Dying Eggs

I hate hard boiled eggs, to be completely honest I'm not a big fan of eating baby chicken embryo in general. Every year we dye eggs and Cody tells me he will eat them and he never does. So this year I thought it would be fun to blow some eggs out. Blowing out an egg is when you poke to holes in the egg, blow out the yoke, and just dye the egg shell. Then you can display them instead of just keeping them in the fridge. This sounded like a really good idea to me until I was the one blowing them out. Imagine trying to blow up a really really hard to blow balloon. Lets just say I got a head ache and gave up and boiled them. The kids had fun dying the eggs. Everett wanted to dye them all green. Emma wanted to stick her fingers in the dye. All in all it was a fun family activity :)

Lazy Sunday

When we got home from Grandma Ila's on Sunday, the boys laid down and watched Astro Boy. I was surprised that the movie was actually kind of cute. Everett has requested that the "Easter Rabbit" get it for him.

Grilling At Grandma's

It had been a while since Cj had seen my Grandma Ila, so we invited ourselves over for lunch. She makes the worlds BEST Potato Salad, so Cody told her he would grill burgers if she made her Potato Salad. My sister, Mom, and Dad also came in for lunch. Everett left the sandbox long enough to eat and Emma stayed in the house to beg for candy.
My grandma had a stroke last July. I am so proud of the progress she has made. I know a lot of her progress is thanks to my Mom & Dad for being able to be by her side threw the whole thing. I don't even want to think about the day that she might not be with us anymore because she mean SOO much to Me, Cody, and the kids.

Scout 1 & 2

Can you tell which one is the old one and which is the new one? The one to the left that has gray feet, that's the old one. The new one I put a Build A Bear shirt on in hopes that it would stay cleaner longer. My mom did the switch on Sunday and Emma totally did a double take and looked him over really good. She hasn't put him down so I'm assuming she didn't notice the swap enough to care!

Tutu Crazy :)

I found the sight Etsy.com, it is a website where you buy, sell, and trade handmade things. On this site I found tulle skirts aka Tutu's. I made one for Emma for her 18month pictures and feel in love with them. Now I have to make one for my cousins daughter, my uncles daughter, one for an up coming 2nd birthday, and two for a friend's girls. So I will be busy making tutu's for the rest of the day.

Iowa City Get A Way

My sister invited the kids and I down to Iowa City for the weekend. Cody wanted to work all weekend so I thought, why not go. We left around 9:30AM Saturday morning. It's a 2 1/2 hour drive and I was worried how the kiddos would do in the car but they did great. I think we got down there around noonish, I guess I didn't look at the clock. We ate lunch and then we were off for a fun filled weekend. I was a little selfish and made everyone stop at Stuff Etc. Stuff Etc is a consignment store that only takes in name brand clothes. I got Emma quite a few shirts and Rett conned my sister out of a toy train. After that was the Children's Museum. Both kids had a BLAST. You will probably notice that NONE of the pictures at the Museum is of them looking at the camera, that was because they were having so much fun that looking at a camera was just out of the question. Emma's favorite was the farm area because she could run free and there were slides her size. She also loves the golf balls in one of the rooms. Everett's favorites were the toy trains (big shocker I know... note the sarcasm) and the air plains. He drove the ambulance for a little while and was so funny because he demanded he put his seat belt on and told the kid next to him you can't drive without being buckled. You could tell they were both getting tired so we took a little drive in hopes that they would fall asleep. This worked for Emma not for Rett. While driving around I remembered the Pet Store I always use to make Cody take me to when we lived in Iowa City. So we took the kids to look at puppies, which then made Everett want one. When I told him NO! we already have to many dogs he asked if we could take Dagen back :(. I said that was mean lol if we are taking any dog back it would be Rylie! Then it was time for supper at Ashley and Chris' apt then baths, teeth, story, and BED! Everett was bound and detriment he was gonna sleep with Aunt Ashley (Chris stayed at his dad's house as he had to take his boards the next day and wanted to study in peace and quiet lol). Everett got his wish and slept with Ashley. Emma slept in the spare room with me in her pack n play,thank goodness she didn't try jumping out :) After breakfast I ran to the Stuff Etc in Iowa City (the first time it was Coralville) this one was not near as nice! Then we ate lunch and went to the park with one of Ashley's friends from work. She has a son a little older then Em. Then it was home bound. Both kids slept most of the way home so I had time to catch up with my best Friend, Lindsey on the phone, which made time go by much faster.

An Extra Long and Fun Day

I thought it would be fun for Everett to take his best friend Camden to the Library with us for story time. She came over at 8am for breakfast. The kids played for a while, then it was time for story time. Camden and Everett convinced me take them early so they could get a computer.(they have The Magic School Bus games on the children's computers) We got there at 10 even though story time doesn't start until 10:30. This gave me time to pick out alot of books, I actually had to put some back for fear that I would lose a couple of them in our house. Dana(the Libarian) read Polar Bear Panda Bear and Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You See. Both books were cute and I recommend them to anyone looking for a cute bear book.:) After the Library it was lunch at Grandma Ila's (she takes Emma for me during story time so Rett can have some one on one time). I was worried Camden wouldn't like it at Grandma's house but she did, she even had to give my grandma a kiss before leaving. Then it was off to the park (we went to IC this time). Everett beat his fear of the big swirly slide this year, he must have gone down it 50 time. Both the big kids loved climbing the ladder, Rett couldn't do this last year either (he's getting so big *tear*). Emma's hobby was running away from me and when I would chase after here she would sit down really quick and laugh. She also loves the spiny tire thingy(wonderful name I know). After the park it was home for a movie, I let both the bigger kids pick out a movie at the Library. Camden pick out a Bob The Builder Movie, and didn't even make it threw the movie before she crashed and Rett feel asleep moments after it finished. Once all three of them woke up it was outside again, this time to play with the bikes and sidewalk chalk. Them Cami's mom came to pick her up. I made supper (mmm stir fry this reminds me of the left overs in the fridge hmmm) and after that yet again we went outside, this time to the back yard. I spent most of the time out there raking up the dog's mess. Then onto a bubble bath and then FINALLY BEDTIME for the kiddos. Told you it was an eventful day. The kids slept until 9AM this morning, I'm sure it was all that fresh air and playing. Hopefully it gets nice out again soon so the kiddos can go back outside:)


