3 Weeks of Highlights, Part 2

I have to break these all up because of the quantity of pictures (I email this to family) as well as the availability of pictures when they come from 2 phones and one camera.  There will be a third installment, but right now I'm having difficulties getting pictures off Shad's phone.

Miss Katie's hair is long enough for me to clip it back.  She looks so grown up!



We've been trying to go to the park at least once a week now, and Katie enjoys getting to participate.

The wood chips at the playground were recently replaced by recycled tire, and that's a new textural experience for Katie.  She didn't try to eat it though.

She also tested out lying in the grass.

And tried to eat that.

Tommy likes to push his sister in her stroller and we've discovered that it works best for him to have the handles pushed all the way in.  He's a much better driver that way. 

The furniture section at Pamida is always Tommy's favorite.

The days of wrestling have begun at our house.

Katie rarely complains. 

Katie and Tommy had fun sharing the bucket swing together.

Hahaha!  Funny story here:  Right after this picture, Tommy put the hat on facing front and pulled it down to cover his eyes.  He then proceeded to spin in place until he got dizzy and fell into the recliner.  He was a little shaken, earned a nice forehead bruise, and then laughed it off.

3 Weeks of Highlights, Part 1

It's been three weeks since I've written, so here's highlights with no attempt at being in chronological order.

Katie is 6 months old, 11 pounds and some 23 inches tall.  She enjoys eating cinnamon oatmeal, applesauce, pureed pears, ripe banana chunks, mashed banana, sweet potato with cinnamon, popcorn, rice crispies, spaghetti squash and tuna salad.

We took Tommy to the track and he ran a full lap!  Of course, he had to stop to touch all the triangles and needed some encouragement to finish the last 50 feet, but he did it.  I'm still super proud of him.

Shad's family came to visit over Easter weekend.  We went to the theater with Ruth and Levi to see Hunger Games again, then stayed for the second showing (only exists on special occasions) to see Mirror Mirror.  How do I put this nicely?  Bearing in mind that I'm not hugely into princess fairy tales, I wanted to burn that movie out of my brain.  I didn't pay for it and still wish I hadn't seen it.  I should have followed the urge to leave after being in the theater for 5 minutes.

We've stepped up our work on the Quiet Book project because I think it would be EXTREMELY convenient to have it ready for stake conference next week.

We found a van!  We're just waiting for it to be ready to be picked up.  Should be next week.

We've decided that we need to make friends with the owners of the Chinese restaurant because a) we need a little more asian in our lives and b) we can trade language lessons!

I took Tommy and Katie to a play date with some friends in our ward here in town.  Tommy loves playing with Brexton, who is 5.  They played super heroes.  Tommy loved being Captain America because he's obsessed with stars.  He had no problem banging a sword on his shield and running around yelling with "Thor."  Brexton's younger sister, Peyton, has taken interest in Katie, which is cool because normally she's really shy.

Every morning for the past couple weeks, Tommy has asked me where Dada is.  He gets upset at me when I tell him that he's at work.  Tommy does well when I drop him off at nursery, but we made the mistake of having Shad drop him of a couple weeks ago.  Tommy was in hysterics when I got there 5 minutes later.  It took him a while to calm down and he kept pointing to the door, saying, "Dad! Dad!"  He was not happy that his dad left him there.

Weeks ago I finally got around to my wood burning project that was supposed to be Shad's Christmas present.  The bottom board flips around to say "DONE."  He had gotten an IOU, so he knew it was coming, but he was very happy and surprised to see it exist.

Tommy knows that chopsticks are important, so he's started trying to eat with them.

And eat them.

Katie was a good sport in trying out the high chair, but we've decided that, for right now, we like the swing or bouncer better for meals.

Tommy always likes helping Bumpa mow the lawn.

The Jacquiers, our friends in Phillipsburg, came over Easter weekend, too, to play games.  We had a lot of fun.  Katie and Ramona couldn't take their eyes off me when I walked into the room.

