Silly Faces

Tonight I had my camera out and Emmaline never cooperates anymore when I want to take a picture. I usually have to snap several shots before I get one of her looking. So tonight ladies and gentlemen.... I think we've turned a corner! Knock on wood! Emmaline was more than cooperative and kept saying more more more when I put the camera down. She wanted me to keep taking her picture while she was making silly faces. Unfortunately my camera card was about full so I could only snap a few. So without further ado... here's my silly little peanut!

So cute!

Being goofy!

Close up!

Quack Quack!

So yesterday I ended up not getting through the stack of papers I had planned on. (It did get done this morning, and I got some bills paid, so all is well.) The sun was shining and it really was too nice to be inside. So when Em woke up from her nap I decided to take the kids to MSU to feed the ducks! They were so excited! I realized it was Em's first time feeding the ducks. Does that make me a bad mom not taking her until 21 months? I hope not!

Here's the kids on their way to feed the ducks! As you can see Evan is being a super big brother holding his sister's hand.


Although there weren't many ducks, Evan managed to find one that stayed in this spot and kept eating and eating. I think this duck was trying to hide from the couple other ducks so he didn't have to share the bread.


Em found a couple ducks to feed too, but she didn't really pay attention to where the ducks were and where she was throwing the bread! As you can see the bread in the air is going to land way behind the ducks (There are actually two ducks here, but Em is blocking one of them).


After the ducks weren't interested in eating anymore, we decided to walk around campus a little. We headed over to the Beal Gardens to see what flowers were bloomin' yet. Not a whole lot besides the tulips, but we did manage to find some Marigolds which Evan enjoyed smelling, but Em didn't want to.


Then further on through the gardens Em was getting into smelling the flowers more instead of trying to pick them (that's a no no in the gardens my little peanut) and decided to stop and smell the Bleeding Heart.


It will be nice in another month to head back there and see many more of the flowers in bloom! I'll have to post some pictures when that happens because the gardens at MSU are really fabulous! I must say (and not because I'm a MSU alum), but Michigan State really does have one of the most beautiful campuses around. It's so great living near campus! Fun things to do!

When we came out of the gardens Evan was surprised to see the fountain right by Daddy's work! I think Em was looking for some ducks in the water, but no luck!


It really was a nice way to spend the afternoon, I highly recommend it to those that live nearby. I'm definitely looking forward to more visits with the ducks this summer. Time to start stocking up on the bread crusts and left over buns that always get thrown out!

What To Blog About...

Well, here it is a week into my blogging and I'm trying to decide what to blog about next. There's so many things I want to write about along with the day to day happenings that I don't know where to start. I still would like to tell you a little bit about how Emmaline got her name. I want to post a video of the kids dancing because this truly is good stuff. I also want to post some of my favorite photos of the kids. I need to tell you about my second "home," the terrible two's, Ellen entertainment, the garage project, and preparing for a garage sale. I also have a few recipes I'd like to share with you along the way. So little by little in between the day to day stuff, I'll share those with you.

First up today is working on sorting through a stack of papers on the kitchen counter and paying some bills. Fun stuff I know! Today the sun is shining and it warmed up some so that's good news for the evening plans- a walk is in store for us tonight! We love to take family walks when the weather permits. So neighbors, you'll probably see us out and about tonight! Of course it will be Greg and I walking, Em in the jogging stroller, and Evan on his bike! Hope to see some of you out tonight! The sunshine today also means a great day to make some sun tea! Oh, how I love iced tea. If you remember it was one of my cravings with Emmaline. So when the sun is shining throughout the spring and summer, you'll more than likely find a jar of sun tea in the making on the deck at the red house! I really must get back to some house things now so until next time, enjoy the beautiful day!

T-Shirts

Here's a little Evan story for your enjoyment! Evan has become a t-shirt boy thanks to Grandpa. You see, my Dad travels a lot for work and one time he picked up some t-shirts for the kids while traveling. Well, Evan thought this was really cool. Em's a little too young to understand, but I think she's catching on. So now when Grandpa is traveling for work or he and Grandma are on vacation they always manage to find time to pick up that special t-shirt for the kids. Evan thinks it's fun to try to guess what's going to be on the t-shirt. It brings such joy to his face when he pulls the t-shirt out of the bag. Usually, the reaction is "Wow, this is a cool shirt!" (The Super Bowl shirt is one of his favorites!) When he first gets a shirt he wants to put it on right away and then wear it all day, all night, and then again the next day. It's really quite enjoyable to see how the little things like t-shirts bring such joy to a four year old! Between the two of them, they've managed to build up a t-shirt collection. This picture above is only a sampling of the collection since they've outgrown some and some are in the wash. (Oh, that must mean the laundry is building up again! Didn't I just do the laundry?) Anyway, this past weekend Evan and Em had some new t-shirt excitement and added to their collection. The three at the right are the newest additions. So as the collection builds so does the anticipation of what the next t-shirts will be. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for all the t-shirts for the kids. I know Evan truly enjoys them and I'm sure if Em was a little older she would be able to tell you she does too! Happy t-shirt shopping!

