2plus1plus2

Poor Little Guy

2012-01-28T21:55:00.000-05:00

I took this the day before Logan threw himself up the stairs. This morning he woke up looking a bit worse than the day before with a bit more bruising and swelling. We have a doctor's appointment for Monday. He is still not complaining of any pain, though. Thank goodness for that.

Here is a quick shot from my phone this morning:

It's been a rough month for my little guy. Now that my adrenaline has worn off, I am so sad about the entire thing.

So my birthday yesterday...

2012-01-27T12:05:00.001-05:00

It started out lovely.

Being that it was a Thursday, Emma, Chloe, and I walked Logan to his room and then put in our volunteer hours at his school library. (I shelve while the girls dust.) We came home mid-morning and as I was gathering the ingredients for the night's crock pot dinner, I realized I was missing a couple of things. So the girls and I ran to the store and returned to find my mom on the front porch with coffee and my very favorite cinnamon stick cookies.

Yum.

We visited all morning and I went to pick Logan up that afternoon. Then I was then treated to lunch by my friend Jessica. We came home and I opened my present from her, which included Oregon Trail for the Wii. I was playing that when I asked Logan to take his PJ top upstairs. (He was so tired that he forgot to take it off that morning and had worn it all day under his shirt.)

And that's when the pleasantries of the day ended.

I'm not even sure what happened other than he fell up our hardwood stairs. There was lots of blood and lots of tears. After he finally calmed down (i.e. fell asleep in my lap), I took him upstairs to his room, but was feeling a bit paranoid since, despite not finding any bumps, I didn't know for sure whether he had bumped his head. So I woke him up and eventually brought him back downstairs to eat dinner. While he was eating I snapped a photo with my phone for Andy to see and that's when I could see that his nose was crooked.

So to the ER we went. (Thank you, thank you, thank you Jessica for staying until Andy got home so I didn't have to drag the girls with me as well.) Three x-rays, one CT scan, and five hours later we found out for sure that he had broke his nose. We have to wait for the swelling to go down and have an appointment with the ENT Monday to find out what we're going to do next.

Sad side note: the ER doctor offered Logan a popsicle but he was afraid to eat it because last time he was at the hospital and had a popsicle, he threw up. I explained to him that that was the medicine he had had, not the popsicle, but now I'm afraid he'll have to have that "medicine" again.

Here's my boy. It's kind of hard to tell whether anything is amiss, but we do have that CT-scan as proof:

The break (and swelling) is on the left side (right side in the above). He's still not complaining at all about it hurting, thank goodness, although his chapped lips are pretty good evidence that he's having trouble breathing through it.

Ah. Motherhood. It really does change everything, even birthdays!

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-25T07:55:00.001-05:00

Just living life...

2012-01-23T10:48:00.002-05:00

I'm having a hard time getting back into the groove of writing here since my Christmas hiatus. Even with the holidays over, we've been busy. But we haven't been busy.

Anybody out there know what I mean? Well, here are some pictures:

I guess we've just been living life.

Last Monday Logan had a quick procedure called a sub lingual frenuloplasty. In plain English, he had a bit of skin under his tongue clipped. (Emma and Chloe had this done when they were about a week old. They weren't gaining weight quickly enough and the pediatrician discovered they were tongue-tied.) Since Logan never had an issue with nursing or weight-gain, nobody thought to check under his tongue until he started talking and was having trouble with certain sounds. Unfortunately, since he is five now and probably not open to the idea of a doctor coming at his mouth with a pair of scissors, he had to be put under general anesthesia. Everything went well, though, and he was back at school the next day.

I've been training for my next half-marathon in April. Not much to say there except that I've been running. A lot.

Andy and Logan have been working their way through the original Zelda. (Andy downloaded it onto the Wii.) I now hear the soundtrack in my sleep and, when I'm not asleep, Emma is kind enough to hum it for me.

And speaking of Emma and Chloe, they have simply been enjoying being four. In our house that means lots of coloring and imagination.

Little pitchers and all that...

2012-01-18T21:50:00.000-05:00

No. This isn't an entry about signing Emma and Chloe up for spring tee ball and Logan for his first season of pitch baseball. Although I did just do that.

Perhaps I should have titled this "I have a horn and I'm not afraid to toot it."

Or perhaps I'm delirious and need to get up from this keyboard right this minute and go to bed.

Anyhow. The point.

This afternoon, after picking Logan up from school, we were sitting at an intersection waiting for the light to turn green. Being a five-year-old boy, Logan has been asking lots of questions about the rules of the road and such. Being a thirty-something momma, I have been trying to contain my contempt for stupid drivers (and stupid people in general) by not saying everything that pops into my head when I've been cut off, etc.

I'm not always successful.

So we're sitting at this intersection and the light turns green. The women on the opposite side of the street decides that she doesn't have to wait for the right-of-way and turns right in front of us.

I, of course, lay on the horn.

(When faced with that particular stupid driver situation, my mother's intuition told me that, with three small children in the car, that was my best course of action.)

We make it about fifteen feet past the intersection when my son, with extreme seriousness, relates this dilemma:

"Momma when I am driving and somebody does something wrong, I don't know whether to say 'Why don't you just run me off the road!' or whether to beep the horn. How do I know what to do?"

All I could say was, "Honey, you just know."

Then I told him about right-of-ways and he told me about wrong-of-ways.

Old Man Winter is MIA

2012-01-10T21:43:00.000-05:00

I'm sure I'll eat these words, but Old Man Winter seems to be missing his own party this year. I'm probably the only one who feels this way, but I survive the heat of July and August knowing that I will be able to wear cozy fleece PJs and multiple layers come January. And that just hasn't happened yet.

The kids and I took a walk around the neighborhood this afternoon, well I walked and they scootered, and I actually saw forsythia starting to bloom and daffodils pushing their way up towards the sun that apparently is behind the clouds.

The Boy returned to school this week. A friend asked me if he was excited or if he wanted to stay home and I'm not sure he had any opinion on the matter. When I went to get him up yesterday, he asked for one more minute of sleep and then hopped up to get dressed. He did mention tonight that he misses building his Legos. (He's still working through all the sets he got for Christmas!)

Emma and Chloe also seem to have no opinion on their brother's return to school. They were quite pleased, however, to return to their gymnastics class today.

In other news, I have been unable to feed any of my children enough for the past couple of weeks. Basically, they all start complaining that they are hungry as soon as they clear their plates from the table. This usually points to a future growth spurt, but since the girls are already in the 1,000th percentile for height, I can't believe they are about to sprout again.

With the arrival of January, I have quite a few projects that I would like to tackle, but I haven't managed to get all of the Christmas decorations put away yet. And then there are the library books I keep checking out on my Kindle. I think I am trying to make up for the past five years of reading that I've missed!

Happy 2012!!

2012-01-03T22:28:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year!!!

We spent a quiet New Year's Eve at home this year (last year??) eating massive amounts of junk food. Andy and I had decided that this year we would let the kiddos stay up till the ball dropped if they liked. Well, Emma and Chloe made it until about 8:30 before they called it a night, their momma wishing she could do the same, but Logan managed to stay up till midnight and toasted in 2012 with his very own champagne glass of orange juice.

He was drunk-tired. It was amusing.

As for the first day of the year, two months ago I booked a hotel room for a night near a local ski resort. None of us ski, but this particular resort also offers snow tubing and I've been looking forward to taking the kids since the lazy, hazy days of summer.

Winter, however, has been avoiding our little area of the country and the resort hasn't even been able to make any snow.

So I cancelled our reservation and we headed to Chattanooga for the night instead to visit the Tennessee Aquarium. Since we couldn't play in the snow, I made sure to book a hotel where we could play in the pool. And before we headed back home the next day, we took the kiddos to their first 3D IMAX movie.

I laughed more than once watching all three of my offspring reaching out towards the screen trying to feel the grass and pet the elephants they saw during the movie.

Because Murphy seems to have it in for me, it started snowing on our way home from Chattanooga last night and the ski resort that we were planning on visiting opened today at noon. I'm hoping that maybe we can still make it there before the season ends.

2011 in Photographs

2011-12-31T20:45:00.000-05:00

I've not done the best job with my online photo albums this year, instead posting photos here and there or, sometimes, not at all. So today, the last day of the year, I bring you 2011 in photographs.

Click on them to see them larger.

I hope everybody has a fabulous New Year's! See you on the flip side!!

