I've Been A Little Slow....

It seems I've been a bit slow with posting pictures....just put the 4th of July photos out on facebook, still working on the 2013 family photo album.  Yes, I still put together photo albums...but I do use Shutterfly to print the pictures on nice pages instead of printing photos and slipping them into the albums (not that there's anything wrong with that!).  But I have managed to find time to watch about 10 old episodes of the King of Queens over the past week because I am more inclined to do that from bed than work on a photo album.  (bet you thought I would say Seinfeld?  No, I've seen all those 5 times over.  And Yes, I do still watch them anyway)  The kids watched two oldie but goodie movies recently...Dumbo and Charlotte's Web!  Jay was in New York for two weeks in July so we tried to fill it with activities along with some McDonalds and movies.  He brought back shirts for the kids, and Joseph told him he's too old for Mickey.  Jay tried to explain that you're never too old for Mickey and didn't he want to go to Disney where Mickey lives?  Joseph responded with something along the lines of geez dad, there's lots of other stuff at Disney besides Mickey.  For being such an old kid who does math problems and practices writing, he sure sleeps with a lot of stuffed animals (approx. 20...grover of course, along with a Sneech, Yurtle, the brewers Sausages, a shark, blue bunny, very large frog and huge red puppy, a yellow duck, an elf....I could go on)  And speaking of writing, I convinced him to write a page in his summer journal the other day and he decided on a biography.  It went something like "Hi.  My name is Joseph Conway.  I am alergeck to everything outside and cats.  I like....."  Yes, he led with his allergies!  It was actually pretty funny, at least to me.  Hannah and Leah practice writing letters and their names, but aren't nearly as interested in reading as Joseph was.  But they are both very meticulous in their artwork and coloring.  They cannot get enough princess and Barbie coloring books and pages, and if they accidentally poke the marker through the page or color a color where they didn't intend, they disgard the entire page and need to start over.  They also measure time in sleeps, and are counting down to the number of sleeps until they see Bubbie and Papa and their cousins at the beach, how many sleeps until Grandma comes to our house, and how many sleeps until we go to Ohio to visit Grandpap and Grandma Pam?  It's cute, except that they literally ask these questions every night. :)  Along with Leah asking as I'm walking out of the room "Mommy can I pick out my clothes in the morning?" and Hannah screaming "Mommy I love you!" as I'm closing the door.  It's actually quite adorable, which I have to remind myself of in the moment at times! 

Father's Day

 On father's day we stopped at Cranky Al's for donuts for breakfast and then continued on to Lamplighter park in Brookfield for fishing and park play.  Leah was the big winner with two catches for the morning, and after about 20 minutes they were ready for swings and slides but Joseph stuck with it for a while before joining us at the park.  Jay was then off to London for work later in the day so we drove down to Evanston and had fun at the beach with Poppa, Bubbie, and Aunt Gina. (It may have been the windiest day of the year and Lake Michigan was freezing but the kids didn't care one bit and the sand came out of my ears after a few days).  A fun summer weekend....and with the fourth approaching it seems like summer is going to be over as soon as it began!

Last Day of 1st Grade

Joseph's last day of first grade at Washington Elementary!  Leah and Hannah were happy to be there for the flag raising and pledge of aledgence as well as the ice cream social later that afternoon on the playground.  The girls cannot wait to join him next year when they go to half day junior kindergarten (they are about 6weeks past the cutoff and will be the oldest in their class).  Joseph has changed so much since the beginning of the school year....he has his two front teeth, he is over 48 inches tall, and his writing has really taken off!  Though he still doesn't like to do it, we're trying to motivate him by just writing one page a week to earn a new Wii game at the end of the summer.  His response was that he could just have a few more lemonade stands and earn the money himself! (we have some very generous customers)  He's looking forward to sleepovers with his friends, Lego camp, coach pitch baseball, and swim lessons start up for all the kids next week at the outdoor pool.  (Hannah has already scraped her face on the bottom of it but it didn't seem to bother her much)  Since we bought a pool pass for this summer it is turning out to be the coldest June on record, but we're still enjoying it!  The girls start their Safetytown class next week and then onto dance and gymnastics.  Between all the activities, parks, the zoo, beaches and camping....everyone is excited for summer!

Baking Scenes

The kids had been wanting cookie dough, so last weekend we made cookies from scratch (which I almost NEVER do) and they had fun tasting their work and enjoying homemade cookies in their lunches for a week.  (You can tell Jay's still having fun with the new camera)  And on the subject of lunches, i feel like we need to find something new to add to the mix.  Joseph almost always takes peanut butter and jelly to school, though sometimes he will bring a slice of pizza or a lunchable instead, that's about it in terms of variety!  The girls like grilled cheese (but only with tomato soup), velveeta shells and cheese, and sometimes can also be convinced to have a slice of pizza (though they prefer pizza with olives or mushrooms or tomatoes....more like me and less like Joseph and Jay!)  Everyone has had subway a few times but it seems when we make the sandwiches no one likes them, so I'm at a loss for what we can put in their lunch other than the usual.  (we did do hard-boiled eggs for a few weeks but no one's a big fan of that anymore)  Ideas anyone?

