Just The Two Of Us

Our summer schedule is pretty busy. Mondays are our stay home and clean days. Tuesdays and Fridays are library and I hope to add splash pad to this. Wednesdays and Thursdays, Lexi goes to an elementary school for the community center sponsored Summer Youth Program- Nater naps- Emi and I have "just us" time. For our first "just us" time, Emi asked if we could paint each others' nails. Then we watched a movie together (well, until I fell asleep- I don't think I have ever seen all the way through Sleeping Beauty). I am loving this special time with my special girl!

Letting our nails dry while enjoying a shake.

Painting Mommy's nails.

I love how happy this time makes her!

Watermelon

What is this?

Posing because Mom started taking pictures.

Rolling the watermelon.

Falling off the watermelon.

All worn out!

We bought a watermelon. The boy began playing with it right away and loved it. He mostly enjoyed trying to "ride" it, and later, eating it!

On a side note, when I look down all I see is belly. Belly as big as a watermelon.

Ignore the mess, our bedroom (lowest priority) never gets/stays clean.

Dino For A Day

 All was peaceful in Little People village, UNTIL...

Triceratops ATTACK!

How are you spending your Saturday morning?

Maybe you would like to become a dino too.

Now you can...

This is an ad Lexi decided to make the other day (completely on her own).

I didn't get a picture of the ad before it got ruined- sorry.

It says, "Learn to be a dino with lessons from Lex. Start today. Easy. Fun. Free."

Through The Eyes Of A Child

Sunday was Father's day. I hadn't planned much. For Mother's day, my family worked hard to get the house clean/ organized. So for Father's day, we started working on the garage for my husband.

I love my husband. I love how much he loves his kids. I love the way he plays with them. I love that he makes such wonderful things for them. I love that he provides an income so that his kids can have a stay at home mom. I love the person he is and the person he is striving to become.

My kids love my husband too!!!! They get so excited when he comes home. They love spending time with him. They love him so much.

The kids filled out surveys about their parents for these special days. I love reading how they feel about us. Here is what they had to say:

Alexis about Dad:
My dad is 25 years old. My dad is 10ft. 11in. tall. My dad weighs 10 million lbs. My dad has black hair. My dad has brown eyes. My dad likes to wear white. His favorite TV show is Legend of the Seeker. He likes to go shopping. For fun, he likes to play. His favorite food is spaghetti and meatballs. His favorite drink is water- because he always tells me to drink water. My favorite thing about dad is that he tickles me. At work, Dad works. My dad is special because I love him.

Alexis about Mom:
My mom's name is Lydia. My mom is 27 years old. My mom likes to play games. My mom has 2 eyes. My mom weighs this much: 10 pounds. My mom's birthday is on 3-28 March. My mom was born in Indiana. My mom's favorite food is lettuce. My mom likes to help me clean. My mom is the best at all.

Emily about Dad:
My dad is 6 years old. My dad is 100 ft. 10 in. tall. My dad weighs 100 lbs. My dad has black hair. My dad has pink eyes. My dad likes to wear all of his clothes. His favorite TV show is grown up tv shows. He likes to go to the waterpark we went to on Saturday- he LOVED it! For fun he plays with his R/C cars. His favorite food is every food. His favorite drink is Dr.Pepper. My favorite thing about Dad is hugging him and tickling him. At work, Dad works. My dad is special because he loves me and tickles me.

Emily about Mom:
My mom's name is Lydia. My mom is 27 years old. My mom likes to be a mom. My mom has brown eyes. (Emi didn't know my weight, birthday or where I was born). My mom's favorite food is cereal. My mom likes to help me vacuuming. My mom is the best at cooking.

Don't you just love those answers!!!

Dear Alexis

Dear Alexis,

We sat the other day and looked through your scrapbook. You said to me, "Mom, I will always be your first baby you had, right?" I am so glad you are understanding that. I think there is something special about the bond you form with your first child. Then things you do and have done are new to me and Dad. You are full of surprises and we learn and grow so much from being your parents.

I can hardly believe you are already six. I guess what really amazes me is  how fast that time has flown by. You, however, are growing up like it is the thing to do! You want so much to be older, to have all the answers and to be on your own. Sometimes, I get a reminder of the little girl you once were. Most of the time you want to just be free and independent and able to explore and learn on your own.

 





You love to learn. You love the world around you, especially animals. You watch documentaries on animals and dinosaurs for fun. You remember so many facts, especially about the animals you love most. You are almost always pretending to be an animal.  You will say things like, "I am a super fast runner because I am a cheetah!" Your favorite animals to become are horses, guanacos, allosauruses, and Quetzelcoatlas. When you are not pretending to be an animal you like to create cakes or doll houses and furniture from blocks. You always love to do crafts and draw. You have also developed a strong love for reading and you easily go through a chapter book just about every week.

Alexis, you are a wonderful big sister. You and Emily are the best of friends. You are often willing to compromise what you want to make her happy (like letting her go first when taking turns). You take care of Nater and now that he is big enough, you like to play with him. You area  good example to your siblings. You are quick to be obedient and you are very kind.

You love people! You are so social and you will talk to anybody that is willing to listen. You seem to especially like to talk to grown ups at grocery stores. You work hard to make new friends. If you are in a situation where others are playing you like to join in with them. The other day when we went swimming with Cherish you worked hard to make friends with other girls at the pool. At first they weren't playing with you, but you kept at it and soon  you were all playing and having fun together. I love the way you trust people and want to include everyone. I love that you are comfortable being friends with people of all ages. I don't think there is a person you have encountered that you haven't loved instantly.

Alexis, I am so happy to be your mom. I love to watch you grow and to be a part of your discovering the world. I love your curiousity and I am grateful you allow me to see things from a new perspective. Thank you for being my first baby. Thank you for helping me to become a better mom. I love you with all of my heart!

Love,
Mom

Happy Birthday Alexis

So, it has been a while since her birthday, but we have been pretty busy around here.

On Lexi's 2nd birthday she woke up to a living room full of balloons. We wanted her to know that it was a special day from the beginning. We love how exciting the balloons are for the kids, so it is a tradition we have stuck to. We try to come up with fun and creative ways to make the balloons different each year. This year, Alexis had a "curtain" of balloons hanging by her bed. Right away she was excited for her special day.

We were going to be spending that afternoon at a friend's house swimming since Philip got to be home from work (it was a 4 day weekend for Memorial day). That morning we made the cake, finger painted, and just hung out.

Then we went swimming. The girls float vests they wear in the pool. Philip worked with them on moving in the water (doggy paddle style mostly) and floating. After a while, Alexis asked if she could swim without her vest. To my extreme discomfort, her dad said yes (his comfort level with risk-taking is so much higher than mine). She did so well. At one point she moved too far out (where the pool began to slope from 3-5 ft. and she went under a couple times while working on getting back. She was very upset and nervous. We praised her for remaining calm and working her way to the shallow end. Then she got right back in the water! I was so proud that she didn't allow that experience to scare her from taking risks. We are planning on having the girls take swim lessons this summer.

After swimming we went inside and had cake. (it was so good!) Lexi chose red velvet with cheesecake whipped cream frosting.

We got home and there was a package from my side of the family. It had goodies for everyone, but a special birthday goodie for Lexi too. The girls love getting packages and discovering their new treasures.

A few days later we got the package from my husband's side of the family. Alexis loved her crafts and dragons. She got started on the crafts right away and has worked on one almost every day since.

 Happy birthday Lexi!