Five Christmas Moments +1

2011-12-26T15:19:00.000-05:00

Okay, I know I said see you in the New Year, but I thought I would share a few photos from our Christmas.

Here's the tree after Santa dropped off the presents. The ribbon was in much better shape when I first put it on. Anyhow, the first thing Logan said when he saw it was that there were a lot more than presents under there than they had asked for from Santa. (They were asked to only ask for three things.)

And speaking of Logan, I had to practically dynamite the kid out of bed Christmas morning. I would have let him sleep, but Andy had to work and wanted to see the kids see the tree before he left.

Here's what happened about three seconds after they all had opened their first present. These quickly became "outside" toys.

This was snapped by Aunt Jess. I asked the kiddos to hold their favorite gift from Santa (that wasn't a light saber). I have another shot where Chloe's finger isn't up her nose, but this just cracks me up.

When Andy got home he discovered that Santa had left one more present for each of the kids out in the garage!! This was Emma's. There is something hilariously wrong about her riding her bike in her princess dress while eating a chocolate chip cookie.

And here's the +1 photo: Chloe and her new puppy Cookie. Cookie and Chloe have been inseparable for about 36 hours now.

I hope everyone's Christmas was wonderful!

See you in the New Year!!!

2011-12-23T08:09:00.002-05:00

Turning four is not good enough!

2011-12-18T23:06:00.000-05:00

My grand plan to stop my kiddos from growing up too fast seems to be failing. Big time. Do you know what the little girl below has talked about non-stop since turning four yesterday?

If you guessed TURNING FIVE, you are right. No, really.

I have photos to post from the big Lady Bug/Bumblebee party yesterday as well as birthday letters. Hopefully I will get them up before Christmas because, if not, well you know how I am.

Logan's Letter to Santa

2011-12-14T21:30:00.001-05:00

Logan came home from school today with his letter to Santa.

In case Santa had trouble reading his letter, he drew pictures of the items on the back. Here is a scene from the "Nintendo Mario Game" he wants:

And this is the case it comes in:

He said he didn't get to finish the "Lego House."

Such a sweet boy. He's definitely on the nice list this year.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Goofballs

2011-11-30T20:39:00.000-05:00

Gathering Acorns

2011-11-23T10:43:00.001-05:00

Have you missed my every other day ramblings lately? Well, we've been a little busy planning, playing, and making things.

Here was last Friday's project, which I discovered on Pinterest a few weeks ago:

Mmmmm....acorns made out of Hershey's Kisses and miniature Nutter Butters! Our crop barely lasted twenty-four hours. And it required no cooking other than making some chocolate "glue" in the microwave.

P.S. The glue was about half a bag of melted mini-chocolate chips.

The first thing we had to do was unwrap a bag of Hershey's Kisses.

By the way, no Hershey's Kisses were harmed (eaten) during the unwrapping portion of our project. I can't tell you what happened after we hadn't finished, though, as the details are too gruesome to share here.

Next we had to "glue" the Kisses to the Nutter Butter Bites. The directions said to dip the Kisses into the melted chocolate and then stick them onto the Nutter Butter Bites. I soon discovered it was much easier to use a toothpick to spread the "glue" onto the cookies and then have the kids put the Hershey's Kisses on top.

The final step, other than eating our acorns, was to attach a miniature chocolate chip to the other side of the Nutter Butter bite. That was a bit too much for little fingers, so I took care of that part.

I have an idea for a post for tomorrow, but in case I don't get around to it, I want to wish everybody a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

Pilgrim Logan

2011-11-17T21:42:00.000-05:00

My sweet boy. He says he wants to be a pilgrim, but it sounds like he wants to be a Native American, or even an elf, instead.

One thing is for sure, though. He wants to help people.

Procrastination: It's what I do best!

2011-11-09T22:33:00.000-05:00

We're quickly approaching that special time of the year where I begin making a list of the lists I need to make.

Thanksgiving. Check.

Emma and Chloe's Birthday. Check.

Christmas. Check.

And for extra fun, let's throw in a half-marathon and room parenting duties this year.

I mean seriously, why not?

~~*snort*~~ I mean "check."

Anyhow, so a few days ago, as I pondered my to-do lists, I decided to procrastinate instead and tackle a completely unrelated project: slurping this year's entries into a book.

See:

Fun, huh? Being a master-level procrastinator, however, I slurped as far as March before I decided the office needed to be rearranged. The office is the most disorganized room in the house, which is saying a lot, and in order to rearrange it, I had to empty most of it into the rest of the house.

Instead of showing you a photo of THAT, I'll show you this one instead:

So basically I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment. (I really need to make that list of lists!) I'm pretty sure online shopping will be my friend again this year and I'm okay with that. If I'm not posting as often as I usually do, don't despair, I shall return.

I might even be able to pull off Emma's yoga pose.

~~*snort*~~ I mean "check."

Some days I just can't believe how quickly he is growing up.

2011-11-04T16:45:00.002-04:00

Wordless Wednesday - I couldn't choose so you get two!

2011-11-02T15:12:00.001-04:00

Before it's the end of November. . .

2011-11-01T21:59:00.003-04:00

. . . I thought I should get at least one photo of my little trick-or-treaters up here.

Chloe's pony costume was the hit of the neighborhood impressing even the pre-teen as grim reaper crowd. I apparently did not get a single photo of her in profile, though, so I'm going to get everybody dressed up again for a quick photoshoot in a few days.

I'm sure they won't mind.

Poor Emma-doodle's crown kept falling down which made her look a bit like a wind-blown "Tangled" as she insisted on calling herself. I'm just grateful I talked her out of walking around the neighborhood barefoot.

That comment probably won't make any sense unless you have seen the movie.

She also insisted I braid flowers into her hair. So I did.

And Logan carried his birthday theme right over to Halloween as scurvy Captain Logan. I'm pretty sure every house he trick-or-treated at demanded he say "Arrr!!"

The kids stamina was much higher this year. The past couple years we've had to call Gramma to come rescue us somewhere in the neighborhood, but this year we walked home with our baskets filled to the brim with sweet stuff.

Unfortunately, we didn't get but a handful of trick-or-treaters at our own house, so I have practically two entire bags of our candy to add to the pot.

I am currently trying to figure out how to incorporate the stuff into Christmas baked goods.

This morning was rough. I practically had to dump cold water on their heads to get them out of bed. I came ever so close to leaving them all in their beds and climbing back into my own, but figured that was probably a dangerous precedent to set.

Anyhow, Happy Belated Halloween!!! If anybody runs out of candy, please stop by...

Flashback Friday - Outtake

2011-10-28T22:19:00.002-04:00

When: October 28, 2010

What: An Attempt at a Group Photo

Where: Tennessee

How: Nikon D700

Nothing but pumpkin cookies....

2011-10-23T16:22:00.000-04:00

After going non-stop for what has felt like weeks, I decided that, with Andy working this weekend, the rest of us would take the weekend off and do a whole lot of nothing.

Well, so long as you understand that any mother's definition of "doing nothing" means that cooking, cleaning, and laundry still have to be taken care of in order to prevent her family from starving to death under piles of dirty laundry.

Anyhow.

The kids and I decided Friday that we needed a treat to munch on during our weekend of doing nothing, so I pulled up a pumpkin cookie recipe that I had found on Pinterest.

With my chefs ready and able, we got to work. There was butter to be creamed.

Chloe was in charge of quality control.

And flour had to be sifted with baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg!

Then, of course, we had to actually bake the things. This is part the kids always seem to forget about.

Are they done yet? Why are they melting? Can we have one now???

(True story: I cropped the above photo so you wouldn't see the crumbs on my floor.)

As usual, only my quality control girl stuck around long enough to actually try the product.

She had no complaints.

Anyhow, the cookies turned out to be very yummy and have been a great source of bribery and manipulation this weekend.

Unfortunately, we finished them off after lunch today. Guess that means that we'll either have to make more or I'll have to sell the kiddos to the gypsies. Opinions?

Fall Break @ Great Wolf Lodge

2011-10-21T14:46:00.002-04:00

So if you follow along here at all, you know that our camping trip got rained out. And since tent camping in the woods in the cold and rain with the five and under crowd didn't sound all that appealing, we went with Plan B.

Plan B being the Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio.

