The Crafts

Yesterday was a big day for CJ. She woke up a three year old and couldn't have been more thrilled about it. Her day was spent opening gifts, answering lots of happy phone calls from family and ripping apart envelopes and cards. She was really excited to open gifts last night. The bike bell was a hit. I'm glad we're taking it outside today! We had a challenging time explaining to Kate that it was not her birthday.  She likes attention and was not happy everyone's attention was on someone other than her. But she eventually channeled her disgust by wrapping toys we already owned so CJ could open them. It was really a sweet gesture. Just ignore the giant pile of laundry in the background. That is all baby clothes!! The above picture is blurry but it was a good laughable moment.  CJ was so thrilled about her bike bell she broke out into a super goofy, arm flapping, booty shaking dance.  We all got a chuckle. And probably the funniest

My favorite season is summer. Actually, if I had to be honest, my favorite season is probably the beginning of a new season. I'm excited about summer in June with hopes of swimsuits, beaches and vacation. But then suddenly come the end of August my favorite season is fall with the start of football, cool temps, leaves changing and sweatshirts waiting to be worn. Right now, it is apparently still summer. Someone around here is totally cool with it. I've always felt that summer should end the moment school begins. Even when I'm not in school or didn't have kids in school, it just felt like the heat and humidity should be done once the school bells rang. This week's forecast is telling me my school thoughts are most definitely wrong.  The 90 degree days shall reign. Oh, I know these are fighting words. Old man winter just read this blog post and laughed out loud. I will regret my wish for cool weather...eventually. But right now my patience fo

It was yet another day of firsts around here. Miss CJ, after all her 'patient' waiting, got her turn at school. Last night I wondered who would rise first; Kate, CJ or the sun. I'm happy to say the sun won. First thing out of bed, CJ woke me with a cheerful smile, strapped on her big girl shoes (still in jammies) and bounced through the hallway singing her version of a preschool song. She could not contain her smile. Apparently this is how all the big girls pose.   I dropped her off and she didn't even give me a wave.  Kate attempted a good bye hug but she was having none of that.  And then Kate politely command she could find her classroom on her own and I was left, childless, in the hallway by myself. It was pretty awesome. So now I'm porch sitting with coffee in my Florida mug, a dessert bar for breakfast (hey, it's my alone time!) and a book within arms reach. I love my girls and I am proud of their bravery and independ

Today is Wednesday, August 22nd.  It is your first day of Kindergarten. How do you feel about that Kate? She's been awaiting this day for two years. No lie. Hopefully it lives up to her expectations. I know one thing that will disappoint her though. She fully, 100% believes that entry into Kindergarten means you join 'the track team.'  Does P.E. count? If the outfit and poses don't describe Kate then I don't know what would. This is sooooo Kate. Little CJ was wishing it was her big day as well but she has to wait until Thursday. I broke the news with a donut so she recovered pretty quickly. Can you tell this girl is excited? She leaped out of bed at 7:00 a.m.  She was dressed in an honest 30 seconds and gleefully skipped downstairs.  We were ready to head out the door forty minutes before school was set to begin. It's a day of celebration for Miss Kate and I can't wait to hear all about her day.

I can scarcely believe the calendar reads August 21st. Despite our busy August I have posted only two blog updates and snapped four measly photos. We've attend a wedding, the Iowa State Fair, seen family from far away and the list goes on. But somehow, someway, I haven't eeked out any great pictures or blog posts. Baby is due to make his or her arrival in less than six weeks. I've been a sorting, organizing, cleaning maniac. There is something about the upcoming appearance of a baby that gives me the feeling that I will never again have time to clean out a closet or refill soap dispensers (much less sleep!) ever again. It's close to a doomsday feeling. My brain screams to sort through that long forgotten shoe pile in the corner or there will never be another opportunity to do it again...ever. It's strange and yet productive. If only my back could keep up with my desire to accomplish long put-off tasks. I've managed to get seven meals in the freezer, becau

For the past two months an unused, empty cooler has sat silently on my kitchen floor next to the oven. On my bedroom floor lies a tube of Desitin diaper rash cream in front of the window trunk seat. And behind one of my bedroom curtains is a travel sized bottle of Johnson's & Johnson's baby wash. Lately I've had trouble keeping up with my kids. They get stuff out of hiding, look at it, toss it in a corner and move onto the next item. I've actually cleaned around the cooler, diaper cream and shampoo but haven't once physically moved them...and no one else has either. Kids make me very tired, especially the one I am carrying 24/7 for the next 7 weeks. We tried our hand at homemade suckers. Crush lifesavers, scatter inside canning lids on a baking sheet and bake. They were a hit! I've read and reread this great book called "Simplicity Parenting". It has helpful stories and advice on simplifying in order to quiet down the pace of life and really

Yesterday the girls and I set our sights on visiting a movie theater with friends. We planned to see the Dr. Suess movie, The Lorax. We recently checked out the book from the library and proceeded to read it about 25 times that first day. They love the story and couldn't wait for the movie. But, much to our shock and surprise, my friend and I discovered that the film actually contains PG language, including a cuss word or two. We decided to make the difficult parenting decision to forgo the movie and we broke the bad news to the girls. We instead made plans to visit another favorite destination, the inflatable bounce house place. This isn't the business' official name but it is what we call it. There was sadness over not seeing the movie but it was quickly replaced by the excitement of bouncing and giggling their day away. Unfortunately however we found that the day before our arrival was it's last day of operation and the bounce house was closed indefinitely.  Aft