writing it down

my kids say funny things every day. i'm sure yours do too. some of their quotes are down right hilarious, while other things are really only funny if you truly know the child. but as a mom, i want to remember them all. they're all funny to me. :) i usually share the downright hilarious ones here on my blog, but i could not keep up posting the one-liners spoken in this house. one day, in my blog-hopping, i came across this great idea from another mom! the mom has a weekly day planner for each of her children each year and keeps track of her kids' quoteables in the planners. with a line for each day, there's plenty of room to record the precious and hilarious things spoken by your children. this mom said that as her kids have grown older, they have enjoyed going back through and reading the silly things they said when they were younger. she also mentioned that when a child is having a bad day, it's a good way to cheer them up...with their own words. :) (i cannot for the life of me remember where i saw this idea. i would love to give this woman credit for her idea, so if that was you and you are happening to read this, please let me know who you are!)

i waited until after the new year and bought a planner for $1 (really, a result of procrastination, but it paid off this time!). i just have one for ethan and caroline to share, and it's working fine so far. some weeks have lots of blanks because i forgot to write things down, and some weeks are chock full of ethan-isms. the planner stays in the same place on my desk, so i know right where to go when i need to jot down a quote in a hurry.

i'll leave you with my favorite ethan quote of the week... we'd come home one afternoon, and my bedroom door was shut. i distinctly remembered leaving it open, so i asked the kids if they shut my door (hoping one of them had vs. the other option of there being an ax murderer behind it). ethan said that he'd shut my door. i asked him why, and this was his answer:

so your stuff won't fall out.
huh? (trying to keep a straight face)

if our house tips over, and your door is shut, your stuff won't fall out.
as if this was worrying me, he went on...

but houses don't usually tip over because they're strong.
and i immediately ran to my planner and wrote that down...

we've got a family heirloom on our hands...

you didn't think i'd really get around to getting pictures of amelia in her easter dress, did you!? yeah, i really didn't either. :) but i was looking for yet another way to put off doing laundry the other day! so here is our sweet baby girl only 12 days past easter in her easter dress. which is now the obligatory first easter dress for our family. :) there is just something about a baby in white...




as amelia and i were enjoying our little photo shoot this morning, i couldn't help but think back to baby caroline in this same dress... especially when amelia grabbed her dress just like caroline did! here is baby caroline (5 months old) on her first easter in 2007...

lovin' lowe's!

we are always looking for fun and frugal things to do with the kids. our new activity is lowe's build and grow clinics! lowe's hosts these free saturday morning workshops for kids twice a month, and we have had perfect attendance for the last 4 clinics. :) the kids have built a racecar, tabletop basketball goal, a rain gauge/lawn ornament, and a birdhouse! on our first visit, the kids received a work apron and goggles. each kit comes with blueprint directions and all the materials needed to build it. after completing the building project, the kids receive a patch specific to that project to go on their aprons (mommy's favorite part! ha!). we enjoy this special time with our "big kids", and my mom unloads my dishwasher while amelia naps watches amelia. they love marching through lowe's with their aprons on. one week, an older gentleman stopped caroline and asked, "do you work here?" her curls bounced and bounced as she confidently nodded yes! as we near the back of the store, you can already hear a dozen hammers pounding away on plastic tables in a tiny room. music to ethan's ears! :) ethan has shown great improvement in his hammering skills. this last time, he was able to nail in one whole wall of the birdhouse all by himself... he'd pick up the tiny nails, put them in the pre-drilled holes, and hammer them all in totally independently. i was pretty impressed, considering the fact that my nails make it in straight about half the time! ha! some projects are easier than others, and really, this kind of thing is more geared for ethan's age or older... but caroline enjoys "helping". we usually start her nails and then let her bang them in a few times. we have yet to walk away with black and blue thumbs, so that's worth a patch, don't you think?! speaking of patches, when we came home from our first visit to lowe's, the kids were so excited to have their race car patches in hand. they came back and showed the cars and the patches to gram. we told them that she'd take their patches home and sew them on their aprons. (yes, i could do this, i know. but gram is wonderful and loves to help out this busy mom...) well, when she brought their aprons back with the unremoveable patches, ethan and caroline went ballistic. they wanted to play with their patches! (who knew!) so if there's lots of extra patches at lowe's, we take a couple more for the kids to play with. and everybody's happy... well, here's a peek at our little woodworkers.