I have literally been trying to get us to this place for two years. You see every winter around February, when we typically haven't seen the sun for weeks, I usually end up sitting in front of the computer screen with a major case of cabin fever. During one of my intense if-we-don't-get-out-of-this-house-now-I'm-going-to-crack web browsing episodes, I came across the Great Wolf Lodge because it has an indoor waterpark accessible only to its guests.

And we all know that it doesn't matter if it's twenty degrees and snowing at an indoor waterpark.

Or sixty and rainy in this particular case.

So anyhow, as the weather forecast for our camping date got worse and worse, I decided to bring up the Great Wolf Lodge's web site one more time to see what they had to offer besides the waterpark.

Well, how about the latest obsession of my little family: MagiQuest!

Yep, the Lodge actually had MagiQuest on site. All we had to do was pack the kids' wands into our suitcases and pay ten bucks for each of the kids to play as much as they wanted while we were there. Sweet.

And let me tell you, the boys in this family love this game so much they chose to play it on our second day instead of going back to the waterpark.

I also packed the kids' costumes into our suitcases because they got to go trick-or-treating one of the nights we were there.

And that was just one of the little things that ended up making this little trip so much fun. Another big plus was the room. The kids had their own "cabin" in the room complete with bunk beds and an additional single bed, plus their own TV. Not surprisingly, we never left the resort the entire two days we were there and the kiddos have been asking when we are going to go back. (Maybe February???) I'm not sure any other hotel will ever quite live up to their expectations after this.

To see all the photos from our trip, click here.

Wordless Wednesday (A Day Late) - Chloe

2011-10-20T09:50:00.003-04:00

Wordless Wednesday - With Chalk on Her Jeans

2011-10-12T08:14:00.000-04:00

Will we or won't we?

2011-10-11T08:44:00.000-04:00

We're supposed to go camping tomorrow night and Thursday, but it's not looking too good weather-wise at the moment. It makes it hard to get motivated to pack when I'm not so sure it's going to happen. Regardless, I've just finished making a pot of chili (my own recipe!) and it will spend the day simmering in the crockpot before I spoon it into freezer bags to take to our campsite for reheating.

If we get to go. . .

Anyhow, as nasty as it is outside at the moment, yesterday was beautiful. I managed to get the kiddos to sit still long enough to snap this photo:

It's good to see that the girls are looking less alike as they grow. Ha.

Also, I'm thinking about replacing the header photo with this one, but I love that photo so much!

Chester

2011-10-10T14:26:00.000-04:00

This weekend Logan got to bring home his class "pet" Chester. Luckily for us, this is only the third week Chester has gone to someone's house to spend the weekend, so he is still in relatively good condition.

For whatever reason, I didn't think to take a photo of Logan and Chester until 7:12 this morning. So this is what you get.

Anyhow, the assignment was to have fun with Chester and then write an entry in Chester's journal to share with the rest of the class. Here is Logan's entry:

Chester didn't really attend the game, but when Logan brought Chester home on Friday I had mentioned maybe we could take him to said game. Then I promptly forgot that I had ever made such a suggestion. Logan, however, was sure that I had brought him and left him in the car so we wouldn't lose him. And a journal entry was born!

Wordless Wednesday - Stylin n' Profilin'

2011-10-05T19:50:00.000-04:00

Playing Pretend

2011-10-02T20:35:00.000-04:00

I tried and tried to get Chloe into this shot, but she refused.

Anyhow, we bought Halloween costumes today! Logan will be a pirate. Emma will be Rapunzel, or Tangled as she told every person we passed in the store after picking the costume out. And Miss Chloe will be "riding" a pink pony with silver wings.

Semi-sad story:

The kiddos all wanted to try on their costumes when we got home, but I managed to hold them off until after dinner. While Emma had announced to every stranger we passed that she was getting a Tangled costume, Chloe had spent our thirty minutes in Target cuddling, petting, and loving on her pony. And the affection didn't end when we got home. The pony was immediately taken from its bag and she cuddled with it for another hour while dinner was made. Needless to say, she was excited when it was time to "ride" her pony.

When we put it on, though, it didn't meet her expectations and tears sprang to her eyes. She didn't understand why the head wouldn't stay up on its own and why it didn't fly? My poor, sweet girl. She had been so excited!

I finally got her to understand how to hold the pony's head up by holding the harness and explained that it was a pretend pony so it wouldn't be able to fly. She finally decided that that would be okay and "rode" her pony around the house.

Tonight when I put her to bed she interrupted "Twinkle, Twinkle" three times to tell me that she loved her pretty pony, so I'm pretty sure she's a happy girl once again.

But it broke my heart to see her disappointment this evening. I'm going to add some extra stuffing to her pony in hopes that its head stands up a bit better on Halloween.

And I tried to take a picture of her and her pony, but she still refused to let me.

I'm so dizzy!!

2011-10-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

I've seen this composition before and have wanted to try it. I don't think my lens is quite wide enough (which I may be remedying soon), but it's still a fun shot. It's pretty obvious that Chloe seemed to enjoy the whole thing quite a bit. :)

Flashback Friday

2011-09-30T12:35:00.002-04:00

For today's Flashback Friday, I just had to share this photo of Emma drawing on the driveway because a few days ago I snapped something similar.

Here's the 2009 version:

When: September 30, 2009

What: Emma Doodle Doodling

Where: Tennessee

How: iPhone 3GS

And the 2011 version:

Hope everyone has a great weekend! If you are looking for something to do, grab a bucket of chalk and go draw a picture on the sidewalk. :)

Three Funny Things

2011-09-29T12:33:00.002-04:00

Heard in the living room:

“Brother, why you put this show on?”

“Because I did.”

Heard on the playground:

“Chloe. Chloe!! Wait Chloe!!!”

“I'm not Chloe.”

“Yes you are because I'm Emma!!”

As we are reading Ten Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed for the umpteenth time (and the second time that evening):
“Momma, why does that monkey have a band-aid on her head?”
“Because she fell off the bed.”
“Why?”
“Because she was jumping on the bed.”
“Oh.”

Wordless Wednesday - "Choo, choo!!"

2011-09-28T20:01:00.003-04:00

Hiking with Friends

2011-09-23T21:01:00.000-04:00

Every year since we moved to Tennessee, our friends from Florida (and now Florida and Nebraska) have come for a visit in the fall. This year our get together has been dictated by Logan's school schedule since he is the oldest and now a full-fledged kindergartner. With two of our six in elementary school next year, I'm not sure how things are going to work out.

Anyhow, Staci and Ryan (the Nebraska contingent) arrived yesterday, so today we loaded everybody up and went for a hike in the mountains. It was another of our scavenger hikes, so I'll probably post a more detailed entry about it a week or so.

Tonight Beth, Sarah, and Nate (the Florida contingent) arrived and tomorrow we'll be taking a steam train ride along the Tennessee river. None of the kids know yet, but I'm pretty sure they will be agreeable to the idea.

Wordless Wednesday - Little Me

2011-09-21T20:21:00.002-04:00

Soccer Princess

2011-09-19T11:33:00.001-04:00

I know I should save this photo for Wordless Wednesday, but I just love it so much.

I have a feeling that, in a few years, it's going to be this little girl that I am driving from one sport practice to another. Since big brother started playing soccer a few weeks ago, she's been dying to play too.

I've been playing with my new lens, the one I've saved gift cards and points and actual money for for over a year, and I'm not sure if it's love. I think part of the problem is I'm a prime lens kind of girl and my new lens is a zoom. I would much rather move my body back and forth to compose a shot than the barrel of a lens and I actually hesitated before I pressed the purchase confirm button last week. In the end, though, I double-clicked because I thought it made the most sense for my day-to-day shooting, especially in the house where my 50mm just isn't wide enough and causes me to flatten myself against walls and contort myself into weird shapes to get what I want into the shot. But now I'm wondering if it should go back and the 35mm f/1.4 should come live with me instead. *sigh*

Flashback Friday

2011-09-16T20:57:00.002-04:00

The kids and I spent many days just wandering the back roads of Minnesota when we lived there and, apparently, this day three years ago was one of those days.

When: September 16, 2008

What: Rice Lake Church

Where: Rice Lake, Minnesota

How: Sony DSC-H1

Wordless Wednesday - Articulate & Full of Questions

2011-09-14T20:21:00.002-04:00

Logan, what did you do this weekend?

2011-09-13T14:20:00.001-04:00

Hey Logan, what did you do this weekend?

"I went to the football game."

