Wanting to be a mermaid

Emma won't give up on the fact that she is going to be a mermaid someday. She loves mermaid dolls, mermaid books, and mermaid movies. Her recent favorite: Barbie, A Mermaid Tale. I bought her the book the other day at the bookstore, since she received 2 of these Barbies for her birthday. Then, after we read it for a few weeks, we got the movie from Netflix. So, today, our conversation in the car goes something like this:

Emma: "Mama, why aren't you like Erris?" (who I think is the Mermaid Mom in the book)

Me: "What do you mean?"

Emma: " Well, why don't you turn me into a mermaid?"

Me: "Well, because I am not a mermaid, so you cannot be a mermaid. Mermaids are pretend Emma."

Emma: "No, when I get bigger, I am going to be a good surfer and my hair is blond so I will get pink streaks in it. Then, I will wear swimming shorts and a swimming top and will be a good surfer and will dance in the water. Then, I will turn into a mermaid and be like Merliah."

I, of course, just sigh after this conversation as I try to tell her that she will not become a mermaid, but she doesn't believe me. It just leads to more questions about why we are NOT mermaids and how she can become one. Interesting conversation to have with a 4 year old....

Pictures!! Here are some pictures of our past weekend:

The big event - Deep Swimming! Basically, taking out a boat (or pontoon in our case) and going swimming. We went out on Saturday with Emma's Aunt & Uncle and cousins. The first time we stopped the pontoon to swim, it was in a spot that Emma could touch so she could get used to it. She loved that! Evan did also - both kids were wearing life jackets and were kicking/floating and having a great time. The second time was in a deep spot - water about 8 feet deep, so everyone was wearing a life jacket. The highlight of the event was swimming through the tunnel - or going under the pontoon. Emma was a little leary at first, but after the first time, couldn't get enough of it. Evan, having to do everything that his sister does, went full throttle right away. Here is a picture of Evan in the "tunnel" under the "toon" Now, he keeps saying "tunnel! Tunnel Mama!"

And Emma, now she keeps asking when we can go deep swimming again.

And Emma driving the pontoon. Sometimes she is lucky and Uncle Dave lets her drive. She does a pretty good job as she knows her left & right.

The next big event?? Emma swimming to the red ball at her Aunt & Uncle's house. It was her goal all year to swim there and she made it! It is about 100 feet away from their beach and after she got her confidence up after deep swimming, swimming to the red ball was nothing! The picture is of me (far right) Emma (middle) and cousin Jordyn (on the left).

Then, just random pictures swimming:

Emma jumping!

Evan saying "Cheese!" and taking a break from swimming.

How Evan swims (or "pim! Pimin!")


Emma still isn't so good at putting her face in the water, but we are working on it.

My bundles! (I made up this little song for them that I sing when they are all wrapped up in their towels. Now, they can sing along with me and request me to sing it. Evan says "Bunnel!"

One more cute one of the two together:

Then, I think I mentioned that Emma has learned how to put in her own ponytails. Here is a picture of them:

Otherwise, all is good. We have introduced the potty to Evan the past two weeks or so. He is really excited about trying it "Potty!" but not so good at the actual event. He tells me to take off his diaper (by just pointing at it and saying "Diper") and then attempts to go, but then nothing. The hard thing is he insists on doing this for about 5-10 minutes. Emma was potty trained at this age, but I am not so sure that Evan is ready. Although he can tell me when he has a messy diaper, so we will see. I bought the "Pirate Potty" book to read to him, so he knows that even pirates have to go potty. Now, the interesting thing will be if I have a conversation with him 2 years from now asking me when he turns into a pirate.

Done, done, and done

It feels so good to get some projects accomplished!

Emma's dresses - done

Blog book #1 - done

Blog book #2 - done!

Now, to reprint pictures from the last year, shorten some pants maybe (or spend the money and have someone do it for me) and my list is almost done. Remember in a past blog post how I mentioned I thrive on deadlines? Well, I got it - September 14, I start school.

This past weekend, once again, we were at the cabin. I actually brought my camera down to the beach so I could take some pics of the kids. I am not always good with doing that. The kids and I had an extra long weekend at the cabin, as we went up with the Kellogg's on Wednesday night. My cousin and her two little kiddos were at the cabin also (along with my Aunt and Mom), so we had a little of littles running around! Tim met us on Friday night after work.

One quick story:
On Friday, we went visiting. Well, we attempted, but Tim's two sisters were not home. So, we were walking back to our cabin, rather quickly, as the mosquitoes were pretty heavy and we were getting bit. So, Evan and I were up ahead of Emma most of the time on our walk. She dawdles and with me pushing Evan, we can be quick. So, Emma is maybe 20-30 feet behind us on the gravel lake road, picking up rocks, picking up flowers, whatever. A few times she would tell me to slow down and I would for a bit, but I really wanted to get back to the cabin to get out of bug territory. Well, finally Emma yells " You know what Mom? You stay right there and I will catch up to you and you stay there and I will keep walking. Then we will see how you like being far behind!" She did too - I laughed as she huffed past me and went about 10 feet in front of us. Then, of course, we passed her.

Some highlights - Emma can now do her own pony tails. She tries anyway and while they are not perfect ( of course) she can do them and a bun.

Emma doing some "deep swimming"

Evan, well, just being Evan. He has no fear of the water. He will walk to where he is neck high or will "swim" in water up to his mouth.

Evan really enjoys pushing people off the dock and man, does he feel like the man doing so!

No pictures tonight. I meant too, but I have to get ready for work tomorrow. Have a nice week!

weekend adventures

We were at home this weekend and that is always a nice. Not that I don't like going to our cabin, because I do, but it is nice to be home and well, just be.

