Aunt Diedra rolled into town for Christmas and we had a blast. We ate our weight in sugar and Diedra took the kids to Chuck E Cheese. At one point we let the kids eat the gingerbread house they had decorated, and instead of picking the candy off and eating it the polite way, my two boys decided to just gnaw off the roof.
One of my Christmas presents was a little digital camcorder, perfect for uploading videos to YouTube. So I present to you the first of many videos of my kids. Enjoy watching my baby eat Pop Rocks.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
My daughter cut her own hair yesterday...
...but it's actually not that bad. She was cutting paper during her quiet time (cutting paper is one of her favorite activities) and decided her hair was in her face. I didn't even notice until Matt found the hair on her floor last night.
She basically cut bangs for herself. I fixed them a little this morning, and it looks pretty good. It could have been a lot worse. Still, this was something I hoped I would never have to deal with.
She basically cut bangs for herself. I fixed them a little this morning, and it looks pretty good. It could have been a lot worse. Still, this was something I hoped I would never have to deal with.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Ready to learn, to get some knowledge...
This morning was Peter's first day of school. I tried to tell him yesterday that it was his last day of freedom EVER but I don't think he understood.
He picked out his clothes yesterday and laid them out. He told me what to pack for his lunch. He put all his things in his backpack and set his shoes by the door.
He didn't sleep well last night; he woke up twice and came in my bed both times. Once I put him back, the other I just snuggled him. I remember how excited I used to be for school and I knew it was no different for him. When Matt's alarm went off, he jumped out of bed and ran to his room to get dressed. During breakfast Peter marveled that it was still dark outside. Eleanor woke up just in time for him to catch the bus, so she came outside with us. We waited for a few minutes, with Peter thinking that he saw the bus around every corner and every sound must be the bus coming. When it came, his face lit up and he stood at the very edge of the curb. He climbed on the bus and sat in the front row next to the other kindergartner, as ordered by his bus driver. He waved to me, and the bus pulled away.
I feel like someone reached down my throat and pulled my stomach out. I'm not an emotional person by any means, but the thought of my first baby having a life that I don't know about, a life not overseen by me at all times, a life where I don't know what he's saying or doing or seeing is something I'm not ready for. This is the end of Peter being mine, all mine. And I'm not ready for that.
He picked out his clothes yesterday and laid them out. He told me what to pack for his lunch. He put all his things in his backpack and set his shoes by the door.
He didn't sleep well last night; he woke up twice and came in my bed both times. Once I put him back, the other I just snuggled him. I remember how excited I used to be for school and I knew it was no different for him. When Matt's alarm went off, he jumped out of bed and ran to his room to get dressed. During breakfast Peter marveled that it was still dark outside. Eleanor woke up just in time for him to catch the bus, so she came outside with us. We waited for a few minutes, with Peter thinking that he saw the bus around every corner and every sound must be the bus coming. When it came, his face lit up and he stood at the very edge of the curb. He climbed on the bus and sat in the front row next to the other kindergartner, as ordered by his bus driver. He waved to me, and the bus pulled away.
I feel like someone reached down my throat and pulled my stomach out. I'm not an emotional person by any means, but the thought of my first baby having a life that I don't know about, a life not overseen by me at all times, a life where I don't know what he's saying or doing or seeing is something I'm not ready for. This is the end of Peter being mine, all mine. And I'm not ready for that.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Minnesota and Wisconsin
In early May my little sister got married in Minnesota, and then a month later my family all got back together to go to my parent's cabin in Wisconsin. I decided that in order to cement my status as Favorite and Most Devoted Daughter and Mother of Your Grandchildren, I would spend the interim at my parent's house. We had a fantastic time playing with neighbors and going to parks and the zoo and just being lazy (that last one was my favorite activity). I even got to take NAPS. Yes, that's plural.
Peter and Eleanor are old enough that they could run around outside without supervision. I made sure to have Grandma Spencer practice cello with Peter almost every day, and I read a lot of books. I love, love, love vacation. The best part was that my mom and I got along the whole time! It's amazing what ten years can do.
Here are just a few of the hundreds of pictures we took.
Here is my little guy at the zoo. Of course he didn't want to ride in the wagon; nope, he wanted to pull it. And of course Eleanor wanted him to pull her.
Aunt Diedra brought presents for the kids: water balloons!
This picture looks like the water balloon is about to hit Peter in the head. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. It would have been funny, though.
Swinging on the rope swing.
The inevitable nose bleed of having too much fun.
Peter and Eleanor are old enough that they could run around outside without supervision. I made sure to have Grandma Spencer practice cello with Peter almost every day, and I read a lot of books. I love, love, love vacation. The best part was that my mom and I got along the whole time! It's amazing what ten years can do.
Here are just a few of the hundreds of pictures we took.
Here is my little guy at the zoo. Of course he didn't want to ride in the wagon; nope, he wanted to pull it. And of course Eleanor wanted him to pull her.
Aunt Diedra brought presents for the kids: water balloons!
