Poor Emma

Poor Emma has been waiting for me to put up her real swimming pool for this summer. I keep telling her that as soon as the deck is done I will put it up. I think I should probably put it up tomorrow since I have the day off and she is getting desperate. As I was posting the last entry on this blog, she came running into the house and informed me that she made her own swimming pool. She took the lid to the sandbox off and filled it with water. She loves cold water...what a nut. Anyway, here she is with her cool crab goggles from aunt Stacy and the progress grandpa is making on the deck. Oh yea, and she found this half dead, broken winged butterfly in the yard. yuck.

Vacation...........almost Griswold style! :)

This past weekends trip to Denver was fabulous. It went more smoothly than I could have ever imagined. The kids were unbelievable and there were no major flaws or meltdowns.
We left out of here at about 5:30 Saturday morning and got back Monday morning at about 3:30am. so it was a very quick trip, but very worth it.
We had all four carseats in the minivan/family truckster. The kids actually slept most of the trip to and from Denver.
We did make it to Estes Park on Sunday morning and Emma and I kind of climbed a mountain. We didn't have a lot of time and it was so hard to find a public place to do some hiking. She wanted to hike up to the snow and I would have loved to too but it just wasn't going to happen on this trip. We would love to spend some more time in the mountains our next trip.
We attended a really nice outdoor graduation on Sunday for some friends of ours. By the time we got everyone changed and fed and pajamas on we didn't leave there until almost 7pm.
I say that our vacation was almost Griswold style (for those of you who are familiar with National Lampoons Vacation) because at times we felt like the Griswolds, or someone from East Omaha. We changed diapers just wherever was available which was quite comical at times. And Stacy and I were changing our clothes in the minivan about 10 minutes before the graduation started. We pulled the minivan in the back of the lot and first changed poopy diapers then we climbed in, tried to hunch down as best as possible and change our clothes. I was too the point where it just didn't matter....there certainly wasn't "anything to see."
All in all it was a great weekend. Next time hopefully the husbands can go and we can spend some more time in the mountains.
A huge thank you to mom and dad who helped out big time with all four of the kids. Thanks dad for "watching" Lauren while she slept on the bed. Didn't know you could see through those eyelids. :) Thanks to you Brian for helping carry things and play with the kids when we needed you.

Daddy, if you are reading this from Minnesota, we hope you are catching lots of fish and having a great time. We miss you and have a safe trip home.

Fun at the Zoo!

We had a wonderful time at the zoo last Friday with our cousins from Hawaii. The kids had a blast and I really enjoyed it too. It is fun to watch the kids together and the weather was great. We spent almost four hours there, then had to come home and pack for our trip to Denver. Here are just a couple of pictures from the zoo. I wanted to post them even though it has been a few days.

We will certainly miss our cousins as they went back to Hawaii today :( Hopefully we can visit them there in the next couple of years.

What a great day!

I had such an awesome day today. I got to spend a couple hours with the twins getting their first birthday pictures taken at Portrait Innovations. What an awesome studio and the kids did AWESOME! For those of you who read my blog only...you have to check out their pictures at www.stacyandted.blogspot.com

Emma has been begging me to buy her waterballoons. I gave in today, which was great cause she played for hours outside. She actually was able to fill them up herself , then she brought them in the house for me to tie the knot. So, we have little droplets of water on the kitchen floor that need to be wiped up.

I have so much to do to get ready to go out of town on Saturday morning. Oh yea...the trial I testified in yesterday...the guy got convicted of sexual assault. YEA!!!

Anyway, my little helper next to me needs to get to bed so I can get some things done around here. Anyway, wish I could have many more days like this one.

family fun and redneck games

Here are some pictures from the fun weekend we had with family. Mom had these tunnel things from work for the babies to crawl through and they turned into the newest redneck game of who could stay on the longest. Wierd! I was thinking we were in East Omaha for a second.

Anyway, the kids had a great time playing together and trying to tell eachother what to do. :) Poor Mason is way outnumbered by the girls.

Yes, that's a bonfire in 90 some degree heat. :) I guess we'll do anything for smores.

I had a busy day today. I was stuck at the courthouse waiting to testify in a sexual assault trial from 10:30 until 4:00 today. Then when I got on the stand, I testified for less than 5 minutes. I am not complaining about that though. Thanks Stacy and Ted for watching the girls!!!

I am just going to post a bunch of pics then go to bed cause I don't have to work tomorrow, so a little extra sleep would be fabulous.

helping or hindering?

We have been so busy that I truly haven't had a chance to post anything new. This weekend was wonderful. It was filled with family get togethers, home made icecream, bocce ball, baseball and work.

Saturday night and Monday night we got together with some family from Hawaii and had a wonderful time. Emma and Mackenzie did real well "playing" and nobody bossed anybody around too badly. We ate like pigs as usual when we all get together. i think between the cupcakes, cake, brownies, homemade ice cream, donuts and krispy kreme donuts....we all put on a couple of pounds.