We had a work outing to the zoo on Saturday, which was thoroghly enjoyed. Well, it sort of was. I am not 100% sure that Tim wanted to be there and Emma was asking after being there for a half/hour when we were going home. Evan and I thought it was pretty cool though. Especially the fish, oh sweet Martha, the ISH! Evan LOVED the fish... and did Emma. The Minnesota Zoo has some pretty cool aquariums, a nice shark tank, and a touch & feel area with little sharks. So, Evan really loved watching the fish and Emma thought it was neat to see Dory, from Finding Nemo. Emma did think it was odd that Dory and Nemo were not in the same tank, but then she concluded that Nemo must have been at school, that is why they were apart. All-in-all a good day. We were there for about 4 hours and that was enough with two small children.

Here are some pictures:

Emma trying to pose with Evan:

Emma pretending to be in the zoo ( I actually took this picture to show everyone what her favorite outfit has been lately. Her crazy capri pants and her tie-dye shirt. I wish she knew how to match clothes OR let me pick them out for her.)

Other than the zoo, we ran some errands and got stuff done around the house. I cleaned, Tim cleaned up some stuff outside and just bummed. Tim did trim some tree branches and of course, Evan was Daddy's little helper. Evan found a wire cutter in Tim's toolbench and insisted that it was his and he had to help. So, while Tim was trimming branches, Evan was trimming all that pesky bark that is on the trees. He even worked on it today while Tim was outside with Sage, just to get the stuff he missed yesterday!

Notice the bald places on the tree? That is his handywork. Mostly, though, he was trimming away the stuff that was already coming off - so no real harm done. And yes, he insisted on wearing his rain boots.

Here is a closeup of his handiwork. He is wearing his favorite shirt also - his Nemo shirt. He wants to wear this everyday now also.

Yes, Emma was there too working alongside them. She was pulling weeds and transplanting trees. We saw some really cool green & black caterpillars in our herb garden that Emma was very excited about. I was tempted to put them in a jar and see if they would form a coccoon, but I didn't want to take the chance of them dying either.


Now, a few random stories:

I decided to make Emma some dresses. Why, I am really not sure, I like sewing and thought she would think it was cool if her Mom made her a dress. Her dance class was right next to a fabric store and we went in to browse one day. So, I made her a Tinkerbell Dress and a sparkly butterfly dress. My conclusion?? Much cheaper and easier to buy them, but, I digress... So, I get done with her Tinkerbell dress and ask her to try it on and make sure it fits. She refuses... So, I start asking her if she likes it "Yes, Mama, I like it" but why won't you try it on, etc? She finally puts her hand on my arm and seriously says "You know Mom, even if I don't wear it, it doesn't mean I don't like it."

So, I am thinking a lot of work for nothing.

I was cleaning the house on Friday with the kids helping. I was in my room putting away laundry. Emma was in her room picking up the toys and clothes on the floor and Evan was in his room playing with the door closed. That always makes me nervous, especially when it is quiet. So, I go in there and he is sitting in the top drawer in his dresser playing. Evan sees me walk in and just turns and smiles. I do the "What the ??" and proceed to rush over there to get him out before the drawer tips back and he falls to the ground. He looks at my like I am a crazy person for ruining is new, cool hideout. The only way I can figure he got up there was by climbing up the lower dresser drawers as I did see one of them was open. No good... it freaked me out actually. Although, I do know he is a climber - he did climb into his crib this past week to get one of his Nuk's out. He is only allowed to have his Nuk's now in his crib, so he decided to take matters into his own hands and get one for himself.

Emma was playing in the pool this morning with Sage, Tim and Evan, while I was out for a run with a friend. When I get home, she decides to change clothes, so I go in to make sure that goes okay. She comes down wearing a bathrobe. When I ask her why she is wearing her bathrobe she says, "Well Mom, I just got out of the pool and Damn, I was cold!"

And finally - my little Evan... Tim has this ritual of sorts that when someone passes gas in our house loudly, he looks up and says "Hey, was that a duck?" Well, Evan was having some issues with that tonight, so we were laughing a little bit as his expense. He lets one go pretty loudly at the dinner table and we were laughing. I say "Ahh.. Evan Michael!" and groan. Evan looks up and says "Duck?? Duck??" What can I say, he is his Dad's son, that is for sure.

Oh yeah, I saw him chewing on one of Sage's dog bones today. It was a flavored one and maybe that is why he was attracted to it, not sure, but really gross.

Just Another Day in Paradise

Ah yes, aren't they all just little days in paradise? Haha! We are now just bumming around - not too much going on. Every night after work, we let Sage out right away and play. Hopefully, I get to Sage before the kids do. They know how to open up her kennel and if I am not around, it is not unusual to see the little pup sniffing around the house. She will be a partial indoor dog, she is just not ready or trained for that yet!

Some stories to share:

A few weeks ago we were over at our neighbors, the Petersen's. The kids LOVE going over there as they have a very friendly dog, Henry, a little outdoor pond that is stocked with goldfish, and 2 cats. Evan is constantly going from the "ish" to the "Meow's"s. The hard part about this is that the cats do not appreciate a little tow-headed boy chasing after them with his arms wide open, yelling "MEOW!" So, unfortunately, most of the time the cats are hiding under the deck. He keeps an eye on the cats, bends way over to get a look at them under the deck, stretches as far as he can to pet them, normally with nothing to show for it. So, finally with much coaxing, the cats came closer to Evan. What does he do when they get close?? He puts his arms out like claws and goes "ROAR!" - yes, our little dragon showing his head. Those cats ran away from him as fast as they could. Sadly, I say to Evan "Evan, cats do NOT like dragons. Dragons scare kitties" He looked pretty sad, but seriously - did he really think the cats would appreciate a dragon's roar??

