Soaking up every minute

It won't be long and this beautiful weather we have been having will be over and snowflakes will start to fall.
Until then we are making sure that we are taking advantage of every last minute that we can enjoy being outside.

This week the girls played together and their imaginations really showed through.

First Hannah was going to build a house.



"Mom, how's it look?"
"I'm buiding a house but....uh....how do you build a house, anyways?"

  We followed with a campfire in the front yard.  A pretend fire of course.

"Mom, we should talk about what a gorgeous night it is.  Isn't it a gorgeous night?"

No summer/fall night is complete without a game or two of Mr Fox.  This year Hailey gets in the mix too.

"LUNCHTIME!"

 A little while later the babies were packed up and Hannah was on her way to the garage.



"Hey Bean!  Where you heading?"
"Oh, just to Ecuador."

We spotted a frog and the girls insisted we pick him up and put him in a bowl for a few minutes.

"Hannah, ok, that's been enough.  Let's let him go now so he can find his mommy and daddy."
"But mom- we are his family now."
"Honey, I think he would be happiest with his mommy and daddy.  What if he was on his way there to meet them when we picked him up and put him in that bowl?  We should let him go."
"I know!  We could bring him to the cabin with us.  He would love it there and could make new froggie friends!  Do you think we should do that?!"

I think somone is feeling better...

Hannah woke at 1:00 am last night/this morning.  "Owweee"  I went in to see what was the matter and said her tummy hurt.  I brought her to the bathroom, gave her some medicine and put her back to sleep.
2 hours later we were up again.  "Mommy, I puked!"  I entered her room to find her on all fours hovering over a pink pile of vomit.  As soon as I opened the door she said "I didn't puke on my Dankie or Dolphie this time."  Sure enough, she moved everything out of the way and was holding still until I got there to get her sheets off the bed.
We were up for a while changing sheets, etc. and finally got back to bed with puke-bucket in tow.  We had a few more meetings throughout the night and finally at 4:00 am I surrendered to the fact that I wasn't going to make it to work.
This is especially bad timing because we have a major project going live (I hope) in less than 2 weeks and I need to work every second that I can.  This is definitely going to set me back a few days. 

We sent Hailey to daycare without her sister and for the first few minutes of the dropoff she pouted with her adorable bottom lip.  I called to check on her later and Jackie assured me that she was just fine!  Whew!

After a day full of ginger ale, saltine crackers, naps, medicine, and a Justin Beiber movie Hannah was starting to feel better and wanted to send a picture to her daddy and Loriann.

Found something to do while waiting for me to get off of my conference call



YEP- looks like she is feeling fine to me!



I will go alone

This weekend Hannah woke up first, as she always does, and came into our room to wake us up.  This time things were a little different.  This time she came in and she was fully decked out in her princess dress up clothes (from Karri, Mike, Courtney, and Greta). 

That morning Hannah was helping me clean up the house and after she had picked up she asked if she could go and get the paper.  Alone.

"Ummmm, sure.  I guess.  Just please be careful."

She replied with "I will be berry careful mom.  I can go alone cause I'm fourteen and a kid grown up."

Of course I perched out in the window watching her every move.  She was perfect.  Walked to the end of the driveway, looked for cars, walked on the side of the street-closest to the grass, grabbed the paper, doubled checked the mailbox, and returned to the house.

As nice as it was to have her help out I kinda found myself a wee-bit sad about her new found independence.

Somebody loves her new sweatshirt

Tammy brought us some clothes that no longer fit Chloe. 

We hit the motherload!  Adorable clothes- TONS of jeans

In the bag we found this Hello Kitty sweatshirt.  Hailey was real interested in wearing it so I was thrilled to see that it was a size 2T.  I dressed her this morning, brought her upstairs so she could show daddy, then sat her on the couch to eat some breakfast so I could finish getting dressed myself.

I come back to the living room to find that she hasn't made a dent in her chocolate donut and her hand is in her pocket.  Isn't it adorable?!

Later that day we were outside playing.  I tried to get her to put on a coat (with sleeves) and she was NOT happy.  She took the coat from me and threw it and then pointed to the sweatshirt (with a zipper-which in her minds meets the qualifications) as if to say "NO!  I am wearing this!"

