Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

New professional pictures!

I went and had professional pictures taken of the kids today. These were Erin's two-year pictures, but a little behind. I had to wait for a certain brother to get his cast off! They both behaved very well, and we got some great shots. It helps to bribe them with a lunch at Chuck E. Cheese if they sit as asked and smile! I'm not above bribery, ha ha!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

We are family

...all my brothers, sisters and me! Well, in these pictures there is one brother/son, one sister/daughter, one husband/father and one wife/mother. It is our happy family, and we love it! These were taken on Father's Day when we went down to Harborfest.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Flashback Friday... with some commentary

I am hopelessly behind in my scrapbooking. Well, not hopelessly, because I still have hope, but I have come up with a new plan of attack. Currently I am up to Kyle at 14 months. Gasp! My problem is I take SOOO many pictures, and I can barely part with any of them. They all go in the scrapbook. His first year "album" is three albums. Erin doesn't even have one yet! Another gasp!

So the new plan is that I am going to make an effort to scrapbook at home. I gave up on it when Kyle was young. It was too much effort to get everything out for a very short amount of time -- like naps or the evening -- since I couldn't keep little fingers away from it. I have been relying on the extended crops I am blessed to be able to do.

My concerted effort to scrapbook at home will begin with both Kyle and Erin's 2010 albums. I will get those up to date at home. Then when I go to long crops I will work on the backlog. Eventually I hope to meet in the middle. Hopefully while the kids are still young, lol!

So now enters the flashback for Flashback Friday. I have gone through all the pictures I took in January, grouped them, decided on pages, and all the prints are ordered. Next week I can begin them. All this planning and plotting has me itching to get in there and start the pages. Woo hoo!

Here is our trip to the Grand Rapids Children's Museum in January that I never made a blog post about, other than this Wordless Wednesday post. There was a new veterinarian exhibit. Enjoy -- the kids sure did!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Beds are optional...

Erin's transition from crib to toddler bed has been interesting. She moved into the bed very easily. Went down for her first nap in it with no problem. I think it lasted a day where she didn't realize she could get out on her own -- then she was all about it! She'd come in our room during the night and want in with us. Since I don't know the last time I got a full, uninterrupted night of sleep, I was usually too tired to argue.

Finally I decided I needed to toughen up and take her back. So, she came in again and I said, "Erin, it's the middle of the night and you need to sleep in your own bed." She looked surprised, said, "Oh!" and left. Wow -- easy!

Now she's in a whole new phase. She wakes up during the night and wants to sleep on the floor. I'll wake up to, "Mommy!" Usually when this happens I open my eyes and see a small face an inch or so from mine. Now I see no one; I just hear a little voice. I'll peek over the side and Erin will be on the floor, head on our extra pillow with the sham, and asking me to put her blanket on her. She then sleeps there the rest of the night. Hey, whatever floats your boat!

Friday, June 18, 2010

My little cast-away

Kyle was a trooper today getting his cast off! That four weeks went by fast. When he broke his elbow my heart broke for his "lost summer" of bike riding and swinging. Now here we are with tons of summer left and two good arms!

For the first half of the day Kyle protectively held his arm close to his body and I would remind him on occasion that he could use both arms. By the end of the day he was using it much more. We still have some stiffness to work out, but he is already improving much quicker than I thought he would this morning. The trick will be to be sure he doesn't go too far with it and get careless. It still would be easier to break if he landed on it again.

And I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually walked out the door without my camera this morning. In our haste I forgot it! (sniff) These were taken with my phone.We got to bring his cast home with us, as we did when he had the buckle fracture to his wrist. Boy oh boy has he grown! It's amazing to look at the size difference. Although the first one only went to his elbow and this one went up to the top part of his arm, you can see the difference in his wrist and hand easily. He sure has grown!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Aww, my sweet book worm!

Erin is a girl after my own heart. One of her first words was book. She loves to bring me books and say, "Read? Read book?" She stole my heart away when she settled down with her baby this week, covered her with a blanket, and proceeded to "read" her a story. It was absolutely adorable! I think Erin will be a book lover just like her mom!! (And her brother!)

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

STRAWBERRIES!

We went strawberry picking this morning and came home with some great berries! The kids had a lot of fun. Erin was a good picker, getting lots of red ones (a few not so red!) and focusing on the task at hand. Kyle was more focused on eating them, which was great too!
And, it is now the tradition in our family to have a strawberry shortcake dinner -- once a year when the Michigan strawberries come in. And it's always yummy when they are the fruits of your labor... hee hee... I'm punny. ;-)