Grilling No More

Oh, how I would love some grill food! About this time of year I start grilling out for a majority of our dinners. I love when the warm weather arrives because that means put away the crock pot and take out the grill! By this time I'm usually at a loss for what to make for dinner because after a long winter you can only eat soup, casseroles, or tacos so many times. Any suggestions are more than welcome! So as I ponder what's for dinner tonight, I think of this picture. A few weeks ago we had a bad thunderstorm. While it didn't seem all that bad, apparently it was because this is what I found when I came home after the storm. Our patio furniture was tipped over, and the grill had blown from one side of the deck to the other and tipped over. The winds had to be pretty strong to blow over this heavy grill. I never would've imagined from the storm that this is what I would find. So of course it tipped over on the front and broke up the knobs and starter. So needless to say, the grill is broken! Just when it's time for grilling season, no grill! Ugh! We've been out looking for grills since this happened and who would've thunk of all the decisions and choices! It can be a little overwhelming just to purchase a grill. You want something decent that's not going to fall apart, but yet don't want to pay an arm and a leg for! I think we have a good idea of what we want, it's just a matter of going to get it and getting it home. So hopefully soon you'll hear me talking about some wonderful grilled dinners. I'm pretty sure the steaks, pork chops, burgers & chicken are calling my name!

Highlights and Lowlights

Well, today seemed like it was going to be a pretty good day. Head to Grand Rapids, drop the kids off at Grandma's house, go visit an old friend that used to cut my hair and get pampered with highlights and a haircut, then help my Mom with some yard work for Mother's Day. Sounds good right? Well, not so much. I did get my haircut and highlights which turned out nice I thought. It had been a long time since I got highlights so I was LONG overdue. Usually, my friend Becky, in the neighborhood cuts my hair, but since I was going to be in GR I thought I'd ring up Rochelle since it had been awhile since I've seen her. It was nice to catch up with Rochelle while she did my hair. Becky, I promise I'll call you for the next hair appointment! After getting pampered with the hair, I headed back to my Mom's to work in the yard. My sister, niece, & I were working in the yard putting in some bricks and all was going well. Then next thing we know my Mom, is up on a ladder in the garage and falls. After she was at the urgent clinic for three hours it was off to the ER to get 2 casts put on. She ended up with a broken wrist and broken ankle! Ugh! So needless to say the day went from a "high" to a "low." Thanks Jen for sitting for hours waiting for doctors. I would've done it had the kids not been so out of their element. This is why I don't travel much right now because Em will not nap for anything when we are not at home so she was overly tired which didn't help the day any. Plus their schedules were all thrown off so it ended up making for a very long day! Oh how I wish I could start the day over so things would be different!

Laundry Overload

Well, this is pretty much how my day went yesterday. Laundry, laundry, laundry, laundry,

oh, and more laundry. I actually had to get a load in the washer because I ran out of baskets before I could fill this last basket! I can't believe I let it pile up this bad. Actually, maybe I can, but it seems like I had just done a few loads! How does it pile up so fast? Oh yeah kids, one little Evan boy who is into changing his clothes several times a day and throws them in his hamper after having on for five minutes. Then I don't catch it until it's too late and one little Emmers who likes to eat with her hands and make a mess all over!

The washer and dryer were pretty much going non-stop all day. I don't mind doing laundry or folding the laundry, (sometimes I even have my little Evan helper who matches the socks for me) it's putting the laundry away that I HATE. Why is that? Ugh! I just don't enjoy it at all. So many times the upstairs hall is lined with baskets, until I slowly put a little away at a time or more than likely until I need a laundry basket to do laundry again! Well, after a couple loads were done yesterday I decided I was carrying the baskets up and putting stuff away RIGHT away. Then by the time the last few loads were done last night & they were folded of course kids were in bed so couldn't put their stuff away and the other stuff I just didn't feel like putting away. So this morning I got up and decided I didn't want to have the baskets sitting around full so I was on a mission to get them put away. Guess what? It happened! As you can see below, all the baskets are empty. That's right, EMPTY!

Not something you see often in this house, but it is a nice feeling to not have clean baskets of laundry sitting around. Now everyone can get their clean clothes out of the closet instead of the laundry baskets! So with the laundry done for another couple weeks, just kidding, more like for a couple of days, I'm thinking I'm gonna set a laundry goal and try to keep up with putting the laundry away when it's done. We'll see! I'll let you know how that goes down the road!