Cuteness

Today I was looking at some letters with Olivia. She knows the majority of her capital letters, but we've never really looked at lower case letters. I showed her a "b" today and asked her what it was. Her answer, "a up-side-down P." Of course being her mom, I thought it was cute.

Cherry Picking 2009

These are just such lovely shots of myself that I am so happy to post them...but it's for the journal you know. We went cherry picking at a farm in Mattawan with our friends Derek and Alicia. We didn't get many pictures, but the kids, especially Luke had a blast picking cherries. Luke didn't "need" the ladders. He was in it for climbing the trees. He did pick a bunch of cherries.

Olivia was mainly into running around, needing to go potty, and getting injured. Olivia at one point was running with so much joy to come and give me a hug. She didn't see the bucket I was wearing (I'm not sure how she could miss it), and ran smack into it. She hit her open mouth pretty hard, I was scared we would have a loose or missing tooth, but luckily it was just blood.

That left Ryan to pretty much pick by himself. We got around 20 pounds. I've never put up cherries before, I remember when my mom would bottle them, but I can't remember if I liked them, so we decided to just freeze them.

When we got home, I was washing the cherries and Olivia pulled up a chair and helped for a good 30 minutes. I made her take off her shirt so she wouldn't stain it with the cherry juice. She had so much fun, and she actually was very helpful.

Swimming Lessons 2009

The kids are all set and ready to go. We found some GREAT lessons at Brittany's Swim School. The kids loved being there, and it was so nice, because they accept 3 years old. Even though Olivia is a month and a half shy of 3 they let her attend. They both loved it, and I loved it because of the great progress the kids made.

Luke was in level 4 and he did a great job. I can't believe how well he is swimming. He is our fish.

These are the bars they used to help the kids practice their form when swimming.

Above is Luke doing an awesome backstroke!

Below he is doing the freestyle. Look at how far he's getting his arms out of the water!

Of course there's always time for free time. Luke was a diving fool. He was constantly running and diving off the diving board. The teachers were amazed he was diving every time he got on the board. Of course I could never catch a dive on camera, but his very last jump I was able to catch his silly fall (done on purpose) off the diving board.

They also had a slide that was fun to go down.

Olivia was in the level 1 class and she loved it. On the cold days, I tried to convince her not to get in the pool, but she insisted that it was her turn and wanted to go in. There were 10 kids in her class and 4-5 teachers. She loved almost all of them, but there was one she didn't want to do anything for. For Miss Brittany though, she would do anything. She felt very comfortable with her.

Above the kids are doing their Ring around the rosies. Instead of "all fall down" they would pick to do things like "stick our ears in the water, put our hair in the water, go under," or other fun things to get them ready to swim.
Here Olivia is sticking her face in for her friend Brittany

Livvy didn't really enjoy jumping into the water, but she did to show Dad how big she was when he came to watch.

Livvy was so proud to jump off the diving board. You'll notice that she really was thrown off, but she thought that was good enough. We were all so proud of her for doing it.

At the wall they would do Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, and they would help them "fall" into the water.

Brrr, a few of the days we had swimming lessons the temperature was in the low 60's. Luckily even though it was so cold outside, the pool was heated up to 88 degrees. It was the only way the kids didn't turn into Popsicles.

We loved swimming lessons here, and hope to return again next year. The kids want to go again after our trip.

World's Largest Breakfast Table

For those of you who don't know Battle Creek, which is just up the road from us is the Cereal Capital of the World. Kellogg's is there. What more needs to be said?

Each year there is the World's Largest Breakfast Table where you can go and enjoy free cereal, juice and bananas. I'm really not sure who hosts it each year, there are a number of cereals that are served. This year it almost wasn't held because of the lovely economy, but area merchants stepped up and sponsored it so the show could go on.

We were able to go this year. It was fun, there were a ton of people there enjoying free breakfast, and the kids loved to see the characters up and down the streets. Luke liked the live bands that were playing. We were only able to get a couple of pictures...silly Mom forgot the camera, but luckily Dad came through with his phone.

