Good Bye Training Wheels!

I recently posted how we bought Evan a big boy bike, which required a change to Emma's princess bike. She has been wanting and waiting for us to take of her training wheels and this was the perfect opportunity.  Tim took the old, white princess training wheels off of Emma's bike, painted them black, and put them on Evan's bike.  AND the whole house was happy.

We worked with Emma yesterday for about 10 minutes to ride her big girl bike (sans training wheels) and she would not at all let me take my hands off the bike seat.  She didn't really get the balance, got frustrated, and decide to ride her scooter.

Tonight after Catechism, the boys were outside and it was so nice outside that we decided to join them.   Evan was tearing it up on his big boy bike and loving life.  He was proud of himself that he could ride on the grass.  And, once that thrill wasn't good enough, he decided to pedal as fast as he could on the blacktop and THEN go down the hill on the grass. Thankfully for me, he didn't embark on racing down the BIG hill in the back. He was just flying down one of the small hills in the front. Although, Tim did remind me (gotta love husbands for this) that it will probably only be a short time until he decides to try the big hill. Which, in my mind I picture him going down the big hill, going over the handle bars and breaking an arm.  ANYWAY -  Evan loves his bike.

Emma got out her big girl bike tonight too.  I was helping her for a bit and then wanted to come in the house to change out of my work clothes.   I make it outside maybe 5 minutes later when Tim yells to me "Check this out! Emma is doing it on her own!"    I, slightly shocked after yesterdays trial and error, run outside in time to catch Tim helping her get started and then letting go. Down the driveway Emma rides - all by herself on her big girl bike, no training wheels - and a HUGE smile the whole way!  She stops towards the end of the driveway and yells! "SEE MOM! I CAN DO IT!"  I run down to hug her, help her turn and balance and she is off again!  Then, obviously, I run in to get the video camera to get both Emma and Evan enjoying their bikes!  Yea!  We are still working on turning and starting her on her own, but I don't think that will be too long.

I am so excited!  What a great time to learn, since it is right before the summer and we can be out biking together!

Papa's new ride

It is always fun heading down to the farm to hang out for a day.  The kids loving being there and going for tractor rides, gator rides, playing on the swingset, and just being away.  Unfortunately we don't get to the farm as much as we should, but, well, it is what it is. 

(Here is Nana and Emma waiting for Evan to get out of the tractor so Emma can ride.)

Anyway, we headed down the Friday before Easter and it was a beautiful day to be outside.  Papa was outside working on spring chores and the kids couldn't wait to ride in his new blue tractor.  After lunch, Evan was the first one out and riding in the cab.

This tractor is pretty sweet. Two seats, remote control for starting up some equipment so you don't have to get out of the cab, surround sound, air conditioning, and, you get the picture.  It beats my Corolla, that is for sure.   Both of the kids loved riding in it and did well, from what Papa tells me.

Here is Emma. She was just as excited to get in and help Papa with spring chores.

Then, of course, I had to go for a ride myself.  No, he wouldn't let me drive. But, who was bragging when he came in that he got to take it for a spin?  Tim!  Go figure.  (sometimes Papa let's Emma or Evan steer and we can always tell when that is because we can see the tractors going for circles in the fields!)

Sage was along on this trip as well and while she didn't go for a ride in the tractor, she did get a run along side the Gator.  Fun for all!

The meeting at the grocery store

After Church on Sunday, we heading to the Super Target to pick up some necessities.  We were going up and down aisles, coralling children when all of a sudden, I see a familiar face.  I tap Emma on the shoulder and point out a little boy that is in her class, Jack, who we hear A LOT about. Emma instantly gets a HUGE smile on her face and runs over to him and Jack has a big smile on his face, but looks shyly at his Mom.  So, of course, we do the introductions, make small talk, and learn that it is Jack's birthday and they are celebrating by going to the Mall of America.  Jack's Mom said that they were walking one day and walked passed the house he thought was ours (which is really Kristen's, but Emma is picked up and dropped off the bus there, so I can see what Jack was thinking).  We chat about how we are close, etc, etc, and I make the comment of "Yeah, Emma talks about Jack at home."  and Jack's Mom says "Oh yes, we hear a LOT about Emma at home too!"

