Just a girl

The kids went to the basement to play with granGerry for awhile. When they returned, each was holding a toy they had been allowed to pick to bring upstairs.

William: I picked a lizard that breathes fire! His name is FireFace!
Andy: I picked this soft purple bear. His name is Cuddles.
Amelia (in her sweetest voice): I picked this beautiful bride with moneyer teeth and claws. She also has hosable hair to put out any fires. Her name is Megan* and she has EARRINGS.

Then the kids went on to play together.

*i believe the doll was named already when Amelia selected her.

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Gemma warms up

Gemma is kind of a rough cookie. Several factors are at play here:

1. She has never been a snuggler. She isn't much if a sitter. She is more of a get up and go kind of girl who is busy, busy, busy. She doesn't really want to sit with me for any length of time except on very very occasions. She'd much rather be out climbing, running and chasing the big kids.

2. To a smaller degree, she is a little shy. She likes people, but not lots of people all at once. Unless you are her siblings. Then you can be in her face and as loud as you'd like.

So, when she does warm up to people, it is a very big deal. My family has spent the last few days working on her and after four days we had some success.

Success was so exciting it required documentation!

Mathematics

Tired daddy+ tired baby= nap time

Write it down!

John shot the moon and gave everyone 26 points!

Gemma's first plane ride

Me and my sidekick flew to Grand Forks today in order to attend my grandpa's funeral tomorrow morning. Gemma was a good girl on our two flights. Mama was superwoman and hauled a diaper bag, a suitcase, a carseats and umbrella stroller. And a 25 pound baby with a mind of her own! Big thanks to daddy for taking on the big kids so mama can be with family!

Cute cousins

Gemma and her cousin have matching swim wear. Aren't they adorable?

Grmma's first corn video

Corn on the cob? Mmmmmmm!

Future track star

What do you think? Do we have a future track star on our hands?

Gemma's laugh

Is it real or fake? Can you tell?

Gemma's laugh

Is it real? Or fake?

Tutorial

How to keep a baby busy so you can take a nap:

Step 1: attempt to read baby am educational book full of exotic animals and beautiful artistic illustrations. (Note: this step is optional).

Step 2 abort when baby throws book on floor for the 16th time.

Step 3: shut eyes for several seconds (note: time elapsed was not scientifically calculated and may be inaccurate)

Step 4: open eyes to find baby shredding what appears to be a harmless recycled napkin. Baby has a look of glee and happiness.

Step 5: shut eyes for brief moment (again, no outside source can confirm amount of time elapsed)

Step 6: open eyes again to discover baby has located a sticky tape variety of lint roller and is happily sticking and unsticking the shredded bits of napkin over and over again.

Step 7: consider taking video as eyes drift shut again and settle for a picture of the aftermath.

What does a chicken nugget say?

According to Gemma: quack!

She's been carrying around this guy or gal for the last few days and quacking. Or maybe she's clucking?

Monkey see, monkey do

Amelia was begging to go to the park this week. With temperatures in the 90s and a baby sister with the same personality as evil kenevil (she runs away, runs in front if swings, attempts to climb tall ladders from the top down, tries to climb up slides and eats rocks/mulch/sand), the answer had to be no.

We found a compromise with painting her toenails. She is a girly girl at heart and she jumped at the opportunity for some glamourfying. I didn't realize that when Gemma was emptying the bathroom cabinets, she was also taking notes. After every conceivable bottle was out of the cabinet, Gemma sat herself down with a Chapstick and went to work polishing her own toenails.

Monkey girl.

Grandpa

Grandpa Tom

12/20/24-7/23/13

On pirates

One of the added bonuses of this weekend was some special family time. My brother flew in from California and sister came with from the cities. My aunt and uncle are in town from Massachusetts. These are some of my favorite people and we don't see each other often enough.

Our families were staying in a hotel while in town. The check in process and unloading was underway. Even when things are going smoothly, checking this many people with small children is chaotic.

Uncle Mike went to drop some things in his room. Upon seeing the look on my face, he invited William to accompany him. (Big points awarded, points are redeemable for little to nothing). Later in the evening, Mike repeated the following conversion to me:

William: mike! Mike! I know a lot about pirates!!
Mike: really? Tell me 3 things you know about pirates.
William: sure! Pirates shiver timbers.
Mike: (tries not to laugh. You should never laugh in the face of a pirate expert) oh? Wow!
William : yeah. Sometimes the timbers get shivery.
Mike: I think it means that the ocean sometimes hits the boat and makes the boat timbers shiver.
William: (plowing on) the next thing is that the sails attach to masts and yardarms.

And the third thing is they speak their own language.

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Gemma's first m&m

My grandpa Budd has always carried m&m candies in his short pocket when there are kids around. I don't remember a time when he didn't have treats for me regardless of the time of day. It's a great ice breaker and the kids always come to him. Nothing warms you up to someone like chocolate candies.