And yes, I do have a black eye, the fun of soccer.

Summertime

"Oh we're very very busy and we've got a lot to do and we don't have a minute to explain it all to you, for on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday there are people we must see. And on Wednesday, Thursday Friday we're as busy as can be."
I think that's how the words go to a Sandra Boynton song on our Philadelphia Chickens CD we own. I think this song and the book, "If you give a Moose a Muffin" describe my life all too well.
So I keep thinking I'm going to take the time to blog, but I get sidetracked and busy, and then when I have down time, I'm just relaxing. Never say that you think that next week you'll have more time, because it's amazing how those simple words can come back and bite you. :)
So anyway, I can't wait to blog about swimming lessons, and our fun summer activities and our upcoming trips, but they'll wait- just like my laundry (although that does get to the point of needing to get done).
How's your summer going?

Jesus Loves Us

With Luke being out of school, we've had some adjustment periods trying to learn where the boundaries are. Luke has obviously with this had some times where I have been frustrated and have gotten angry with him. At these times, Livvy seems to feel bad for Luke, and while I'm reprimanding him, she'll say, "Jesus loves us. He doesn't want us to fight." She reins me in and reminds me that I too need to show love even when I'm upset.
But don't get me wrong, when Livvy's mad at Luke, she'll scream at him and hit him as many times as she can get in. hahaha. She's my little determined one. But she teaches us a great lesson when it's needed.

First

The other day after swimming lessons, I was trying to herd the cats, I mean kids into the car. We were having our friends over for lunch, and I was trying to hurry to get home and get the food ready as the kids would be starving after swimming. So I got the kids buckled in, and then went to tell Sarah that I would be heading home to start the food. Then I ran and jumped in the car and took off. Livvy started talking about where we were going, and I told her that we would be going home. She started crying and said that Luke wanted to go too. I told her that Luke would be coming. Then turned to look to see what she was talking about. There was Luke's car seat empty. EMPTY? Where is he? I thought for a second he was hiding in the back, which I was going to yell at him about, but Livvy kept crying about how Luke wanted to come too. I then realized that I had left him at swimming.
I whipped a "U"ey, and went on back. Soon, Luke came running to the car with a look of shock on his face. I asked him where he was, and he said that he had forgotten his toy and went back to get it. He said that he had run, screaming after me (the air was on full- for him, and obviously I didn't look out the side of the car to see him) and then he tripped and skinned his knee. He then went back to the house where lessons are at, and was going to ask to use their phone to call me. Lucky for him he had a sister looking out for him, because I had forgotten my phone.
At first he was a little put out that I would leave him, but then he laughed and asked if I was going to blog about it. I had a good laugh (after I got over the shock of having left him), and told him that if he EVER left the car again to let me know before he ran off.

Independence

I wished for a camera the moment I saw it, but I didn't have time to find one.
Olivia LOVES carrots. She'll eat them cooked if she must, but she loves them fresh and raw. Many a time I have come around the corner into the kitchen and found her pulling one out of the fridge trying to eat it before it has been washed or peeled. For this reason, I started buying the baby carrots again so she could eat them straight from the fridge. It appears that this one night we were out of baby carrots and so Olivia found a regular carrot. She has been scolded often enough about eating them before they're peeled, that I found reaching up as high as she could on her tippy toes peeling the carrot into the sink.
When she saw me she looked like the kid who got stuck with his hand in the cookie jar. She quickly aborted her plan and threw the peeler into the sink, dropped the carrot and ran off. I wish, I wish, I wish the camera would have been in arms reach. It was the cutest thing in the world.

Shiner

So here it is. My pride and joy for this week's soccer game. Isn't it a beaut?

I had to apologize to Ryan for all the wife beater jokes he's been getting.

My Sweet Thing

Please note the "Vanna" hands.

My sweet little girl was playing with these Easter Egg Dying cups and this is what she built. She said, "Look at my Temple, Mom."

Isn't she the sweetest?

