Joseph's1st Catch, Leah's 1st Dive, & Hannah's 1st Popcorn!

It's officially summer in Milwaukee! (at least for a few days). All the kids have skinned knees, a slight rosiness to their cheeks, and tank tops and shorts ready to go. Though the day did not start out this warm....as you can see we brought our sweatshirts to go fishing at Greenfield Park today. It was Joseph's first time. In preparation for this event, Jay took Joseph to Cabella's yesterday to pick out a fishing rod. A lovely batman rod was selected, and it didn't take Joseph long to snag his first fish....a tiny ugly catfish! He caught two more after that (Jay 0 Joseph 3) and he was quite pleased with himself. Meanwhile I rolled the girls around the walking path and then we all met up at a playground a few hours later and that's when the heat started kicking in. So we did some swinging and some sliding (real crowd pleasers), loaded everyone back into the minivan (much to the disappointment of the little ladies), kicked up the a/c, popped in sesame street, and headed home. Then we dusted off the old kiddie pool, turned on the sprinkler, and let the kids loose. Leah and Hannah weren't so sure what they thought of the whole water play set out before their eyes, but Joseph tried to show them how to run through the water, and then when they moved on to the pool the girls were much quicker to partake. Leah even got so excited that while trying to drink the pool water she actually ended up taking her first dive! She plunged headfirst into the cold water and flopped to her back right away and was in a pretty good panic when I lifted her up to standing position. But after we asked Joseph to show her that it is ok to get into the pool (that is after all what it is for) and he put his bumper in it and got all wet, she quickly calmed down. Hannah observed the chaos and decided she'd rather stick to playing with cups and buckets. Needless to say everyone was very hungry for lunch and ready for naps by the time the morning was over. We did a little bit more playing outside later but mostly stayed in the cool basement, and after Joseph finished practicing writing his name we let them all sit down to watch Lilo & Stitch together. That is when Joseph came up with the idea to pop some popcorn and asked if he could share it with his sisters. What a surprising request! Not the popcorn....but the suggestion of sharing! Actually his first question was, is Lauren coming over? (That is our babysitter) Usually this means he gets popcorn and they watch a movie together or play games....so we figured the popcorn question was coming next. And so that is how the kids ended their memorial day, and now two are down and one to go as we head into the final hours of the evening. Then Jay and I will sit down to some grilled kabobs, and perhaps a chilled glass of something. Ahhhhh summer.....good to see you.

Girls

We've noticed lately that Hannah and Leah are exhibiting signs of being little girls. We of course already knew they were girls, but now they are starting to act like girls. For example, they are infatuated with shoes. They both get so excited when I bring a new pair out of the closet for them to try on. And each morning one of them gleefully exclaims "shoes? shoes? shoes!!" as we are changing diapers and putting on clothes. They also go over to the dresser and try to pick out clothes, but as we all know I like them to be coordinated so for now I am still in charge of the outfits. (how long do we think this will last?) Sometimes I let them wear my bracelets until I can distract them with something else and get the bracelet back on my own wrist, and the other day Leah even asked for a "pretty" to put in her hair. (translation: barrette. But I tell them how pretty they are when I put something in their hair so I think this has led to an incorrect understanding of words) Both girls are also very into hats, and recently were very disturbed when I would not let them wear their winter hats to school on a 60 degree day. Many tears were shed over this travesty. They run around inside with whatever hats they can get their little hands on, and both of them were very excited to put on sunhats Sunday when it was super nice outside. (our one day of summer and sun so far) Contradictory to this girly behavior, was their reaction to a bubble bath last weekend. I guess I've never put bubbles in their bath before, but I thought it would be a fun activity for them and instead it turned a usually enjoyable experienced filled with much glee and laughter into a torturous washing with many tears and cries of "all done". Seriously, from the minute they entered the tub they were crying and trying to stand up and escape. Very abnormal bathtub behavior for both little ladies. And so, the bubbles shall be reserved for big brother only, who can appreciate the happiness and joy that only a bubble filled bath can bring. Girls, they can be so hard to figure out sometimes. :)

Little Developments, Big Kids!