Tommy has a new habit of walking around in somebody else's shoes.

I made a cake for Elder Jarrell for his birthday before he got transferred.  It's a fortified troll lair, a la Small World.  It's his second favorite race/ability combo, right after Flying Sorcerors.

Tommy and Katie are friends.  I love seeing this relationship develop more and more.  Tommy spontaneously shared some cheese crumbs with Katie during snack time, then decided to smear some in her hair.  He also spilled his juice on his tray and rubbed his arm in it.  We decided to hold off on the baths until after we played in the dirt and dandelions.

Our friends Brian and Deb came over for a cookout.  Brian brought elk burgers and an elk steak for me to try since I haven't had elk before.  Before dinner, Brian tilled our garden for us.  It's huge.  40' x 40' maybe?  I dunno.  I'll get a picture later.  While he tilled, Tommy learned to blow dandelion seeds.

He thought it was pretty cool.

He also tried on his dada's work gloves. 

Once they were put on the right hands and he was no longer confused, he had no problem running all over the driveway being a monster.

Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrr!

Katie somehow managed to wriggle herself out of her pajamas.  This is how Shad found her in her crib after a nap.  Nothing unsnapped.  She just wiggled out at the neck.

We finished our project of scraping off the popcorn ceiling in our basement today.  Because I'm so coordinated, I stubbed my toe on the couch before we started and heard a nice snap.  Yep, my left pinky toe is broken.  Third time's a charm, eh?

The Joys of Life

When I go more than a week in between writing, all my days and events just seem to blur together.  So to be easier on myself, I'll just stick to events and not a timeline.

I scored my first piano student!  Seven-year-old Rayanne is my neighbor two doors to the south and she's a cute little thing.  We've had two lessons and she just astounds me at how fast she picks things up.  She also reads ahead in the lesson book:)  She's a funny kid and I love teaching her.  Still trying to collect a few more students.

Katie has started eating food.  She's made us aware in the past couple weeks that she's ready for it, so we've started sharing oatmeal, string cheese, mashed potatoes, peas and, of course, popcorn with her.  One morning of breakfast was a first for both my little friends: Tommy learned how to correctly use his spoon without dropping everything on it because Katie was yelling at me for not feeding her oatmeal fast enough!  I was thrilled with both of them.

I've recently started letting Tommy pick out his clothes by giving him two shirts to choose from, and then two pants.  Often, he also wants a hat to go with it.  I know people think that little boy clothes generally aren't as cute as little girl clothes, but who can argue with this outfit?  Who doesn't just want to pick up this little boy and cuddle him because his outfit is just darn adorable?  I keep dressing him in it because I simply can't get enough of it.  Anyhow, after this picture we went outside and Tommy helped me plant my lettuce and sugar-snap peas while we waited for Shad to get home.



When Shad pulled up, Tommy did his new thing: knocking on the car door.  Tommy then got his first driving tutorial, horn included.  He thought it was awesome.

Conference weekend was packed for us.  Friday morning, Shad woke up feeling motivated to fix the driveway, but his back was killing him.  So he called the missionaries over to come help him while they had their weekly meeting.  They fixed the driveway and used me as their runner: for a new hose nozzle, 2 more bags of cement mix, and oh, look at the super discounted display storm door.  So we spontaneously got it...for about a third of the price.  We've been shopping around anyway and couldn't resist this deal.  So we spent a couple hours installing it in the afternoon.

Tommy helped.

I helped make sure nobody fell off the ladder, lost screws, or spilled our fruit smooties.

Katie helped by being happy on the swing.

And Tom helped make sure the swing was well constructed. 

Our new door.

 In the evening, we had Jami come over and watch the kidlets while Shad and I worked at the theater so we could see The Hunger Games.  We've agreed to not read the books until we've seen all the movies, so that we can enjoy the movies without being critical.  We also learned a new meaning for The Hunger Games: when Katie is hungry and Shad teases her by passing her to me, then taking her away before I grab her.  She doesn't like it so much:)  Saturday morning we went frisbee golfing with one of Shad's coworkers.  Tommy had fun running after frisbees, throwing them in the baskets, and oh hey, look at this awesome skate park!