Emma has been acting better - which is great! I love riding in the car with her now as she loves the radio. She can sing along to many of the songs and many times says "Mom - turn it up, I LOVE this song!" Her favorites?? "Take me down to the little white church" "God is Great, Beer is Good, People are crazy" and "Rain" or something like that. (lyrics: Rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey, whisky makes my baby feel a little frisky) It is so hilarious to hear her sing as she gets some words right, is a little pitchy, but goes at it with gusto!

One other thing I thought was particularly funny was a comment from Sunday. We were leaving the cabin on Sunday later than normal. She thought we were going to be leaving in the dark and it took me a few times to convince her that no, we were leaving while it was still daylight. She looks at me and says, "Well Mom, who made that decision?" No lying...

So, we are on like week 4 with Sage. Sage is pretty good. Still nips, jumps, bites hair and clothes, but all-in-all is a very loved dog. She attended her first night of "Puppy Kindergarten" with Tim today (yes, I wish I was kidding about that) and per Tim, she did okay. The problem I am finding with having a dog is that now Evan sometimes thinks he is a dog. (when he is not being a dragon of course and scaring cats) He laps up drinks from cups, hops around on his hands and knees, and likes to put toys in his mouth now and holds them like Sage does. Somehow I need to convince this kid that no, he is not a dog, no, he is not a dragon, but my sweet little boy. He has been needing to be rocked at night and sometimes in the morning again, but I am not complaining! I love it. He grasps my hand and falls asleep instantly.

I registered for my first class today. Statistics starting on September 14. Luckily I will be at the St. Paul campus, and not Minneapolis, and I believe my work schedule is changing so Tuesday will be the day I work from home. That means I can see the kids in the morning AND pick them up before class!

Off to bed. "ROAR!"

Good news

Two good things!

1) I was offered the Project Management Job on Monday and I accepted on Tuesday. YEA! Official start date is August 1, however real time transition is unknown. That is the hard thing with switching to a new role in the same department; it is pretty much dictated to you when you start.

2) I was nominated to attend the Animal Nutrition Woman's Forum! This is a pretty nice honor as it is a 3 day event in Minneapolis and only a few woman in our division are nominated to attend. Meetings will be held with the senior leadership team and smaller groups will be broken out to discuss work topics, work/life balance, women empowerment, etc. then I will be assigned to a mentor group. I am still a bit shocked that I was nominated, but it came with a wonderful letter from our Division President about how he feels this will be a wonderful experience for me and my growth with the company. I know - I still can't believe it!! It is wonderful that my hard work is being recognized.

So with all that, how can my week be going bad? Even though Sage is up barking a lot, even though Emma has been crabby while trying to get back on a schedule, and even though Evan has been extra feisty with everything.... grrrr...

Sage is adjusting very well - AND - I should mention that she is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever Pup! She loves going outside to play, loves tipping over her water, chasing after the kids and sitting right in the middle of our flower bushes to keep cool. However, she is still adjusting to night time. She will sleep well for one part of the night, then may bark for the other. I just wish she wouldn't nip at the kids. Evan, many times, gets annoyed with Sage and has no problem telling her "NO". He can say Sage, although it comes out more "Shage" He likes throwing the ball to her and likes to mimic Tim and I and say "Pom" (or come) "Pom Shage" Emma still enjoys chasing after her, but the novelty has worn off a bit I think, especially since Sage likes to bite her hair and clamp down on her shirts and not let go, even while she is running away! All -in-all everyone is adjusting to life with a dog and all is good.

Emma has been having a rough week. I think she is still a bit behind on her sleep as she has been more argumentative and difficult to be around. She either wants to be held or sit on my lap and she never takes no for an answer. Emma always has to argue - EVERYTHING. That is getting old, very quickly. Tim and I have been firm with her, but it still gets tiring. On a good note though, she is doing so well with her letters and writing words! She wrote out all the names of the people in our family the other day and all were very legible. It is so neat! I am slowly working with her on reading and recognizing words.

Evan is saying more and more words every day. Many things I say, he repeats. Tonight, it was cloud or "Clow". Over and over and over. He points up to the sky "Clow! Clow!! Clow!!" He knows how to let Sage out of her kennel, which isn't good and really enjoys pulling her tail, poking her, or bothering her while she is in his kennel. Tonight Evan was outside on the deck with Sage for quite a while. Evan would follow her around, pet her, lay his head on her, try to give Sage kisses. It was very, very sweet. Actually, it was exactly what I hoped for our family with the puppy.

That's all for tonight. I need to get some zzz's while the puppy is sleeping. Sad, I know :-)

The new addition

And... we are back.

The hardest thing about vacation?? - coming back. I get so excited before hand. Two weeks before or a week before and I am bouncing off the walls ... and then vacation comes and goes so quickly. We had a wonderful time with our 9 days at the cabin. They were all busy days with the holiday and family time. The most busy thing???

Meet Sage - our new puppy. We got her last Friday, July 2. Tim and I left the children at my parents on the farm so we could drive the 3.5 hour trip to go and pick her out. We had pick of the females - so after a few tests by Tim, we picked out this little one. She is quickly settling in as a member of the family.

