Pudding Painting

A few weekends ago we did some pudding painting with Emma & Eddie. It was so much fun to watch the boys figure it out--Kinnick had a lot more fun than last year. The girls loved it also. The figured out the eating part a lot faster. We had 3 flavors--chocolate, butterscotch, and lemon.

Kinnick and Eddie had fun using the paintbrushes.

Towards the end, the paper got really slick and the boys kept falling.

We set out a big bucket of water for clean up and they had just as much fun playing with that as they did with the pudding! Good outside fun!

Father's Day

Marc is such a great compliment to me... I am so thankful that I have him to remind me to calm down sometimes and I'm so grateful that he loves to spend time being silly with the kids--making up songs, making up games, just being a kid himself!
We got these m&m ice cream cookies as a surprise for Marc... although Sadie told him what ALL of his surprises were. She's not so great at keeping secrets!

Planting Flowers

Because of all the rain (and our busy schedule) we didn't get around to planting flowers until mid-June (and I actually planted some more yesterday!) Sadie had really been looking forward to going to the nursery to pick out flowers and to helping plant them. We had a good day being outside together. Macey even joined the fun watching from her chair!

Marc bought these Dora gardening gloves for Sadie on one of their Ace Hardware runs.

Kinnick loves any kind of yard work (or cleaning) tools--he loves to be a helper! (And he did get a haircut about an hour after this picture was taken!)

Kinnick loves to follow Marc--they cleared all of the weeds out of my flower bed so Sadie and I could plant flowers.

My favorite story from this day is one of the boy/girl differences I've seen in the kids so far... I found a worm while we were planting. I told Sadie to come see it. She wrinkled her nose and refused to touch it-even with gloves on. Kinnick came over to see what I was showing her. He grabbed the worm and immediately tried to eat it! (Not to be out-done, Sadie grabbed the worm from Kinnick and said "I can touch it too!")

This and That

Summer is flying by... the BIG difference this year is that I'm not dreading it being over because I get to be home with my kiddos when it ends! We've been having lots of fun--here are just a few of things we've been enjoying!

We got the bike trailer out. Sadie and Kinnick love going for rides. Unfortunately this summer our whole family can't go together. Macey may be big enough by fall to take a ride!

We've been doing LOTS of swimming! We go to Ms. Jennifer's mostly, but have gone to a few other pools.

Sadie loves wearing Kyra's goggles.

Kinnick LOVES the water! He recently discovered jumping off the side. He also enjoys dunking his head underwater. He's fearless (which make pool time a big more stressful.)

Macey really enjoys the water also!

Sadie is becoming pretty independent this year. Give her some arm floaties or a vest and she's good to go. She also likes practicing with no floaties.

Another summer indulgence that we've been enjoying is ice cream! We love to walk to Time-Out (it's our favorite). There is also another place called Scoops & More--it's a bit further, but still within walking distance. It's next to a fun park that the kids enjoy and they have fat free/sugar free yogurt in 30+ flavors that is really yummy!

We've had LOTS of rain this summer--on one of the warm rainy days, I took the kids outside to play in the rain--I remember loving to do this with my brothers and sisters. Kinnick insisted on wearing his jacket and he and his sister liked taking turns with the umbrella.

Sadie though she needed a jacket AND gloves!

Another fun surprise we've had this summer is that Emma & Eddie moved in across the street! They'll be our neighbors while their house is getting fixed (thanks to the tornado.) While they were getting their rental ready, they stayed at Grand Bear Lodge, a local resort. We went one night to visit them and play at the water park--the kids had a blast!

Emma & Sadie on the Trolley

Kinnick riding on the Carousel

Marc and Sadie on the "Dragon" roller Coaster--it was really a snake!

Kinnick and Eddie Exploring (This was the best pic I could get of the two of them!)

One more random funny--Kinnick decided he was use my breast pump... (I believe with a little help from Sadie.)

Daily Funnies

There are so many times on a day-to-day basis when I think, "I should write that down." Well... here are a few from today:

• Sadie was playing with Macey and lifting her up by her arms. I said "Don't lift her like that, you could pull her arm out of place." Sadie looked at me strangely and asked "Will she bleed?" I tried to go into more detailed explanation--she just kept looking at me strangely and said "Mom, you're not explaining very good."
• While I was putting Kinnick to bed I heard "No, No, NO!" Normally, I would assume she was talking to Kinnick... so I kept listening to hear "Get in your crate right now for a time-out!"
• Sadie was sitting next to me while I was feeding Macey. She kept rubbing Macey's head saying sweet things, then proceeded to tell her "Macey, don't eat any mama milk from the tree of knowledge of good besides evil. That sneaky snake is bad!"

Macey--4 Months

I can't believe how fast Macey is growing! We are having so much fun with her... This month some of her new tricks include: batting at toys, blowing spit bubbles (along with LOTS of drooling!), playing with her hands (and sucking her fingers/thumb), and lots of rolling & scooting. She continues to coo and smile a lot and is generally a very content little girl!I love this picture in her "little sister" shirt and her sun hat--it really shows her dimples!

Macey loves to hang out with me when I'm working in the kitchen. (Although she's still not safe even here--her brother drags the ladder over to climb up and talk to her.)

She enjoys interacting with big sister and big brother. I've been trying to let Kinnick hold her a lot more...

A few more facts about Macey:

• She enjoys her exersaucer and her hanging toys.
• She sleeps on her belly curled up in a ball. Most of the time, she has both of her feet out of the leg parts of her pajamas and curled up inside of them.
• She's does not like riding in her car seat. It's about a 3 drive to either of our parents' houses and it is not uncommon for her to cry 2 + hours!
• She has recently decided that she should wake up every night around 2AM and screams at the top of her lungs (although she's not too interested in eating.) If this continues, we may be trying some cereal soon!
• She loves going for walks--especially in the sling, facing out to see it all. She also likes riding in the stroller and sitting outside in her papazon chair.
• She loves laying on a big floatie in the pool--we haven't tried the baby inner tube yet, but hopefully soon!

Cookie Dough!

Yummy!