My little poser

I made some tiles for the playroom, and when I went to take the picture, Eve exclaimed "mom, you can't take a picture without me in it!" so she jumped up on the table and posed herself like this.

Snow Day, if you can call it that

Charlotte and area got about 2 inches of snow. You would have thought the apocalypse was coming. School was cancelled in advance because of "freezing" temperatures, we got emails from the neighborhood giving us advice on how to keep our water pipes in the house warm, etc. For us, it was an excuse to just stay home and be lazy. We made homemade playdough, made treats, played games, and just hung out. It was a perfect day. 

Eve came downstairs in the morning and said "Elsa came, and I missed it!"

Valentines Day!

The day where we celebrate love. I love my husband and children more than life itself! And I'm glad at least one day of the year we really celebrate it, and all it takes is a few candies to let the kids know "just how much!" we love them. But Braden really knocked it out of the park this year. He completely surprised me with a weekend getaway to Connecticut to go and visit all our old friends! Not only that, I got to go, KID FREE! I cried, it was so thoughtful and just what I needed. It comes with so many little bonus gifts, like flying on a plane alone :) sleeping in (in theory), eating at a restaurant with both of my hands while my meal is still warm! The possibilities are endless! So yeah, best husband award goes to Braden, forever.

Giving me grey hair

He ran off when we arrived at the YMCA, and I couldn't find him anywhere. I was in such a panic! I knew he knew his way to the child watch, but if he's trying to run and hide from me he wouldn't go there, right? Well, wrong. The little bugger ran right to child watch and was hiding in a coat closet. Luckily they know him there, so as soon as I arrived, they told me where he was. He's going to give me grey hair.

Where's Greta?

One thing I really love about having children so young, is they are entertained by the simplest things. Anytime I order anything larger, like diapers etc from Amazon, the kids get really excited. They get to have at least one, usually 2 big boxes. They are colored on, stickered, and made into "rockets". And then, they are peek a boo boxes, and an array of different activities.

My helper

This kid, he is all about tools lately. He never misses an opportunity to come and help me in the garage. I like to have little projects here and there, and he's always really excited. He gets bummed when i walk to the garage and it's just to put something away, or get something out of storage. He saw my pencil behind my ear, and he rushed out. He came back beaming and a little blue crayon behind his.

Early Feb 2015

Best buddies, I love how much they love each other. They fight like cats and dogs, but they do love each other,

I believe Sunday afternoons are meant for board games, and doughnuts help too.

Not even Eve's preschool teacher can resist his little face!

Pony Birthday party

Eve had the opportunity to attend a "my little pony" birthday party for one of her classmates. Since I am very allergic, another class mom volunteered to take her so she didn't have to miss out. And I'm so glad she did, Eve had such a good time. They painted, groomed, and rode ponies. She talked about it non stop once she got home. 

Aunties come to town.

We love when the "aunties" come to visit. We truly consider these wonderful women our family, and we feel so blessed to have them in our lives. We can't get enough of them, we just need to convince them to move closer to us haha.

Things I don't want to forget

How Graham pretends everything is either a truck or a train, even his toast.

How excited they get for Cheetos on the rare opportunity they get them. It's like they've won the lottery.

How Eve is the best little poser for the camera.

Look Mommy, it's you!

"Look mommy, it's you!" Says a cute little 2 year old boy. I am not sure if its the blood shot eyes, pig nose, or vampire mouth, but somewhere he thinks it looks like me. Good thing he's so cute. I'll take it bud, judging by how excited you were, must be a good thing.

Eve reads!

January 18, 2015 Eve read her first book, with no help. She's a little all star, and she just loves to learn. She started reading BOB books, and she loves them. I am such a proud mama! Way to go Eve!

This Boy

This kid. Sometimes, he makes me feel that I have 100 kids running around the house and I'm drowning. And sometimes, he makes me want 100 more. He's talking so much more now, new words most every day. I can understand most of them, but at least he's trying, which is more than I can say for a few months ago. Still my picky eater, but I expect that at his age. Fortunately, he loves most fruit, so I can put anything in a smoothie and he will drink it. Milk, yogurt, smoothies, PB&J, bananas still make up for the greater part of his diet. He's starting to try sweet potatoes and a few other veggies, but mostly I have to sneak them into his smoothies.

