Max's Big Day

Yesterday afternoon Dada came home and took Max to get his first paid haircut (the man in the hawaiian shirt got paid, not Max)

It was a father-son bonding time, which Max loved.

The result, after returning to Dada's office for some apple juice and popcorn!
Not too bad, eh?

Of course Dada thought it was hilarious for the newly potty trained Max to use the big-boy urinal in the office bathroom. It is pretty funny - he is barely tall enough for it!

What a big adventure for him. Then he fell asleep during dinner. (too bad we didn't get a picture of that!)

At Last We Have A Play Structure!

Dada spent his father's day this year building the play structure for the kids. Dada's parents bought the kit and lumber for the structure last summer and the makings have been in a corner of the yard ever since, waiting for both nice weather and the completion of some other projects to start. Hooray for Dada!

The ladder isn't attached to the back side yet, but Max figured out in about 1/2 a second that he could climb up the slide to get up there. Needless to say, he was thrilled!
Char got to swing in her own little swing chair for quite a while this morning which made her completely happy. Wheeeeee!

What Kind of Holes?!

Even if you don't sew, this is funny:

(Hint: They forgot the 'on' after 'butt')

OK, so perhaps this shows quite a bit about my level of humor, but you don't often see this sort of mistake in patterns.

Time Out Now!

So this evening we were all sitting on the floor in the blue room just playing and spending some time together before the bedtime routine starts. Suddenly, Charlie gets mad at Max and says, "You no do that! Time out! Time Out!" With finger pointing at the door for emphasis. Justin and I don't say anything, figuring that it is a good thing for Charlie to stand up for herself. Max gets up and walks out of the room. Is he actually? Did he really? We walk out toward the kitchen and sure enough, Max is sitting on the time out stool in the kitchen.

I guess the policing each other is working - ?

Girl power! ;)

Hooray for Max!!

One of the lesser known jobs of a parent is to document as many things that will mortally embarrass the children as possible and some day show to girlfriends/boyfriends and spouses. This falls into that category. We have been in intensive potty training mode for the past week and Max has been quite successful in using the potty! Hip, hip, hooray for Max! He now only wears a diaper at night and big boy briefs during the day. Whew. Only 2-1/2 months until his 4th birthday! ;) Way to go, Bubba. I knew you could do it.

The Sunny Weather Wear

Many months ago, Grandma & Grandpa Nutmeg went to Hawaii and brought back some quite cute outfits for the kids. It has taken until the past week for it to be warm enough for them to wear them! Above, Char and Cliffy found a sunny spot on the warm tile.

Doesn't Char look like a little model in this pose?
Adorable!!!

With the way Max has been growing, he likely won't be able to wear his outfit for too much longer. Who said he was allowed to grow like this?!?

A Little Monkey Trouble

The first one to break the new rule of no throwing stuff in the water was Char. She had a couple of warnings but continued so Dada put her in time out.

Max is not used to having someone other than himself getting a time out, so he thought he had to sit down too!

Char getting big on the dramatics. We would like to think that she is dwelling on what she did wrong so she doesn't get in trouble again... but you know, that probably isn't the case. She is pretty good at wrapping us around her little pinky finger.

Everything is rosy again when Dada talks to her and lets her get down.

Water Weather Finally!

Aaaaaah, we had some wonderfully sunny weather last week. The kids finally got to break out their wading pool and hop in. We had to make a new rule for the kids that no sand, dirt, wood chips, grass, or leaves get put in the water (to make 'soup', as Max calls it) so that others can also enjoy the water.

Look at those thighs on Char! I love it.

After nap time, we got to get back in the pool.

How Dada enjoys pool time.

Dada, Let's Talk

Dada and the kids were goofing around the other day, and when Dada sat down on the floor to talk with them, they each pulled up a little red chair to continue their chat.

Then we realized that we were all wearing our house slippers (aka crocs)

Kids Love Sunny Weather

Wow is it ever nice to be able to have the kids in the back yard again. They play in the sandbox, push carts and pull wagons around the yard, and of course, have juice breaks.

Char loves going around and smelling all of the flowers. I have been only half successful in my attempt to teach her that flowers are for looking at and smelling only - no touching (though she thinks there is some sort of a loophole with licking).

The pink tulips (or too-tips as Max calls them)

Cousins

Last weekend we went down to my parents house to celebrate my Mom's (Grandma Kody) and Aunt Susan's (Aunt Grandma) birthday. Quite a few of the grandkids were there - 8 of my parents and 2 of Aunt Susan's. When you add in 6 dogs, the place was pretty crazy. Dada took the older kids outside to play and got some pretty good pictures. Above is Max as King of the Hill.

Here is Max and cousins Maiya, Sophie, Cassidy, and Benny.