I had a lady to show Shad's parents' house to at 11, so I missed most of the Saturday morning session.  But consider the house SOLD!  Pauline is perfect for the house and it's perfect for her.  Just pray for her parents' house to sell quickly so she can have the money to buy the house upfront.  Her parents in Florida are moving in with her and her 3 boys, whom she has on part time custody. 

Two sets of missionaries joined us at our house to watch conference.  We had bean soup for lunch and then they and Tommy went upstairs to play pool.  Shad rode with the missionaries to Phillipsburg to watch the Priesthood session in the evening at the church.  Shad reported that they didn't smell so lovely, due to the lunch I fed them.  Hahahaha!  Tommy, Katie and I had a fun evening.  We danced and wrestled, shopped for Easter treats, then went and sat on a blanket on a hill to watch the stock races.  Tommy had lots of fun watching the cars and "vrrrrrmmmmm"ing with me.  Then we watered our garden and took a bath.

Yesterday Katie had her first big girl bath with Tommy.  He thought it was great.  He showed her how to splash, use the squirt toys and he helped put bubbles in her hair.  He's such a fantastic big brother.  Have I mentioned that he's also teaching her how to high five and pound fists?

Tommy felt that I needed to do a puzzle a couple days ago.  I don't particularly enjoy puzzles.  I especially don't enjoy doing puzzles when a toddler is pulling apart assembled pieces, or walking across the puzzle.  Oh, and I REALLY don't like doing a puzzle when about 25% of the pieces are missing.  Not Tom's fault; we got the puzzle from a neighbor.

Tommy has a couple new favorite songs.  Number one: We Will Rock You.  He walks around everywhere saying "we wiw rot."  He's also working on coordinating himself to clap along with the rhythm.  Number two: Wake Up by The Arcade Fire.  He's learning to sing along to the "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh" parts.  He's getting good.  Just a little more practice and I'll get some videos up.

Fun with Kids

This week has mostly been about having fun with my kids and I've really enjoyed it.  It's been so nice to focus on them and not feel so bogged down with housework or projects.  I am still occupied by both, though more on the back burner.  We've gone on lots of walks, played at the park, had our usual fun at the library, and goofy games and wrestling at home.  Tommy likes to wear his hat when we go outside, so he asked to put it on when we went out one day.  Then, being the nut he is, I had trouble getting his shoes and jacket on because he was too busy running around.  Pulling his hat down over his eyes helped slow him down for me to get the rest of him assembled.

It's nice having kids who are friends.  Tommy loves to help take care of his sister with diapers, clothes, pacifiers, blankets, etc.  His newest thing has been to offer to share his cup and snacks with her.  He tried giving her a goldfish in church today, and a piece of popcorn tonight.  He's also looking forward to the day I let him tackle and wrestle with her.  Thursday, he was content to sit in her bed while I got her changed and dressed.  He still loves the bear mobil.

Saturday we consigned several items left by Shad's parents and ran errands.  I made a peach crisp to take to a potluck dinner at church for the young women before the General Young Women's Broadcast.  While I was gone, Shad and Dale, one of the young men, went out frisbee golfing.  It was Tommy's first time and I was told that he had a lot of fun chasing down his frisbee (that Shad threw) and waving it around in the air.

