Nothing Says Summer Like a Front Yard Picnic!

Leaving school on a Tuesday night, Norah complains of how she needs to go out for dinner...

Norah: "Mom, Annika is going out to dinner tonight, can we go out to dinner too?"

Me: "No, we are going to go home to eat dinner."

Norah: "But MOM.... Annika gets to go out to dinner!!!! Can WE go out to dinner too?"

Me: "No honey, just because Annika gets to go out to dinner doesn't mean we get to."

She argues back with a convincing: "But I reeeeeeeeally waaaaaaaant toooo!!!"

Me: "Norah, How 'bout this.... How 'bout we have a picnic in the front yard tonight?!"

Norah: "YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want a picnic Momma!!!"

So a picnic it was!

Love ~ Renee

He is All Boy

First of all, check out this brand new shirt after the first day Clark wore it:

Second of all, daddy got a brand new pressure washer the other day and Clark was just as excited about it as he was. This is a classic picture of the female in the house being annoyed at how excited the men are about power tools:

Clark helped dad put it together, and then later was mad when daddy wouldn't let him try it when he had it going...

Lastly, just like all men leave their stuff laying around the house in the most odd places:

Love ~ Renee

A Very Happy Easter

This year Easter was awesome... it was the first time that Norah "got" the Easter Bunny. I could feel her excitement when she woke up and came running in with a chocolate egg she found outside her door. One of the eggs in the long trail of candy that the Easter Bunny left from her and her brother's doors all the way downstairs to their baskets hiding by the pantry.

Norah: "Mom!!! Look what I found!! The Easter Bunny CAME!" 

Mom: "No WAY! Are you sure?"

Norah: "YES" (nodding her head and raising her eye brows up and down) 

She impatiently waited for her brother to wake up and then we all followed the trail down to their baskets. Norah's eyes were huge as she said "Woah!" when she found the goodies. 

They ate giant chocolate bunnies, gummi bears and chocolate covered marshmallows for breakfast (that was all the candy they got). They had one healthy snack before an early nap, then at Aunt Kathy's they had cookies and strawberries, which somehow replaced their lunch. 

They had candy all day. Then they crashed. They crashed big time. Just use your imagination :)

Oh, and last night we stayed up late dying Easter eggs. Towards the end, Norah interrupted me mid-sentence with a huge "SHHH!!!!". She went on to explain (whispering) that she saw a crack in one of the eggs, and that means that the baby chick is trying to get out, so we need to be quiet! "See that light mom?" (the chandelier over the table) "that is to keep the eggs warm so the babies will grow." As I started to ask her how she knew that, she interrupted with another "SHHHH!!!!!". 

She amazes me every day.

Love ~ Renee

What a beautiful day for polka dots!

This weekend we soaked up the sun, walked for miles, played at the park and had a picnic... believe it or not, the polka dots were accidental :)

Love ~ Renee

Random Thoughts & Photos

Exhaustion makes everything funny... absolutely everything. If I have to be this tired, I am glad I can at least enjoy it.

I want my kids to stay this age FOREVER. I am addicted to kissing Clark's fat baby scented cheeks. Norah amazes me daily with her crazy smart thoughts, and I love that when one of them wakes up from a nap before the other one, they get insanely excited when the other finally wakes up and they both hug each other like long lost siblings.

Norah's eyes have started to resemble my dad's. I think. I only have one picture of him where you can see his face clearly, and he is giving a funny look to the camera, but Norah has been giving us the same face lately. That's how it struck me. He never gave me a chance to know him, but it's comforting to think there is a piece of him with us and that he's not just a figment of my imagination.

