ring ring

I walked into the kitchen to find that Emily had pulled a chair over to the counter and climbed onto it. Apparently our banana phone was ringing.

new deck

Deck construction has begun!

We're getting a deck and I'm so excited (and excited is not a word that I use often to describe the way that I feel)...but we've been in our house for 8 and a half years and I'm tired of looking out at nothing and doing nothing in the backyard. All that is going to change now! With the addition of the playset a few weeks ago, an adjacent play area that is still being designed in my head and the deck, we are going to be hangin' out there a lot and I can't wait. Of course, Connor and Emily associate "deck" with pirate ships so they think it's being built for them to play pirates on, as they keep telling me. I guess I better get out and get them some pirate gear or I'll be walking the plank matey! (I know, I'm a dork).

sippy cup success

I've been trying to introduce the cup to Camryn for months and, up until the last few days, she just wasn't interested. But now she's finally got it!

And as I was taking a few pictures of Camryn's sippy cup success, Emily said, "Take a picture of me wiping my face Mom", so here it is.

disney

We're back from Florida and I'm officially having Disney withdrawal. I've been to Disney half a dozen times but it's completely different when you experience it through your children...it's so much better. Our flight down there went pretty well considering Camryn needed a nap but didn't fall asleep until the last ten minutes of the flight. She was a little restless for most of the flight so Carl and I just kept passing her back and forth. I kept thinking, thank God the woman next to me had her iPod on. She listened to music with her eyes closed the whole flight, probably imagining she was on a beach somewhere and not sitting next to a squirmy and sometimes loud 9-month-old. We took the Disney transportation bus from the airport to our resort, Pop Century. The bus is called the "Magical Express" and it truly was magic...it made our luggage dissapear for about 6 hours leaving us with no pj's for bedtime. It was annoying at the time because we were all tired and just wanted to go to bed but looking back, it didn't matter. The kids slept in their clothes just fine. We spent an entire day in the Magic Kingdom, not really planning to stay until 9 p.m. when the fireworks show ends the night over Cinderella's castle, but the kids hung in there GREAT all day so we made it until the end. The girls napped on and off in the stroller, we took our time getting around the park, the weather was great and it wasn't that crowded. We spent most of the next day at Hollywood Studios. The new American Idol experience was awesome and was Connor's favorite part of the whole trip. I could go on and on with tons of details about rides, attractions, characters, etc. but instead, here are some pics with captions to highlight our week.

This was the only "character" that Emily would take a picture with, probably because she was a real person (it's Sleeping Beauty). But as you can see below, she gave Cinderella the cold shoulder.

And although June, from Little Einsteins, is her favorite character in the whole world, even she got a little too close. Yes, Emily is actually pushing her away. June did get a kiss in though and as soon as she backed away, Em was beaming.

This picture of Piglet kissing Camryn is one of my favorites.

Connor posed with any character I asked him to but I should be in these pictures...Tigger and JoJo are my favorites.

He thought getting a picture with Lightening McQueen was pretty cool. This was probably the longest line we waited in...about a half hour.

And we got some good family shots

After Disney, we rented a car and drove to my mom and stepdad's house about 3 hours south. The kids got to swim in the pool and visit with family. Blog and pics to follow.

new (or at least gently used) playset

We have a playset! I've been looking for months at the wooden ones, which can range anywhere from $300 t0 $1000 (I'm not counting "creative playthings", which are the same amount of money as a used car or a vacation to Europe). After lots of online research, reading reviews, comparing prices and getting mentally psyched for 12 hours of hard labor to put the thing together (that would have been Carl actually), we went with a gently used, less than one-year-old playset that was a steal...we couldn't pass it up. Thanks to my Dad and Uncle Gary for helping Carl...driving the hour and back, loading and unloading it into/from the truck, taking it apart and putting it back together! Once they got it into the backyard, it took them 30 minutes to put it back together. It's awesome and the kids have been having so much fun!

And here it is! (Pictures with actual kids having fun to follow)

bedtime conversation

I wish I could record so many of the conversations I have with my kids. Like today, Connor asked me if bees and wasps go to hell to be with the devil. What?! I didn't even know that he knew what hell and the devil were. When I asked, he told me that he heard of them in a Rodney Atkins song (country musician). Rodney does have a song called "If you're going through hell" and he mentions the devil but ironically, the song isn't about hell or the devil at all. I guess I really need to screen his music choices better. So, onto my bedtime conversation with Emily tonight:

Em: Mom, I have a question idea for you.
Me: You do? What's your question idea?
Em: You need to use your magic wand and poof me into a snowball.
Me: I do? But I don't want to turn you into a snowball...I like you just the way you are.
Em: (Laughs) Yeah, I'd be too freezing cold.
Me: So why do you want to be a snowball?
Em: To roll down the steps and you not catch me. (She fell backwards down the steps a few days ago but I caught her just in time).
Mom: Oh, so if you fall down the steps again and you're a snowball then I won't have to catch you?
Em: Yep. I just roll roll roll to the bottom.
Mom: Okay, good reason to want to be a snowball.

The stuff they come up with.

goldfish

Every parent knows that Goldfish are a must. They need to be in the house, the diaper bag, the car, everywhere you go, and at all times. Thank goodness they now come in a variety of flavors and some are even "made with" whole grain, which I know is a trick but at least it fools me into thinking they are somewhat healthy, or at least not unhealthy. I even love Goldfish, particularly the pizza ones. If you really want to spice things up, put peanut butter on them (assuming there are no peanut allergies of course). You can dip them in peanut butter or put peanut butter on them with a knife, whatever works for you. After I put the peanut butter on, I like to serve them to my kids like this.

Yum, yum, yum.