The kids adore her and Tim and I are pretty happy with her also. She is a very good mannered puppy and likes to stick close to us, which is good. The kids want to play with her constantly, but because she is not house- broken yet, that doesn't work out so well. Sage got a lot of attention this past weekend as my sisters and their families were at the cabin along with Eric & Gaeb and many other family members. Sage was constantly being held or petted or sleeping under a tree or available lawn chair. It will be quite a change for her this week when Tim and I head to work and Sage is in her kennel. The nice thing is that it will only be for 3 days a week. Tim will be coming home for lunches the next few weeks to check in and let her out. Plus we have a neighbor who is a huge dog lover who promised to come by and help out as well. Here is a picture of Evan doing something that Tim hates - picking up the dog. He doesn't mind when people pick up the dog... just not our two little ones. (unfortunately, they want to pick up Sage a lot!)

The whole week was great. As previously mentioned, we had a bunch of family up for the 4th of July holiday. So, for the whole weekend we were outside splashing around, swimming, jet-skiing, and having a great time. The favorite for the kids was the "water assault" where we would splash them repeatedly with water.

The 4th of July we made some homemade ice cream, had a camp fire, lit off little kid fireworks and then sat around on the mosquito infested beach for the fireworks across the lake. (Man, the bugs were horrible up at the lake!)

Then, family retreated to their homes on Monday and Tim, I and children were able to settle in (clean!) and relax. Tim always started his days very early as Sage (being only 7 weeks old) had to get up about every 4 hours to go outside. That was much better than the first few days with us as she cried and whined every few hours... just like having a newborn! However, the nice thing with Sage, as I told Tim. " I got up with the children every few hours to feed them, this dog is YOURS!" So, I luckily did not need to help out there!

We had more guests up on Wednesday as our daycare provider and her children came up to visit. Emma was beyond excited that her best friend Breezy was coming over and we were fortunate to have nice days so they could splash outside. The dog was also a huge hit with them, as was the jet-ski and lake. We had a great day with their family and took advantage of all the summer days had to offer.

The next few days were spent splashing, swimming, jet-skiing, reading, going to bed early and just having fun. We saw Tim's sisters and husbands a lot as they have cabins right by ours as well. We would meet for suppers, appetizers on the pontoons, swimming, anything really. It was great. Highlights from the week??

1) Evan has started picking up fish - he gets so excited when he can catch one that he has to run to Dada quickly to show him

2) Emma is swimming a lot more - she loves splashing and playing in the water, we just need to work with her getting a little deeper than knee deep for her

One morning, Tim went golfing, so I was left with the children and pup. We had donuts and coffee (glorified hot chocolate really for the kids) but they felt pretty important with their mugs. Here is Evan saying "CHEESE!" and smiling for the camera. If you look closely, you will see chunks in his coffee. The chunks are donut pieces and frosting pieces that he had to dunk in his drink. I always laugh at that kid because whenever he has a cookie, cake, or other sweet treat, he has to dunk it. The donut was no exception. He had pick up the smallest flake of frosting and try to dunk it in the coffee.

And here is Emma with her apple. She wasn't so cooperative with the donuts :-)

After that, it was the same old thing really. We really lucked out and had beautiful weather the whole time we were there. Thank goodness for air conditioning as well - we needed it!

The next pics are from Friday... cleaning day! Unfortunately, we still need to do some of that up there. So, the kids were my big helpers mopping the floor. Here is Evan after he fell on the floor. He didn't quite grasp the concept of ringing out his rag, so the floor was pretty wet... and he fell... which he was not so happy about. His shirt says POW!

And Emma (actually cooperating for the camera) smiling because I actually let her use the mop.

And now, we are back. It is good to be home. The kids were getting cranky as they were off their schedule and Tim was cranky because he has been up a lot with the dog and I am cranky as I have to deal with all of them :-) Sometimes, work is good!

One last picture - the kids home today with an ice cream cone.


I am sure I will have more stories as the week goes on. I seem to remember them when I am not typing up the blog!

More talking

From Emma:

"Mama, I am just getting so frustrated right now with my colors"
"Mom, I just need to focus more on this now."
"Daddy - Mommy HEARD you two times. You don't need to keep repeating yourself!"

From Evan:

His first sentence was spoken the other night when Tim was mowing the lawn. Like always, Evan follows him from window to window trying to catch a glimpse of him. "Wide? Wide?" (or ride in Evan speak) Anyway, it was time for bed and Evan takes one more look out the window:
"Nigh Nigh Dada" and then turns and walks away.

"Woom" "Woom!" as we are outside playing and Evan sees a bucket. Typically when it rains, we go outside right after, grab a bucket and collect worms.

On to happier things!

My post accident funk is now basically over. I was not that sore the days after, so that is good. I am still dealing with all the insurance agencies, which really stinks, but overall I am doing okay. The really crappy thing is that my car is still not getting worked on. There is a bit of a discrepancy as to how the rear end of my car was bumped. The guy behind me (that hit me) is claiming that he was pushed into me as a result of being rear-ended himself. It is totally bogus as it is pretty obvious based on the extent of my car's damage that he was going pretty fast when he hit me. But the insurance company will not claim liability until all the stories are sorted out. Hopefully, my car will be done in a few weeks.

However, I have received some happier news this week! There is a very good likelihood that I will be moving on to a new job in a month or so. Same company, same division, different group. I will be a project manager overseeing projects that try to take one groups waste and make it useful for another group. (example, working with our food grade flavorings division and taking their by-products or waste and using it in feed grade applications. Pretty cool, eh?)I am very excited to start something new and venture into a different career path. It is not 100% certain yet, but pretty certain. The nice thing is that my managers approached me about as they thought it would be a good fit. I will still be 4 days a week with one day from home. Very nice!