building the racecar...




building the basketball goal... you can see that ethan got tired of hammering and asked daddy to finish.




caroline loved making the flower lawn ornament/rain gauge. the irony was that we built this in the middle of the worst two weeks of storms i can ever remember us having. and of course their rain gauges are still in their room... we need to paint them and get them outside!



caroline was proud of her work.



really proud.



and finally, the birdhouses.



we painted the bird houses the next week with kristie and karina, and we plan on putting them in the back yard soon. i know that lowe's does these clinics for kids as a marketing technique. they get our family into their store twice a month, and there is more than likely something we will need to buy on our way out. WELL, they may have us fooled, but not our son! the night before we were going to build the bird houses, we were telling him what we'd be doing the next morning. he got so excited and said, "and we can go to home depot to buy bird food!" sorry, lowe's. that kid loves home depot, and his love cannot be bought.

i'll end with a little video of ethan hammering all by himself. he's getting so so big.


the next lowe's clinic is tomorrow morning, so if you're reading this before 10:00, grab your kids and go make a hang glider!

amelia is 3 months old!

at 3 months old, amelia is loving life! she is really starting to smile and "talk" to you when you talk to her- especially if you raise your voice a couple of octaves! :) she also loves to be sung to, whether it's "twinkle twinkle little star" by caroline grace or a silly made-up song about pjs by mommy. amelia smiles so big when we sing to her. the other night, amelia spent a good five minutes talking to her daddy on the couch. i was holding her while we watched tv, and she wanted nothing more than for her daddy to pay attention to her and not the survivors of oceanic flight 815! it was so adorable... and if she hadn't already, amelia stole her daddy's heart at that very moment.

hangin' around with us

i realize my blog is in "post-overload" right now... i go from not posting for a week to 6 posts in the last 3 days! ahh! i was having some uploading issues that occupied a few evenings where i really really wanted to be blogging vs. investigating desaturation/pixelation problems with blogger. i eventually solved my problems by using flickr to host my blog pics, and i was rarin' to go! if you got tired of seeing our family easter picture at the top of the blog for a week and you gave up on me for a few days, well, you've got some catching up to do. :) make sure you scroll down and begin with my easter post.

this post is just a "what we've been up to" post that i've been meaning to write for the last month. nothing really exciting or earth-shattering, just sweet and simple memories for this mommy to remember.


ethan and caroline live and breathe puzzles right now! we started off with the coolest shape puzzles that helped the kids have success at completing a puzzle with minimal frustration. they also have loved these 9 piece nursery rhyme puzzles. highly recommended! they'd get out both of these sets in our foyer and just work and rework them over and over. below, you can see caroline is so proud of herself for finishing the nursery rhyme puzzle "all my byself". they are now really into the 24 piece puzzles, which present the perfect challenge for them. i grew up loving to do puzzles (especially with my granddaddy!), and i can't help but smile when i see caroline running to the foyer with a puzzle box in hand. before i know it, we'll be doing 1000 piece puzzles as a family. but not in the foyer! :)


we've had so much fun bathing amelia in our bathroom sink! we got a new swivel faucet for our guest bathroom, and it makes bathing an infant so convenient! these might be my favorite bath pictures ever...



(amelia says hello!) she is quickly outgrowing the sink, though... so we're probably gonna pull out the tummy tub! fun fun!

speaking of tummies, the kids and i did tummy time with amelia a few weeks ago. once. i was so proud of myself for remembering to do it. and i haven't remembered since. i know babies are supposed to have tummy time at least once a day, if not more often. but really, tummy time is just not on my to-do list these days. i am going to do my best to be more consistent about her tummy time. i know it's important. and ethan and caroline loved it. it's like she was a new toy. :) here they are demonstrating how to lay on your tummy and hold up your head.


they're pros! and you know what? caroline got very little tummy time as an infant. and look at how she can hold her head up now! :) so amelia, there's hope for you, poor neglected third child. there's hope for you.