Dave is back to work tonight and is getting excited to take Andrew fishing in MInnesota on Saturday. They won't get back until next Wednesday and we will miss him very much. The girls and I along with Stacy and the twins and mom and dad and Brian are taking a very quick trip to Denver this weekend for a graduation. It will be very interesting as all four kids will be in the minivan together. Yikes. Patience with be key. It should be a fun trip though and should produce some hopefully great memories. I can't wait to just get away, even if it is only for a couple of days.

I had to post some pictures of our wonderful new deck that dad has been working SSSOOO hard on for a couple weeks now. I think for father's day I should have got him a box of Band-Aids! Thank you dad so much for all your hard work...it looks so great and will be so nice when it is finished. Thanks also for putting up with your little assistant the other day. She just can't help but be a "helper."

I have so many great pictures from this weekend to post but SOMEONE stole my memory card before I could even bring it home yesterday. Mom, what are you going to do with 10,000 pictures on your computer? :)

Anyway, I'm hoping to have some great pics to post soon. This one of Emma and grandpa is when grandpa put together our new grill to surprise Dave on his birthday in April. Thanks again grandpa.

Bad hair days

Well it's official....Emma has joined the ranks of all of those preschoolers who have decided to trim their own hair! UGH!
Not thinking, I trimmed her bangs a little bit Monday morning and she watched me put the scissors away. Yea, yea, yea, child neglect....I obviously put them where she could reach them. She came out of the bathroom later on in the day and had cut a chunk out of her bangs. It is pretty noticable in this picture cause I moved the other bangs out of the way to see the missing lock.
As for this other crazy looking creature....Dave bought this Chia pet type thing for her a month or so ago. It obviously grows grass hair and then you can trim it and style it if you want to. Today, Dave and Emma gave him a mohawk. (I'm sure this doesn't help her need to be her own beautician).
Otherwise, we are great here. Dad has been working hard today on our deck and he has a little helper tonight....lucky you grandpa. Anyway, she runs away everytime the saw turns on. What a great defense mechanism for grandpa.

a quick update on city time

Well, I am at work and trying to stay awake, so I better post a quick update as I have so many reports to complete.
Yesterday, Mr. Mom had a busy day...good thing he's driving that minivan and no he didn't wear "that thing" on his head. He had to get the girls going to get Andrew to and from weightlifting/conditioning etc.
Then he calls me at 1:30 and says he's taking all three bowling. He must be bored at home all day.
Then, he and Andrew left for yet another baseball game at 4:45. The girls and I went to mom and dad's for dinner and to play. Dave and Andrew showed up a little after 8 and tore out some landscaping in the front of the house. Dave is great at demolition :) The neighbor's sprinklers went on, which is an immediate temptation for Emma. Without asking...yea right....she ran through them, getting her clothes all wet. Grandma went and found a big tshirt for her to wear, so then she ran around and soaked herself in that and her underwear. After she soaked herself, I caught her playing in a small dirtpile in the backyard. She then came to the front yard and her and Dave and Andrew had a worm fight. Yes, they threw worms at eachother sometimes getting Emma in the face with them. Emma had a good time carrying them into the house to show grandma. Sorry grandma! Anyway, she thinks she is a little boy at times.
While we were at grandma and grandpa's house, Archie and Edith Bunker stopped over to say hi. They just live two blocks away, and I used to work for Edith so it was nice to see both of them. :)
Emma wore grandma and grandpa out and we had to leave about 9:30.
So, since I better get to work, I don't have any pics right now. Maybe later if I get a chance.

Thank goodness!

Thank goodness for such a great, low maintenance baby. Wow! Lauren is absolutely so easy compared to my high maintenance Emma. We can literally lay her on the floor with some toys and she will play for an hour or so. She only cries when she's hungry or really tired.....or when big sister pokes her :( Emma on the other hand is a different story. :) She so tries to get our attention now all the time. She loves to wake Lauren up and touch her head CONSTANTLY! She doesn't even care if she is naughty to get attention. I can't even count how many times she had a break in her room today. BUT, when she isn't naughty, she is so fun to be with and quite comical.
I love this picture of Emma when she was littler and getting into trouble. Dave has said before to her, "it's a good thing you're so darn cute." Hope you all had a great weekend.

Blue tongues and purple eyelids

Yikes, what a day. We had an electrician over at 0830hrs followed by some heating and cooling guys that are putting in a new air conditioner. Dad has been building a new fabulous deck for us and the air conditioner is in the way and kind of old, so we had a new one put in on the North side of the house so we don't have to listen to it.

Then off to the doctor's office to figure out why Emma's eye is purple and half swollen shut. She woke up like this Friday morning and it hasn't gotten much better. I hate it cause it looks like someone popped her in the eye. She loves going to the doctor and when we got there she told them that they forgot to take her blood pressure. Anyway, it's some kind of sty or infection underneath her eyelid. ouch!

Luckily, grandma came over for a few hours to play. Emma talked her into painting her fingernails and playing Chutes and Ladders. I will rarely play that with her cause she tries to cheat. It drives me crazy....I think she gets that from her grandma.

