Thursday, April 23, 2009

Spring is Here!

My favorite thing about spring is trips to the park. The kids love the park too. I have been promising them a trip and today was absolutely beautiful! Here are a few of the nearly 100 pics I took while they were playing. They are getting used to stopping and posing for my camera while they are playing. I also love my zoom lens so I can take pics of them from across the playground without all the posing and cheesy smiles! You can see more of our park pics on my Shutterfly page!






I haven't blogged much lately as we have been so busy. Here's some of what has been going on with our family:

Sophie and Aiden finished swimming lessons. Sophie gets to move up to the next class and Aiden will repeat his. They are both doing so good!

We got to spend a short and busy weekend in Kansas when Garret and Natalie got married... The wedding was beautiful and we are glad we got to be a part of it! Our time there was very short and although Travis and the kids got to spend a little time with Grammy and Tanner, I didn't get to see any of you all... I hope to see you all soon.

Yesterday was Earth Day and the kids learned all about taking care of the earth. I have been lectured extensively on throwing away trash, "reduce, reuse, recycle," planting trees and many other ideas the Sophie learned at school this week!

Aiden is still getting over pneumonia. The cough is getting better and we're down to just a couple of meds now. There were a few days there where we didn't know if we would end up in the hospital, but with all the medications and prayers, we managed to be able to take care of him at home.

Sophie has less than 3 months before she starts kindergarten. She is getting very excited and we have started shopping for summer "kindergarten" clothes. Kindergarten orientation is in a couple of weeks, I'll let you all know how it goes!

I'm almost finished with this semester at school. This semester has gone surprisingly well, but I am taking 6 hours over the summer and will be super busy! I promise I'll do my best to keep you all updated!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Jesus Loves Me

I thought this was so cute. It is Aiden singing Jesus Loves Me. He has been singing it for the last couple of weeks.

Monday, March 16, 2009

At the park...





We took advantage of nice weather yesterday and took the kids to the park. They had a lot of fun racing down the slides. Aiden's favorite is the slides, but he spent a lot of time climbing the rock wall and ladders too. I took a ton of great pictures and unfortunately can't share them on here. I have a Shutterfly website where I have uploaded almost all of the photos that I have taken (recently-- there are hundreds). If you want access to these, e-mail me and I'll give you the information and grant you access to my sight. (For those of you who already have access, I have recently uploaded about 200 more pics!)

Haircuts, kisses and nose-pickers.


Sophie's new haircut.

I couldn't pass up this photo op of my two lovely nose-pickers!
Aiden's artwork with the fabric marker that I mentioned in a previous story.

My daughter is CREATIVE!!! She did this on her own! I think she's gonna be a fashion designer when she grows up! (If you can't tell, this is a Target grocery bag.)

Can you say, "Ahhhh."

Sunday, March 15, 2009

A few random stories...

It's been a while since I posted so I just thought I'd write a couple of things down that the kids have said or done lately. I promise pictures are coming soon. I just haven't had time to get them off my camera!

Sophie asked me the other day if her birthday was coming up. I told her it was in November and she said, "So it's this year, right?" I said yes but told her that it was in the winter... next winter. That means we have to finish this winter and then go through spring, summer and fall before next winter and her birthday. I kid you not, she looked straight at me and said, "That's awful." She was serious and matter-of-fact. It was so cute.

Yesterday, Travis asked Sophie if she was going to be an artist when she grew up. She said no and then told us, "I don't want to be anything. I just want to shop." I don't know where that came from, but I'm sure now that she's my daughter.

Aiden is in love. Yes, that's right, I've been replaced by a 3-year old as the most important woman in my little boy's life. Every time I tell him that he's my "big boy," he kindly corrects me and tells me that he's "Madison's boy." Madison is his BFF and he talks about her constantly. It's sick really. Actually, Miss Wendy said it's more of a love triange, becuase there is another girl too, who fights for the attention of Aiden as well. Her name is Elle. Occasionally, Aiden will tell me that he's "Elle's boy." Man, that little boy knows how to get me where it hurts!