The other good news I received is that I have been accepted into the St. Thomas Evening MBA program! YEA! All that hard work studying as paid off! Off course, I am a bit apprehensive about it, but I still think it will work out fine. If not, I can always put it off a bit. Now I am hoping to test out of some required classes and get everything lined up there for fall semester. My hope is to start in September.

Tim and I had the weekend off as the kids were at Mom & Dad's for a small vacation and Tim and I were at the cabin for a small vacation. It was so nice - kind of our 6th Anniversary celebration! The sad thing is that I was probably most excited about getting an opportunity to sleep in for 3 days in a row (along with spending quality time with Tim of course)! We are so thankful that Mom & Dad are always up for the adventure of watching our children and that Emma and Evan love going there - and do well also. Tim and I headed up Thursday night, stopping at a restaurant along the way. Friday was filled with fishing, reading my book, golfing, watching a movie, plus a small date night for Tim and I with wine, good crusty bread w/ cheese, and lobster tails! Saturday was more fishing, pontoon rides, drinking margarita's and enjoying the company of our other family that was up at their cabin also. All-in-all it was fabulous just being on our own and not having to stress about the kids falling off the dock, getting a hook in fingers from fishing, falling off the pontoon, etc.

The kids had a great time at the farm also. They visited the barn, went out to eat, visited family, splashed in their little pool, and played with all the different toys that Nana & Papa have. We check in often and Emma gets to share the highlights of spending the time with her Nana and Papa. Even Evan gave me a call on Sunday morning to "talk" and tell me what was going on.

So, a nice change this past week after the bad start :-)

A really draining day

I know that I have said I have had draining days in the past. And, yes, I have. However, it only takes a higher level of a draining day to make one appreciative of what we had before.

This morning at 6:24 I was in a car accident. And when I say "I was" I mean we.... which is me (no kids thankfully) along with 6 other cars. BANG*BANG*BANG*BANG*BANG*BANG... I was the 4th bang damnit.... I am not sure how the succession started, but it ended with all of us standing along I-94 in morning rush-hour talking to the cops in the rain. Of course, it had to rain. I mean, why not really.... All of us were looking at each other, shaking our heads thinking "can it get any freaking worse??"

So, after an hour or so waiting for cops to get data and file reports, an hour at the wrecker waiting for Tim, over 2 hours talking to various insurance agencies, autobody shops, and an hour at the doctor I am very tired, sore, and ready for bed.

For all of it, I cannot say how the aforementioned accident happened. The first car messed up somehow and the following 5 cars were sucked into the mistake. My car has an estimated $9000 worth of damage and I have a sore back and neck with the basic promise from my doctor that I will feel worse tomorrow and the nex day.

Yes, I am so thankful the kids were not there. Yes, I realize it could have been much worse.... but it still sucks. This leaves me with 2 thoughts:
1) I should be driving a bigger vehicle. That way, it if happens again and the kids are with me, I have a better chance they will not get hurt. And yes, even a mini-van crossed my mind. But that was roughly 2 hours post accident where I was still shaky, still pretty worked up, and in post-accident shock. I think I have wisened up since then :-)
2) I should find a job closer to home. While I know this isn't in the cards for a few years maybe, it is something I definitely do want.

Now, on to happier subjects! We were at the cabin this past weekend and had a wonderful time. Sunday was one of the nicest days this year and we took full advantage of it. Emma is doing well swimming with a life jacket on and jumping off the dock. She is so much fun to play with in the water now and really enjoys splashing. Evan of course, still loves to fish (he loves petting the fish after they are caught and always says "Nice ... Nice" really drawing out the word.) and will try anything Emma does. He had to try jumping off the dock (yes, I was there to help) and when he say Emma riding along on the knee-board after my pushes, he had to be the next one to do it. Both of them really enjoyed that. I would be out waist-high in the water and would push that back in towards the beach.

We had a very fun play date with a friend on Friday. We were at a park, had a picnic lunch, and enjoyed the beautiful day.

That's all. I am going to go ice my back and relax.

Garage Sale-ing

It is no secret that I go garage sale-ing (or saling?? that just doesn't look right) and on most of my trips, I have my children along with me. So, Emma has decided she likes to play garage sale. Now, every night when we play outside she lines up all of her treasured outside toys (chalk, jump rope, rocks, picked flowers, and the occasional dried bugs) on our steps and declares this her garage sale.

I have to play the hopeful garage sale customer and look through all of her items and buy something. This is how it goes:

Customer "Gee what lovely stuff you are selling! How much are the rocks?
Emma "99 bucks"
Customer "Wow, that's a lot. How much are the flowers?"
Emma "99 bucks!"
Customer "okay" as little boy Evan trikes up "How much is this cute little boy?
Emma "Um, 66 cents"

seriously... she will sell her rocks, flowers, and dried bugs for 99 bucks, but her brother is cheap... 66 cents.

My Little Ferocious Dragon

I now have a husband, a daughter, and a ferocious little dragon. We can be sitting at the table eating supper, and Evan will glare at you, put up his hands in a claw-like gesture, and ROAR. Or we are reading books before bed and snuggling and he will squint his eyes, do his hand motion, and ROAR! It is hilarious. Of course, because Evan does that and gets a reaction, Emma has to roar also and louder.

This past weekend was bookclub and the cabin. The weather wasn't the best up there, but we still had a good time. We went visiting to Tim's sisters houses, watched movies, took naps, it was very nice.

Here are some pictures of the kids recently:
At the cabin, memorial weekend:

Evan heading down to go fishing. That is all he wants to do now. "ISH!!"



Emma getting ready for a boat ride.



Evan actually fishing. He is starting to learn how to reel it in, but mostly, he likes to dip the pole up and down.