Here's a little video that I captured...

Goodnight- Sleep Tight

How is there any room left in this bed for her?!

We have a new 'friend'.  Gymnastics Monkey.

Me: "Hannah, why is her name Gymnastics Monkey?"

Hannah replies: "Cause she looks like she would be good at gymnastics."

Ok then.

From left to right: Dolphie, Gymnastics Monkey, Hannah, Dankie, Soda, New Emerson, & Mickey

After I took this picture, I turned off the light and sang them two songs (Twinkle, Twinkle and Rock-a-Bye Baby).  I then grabbed Dankie, twisted him to a point and then placed it in Hannah's ear while I kissed her goodnight.  I didn't do it right so she gave me an earful about the 'right' way to twist him.  She 'let' me try again and as I was poking him into her ear she was saying "Almost, almost...there you did it!"

(not sure how I did it and not really convinced that I could ever do that again!)

Daddy's Little Buddy

After the disappointing Vikes game today Bri was looking for something to do.  I got a cure for that....my car sure is dirty :-) 
He went upstairs and I pulled out the computer to do some blogging.  I heard him and Hailey outside.  I could see that he got the slide out, the tricycle, the scooter, etc.  Not too many days of nice weather left- better enjoy them while we can.
I went outside to see them and find this....Daddy's little buddy, on her chair, hanging out watching daddy wash my car (thanks honey!). 

She loves being near him.  There is a whole yard of toys behind her and she would rather be hanging out watching him work.  

Easy for who?

We were in Hannah's room cleaning out her closet when she looked up and spotted her Easy Bake oven.
For the next 15 minutes the only thing she talked about was how we should bake cookies and cakes for all of her friends.
She was so excited and was very persistent.  I had plans to clean out both girls closets and then tackle my own today but I could tell that my plans were about to change.
I finished up what I was in the middle of and then we got out a bowl, some water, flour (for our hands), the cooking spray and a spoon and started to make cookies.
Step 1:  the oven needs to preheat for 15 min (Have you ever waited 15 minutes with an excited kid?!)
Step 2: while waiting for the oven to preheat, add water to the mix and stir (this step does not take 15 minutes, your little one is still super excited)
Step 3:  flour your hands and then make little balls of dough to place in the pan.  3 balls per pan, 2 pans (only one of these pans can cook at a time and take 10 minutes to cook- the kid is still bouncing)
Step 4: after stalling and waiting, the first batch is finally ready but because you can't see inside the oven you go by the suggested time and the 10 minute cook time was too much and burnt the first batch (now your little excited one is still excited but also disappointed)
Step 5: the second batch goes in and to waste more time you go through the cabinet looking for sprinkles, frosting, anything that you can pull out to put on the cookies once you take them out (this time sooner than 10 minutes)
Step 6: cookies come out, get decorated (excited child is now eating that decorated cookie and is really excited to make another batch)

So....we start the next batch.  This is a full batch, not the teaser batch size like you get with the oven.  This batch has enough to fill 6 pans worth of cooking.  SIX! 

Step 1: this time already done
Step 2:  stir the mix, shape into balls, cook 8 minutes
Step 3:  Cookie is out (these are s'mores ones so we melt the chocolate in the warming tray, make the marshmallow creme and layer on the cookie)
Step 4:  taste test
Step 5:  my excited child tells me that I can just finish for her

Only 5 more batches to go....

This is where most moms would probably tell their excited child to get her little butt back to this table and finish what she started.  This mom let her run off to play and called her back to the table to do the 'fun part' (shaping the balls and flattening them in the pan) and then run off to play while I sat and waited for the cookies to finish baking.

I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a little annoyed but then when it was all said and done she gave me a hug and said "Mom, thanks for letting me bake with my own oven today."

Ahhh-Choo!

Kleenex everywhere!
Every year starting in August we start purchasing kleenex and allergy meds.  Brian has horrible allergies and is miserable until the first frost.  Some years it starts earlier, sometimes it will come later but one thing is for sure....it's coming.  As far as the years go, this year doesn't seem to be so bad (yet).  Although, instead of one sneezing, runny nose, not feeling well human in this house we have three.  Both girls seem to have inherited their daddy's seasonal allergies :-(  Poor things.