this was supposed to be a cute sibling picture, but apparently, amelia was all done with the holding your head up thing...


we were so happy to have a visit from our friends ryan and catherine a few weeks ago! they were in town and had not yet met amelia, so of course, we told them to come on over. and amelia happened to already be wearing one of the adorable outfits that catherine had given her! don't you just want to eat those polka-dotted pants!?


ethan and caroline had a ball playing with ryan & catherine's 1 yr. old daughter, hanna. isn't she sweet? i really miss seeing this baby girl grow up. doesn't catherine need to start a blog?!?! (hint hint!) in this picture, caroline is probably pointing out the TINY "pbs kids" sticker on the front of this book. isn't it amazing what kids can pinpoint? yesterday, she recognized the icon on this book and exclaimed, "pbs kids dot org!" ok, so maybe we're watching a little too much word world...


so as you can see, our days lately are pretty simple. we stay at home for the most part (though ethan asks most mornings, "where are we going today?!" nowhere!!), and we do a lot of playing, singing, reading, and learning to fold washcloths. :) i really am trying to enjoy the sweet and precious moments that are weaved in with the stressful meltdowns. i know that all too soon, those meltdowns will be teenagers, and they won't quite fit in my lap anymore. when i hear caroline say, "mommy, i busy", i know she has heard that way too often. i need to stop folding laundry and play "hi ho cherrio" one more time. today, i slowed down with the kids, and i was so glad i did. in my busy-ness, i would have missed out on this conversation:

(ethan and caroline playing together)
caroline: good girl, efan!
ethan: no, caroline, i'm a boy, silly! you're a girl and i'm a boy.
caroline: you boy. i girl.
(thinking...thinking... you can see her wheels turning. she whips her head around to me.)
caroline: mommy, you.... mommy!?

speaking of girls, here's my girls matchin' it up the other day. one of caroline's favorite pasttimes is matching her sister. :)



praising God for those everyday moments...

after i originally posted this, i ran across a poem that makes a wonderful ending to this "everyday life" post:

I Took His Hand and Followed
Mrs. Roy L. Peifer

My dishes went unwashed today,
I didn't make the bed,
I took his hand and followed
Where his eager footsteps led.

Oh yes, we went adventuring,
My little son and I...
Exploring all the great outdoors
Beneath the summer sky

We waded in a crystal stream,
We wandered through a wood...
My kitchen wasn't swept today
But life was gay and good.

We found a cool, sun-dappled glade
And now my small son knows
How Mother Bunny hides her nest,
Where jack-in-the-pulpit grows.

We watched a robin feed her young,
We climbed a sunlit hill...
Saw cloud-sheep scamper through the sky,
We plucked a daffodil.

That my house was neglected,
That I didn't brush the stairs,
In twenty years, no one on earth
Will know, or even care.

But that I've helped my little boy
To noble manhood grow,
In twenty years, the whole wide world
May look and see and know.

today we didn't climb a hill (and what in the world is jack-in-the-pulpit?!), but we did find an earthworm and a HUGE birds' nest! we didn't wade in the crystal stream, but we did get caught in our sprinklers when they came on! that made for a great laugh. :) hope you were able to put the laundry down and laugh with your kids today.

amelia meets the bumbo seat!

bumbo. meet amelia. amelia. meet bumbo. the bumbo seat first entered our home back when ethan was a (very chunky legged) baby. his legs were so fat that he really didn't fit in it that well! when i'd go to pick ethan up out of the chair, the whole seat would come with him! haha! i know we used the bumbo with caroline too, but i never got around to blogging about it... things were kinda nuts back then! :) anyway, i got the bumbo out for amelia to try a couple of weeks ago. i think she liked the new view, though she was wondering where in the world her friend Mr. Ceiling Fan had gone... so she kept kicking her head over to try to look up. totally defeating the purpose of the bumbo, of course! :) i put a throw pillow behind her head, and that seemed to help her get used to holding her head up. ethan and caroline thought that amelia in this seat was the greatest thing ever! they really are so super sweet with her. even when they're in her face. they're at least very lovingly in her face. ha!


you gotta LOVE this look that amelia is giving caroline.
she knows that girl is up to somethin'!


