Things They Say Thursday--April 28

     Sometimes the things they say are purely amusing because of the timing.  For instance, the other night we were at the baseball game and one of the beer vendors was passing by selling as they do.  Out of the blue Noah calls "no way, Jose."  Not sure where that came from, but what a smart little boy.

Easter Weekend

     We kept it pretty low-key and simple this year for Easter.  On Saturday I took the kids to my family's Easter gathering while Mike attended a funeral and worked on some of his homework.  The kids had so much fun finding eggs and just running around the open yard.  They were definitely not ready to leave {yet exhausted} when it was time to come home.  Easter morning we were hoping to make it to a church service, but somehow we managed to stay in bed until 10 {which never happens}.  So we missed the service and just hung around the house.  I made french toast casserole for brunch and we took a walk since it was so nice out.  After our walk it was time to decorate our Easter eggs.  Awhile ago I found an egg decorating kit in our cabinet that I am guessing was supposed to be for last year.  It worked perfect for decorating our eggs this year and saved me from buying another kit.  As you can see below they were Sesame Street themed.    When the eggs were done the kids enjoyed some outside time with their Easter basket gifts.

Waiting for the okay to open their baskets.

Noah and his basket.

Mikayla with hers.

Gotta love them Peeps.

His big egg.

Coloring the eggs.  {um, yea it was difficult to tell the difference between the orange and pink tablet.  pink was not supposed to get vinegar.  whoops!}

She decorated her eggs with stickers.

Noah and his Cookie Monster egg.  {I love this pic}

Abby and Elmo

The whole gang.  {at least most of them}



The only outside photo we got.  Enjoying new sidewalk chalk.



Cars and Under the Sea Adventure

     A few weeks ago I took Noah to see a one day exhibit of Cars 2.  It was in promotion for the movie that is set to be released in June {so excited for it}.  By the time we got there, they had closed down all the lines so we were not able to do any of the exhibits.  Noah was crushed, that is until I took him into Crown Center and he got to play in the Under the Sea Adventure.  It was very busy and in tight quarters, but Noah had so much fun running around and climbing in and out of the tunnels.  After the exhibit I took Noah to our normal stop at the toy shop before heading back home.  He spotted Grover from Sesame Street and held on to it throughout the entire store.  So me feeling a little sad about the whole Cars thing I bought him the Grover.  He was so excited.  As we were heading back to our car they were just putting up the Cars exhibits and the crowd was pretty much gone.  I was able to get a few shots of Noah with the Cars before he became engrossed with the movie trailer that they had playing over and over.  So he may not have been able to do all of the exhibit, but he was able to see the cars much closer than if we had been there earlier and waited in the lines.




Mater



Lightning McQueen

Watching the preview.  Way more exciting than the cars.



Finn McMissile



Noah and the mermaid.

He had no idea that his head was right by the shark's mouth.

Working hard to crank it.

So many Noahs.

Disney on Ice--Toy Story 3

    A few weeks we went and saw Disney on Ice--Toy Story 3.  My kids are absolutely obsessed with the movie so I knew they would love the show.  For me it has more of a sentimental touch as it takes me back to my childhood days when my grandma would take all of us grandkids each year to the show.  For now it is my tradition with my kids, and who knows how long it will be carried on.   The kids were completely enthralled in the show {and I enjoyed it too}.  Here are a few photos from the show.  Sorry about the quality.  We definitely need to invest in a better camera.  This one is in the shop and it is not even a year old.  Maybe they will magically send me back a newer camera ;).

Waiting as the show was just about to start.

My little Jessie.

Green Aliens!

What would a Disney on Ice show be without Mickey???

...And the rest of the gang.

Mikayla's fave, Barbie.

Barbie aerobics. {pretty sure I heard the guys in front of us cheer when they came out.}

Lotso Huggin Bear

Barbie and Kennnnn.....

One of Noah's favorite parts of the movie, Woody flying on a kite out of Sunnyside.

Army guys parachuting in.

Buzz's grand entrance.

Mom of four...

