturday Karen and I took Emma, TJ, and Kayla over to Tim and Jen's house. Tim wasn't there since he and Scott are currently remodeling our bathroom. But Karen, Jen, Katie, Lucy, Tim, Kayla, TJ, Emma, & I had a great time! We had a pizza party and decorated another 6 dozen eggs! Emma loves eating the hard boiled eggs too! I am hoping to make some deviled eggs but am not sure there will be enough left when I finally get to it! I also had extra craft materials left over from Thursday's playdate so we brought those along too. I had been a bit worried that the crafts would be too young for the older girls, but craft day is always a hit! They had fun making silly little baskets and helping the babies with theirs as well. We used to do a craft day at least 4 -5 times a year when the kids were littler (pre-Emma) and I think they have missed it. Definitely something I need to start up again now that Emma & TJ are big enough to participate.

Sunday morning we got up to see what the Easter Bunny had left us. The kids got quite a haul in their baskets. Emma loved the plastic eggs too, especially when she discovered they were filled with goodies and money! The kids also got tattoos, bubbles, colored pencils and notebooks, and lots of little trinkets. The microphones and punch balls were big hits with kids and grownups alike!

Then we went to church. The service was good. I was sorry that I had missed the Good Friday service but at least we made it on Sunday. And we were able to get a DVD of Friday's service so the girls and I could see it at home. Very powerful. How amazing is God and his love for us that He gave His Son to repay the debt of all the stupid sins I've done. And the power of the resurrection, to let us know we have eternal life with our One True God. He is risen indeed!

After church Karen and I took all the kids out for brunch at Hometown Buffet. Usually we would have had a family dinner here, but with the bathroom remodel, the house is kind of a construction zone. So off we went to enjoy a meal with no prepwork and no clean up! I sense a new tradition brewing.... Unfortunately Grandma couldn't join us as she was fighting off a migraine. Again. The food was pretty good though and, although the restaurant was busy, we only had to wait a couple minutes before we were seated. Kayla and Tim especially loved being able to go up and choose anything they wanted from the buffet. If I'm not mistaken, I think Tim had salad and a giant plate of nachos for lunch! Too funny. Emma didn't fare much better scarfing down salad and jello, then 2 servings of cantalope and macaroni and cheese. That girl loves her cheese! Then we came home, had a few egg hunts in the backyard and just hung out for the rest of the afternoon. We had a great time with our family!