A good action shot of Max, Maiya and Cassidy on the swing.

Elmo & Crew

So many pictures to upload, so little time. This morning Max and I went to see the Sesame Street Live show (wif all of da monsters! as Max would say) Here is a self portrait - notice Max shoving popcorn in his mouth - he did that the entire show! And still ate lunch when we got home. Another growth spurt must be on the horizon!

We had pretty good seats (this was taken during intermission so there are a lot of people standing,) but we weren't too far back and Max could see pretty well sitting on my lap.
My kids aren't too good at sitting for very long, and Max probably would have been completely happy to have left at intermission,but we stayed until the last number (what was I thinking?!?) Regardless, we had fun and he clapped his little hands off and laughed and laughed, when his mouth and hands weren't full of popcorn. Seriously. He ate almost an entire large tub.

Ta-Da!!

Yesterday, I was in the kitchen and the kids were playing by themselves. Max had been having a good day and had earned back his legos bin from the basement. They were playing nicely with no whining or fighting, so I went about my business making dinner and cleaning the kitchen...

And then I glanced up and saw this:

Charlie hadn't noticed me yet:

Then, 'Oh, Mommy, it's you. Ta-da!' (Her version is 'Dah!')

Luckily, Max maintained his good humor through this. Then I was trying to teach Charlie that things in good fun like this are nice, but as soon as Max says he wants out, you have to let him out.
Got it, Char? 'Got, Mommy.'

15th Reunion

Oh my goodness!!!
15 years later and I still enjoy these people just as much if not more than I did back then. We had such a great time... laughing until our cheeks hurt and catching up with each other the whole time. As much as I missed my family and wanted to see them, a part of me just didn't want to leave the magic of this reunion weekend.
An extra Thank You to Taryn for being such a generous hostess and letting us take over her house for the weekend!

Just one of the many benefits of going to a small college:

The president of Cottey College, Dr. Judy Rogers and I.

I am already planning my trip out there again in 5 years!

Small Update

Yet again, it has been way too long since my last update. Here are some recent cute pictures of the kids:

The kids coloring (Charlie's first time with a real coloring book!)

Charlie REALLY likes brushing her teeth. She is now getting tall enough to start looking at herself brushing while standing on the bathroom stool. Nice face while checking out the pearly whites, eh? ;)

I spent this past weekend at my 15th college reunion (!!!), so after I edit some pictures will update again...

Latest on the Kids

The other morning when I went in to get Charlie in the morning, she had worked her whole arm out of her pajamas. The zipper was completely done up still, but she managed to get that arm out!

Max has taken to squinting his eyes when I get the camera out because he doesn't like the flash. I must have taken him by surprise because this is a great smile! Doesn't he look like such a big boy?!?

Bring On The Bread

I am a bread maker. Just for the family and perhaps to take over to someone else's house for dinner, but primarily just for our enjoyment. When I heard about a bread making demonstration of how to make crusty artisan bread put on by King Arthur Flour, I got very excited! My friend, Brian, also enjoys making bread for his family so I asked him to attend the demo with me. It was really informative and well done. So, with new recipes, knowledge of techniques, and some rye flour, tonight I will attempt to make my very first ever Poolish (pronounced poo-leesh') and tomorrow will go for some round artisan loaves of rye bread. Updates to follow.

18 Months of Charlie!

This morning Charlie and I went to the pediatrician's office for her 18 month checkup. She had to get 3 immunization shots, but took them like a champ and cried less than a minute. As soon as I offered her a cracker she was all over the sadness. What a toughie!
Her stats:
Weight 25 lbs 9 0z = 75th percentile
Length 35" = Off the chart super tall
Head circumference 48.6 cm = 90th percentile

She is doing so-so-so well! I told the doctor that she is saying at least 15 different words on a regular basis in addition to another 10 or so that she signs which impressed him. She has some stranger anxiety going on right now and really didn't want the doctor or nurses to touch her, but all in all made it through the appointment very well. Way to go, Beautiful!

Her Modelling Skills Need Some Honing...

I recently finished this cute dress for Charlie and decided I should take some pictures of it for my new website. Charlie really wasn't in the mood to smile at the camera or stop moving while standing. Sitting in the chair for 5 seconds was the only time she was still without coercion!

Then after I took the dress off of her she climbed up on the stool to look out the window at the boys in the back yard. Look at those cute legs! ;)

Recently...

Charlie loves getting a good view of whatever we are doing, especially if it has to do with food. She always keeps a very firm grip on the shoulder.

Max has figured out that if an ottoman is next to the baby gate, he can use it to climb over and back to get upstairs by himself. Sometimes, his pants get caught on the gate and of course we leave him until we can get the camera in there for a good shot!