So yes, we took Logan to the game this past weekend. For the record he had a bag of popcorn, a bag of Cracker Jacks, a hot dog, and a frozen lemonade thing. We also ate lunch at Mellow Mushroom and dinner at Moe's. I'm pretty sure he swiped some food from our friends' tailgating table too.

It's a good thing football season only lasts, well, a season.

I love his picture too! In case you can't tell, that would be Andy on the right, me in the middle, and Logan on the left. We are sitting in our seats high above the field. And it must have seemed very high to Logan because all those black dots on the field? Well, those would be the football players. The three gray boxes to the left are the stairs.

Now, if I can get him to understand the difference between soccer and American football, we'll be good.

The Hiking Chronicles: Porter's Creek Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

2011-09-12T20:42:00.000-04:00

At the beginning of the summer, when the temperatures were still bearable and I felt like we had all the time in the world ahead of us before Logan started school, I bought this book:

Since that is a tiny photo from Amazon, I'll just go ahead and tell you the title of the book is Scavenger Hike Adventures: Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Anyhow, a couple of weeks ago we were FINALLY able to pick one of the scavenger hikes out of the book. All the hikes in the book look interesting, but in the end I chose the second one listed, Porter's Creek Trail to Old Hiking Club Cabin, mainly because it was two miles round trip.

Two miles is a distance the kiddos can easily handle right now. And this trail, at least as far as we went, was perfect for a family with small children. It's an old road bed, which means it's relatively wide, is NOT rocky, and there are no scary, cliff-hugging drop-offs. As a matter of fact, if it wasn't for the one log bridge crossing, a jogging stroller would have had no problem with this trail.

So anyhow, we set off shortly after lunchtime.

Logan made sure to wear the hiking vest he got for his birthday. And I had to discourage him once again from bringing his lantern.

I told him that I would bring a flashlight.

Anyhow, we had twenty-two things to check off on our hike. For each item, there were some vague directions (it was a hunt after all), as well as some background information.

#6 A Salamander! (top left), #10 A Dynamite Hole (bottom left), #4 The "Mountain Rock" (center), #2 The Twin Yellow Birch Tree (right)

For every thing you checked off the list, you got to add ten points to your final score. We were able to find all but two: #3 The "Devil's Walking Stick" and #5 The Giant Turtle Rock. Actually, we found several rocks that could have qualified as turtle-shaped rock with a bit of imagination, but since we couldn't agree which one was the right one, we didn't check it off.

Yes, we are THOSE people.

#8 Sit on the Log Bench (top left), #9 An Awesome Cascade (top center), Just a Big Rock! (top right), #16 The Remains of an Antique Model T (bottom left), A Cemetery Not on the List (bottom center), and #12 The 13 Rock Steps (bottom right)

At the end of our hike we had accumulated 200 out of a possible 220 points which made us "Frontier Explorers!" If you want to see all the photos with their appropriate captions, you can find them here. I will also eventually get a album link posted over on the sidebar.

We can't wait to go scavenger hiking again soon!!

The Candyman Can

2011-09-07T20:41:00.000-04:00

So after these three shots (and 21 others) I may or may not have bribed my children with lollipops to get this:

Totally worth it.

Wordless Wednesday Part 2 - Big Brother

2011-09-07T13:54:00.000-04:00

Wordless Wednesday - Are they twins?

2011-09-07T12:24:00.000-04:00

Chloe-bug

2011-09-03T14:40:00.000-04:00

I've had a pretty bad case of what I call photographer's block for a few months now. Luckily, as in at least I won't be kicking myself too hard in the future when I notice the lack of photos from this time, I have at least been capturing the more mundane bits and pieces of our lives with my iPhone and Instagram.

Today, though, my girls picked out some pretty dresses and they screamed to be photographed. (Not literally, although it's been know to happen.) Here's one of the shots:

Here's hoping I pick up my "real" camera a bit more in the coming weeks.

Flashback Friday

2011-09-02T09:38:00.000-04:00

Oh my. I know some of you remember THIS shot. Hard to believe that it was five years ago today!! Go Vols!!!

When: September 2, 2006

Who: Logan (2 months)

Where: Jacksonville, Florida

How: Sony DSC-H1

Wordless Wednesday - Run for it Andy!!!

2011-08-31T07:00:00.000-04:00

Camping with Chloe

2011-08-30T08:00:00.002-04:00

I've been meaning to post this for over a week now.

Our camping adventure was obviously fresh in Chloe-bug's memory when she received this coloring page at a restaurant a couple of Saturdays ago. Things to notice: the owl in the tree, the drawn-in zipper on the tent (apparently that is where Emma and Chloe are), the daddy long-leg spiders roaming the campsite, Momma and Daddy roasting marshmallows, and Logan carrying his lantern.

I love it.

Logan the Kindergartner

2011-08-29T08:04:00.000-04:00

About a month ago I came across this list of questions you could use to interview your child. Well, I decided that instead of writing the answers down, it would be a lot more fun to video tape the interview. And what better time to do something like that than at the beginning of a new school year!

So here is Logan as a kindergartner. For the record, we conducted this interview after his first official unofficial day of school. He was in a bit of a silly mood and I thought about redoing it, but changed my mind. It's a bit long, so I understand if those you not related to the Logan-meister don't make it all the way to the end.

Also, if you get motion sick at all, you might want to close your eyes and just listen. You'll see why when you click play.

Flashback Friday

2011-08-26T21:21:00.000-04:00

I almost didn't post for today's "Flashback Friday" entry, but decided to take a look-see at the archives and found this shot. I posted in back in the day too. Anyhow, I thought I would take another shot at editing it and discovered this lovely and straight-out-of-the-camera heart-shaped vignetting!

Geez do I remember this day like it was yesterday.

When: August 26, 2007

Who: Logan (13 months)

Where: Scottsdale, Arizona

How: Sony DSC-P72

Logan's View

2011-08-26T09:38:00.000-04:00

I kind of thought that, with Logan starting school and all, perhaps it's time for him to contribute to this family blog every once in a while, pull his own weight. So here I present to you Logan's first entry! My contributions are in bold.

What do you want to talk about today?

I think school and swimming.

It was fun. I got to do centers, play with the play-do, play on the computer. I had dessert, but I missed it. It made me sad.

Why did you miss dessert?

Because, uh, it's really hard to eat fast. I went on my first day and my second day and that's the beginning.

And that's my story. How about we do it another time? I love you Momma.

DITL - Friday, August 19, 2011

2011-08-21T22:41:00.001-04:00

Friday, a few friends and I used the Instagram app to record a DITL. Here was our day:

First Day

2011-08-19T08:24:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure either one of us are revealing our true feelings about the day in this photo.

The Official Unofficial First Day

2011-08-16T22:22:00.000-04:00

I know, I know, but I told you posting would be minimal this month as the kiddos and I squeeze every last bit of summer out before Logan officially becomes a kindergartner.

And when might that be, you ask?

Well. Good question.

We were told in the spring that we would find out at the beginning of August which class Logan would be in this year. Then we were told via the school web site that it would be August 11th. And then, two days before the big reveal, we received a letter telling us that Logan will be assigned a teacher on August 26th after two days of assessments.

Logan's first day of assessments is this Friday, but his first day with his teacher, in his classroom, with a cubby that has his name on it will be August 29th.

So I guess his first day is Friday. Or maybe it's the twenty-ninth. Or maybe it's Friday. If I'm a bit confused as an adult, just imagine how my five-year-old might be feeling after all of this.

At any rate, Andy and I will be escorting our kindergartner to his first official unofficial day of school this Friday. We'll take a picture and, no doubt, have to remind him to give us a hug good-bye. I'll smile and tell him to have fun.

Then I will boo hoo my way to the car as other parents nod sympathetically as I pass. And since it will be an unofficial official first day, I'll probably do it all over again on August 29th.

You think I'd handle this better being a former kindergarten teacher.

Flashback Friday

2011-08-12T22:09:00.000-04:00

When: August 12, 2007

Who: Logan (13 months) & Daddy

Where: Jacksonville, Florida

How: Sony DSC-P72

Wordless Wednesday - True Colors

2011-08-10T21:06:00.000-04:00

Crickets

2011-08-09T11:16:00.001-04:00

So I know things have been pretty quiet here lately, but I have a good excuse. You see, this little boy will be starting kindergarten next week:

And we've been trying to squeeze in some summer fun before the Big Day arrives. The problem is, we aren't sure what day the Big Day will be, which, to say the least, is a bit annoying.

