Family Force 5 Fun

We have a narrow little window next to our front door and I often wonder what people walking by may be seeing going on inside our home.

Tonight they would have seen a dance party. The music was rocking and everyone was laughing and smiling. We were rocking to the new Family Force 5 song. Emmett was playing guitar and vocals while Eisley was danced her heart out.

Sharks anyone?

I'm getting behind on my daily blogs. I'll quick summarize the day. It wasn't at all what I had expected it would be, but for that reason, it was marvelous!

Emmett began the morning by dressing himself in an orange and brown shirt that matched with his orange and brown flip flops. Totally his idea. He's very into matching and he does it very well - not too matchy, just right. Oh, and yes, he wore underwear too. Superhero underwear seems to be the favorite these days.

Then the kids and I headed to the Mall of America to return something I had purchased for Eric. That's all we had planned for the day. When we were there I realized its "Toddler Tuesdays" so we walked over to the rotunda to check out the happenings. On the way there we had to stop for a Cinnabon, of course! Yum!

At the rotunda there was coloring and a little mini performance by a children's theater company. Emmett really enjoyed it! Eisley ate crayons.

Emmett has been very into sharks lately (well all "wild" animals, including sharks). We saw a couple pictures and statues and big giant walking sharks at the mall so I asked him if he's like to go see some real sharks. Of course he did, so to my surprise we went to Underwater World! Because of Toddler Tuesday I only had to pay the child admission price and Emmett and Eisley are free till they're 3. So, I couldn't think of a better way to spend $13! We walked through the aquarium twice - we saw sharks, sea turtle, sea stars, sea horses and even guitar fish! I haven't been to Underwater World (in it's entirety, we went to a portion last year that was free for a day) in probably more than 10 years so it was a real treat for all of us.

Then we went out for lunch. There are a variety of restaurants that have kids eat free on Tuesdays so we decided that Emmett didn't want to eat anything. He especially "didn't want" ribs so we went to Famous Daves and ordered him ribs. The reverse psychology worked and he did indeed eat some ribs. Another $10 well spent in my opinion.

We then headed home for naps, followed by a quick and uneventful trip to Target and ended the day with time with Grandma for the kids and a MOPS meeting for me.

It was a lovely day. I'm so glad that I have one day free to do fun/educational outings with my precious little students. PBS does say, "You're your child's best first teacher." I'm doing my best!

Oh, and sorry no pictures. I didn't think a quick trip to MOA to return a sweatshirt warranted a camera. However, Emmett is used to me taking pictures all the time so on occasion he would strike a pose and say, "Mommy take a picture of me!" So I pulled out my phone like any good mother would do, and snapped a picture. Now if I can just figure out how to get them off my phone...

Mr. Potato Head

Emmett got a new toy from Nana. A classic. A Mr. Potato Head.

Not surprisingly, Emmett is the kind of kid who puts the parts where the parts are supposed to go.

I actually didn't really think through that personality trait until I saw my nanny girl's Mr. Potato Head. She had taken more of a Picasso approach.

What a zoo!

I love going to the Animal Haven Zoo which is near our cabin in Wisconsin. It's the best zoo I've ever been to. There are a wide variety of animals and the animals are so close it's scary... but safe :). We get to chat with the owners and learn more about the animals and what it's like to run a zoo. We've made it a tradition to go every time we're at the cabin and it's something I look forward to doing each time.

Do you see the big lion in the background?

Emmett's tiger shirt with the real tiger in the background.

Emmett loved feeding the animals.

The donkey greeted us in friendly donkey fashion, "hee haws" and loud brays! It startled us at first, but then we realized the donkey were quite friendly.

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We spent the evening at my Grandma and Grandpa's house. The kids entertained everyone.

One funny thing I didn't get a picture of was Emmett playing with my grandpa's lifting recliner. He climbed up on the recliner and grabbed the remote and the chair started raising and tipping forward. Emmett was a bit nervous, his eyes getting bigger and bigger, but kept pushing the button. He then looked over at us and realized we were all watching him. He got a big grin on his face and said, "a bideo dame chair!" (translation: "a video game chair!")

Eisley picked up the lace and put it over her head.

My grandparents with my kids.

Eisley with her Great Grandpa!

The whole gang...

Cabin here we come

We drove to the cabin with my parents. The kids did great, thanks to my mother's continual entertainment. When we arrived about 11:30pm Emmett was pretty wired. He picked out where he wanted to sleep...in the "basketball bed" which isn't really a bed at all. It's a ball pit, but while playing downstairs we asked him where he wanted to sleep. He looked around and pointed to the ball pit and said, "in there!" His wish was our command!

Even though he had an awesome bed he was still having a hard time going to sleep. So he and Nana stayed up reading books, drinking soda pop and eating chips. It doesn't get much better than that!

Potty Trained?

I think Emmett may be potty trained! I haven't really been pushing him either way. For a while he'd wake up and want to wear a diaper, the next day it was underwear. I was just going with it. For about 2 weeks now, it's been underwear! The only accident we had was at our friends' house, but he was having a lot of fun and I can't blame him for not wanting to leave the trampoline or jumpy things to take a bathroom break.

