She loves MeeMaw

I seem to repeat the phrase, "We are not going to MeeMaws house today." alot these days.  Seems like everytime the kids all leave someone thinks thats what we should do.  And when I tell her no, she says, "we go to MeeMaws house on Saturday."  "not this week sweetheart."  Barbies now play games that they are going to MeeMaw and Grandpas house.  And she stares in disbelief when the other kids at daycare won't eat the cucumbers and tells them "but they came from MeeMaws house."  If she asks many more times she may arrive on their doorstep with postage on her forehead! 

She cracks me up regularly.  I had a lady come by to see about daycare earlier this week and she has twins.  When they walk in, Emily exclaims, "Mommy, she got 2 babies!"  Very cute.  Today she was being a regular showoff for the lady that came to visit.  (I currently have an infant opening and therefore have been getting quite a bit of interest in it...hopefully one but not all work out:)

Of course, I know why she keeps wanting to go see my parents....they don't often use the word no with her....Emily plays trains, they pick them up....she plays playdough, they clean it up....they let her do pretty much whatever idea crosses through that adorable little head of hers (which sometimes is rather interesting thoughts)  She got to go for a walk last week early in the morning because the rest of the day would be too hot.  She watched the entire Toy Story trilogy there (ok, so it wasnt the first time she'd seem them, she LOVES Toy Story)  But this week, we are going to relax, we are going to clean house, and we might even work on a project or two if we get the house clean.....hmmm....what to create (a clean house is top of that priority list though and I also have to go to Kohls...I love the $10 off of $10 coupons!)

Sometimes My Life is the Caterpillar Room

If you have seen Toy Story 3, that comment should arouse feelings of sympathy, wonder and amazement at me! Or maybe you just think I've completely lost my mind. For those of you that haven't seen the movie, the caterpillar room is the room where the kids are wild toddlers and none of the toys want to be in there.  It hasnt been like that for a while, outside time is great, but as you are more than likely experiencing for yourself we are in the grips of a monster heat wave...and honestly I looked at the forecast last night and it doesnt appear to get any better for the foreseeable future.  I'm not one to let weather keep me huddled up, but it has been too hot to spend more than 10 minutes at a time outside, so we've been inside a lot lately and the kids are getting a bit of cabin fever.  Hopefully today though, they will act like the calm children in the butterfly room!  And even on the tough days I just remember that I could have to drop Emily off somewhere and not get to spend all my time with her and see her grow up like I've been able to do, and its worth it, even on the caterpillar room days!

Ok, so I said I would post pictures of Emily's barn with her animals in it.  I was reminded yesterday I hadnt done that yet, so here they are. 

By the way, the person that reminded me hasnt sent me pictures from our trip to the lake yet either......   And since building that I was sent a link to ana-white.com which has tons of furniture plans...easy and cheap and cute ways to build your own furniture.  I'm addicted.  I want to build lots.  Now if only I had lots of lumber laying around......

Weekend Project

Do you ever have one of those days, you know the ones that culminate with the conversation, "Sweetheart, I've been thinking....I want to build something?"  "What do you have in mind?"  "Well, I saw this thing online, but I don't want to pay $150 for it, I think I could build it myself."  "You have a $10,000 deductible so don't hurt yourself, but go ahead."  So, welcome to my weekend.  I had that itch to create, and I knew just what I wanted to make.  Emily's room is eternally a disaster and I am not that naive that I think this will cure all my problems, but I'm hoping it gives the animals a place to live (and I can have my laundry basket back!)  that will ease the stuffed animal takeover of Emily's world.  So with that being said, I'd researched ways to store stuffed animals and got the usual, pet nets and pet tree things, neither of which were looking too promising then I came across this box thing.  Hmmm....possibilities.  Well, you could even buy it for $150.  Whew...a bit out of my price range.  So I looked at it.  I really liked it.  It had potential.  And I thought I could build it.  Well, first I thought, too bad Pa's not still around cause he could've built it and it would be fabulous.  Ok, so Pa died ten years ago, time to move on, he can't build me things anymore, I'll just have to do it myself.  Looked at the picture some more and came up with a plan.  At this point explained to my husband what I had in mind and asked if I could build it.  He gave me the go ahead with the safety lecture.  I went to Lowe's, got 5 2x4s (and the nice people at Lowe's even cut them to the length I needed), some bungee cords, eye hooks and I was on my way to begin my project.  Two days later, working mostly at naptime, Emily now has a barn for her stuffed animals.  It has to dry and we'll see for sure how it works. but considering my very limited talent in the woodworkign department, I think it turned out well.  Limited skill....I remember helping Pa and Granny make whirlygigs when I was probably about 7 or 8...trust me this was something new!