So don't worry. We will be back to our regularly scheduled posting in no time. In the meantime, we're going to go play....

Flashback Friday - August 5, 2009

2011-08-05T07:00:00.001-04:00

Who: Chloe (left) & Emma (right), 20 months

Where: Our Current Home

How: iPhone

Wordless Wednesday - Pirate Emma!

2011-08-03T07:29:00.002-04:00

Wordless Wednesday - An Imperfect Perfect Sister Shot

2011-07-27T22:10:00.000-04:00

Chloe's Princess Dance

2011-07-26T22:12:00.003-04:00

I was loading the dishwasher this afternoon when Chloe invited me upstairs to watch her "Princess Dance." This video is actually Act II because I had to go downstairs to retrieve my camcorder. In case you need some help determining who is who, Chloe is the one doing the dancing while Emma is the one spinning in circles like the ballerina in a jewelry box. Logan is the DJ.

As always, you can click on the little button on the bottom right to watch the video full-sized.

Camping in the Smoky Mountains!

2011-07-25T23:24:00.001-04:00

This weekend we finally were able to go on that camping trip that we attempted back in June for Father's Day. So how'd it go? Well, it started with Logan getting flogged by an owl and ended with Andy's car breaking down in the middle of nowhere.

But everything in between was great! The kiddos are ready to do it again and so are the parents if we can skip the "When Wildlife Attacks" and "What to Do When Your Car Breaks Down in Dueling Banjos Territory" segments of the experience.

And for the record, Logan's head and Andy's car are both fine.

So here are the nitty-gritty details:

Andy had to work Friday, so the kids and I went ahead to set up camp. We checked in, and while the kids ate their lunches and explored our campsite, I pitched the tent and basically set things up for the weekend. It rained shortly after I got the tent up, but we just used the opportunity to go inside and make up our beds for the weekend. In the middle of all of this, I noticed an owl residing on a tree behind our tent.

As expected, the kiddos were excited and Chloe even went so far as to make "Mr. Owl" a nest of leaves and sticks she gathered from our campsite.

When things were mostly set up and I had made the appropriate amount of empty space in the trunk, we headed up to the campground store for firewood. After dropping the firewood off, we headed back to the store, this time on foot and bikes, for ice cream and to just explore the campground.

Back at our site, "Mr. Owl" had moved to a tree in our neighbors' campsite. I don't know what I was doing when Logan started screaming and yelling "the owl!" That's when one of our neighbors said that the owl had just attacked Logan.

Sure enough there was a scratch with a pinprick of blood on the back of his head, so walked back up to registration to report what had happened. Despite his "wound," Logan was fine once he calmed down and even informed me that the Park Service should include owls in their warnings along with bears. (We had talked a lot about staying away from any bears that might wander through our campsite.)

The ranger told us that they had had an incident with this owl last year. Apparently some stupid camper had been feeding it dog food and it now expected hand-outs. He offered to let us change campsites, which I considered for about ten seconds, but decided against because I just wasn't up to taking everything down, stuffing it in the car, and putting all back up again. If I was going to break down everything, we were just going to go home.

Luckily, the owl left us alone for the rest of the weekend and, more importantly, Logan didn't seem upset every time we spotted it.

While we waited for Andy to arrive, we went down to the creek to play for a bit. I discovered that I have now become a paranoid parent as I waited for disaster to strike: a copperhead making an appearance, someone slipping and knocking him- or herself out on a river rock, or, of course, a flash flood sweeping down the mountain and washing my children down the river.

I hid all of this from Logan, Emma, and Chloe, though, and just watched them like a hawk, or, ahem, an owl.

When Andy finally arrived, we broke out the hot dogs. According to Logan, a camp out is not a camp out without roasting hot dogs over the fire!

I was bit worried about Emma and Chloe's reactions to sleeping in the tent with all the nighttime noises, but they did fairly well that first night. Emma had one crying fit, but she has those at home sometimes too, so I don't think it had anything to do with sleeping in the tent.

Saturday was pretty much a repeat of Friday except nobody was attacked by the wildlife. The kids rode their bikes nonstop and played with some of the other kids in the campground. We attempted to take a hike, but the little ones were much more interested in the swimming hole than the trail, so we went to cool off in the creek and I kept watch for copperheads and flash floods once again.

Saturday night Emma, Chloe, and Logan ingested their first s'mores and fell asleep before their heads hit their pillows.

Sunday we had an easy breakfast of muffins and bananas before breaking down camp. Since we were on the road by 10:30, we decided to check out another of the National Park's more isolated campgrounds on the way home.

And that's when Andy's car decided to overheat.

We let it cool down and hoped that we could make it home, or at least to a garage, but we didn't make it a mile up the road (and I mean UP the road) before Andy had to pull over again. Luckily his final breakdown occurred in front of a house not flying a rebel flag, so we felt fairly safe with knocking on the door and asking to borrow the phone.

We finally made it home, without Andy's car, around five-thirty. The only unpacking I did was to transfer what was left of the deli meat and cheese from the cooler to the fridge. Then we all had showers and put on clean PJs and pretty much called it a day.

Honestly, I'm not sure we would have done anything differently upon arriving home even if Andy's car hadn't broken down.

I have a few more photos to share, but haven't gotten around to editing them yet. I'll post a link when I do. I'm so glad we finally got to go camping and that the kids had such a great time. I can't wait to do (most of it) again!

Flashback Friday

2011-07-22T12:00:00.001-04:00

Who: Chloe Marie, 7 months

Where: Rochester, Minnesota

How: Sony DSC-H1

Crayon Remaking

2011-07-21T22:49:00.000-04:00

Last week I noticed lots of bits and pieces residing in our crayon box and decided that it was finally time to remake those bits and pieces into some new funky chunky crayons.

Step one was to separate the broken crayons from the whole ones:

By the way, the former kindergarten teacher in me feels the need to tell you this is a great little math and science activity. In thirty minutes time you practice sorting/classifying, discuss the concept of more and less, and observe a solid turning into a liquid and back again.

Plus you get to get rid of all the broken crayon bits!

Next you have to peel the paper off of the crayons. I thought that this would be the part the kids enjoyed the most, but only Chloe stuck to it until we were done.

When Chloe (and Momma and Gramma) had finished the ~~fun~~ hard part, we sorted the crayons into colors.

And then we snapped the larger bits into smaller bits and put them into a mini-muffin pan.

It only took about ten minutes in the oven for the crayons to melt down completely.

At this point I would normally share with you a photo of the finished funky chunky crayons, but apparently I didn't take one.

I'm planning on taking our chunky crayons with us when we go camping this weekend because they are perfect for making rubbings of leaves and tree bark. If I take a photo of such an activity and share it with you, will you forgive me for forgetting to take a photo of the finished product???

Wordless Wednesday - Heat Break!

2011-07-20T23:13:00.000-04:00

Emma's Latest Masterpiece

2011-07-16T15:41:00.000-04:00

I think I know who the artist in the family is going to be in a few years. Take a look at Emma's latest drawing:

Look at the detail! And in case you are curious, the cast of characters from left to right is Logan, Chloe, Gramma, and Emma.

Wordless Wednesday - Crayon Man

2011-07-13T22:34:00.002-04:00

A little voice. . .

2011-07-12T22:26:00.000-04:00

. . .whispered to me earlier today, "Momma, I wrote my name."

And indeed she had! Other than placing my hand over her's a couple of times, I've never actually shown Miss Doodle how to write her name, so this was all her.

Now if I can get Chloe and Logan to stop arguing over who the letter "l" belongs to. . .

The Hiking Chronicles: Gatlinburg Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

2011-07-11T01:32:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday I decided to take the kids hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains. It's something I've really wanted to do for a while, but I've been a bit apprehensive about taking them into the big, bad woods all by myself. Up until now, except for last summer's hike to Clingman's Dome, whenever we've ventured into the woods, Andy's been there with us.

We've been taking a lot of walks in our own town, though, and I knew the kiddos could easily handle two relatively flat miles. My plan was to start on the Gatlinburg end of the trail, walk the two miles to the Sugarlands Visitor Center, have lunch, and then, depending on the energy level of the kiddos, walk back or catch the trolley back to Gatlinburg and our car.