Emma riding her bike. Every night we play outside and she is constantly doing circles on the driveway.



Evan's new favorite past-time. Riding down the hill on his bike.




Emma at her last night of dance/gymnastics class. They had an informal recital that night. All the kids were giddy with excitement at all the parents (and Nana's) there to watch. They were all introduced and they could do a little dance across the dance floor. They then did 2 dances, one ballet and one tap, and then went into the gym for gymnastics. Emma did a great job and liked performing!

Here is a pic of her at the class.

Writers block

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I haven't been overly motivated to update lately. I have a few things to say, but just didn't want to commit the time to doing it. So, to all my faithful readers out there, I apologize. But, then again I don't
:-) the blog is about my life and life has been busy - so I guess it just portrays that.

Memorial Weekend was up at the cabin. Evan caught his first fish, which made him tremendously happy. "ISH! ISH!" he didn't so much reel it in as jump up and down proclaiming "ISH!! ISH!" so, not sure if we can count it for real or not. All weekend long he wanted to "ish" He wasn't really all about playing in the lake. Emma, however, was. That is all she wanted to do. The nice thing is that the lake was warm, so I didn't mind playing in the lake with her and taking her on the occasional jet-ski ride.

Work has been somewhat frustrating for both Tim and I. There is just so much change going on for me at work now and I tend to sit back and ask myself, "is this job worth it?" so, I have been doing some hard thinking lately. Same thing for Tim. But, we are lucky right now to just have jobs and have a means to support our family.

Basically, our lives now are outside playing the kids. Emma continues to ride her big bike and Evan continues to roll down the hill on his little one. I am just getting tired of rolling him back up! The swing set is a big hit as is the "Mud Pie Maker" that they and the cousins received from their Nana and Papa.

I do have more to say, but not right now. We are having a garage sale this week and I have kids stuff to go through and price. Plus, tomorrow night is a Twins game with my work and Wednesday night is Emma's litle dance recital.

I will post pictures later - this is all I have for now.

ehhh...

that is actually how I am feeling right now. Just... eh... or blah.. or some other mundane term. I just got done with my test and it was just... eh. I did okay. Not incredibly horrible, not stellar, but got the score of "Well, they may let me in and then again, they may not." So, we will see. I am disappointed. But, now I can look forward to the weekend and not worry about it... unless they don't accept me and I have to take the damn thing again.

ugh....

The kids are great. Sorry to my few faithful readers out there, I have been preoccupied this week studying for the damn test. Now, Tim and I are heading out on a little date, so I won't post much now either. Plus, I don't really feel like it. Damn school...

Evan, this week, decided it is a good idea to ride his tricycle down one of the hills in our backyard. Funnier than hell, actually. None of the other girls have thought about doing this yet, only my not-even-two-year-old. Granted, it is not a big hill. But, big enough for a not-even-two-year-old. He has the look of "OH MAN!" on the way down and then laughs when he is done. Pretty funny. His new dinosaur growl is pretty funny too. He will lurch forward, stick out his hands like they are claws, and go "ROAR!" oh, my ferocious little dinosaur :-)

Emma is awesome too. We planted her mini garden in the big garden last night and she thought that was pretty cool. We ventured over to Wausau, WI last weekend to visit my sister and that was a huge hit with her also. good times were had by all.

Anyway, as previously mentioned, I am not going to post much. Heading out on the motorcycle!!

Have a wonderful Memorial Weekend!

Happy Birthday Emma!

Four! Already! How can my little girl be 4 already? Ahhh - to think back to that day... 4 years ago right now, I was in the hospital. My water had broke, but the nurses gave me medication to calm me down, help me sleep, and get me ready for the next day when my baby would be born. I wasn't that calm, I wasn't really sleeping, I was nervous/excited/scared/basically everything. The next day, May 17, at about 5:45pm, Emma Rose Heuer was born.

We had her birthday party today and I think it was a huge success! It was a Disney Princess party, but we had a few Barbie items thrown in also. The neighbor girls hitched a ride on the birthday train to come over around 3 or so to play.



We played a lot outside and then retreated inside for some presents, pizza, and cake.




Kyra's birthday wishes for Emma.


Barbie Cake


Evan wishing Emma a Happy Birthday!



Presents!! She received many nice presents! A Princess Bike from Tim and I - which has training wheels! A Mermaid Barbie, Polly Pockets, Camera, Dinner and a Movie, Swimsuit - so many nice things!







A few pictures of our guests...






Then, other random pictures of the day:







All-in-all, it was great. The weather couldn't have been any nicer. The girls took about 3 rides on the Birthday Train, Evan took about 6 :-) I have the day off tomorrow and Emma and I are spending the day together. We are going out for breakfast with the neighbors in the morning, then she is having 4 year old pictures taken, then a possibly play date with a good friend, then down time. This weekend was very busy, but fun. Down time is needed.

random pictures

And... because I have not loaded any pictures on the blog lately - here they are. (and yes, I realize that I should be studying. HOWEVER... I am tired and I just don't feel like doing it. I was studying, but then I was making stupid mistakes. When I do that, I know it is time to quit.)

Evan one morning, eating cereal. And, because he is a boy, he needs to have a car/truck with him at all times. This morning, he realized he had a pick-up truck and it needed to be filled.





Emma playing cards. Lately, she has loved playing games.



Evan following Tim on the lawnmower. I think I blogged about this earlier. Evan was supposed to be taking a nap, but I could hear him on the monitor "Wide! (or Ride in Evan speak) Da Da! Wide!" I brought him downstairs and he followed Tim back and forth with his little chair in the window. Eventually, he got his "wide".