Hannah has been sneezing and coughing a lot and each time I ask her if she's ok she answers with "Yeah, I'm ok.  I have the allergies."

Be Good

Tonight the girls and I ran to Target to get some stuff for dinner while daddy mowed the lawn.

They wanted to bring their blankets in the car for the ride.  Hannah assured me that they would leave them in the car once we got there.

We pulled into our parking spot and I started getting them unbuckled.  When I walked over to Hannah's side to open her door I found her kissing Dankie, telling him "Be good when we are in the store, we will see you soon", and shoving him in her ear 'just one more time'.

You at TWO!

Happy Birthday Hailey Monster!

You sure are mommy and daddy's little miracle baby. 

As I sit on your birthday and remember the moments that occured on that day leading up to your arrival it shouldn't be any surprise to me that you have the personality that you do.

I had my first contraction around 9:30 pm that night and less than 2 hours later you were born.  You decided you were coming and no one was going to stop you!    We should have known at that time that you would be independent and making your own rules as you go.

Every night your Da Dee and I share glances across the room as we watch you grow into your personality.  You have come out of your shell so much in the past months and I can not wait to see how you change and grow in the coming year.  Your sister is pretty crazy about you too and even though you two have plenty of times where you are fighting (or biting)- at the end of the day you stick together. 

Today is pretty hard for me.  My BABY has turned two!  Pretty soon you'll be out of diapers.  Pretty soon your language will turn into fully understandable sentences and the guessing game will no longer be played.

You have been talking so much lately but at the same time your expressions are so telling that many times no words are needed.  Your face and one word sentences have many interpretations and none of them need a translation- it's clear how you feel.

Your smile is the sweetest! 

You keep us on our toes.  Whether you are emptying a box of Kleenex into the toilet or drawing on your legs with black marker- you are usually up to something.  Never because you want to be naughty, you just want to explore.  There is a lot to do!

You aren't the friendliest to others (mostly strangers) and have been known to actually hurt people's feelings because you will start crying if they even just look at you but when you decided that someone makes the 'OK' list, their in.  And they couldn't be more happy about it!

You love babies, push-toys (strollers, carts, etc), shoes and purses/bags.  Anything that makes you feel like a grown-up.

You are loving and polite.  Always giving kisses and hugs and saying Tank Ew.

You have always shown excitement by running in place or even going so far as to run up to daddy or I and latch on for a huge squeeze.

It's going to be fun watching you grow up (and I really am excited to see who you will turn out to be) but at the same time I would like you to stay my baby (my true baby- not just my youngest)....how about for just a little while longer?

Love you bunches!

Beiber Fever

Tonight Hannah was on the couch watching the Justin Bieber Channel.

The Justin Beiber Channel is an app for the iPad that is just a collection of all of

Justin Beiber's You Tube videos.

One of the videos is Justin singing Baby with an acoustic guitar while they are sitting on a couch somewhere.

I was at the computer and Brian was on the couch watching the football game when all of a sudden we heard a smooch.  We turned to see Hannah had kissed the iPad.

A few minutes later she said "Did you know that he's looking at me when he's singing?"

Oh man- we are in for it when she gets older!

More from Hannah's Tastebuds

Tonight the girls were having hotdogs.

Who wants ketchup?
Hailey : "ME!"
Me:  "Hannah, would you like any ketchup?"
Hannah:  "No sanks, just white dip please."
Me: "*gulp* You aren't going to eat that buddy.  I'll put it on your plate and you can dip it if you want."
Hannah: "No, put it right here on my hotdog.  I will like it."

She did and ate the whole thing.

Welcome to the newest member

Grandpa Dan came over today to give the girls their birthday gifts.

Hannah was pretty surprised to find Mary in the gift bag that she tore into.

After Grandpa Dan left I heard Hannah in the living room...

Hannah: "Mary, it's ok.  You will like it here.  Shhhh, it's gonna be ok."