And now the moment you've been waiting for....

I'll take another picture once animals are contained in it!

The Park Wife Gives Away....

a free bra and panty set and by me telling you about it, I get an entry into her contest:)  So all you ladies out there visit http://theparkwifegiveaways.blogspot.com/2011/07/booby-trap-perky-giveaway.html to enter for your chance to win.  (Oh and sorry park wife, I'm still anti facebook and twitter so I'll only get this entry:)

I was actually going to write something else here today, I think it was about bleachy cleaners and how you should be careful not to bleach too much when you get in that "if it smells like this its got to be cleaning good" mode! 

Or maybe I was going to write about being pampered the other night.  Emily and I did our nails (our new hobby, but she's so darn cute when she asks...at least she chose pink this time) and then she brushed my hair.  It was already tangle free and she brushed it for about 15 minutes and was doing a great job.  I actually found it relaxing!  Then she gave up on me and went to brush daddy's hair.  His wasnt as much fun so she didnt do it very long:)

So since I dont really remember where I was going with this, I wont bore you with incessant ramblings I'll continue on with my cleaning:)

Imitating

I think Emily pays attention to EVERYTHING, even when we don't think she is.  Yesterday she was watching the Berenstein Bears while playing with her little people.  She seemed very involved in what she was playing, so I didnt really think she was paying much attention.  It was an episode where Brother and Sister are both trying out for a baseball team.  After it went off, she went and got a ball, and a stick (the closest she could find to a bat) and said, "Hey Rylee, Wanna play ball?"  and threw the ball to her.  Then she gets her little stick, which was only about 8 inches long...a tinker toy actually I think, and bends her knees and holds her little stick up on her shoulder just like a bat.  Rylee did not quite understand that Emily wanted her to pitch the ball to her.  I wasnt real worried about them breaking anything because they aren't either one a two year old baseball prodigy;) 

This morning she was playing and heard Super Why coming on.  She races to the TV and every time they did any actions she did them too.  It was funny to watch her dancing to her ABCs.  And whenever Bob the Builder comes on she runs to the toy box and gets a hammer and beats all the wall throughout the entire theme song.  And yes, she sings along now with the Caillou theme song.  So even though I don't think they are paying much attention to the TV there is a reason the only channel they are allowed to have it on is Sprout.  A little annoying when the songs that go through my head are coming straight off of the Wiggles, but hey, nothing I would be embarrassed if Emily repeated at church on there!

She also repeats everything she hears.  I tell her something is disgusting, she says "disgusting".  I ask her if she told daddy something and she repeats what I say, followed by a long story generally.  She keeps me entertained, no doubt about it!

Relaxing Weekend

I really could have been easily convinced to stay home this weekend.  I LOVE spending time with our very best friends, but to be honest the summer has been busy, a little stressful, and I am tired.  But once we arrived at the condo we were able to visit some, get some sleep and then a fun filled (although it was much too short) day yesterday.  We had a nice breakfast out (I love breakfast out...somethign about someone else doing the cooking and dishes at that time of day really appeals  to me!).  We went swimming, ate lunch and then the guys went to a movie while us girls put in Tangled and got the kids asleep.  We visited for an hour and a half and then had to get the kids to stay asleep and we fell asleep too.  The guys got back from their movie just as the kids were waking up, we had dinner and went shopping.  Emily was hilarious, she was good waiting to go to the Osh Kosh store to buy "me a shirt".  So we get to the Osh Kosh store and she goes to the clearance table and finds a cute little t-shirt "I like this mommy"  So I tell her she can get it.  She finds a pair of shorts (still at the clearance table) and whenever I find her size we decide we would get those too.  Then she looks at the clearance table and finds a blue necklace and bracelet she wants and I tell her she can have those (notice my child never even asked for anything not on clearance...teaching her young!)  As soon as she gets the necklace, she looks at me and says "I go pay now"  and takes her necklace and hands it to the girl working there.  And then goes to stand right beside her.  I get her to come aroud to the proper side of the register and we pay for her little outfit, she was very proud to show daddy her bag of what she bought.  I was proud too, it was pretty cheap.  Then we went back, put the kiddos to bed, talked a while longer and then went to bed ourselves.  This morning we had doughnuts, went for another swim and then our weekend was over.  But it was great while it lasted!  However Neal and I both agree.....we need a VACATION!