    Let me think about this.   Um, maybe... I mean like some day.  I love the space between Noah and Mikayla and any closer I think I would drive myself crazy.  What even brought this thought into my head is that I had my niece and nephew for the weekend, which makes me the "mom" of four {at least for the weekend}.  I mean I care for kids every day throughout the week and four would be a slow day for me, but I also know that there is a schedule and at the end of the day I can sit back and relax with just my two kids.  Whole weekend = no break or end of the day.  Really, not complaining just pointing out the difference.  But alas things went pretty smoothly and the kids had a lot of fun playing with together.  We started the weekend of with a soccer game for my nephew on Saturday morning.  I had forgotten how into the games I get even though it is not my child out there playing.  After the game we did a little grocery shopping and then headed back home for lunch.  In the afternoon while my niece and Noah took a nap, my nephew and Mikayla played out back in the water.  Then we just took it easy for the rest of the afternoon before making cookies, dinner, and movie night.
     On Sunday we took our time getting up and ready before heading off to church.  I was a bit hesitant because Mike was staying at home to work on homework, but it all worked out fine.  Mikayla and my nephew went to class and the two littles went to service with me.  After the service we grabbed lunch and headed to the park for a picnic and some play time.  When we came back home I made the kids some ice cream sandwiches and they spent the rest of the afternoon outside.  I love this weather {could do without the wind though}!

I Have Thumbsuckers

     Scratch that, I have ONE thumbsucker.  Yay!  And, yes I said it.  I have a thumbsucker.  We are not proud of the fact that our kid(s) suck their thumbs, but we do know that it is their way of comforting and soothing themselves.  We tried to help Mikayla stop when she was younger, but it was like the doctors said that she will stop when she is ready.  Although I have to disagree about the motiviation.  They said she would stop because her classmates would be teasing her, in reality a little bit of bribery is what finally did the trick.  We had tried the Thum but she seemed unaffected by it.  We also tried tabasco sauce and vinegar (never large amounts), but they had the same effect.  Finally when Mikayla's teacher mentioned that she might be excluded from some school activities, we set out to find another way to help her to stop.  We had used band-aids before, but this time it seemed to really help.  In agreement with her teacher, I put a baggy in her backpack and whenever she felt the need to change them she could just go and grab one.   In the end though what really got her to stop was a little bribery with her Julie doll (the American girl).  She had been eyeing some pajamas in the catalogue and Mike said that she could earn them by not sucking her thumb.  It took about three weeks but she finally got there and now she has the pajamas.  Never doubt the power of bribery, but just make sure you are using the right thing.  We had tried using a doll house, but for some reason that did not work.  The pajamas just had the right motivation.  And after a few years of talking about getting a doll house when she quits sucking her thumb, guess what will be under our Christmas tree this year?  Now if only we could get the little one to stop...We will be starting this adventure just after his third birthday.  Hopefully it will be easier.

Things They Say Thursday--April 7

     So the other day Mike was not feeling so well so he was laying upstairs in bed.  After Noah's nap he went in to lay with dad.  After a while he came back downstairs and was sitting on my lap and we were talking.  Then out of the blue {or at least it seemed}, he said "I feel cruddy."  Um, excuse me {enter thought in my head}? I said, "really, now where did you learn that?"  His response:  "I feel cruddy, cruddy, crudddddy."  Sometimes I think I really need to have a recorder going all the time.  These things would be so much funnier if it were actually him saying it and not just me typing it.  Oh well, such is life.  Happy Thursday!

Cars...What Cars???

     Right about now I should be crowned the worst mom.  Let me explain how I feel I deserve such a title.  This past week we took the kids to pick out a few items as well as the Tangled movie that we had pre-ordered.  Well while we were there we thought we would gauge interest in what Noah might like for his birthday.  He settled on a Lightening McQueen car set with his trailer.  I thought I could be sneaky enough to pay for it without having him see me buy it.  So I sent Mike away with him while I was paying, but midway through paying he came back over.  I quickly shooed him away, but I'm guessing it was too late.  When we got home Noah began asking for his Lightening McQueen car.  Me still thinking he had not seen it tried to play it off and ask "what Lightening McQueen car?"  He continued to try and explain it to us and Mike and Mikayla kept trying to convince him that it was one of the cars in his room.  I felt completely bad for him.  He knew what he had seen and here we were trying to convince him that he did not see it.  I so badly wanted to break it out and give it to him, but instead I just tried to move on from the topic.  Alas we went to bed and the next morning he had forgotten all about it.  Now when his birthday comes around I can already hear him saying "I told you.  It's my Lightening McQueen car."