This picture looks like the water balloon is about to hit Peter in the head. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. It would have been funny, though.
Swinging on the rope swing.
The inevitable nose bleed of having too much fun.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Curls
These curls are amazing. I don't think my hair was like this at this age; it must come from Matt.
This one is my favorite. Seriously, her hair is incredible. I didn't do anything to it other than curl up her wet hair with my fingers. I don't have to put any product in it at all. I hope it stays like this. And thank goodness it's finally growing! I've never cut her hair--it's just naturally slow-growing.
This one is my favorite. Seriously, her hair is incredible. I didn't do anything to it other than curl up her wet hair with my fingers. I don't have to put any product in it at all. I hope it stays like this. And thank goodness it's finally growing! I've never cut her hair--it's just naturally slow-growing.
Friday, April 11, 2008
One year older, one year wiser
Theodore turned 1 on Wednesday. It feels as though I was pregnant only a little while ago, and until I go back and look through the pictures on our computer I honestly can't realize that it's already been a whole year. Then I remember, oh, yeah, I remember the last July 4th, he was just a baby and we all got soaked during the sudden rainstorm that interrupted the fireworks,
or, hey, I had forgotten how tiny he looked in his cloth diapers when he first started wearing them.
And now I look at him and watch him navigate the world around him and marvel at that such a little boy can have such a big personality. This kid barely sits still enough for me to kiss him, so last week when he was sick and all he wanted was to sit in my arms for three days straight, I didn't complain once. I may have even wanted him to be sick some more because it felt so good to snuggle my baby. I miss the baby he was and am excited to see the boy he'll become.
Everything must be on his terms. I am nervous for what that will bring when he's older, but at least I don't have to worry about what he wants, because all he wants to do all day is tell me what he wants and complain about if he doesn't get it. And believe me, even though he can't talk doesn't mean he's not communicating exactly what he wants. And I understand perfectly that yes, he wants marshmallows, or yes, he wants to go outside, and no, he doesn't want to sit on my lap and read books.
At least he still needs his mom.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Okay, I give...
So, yeah, this whole "blog regularly so my friends can keep tabs on me" hasn't worked out so well. I have good intentions about the whole thing, but I just can't seem to find the motivation to post pictures, although I have a million of them on my hard drive. Moving them to a blog is hard work, y'all. Plus I have to write witty remarks with them. I'm already overworked as it is! Okay, I'm not, but I like to pretend I am. It makes me seem important.
Okay, news: Theodore can climb up and down the stairs. He now follows me all around the house. Sometimes when I'm at the kitchen sink he climbs up the stool next to me and peeks over the counter into the sink to see what I'm doing. This week he learned how to hold my hand when he walks. It's nice to walk hand-in-hand with my baby. His favorite food is generic corn squares and he squeals with excitement when I get them down. He constantly waves bye-bye and loves giving kisses to puppies (we go to the pet store all the time). He's approximating lots of words; when I ask if he's all done, he says "dah, dah". His first word was "go", which he said about a month ago (I know! He's so smart!).
Eleanor is very much into imaginative play. She loves to pretend she's a baby animal and I'm the mommy animal and Theodore is the other baby animal and Peter is the daddy animal and Matt is the grandpa animal. Sometimes she's something really girly like a baby unicorn and other times she's a pet baby stegosaurus. Peter just likes being a T-rex. At other times, Eleanor pretend to be Cinderella and goes around twirling her skirt around in the air. You know, like a princess does.
Peter just turned 5 this month. He had to have a dinosaur cake, so I just stuck some dinosaurs on top of a cake and called it a day. He's looking forward to kindergarten; I think I've just become boring to him. For a while he thought that as soon as he had his birthday he would go to school, but I had to dispel that idea. He was pretty disappointed. He loves climbing our tree in our backyard, which goes to show that he's totally my child.
Oh, speaking of trees, Eleanor was climbing the tree with Peter the other day and slipped and got her coat stuck on the tree. She was just hanging there, waiting for me to help her. Here is a picture:
I think that's all for now. Hopefully I'll post more, but I'm not making any promises!
Oh, and a big congratulations to my friends the D-hoffs, who just became parents. Way to go, guys!
Okay, news: Theodore can climb up and down the stairs. He now follows me all around the house. Sometimes when I'm at the kitchen sink he climbs up the stool next to me and peeks over the counter into the sink to see what I'm doing. This week he learned how to hold my hand when he walks. It's nice to walk hand-in-hand with my baby. His favorite food is generic corn squares and he squeals with excitement when I get them down. He constantly waves bye-bye and loves giving kisses to puppies (we go to the pet store all the time). He's approximating lots of words; when I ask if he's all done, he says "dah, dah". His first word was "go", which he said about a month ago (I know! He's so smart!).
Eleanor is very much into imaginative play. She loves to pretend she's a baby animal and I'm the mommy animal and Theodore is the other baby animal and Peter is the daddy animal and Matt is the grandpa animal. Sometimes she's something really girly like a baby unicorn and other times she's a pet baby stegosaurus. Peter just likes being a T-rex. At other times, Eleanor pretend to be Cinderella and goes around twirling her skirt around in the air. You know, like a princess does.