On Our Own

We've had a couple hectic, frazzled weeks and are now happy to just enjoy a laidback, calm week this week.  Two weeks ago was moving week.  Dan and Ryan arrived Wednesday night just as I was getting back from church.  Dan came in his truck and had borrowed somebody's trailer to help Vern and Pris move.  Turns out that it was a really good thing he did, because Uhaul didn't have the size van that Vern and Pris ordered.  Dan, Jimmy and Shad took a load of stuff up to Geneva on Friday, and they filled up again on Saturday along with the moving van and were able to just make it.  I watched the kids Thursday and Friday while Dan and Shad helped with everything.  Ryan went to the library with us on Thursday and we had a lot of fun.  He was a good caretaker and protecter for Katie.  He told me that he really likes Tommy now that he can do stuff.  It was fun having him around to play with.  We all went out to the Mexican restaurant for a last meal Friday night.  The Chinese place was still closed because the couple had gone to China for the new year and then gotten into a car accident when they got back.  They're back open now, but the chef broke a couple fingers and the poor guy is struggling to keep up in the kitchen.  Luckily people are understanding and patient.  Anyhow, I'm a complete failure and didn't get any pictures when everyone was here.  Bummer.

Last Monday, I began an attempt at potty training.  It went well for a couple days.  The second day had a 50% success rate, including a poop.  Wednesday, however, was extremely frustrating with a 15% success rate, so I decided to just stop and try again later.  Thursday was an emotionally difficult day for some reason, so Shad sent me out of the house to go biking when he got home.  I haven't biked in two and a half years, so I was very pleased at being able to push myself to do 10 miles.  It was a challenge, as expected, but still very doable.  The only body part sore afterwards was my butt, so that'll have to be conditioned to the seat a bit better, and I might look into a softer seat.  I'm feeling very optimistic about my 100 mile ride though.  Planning on doing that in the fall for cooler weather.

I've been having fun with some culinary experiments lately, namely, finding things to do with a couple pumpkins I still have left from my garden last year.  We've had Harvest Chicken Chowder, a thick and chunky chicken vegetable soup with pumpkin mixed into the broth.  I made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, which Shad and I can't get enough of, and whole wheat pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (with applesauce instead of oil), which Tommy can't get enough of.  I really like that, because it's sneaking in fruit and vegetables for him!  He just discovered this morning that he can stack a mini muffin on top of a regular muffin, and that it's really funny!  He calls the muffins "mumah," which was a little confusing for me at first because it's so close to Momma.

Miss Katie has perfected rolling over from front to back.  We're still working on back to front.  She also likes to practice sitting up.  She's so strong and determined to be a big girl.  The thought crossed my mind that she'll be 5 months in 4 days and in another month I'll be starting her on oatmeal.  She's just growing up:)  She's also developing her conversationalist skills.  She's a good little talker and will carry on a 5-10 minute conversation with a willing adult.  She's a good socializer at church and gets passed around the ward.  Oh, and she's found a foot.  I haven't seen her holding both feet yet, just her right foot.

Tom's been becoming a handful to keep quiet at church, so I've decided to take up the project of sewing a quiet book.  Hopefully it won't take me months as reported by other quiet book makers I've come across in my internet research for ideas.

Picture time!

Why is it so cute when they just pass out asleep in someone's arms?

Tommy has learned about bras (he likes playing in our closet) and so when we went to Pamida and he saw bras in the womens department, he said, "Mom! Bra!!"  We put it on him and let him push Katie around the store.

I've made Katie a total of 4 pairs of Baby Legs and love dressing her in them because pants don't fit her well.  A lady at church couldn't resist buying Katie this pretty dress at a thrift store.  She was a doll on Sunday.

Last night Tommy found this gift bow on the floor and put it on Katie's head.  It was pretty precious.  The picture is blurry because the boy often finds my camera and practices his photography skills.  Unfortunately, he hasn't yet figured out that he needs to remove his finger from the lense, so there's often fingerprints left behind.

Sweet little Katie fell asleep slouched down in her swing right after I gave her her blanket to cuddle with.

Yesterday we ventured out for a walk around town.  Katie fell asleep, but then didn't move a muscle when she woke up.  She just lay there blinking til I picked her up.  Then we sat on the porch swing waiting for Shad to get home.  Tommy read the paper while I looked over sale ads.

A touch of Kansas.  We may not have awesome mountains, but we do have big, unobscured skies.