"mom, i'm getting tired of this seat!"


"just kidding! i love it!"

more everyday fun around our house to come!

praying for stellan today!

we're wearing orange and praying for stellan today! this five month old miracle baby is undergoing heart surgery as i type this. join his precious family and millions around the world who are praying for stellan today...

update (around 1:15 CST): stellan made it through his surgery! praise the Lord! keep praying for his recovery...

excited!

my mom is ready to start working on amelia's quilt! we went fabric shopping a couple of weeks ago, and i cannot wait to see this quilt! my mom has patiently endured my endless chatter of "i'll know what i like when i see it", and i think she has a good idea of the quilt in my head. i saw this quilt on etsy a while back, and it looked pretty easy to make. (which is so easy for ME to say, since i'm not the one making it!) so my mom will be making a quilt similar to that one with different fabrics, and it will be much bigger than the etsy quilt. the fabric with the children playing will be the focus fabric, which i did steal from the etsy quilt. and then we're using a hodge-podge of fabrics from the high end quilt store down to walmart's $2 a yard stuff to make all the stripes (see image to the right). my mom will also be using fabrics with a history- i love these! there's gingham from my childhood desk chair, stripes from ethan's quilt, flowery fabric from caroline's quilt, and even some scraps from friends' quilts my mom has made (kristy, do you see the green plaid from your high school t-shirt quilt?!). she will bind it with the same navy fabric from caroline's quilt so that the girls' quilts will somewhat coordinate. all three of the kids' quilts are vintage-looking primary colored quilts. ethan's and caroline's go so well together, even though caroline's is totally girly and ethan's is all boyish stripes. so amelia's will hopefully go right with theirs while having a different look, too! what a special gift these quilts are to my children. i have quilts hanging in amelia's room that were made by my great-grandmother and grandma, and i treasure them. i have no doubt that one day, my grandchildren will admire the loving work done by their great-gram! i can't wait to admire this one myself...

i love this girl...

...but she is growing up way too fast!

resurrection rolls!

after easter lunch, the kids and kristie and i gathered around their little picnic table at nana's to make resurrection rolls. i didn't get pictures of every step, but you'll get the general idea.

each child gets a triangle of crescent roll dough. the dough represents the linen cloths that Jesus was wrapped in.

dip a marshmallow in butter. the marshmallow represents Jesus and his sinless life, and the butter represents the oils of embalming.


dip the marshmallow in cinnamon & sugar. this represents the spices used to anoint the body. (we just poured ours on!)


wrap the coated marshmallow TIGHTLY in the crescent roll. make sure you bring the sides up & seal the marshmallow inside. this represents the wrapping of Jesus' body after death. (very important to make it tight!! we had marshmallow oozing out...)

place in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 mins. the oven represents the tomb. pretend like it was three days!


when the rolls have cooled slightly, the children can open their rolls (cloth) and discover that Jesus is no longer there, HE IS RISEN! the marshmallow melts and the crescent roll is puffed up, but empty.


the kids were excited to see "what was in their roll" when it came out of the oven. they were shocked to see that it was empty! just like the tomb! (ok... so this picture is totally staged... but they were shocked!)


here's karina checking ethan's roll one last time to see if anything's in there...


ethan thrilled on making the resurrection rolls, just as i'd hoped he would! caroline and karina were somewhat interested but were more along for the ride... i'm guessing that next year, the girls will be pretty excited when we try these again. next year, i think we will make these for breakfast on good friday. doing it after easter lunch was not ideal because the kids were tired, and they were also more interested in the cake & cookies for dessert than these rolls! ha! so i can see these rolls being a great way to start off easter weekend. i am sure next year i will be searching my blog for this post so that i can remember when i said i was going to do them. :) (that's the beauty of blogging... back-up memory when the real thing fails you!!)

another plus to this activity is that these rolls taste delicious! they are pretty much like cinnamon rolls, since the marshmallow serves as the icing (very important in my book!). file this recipe away for next year, and add this activity to your easter traditions. your kids will love it!