Peter just turned 5 this month. He had to have a dinosaur cake, so I just stuck some dinosaurs on top of a cake and called it a day. He's looking forward to kindergarten; I think I've just become boring to him. For a while he thought that as soon as he had his birthday he would go to school, but I had to dispel that idea. He was pretty disappointed. He loves climbing our tree in our backyard, which goes to show that he's totally my child.
Oh, speaking of trees, Eleanor was climbing the tree with Peter the other day and slipped and got her coat stuck on the tree. She was just hanging there, waiting for me to help her. Here is a picture:
I think that's all for now. Hopefully I'll post more, but I'm not making any promises!
Oh, and a big congratulations to my friends the D-hoffs, who just became parents. Way to go, guys!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Macaroni and Cheese
Yesterday I made macaroni and cheese for lunch. Not the radioactive Kraft kind, but the real kind. I got the recipe from America's Test Kitchen, which is one of my favorite shows. They have, consistently, the best recipes around. I have never, never, ever gotten a recipe from them that I don't love.
And this is where I found out that ATK is not perfect.
This recipe sounded great. It had cheese and evaporated milk and little bit of garlic powder (I love garlic). It sounded great. I invested 20 minutes in it, which to me is a lot of valuable time. I insisted that we not have sandwiches for lunch and told the kids about the yummy lunch I was making them.
And it was terrible.
I don't know why; it was just a really bad recipe. Yuck. Bitter macaroni and cheese.
We all took bites of it, and as soon as I tasted how nasty it was, I watched Peter and Eleanor eat it. They ate it and immediately wrinkled their noses. Eleanor wouldn't touch it again. Peter ate it, thought for a minute, then took another bite. Then he said,
"This macaroni is this bit yummy."
(Holds up his hand and approximates a space about a millimeter wide)
"But it's this much yucky."
(This time the space is about 4 inches wide)
Needless to say, we threw the macaroni and cheese in the trash.
And this is where I found out that ATK is not perfect.
This recipe sounded great. It had cheese and evaporated milk and little bit of garlic powder (I love garlic). It sounded great. I invested 20 minutes in it, which to me is a lot of valuable time. I insisted that we not have sandwiches for lunch and told the kids about the yummy lunch I was making them.
And it was terrible.
I don't know why; it was just a really bad recipe. Yuck. Bitter macaroni and cheese.
We all took bites of it, and as soon as I tasted how nasty it was, I watched Peter and Eleanor eat it. They ate it and immediately wrinkled their noses. Eleanor wouldn't touch it again. Peter ate it, thought for a minute, then took another bite. Then he said,
"This macaroni is this bit yummy."
(Holds up his hand and approximates a space about a millimeter wide)
"But it's this much yucky."
(This time the space is about 4 inches wide)
Needless to say, we threw the macaroni and cheese in the trash.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Welcome!
The purpose of this blog is to share our lives with all of you. And by you, I mean just a few friends and family that I don't keep up with nearly enough. And by share, I mean show you pictures of us.
I hope this doesn't turn into a self-obsessed blog wherein I only write about my children and our family. I want to do more than navel gazing. We'll see how that turns out.
And now, to completely go against the previous paragraph, here are some pictures of our recent family vacation to D.C.
Theodore had a great time learning how to drive the van.
Natural History Museum.
We saw lots of dinosaur bones. Not enough, according to Peter.
Grandma and Theodore. He was the most content baby as long as he was in the backpack.
Brittany and Peter and Eleanor.
Lucky grandchildren at the zoo.
Happy baby.
Diedra and little cutie.
A rare picture of all three kids together.
Don't tell Peter, but I think Theodore's running for Diedra's Favorite Nephew.
Brittany making my Christmas decorations.
And last, Eleanor's third bathroom break in 5 minutes.
Matt and I took 1,000 (yes, that's correct) pictures on our trip. I think we got carried away with our new camera.
The purpose of this blog is to share our lives with all of you. And by you, I mean just a few friends and family that I don't keep up with nearly enough. And by share, I mean show you pictures of us.
I hope this doesn't turn into a self-obsessed blog wherein I only write about my children and our family. I want to do more than navel gazing. We'll see how that turns out.
And now, to completely go against the previous paragraph, here are some pictures of our recent family vacation to D.C.
Theodore had a great time learning how to drive the van.
Natural History Museum.
We saw lots of dinosaur bones. Not enough, according to Peter.
Grandma and Theodore. He was the most content baby as long as he was in the backpack.
Brittany and Peter and Eleanor.
Lucky grandchildren at the zoo.
Happy baby.
Diedra and little cutie.
A rare picture of all three kids together.
Don't tell Peter, but I think Theodore's running for Diedra's Favorite Nephew.
Brittany making my Christmas decorations.
And last, Eleanor's third bathroom break in 5 minutes.Matt and I took 1,000 (yes, that's correct) pictures on our trip. I think we got carried away with our new camera.
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