I peek in to see this.  Within minutes she is picking her up (cradling baby style in her arms)  and walks Mary ever so gently to her bedroom where she places her into a crib.
She tip toes out of the room and says to me "Mom, we need to be quiet.  I put Mary to sleep."

But of course you did :-)

Scrapfest - Day 2

This year we decided to only make the cute things that we knew that we would use so out of the close to 30 booths that were there, we probably only visited 11-12.  It was perfect!  One year from now you will probably see these things actually used instead of sitting in a ziploc in a box serving it's only purpose to prove that I was there.

We waited in this line for over an hour today and when we got to the front they gave us this whole kit.  We decided to take the kit and leave.  We could easily follow directions to create this at home.  Thanks Little Yellow Bicycle!

Wanna know what happens when you stay up scrappin' all night and then decide to get up early so you can stand in line all morning?

You might close your arm in your straighner instead of your hair....

That's gonna leave a mark :-(

Scrapfest- Day 1

September not only brings the first day of school, the girls birthdays, and the first day of fall but it also brings Scrapfest!

Scrapfest is just what the sign says- we met people from Chicago, Madison, the Dakotas, Missouri and heard there were people all the way from London.

Basically you pay a registration fee ($20) and that allows you to walk around the mall to the different vendor booths and do the make and takes.  Most of the vendors were showcasing their newest products.  Scrapbook celebs like Tim Holz, Amy Tan and Heidi Swapp would also be there doing demos and classes.

Shopping at the Rotunda

This is a view before the event started.  People get in line pretty early (us included)

The first day we made the following items

When we decided that we were going to Scrapfest we also decided that this year we would get a hotel room and stay Friday night.  This way we could be there all day Friday and Saturday and this year we wanted to sign up for one of the crops at the MOA store.  The day that registration opened, Tammy was on the phone - double-fisting.  Each time she called the line was busy and after 20 minutes she finally reached a human.  Must to her our disappointment, we learned that the crops were booked.  Tammy investigated a little longer and found out online that most hotels in the area were advertising that they would have a Cropping area set up in their hotel which would allow us to still scrapbook, we just wouldn't have a vendor sponsor in the room with us.

So when Scrapfest was officially over we booked it to our hotel to get checked in.  We wanted to be sure to get a spot so we agreed that before we ran to Target or stopped to get dinner we needed to stake out the room and claim our spots.  If it was really busy we would need to have one of us sit back and hold the spots until the others got back.

When we finally made our way to the cropping room this is what we found....

A little table with about 6 sheets of cardstock sitting on it.  I guess it was the hotel's best try at announcing that this would be the room we could use.  Did I mention the room was empty?

We were the only ones who used this room all night.  A few other stragglers came down and poked around looking to see what we were doing and three other ladies camped out in a room about this size next door.

As usual, I didn't get too much done.  I wasn't completely prepared so spent a lot of the night trying to choose paper, etc.

I did get three pages done and the way I see it, it is three more than were done yesterday!

One last taste of summer

Brian went to Costco for me and picked up the fruit for the girls party last week.

He emptied his truck and placed some of the items on the stairs. 

He went into the house to feed the dog, change, etc and when he returned he found this.

Hailey was helping herself to a few strawberries.  I am so happy she isn't allergic to them.  This little girl LOVES them!

A Real Princess

The other day Hannah was in the backseat of the car looking out the window.

Hannah: "Mom, I wish I could be a real princess."
Me:  "Oh but Hannah you are."
Hannah:  "No I'm not.  I don't even have a real princess dress or any glass slippers."

Thanks Karri, Mike, Greta, and Courtney for making her into a real princess!

Daddy's Girl

Hailey is Daddy's Girl!

One of the newest phrases that she has perfected is "Where's Dad?"

It's usually the first thing I hear when I wake her up and the only thing she says the whole drive to Jackie's each morning. 

When we walk upstairs each morning, I set her down on the floor and before her feet hit even hit the ground they are moving full speed so she can find him and wrap her little arms around his leg while she looks up and says "Hi Da Dee"

She yells out when she sees him and cries for him while she's hurt.  Lately she doesn't like mommy to bring her to bed so daddy gets the pleasure of being the last to kiss her each night.