Anyway, her and Lauren and I just got back home from getting icecream. Emma's was this ugly dark rainbow colored stuff. I just don't know how it gets all over. It was an awesome treat.

Can't wait to go to bed. Isn't that aweful! It doesn't matter what day of the week it is...I definately try to be in bed by 10 cause the girls get up early enough.

Mr. Mom and his minivan

We are definately back into the whole work routine and I am getting used to hearing the alarm go off at 5 am (eventhough Dave jumps up and turns it off). Anyway, Andrew is into weightlifting and conditioning at the highschool Monday through Thursday mornings...SO I offered to drive our Ford and leave Dave with the minivan so he can cart the girls around easier. Let's just say that he wasn't thrilled about driving the minivan but too bad...that's what we bought it for.
So, yesterday I came home and he and Emma were washing it and trying to scrub our Minnesota bugs off of the front bumper. I think he figures as long as he is stuck driving it, atleast he can try to look good.

Thank you mom and dad for watching the girls tonight so we could have a nice quiet dinner. Wow was it wierd. I can't remember the last time the car ride was so quiet. Emma made a friend with the friendly neighbor cat and named her Ambert....(poor cat). Anyway, Ambert only tried to bite her once when she pulled her tail....sorry Ambert! So when we got back from dinner, Emma was sitting in the grass with an empty butter container. Inside was a little milk for her to drink, two sticks for her to chew on and Emma was picking these little mushrooms from the grass and putting it in the milk for a little more filling meal. I never saw Ambert so disinterested in a meal before and Emma couldn't understand why.

Oh yea, I almost forgot. If any of you read the comments on the entry before this one, you are probably wondering if we are going to be famous :) just kidding. I have NO CLUE what that is all about considering I don't believe it is a valid Email address. Anyway, it was kind of interesting ! 8>)

Nothin' exciting here

Nothing really too new here. I figured while I have a chance, I better type up something. We had a busy day. Went to church at 9 and when the usher came through with the collection basket, Emma said, "oh no mom, where's our ticket?" I told her that last weeks ticket was valid for this whole month :)

After breakfast we went to brunch at one of my favorite restaurants Wheatfields. After that, we had to search for the kittens that live outside of the restaurant. Emma loves to pet them, but none today to pet.

Then we went to Andrew's baseball game at 12, which they won. We quicky dropped him off at home then Dave had to be to work at 3.

Emma and Lauren and I then went to uncle Brian's baseball game at 5. Whew, then home to settle down and bedtime. It is so quiet here with Emma in bed and Lauren is dozing upstairs on the floor. It's back to work tomorrow and I have lots to do including putting two major dirtballs in jail this week.

These pictures have nothing to do with anything, just thought they were cute.

funny little three year olds

Emma is always making me laugh with the crazy stuff she comes up with. Well....she doesn't really ALWAYS make me laugh...anyway, today she said a few interesting things besides "hey, mom, you're not pregnant anymore!"

1. We were talking about our cousin's coming in from Hawaii next week. (Mason 6 and Mackenzie 3) I was telling her that they are her cousins and she said, "Well, I just think that Mason is Mackenzie's wife!" Not quite Emma but whatever you say is fine tonight. I'm too tired to go into a hundred questions.

2. Then at bedtime she told me that when she turns 7, she is going to race racecars. Ok Emma, whatever you want to do is fine with me...just please get your pajamas on.

3. Then once she finally got her pajamas on that have little fairies on them she said as she was pointing to the fairies, "mom, are these dairy queens." Sorry Em, they are fairies, but Dairy Queen sounds great...maybe tomorrow.

Anyway, we had a great week and are going to enjoy the weekend and maybe catch up on some naps. Lauren is napping now, so I must wrap this up and go wake her to feed her one last time. Have a great weekend.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

No, I haven't gone nuts...although some may think I have. For those of you who know me, my least favorite season is summer, cause it's just too darn hot. Then everyone else gets this great tan....except for most of my family ! :) Anyway, then everyone has to compare their brown arms to my white arms....I guess it makes them feel better. ANYWAY, so I enjoy looking at pics of snow....yes you heard me right...I enjoy snow. So, I decided to post these awesome pictures of the storm in March. Thanks to a Kaup Christmas gift exchange game...and I think it was James or Kelly who brought the snowman kit, we had a blast making this cute snowman.

Grandma pulled Emma in the sled all around the yard. I tried it a few times and let me tell you it was not easy. She pushed her as hard as she could then had no way to stop herself, so grandma had to just fall on her "you know what" to stop herself. Lauren was only a couple weeks old so she just hung out inside with good old grandpa. Both of the girls were wore out so they fell asleep on the way home.

Anyway, I have to cut this short. I worked today till 6:00 and have to be back to work at 5:30 tomorrow and functioning to serve a search warrant. I have learned through my job that if everyone would just keep their hands to themselves (like we learned in Kindergarten) that the world would be a much happier place. :) Try telling that to Emma!!!