Funny - cute little friends :-)

I can fly

So, I was in the kitchen one evening and Evan was there too, on his trusty stepstool, looking out the window.  I don't remember exactly how it came up, but it was something like this.

Evan: "Mama, I can fly."
Me: "ummm.. No, Evan - you cannot fly."
Evan: "Yeah I can!"
Me: "and.. how would you go about flying Evan?"  Me, halfway amused and halfway nervous as to what is going to come out of his mouth.
Evan: "Well, if I jump off the slide, I can fly!! Real high!"

Me: thinking.. uh- oh.  This is not heading in the rigth direction.

Me: "No, Evan.  You cannot fly. You are a little boy and you do not have wings."
Evan: "But if I jump off the slide, I can fly.  I have arms and they are like wings."
Me: "No Evan. Arms are nothing like wings.  You cannot fly and it is incredibly dangerous to jump off a slide.  Please tell me that you will not try to do that."

and, he walks/skips/runs away and I am not sure if he really heard anything I said.. .  Time will tell I guess.

I hate these conversations.  Because, with that one, I really don't know what he is thinking at times.

Dye-ing Eggs

More pictures!

So excited to dye eggs!  Me too! I loved this when I was a kid.

Unfortunately, we couldn't find a lot of those metal things for taking the eggs out of the dye, so the kids improvised and used their hands.

Evan, to protect the precious blue dye, had to write his name on the cup.

Getting carrots out for the Easter bunny.

Concentrating hard and coloring pictures on the eggs.



Pictures

Pictures of our Easter!  I believe I relayed the Easter story a week or so ago, but here are the pictures.

Emma and Kit with her new Scooter and Puppy!

Evan happily finding eggs!



Emma and Kit, again.

Evan was using his dump truck to help load up the eggs at times.

The scavenger hunt at Aunt Jill's house! They had so much fun doing this. They each got to hunt for 5 eggs with their given clues.  "Walk down the steps, and take 5 steps to the right.  Stop and face the lake, then go 10 steps to the left, etc"

Evan finding his first egg.

Emma on the search with McKenzie.

My favorite egg hiding spot? The eggs in a plastic bag in the live well on the dock.

He found one!

Emma, excited after finding an egg, running down the driveway.  This hunt had the kids going all over!

Yup, they were even tromping through the woods.

Emma getting frustrated because she couldn't find one.

All done, sucking on a ring pop (his favorite!)

The family, minus one. 



And, picture out of order - their Easter baskets!

Conversations from the kids

Emma has started to show more of an interest in reading lately. Which is fabulous and fun to read with her., although at times a bit of a struggle as she doesn't try all that hard.  Anyway, today, before Evan's naptime, she insisted on reading him an alphabet book.  It went something like this:

Emma: "A is for Apple..."  "Evan - stop squirming!"
Evan: "okay Emma"
Emma: "B is for Bear"  "Evan, if you don't start paying attention, I am going to stop reading to you!" 
 ---- (do you think she has heard this before??)------

And Evan on Friday when I brought home a new summer dress and tried it on.  "Wow, Mama, you look beautiful. Then, he gives me a big hug."

Garage sale-ing for the kids

Many of you that know me, know that I have learned to value a good garage sale.  When the kids were young and their heads not filled with crazy things like opinions, I could buy lots and lots of play clothes for not much money.  Toys were easy to buy and exchange (and then throw-away) and the possibilities were endless.  Now, it is a bit harder as Emma, and yes Evan even, don't always where the $.50 - $1 clothes I buy. So, now I buy other stuff and still feel the satisfaction of a good buy.

Kristen and I resumed our Friday ritual of packing up the kids in the van, putting on a movie for them, and cruising around the neighborhood looking for neon signs.  It is exhilarating and fun and a good way to get out of the house, avoid cleaning, and try to score a great deal.  On the hunt today?  Bikes for Evan and Kyra.