He's 100% boy, muddy, loud, busy, and loves his tools. Still runs to the window every thursday and friday mornings when he hears the garbage/recycling truck coming. He finds every piece of construction equipment that is out while we are driving. He's such a sweet sweet little boy when he wants to be, seeing him kiss Greta's owies is the cutest thing. Not the cutest thing? The fact that he causes 80% of them. But, that's what big brothers are for right? Just kidding. They love each other, and I'm so glad they have each other. 

"I coooold."

More notes from January

We love the weather in North Carolina! It's january, and we are able to go outside (when it's not raining) and still occasionally have park days. We don't have to shovel snow, the occasional "freeze" might sweep in causing ice for a day, but that's the extent of it. We love being able to go for a ride/drive on a sunday afternoon. Eve is becoming a very good driver, she's mastered the art of watching where she's going, that's a big step.

Another outfit of her own choice. Not too bad, considering some of the alternatives I've witnessed. A girl after my own heart, she loves her some popcorn just like her mama. Our all time favorite is the White Cheddar flavor from Skinnypop. The best.

Mid January

You're only young once right? I keep reminding myself that they won't stay little forever. I try to remember that when I get overwhelmed, or feel like I spent my entire day picking up after them, laundry, dishes etc. But I also try to remember that during the sweet times. When they just want to "help" me all the time, even when their helping makes things lots more difficult. Or how they like to craft and create things, I love watching their little minds at work. These are just little things I want to remember as best I can, because they are only this young once, unfortunately.

Discovering autonomy

Eve was blessed with a very strong will and big personality. It is such a blessing and I believe it will serve her very well throughout her life. However, at this age, it can be challenging when trying to find that fine line of boundaries vs. autonomy. One compromise we have, is that when we are out at school or church, mom gets to help make suggestions on what to wear. I give her options, so she feels like she still gets a choice in the matter, as long as they are modest and weather appropriate. But, when she is at home, anything goes. As said before, as long as they are modest, she gets to choose whatever she likes, and change however many times she likes. She did agree to help with her laundry folding to achieve the "change as much as she wants" clause. I'm thrilled with it, no more arguing about what she will wear or not wear that day, and she feels like a big girl getting to make more decisions. And, she comes up with some great outfits, usually dress up clothes are integrated somehow, but its ok, because she loves it.

Little Dancers

I've always been a big believer in dancing, it's good for the body and soul and can pretty much cure any bad mood. So we like to start our day with a song and dance in the car. One in particular, really gets the kids moving. It's a song called Shooting Stars by a group called the Bag Raiders. They can't get enough, and I could watch them boogie and hear them laugh all day long. 

Jan 1-5

Forgive me, as my next posts will be out of order, but I will do my best. It's been a while since I've updated, and I need to back track as best I can. Things lately are great, The babies are starting to get a long much better, I think it helps that Greta is more into trucks and trains than she is babies and dolls. Church is getting more and more difficult, as we are counting down her last few weeks until she is cleared for nursery. I. Can't. Wait. 

We did move into the 9am slot for church as of January 1st, so that is such a blessing. Greta crashes on the drive home, and then naps at home, its a great little set up. 

Eve's preschool party

Well the way her birthday fell , she had her party, and then a party at school and also a party at home on the actual day. Nothing lavish, but she felt so special. 

So she had told employees a few times, that ALL she wants is "cinnamon buns with Elsa blue frosting". So I said "you got it." Not understanding my inability to bake, I took on the very adventurous task task of trying to make cinnamon buns. Now, I followed the recipe as closely as possible, to a T. And I had some moments of frustration due to the lack of specifics in the recipe. So, I thought I would use it as a teaching moment with Eve. I explained, that recipes are like life, you are given instructions to achieve the best results, but lots of the decisions are up to you. They (Christ) can't make you do them perfectly, it's up to you to follow the instructions as closely as you can". So after a long moment of pondering , Eve replies,"but mom, why would Jesus let you make bad cinnamon buns?."

She had a good point. Somehow, they were hard as rocks, and no flavor. The worst. And sweet Eve is so aware and sensitive to others feelings, she says "mom, you're frosting is so yummy, let's make cookies and use this frosting for my class." So that's whatever did, an epic fail on the cinnamon buns, but we made the situation work. And it was so fun. 

The day at school, I had a friend watch the babies, so I could taker her and a friend to do anything they wanted. So she took her friend Lucas for slurpees.