Seems like we don't have any babies around the house anymore, everyone is getting so big and looking so much older. (though Hannah and Leah are still in cribs and we're keeping them there as long as possible!) Joseph is definitely taller, though not quite tall enough for all of his 4T pants. And for the past few months he's been going to swim lessons every week and is getting more comfortable with floating, and trying to swim. Though he does get cold, and after 20 minutes always asks "how many more minutes are left"? We're hoping to stick with it year round, and then sign him up for soccer in the fall or winter. He loves to kick a ball around the alley. Even Hannah has the kick and run going on. Both girls actually know how to put their coats on all by themselves now. They get it wrong every now and then (note Hannah frustrated with her upside down attempt), but are very proud of themselves when they get it right. And Joseph can even zip up his own coat, and next, we are going to attempt tying shoes. He just got his first pair with shoelaces (we shall see if he ever gets a second pair with shoelaces!) He's had spider man shoes waiting in the wings for quite some time, but his feet aren't quite big enough for them yet. He's been very excited to wear them, but every other month when we get them out to try, we're not quite ready yet and I end up buying another sale pair that aren't nearly as cool. Everyone is still taking the afternoon nap, though everyone wakes up at different times. Usually it's the girls first, and last weekend they had an encore late afternoon nap as emotions were running high. Hannah actually passed out, while Leah just chilled out. When I went in to get them and let Leah out of her crib, she ran straight over to Hannah's crib to try to wake her up! (wondering what it will be like to have them share a room when they are not trapped in cribs????) Leah kept saying "Hannah, Hannah!", and when that didn't work, she started knocking on the crib like a door. Was pretty cute. But it didn't wake her up. She was probably exhausted from all the fun she had with cousin Oliver this weekend! It was great having them all run around the house this weekend....can't wait to see what kinds of trouble they get into when they're older! I recall my cousin Jenny and I doing a few things that our parents didn't enjoy, but it makes for some pretty great memories. I mean who doesn't laugh at wet toilet paper stuck to a bathroom ceiling? ;)

Today's Story

Joseph walks into the kitchen and sees two black garbage bags full of stuff on the floor.

Joseph: "Mommy, are those from the attic?"
(he had seen Jay and I taking things out of the attic last night)
Me: "No Joseph, those are from the bedroom. They are old clothes that Daddy and I are getting rid of."
Joseph: "Are Woody & Buzz in there?"
Me: "No, we're not getting rid of any toys, just clothes. Woody and Buzz are still downstairs."
(now we are walking out to the van with the two bags in hand)
Joseph: "Are you sure? Because at Andy's house, he put all the toys in bags, and they were going to go into the attic, and then got put in the car".

For those of you not familiar with the movie, this is the storyline from Toy Story 3. You can see why Joseph was concerned. :)

Mothers Day with a Hot Mess and the Zoo!

We had what is now becoming our traditional mother's day breakfast at Cafe Hollander down in the village area of Wauwatosa. Popular with the kids because of the river and train tracks right outside the windows, and one of our favorites because of the fabulous hot mess....and they open at 8am. (key factor for Conway breakfast outings) We finished just as the zoo was opening and since it's been so cold this spring we haven't gotten out there as much as we usually do, so it was nice to enjoy the sun even though you can see we were wearing winter coats. The girls and I ended up taking ours off shortly after the photos as it did end up getting above 60 degrees, and hopefully we can actually pack them all away this week (I'm skeptical, as I've thought that for over a month now). Then after naps we had our afternoon snack at Baskin Robbins. They are still my favorite choice for ice cream. How can you resist all the flavors? I went with an old favorite, Pistachio Almond, and a new treat, Gold Rush. I highly recommend both (gold rush is lemon flavored with cookies). Jay was not as impressed as I was, but that's because he is a DQ fanatic. He and the girls did enjoy some soft serve though, and Joseph had a strawberry cone with sprinkles. We then hit a park afterwards and instead of the usual zone defense, this time we played man on man with Hannah and Leah, and searched for Joseph every few minutes when he wasn't near. On a playground he never goes far, but we didn't have him in neon colors so he's harder to spot amongst the jungle gyms of slides and tunnels. (We may end up putting the kids in florescents for state fair this year. Despite my hatred for the colors I'd rather do that then make them wear a harness) Today has been a nice family day doing things that we all enjoy, whereas yesterday I spent most of my time relaxing and shopping with friends while Jay stayed home to entertain those not old enough for facials and wine. Turned out to be quite a nice mother's day weekend, and I'm looking forward to more good weather sometime soon!