Memorial Day 2009

Someone asked if they could take our picture together, and then we took a picture of them. Too bad Ryan was in doing a session at the time or he would be in the picture, too.

Olivia's first attempt at taking a picture. She may have a future ahead of her.

Luke wanted to take a picture of the Fountain.

For Memorial Day Weekend we wanted to take a trip to Chicago to do Temple Work, and have an mini vacation with the family. You know, we've kind of made it a tradition to do Temple Work on Memorial Day Weekend, I realize we're not visiting graves of those who have gone on before us, but the work which we are doing for them helps them to progress in gaining the greatest blessings available for them. It's kind of a nice thought.

We went to the Temple right as we got to Chicago. It was so nice to be able to be there. Then we went to check into our hotel. I thought about going to Navy Pier, but the only thought on the kid's minds were about the swimming pool. So we went swimming. To Livvy now, Chicago means hotel swimming pool.

After swimming, we went to eat at the Cheesecake Factory, the food was okay, but the cheesecake was delicious. Next time, I think we'll eat somewhere else and just go for the cheesecake.

On Sunday we went to church with our friends Molly and Raymond, and their kids Weston and William. They invited us back to their house to eat and visit. It was very nice.

On Monday, we went to the Brookfield Zoo. It is such a great fun zoo. Everyone was at the zoo that day, you couldn't hardly turn around. My neck froze up, so I wasn't the nicest person around, but we still had fun. As we left, the rain started falling, our timing couldn't have been more perfect.

The Geese and their goslings were the big hit of the day. Luke and Livvy would have followed them everywhere if we had let them.

The baby giraffe is tired.

The Brookfield Zoo has the best monkey house ever. We had fun watching them play. Unfortunately the lighting is bad for pictures.

The Polar Bears are so playful here. This particular bear was doing as Livvy and I called it, "the Backwards Dance," and as Luke called it the "Moon Walk." Whatever it was it was hilarious. Over and over again he would come sauntering backwards out of his house until he reached the pool. Then he would head back inside, just to repeat his backwards swagger back to the pool again. We watched it over and over again.

Last we went to the "Dinosaurs Alive" exhibit. It was okay, we expected a lot more considering you had to pay extra to see it. Livvy was freaked out by the huge monsters, and there were so many people we just rushed through to get out of there. There were so many toddlers screaming in terror, because these dinosaurs move their head and there are roaring noises piped in for the show. It wasn't worth it.

We had a great Memorial Day Weekend. I can't wait to continue the tradition next year.

Cute Random Things about Olivia

In an effort to remember funny things my 2 year old says, this a post for her.

Vocabulary:



Sadirt= dessert

StinkerBell= TinkerBell

Eldigator= Elevator and Escalator (she's just over coming her fear of both).

Painted Nail Polish= Fingernail Polish

Flip Flips= Flip Flops

Smack It!= hit it or smash it

Bob= Caterpillar

It's Blooding= It's bleeding!

Can I hold you? = Will you hold me?

Nicely = Please

MissTina = Christina





Olivia fell down the other day, and came up crying- she was tired, not hurt, and she cried out "Oh, I've got a hang nail!"



I lost it the other day when Livvy stuck her Cheetos covered hand into her bulk container of hair conditioner, and let her know- angrily how expensive that stuff was and it was not to play with. Now whenever she sees the conditioner, she says' "That's spensive" and she doesn't stick her hand it it. Man, a new 32 ounce wide mouthed bottle of condition ($52) and we had to scoop the Cheetos part away. Ahhh well, lesson learned by mom and daughter.

When I remember or hear some more, I'll make a new post. Luke and I have been racking our brains trying to remember what she says, so I'll be better about writing them down from now on.

A second mom

Last night as we were reading scriptures, Luke was acting out. I was telling him it was time to shape up and settle down. Livvy was copying me, repeating every word I said, using the same tone of voice. I turned to her and said, "Livvy, you're not the mom!" in my firm voice. She tips her head to the side and answered with her million dollar smile, "Am I the dad?"