 She's a little fish in the "blue water"

 She got where she was just about swimming all on her own without hardly any help.

 Had to throw in a picture of our friends.   They took pictures of us too and if they ever decide to free them from their camera or phone and share them with me, I'll let you know:)

 She could go by herself in the fishy. 

And Now I'm Tired!

Happy Independence Day everyone!  I hope you all remember all the men and women who have put their lives on the line and some have given their lives for the freedom we so often take for granted.  I think we kept busy enough for everyone!

 Playing with the geotrax train.  She laughed every time it went down the hill.

 Swimsuit number 1

 Slip n sliding with cousins.

 We often talk about good idea vs bad idea.  I wasnt sure exactly what she had planned but I was pretty sure it fell into the bad idea category.

 Fun with Kiley (my cousin's little girl that is 1 1 /2 years older than Emily)

 Happy Birthday Cameron (he should NOT be 7 already!  Where has the time gone?  And yes, I realize that for Blaine's 7th birthday he got a new cousin....Cameron will have to be happy with the $10!)

 A few fireworks....my big chicken is scared of loud noise...this helped!

 Yep Cameron, smoke bombs stink.

 Funny faces:)

 They were both a little skeptical of the snakes/worms.

 Emily wasn't impressed, but she  did like the big rig (a firework that had already been used but still rolled around like a truck)

 And then there were water balloons....

 And building a fire ofr hot dogs....

 And a walk with Grandma (if Emily were around more, Grandma would be in really good shape:)  Here they were watching caterpillars.

 And waving at the moos.

 Look that horsey up there is waiting for me!

 Gotta feed the horsey some grass (this is the same horsey she wanted to ride yee haw last time.)

 Not sure what this was unless she was pushing Grandma up the hill.

 A pretty sunset while on our walk.

 Almost back refueling with the blackberries we found along the way.  She loved them!

 A trip to the park to play in the creek.  I swear it wasnt that cold 25 years ago!

 Waving from the bridge with Daddy.

 Look mommy caught a crawdad and put it in my bucket.  She turned it loose pretty quick.

Too bad we couldnt get in the old caboose.

And she stayed with Grandma and Grandpa while mommy and daddy went out to eat.  A fun, very busy weekend.  And now I'm going to give her a bath and if she doesnt fall asleep, we'll go outside and watch some fireworks.  (we can see the city display from our back yard)

The Things We Do For Our Children

Until I became a mom, I never got up countless times during the night.  (however I must admit I'm glad she outgrew that!)  I grumbled whenever I got woke up at 7 am on my day off...now I consider it sleeping in:)  And I never EVER would have considered painting my toenails AND fingernails sparkly blue.  But guess what color my nails (all 20 of them) are now?  Yep, sparkly blue.  You see, Emily has this thing for sparkles and blue lately and I found the perfect nailpolish on clearance for $1 a while back.  Well, she hasn't seen
Rebecca in a while and so her toenails weren't painted and since it is the 4th of July coming up I told her last night I'd paint her nails with her sparkly blue nailpolish.  I didnt consider that Rebecca usually paints her own toes when she does Emilys....so I get done with hers... "Do yours mommy"  and she gives me a kiss.  So I paint my toenails sparkly blue.  "Do you like them Emily?"  She looks at them then looks at my hands..."Do your fingers too"  So now I have sparkly blue toenails and fingernails.  I love the little booger, for all the years everyone else (Tara, Katy...) have tried to get me to do girly things, maybe it just takes a 2 year old with big blue eyes, a head full of curly out of control hair, and a big hug and kiss so her and mommy are "Same".  If that's all it takes to make her happy, I'll do it:)

(And evidently this charm works on grandparents even more than parents....a couple days ago I asked Emily if she wanted to go see Grandma.  She replies "And Grandpa and me and him go for a walk."  We call and tell him and he says she'll have to get up early cause its going to be hot.  Maybe you could take her swimming or play in the sprinkler with her, Grandpa...she's bringing her swimsuit:)