So checked the weather (this is important!) dug out the backpacks, made the required number of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, filled the water bottles, and loaded everybody into the car for our drive to the mountains.

I have no idea what Chloe's face is all about.

Anyhow, everybody carried their own backpacks with their own lunches and water bottles. Logan also made sure to bring all the adventure gear he got for his birthday last week, including binoculars and a compass. (I just barely talked him out of bringing his lantern. I assured him I would bring a flashlight in case it got dark.)

For the first half-mile or so, we had to stop every twenty-five feet or so to check Logan's compass to make sure we were headed in the right direction.

Let me just point out here that the Gatlinburg Trail, while not the most peaceful or picturesque trail in the Smoky Mountains, is probably the most kid-friendly (and stroller-friendly) one. Although the trail to Laurel Falls and Clingman's Dome are both paved and touted as being accessible, they both require a lot of climbing. The Gatlinburg Trail, on the other hand, has one small hill. And even though the last half-mile or so of the trail follows a park road, ninety-nine percent of the traffic on that road is park employees who are aware of hikers and slow down when passing by.

Or maybe they were just feeling sorry for us. You see, about a mile down the trail the sun disappeared and the omnipresent rainfall of the temperate rainforest that is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park began to fall. We hid under the canopy of the forest for a few moments knowing that rain in the Smokies can end as quickly as it begins, but eventually we gave up and just decided to walk in the rain.

We jumped in puddles and hiked the last mile to the visitor's center soaking wet. (Logan likened the experience to walking around in Momma and Daddy's shower.) I made the executive decision that we would not be hiking back to the car in the rain, however, and we headed into the gift shop to buy some dry t-shirts for the ride home.

Other than not packing our raincoats, I should have known better despite checking the weather, that was probably our biggest mistake because the gift shop was freezing and we all got a bit chilled while we were in there.

The rain never really stopped once it started, so instead of picnicking on the lawn of the visitor's center, we sat on the edge of a flower bed underneath a small overhang that at least kept our lunches dry.

It gave everyone who passed us the opportunity to cluck over the mom who, gasp, made her children walk in the rain in a national park where everybody knows that nature is meant to be viewed safely from one's car window.

It seemed to really have a negative impact on Emma's spirit, huh?

Anyhow, we eventually caught our trolley back to Gatlinburg. The trolley driver was nice enough to drop us off right at our car. Then I peeled everybody's wet shoes and socks off and drove to Gramma's to make good use of her dryer.

And since I had yet to fully unpack the car from our failed camping trip last month, I had dry PJs and underwear for the whole lot of us to change into once we made it to Gramma's house.

We stayed in them for the rest of the day. It was a good day.

Dear Logan,

2011-07-05T16:52:00.002-04:00

My dear little Logan,

First of all, I wasn’t going to start your letter that way this year, but then you went and made your candle-blowing-out wish, and I quote, “to have cuddle time with Momma every day.” Therefore, I feel justified in calling you my little Logan for a while longer.

You are five-years-old today. Five!! In just over a month you’ll be starting kindergarten, making friends, and picking up speed on your slow march towards independence. While my head tells me to be excited for this next step in your life, my heart, no surprise, wants to hold onto to you for just a little bit longer.

This year, like all your others, has been a busy one. We again went blueberry picking on a mountain in North Carolina. You went to your first (and second) college football game. You were Luigi for Halloween. You rode a camel and marveled at the “dancing lights” at Christmas. You visited your friends Ryan and Sarah and Nate in Florida and splashed in the waves. You played your second year of tee ball, this year for the Pirates, and possibly spent more time playing than digging in the dirt! You sang with Santa, rode an alpine slide, and played your first game of putt-putt all over two days in April.

Last month you got to spend two weeks at summer day camp and not a day has gone by since that you haven’t talked up your time as a member of the Dragonflies to your sisters. You got to swim twice a day, break in your new pirate lunch box (your counselors told me you were always very excited to discover which veggie your momma had packed for the day), and basically just spend eight-plus hours a day outside having fun. On your third day of camp I asked you if you had learned any new songs and you serenaded me all the way home with a pirate song that I need to catch on video before you forget it. (Although I noticed Emma singing it on the way home from Gramma’s yesterday, so it will probably be a while before any of us forget it.)

My little Logan, this is the year that made your daddy decide you are going to be an engineer when you grow up. You see, last year Miss Jessica bought you a Superstructs kit. You, of course, loved building towers and various other things with them, but then one day you discovered the instruction book and began following the complicated, step-by-step instructions without asking for any help at all. And now you have graduated to big boy Legos too! I need to dig out the boxes of Legos that used to occupy me for hours when I was your age because you have already successfully finished the sets you got at your birthday party!! I’d like to see what you could create without an instruction book.

This is also the year that all the books we’ve read, songs we’ve sang, and games we’ve played have finally clicked. One night I was downstairs on the computer and you came running into the office. You were supposed to be in bed asleep, but before I could ask you what you were doing up, you started jumping up and down and telling me that you had sounded out the word “rag” in one of your books! What could I do but have you sit on my lap and read to me right then and there! When I taught kindergarten, before you came along, my favorite part of my job was teaching the kids in my classes to read. I never realized how much more satisfying, and tear-inducing, it would be teaching you to do the same. I can not wait to see your reading skills grow by leaps and bounds this year at school!

A few other tidbits:

You call your brain your “smart.”

You realized that snow cones aren’t actually made from snow, but ice and were quite disturbed by that fact.

You desperately want to go camping and eat hot dogs and marshmallows. (Me too kid!)

You are obsessed with playing Super Mario on the Wii and “The Flower Game” on my phone.

Your imagination knows no limits.

You like anything to do with pirates, but still love Curious George.

You can eat more than me on any given day.

You love your sisters, although you still aren’t 100% sure which one is Emma and which one is Chloe.

You have a kind heart underneath that all-boy exterior.

I love you Logan! I hope you never lose your extraordinary imagination or your never ending curiosity about how things work. I pray that you still give me hugs (out of sight of your friends, of course) when you grow too big for cuddle time. And I also pray that that doesn’t happen too awfully soon.

Happy 5th Birthday!!!

Love,

Momma

Happy Birthday Logan!

2011-07-05T16:51:00.000-04:00

Even a birthday cake is more dramatic in black and white.

2011-07-03T21:44:00.000-04:00

Five Years Past My Due Date!

2011-06-30T10:45:00.001-04:00

I'm over my head in pirate party planning at the moment! Logan is also working hard on the decorations:

Anyhow, it was my due date five years ago today. I'm pretty sure Andy was (gently) shoving pineapple down my throat and I was taking long walks around the neighborhood with one foot on the curb and one foot on the road. If you've been around a while, you probably know that neither worked and my sweet boy had to be prodded out on July 5th.

We will return to our regularly scheduled programming about mid-July. Watch for Miss Chloe's birthday letter soon!!

Emma's (Very) Belated 3rd Birthday Letter

2011-06-24T09:17:00.000-04:00

Dear Emma-doodles,

How is that you are now three? Even though your first year-and-a-half pretty much flew by, once you turned two, it seemed like life was starting to slow down. But somehow, here I am with two three-year-olds!

This past year was the first year of your life that we haven’t moved, but that doesn’t mean you haven’t been anywhere! As a matter of fact, you took your first (and second, third, and fourth) plane ride this year when we went to San Antonio. And what did you think of flying? You loved it and still talk about “flying in the sky.” Of course, the endless supply of lollipops during each flight might have influenced your opinion slightly. As for San Antonio, I think the “Big Tower,” which the rest of Texas refers to as the Tower of the Americas, made the biggest impression.

Miss Emma Elizabeth: you are my little shadow. I am constantly bumping into you without knowing you are there. (You think I would know better by now.) When I run on the treadmill, you sit on the floor next to me building “big towers” out of Legos. You know where I am every minute of every hour of the day.

You tell me several times a day: “I’m getting big now. I’m growing up!”

You love anything small and insist each item is a baby whatever. While Logan and Chloe were intent on picking out the biggest pumpkins they could find in the patch last October, you insisted on picking a “baby” pumpkin. And then you were indignant when you found out we weren’t planning to carve it!

So we had to carve it and I had to find a tea light to put in it.

In addition to finding “baby” things, you also like to make families out of things. Every night you line up your animals at the end of your bed (Momma Bunny, Baby Bunny, Pony, Puppy, Baby Doll, etc.) so they can watch you sleep. Some nights I have to wonder if there will be enough room in your bed for you!!