Evan has been riding Emma's princess bike around since it started getting warm out and he decided that he was too big for a trike. The purple streamers, flowers, and princess stuff didn't seem to bother him at all, but, seriously, the little boy needed a boys bike.

I always try to do some Craig's List research before we head out, to land us in a general direction of the neon sign, and Kristen and I found the targeted one right away.  The ritual: slow down and do a drive-by.  If we see lots of pink and red plastic, it is normally a good sign that we should stop.  We stay away from those that have golf carts, random furniture, or sparse items on the driveway.  Then, I hop out first and do a quick walk through.  If it is a promising sale, I head back and help get out the troops. 

Anyway, the first sale was a good one.  Kristen found a game she used to play with kids at her previous employer, so that was a good score.  I found a few clothes for Emma I thought she would wear -AND - a bike for Evan!  It was a small little boys bike that was black and yellow. While, there were no training wheels, Tim said that we could take the ones off of Emma's old bike and put them on.  (which, now when I garage sale and call Tim for advice, he answers with "Now, what did you find?")  Evan also got a large free dinosaur because as the garage sale lady said "Oh, he is so cute!" (because I said no to his request for the large dinosaur)

He could not wait to ride it and prompted Tim to take the training wheels off of Emma's bike right away. Tim had to paint them first, because they were white with flowers on them, but then he was off!

The next garage sales were good too!  We found some cheap hosta plants and a scooter for the Kayle!  So much fun!  Evan and the babies did great and good fun was had by all.

And - from a garage sale last year:

Emma's new desk!  This was a $15 find and only required some sanding and painting.  Emma is so happy to have a desk in her room and can be found many times drawing, working on her math homework, or reading at her desk.

The Adoption

Evan has, shall I say, given up his parental duties or brotherly duties of Mater. We moved Mater into Emma's room a few weeks back for a sleepover. That night, Evan actually changed Mater into his little matching jammies and covered him up with a blanket. Well, since it has been a few weeks, I moved the little bed and Mater back into Evan's room this past week. The response: "What is HE doing back in here?" So, I explained that it was time to move him back and Evan kept shaking his head back-n-forth and finally dragged the bed and Mater back into Emma's room. "He can stay here. I don't want him in my room." So, I tried to do the "What? Why? Mater likes you! You are his brother, he is going to be sad!" Evan basically rolled his eyes and looked embarrassed said, "Mater is a doll!" and then he walked away.

So... I tried... and am now done. I don't want to force it and it really doesn't matter. Evan is such a little boy and really doesn't have a desire for Mater. And, that is fine.

So, I talked to Emma about Mater. She has decided to adopt Mater so Kit can have a little brother, just like she does. One happy family.... without Evan.

Emma's exciting weekend

Emma had a GREAT weekend this past week. It was the school carnival, she had a birthday party to attend, had a tea party (of sorts) with Kaylee, Kit, Evan, Mater, and the Bitty Twins, and (on Tuesday) got a desk in her bedroom.


The school carnival is the biggest fundraiser for the school and consists of games, food, raffles, and jumpy houses. Plus, the big thing for Emma - She got to see most of her friends there! We got there right away, bought a bunch of game/ride tickets, and the kids hit up the bouncy houses first. After 20 minutes of bouncing, inside to see the quasi dunk tank, eat cotton candy, see her kindergarten teacher, and go from room to room playing games and saying hi to classmates. We sat in the cafeteria with her friend Alaina and her family and got to see them excitedly chat about school and the days events. It is fun seeing Emma in her element and enjoying school.


After the carnival, we inviting Kaylee and Kyra (and their dolls) over for a tea party. Emma met Kaylee and her twins (the dolls, not Kate and Charley) at the door:

"So, Kaylee, how is it having twins?" As Emma is holding on to both Kit and Mater.

"Well, it is hawrd, it is really busy." And I can just sense Emma nodding sympathetically. "Sam is not a good helper.

Then - Emma chips in: "I know, Mater is not a good helper either. He sleeps a lot, in fact, he would sleep all day if he could."