Emmett likes to use his "teddy bear potty chair" (named by Emmett, and I highly recommend this product) when he has a bowl movement. As you can see, he likes to relax and read a book.

We'll see if this lasts! The potty training that is. I'm pretty sure the bathroom book reading will last.

This kid cracks me up

We heard some banging upstairs in Emmett's room after bedtime. Eric went upstairs to investigate. What he found was that Emmett had taken off his jammies and his diaper (he now sleeps with a diaper so I don't have to change the sheets every morning). He put on two pairs of underwear, his brown "rock star" corduroy pants, his brown and orange flip flops, rolled up his pants, put on his orange bug shirt and put on his superman shirt backwards over the orange shirt. This kid cracks me up.

The brown pants and orange shirt was one outfit he had picked out for tomorrow and the superman shirt was part of another outfit I had picked out for him for tomorrow. He actually does a really good job picking out his own clothes, for the most part. Sometimes, I just want him to wear something else, which is why, tonight we laid out two outfits in hopes that tomorrow I could convince him that the superman shirt and camo shorts would be the best choice.

Back to tonight...

All I can say is that it was a good thing Eric went up to investigate instead of me cause I totally would have burst out laughing and said, "hold on one second while I go grab my camera." I know all you readers (including myself a little bit) wish it had been me however, cause then we would have a picture of this creative little fellow.

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Lately Emmett has been referring to his night time sleeping as a "nap".

"Mommy, what are we going to do after my nap?"

"Well tomorrow we're going to..."

It's so cute.

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Emmett often wakes up at dawn. The sun is just rising. He looks out the window and says, "It's a lil' bit dark and a lil' bit white."

"It's a little bit dark and a little bit BRIGHT?"

"No, it's a lil bit dark and a lil bit WHITE."

"A little bit LIGHT?"

"No, a lil bit WHITE."

"White?"

"Yes. A lil bit dark and a lil bit WHITE."

"Why yes, sweetie, I suppose it is."

Eisley's precious little parts prayer

As I held my little girl in my arms trying to get her to go back to sleep (which was eventually successful), I studied her every little detail. I realized that I have SO much to be grateful for!

I remembered back to her first days in the hospital when she failed her hearing test in one ear. We chose not to worry at that moment, but I have to admit the worry did linger a bit until her next doctor's appointment. At the next appointment, our hunches were confirmed, it was just amniotic fluid in her ear that caused her to fail the initial test. She passed the hearing test in both ears. Praise the Lord!

Her ears work, her eyes work, her nose works, her heart works, her feet work... So today, I took a moment to thank God for every little detail of her body and prayed for protection and guidance for all the sweet little parts of Eisley. In a condensed version, here is Eisley's precious little parts prayer.

Dear Lord, thank you for Eisley's beautiful blue eyes. Please let her eyes see only the good in people. Let her eyes see only things that will be uplifting to her. I pray that she never sees herself in a negative light, that she only sees herself the way you see her.

Thank you for Eisley's working ears. I pray that you will protect her ears from words that are unkind and demeaning. I pray that her ears will hear what You want them to hear.

Thank you for her beating heart. I pray that she devotes her heart to you at an early age. I pray that you will protect her heart from pain. I pray that she will not give her heart away easily.

Thank you for her feet and toes. May they go where you want her to go. I pray that they will be used to spread the Truth of your Word.

Thank you for Eisley's perfect little lips. I pray that they will only speak kind word to others. I pray that you will guard who she kisses.

Thank you for her arms and fingers. I pray that they will only touch others with love. I pray that they will be used to do Your work.

Thank you for her precious little nose.

Thank you for her beautiful skin.

Dear Heavenly Father, keep Eisley safe from danger seen and unseen. Thank you for the privilege of being her mother.

Photos and Day Summary

Here are photos from our day...

We had a last minute play date with Becky and Jennifer's kids. Considering we had 7 children (4 and under), an 8th on the way (that's Becky's) and 2 adults I think we survived surprisingly well!

Our clan...

Then we grabbed food at the drive through and ate at the park.

Emmett officially swings on the "big boy swing" now!

Isn't this the sweetest picture...

Eisley's little snorty face...

This is Eisley's latest favorite thing to do. Climb into Emmett's chair and sit like a big girl. She is very proud of herself, as you can see.

I'm married to a 30 year old!

Today my wonderful husband turned 30. We celebrated in a variety of ways.

We surprised him at work with breakfast for all of Eric and all of his employees. I made egg bake, creme brule french toast and maple syrup pull-aparts. I didn't get any pictures, but it was a great time chatting with everyone and eating the yummy food!

Then we went to hang out with one of my friends. This celebration had nothing to do with Eric turning 30, it was just about having fun.

We finished off our day by going to Psycho Suzi's for pizza and to spend time with a few of Eric's closest friends. Here is a photographic summary.

We had a wonderful time. We should do this more often... the eating out with friends part, not the turning 30 part.