Ready To Play


The Spiny Tire Thingy

Running Away


Starting Off With The Small Slide

Emma Found Stairs



Cami's so proud she climbed the ladder



Rett Going Up The Big Slide



And Coming Down



This Was My Attempt At A Group Picture


Their Artwork

A St Patty's Day Treasure Hunt

For Saint Patrick's Day I took the kiddos on a treasure hunt. A Map was deliver to the Credit Union for the kids from "You Lucky Little Friend."

The clues on the map read as follows:
1.) Count 20 paces to the south
2.) When you spy a Yellow Fire Hydrant turn left
3.) Sing your ABC's as you look for the street called Hilldreth
4.) Collect 3 sticks as a trade for your prize
5.) Turn left on 5Th street
6.) Hop like a frog 4 time
7.) Take another left on Cedar St
8.) Spin in 3 circles and enter the door with 804 on the outside
9.) Once inside follow the trail of clover to your Pot Of Gold!!!!

We had a blast. I don't think Everett really knew what he was looking for, but he played along very well. At lunch when I asked him what St. Patrick's Day was he replied "it means you run in circles in the water and have a Thomas The Train Cake."

Pictures from our hunt......










Their prize was candy & pop. Everett rarely ever gets pop and Emma's pretty much never has. Both items were a nice surpise for the kids. Emma tried eating a peanut butter egg with the wrapper still on and a sucker in her hand. After that I decided it was probably time to put the candy away :)

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

This is the best picture Emma would let me take of her, I guess she wasn't feeling it! I planned to take them on a treasure hunt after lunch, so I hope the sun comes out soon!

A MARCH Day at the Park

Yesterday I had to make a quick run to Dollar General to get dishwasher soap. (We had just gone grocery shopping on Sunday so I was very annoyed with myself for not putting it on the list.) Then we stopped at the Credit Union so Everett and Emma could have their grandma fix. And since they were sooo good at both places I let Rett convince we to take them to the park. We normally go to Jefferson because most of the time its not packed and it doesn't have any drop off. (ex the fireman's pole at most parks is like a 5ft drop off if you miss the pole.) It's also fenced in rather well, these are all very important as their is only one of me, and two kids going in two different directions. Anywho the kids had a blast. Emma wasn't really dressed for the park as she was wear a skirt and tights. (thank goodness for Spray and Wash) She mainly stuck to the stairs, crawling up and down them. Everett loved playing with the other kids that were there. It amazes me how well he makes friends, it's really fun to watch him interact. By the end of our time at the park his knees and butt were BLACK. (I guess the wood chips are way cool to dig in. lol)

What A Difference A Week Makes

These pictures were taken a week apart. I'm so glad the snow is gone and Spring is back. I have heard bad news that it will be in the 30's and snowing on Saturday. I choose to believe that is a false statement, I mean weathermen are never right, right?



Everett has been begging all winter to play in his sandbox. It was hard to explain to him that his sandbox was frozen and under a foot of snow. Needless to say he was overly excited when I told him yesterday that he could go outside and play in it.

Movie Night

Watching Very Closely

That's Better

Cuddle Bug



Saturday night we rented Planet 51 and made Root Beer Floats. Everett had never had a Root Beer Float before so he was all about it. The movie was okay, Cody and Rett liked it so I guess that's all that matters.

Scout

For Christmas from my parents got Emma a Leap Frog Stuffed Animal named Scout!



He (Scout) must go EVERYWHERE with her. I mean everywhere: to bed, eat all meals next to her, naps, car rides, we have to pry him out of her hands for bath time, and then of course up to bed again. If at anytime Scout is not with Emma and you ask her "Where's Scout?" she will go find him. When its time for bed we will tell her "Emma its time for bed." and she runs and grabs Scout then goes to the stairs. Its the cutest thing. He even had to go with Emma when she had her 18 month pictures taken. If you didn't notice him that was GREAT editing on Beka's part because he was there!

Scout spells out Emma's name in a catchy little song. He plays bedtime music at bedtime. He know her favorite food and color. He does this all by a little computer that he has inside him that you sync to your computer and can decide what songs he sings and what he says. It's safe to say that this it probably why she is so in love with him.

Then the worst thing in Emma's little world happened. Everett was taking a bath and before I could stop Emma she threw Scout in the water. I quickly grabbed the little green dog and a towel and started trying to dry him off. He was soaked and it was 15 minutes before bedtime so I decided to use the hair dryer to dry him. Emma had the biggest melt down in the world at the sight of this. Not without trying, but I'm sad to say, Scout will never talk again.

I called my mom and told her of the horrible events that happened in Emma's life that night. She promptly ordered a new one from the wonderful world of Amazon.com. He hasn't come yet. I'm still undecided if I want to get rid of the old one. And we are a little worried if she will notice the swap. I can't say she hasn't notice that Scout is now mute, but she hasn't started loving him any less.

Photos of Emma and Scout :)