It was priceless. They chatted for like 5 minutes about the woes of being parents to two kids.

Sunday, Emma had a birthday party at fire station. The little girl's Dad is a fire fighter in Woodbury, so he took the girls out for rides on the firetruck. They all loved it!

Random stuff:

Emma is in swimming lessons as well and is having a great time. She is learning many different strokes and cannot wait for summer at the cabin!

She is already thinking about her upcoming birthday party and what it will consist of. I am gearing up already for having the girls in her class over, so that should be interesting.

She had an "egg-drop" contest today at school where she had to come up with a design for a container to hold an egg that can be dropped from a roof without breaking. Tim had a design with that involved Styrofoam and such. Emma scrapped that idea and went for an ice-cream bucket and rags. Basically, the egg was encased in the rags. It worked though, her design worked and her egg survived the drop!

I bought a little desk for her at a garage sale last year for like $15. She has been asking non-stop about when that can go in her room so she can do her homework on it. Finally, Tim got around to painting it and sanding it. He moved it into her room on Tuesday night and she promptly got it all situated and decorated and works on it every night!

The latest edition to our swing set? Monkey bars! It is just another thing that makes everything right in Emma's world. She can be seen a lot outside going back-n-forth, forth-n-back, and doing flips on them. She would love to take gymnastics if we would let her so she can cartwheel and flip.

All-in-all, she is a very happy little girl!

Friday's with Evan

Evan loves Fridays. They are his Mommy and Daddy days now and he loves spending time with just the two of us. We play games, read books, clean (he is a big helper with cleaning) and go outside a lot. One of the things we do for Sage when outside is hit the softball for her, so she can run and get it. The kids LOVE playing this game as it turns into a small t-ball game as well. While Emma is not playing t-ball this summer, she does still enjoy hitting the ball and playing catch. Evan cannot wait until he is big enough to play t-ball.



Here are some pics of Evan:

Sage - anxiously awaiting the ball.

His latest thing is spiderman. He loves spiderman, mostly because his two older buddies at daycare love spiderman.

His conversation with me yesterday:

"Mama, have you met spiderman? He is really cool. He comes with a web."

And when I say, "No, I have not met spiderman. Have you?"

His response.... "Yeah, at daycare."

Hmmmm?? I guess there is a cartoon or movie that they watch.

Other stuff. . .

Evan is in swimming lessons again this session and does okay. He enjoys going and attempts to swim, but really just enjoys splashing and laughing with the other kids in the pool.

He doesn't enjoy riding his trikes as much lately and really likes riding Emma's bike. It doesn't seem to bother him at all that it is a princess bike, he just rides around and around at tries to go as fast as he can. Since we will be taking off the training wheels soon for Emma, he won't be able to ride it much longer, but thankfully it is garage sale season and I can find him a little one for cheap most likely.

He is really the big helper in the house. He is good with setting the table, clearing the table, and loves helping me cook. Emma, not as much. We have to ask her a few times before she comes over.

He is a little chatterbox. Constantly talking.

He has his kindergarten screening tomorrow - so we will see how he does :-) He, because of his birthday being Sept. 7, will most likely be either old for his class or young; but Tim and I are planning on him being older. We will most likely hold him back.

Tries to write his name and enjoys doing homework, especially when Emma does homework.

Overall, he is a happy, feisty little boy and enjoys fighting with his sister. But, she enjoys fighting back!

Avoidance

Sometimes, I get to the point of tasks where I am just done. I feel I have put enough effort in and I am just done and have absolutely no motivation to keep going.

I am there right now.....

My current class is financial accounting. I am not a fan of financial accounting. It has been a lot of work. The professor is a very smart guy that has trouble relating to students. He really truly believes that we are MBA students, we pay a lot for the classes, and he is going to give us every minute that we are paying for. Yeah, I get it... most of the times. But when it is 6 o'clock, after a full day of work, when I am not with my family, I don't always get it. He even teaches after tests!! He will give us 2 hours for tests, a 10 minute break, and then we come back so he can lecture more. Is there anything more depressing than that? Last week we took Exam #2 ( a hard one, like the first one) and he lectured for 5 minutes past 9, apologizing, of course, that he was keeping us late. By the end of the test, I was completely drained - drained enough that I was out of it for the lecture and didn't get much out of it. I know it doesn't sound like much, but sometimes it is hard to keep going that long after a full day of work.