It is so sweet to watch them together.

Birthday Party Hangover

For the next few weeks we are going to be opening and re-opening all of the new presents that the girls got.  We will play the new games more in the next few weeks then we probably will in the next month.  We will read the new books over and over.  All of the new clothes will get worn and the toys will each get their turn as being the new found treasure.

Today the nailpolish won.

Now that she's 4 yrs old she thinks she should paint her nails herself. 

She came up with the idea for painting her nails alternating blue and pink. 

Never Forget

Today marks the 10th Anniversary of the World Trade Center disaster.

September 11, 2001 around 7:45 am terrorists that had hijacked a plane drove it into one of the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.
I remember that day pretty clear.  I was working at Peds for Health and was walking into work.  When I reached the top of the stairs and entered the breakroom there were people watching the TV with horrified looks on their faces.  "Someone just drove a plane into the World Trade Center".
I turned to look at the television and immediately felt a pit in my stomach.
The rest of the day the world turned but the people in the world seemed to move in slow motion.  Everyone you would talk to was in complete shock about what just happened.

Our lives haven't been the same since that day.

Our kids will learn about this as a part of history and those of us that lived it will wish that we could forget about the horrible act that took place that day but know in our hearts that we have to remember.  We have to remember that day for all of the workers and rescurers that sacrificed their lives to save and help others.  We have to remember to honor those that lost their lives and those that lost family in the attack.

4 planes in total were hijacked that day.  About 20 minutes after the first one hit another plane came in and hit the second tower.  Another plane crashed into the Pentagon and one more would crash in a field- the people on that flight fought back and the plane never made it to where it was heading. 

Today on the 10th anniversary of this unimaginable event I spent most of the day cleaning up after the party.  The girls spent it in the bouncer (won't get picked up for at least a few more hours!)

A Birthday Party- Princess Style

With the girls birthdays being so close it's always been important to me that they have their own birthday memories.  Last year it only made sense that Hailey would have her own birthday- after all it was her first!
This year I figured we could get away with a combined party.  It's alot to ask people (mostly family) to come to two parties a few weeks away at the end of summer, right after the school year has started.  Lives are just starting to calm down for people and we wanted to be sure to not add to the 'end of the summer' stress so one party it is!

We rented a huge princess castle bouncer for the party.  Before the party began the girls and I made our last Target run to finish up the grocery shopping.  When we were passing our house to pull up in the driveway I heard a scream come from the backseat (this was a I just something I LOVE scream).  "THE BOUNCER IS HERE!  LET ME OUT, LET ME OUT!"

I parked the car, unbuckled Hannah from her seat and she was off.  Screaming and giggling the whole way.
Hailey was real excited to see what all the fuss was about so she went running in the back yard following her sister.  They turned the corner to the back yard to find this....

The girls bounced for a while, we ate lunch and then we actually got them to take naps (well, Hannah just rested- she was way too excited).

Guests started to arrive around 3:00pm.  We opened gifts, ate cake and ice cream, bounced and played.

Guests included
Grandma Chris and Tom
Grandma Judy and Grandpa Denny
Grandma Bauer and Uncle Bob
Jennie and Tom
Kim and Joe
Kristin (Bobby was at the Gopher game)
Jennifer, Tom, Courtney, Justin, and Adam
Grandma Joyce and Don
Stacey, Shane, Tyler, Carter, Maddie
Troy, Gretchen, Lindsay, Kiley
Loriann, Marlee, Talon
Karri, Greta, Courtney
Tammy, Josh, Riley, Noah, and Chloe
Brody and Chris

Brian made pulled pork sandwiches.  We had coleslaw, chips and dip, fruit and fruit dip, pickle dip, and beans.   I made the birthday cupcakes for Hailey and the birthday brownies (for the girl who wanted brownies, not cake, for her birthday treat.  "And mom, no frosting!")
The girls received so many thoughtful gifts.  Things that they are going to love!  Once again I was emotional about the fact that all of those people were there to celebrate those two little angels of ours.

The party was a success!