It is no surprise my kids are delighted by this tradition. This weekend marked Gemma's first m&m from her great grandpa Budd. She wasn't sure what to do with it at first. Mama stepped in to give a little guidance. It only took one and she was great grandpa's biggest fan!

A compliment?

William: mom! I love your sunglasses!
Mama: thank you William (feels a little smug. Straightens up, smile on face)
William: yeah! I love them because you look like an insect! Giant insect eyes are so cool!
Mama: ... (Whaaa? Deflates)

The goal

The goal this weekend was simple: see my grandpa.

Accomplished. I held his hand, looked into his eyes and sat by his bed.

Unexpected was the look of pure joy this morning when he looked up and saw Gemma in my arms. "Hi baby!" He whispered. That smile, although intended for Gemma, sprinkled down I to my heavy heart and made me.... I don't know if there is a right word. It was a special moment.

I cannot thank my whole family enough for moving heaven and earth to allow me to see my grandpa. It was not an easy undertaking. But, every single person in my family did it without one complaint (okay, that is not quite true. They are kids after all. But, no one complained even ONCE about the situation. Just about normal stuff like being hot/cold/tired/hungry/etc.)

1900 miles and 26 hours in the car over 4 days. I sure do love these amazing kids- and John? You are a star. Thank you, thank you, thank you.



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Breakfast conversation topic

Here's what the kids were talking about this morning at breakfast. I did not prompt or otherwise solicit this topic.

Compare and contrast Dora the explorer and Diego the animal rescuer in detail. Include plot line, companions, personalities, language and other finer details.

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Conversations v.39327

Amelia: what does boo-yah mean?

............ummmm...... I'm going to have to think about that one........

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It's hard to find the baby

Here in this picture. I was cleaning up breakfast dishes this morning when I noticed how big this girl is getting. It hits you out of nowhere, this realization they are growing up at light speed.

I don't know if it is the long, long legs hanging out or the milk cup tossed on the floor or perhaps the bib that moments later she whipped off leaving a trail of sticky oatmeal. Maybe it is the thicker curly hair or the purposeful silly face she is making at me in order to make me laugh or the careful way she studies the Cheerios before casually dumps them off the tray. It isn't all baby here anymore.

Matching Korea shirts!

Daddy brought back some dinosaur shirts from Korea! The kids had to wear them right away!

Alternate title: whatever my brother can do, so can I!

Chrissie

I look just like Chrissie, mom!

We acquired a pile of clothing from my aunt and uncle. These are special items worn by my slightly younger cousins. I'm fairly certain many of these items would be considered vintage.

Amelia loves every one of them and is so proud to wear them! Both girls had matching strawberry outfits last week from the cousins stash- sadly no pictures on my phone though.

Amelia loves school

We are doing a little school this summer with the kids. More just to review the concepts William learned last year to be ready for next year. William isn't loving it, but he cooperates. The big surprise is Amelia. She LOVES it and is constantly asking to do more. She does just about everything William does - much to his dismay. I've been trying to find ways to keep her focused on other tasks whole he is working on his work. I found this wipe board in the closet - no idea where we acquired it and put Amelia to work. While listening to William's work with one ear, she chugged her way through some handwriting and some math. Pretty impressive for a four year old!
*note: many of her numbers are backwards, but the math is all correct.

So happy

To be together again! These kids cannot get enough daddy time today!

Daddy's home!

Notice anything?

Yeah. I didn't want to advertise exactly what was going on while it was happening for a number of reasons, but John just got home tonight from a work related trip to South Korea. He has been gone for just over 2 weeks. 2 long weeks.

I'll go ahead and remind you that my precious children and 6,4 and 1. We have a small, but strong support system here, but no family closer than 6 hours.

John has never had to travel anywhere for work before, so this was a huge change for our family. I think in the back of our minds up until the day he left, we were kind of hoping it wouldn't work out and the trip would be cancelled. But, it was not. The truth here is that I was unhappy about being left behind! John just checked Asia off his continent list and I have not. No fair. Although this is the kind if trip I would consider taking the whole family with when the kids are a little older. The timing was just not right.

Thankfully, it worked out for us to spend over half of the time in Minnesota visiting our many of our wonderful friends and family. In particular, my parents worked overtime to get us there (travel with a 1 year old can be challenging) and then were the most gracious hosts. We are so thankful for their help and flexibility.

The second week, I flew solo here at home which had its challenges. I did it and survived as did the kids, but life is sure easier when you have another adult around to lean on.

I know John had lots of interesting stories and adventures to share with you (lost luggage, eating oatmeal with chopsticks, adventures in eating in the Korean cafeteria, business class travel excitement including lobster jello, restaurant hijinks, sightseeing trips and more). I am hopeful he will sit down to share some of his experiences here for the kids to look back upon.

It was my plan to get to the airport earlyish in order to meet up with John at the baggage claim. The kids and I worked very hard on some signs to welcome daddy home and everyone for cleaned up. Mama wore a dress and some lipstick (!). However, my plan didn't work out as I couldn't figure out which lot to park in and then got turned around between the terminals. So, the sweet family reunion was not to be. By the time I figured out where I needed to be, John was standing on the curb waiting for me. The flight was early and his bag was the first one out of the baggage claim (how often does that happen?). So, I'm disappointed about my plans, but happy daddy is back in town.