Mother's day at the cabin





Emma with our garage sale finds. The glasses were in the free box and she couldn't resist.


Her garden for this year. Growing pretty well!

back home and resting peacefully

to all my faithful readers out there - Evan and Tim are back home - and Evan is sleeping well on the floor propped up with pillows for now. he has croup (I have no idea if I spelled that correctly or not) which is basically inflamation in his throat due to a cold. The doctor gave him a shot to help reduce the swelling in his throat so he can breathe better and motrin for his fever. he also has a prescription that needs to be filled tomorrow to further help with the inflamation. The doctor said the shot should really kick in around mid-night, so hopefully he has a fairly restful night.

Tim will be staying home with the little guy tomorrow so he can fully recover.

Now, I am off to bed.

Thanks for the good wishes!

poison control and urgent care

Thankfully - these both did not happen on the same night :-)

Happy Mother's Day! What a wonderful day to reflect and give thanks for all the wonderful Mother's, role models, and friends in our lives. I have truly been blessed with some wonderful Mother figures in my life and I am grateful I have such a strong support system to help me raise my own children.

We had a great weekend to celebrate. We were at the cabin and while the weather didn't cooperate all the time, we had a wondeful time on Sunday playing outside and enjoying the day. Tim and I took the kids on the canoe, which was fun. Luckily it has a little motor on it so I didn't have to paddle. (yeah, my kind of canoe trip!) I had a much more important job though - keeping Evan in the canoe. He loved tipping over the side so he could run his hands in the water. Plus, once he saw the cabin, he immediately tried to climb out of the canoe and stuck his little foot high in the air and over the side. That one always keeps me on my toes! Emma made me some lovely cards for Mother's Day and painted a beautiful plate with her and Evan's picture on it that I can hang up. We made a yummy brunch and just relaxed. Nothing better than spending the day with family.

Now, on to explaining the title of my post.

A few weeks ago we were at the cabin. We were in a hurry to leave, so I was washing dishers, packing cooler, running around and trying to get everything ready. I had my eyes on the kids, but wasn't totally in tune to what they were actually playing with. I look up from the sink after putting a dish in the dish drainer and I see a few pills spilled out on the table and Evan, with pill in fingers, putting one in his mouth. I instantly start freaking out "Evan - NO! Put the Pill down" he kind of smiles and puts it in his mouth anyway. By this time I am over there and trying to see how many he put in his mouth/ate. I wrestle the one out of his mouth and then look at the pill bottle and surrounding area to assess the damage. I honestly have no idea now many were in the bottle/ how long he had the bottle/etc. The pills were a mixmatch of zyrtec, tylenol and ibuprofen. I call Tim in the kitchen to explain what happened and both of us really have no clue what to do. So, I call poison control. After explaining to the kind nurse that I am the worst Mom ever, I tell her what happened. Unfortunately, I don't have good answers for her as I don't know anything. I don't know how long he had the pills (although honestly couldn't have been more than a minute) how many pills were in the bottle (although it was a small bottle) or anything else to help. She proceeds to help me tremendously. First, she had me wet a washcloth that was a different color than the pills in the bottle; then I was to wipe the inside of his mouth/teeth to see if there was any pill residue. Thankfully - there was none. Then, she told me to give him back the bottle and see how long it took him to open it. We timed him over a minute and he was still unable to get it open. She gave me further instructions, like keep all pills out of reach, look for drowsiness/ stomach problems, etc and sent me on my merry way. Definitely a scary thing. The bottle was child-proof, or so I thought, and it was secured in a small zipper pocket in a zippered purse. So - lesson learned, treat all pills as though they are lethal and KEEP OUT OF THE WAY of children. Damn....

Evan is currently at urgent care. I just received a call from Tim, who has been there for 2 hours with our child, that Evan is now sleeping and waiting patiently for a doctor. Tim though, not waiting so patiently. Evan has a cold and it has progressed into a bad cold. Tonight, he was wheezing pretty badly and never seemed as though he was getting enough air. Me, wanting to feel comforted and wanting my baby to feel better, prompted Tim to take him in. For the record, we did try to get him in today at the regular doctor, but the clinic was booked up. Anyway, Evan saw an initial nurse and she checked his oxygen levels (which were good) and checked his stomach for something and said that looked okay. However, she wanted Evan and Tim to stay so he could see the doctor. The kicker?? The doctor was sent to the hospital to deliver a baby. So, Tim was warned that it could be awhile. Why they didn't have another doctor available to deliver babies is beyond me. But, I just spoke with Tim and Evan's fever is rising (now at 101.8) and he had a horrible coughing attack, during which it seemed as though Evan could not catch his breath. So, I am glad they are there. Not a good day in the Heuer household.

Emma and I had a lovely night though. We had a game night here since it was raining and we played the Polar Bear Game, the Dora Game, Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, and the Care Bear game! She is also getting over a cold, but could muster up enough energy to play games. She is quite the drama queen when it comes to illness and wasn't afraid to tell me "But Mama, I am too sick to set the table" or "Mom, I am too sick to take a bath" Yeah right little one!

Well, I am off to study. Send good thoughts our way for poor little Evan!

feeling needed

Once again, another great day. it is such a wonderful feeling at the end of the day to feel as though something was accomplished. Today for me it was Sunday School ( the last day) a little garden project for Emma, cleaning out a closet, studying, running ( 5 miles - YEA!) and then relaxing with the family.

