Hi Mama!

I left Emma whining in the house while I took Finley out this morning. As we're headed back inside I hear the door open and a little voice say, "Hi, Mama!" It was Emma- she had put her little green rain boots on all by herself and was on her way outside to find us! Since she was only dressed in an unbuttoned onesie and too small jammie pants, she hustled her little butt back inside with us as she said, "Cold!!"

I asked her what she was doing and she said, "See Mama!"

Picture Wednesday

Chomping some broccoli

Handsome hair cut

Jack, Jack, He's an Orange Maniac!

"See, Mama? Orange and Orange- it matches!"

Ok dude, go for it!

And So It Is...

SPRING BREAK 2010 IS HERE!!! Wahoo!!!
I feel like I can breathe again. I'm spending quality time with the kids, keeping the house somewhat organized, going to bed late, getting up later than usual, and finally updating this stinking blog!

Lots of things have gone on in our world since my last post. Jack is now of course a 4 year old. Today he had on a short sleeved (yeah for 50 degrees!) spider man shirt... and I swear I had a 12 year old at the dinner table. He continues to amaze us with his sense of humor and drive us crazy with the fact that he STILL CAN'T SING THE ABC'S!!!!!! He had absolutely no interest in that darn song when he was little- and now that he's interested in learning more letters and "reading" his books- he's actually trying to figure it out. What does it say about me when my kid can't sing the ABC's and I'm a teacher!!!

We have several preschool/Kindergarten readiness workbooks that he loves to work on. He's great with numbers, sequencing pictures, matching, rhyming, opposites, colors, and shapes. He's working on learning all the letters and I swear if he'd just learn that darn song it would help!! His latest game is to call us by our first names. Today it was, "I need more milk please, Liz". He still loves school. We had his parent/teacher conference in January and his teacher, Mrs. Calm & Exactly What Jack Needed For His First Teacher told us exactly what we thought we'd hear. He's a joy- but super quiet in class. He's just now really starting to talk to the other kids while he plays with them. We don't worry about it- he's plenty loud at home and just takes after his dad- quiet and always observing.

Jack is going to be attending 4K at my school next year. I just couldn't stand not being a part of his school life anymore. So starting in the fall, we'll drive to school together every day! He'll be doing the 5 days a week/full day plan. I can't wait and he's excited too.

Emma is definitely 1 going on 13. She has an attitude that just won't quit! She is talking like crazy- putting together 3 and 4 word sentences already. She copies everything her brother does and is turning into a little fashionista. She got some white dress shoes last week and wore them all around the house. She loves necklaces and bracelets. Emma knows what she wants and expects to get it immediately. We are really working on using the words please and thank you with every request. Somehow the shouting for milk isn't as annoying when there's a "Peas, Mama, Milk" attached to it!

Today we went for a hike in the woods along the river near our house. The kids had a great time- we found 4 ducks but they wouldn't come across the river to eat our bread.

Showing some brother and sister lovin'

Emma was determined to put the bark back on this log...

Admiring big brother's skills

My sweet boy

Going on an adventure

My grandpa passed away last week. We spent this past weekend in Chicago for his wake and funeral. The kids were awesome. We were at the funeral home from 2pm till 10 pm on Friday night. Jack was very curious about the whole thing. We talked about seeing Great Grandpa in the "box" just like we had seen Bampa in the box. He went right up to the casket and kneeled. He touched his sleeve and his hand. He whispered, "I love you Great Grandpa" and we asked him to say hello to Bampa for us when he got to Heaven. Jack went to the casket several times that evening. I was so proud of him. He somehow understood what a sad time it was for everyone else- and wasn't afraid to ask questions. Emma didn't want to go near the casket. She was with me the weekend before when I said goodbye to my grandpa. He was lying in the hospital bed in his living room and making very loud noises as he slept. That scared Emma and then he woke up a bit and said, "Hi Emma!"- That really freaked her out! :)

New outfits for the wake... Emma got a new coat and refused to take it off. Jack wore a long sleeved shirt, dress pants and a tie to the funeral.

We haven't cut her hair and I don't think we will. It's still curly after her bath and when it's humid out. It's out of control 99% of the time!

This might be an attempt at a smile...

One thing is for sure... she loves that dog!

We attended the Family Fun Night at Jack's preschool. He participated in a "5 Little Monkey's Jumping on the Bed" reenactment. I couldn't believe he did it in front of a crowd! Here he is getting ready to give us our Valentine's present that he made.

There are many more things to write about- but I haven't seen 11:00 in ages and I'm falling asleep at the computer!!

An Interview with Jack

I'm repeating the questions I asked last year... let's see how's he's changed...

What do you want to be when you grow up? A zookeeper

What is your favorite color? dark purple, dark pink, and dark blue

Who do you love the most? Mama and Moe Moe and Obeo and Daddy and Emma

What's your favorite movie? Cars

What's your favorite drink? Milk

What's your favorite thing to eat for dinner? Chicken

What's your favorite restaurant? Pasta Puke (Which is really called Bravo, but since Brandon hates it and he calls it Pasta Puke- that's what Jack calls it. How mature.)

