Saturday, October 31, 2009

He likes it. Mikey likes it!

Oliver finally ate some food for me today!!! I made fresh green beans and pureed them and he ate them for lunch AND dinner!! I am so happy!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

"Meow," said the cat. "Quack, Quack," replied the duck.









Trick or Treat was tonight and Amelia really got into it this year. She walked around the house meowing like a cat and talking to Nietzsche. She is the prettiest kitty I've ever seen.

Neither of the kids slept at school today so Tyler and I thought we were in for a LONG night but everything went surprisingly well. We got the kids dressed and headed out for a quick trip to our local hangout (read "bar") Club 185...not to get drinks but to take pictures in their 1962 photo booth — so cool. I'll scan in those photos and upload them soon. As soon as we got in the car Oliver zonked out — his ducky costume was so warm and cozy! We got back home around 7 and Tyler took Amelia trick or treating while I put the little duck to bed. Tyler said that Amelia used her good manners all night long and said "Trick or Treat" as she opened her bag for candy and then added "thank you" as she walked away. (Last year we couldn't get her to say anything to anyone!) Our little kitty cat was so tired she couldn't wait to crawl into bed. She was asleep by 8:15.

The photo of Tyler and the kids is my new favorite.


Sunday, October 25, 2009

Out on the farm





Amelia and I enjoyed another "Amelia and Mommy" day. We went to Leed's family farm in Ostrander — what a phenomenal place! Amelia rode the mini-zip line, jumped on the giant pumpkin, rode the banana bus, scavenged through the corn maze, went down the slides, ate lunch and drank hot chocolate, fed the goats, giggled at the piggies and rode the peddle tractors with me. We had a GREAT time! When we were going through the corn maze she kept calling me "partner" or how it actually came out "part-er-ner"— it was cracking me up.

Tyler stayed home with Oliver and got a ton of chores done — thank you Love!!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

THANK YOU PAPA!!!

Our bottom step was crumbling right before our eyes and my dad and Karen graciously offered to come down and help us. Tyler took a sledge hammer to it to get things started and then we rented a cement cutter and jack hammer — boy was that fun! There's NO WAY we could have done this without them!! THANK YOU GUYS.

We let Amelia and Oliver put their little hand prints in the wet cement — she loves seeing her imprint in the step every day.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Amelia turns 3!!!

My little girl is getting to be such a big girl. She's been potty trained since she was 21 months old, she talks better than most 12 year olds, and she loves to sing, dance and make people laugh. She really is quite remarkable. Yes, we have our typical stressful days but there are always highlights to each day that stand out and make us proud.

BEFORE SCHOOL
Thank you Aunt Hali for the absolutely adorable leggings and hair clip!!!

AT SCHOOL
Amelia and her best friend, Stella, share a birthday. They were born on the same day in the same hospital and they get along as if they were sisters (they have a love/hate relationship — and all the teachers at school love the dynamic of their relationship)

I brought balloons to school for the girls. They were as happy as kids in a candy store!


AFTER SCHOOL
The night of her birthday we took her to Max and Erma's for dinner. She is sort of like a local celebrity there since Granny takes her to dinner there every Tuesday. They all came out and sang her happy birthday with her own ice cream sundae and 3 candles...it was so sweet.



CHARLES EDWARD CHEESE

Dad and Karen came down to celebrate Amelia's birthday and took her to Chuck E. Cheese (or as Tyler tried convincing me — Charles Edward Cheese).

Notice how she has her arm around Stewart Little in the car.

My Papa and Oliver taking a break.

HER PARTY
My grandma made this adorable merry-go-round cake for the kids. It was a huge hit.

Tyler found a praying mantis and shared it with the kids.

This was the first birthday party that Amelia invited friends — it was a lot of work but thankfully a lot of fun. She didn't care one bit about her gifts either — all she wanted to do was play and run around the yard — and we got lucky that day — the sun warmed up just enough that the kids could run outside for a couple hours. I remember her first birthday party it was 92 degrees! We were lucky it hit 64 this birthday.