Long Time No Post

We've been having so much fun taking pictures with our new camera that it seems I haven't posted any in a while!  Here's some of my favorites.

Dancers or Divas?

It's hard to know which...the girls strike a pose at a moments notice and are very particular about what they wear, with Leah requesting pretty clothes for the morning each night at bedtime and telling her cousin Morgan how "fashionist" she is and Hannah busting out her runway face and walk regularly.  They really liked having makeup for their first dance recital, which they called lipstick and eyelocks. (instead of eyeshadow).  They asked why their eyelocks couldn't be as dark and purple as one of the other girls but I decided they were only ready for light pink and brown hues.  Such girly girls, though it was nice to see them playing in the mud with Joseph at Grandma and Grandpap's house, digging for worms and not crying because their pants and hands were dirty!  Though it seems Hannah needs to be reeled back in...before nap today she told me  "I like wiping boogers on Bunny's tail".  Remind me not to ever touch Bunny again.

Joseph is 7!!!

Hard to believe, but this kid is 7!  And this year the celebrating begun by having a sleepover at our house with a few good buddies, and continued festivities all weekend!  I still remember us bringing baby Joseph home from the hospital on Easter Sunday, with light flurries in the air and Taco Bell the only stop on the way home that appeared to be open for food.  I also remember him sleeping the majority of the day....not so at age 7!  Joseph had fun this morning with Grandma, Bubbie, Papa, Aunt Gina and his sisters.  It started with some playing followed by breakfast cooked by dad of course (bacon bacon bacon!)  Then he came with me to pick up the cake decorated with minions (Despicable Me 2) and Angry Bird balloons.  After we sang and blew out the candles (which we had to ask Hannah and Leah not to do several times), he opened his presents from smallest to biggest, putting on a show and enjoying the audience.  It was in the 50s today so we were able to head out side and play which was nice, and then he spent some time trying out his new Harry Potter Wii game, went to practice Hockey, and then came home to have some more cake and hang out with Dad before getting ready to stick a fork in day 1 of his seventh year.

The Domes, a Tooth and a Bike

We went to the Domes last weekend for the farmer's market, and the kids enjoyed trying cider, dips and biting into apples.  Especially Joseph, because after his first few bites he decided that he needed to pull out his loose tooth.  He spent the rest of the time we were there moving it back and forth, using tissues to wipe the blood (Leah and Hannah could not believe that there was blood!) and in the tropical dome during a game of iSpy, at last, the tooth was out!  And since the tooth fairy gave him a dollar that night, despite the blood, Hannah and Leah are now looking forward to being 5 and loosing their first teeth.  Sunday was very nice and finally in the 50s, so Jay took Joseph to his school to try riding his bike with no training wheels.  First try and he was off and moving on two wheels!  Though it seems perhaps our parking lot idea was flawed, because now Joseph says the alley and sidewalk by our house are too skinny for him to ride on. (seriously?)  We told him after he's 7, he's old enough to ride on skinny areas.

Go Dayton!

Jay's Alma mater is in the Sweet Sixteen - Go Dayton!!!!  (It's possible the girls just like the shirts because they are pink....Dad was smart when he picked those out on his last trip to Ohio.  This time he flew into Dayton instead of Cinci for work because he needed a flag.  I'm sure you'll see that in a post coming soon to a screen near you!)

The Cake

I celebrated my 37th birthday yesterday (I actually thought it was 38 but Jay convinced me I was wrong), and Jay took on the impressive task of making a cake from scratch!  He spent 3-4 hours in the kitchen mixing and baking and even creating his own frosting on the eve of said birthday, while I took the kids to the park to play (still in snow pants of course, it's not exactly spring in Milwaukee yet) and got everyone ready for bed.  Almost 24 hrs later it was time to eat the cake, and let's just say Jay and I had a good laugh.  It wasn't a bad cake, it tasted ok and it was quite festively decorated, but the comments around the table from the kids started with Leah's first bite.  "I don't like this cake, I'm just going to eat ice cream" followed by Hannah's "Can I just have more ice cream?" and Joseph's assessment which began with "This is a very hard cake.  Why would anyone want such a hard cake?"  At some point Jay asked Hannah if she wanted him to make a cake for her birthday and without hesitation she said a very simple and unfiltered "NO".  We laughed, and it actually says a lot that no one cried (a very common occurrence at the dinner table at our house)   I still enjoyed the cake and ice cream and of course appreciate all the trouble Jay went to.  Maybe next time he can grill one (that is a JOKE.  I do not want a grilled cake when I do actually turn 38.  Baskin Robbins or Betty Crocker would be just fine!).