What's your favorite toy to play with? All my cars from the movie, Cars

What kind of birthday cake did you want this year? A one with Buddy and Tiny on it (from the show Dinosaur Train)

What do you dream about at night? Dinosaurs walking on a moving house and then some aliens come and pick it up.

Do you like taking baths or showers? Both

What do you love about Puppa? I like hugging him all the time.

How old are you now? Four

Where do you want to go to College? I don't know- high school

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? To Florida

Who do you miss? Nae Nae and Dude

What makes you laugh? Emma splashing in the bathtub

Hugs or kisses? Both

White milk or chocolate? Both

What are you afraid of? Monsters

Are you going to get married? No

What's your favorite song? I don't know, I'll have to think about it. I'll have to dream about it tonight.

Stay in your jammies or get dressed? STAY IN MY JAMMIES!

What do you love about Emma? I love when she plays with her babies

What's your favorite thing to say? Holy Guacamole

Do you love your Mama? Yes Why? Cause, I don't know, I forgot

Four Years Old

January 16th, 2010

My firstborn love is now a 4 year old. He goes to preschool, makes his own lunch, gets himself dressed mostly on his own, plays with his sister, knows lots of letters and numbers, loves the movie "Cars", writes his name all by himself, and loves to play, play, play.

He has a great sense of humor and gives some really great "jump hugs".

We have loved every single moment with our boy and look forward to all the moments to come.

Your love letters are in your baby box, Jack.

I love you all the time my precious boy.
Love,
Mama

She must read The Petro's...

A video of our girl... her latest phrase- "Uh Oh Spaghetti-o!" Jack is already in bed tonight. He had a fever yesterday and is just feeling yucky. He will hopefully be all set to go for his big 4th birthday on Saturday!

19 Months

Not sure about the zoo...

The baby girl turned nineteen months on Sunday. Her latest words are Chloe (the dog across the street), broccoli, snow, and moo (which means cottage cheese because there's a cow on the container).

She's been busy playing with her babies and Jack's cars. She still gives Finley hugs every chance she gets and is the only one allowed to feed him.

Her hair is out of control most of the time and she dances like Steven Tyler.

We adore her!
Love you Ems,
Love,
Mama

Christmas cookies and Florida

One of my favorite things to do with the kids around Christmas is to make sugar cookies from scratch! I have a really easy and super yummy recipe from the Betty Crocker Bridal Edition Cookbook that I got from my Aunt Rita when we got married. If I can make sugar cookies from scratch- pretty much anybody can! ( I also make the awesome frosting from that cookbook too!!) Jack and Emma love, love, love decorating and eating the cookies!

A mouthful of delicious!

This girl prefers to just lick the frosting off....

Jack made a great Christmas tree plate at school. We used it for Santa's cookies on Christmas Eve.

On the shuttle at the crack of dawn. On our way to see Nae Nae and Dude in Florida!

We let Emma ride in the back of Dude's truck when we left the airport. Kidding!

We visited the Miami Metro Zoo. The weather was awesome! It was a really nice zoo- the kids loved it until they got tired and entered meltdown mode.

Sitting on the hippo

Another great family photo

A hippo eating Jack

Jack cuddled with the snake just for Obeo. He knows Obeo HATES snakes!

LaNae and Jack had WAY too much fun running through the fountain!

Jack "swam" all by himself in their pool- thanks to the stylish suit with a built in innertube!

Emma and Mama looking at her favorite animal- a gaga!

We even got to FEED the gaga!!

Emma eating her "peacock" at the airport. Not sure why pizza comes out as peacock.

Moe Moe and Jack passing the time till we get on the plane!

On the flight home we almost got diverted to Flint, Michigan because of snow in Milwaukee. That would have been a GREAT experience. Stuck in a random airport with 2 kids on Christmas Eve!!! We were lucky to land in Milwaukee and made it home on the snowy roads. We had a wonderful time in Florida. Jack and Emma really love spending time with their aunt and uncle. They also LOVE the cats and dogs.

Christmas 2009

Here's a sampling of our Christmas- backwards as usual!

Emma got a beautiful new scarf from her Aunt Jean and Uncle Lance

Jack was beyond thrilled with this outfit from his Aunt Mary and Uncle Tom!!!

Jack also got a scarf!

Jack and Grandpa

Emma and Obeo

Grandpa just HAD to try it on...

Auntie Ali and Jack

Christmas morning was just the 4 of us.

She adores her babies!

Jack got a lunch box for lunch bunch! No more borrowing Daddy's!

Emma was not too happy with the skirt- but ended up wearing it most of the day!

Patiently waiting to see if Santa came!

Eager to go downstairs!!

We had a great family Christmas party in Chicago. Somehow I forgot my camera! We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with just the 4 of us. It was perfect! We had a great dinner with the rest of the family and then headed to Super Nana's for dessert. It was a great holiday. We are now enjoying our week at home together. We're getting tons of projects done around the house and enjoying driving each other crazy!