Em's Birthday Celebration

We had Emilie's birthday party over the weekend and it was a huge success. We had beautiful weather and the kids played outside for the whole party. Emilie had a Dora the Explorer party complete with a life size Dora balloon thanks to Aunt Vicki. Thanks to everyone who came!

Two Years Ago Today

She was born. What a precious angel.

The Outdoors

We have been spending a lot of time outside lately. It is so nice after being stuck in doors all winter. Here are some pictures we took at the park. Enjoy!

Puppy Love

Dora Who?

It's official... Emilie loves Dora. "Dora who?" some of you might ask. No, we don't have a new pet, I am speaking of Dora the Explorer whom Nickelodeon features 6 billion times a day. Well, not really but it feels that way with a 1 year old running around ordering you to turn on Dora. I have friends with little girls who are not at all surprised by this, apparently this is a normal "phase". They say don't worry, they usually get over it around the time the turn 3. Three???

I know Dora has been around a while because Abbie watched her when she was little. So I did a little digging and found out Dora first aired in 1999 so she has been around for a little over a decade. If you have never seen an episode I will fill you in on what Dora is all about. She is a little latina girl and in each episode she embarks on a journey with her best friend, Boots the Monkey, to help someone or find something. Along the way she faces different obstacles including a sneaky fox named Swiper. She always comes through in the end and saves the day. She also teaches spainish along the way, so I don't mind if Emilie wants to watch the same episode over and over. At least she will learn to speak spanish, right?

Today we went to the library and I decided to get some Dora books there so Em can fill her Dora needs in ways other than TV. We'll see how that goes.

My Weekend in a Picture

It's been a long time....

Well, I haven't blogged in ages! I was so busy with Christmas and then Ari's birthday and then recovering from them both! I find myself home this afternoon and EVERYONE but me is asleep. We have been battling some kind of crazy hardcore virus this week. After 3 trips to the doctor this week Emilie seems to be on the mend and now Luke and Ari are sick! I think I will have to find some university that could grant me some kind of honorary nursing degree! As for me I am trying to keep myself well and everyone else hydrated and fed.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Valentines Day. Although everyone here is sick I am with the ones I love most, so it is a good (not great)Valentines Day for me.

I will leave you with some recent pictures of the kids... since it has been awhile.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Merry Christmas!

All I want for Christmas....

Over the weekend we made our traditional trip to the Sheridan Public Library to go see Santa. Our neighbor is the director of the library and invites us to come see Santa every Christmas. We had high hopes this year that Ari would really have a good time, but silly us! Should we really have expected him to sit on a strange man's lap and happily report what he would like for Christmas? After much persuasion, and Uncle Stephen sitting on Santas lap, we were able to get the kids to cooperate, although neither were thrilled.

What did they ask for?



Ari wants a house to go into and a robot and he said Emilie want's baby dolls.

Cheap Toy

One laundry basket + 2 kids = FUN!

Happy Halloween!

We had a hectic but very nice Halloween this year. Ari was so fun to Trick or Treat with. He was so grateful for the candy! He said"Trick or Treat" at every house we went to and when a lady gave him a sucker he hugged her and told her he loved lollipops! Emilie had a good time as well, but she was a little less vocal about it. And what were they you ask?? Ari was Luigi (surprise, surprise) and Em was a bee.

Halloween's Past

I got this idea from another blogger... I liked it so much I decided to do it myself!

2006

2007

2008

What are they going to be this year? You'll just have to wait and see!

Pumpkin Patch

This weekend we went to a pumpkin patch in southern Indiana on the way to Louisville. To call it a pumpkin patch doesn't really do it justice, it had an apple orchard, winery, baked goods, cheese and ice cream, restaurant and a corn maze.

We took a ride in a wagon to pick our own pumpkins and bought some yummy fresh baked bread. We also walked through a corn maze that had cartoon characters posted throughout it, and at the first bend there was people dressed as Bugs Bunny and Sylvester.

They really freaked Ari out and we had to carry him through the rest of the maze! Poor Guy! Never the less we all had a great time!

My Baby

One year ago... time sure flies!

Fresh Beat

This is Emilie's favorite TV show (The Fresh Beat Band). I have to admit the songs are quite catchy. And she LOVES to dance!

What Are You Going to be for Halloween?

I found Luke's old Brutus mask when I was getting out the fall decorations. Ari LOVED it!Emilie's thoughts on the mask.....

Ft. Wayne Zoo

It has become a tradition for Vicki and I to take the kids to the Ft. Wayne Zoo every summer. My Grandma Rose has a grandparents season pass so we all get in free, which is a nice bonus! Last year the African branch of the zoo was closed for remodeling which was a bummer because that is my personal favorite part of the zoo. We made our annual trip last week and the African part of the zoo was reopened and boy was it AWESOME! It was by far the best zoo experience I have ever had. Our Uncle Mark was here from Thiland when we went so he came too and took some awesome pictures!

It was a cool day so we actually got to see the animals that are typically hiding in the shade. We got to see the lions. The male was just on the other side of the glass. I couldn't believe my luck!

The kids got to feed the giraffes and play drums. We finished up the day with the usual ride on the carousal. It was a great day!

New Dress For Em!

I had found a lady on Etsy who took old adult t-shirts and made them into dresses for little girls. I loved this idea since I have so many shirts that I have been hanging onto because I can't bring myself to part with them. So I mentioned this to my Mom and she said to order one so she could see how they were made and maybe she could replicate it. So I sent off an old Lucky shirt and waited. In the meantime I mentioned it to Katie too and she has since tried her hand at making Em some "pillowcase" dresses with success. I love this style of dress for Em because they look to be really comfortable. I received the one I ordered in the mail last week and Em looks so cute in it. I am excited to see what Katie comes up with as well, the trial dresses were great!

Louisville

We went t0 Louisville over the weekend and went to eat at a restaurant on the Ohio River. It was a very kid friendly place. They had a playground complete with swings and a slide.

There was a large hill and we thought the Ohio River was on the other side, but when we got to the top all we saw were railroad tracks! The kids thought they were pretty neat so it all worked out. We opted to not walk through the woods to the river because the trail was very narrow and we didn't want anyone to get poison ivy.

After lunch we went back to Jeff and Mary Lee's and played crochet and the kids had their first encounter with the ice cream man. Ari had a Tweety Bird ice cream bar, Piper had Sponge Bob ice cream bar and Em and I shared a chocolate eclair bar. I hope they don't realize the ice cream man drives around Kokomo too!

All in all, it was another great Louisville Trip!