Yes, I know, I am doing this to myself..... it was my choice to go back to school.....

Anyway, I have been working on a project for the class and I am to the point where I am just done. I have absolutely no desire to work anymore on it... I am totally avoiding it and blogging. Plus, I have one more cumulative, non-open book test to get through. Then... I am done. Three more weeks and I am done with no formal class for the summer.

I cannot wait.

Life

Sometimes life just gets in the way...

I have been meaning to post updates about our life, I really have! I have lots of pictures of the kids outside enjoying the unseasonable weather. I have pictures from the excitement of Easter and the thrill of finding eggs and Easter baskets. But then... life gets in the way. This class I am taking this semester (financial accounting) is taking up a lot of time. Couple that with Catechism, swimming lessons, holidays, and "life" I just haven't felt like it. So, shortened version of our days. . .

To Emma's chagrin, we went to the cabin for Easter. She was pretty concerned about the Easter bunny finding us "all the way up there". But lo and behold, the rabbit did. We went to my parents on Friday before Easter, as Emma had off, and rode in Papa's new tractor, played outside, saw my Grandparents, and took Sage for a long run while we rode in the gator. It was fun and the kids loved it. From there - it was up to the cabin.

We dyed eggs on Saturday - roughly 50 eggs in all. I know, I know, Tim thought that was too many as well. However, it is fun and cheap entertainment for a 5 and 3 year old. The whole event lasted over an hour and Evan even dyed some eggs multiple times. And - a whole week later - the eggs are gone. We love us some hard-boiled eggs in the Heuer House.

Sunday morning, the kids woke up bright and early (6:20) and immediately found some eggs at the cabin. I think Emma sighed a big sigh of relief that the bunny remembered and Evan was just chatting nonstop about the eggs and the candy. We told them they had to wait until 7am to do any more searching and we put on a cartoon and tried to get some more sleep. We didn't, but at least we could lounge a bit more. They found lots of eggs, their baskets, and ate too much candy. After that, it was to Tim's sister house for an Easter Scavenger Hunt, more candy, more eggs, and yummy food.

Lately, it has just been busy. I have been busy studying for a big test and doing a large financial analysis project. (yes, it is times like that that I wonder if it is worth it) Tim has been interviewing at a few different companies and we are so hoping that something happens soon.

I chaperoned a field trip with Emma's class last week to Orchestra Hall and will be taking Evan to his kindergarten pre-screening this upcoming Friday.

Most importantly, everyone is healthy and happy.

More to come soon--

April Fool's Day

It is difficult explaining April Fool's Day to a 5 (almost 6) year old and a 3 year old. Emma had heard about April Fool's day and was thinking hard this morning about how to prank us. Evan thought it was fun and decided to call it Joke Day. So, randomly throughout the day, we were the recipients of "Knock, Knock" jokes, which, no, were not the least bit funny.

"Knock - Knock Mama!"

"Who's There?"

"Fruity Tutti Moodie HE HA!" and then he dissolves in laughter and walks away. Yes, I just smile and shake my head.

Emma and I worked out the first prank this morning. My Aunt Linda was visiting us at the cabin this past weekend and we decided a good April Fool's joke would be to do:

"Linda! Guess What?! We saw a BEAR in our yard this morning!" "April Fools!"

Then, after Evan heard this little addition to joke day, he of course, had to repeat Emma.

After that - it was all over....

"Mama! I just saw a hummingbird fly across our lawn! April Fools!"

"Mama - did you see that squirrel? April Fools!"

"Knock- Knock! Fruity Tootie Mooshie Me MA!"

Then, throw in random door bells ringing and little ones hiding when I answer and other little "pranks"

It was an interesting "Joke" day.