Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Emma's 5th Birthday!



Happy Birthday to Emma! She turned five on June 2nd. What a cute and smart five-year-old she is. Here she is with dad and her Oreo Ice Cream Cake during the family party we had. She was very excited about her brand new brightly colored bike. (Not a hand-me-down, this time!) It is pretty big for her, but she was getting on and off and riding around all by herself within two days! She rides like a pro by now!



Emma got to have a Swimming Party with her friends this year to celebrate her birthday. There were eight of the cutest 5-year-olds on earth at our house. They swam, slipped and slided, ran through sprinklers, played in the big sandbox, decorated cupcakes, and had a great time. Thanks to Bryce Larsen, Sarah Olsen, Austin Hansen, Kayla Etherington, Hayden Sadler, Gracie Davis, and Abby Smith for making Emma's birthday such a fun one!





Springtime Fun

Madison had her first experience with soccer this year. Her and Sydney (connected at the hip) were on the same team, which made it so much more fun for Madison. They both played very well! Madison took the less aggressive approach.....when we could get a little fire under her, she really chased that ball! She scored one goal during the season--which was very exciting for her parents, but apparently not so much for her. I asked her after the game, "What are you going to tell Grandma that you did today during your game?" She looked at me with a puzzled look on her face, and I said, "Remember, you scored a GOAL?!" Madison just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Oh, yeah." This next shot is Madison playing Goalie--her favorite position (because she didn't have to run so much). Soccer might be a required sport for her, just to teach her a little bit of work ethic. It shouldn't take much arm twisting if I remind her how much she loved the post-game treats. Thanks for the fun times, Madison!
Emma's Preschool Graduation

Emma showed off her many talents at her preschool Graduation Ceremony last month. She had been singing her songs constantly--all 26 of them (1 for each letter of the alphabet)--so I knew that she had them all down pat. During the program, however, a brand new baby happened to be sitting right in front of her.....that cute little thing stole every ounce of Emma's attention! Every once in awhile Emma would surface and sing along, but most of the time, she was pretty wrapped up with that baby. We were so proud of her anyway. She has learned so much this year! She can write her letters, knows their sounds and is getting ready to start reading soon. She had the cutest group of classmates ever--I think Emma agrees. She is constantly asking to invite one of her friends over to play. What a great Preschool year she has had--thank you Miss Hollie! Good job Emma--Kindergarten is right around the bend!




Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Okay, I've fought this long and hard, but I think I'm finally going to give in and join the rest of the blogging world. The truth is, I'm totally overwhelmed when it comes to computers or anything related. I was left in the dust long ago. There are three year olds that can do circles around me on a computer. Plus you all do such fancy (and cute) things with your blogs that it seems so.....overwhelming to me. But I'll just start with my little disclaimer that there will be nothing fancy here. At least not for quite some time. I just want to remember the simple, day to day joys of life, especially life with kids! When I look at my children, I feel like I am watching a sand timer that runs out way too quickly. They grow up so fast! I need to remember the little things that they do that make every day so much fun. And so, I'm just going to start writing!


This is Madison. How cute she is! She loves snakes, loves to draw, loves school, loves life. Today she had the hugest smile on her face when she walked in from school. It was Earth day today (she's been talking about "green" things for a few days now) and she just happened to collect an armload of trash on her way home from the bus. I wondered why it was taking her so long to get home! She was so proud that she had carried those smashed up beer cans all the way home! Should have taken a picture of that......(I'll get better at this)....but here's one of her enjoying an ice cream cone on our vacation a couple months ago.


Here is our sweet Emma. Sweet describes her well. She is such a sensitive little thing, always worrying when someone is sad or upset. (Yet she really knows how to push people's buttons when she wants to.) She takes such good care of Isaac. She loves to make his bottles and pretend like she's his mommy. She also loves to carry him around everywhere even though he's more than half her size. Emma loves to snuggle and would stay in her PJ's all day if it weren't for all of her "appointments" with her millions of friends. I can't keep up with all of the play dates she sets for herself! If this is a glimpse into future years, we may be lucky to see her at all pretty soon......so we'll cherish these days!




And finally, meet Isaac. He is at such a fun age. All he does is make messes and get into trouble, but he's so fun to watch that I just let him go to town. His #1 favorite word right now is outside (he can't say it yet, but knows how to get his point across). Next favorite is toilets--swishing his hands in them, flushing things down them (like bandaids, q-tips, you name it) carrying cups of toilet water to use with his pots and pans in the kitchen, dunking Kelly's shirts in and then mopping the floor with them, and even dipping his binky in and having a taste (I know that is HORRIBLE--he only got one dip in before I got to him)! The only thing anyone hears from me lately is "Are the bathroom doors closed?" Anyway, onto his third favorite--cooking. He unloads all the pots and pans, wisks, spoons, big bowls, etc, and just stirs. As you can see, he even likes to sit inside and stir, naked or not. It's even more fun when he can get his hands on some flour or something from the garbage can, anything that resembles food that he can "cook". We're hoping that all of this practice leads to a successful career as a chef someday.



One of these days we'll have a family picture taken so that you can see the whole gang. Kelly and I are the boring ones in the family, but it's hard to compete with such entertainment. But how grateful I am for Kelly and for our three little hooligans running around here like wild animals all the time! I'll try to keep posting you on the craziness that goes on around here (not making any promises) so until then.....