The last day of Sunday School went well. We had a really good bunch of 3-4 year olds as they all listened well, did what we asked, etc. I could tell it was getting towards the end of the year, though, as they were all acting a bit more wild, goofy, and starting to gel more as a group. It was pretty neat to see. I am not sure if I will do it again next year. I liked it; it was very rewarding and St. Ambrose really had everything together for us, but Tim and I have discussed the possibility of joining another church that is closer to home and may have more of the kids' future classmates or even finding another religion that seems to fit with us a bit more. But, more on that later.

When we got home, Emma and I decided to get our hands dirty and make her a little garden. As of now, it consists of little pots with random seeds in it that she planted all by herself. Hopefully they will grow, some of the seeds are over a year old, and we can plant them in the actual garden so she can see them grow. Evan, once Tim and he arrived home, had to join in on the fun and instantly got his little shovel and started to "help". This led to "EVAN! NO!! MY GARDEN!" and fights between the two, then Evan collapsing to the ground, kicking his little legs as he didn't get his way.

Despite the wind, we played outside a lot and had the neighbor girls over for a bit also. It is always nice to have a bit of a distraction for the kids and they play together so well. It is nice when the 4 of them can get together.

Tonight was a bath night, as we were playing in the dirt today and tonight was a sticky dinner of nachos, chicken wings, hotdogs, and home-made strawberry shortcake. Yes, all healthy wonderful choices :-) It was after Evan's bowl of strawberry shortcake fell to the floor and Emma stepped in it that I decided to throw them in the tub. Emma does pretty well in the baths, Evan, well, HATES going in them and then HATES getting out of them. He will kick his little legs back and forth and do the running man for both instances. If looks could talk, his would say " OH! I am so mad that I am so little and you can pick me up and make me do stuff I don't want to do!"

Emma has taken to doing everything herself. "MAMA! I am almost 4. I can do this." So, she now washes her hair and washes her body because, as she declares, "Mom, this is my sponsiblity now. I can DO it."

The night ended peacefully enough with Tim finishing some garden jobs and the kids watching some TinkerBell so I could do some of the dishes and clean up the floor. Sometimes I let Emma stay up a few minutes later than Evan, since she is a big girl, and tonight was one of those nights. Emma's eyes light up when I tell her that she can have 10 extra minutes as she is older and she puffs out her chest and looks down and you can tell how proud she feels. I have to admit though, I had ulterior motives, as I wanted to have 5 minutes to rock Evan to sleep.

He had a rough day today. He insisted on wearing his Transformer rain boots outside to play and before he even made it there, he tripped, fell, and his head hit the chair. This was right before I was going out running and he is screaming, tears streaming down his face yelling "MAMA! Bye-bye?? MAMA! Bye- Bye!...." Then of course, he reaches up his little arms and I can't resist. Then, later that evening, he was struggling with supper and he just had to get down to play. Tim and I wouldn't let him and he let's out a big NO and folds his arms up, drops his head on them and starts crying. Grrrr....

But then at last, we had the sweet times. I had just got him out of the tub and was putting his jammies on. I picked a random blue pair and he started kicking his little legs and saying "Ball! Ball" He wanted to wear the jammies with the basketballs/baseballs/footballs on them. Then, finally, bed time. Emma was happily watching TinkerBell, so I brought him upstairs, turned on his glow-worm and sat in the rocking chair. He looks at me, squeezes my cheeks in his pudgy little hands, and lays his head on my shoulder. It was so nice. I rocked him for about 5 minutes, while he lightly stroked my arm or my side. He would murmur "mama" every once in awhile and finally started to fall asleep. Nice! what a great way to end the busy night.

Now this week, it is the same old thing - but throw in more studying. Wish me luck on my big test for later this month. I am pretty nervous about it.

Multi-tasking

Why is it that I have the need to do 5 things at a time? Take now for example, I am watching a moving "500 Days of Summer" typing out my blog, with the GMAT study program running also, while I have the strong urge to stop and do sit-ups or lunges or something. I guess it is my nature, my job requires strong multi-tasking skills and I like my job, so maybe it is just part of me.

I think it is a bad thing sometimes as while I am playing with the kids, I am thinking about work or thinking about my grocery list, solving that damn math problem I couldn't get in the stupid practice test, or just zoning. I feel as though I am not always giving my all to my kids, my husband or my home. I am probably just exaggerating, I realize, but at the moment it seems I am always caught up in something else.

So do I have too much going on? Does everyone feel this way? Is there hope that someday I can recover and only focus on one thing?? I hope so...

We had a good week. The kids were pretty happy. Emma had a goofy story this week (per our baby-sitter Tia, who is now Emma's best friend) and Tia called to let us know about it.
--set up: Emma and Tia were watching Princess and the Frog and Emma was itching her eyes. Tia asked here if everything was okay.
(Emma) No, my eyes are itchy. I have bad allergies. Do you know what they are Tia? That is when bugs poop in your eyes.
(Tia, trying to contain laughter) Gee, Emma, that is too bad. (then, Tia tries to explain about allergies and pollen and flowers, etc)
A little while later Tia asks Emma if she is feeling better.
(Emma) Yeah, they are. I have allergies. They are well, you know, what you said before about flowers.

What a nut!

We basically hung out around the house this weekend. We ran errands, I saw an adorable 3 week old little girl and went out for lunch with her Mama. Tomorrow is the last day of Sunday School, which I am happy about. It was a good run, I am glad I did it, but it will be nice to have one commitment out of the way.

Evan seems to be getting feistier lately. Every time we try to get him to do something he doesn't want, he gets really upset, searches for soft spot to land and then throws himself on the ground.. or carpet... or blanket (his precious B). Now, I love the little guy, but the drama can end.

All right, I am rambling and watching a movie while typing. So, I am not going to proof-read (sorry) and will sign off. Maybe I will attempt some sit ups now.