Popsicles with Pop

Just couldn't resist.

Story Hour

I tend to be a little crazy about reading. I read all the time and always have stacks of books beside my bed. I essentially run our church library, which is exceptionally time consuming when done correctly (and I don't always have the time). I'm even thinking about becoming a librarian when I grow up...All this to say, when Megan became old enough to attend story hour, we signed up. I took my camera numerous times to take pictures, including the first day, but either forgot or was too embarrassed to get it out to take pictures...I finally overcame all obstacles and got a few pictures the last day.

Touch your elbow...

Touch your chin...now it's time to begin.

I'm not sure who enjoyed it more. I remember going to story hour with mom and doing fingerplays like "Where is Thumb-kin." Chad even got me a shirt for Christmas that says, "Books make me happy." Megan loves to read though, so I must be passing on some good things.

Adam is along for the ride. Hopefully, he'll learn to love books too, although I find it hard to find a good time to read with him.

The summer reading program at the library has a water theme and they had an "Under the Sea Princess Party." I saw this material (the night before the program of course) and decided to make Megan this little dress. I hung it in her room as a surprise and the first thing I heard that morning was, "Beautiful...(long pause) beautiful, oh, it's so beautiful" and then she ran in to tell me about it. It was definitely worth the effort.

And again, Adam along for the ride. Here he is playing in the "ocean."

New Skates

Megan got new skates for her birthday from Uncle Tim, Aunt Mindy, Uncle Nelson and Aunt Suzy. She did pretty well, but has been a little reluctant since the initial outing.

Sorry for the 3 videos, I couldn't decide which I liked better.

Megan and Adam's playset

After a visit to my sister's in April, and Megan spending as much time as possible on her swing set, we decided Megan might be ready for a "play set" of her own. I shopped around and found the best deal and ordered it.

Here we are on Day 2. I knew I wasn't able to do a whole lot as far the major construction, so I decided to make it as easy as possible for Chad. Thursday and Friday, I weatherproofed the wood. I spent 1-2 hours Thursday sorting hardware into paper bags by page number and I spent 2-3 hours sorting the wood and other parts on Friday. A crazy amount of parts. Chad should win father of the year or something, he worked 70 hours that week and came home Friday and started working on the swing set that evening. Saturday, I got up early (which definitely means I'm excited) to finish sorting. When Chad and I could work together, it went really well. Chad was the braun and I was the brains. While he did the labor, I'd be getting the next parts ready. Unfortunately, there were children to be tended, so the process was slow.

After about 15-16 hours, everything is finally together although there is some more tweaking to be done. Megan and Adam really love it.

Here is a picture of my slightly over the top organization.

Tiny trouble

I went upstairs to check on Megan and left Adam in the kitchen. In the few minutes I was gone, he managed to open the pantry door, get the oats out, shut the pantry door and spill oats everywhere. He even tried to eat a few.

I think he was pretty proud of himself.

Please let it be spring...

I am hoping that days like yesterday and today are a sign of things to come. I know in my head that spring should follow winter, but at this point, I feel like winter wasn't planning on stopping this year. We had nice weather last week too, but it still took a week of days in the 40s and 50s to melt all the snow that had accumulated in my yard over the past several months.

Yesterday, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and ventured to the park. In addition to it being our first outing of the year, it was also the first outing of the Radio Flyer we received for Christmas.


While Megan ran around, Adam manned the wagon. He was happy to sit and play and take in the sunshine.


He also liked the swing.

Lily, Ella and Tracy met us there. It's amazing how being outside cures the girls of their desire to squabble with each other. We spent 3 hours at the park and even had an impromptu picnic.

Our friend Dopey

This is Dopey (the penquin). It is actually Adam's toy that he received for Christmas, but Megan named it and has adopted it as her daughter. She carries her all over the house along with her son, "Elephie." She loves to play mom. She cracks me up when she plays mom. She calls them, "hun" and "sweetie" and their bedtime routine is remarkably similar to what we do.

The other thing she does while pretending to be "mom" cracks me up is talk in the third person. Even when she was learning to talk, she used the proper pronouns. I, however, narrate what I'm doing in the third person, "Mommy's getting your drink" or "Mommy will be right back." So whenever she plays mommy, she uses the third person. It amazes me what she picks up on. I guess I'll chose to be flattered that she imitates me and be grateful that she isn't threatening to spank them or put them in timeout!

The other day, Adam and I stayed home from church, so he actually got a chance to play with his toy. He doesn't talk, but he seems like he and Dopey are having an interesting conversation.

Hi, I'm Adam.

Wanna dance?

I'm a little shy.

Mom, this girl is laughing at me...