Of course, your animals are not the only things that have families. The other day during lunch you would pick out a daddy grape, momma grape, and baby grape and then you would cram all three into your mouth all at once.

You love to draw and color. A few months ago you came to my with a piece of paper that appeared to be covered in spider-like creatures dropping down from webs. When I asked you to tell me what you had drawn, low and behold, you told me spiders!! (I’m pretty sure it was a momma spider and a daddy spider and a baby spider.)

Over the summer you had your first round on swimming lessons. I was worried that you would be upset, but, and excuse the cliche, you took to swimming like a fish to water. You were even having fun until you noticed that Chloe wasn’t really into the whole thing. I can’t wait to try it again in the next couple of months.

I also can’t wait for you to play t-ball this year like your big brother! You’ve been asking to play “like brother” since last spring and, when we play in the front yard, you usually insist on wearing Logan’s glove and playing catch with me. Now you will have your own glove and bat!

I love you Emma-doodles. Do me a favor and stop growing up so fast even though you want to so badly.

Love, Momma

Love, Logan

2011-06-21T12:08:00.000-04:00

After Logan signed his card to Daddy for Father's Day, I suggested he draw a picture on the envelope.

I love how he and Daddy are holding hands. It melts my heart!

The Father's Day Camp Out That Wasn't

2011-06-20T15:59:00.000-04:00

I've been MIA for a few days. You see, I decided to surprise Andy with a camping trip (our first as a family) for Father's Day. It took me a while to get everything together. I had to locate a tent that would fit our family of five, yet was small enough to fit on the national park's tent pad. When I found said tent, I had to order it because the local store didn't have it in stock. And then, when the tent finally arrived, I had to set it up and waterproof it.

I managed to get this all done without Andy's knowledge.

Even with the tent set up in the backyard for twenty-four hours.

Sometimes, sometimes, it's useful that my husband spends so much time hard at work.

Anyhow, after the tent was taken care of, I had everything else to do. The shopping, the packing, the changing of the oil in my car.....I didn't do that last one myself. I let the nice men at Jiffy Lube take care of it while the girls and I walked over to the bookstore for a coffee and a couple of milks.

By the time Andy got home Friday night, the car was packed, the kids were bathed and fed, and all we had to do was stop by a camping store on the way to the campground for cots since I have decided I'm too old to sleep on an air mattress anymore.

On our drive to North Carolina, here is how I pictured our happy family camping trip:

Please refrain from making fun of my drawing skills. There is a good reason I chose a camera as my instrument of art.

In case you haven't figured it out, our happy little camping trip didn't happen because the minute we pulled the tent out of the car, and I mean the minute we pulled the tent out of the car, it started to pour. The thirty percent chance of isolated thunderstorms predicted by the local meteorologist turned into a non-stop deluge that we spent an hour in the car hoping would abate.

Here is the one and only photo I managed to snap with my phone while I huddled in the free space left in our trunk by the tent:

It really was not as bright and cheery as the photo might lead you to believe. That would be our tent under the blue tarp.

If we could have just gotten the tent up before the deluge we would have probably been okay. Then again, when we checked with the park rangers about the extended weather forecast, we were told that they were now expecting intense thunderstorms for the next several hours along with high winds and hail. So much for the thirty percent chance of isolated storms.

We did manage to have a picnic lunch. In the car. Followed by ice cream in town which took care of the kids' disappointment over not camping. (Not Momma's, though. I'm still bummed.)

We're going to try again next month.

I'm still working on unpacking the car.

Wordless Wednesday - When brother's away, sisters will play...

2011-06-15T19:54:00.000-04:00

I suppose this means we should get a dog.

2011-06-12T11:22:00.000-04:00

Fuzzy Heart

2011-06-11T00:18:00.000-04:00

This is Fuzzy Heart.

He came to live with us Monday.

Fuzzy Heart is a distant cousin to the two bunnies that these two completely adorable three-year-old girls are clutching in this photo. In fact, the reason Fuzzy Heart came into our lives is because, back in December when these two adorable girls' parents took them out for their birthday and bought them these two bunnies, a certain parent, who wishes to remain anonymous, also purchased $20 worth of gift cards for $10.

On Monday, after stopping by the Apple Store to have her phone looked at, the anonymous parent decided that it was time for those gift cards to be spent. So those two bunnies got new outfits and Logan got Fuzzy Heart.

Fuzzy Heart is Logan's new best friend. When we got home, Fuzzy Heart was given a tour of the house and was introduced to Lamby, Logan's best friend for the past four years or so. (Don't worry about Lamby's place in the world, by the way, because a boy can always have two best friends.)

Anyhow, back to Fuzzy Heart. Logan decided today that he needed some time in front of Momma's camera.

Photographing Fuzzy Heart was very similar to photographing any toddler or preschooler.

This was one of Fuzzy Heart's more reflective moments. I think he was trying to say that Logan is growing up way too fast. Or maybe he was trying to communicate that this family should take a beach vacation in the near future.

Either way Fuzzy Heart: I totally agree.

Although I think Logan is leaning towards the beach vacation scenario based on his choice of prop.

Rock on Fuzzy Heart!!! And welcome to our family!

Wordless Wednesday - Princess Emma

2011-06-08T15:34:00.000-04:00

The 2011 Tee Ball Season Highlight Reel

2011-06-06T14:16:00.000-04:00

That's a mouthful of a title, huh?

The kiddos played their last official tee ball games Saturday. It's been a fun eight weeks and I think everybody, from Emma and Chloe (who actually got to play this year) to the adults, really enjoyed it this time around. I think the only thing I would change next year would be for the ninety degree heat to hold off until the season's done.

Because I have control over the weather, you know.

Anyhow, here's a video of the 2011 season. Enjoy!

How does your garden grow?

2011-06-02T07:34:00.001-04:00

Logan, Logan, quite outspoken,

How does your garden grow?

With grass clippings and mud drippings,

And this compost that I'll sow.

I meant to post this a few weeks ago, but, as usual, time has gotten away from me. When we were working on getting our raised beds put together and planted last month, Logan decided to do his part by making compost. (Thank you Curious George.) We really need to get the real deal started soon.

Wordless Wednesday: The AC is fixed and the playroom is open for business!

2011-06-01T17:08:00.000-04:00

Summer is here!

2011-05-29T20:50:00.000-04:00

I know all I have been posting lately has been photos, but how could I not post this shot of Miss Chloe tonight?

Viva summer and playing in the sprinkler!

Watch out kindergarten girls!

2011-05-27T14:47:00.000-04:00

This one is turning five in July and heading your way in August. He's a charmer.

Moments in Time #10

2011-05-26T22:47:00.000-04:00

"Where are Daddy's crown stickers?? You know, crown, like you wear on your head when a queen comes to visit?" ~ Logan

Asks Dr. ENT, "And how do I know you are Emma?" "Because I have two 'M's," replies Emma matter-of-factly.

You are invited to "Logan's Scary Party."

Pointing to a drawing he had made: "Momma, this is me and you and we are sad because I'm going to school." ~ Logan

Discussing with Emma what to play next: "Maybe brother will play cowboy. I'll be the cow!" ~Chloe

Wordless Wednesday - We tied our high record temp. today.

2011-05-25T21:11:00.000-04:00

Wordless Wednesday - Rawr!!!

2011-05-18T21:33:00.000-04:00

Fun with Seamless Paper

2011-05-16T18:36:00.001-04:00

Have I already used that title since my roll of paper arrived in the mail? If I have, please forgive me. Yesterday, instead of getting ready for our impending trip to San Francisco to visit my sister Jessica, and under the guise of "cleaning the dining room," said dining room became a photo studio.

I use that term loosely. It basically means the dining room table has been pushed against the wall, the seamless paper has been hung up, and all my books and camera equipment are in the china cabinet.

I guess I could take a picture, but that seams like too much trouble. Ha.

But I will post a photo I took today of Miss Emma. I got some great ones of Mr. Logan too, but I haven't edited them yet.

I love the curled toes!

Logan's Garden

2011-05-12T07:00:00.003-04:00

So this year, we are attempting to raise veggies the square-foot gardening way in a couple of raised beds. It's taken me a few weeks to buy the materials, build the beds, and fill them with their "secret" soil mix, but that shouldn't really come as a surprise.

