There's no stopping her now!

Lion and a Bee

Another wonderful day with 4 kids 2 and under (I won't be able to say that much longer! Emmett turns 3 in less than a month!). Emmett was really good again today! I'm very much enjoying this while it lasts! Hopefully all my positive reinforcement is working!

Photo taken by Emmett - I just love how little Eisley looks and I love the look on her face - classic Eisley.

We're finally all bundled up and ready to go outside!

Swinging is a favorite for all the kids.

My sweet little boy...

...is having so much fun!

The many faces/positions of Eisley...

And then we went to Boo Blast at Byerly's - basically an excuse to get dressed up and learn how to say "thank you!"

Today anyway, Eisley was a little bumblebee. We picked up the costume for $3.50 at a thrift store and I think it's absolutely adorable! My friend gave me that little bug hair clippie which looks adorable with the bee ensemble.

Emmett is wearing a lion costume we borrowed from a friend and it's PERFECT! He is so into wild animals and his shaggy little hair sticking out of the hood couldn't be any cuter!

We have another costume for each of the kids so we'll have to see what they are the next time they dress up!

Apple Craft

There's nothing like a little apple craft to keep the kids occupied for 10 minutes! Then with the additional 10 minutes of clean-up, I'd say it was a success!

Eisley even joined in the fun - don't tell her the cap comes off!

After that we used our dot paints to paint leaves onto our hand-drawn trees. We looked outside and saw how some of the leaves are on the trees and some are on the ground. So each child painted their tree according to how they saw the leaves. Emmett's were mostly on the tree, Flora's were mostly off. Don't have any deep insight, just found it interesting. Sorry no pictures!

Pretty incredible

I may be biased, but I think my son is pretty incredible.

Emmett is very thoughtful and always doing things for other people. For example, when Papa and Grandma came over on Friday Emmett asked me to make breakfast for them too. So I put a couple more cups of water in the coffee maker to make sure there was enough for them. I had originally offered to make Emmett flax pancakes for breakfast. He told me cereal was okay, and that Papa and Grandma could have cereal too.

He is very patient with his sister and very rarely uses and sort of aggression towards her.

Sure we have our typical 2 year old melt downs; he embarrasses me in public, screams when he's frustrated, whines when he doesn't get his way and his latest favorite phrase is, "I'm jus a lil bit sadt."

Today, this kid was seriously an angel - and he didn't even get a nap.

This morning, after playing with his train tracks, he put them away without me even having to ask. Keep reading, it gets better!

We went to the dollar store and I told him he could pick out one item - a toy or candy. He chose a bag of lollipops. He then showed me a couple other things he thought were "funny" (including a skeleton head) and I reminded him that he had already picked out the lollipops, but he could get the other item instead. His response, "ok Mom!" He then said, "I need something to drink." He walked over to the cooler and picked out a soda pop. I told him I'd rather he didn't drink a soda pop, but that he could choose a juice. Again, his response..."ok Mom!" Then he was playing with the spray bottles which originally had been hanging off the wire shelving. "Emmett could you please put the bottles back on the shelf." I then walked away and turned around to see Emmett hanging every last bottle back on the shelf. Examples like these could go on and on...

Our next adventure took us to the grocery store. We walk in the door, "I want a driving cart!" "Sorry sweetie, we're not using a driving cart today, we just need to grab a basket" "Ok Mom, I'll get a basket for you, and a basket for me too!" Seriously, this is no joke! He asked me to place our veggies in his basket. "Putting things in my basket makes me happy!" Even when I turned down his request to purchase an ice cream treat, there was not a whine that came out of his mouth. As I was looking for a variety of canned beans, Emmett said, "Let me do it! I want to be a helper!" So I would point to the can I wanted and he would place it in the basket.

Now we're home. For dinner Emmett claims the seat next to Eisley so that he can "help her eat her dinner."

This little boy never ceases to amaze me. Even when he's not such an angel, he still amazes me.

Jammies and scarves

Eisley has a thing for scarves...and playing in her jammies.

Night night!

the halloween costume hunt

I've been thinking about Emmett's halloween costume for weeks.

First of all, what ever happened to home made costumes?

(I'm the clown, my brother is the indian)

Eric's family - he's the thing in the blue shirt - what is that?

Ok, back to business...

Initially the decision was between a rock star and a shark. For a rock star Emmett could just wear his normal clothes and we could spray paint his hair and carry a guitar around. A friend of mine reminded me, Emmett looks like a rock star all the time, it wouldn't really be any different than normal. Hence the spray painted hair! Turns out Eric didn't love the idea either.

So then it was the shark. Specifically the Pottery Barn kids shark. I totally fell in love with this costume, apparently along with the rest of the world. It sells for $59 but for $100+ on ebay. What is with that? Turns out two little details (the price tag, and it's sold out everywhere) kept us from going that route.

So plan C was the darling Tiger costume at Old Navy. I love Old Navy costumes - they are so warm and cozy. Perfect the the MN trick or treater. We called all the Old Navy's in the metro area and could not find this custom either! Big Bummer!

Today we divided and conquered in search of the perfect costume for Emmett. Eisley and I went north, east and south to check out a few random stores and a few consignment stores. Nothing wonderful. Emmett and Eric went south to check out good old Kmart and Toys R Us. They found a darling costume and Emmett is pretty excited. I'll give you a hint - Emmett is very into "wild animals" right now, so the costume is along those lines.

Sweet Sibling Moment Side Note:

Hard at work and hard at play!

I did flowers for a banquet today ((pictures will come eventually). While I was hard at work, the kids and grandparents were hard at play! I'm so glad they took pictures so I could see how much fun my little ones were having! How grateful I am to live close to family!