The kids have started swimming lessons. They have so much fun. Their teacher's name is Jessie and they love her. She seems really good with the kids. They sit on the wall and take turns swimming with her. The first day, all the kids took turns jumping in from the wall and when it was Aiden's turn, he got up and walked away from the pool, refusing to jump in. Travis had a little talk with him about jumping in after lessons, so the next week, when it was his turn to jump in, Aiden gave it his all! As soon as he came up, he looked up at Travis and gave him a "thumbs up!"

Most of you know that Sophie's favorite thing to do is color. She spends most of her time drawing pictures and usually writes people's names at the top of the paper so she can give her drawings to them. Well, Friday, when she came home from school, she told me that she never wanted to go back to school because she draws pictures for her friends and no one wants them. Doesn't that just break your heart? I LOVE her pictures. I have tons of them. I told her she could give them all to mommy, but I don't think that will make her feel any better.

We took a quick trip to Chicago last weekend. The kids did wonderful. They were great on the trip up and back. It was about a 5 1/2 hour drive. We left Saturday afternoon and came back Sunday afternoon. They were excited because they knew that there was a pool in the hotel and they would get to swim. Well, mom forgot the swimsuits. Sophie was totally devastated and I of course told her that I'd "figure something out." Well, the rest of the car trip up there, she kept asking me, "What are you doing, Mom? Are you figuring something out?" I had no clue what she was talking about. "Figuring something out." I had forgot that I had said that. We were both completely frustrated when we got there becuase she kept asking and I kept telling her that I had no idea what she was talking about. I finally told her that I had no idea what she was talking about and she needed to explain what she meant. Of course, that's when she said, "About swimming! You said you'd figure something out!" Ahhh, of course. So I told her to look for a Target or Wal-Mart and we'd stop if she saw one. Luck us, our hotel was right down the road from a Target. It was pouring down rain and 10pm, but I'd promised those kids some swimming. We bought new suits and got up early to swim the next morning. The pool was freezing and we only stayed in for about 20 minutes, but the kids had the time of their lives! It's great when your kids are so easy to please! We felt so bad for putting the kids through such a miserable trip, but they didn't even know it was bad. Aiden didn't want to leave the hotel. It was like a big slumber party! Much better than the last time we stayed in a hotel with the kids. Aiden cried until midnight that time... this was way better!

And with that, my storytelling is coming to an end. I'll try and post some pictures soon. Especially of Sophie's new super cute, super grown up hair cut! And of my kitchen! Oh, and I buzzed Aiden's hair off too!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

She has my eyes...

I took Sophie to the Eye Doctor today because she needed an eye exam before she starts Kindergarten. Come to find out, she has my eyes. She has astigmatism in her left eye and isn't seeing perfect out of it, but is seeing well enough that she doesn't need glasses...yet. The eye doctor looked up and said, "Looking at your prescription, I'm not surprised at all!" Very funny. She has to go back in 6 months to see how her eyes change as she grows. It looks like glasses are in her future. Bummer. They dilated her eyes today, so she's wearing the sunglasses they gave her for the ride home!
Aiden hit Sophie in the head with a plastic golf club yesterday. So she made these signs for her bedroom door. I think it's pretty funny. If you click on the pics to enlarge them, you can see them better. Aiden is so mean to her and she is unbelievably tolerant of him. I totally would not have the patience that she does. (She doesn't enforce her signs at all.) She is absolutely and completely nice and care-free. She has no ability to be mean or hold grudges. She gives 110% of herself to every situation. I know this sounds funny, but she is everything I would love to see in myself. I look up to her... a 5 year old! I can't believe that little girl is mine! I'm trying so hard not to ruin her!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Wardrobe, Projects and Big Blue Eyes

One of Sophie's favorite things to do is to dress up. Thanks to Gramma and Papa, we have new dress up clothes! She frequently uses different things paired with a headband to make a veil. Today, it's a skirt! This girl has quite the fashion sense!
One of Sophie's other favorite things to do is to make "projects". Here, she found a rock and decided to color and stamp it. She also used water and other "techniques" to make it beautiful. Her process was quite detailed!
Aiden has been in Sissy's leotard for the last 2 days. I can't get it off of him. Somebody please help!
I can never resist taking close-ups of Aiden's big blue eyes! Those eyes get just about whatever they want... totally my weakness as a mother!