Happy in part because the technology tends to misbehave when John isn't here. Currently:

My phone won't take video
My email won't download
The enter button doesn't work on the computer
The printer isn't printing
The ice machine is leaking
The kids' radio isn't paying
Thermostat isn't working properly

I'm certain that with another week I could really get things a mess!

Sounds like a good list for tomorrow? Right?

4th of July parade

On my summer to do list is a parade. It's on the list every summer. When we were in Minnesota, I knew were going to miss our hometown's huge 4th of July parade. I was on a mission to find another parade. Luckily, Grandpa and Grandpa were on board and we found ourselves at the Stewartville parade!

We packed a picnic and grandma picked up some holiday treats to eat while we waited for the parade.

Girl time

With William out on the woods, we had some special girl time. Gemma discovered bugs, which wasn't very girly. It was very entertaining though.

Amelia talked grandma into a manicure and pedicure. She requested a patriotic pattern of white white and blue for the 4th of July holiday. However the best we could come up with was pink and peach. She was a very satisfied customer with her alternating pink and peachy fingers and toes.

Quarry hill

Part 2 (same day, can't fit all pictures in one post from my phone):

Counting rings on trees
Gemma loving hiking
Finding out the tennis shoes I brought for Gemma are now too small.
The rocky dock (a floating dock that rocks when you step on it)
A fossil hunting bust (we didn't find any)

Quarry hill adventure

Part one

Highlights:

A Trex skull
SNAKES!
Finding our wingspans

Friends at the park!

We are so lucky to have friends who rearrange their lives to meet up with us when we travel to Minnesota! A high school friend of mine has a 6 year old boy, 4 year old girl and a 6 month old girl. Perfect playmates for our kiddos! We've gotten together before, but it's been awhile. I think the last time the big girls were only a year old!

They weren't happy about pictures, but sometimes a mama just needs a picture!

Above:Jacob and William
Below: Amelia and Mariella

Sadly, Gemma wouldn't hold still for more than minute so we don't have a picture of the little girls.

Camp out

William was thrilled to be invited to camp out with Kaye and Scott at whitewater state park this week in their camper. (Amelia was invited also, but I made the executive decision that very day that you need to be 5 to spend the night away from mama because I didn't want to drive and pick her up at midnight).

Kaye sent me some great pictures of William camping. The first words out William's mouth were: "where's Scott?"

He is Scott's little shadow, which I think (I hope) both enjoy. Scott, among other things had promised to take William fishing for his breakfast in the morning.

William was disappointed he didn't catch anything, but was thrilled when Scott offered to share his catch. William was ALL about eating the fish and talked it up a great deal. Until the fish hit the table. Then he decided he only liked fish that look like chicken nuggets. (Full disclosure: we don't eat fish at our house. At all. Ever. So, I'm not sure how he arrived at this conclusion.).

William settled on a sparse breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast and fruit. Possibly banana bread? From his telling he ate a whole pile of food.

After breakfast, everyone went for a hike. A hike in which William ended up building dams in the creek with Cece the dog looking on.

It is no surprise that he crashed hard when they brought him back to town!

A big thank you to Scott and Kaye for giving our big guy an awesome camping experience!!

Snores

We went to whitewater state park last night to join my family for dinner at the campground.

William: I'm done eating!
Kaye: good! Do you know what we have for dessert?
William/Amelia: what?!?!
Kaye: S' mores!
W/A: cheering
Amelia: snores! I love snores!!!!!

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Lunch with grandpa

Grandpa came home for lunch and Gemma hopped right up to the table to keep him company.

Which didn't last for long. Soon she was up on the table requesting a bite with her chubby finger. Who can resist that?

Diving board

Despite both of them being terrified, bit kids insisted they needed to jump off the diving board into the deep end at the end of their swim lesson.

First is Amelia and second is William.

Swim!

This post keeps being rejected. Here is attempt #019153825.

William and Amelia are sharing a swim instructor this year and are the only 2 students in the class ( it's a super long story, not that interesting). They did very well together and had a lot of fun!


The first shot is them swimming together. The next pictures will now be in a separate post.


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William's map

We were at a pizza restaurant that has butcher paper for coloring. William made this partial map of the United States. Not bad!

A sweet message

Tooth #10,11,12

Gemma has been working the remaining 3 of her molars for awhile now. I noticed a few days ago they all of them are now poking through. Maybe that will mean more sleep at night?

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Poisen control

One year in to child number three and I just made my first call in to Poisen control. That deserves some sort of award, doesn't it? Like mother of the year perhaps?

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Gemma waits

Here is Gemma patiently (and cutely) waiting during swim lessons. She has just dumped her container of Cheerios all over the ground. Isn't she adorable?