We all had a good laugh.

Happy Mother's Day 2009

Well, it's not the best picture, but I thought I would post my new do. I went and got my hair cut as an early Mother's Day treat for myself last week. I really like it, but this was the best I could do taking my own picture as I was running out the door for church.

Oh, you ask why Ryan didn't take the picture? Because he had meetings before church on Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day to all you women out there.

My Mother's Day.

Ryan brought me the laptop so I could work on my talk in bed, while he and Luke fixed me breakfast in bed.

I got to open my presents during breakfast. Olivia picked out a huge container of water balloons for me. Oh, I've so been wanting some of those.

Luke couldn't find the gift he wanted to buy me, so he bought me the movie the Ant Bully.

Oh boy, I've been dying to see that. I haven't got the reviews for you on that one yet.

Ryan bought me some foot lotion from Bath and Body Works.

Ryan and I then had one of those under the breath talks about what kind of presents the dad is letting the kids pick out.

After breakfast, Ryan occupied the kids while I continued to stress over my talk.

12:00 Ryan fixes the kids a sandwich while I'm trying to straighten my hair. 12:05 he leaves for meetings while I'm still working on my hair.

12:15 I hear Livvy yelling something so I go to see what's going on. She is coming up the stairs (with the new carpet) with a cup of chocolate syrup in it, yelling she wants me to make her some chocolate milk.

I then see the chocolate hand prints up the wall she is leaving in her trail.

Enter kitchen and see the puddle of chocolate syrup on the floor (wood, thank goodness), and look around to see what else there could be. While getting a rag to clean up the mess, I notice the afore mentioned cute girl holding the chocolate syrup bottle, chugging the syrup as fast as she can. I take it away from her, and notice the chocolate smudges all over her face.

Then as I go to wash the hand prints off the wall, she climbs on the counter, and pours honey all over and proceeds to finger paint with it. (Honey left out by the honey who made the sandwiches).

As I'm grabbing her away from that, Luke comes in the kitchen and steps in the puddle of chocolate syrup and proceeds to leave footprints of it on his way to the bathroom to wash his foot.
At this point, I, who am on the phone, groan out, "why do we have Mother's Day?"

Well, I got the majority of the mess cleaned up, (I'm still cleaning up sticky parts on the floor) and even made it to church on time. My talk went fairly well, and I can even laugh about the messes I was dealt that day.

After church our Ward held a Linger-Longer. We had made a crock pot full of Kahlua Pork. I tasted a little as I was shredding the meat and it was delicious. Unfortunately, we ended up at the back of the line, and got a tiny portion of it, and little of anything else. But we ended up going to Rollie and Jonathan's house and had grilled salmon which was so delicious, so it was all good.

So the day wasn't picture perfect, but if it was, there wouldn't be any special reason to remember it. So I'll take it, and love it. And I'll love my family forever. Like I said in my talk, I'm so thankful not only to be a mother, but I am so thankful that I can be Lukas and Olivia's mother. Life is good.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

Eva, Penelope, and Olivia enjoying the fruits of their labors.

For Cinco de Mayo we had some friend's over to celebrate. We had a very "Americanized" Mexican meal of Chicken Enchilada's, Warm Fajita Salad, 4 cheese rice, refried beans, salsa and chips. It was good food and good company. What more can you ask for?

After dinner, Luke had decorated, as only an 8 year old boy can, a paper bag pinata. Unfortunately he had to leave for scouts before we were able to break it open. The 3 little girls weren't exactly sure why they we whacking the bag with a stick, but they were sure happy when the candy came falling out.

Families

We had a very fun Family Home Evening where we talked about the blessings of the Temple. Then we all built a Temple out of 3 ounce Dixie cups. The kids thought it was great.

Here are our hideously cute baby birds. Their nest is on our fence post butted up to the house. We have fun checking on them and making sure they're still there.

It was so neat, when Luke found the nest we actually got to watch one of the birds coming out of it's shell. That was a first for us all. We thought it was a cool experience.