I mean, I've been trying to get our bathroom shower caulked for over a week now.

Anyhow Tuesday, finally, we were able to plant a few things and I made the last minute decision to plant one bed with nothing but corn. I have my doubts about how the corn is going to do, but I am a big fan of doing it the suggested way first before changing things up.

I let the kids plant some of the corn and it made an impression just as I hoped it would. Here's Logan's picture of our raised bed planted with corn. I hope the final product meets his expectations!

As a side note, I asked why he and I had two noses and was informed that those were our "nose holes." And yes, I'm the one with my hair sticking up.

Wordless Wednesday - When it's 90 degrees instead of 75...

2011-05-11T17:52:00.000-04:00

The Long Overdue Spring Break Entry

2011-05-10T00:33:00.004-04:00

It's hard to believe, but it's already been three weeks since we went on our own version of Spring Break. I suppose I should write about it a bit before the details fade away any more than they already have.

When Andy planned to take a few days off before Easter Sunday this year, we had bigger and better plans about how we would spend our extended long weekend as a family.

Unfortunately, those plans didn't work out.

But that didn't mean we couldn't have fun!!

We spent Thursday at a nearby theme park. We have season passes for this particular park, which I have to say makes visits there with three preschoolers much more pleasant. We don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to beat the rush. We don't have to spend the day rushing around trying to see everything. We know what is worth standing in line for and what is not.

And to add to our pleasant experience, Andy and I decided to book a room for Thursday night instead of driving the hour or so home. (By the way, let me tell you that for Logan, Emma, and Chloe, nothing says vacation like sleeping at a hotel on a couch that turns into a bed.) So after a day of playing and riding rides, we checked into a hotel with a Christmas theme, right down to a decorated tree in our room, and got treated to a concert by Mr. Claus himself!

Oh how I wish I'd brought my video camera to Santa's concert. At one point he invited the kids up to sing with him and, well, let's just say that I don't think Logan has one shy bone in his body.

After breakfast the next morning, we checked out of hotel and headed to the next touristy town over to do more touristy things. Just take a look at the next montage:

Couldn't it almost pass for a brochure for said touristy town?

Anyhow.

We decided to be brave and take the kids on their first mini-golf adventure. I think Andy had high hopes of developing three little Tiger Woods right there on the putt-putt green, but twas not meant to be. Did you know that, when playing with a four-year-old boy, putt-putt is actually a high impact aerobic activity??

After nearly two full days of playing tourist, we headed back home to spend Friday night in our own boring (i.e. don't fold out from couches) beds. Then we got up the next morning and headed to a breakfast with the Easter Bunny, which was then followed by Easter egg coloring.

Sunday, of course, was Easter. Logan bounded into our room bright and early to wish us a Happy Easter before insisting that I accompany him downstairs to inspect the contents of his Easter basket. My sweet boy refused to eat his chocolate bunny until his sisters woke up and joined him. He, however, had no qualms about eating the malted milk ball eggs and staring intently out the kitchen window looking for hidden eggs in order to plan his Easter egg hunting strategy for later in the day.

Yep. It was a pretty nice Spring Break, even if we never left the state.

If you'd like to see the individual photos from this entry and a lot more, click here.

Round Here:

2011-05-06T19:20:00.002-04:00

Emma and Chloe have stayed dry three nights in a row. Have we finally come to the end of the diaper/pull-up era??
Logan has recently picked up a sometimes British accent. No, it has nothing to do with the royal wedding hoopla, which we never got into, but a few too many episodes of Kipper on Netflix.
And speaking of Logan, he informed me at 6:30 this morning that he had just heard a dog barking outside. When he looked out his window, though, it was invisible, so he went back to bed.
I've ordered a pirate backpack and lunch bag for my soon-to-be kindergarten boy.
Our caterpillars are now chrysalids. Can't wait to see the kids excitement when they emerge as butterflies.
"That's Cookie Monster! His eyeballs move around a lot when he talks." ~Logan
Emma and Chloe have been wearing some plastic rings that their brother picked out for them a few weeks ago. They call them their "weddings."

Wordless Wednesday: I'm starting to see a trend here.

2011-05-04T21:02:00.000-04:00

Guess what just came back after close to 48 hours???

2011-04-29T21:29:00.000-04:00

Our phone, internet, and cable! Woo hoo!!

We made it through Wednesday safe and sound, thank God, but it was definitely an experience I wish to never live through again. (You know, if I had a choice.) We were under tornado warnings almost constantly from before lunch until midnight and I had to drag the kids out of bed twice for the safety of our basement. On our second trip, we lost power and I had to go hunting with my cell phone for the flashlight that had been moved during our first expedition to far reaches of our bottom floor.

We had hail that ranged in size from a marble to a tennis ball. I discovered yesterday that there are indentations in the soil of the hanging baskets that I had planted a few days before where the ice melted away.

There were a few funny moments, though. For example, Logan wondering what a "tomato warning" was and suggesting, as we sat together by lantern light, that we roast marshmallows and have a camp out. And when I finally convinced every body to climb back into their beds and had set the kiddos all up with flashlights and lanterns, I had to hunt down batteries for their sound machines so that the sound of artificial rain could drown out unceasing downpour just outside their windows.

I stayed up until after midnight waiting for the warnings to expire. I read my Kindle and listened to what sounded like a raging river in my backyard and prayed that a tree didn't clobber the house. I can't tell you how happy I was to check the radar on my phone and see nothing else headed our way.

Our power came back on around six Thursday morning.

Emma has asked if there are going to be bad storms the past two evenings when I've tucked her in for the night. Poor thing. I had finally convinced them all that thunderstorms can't hurt you when you are in your house. I've never felt the need to mention to my babies that those storms can sometimes carry your house away.

But enough of that.

Since we have had no cable, internet, or phone to distract us for a couple of days, I finally had the chance to break out the seamless white paper I ordered online last week. I have some fine tuning to do lighting-wise and I need to get some plexiglas to put under it since it's on carpet, but I do want to share one of the photos from my practice session:

I think I might have my hands full with those two when they are teenagers. And don't forget to click on it if you want to see it larger.

Oh well. I have to finish captioning our spring break photos from last week and then I'll have those to share as well. With all this crazy weather, Easter already feels like it was a lifetime ago. Right now, though, I think I will go rot my brain with some Netflix TV viewing.

Easter Bunny Huggies

2011-04-23T18:14:00.000-04:00

There is some serious Easter egg coloring going on out in the kitchen, but I wanted to share a photo from this morning and our breakfast with the Easter Bunny:

I have lots to share from the past couple of days. We kind of went on a mini-version of Spring Break, but it will have to wait for now.

In case I don't make it back on here tomorrow, Happy Easter!!

Wordless Wednesday - Chloe & Princess Bunny

2011-04-20T09:01:00.000-04:00

Emma & Chloe's First Tee Ball Game!

2011-04-15T21:26:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday, before we sent Aunt Laura and Uncle Lee off to the West Coast, the kids played their tee ball season openers.

For Emma and Chloe, it was their very first tee ball game. And, by the way, they are the only girls on their team, the Blue Jays.

I'm not sure anything is much cuter than a team of three-year-olds getting ready to play tee ball for the first time.

Anyhow, Daddy was there to encourage his little blue jays while they were on the field. Chloe needed a bit more encouraging than Emma. She's been catering to her shy side lately.

Believe it or not, at their practice earlier in the week, their coach just randomly threw me their t-shirts: #2 and #3. I was amused. (It doesn't take much these days.)

Emma would like you to know that their game was quite the nail-biter.

Chloe would like you to know that the post-game snacks were satisfactory.

And I would like you to know that my babies are growing up way too fast. *sigh*

Wordless Wednesday - Emma the Incredible Bug Hunter!

2011-04-13T20:40:00.000-04:00

Bon Voyage Aunt Laura and Uncle Lee!!

2011-04-11T11:32:00.001-04:00

We sent another aunt to the West Coast this weekend. (Luckily we have no more aunts to send because it's getting a little difficult.) Aunt Laura and Uncle Lee will be spending a couple of weeks in California before heading to the Pacific Northwest, land of rain and coffee and probably not in that order.

You can see all the photos here. We miss you already guys and can't wait to visit you!!

For Aunt Cup-be-ca!!!

2011-04-07T13:58:00.000-04:00

Wordless Wednesday - Play ball!!!

2011-04-06T22:22:00.000-04:00