I'm sad that Clark is moving from the infant room to the toddler room at daycare. Not because he is getting older (well, maybe a little because of that), but because I love his teachers and I'll miss talking to them every morning. I am excited for Clark though, because he seems to be bored and is missing his girl Grete who waiting for him there :)

What are you supposed to do when kids fight over toys?! Before I had kids I thought "that's easy, just tell them to share or take away the toy!" Turns out that is not the perfect solution. It's not fair to the kid who originally started playing with the toy to take it away if the other kid tried to take if from them. Which happens every time anyone picks up a toy. If I did it this way we would have 0 toys left. I give up! Just fight it out :)

The most relaxing fun thing I look forward to on a weekly basis? Well, I have three of them: Parenthood, New Girl & Up All Night. TV Shows. It really is so exciting to me to sit on the couch and not have to do anything but laugh (or cry) at the TV.

I love staying home on Wednesdays with the kids. I finally feel like life is just a little bit less hectic and passing us by just a little more slowly. Today we played in the snow all day making snow men, snow angels, snow balls you name it! 

Here are a bunch of random photos from the last month....

The Look

Saying "I Love Tacos!" in her looooow voice 

I love that they love each other so much

Can you resist this face?

Look Ma! No Hands!!!

Norah loves to color. 

Here is her specialty... Rainbow Dora

He sat himself down in this baby doll chair,

put the tray on his lap and pretended to drink from a toy sippy cup

Fighting - Norah had it first

Mr. Independent makes a mess

Muah!

Norah probably ate about 10 lbs of snow today

Love ~ Renee

The Tables Have Turned... (& Merry Christmas!)

For months, years really, we have been trying to teach Norah how to be patient and cooperative and to not whine or yell.  Most of the way we felt as though we were talking to a brick wall :) Lately we have resorted to a sticker chart, which has been working rather well. Now, the tables have turned... 


As we are getting ready to leave the house in the morning for school:

   Me (a little frustrated): Norah, please hurry up and zip up your jacket!!

   Norah: Hold on Mom! I'm working on it! Just like I have to wait for you to make your coffee, 
               you have to wait for me to zip up my coat! OK?

   Me (laughing): OK Norah, I am sorry, I will try to be more patient.

Later that day as we are driving home from school:

   Norah: Mom, can I please have a snack when we get home?

   Me: We'll see what we have when we get there honey.

   Norah: What? Can I please have a snack Mom?

   Me: I said we'll see what we have Norah.

   Norah: What Mom? Can I have a snack or not?

   Me: Yes Norah! I said Yes, you can have a snack!

   Norah: Then don't tell me "we'll see what we have" mom! Just say YES!

   Me (laughing again): Does it make you frustrated when I don't give clear answers?

   Norah: Yes!

I guess maybe I need a sticker chart of my own :)

Clark has been doing a little growing up of his own. He now says "Hello -insert name here-" to almost everyone he knows including all the kids in the infant room and his favorite teacher! It seems like it was just overnight that he learned how to say all these names! He sometimes starts his day by walking around the infant room looking for the babies saying "where baby?" over and over. (Imagine all this in the most super high-pitched baby voice possible - I die every time he talks!) He loves to "ROAAAAAAR" like a dinosaur and make his Air Force One jet (thanks Auntie Leesie!) fly around as he makes whooshing noises for it. Oh, and if he sees something he wants he says "Uh Ohhhhh" and points to it. That means "Hand that to me please!" 

So that's the synopsis of our life at the moment. I have not been great at taking my camera out a lot lately. If it's not within eyesight, then I tend to not think about. I'm just distracted by everything else around me.

So here's some photos from the last few weeks...


Making Christmas Cookies

Yes - She totally needed a haircut here!









Christmas Eve at Nona's & Grandpa's House












Christmas Morning at Home... Santa Came!!!

















And this year we spent Christmas Day first with my Aunts & Uncles and Cousins, and then went on to spend the rest of the night with Grandma Renee & Grumpa at their house with Auntie Leesie and Uncle Joe. It was such a fun day that I forgot to take any pictures! Oops :) We will sure have it locked away in our memories though... we even had a magical drive home; As the kids were sleeping, we drove around looking at Christmas lights all around the neighborhood while listening to Christmas music. What a perfect ending to a Merry Christmas :)


Love ~ Renee