Brody and Samadi
I had to label this post after the dogs because they really did play a part in our entertainment this weekend. My mom's dog, Samadi (if you have to ask, it means "bliss" in Sanskrit), and Brody played non-stop from the minute we walked into my mom's house. It was fun to finally see Brody get a run for his money since it is always Brody that runs circles around other dogs. Samadi, being only 4 months old, is the cutest puppy I've ever seen (well, Summit would give him a run for his money). He is just a little fur ball and so so sweet and the kids absolutely adore him. Last night I was putting Skyler to bed and I told her I loved her. She says "uh huh.....and Samadi loves me?" So funny.
July 4th Fun!
We were so stoked to have near perfect weather for the 4th of July this year. Herron Island was the ideal place to be with the kids and our friends, the Burrows. John and Lori are very close friends of ours from Xfit and they have two super sweet, super high energy boys that decided that they wanted to stay at the island forever. My mom was so sweet and Ted and Stephanie so accommodating to us as we hosted for the weekend. Highlights included the kids dressed in hula skirts for the parade, xfit workouts in the park, the fun run that John took first, Leif took second and I took third in (if you had told me a year ago that my husband would ever beat me running, I would have laughed at you - but, I LOVE IT!). Also, the ease of having Evan (7 years old) in the house to "take care" of the kids. He would get Skyler out of her crib in the morning and even get the kids cereal while the adults slept in (sort of). We had Ted's tacos at T&S's house one of the nights, went water skiing, watched the fire works and spent the rest of the time laughing with our friends. What a great weekend!
Skyler gets her ears pierced!
I know it is probably more "pc" to wait until she is old enough to choose for herself, but I always regretted not piercing Skyler's ears when she was a baby. And, I can justify the decision because she really did keep asking for "earnings". :) She did awesome - cried for a minute or so and then said "look at my EARNINGS!!!" Monica was with us to capture the moment...
My Love Flowers
Liam has been picking flowers for me lately and telling me that they are "love." This is one of those things that the kids do and all my troubles melt away. Staying home has been so wonderful. The challenging times are always met by sweet times that make you forget the challenging times. I wouldn't trade being with them right now for anything!
Skyler's First Joke
I had to post about this because, even though she has told this joke about 300 times in the last week, I still laugh each time because of the realization that this is her first "joke." We were in the car pulling in to Home Depot the other day and Skyler says "I call Home Depot, Home Depoop." Liam laughed so uncontrollably that it was contagious and Skyler, once realizing that she had an audience, said it over and over and over. Now she will randomly say it from time to time and wait for us to laugh. Its her only joke so far and I am not surprised that it has to do with "poop" since her whole family thinks potty humor is hilarious. :)
Look at my Toe Snails
I painted Skyler's toe nails red the other day and she keeps walked around telling everyone to look at her toe snails. She also thinks that as long as she says "I'm just pretending", then she can do anything she wants. For instance, she hit mommy and then said "I'm just pretending." She pulled all the dirt out of the garden and said "I'm just pretending." I keep telling her that she does not quite have the context of that word.
Liam's end of the year party
Today marks the end of Liam's first year of preschool. He went Tuesday and Thursday mornings and has learned so much. We feel so incredibly blessed to have found a Montessori school that is so close to home that has the most wonderful teachers we could ask for. Meribeth and Leslie have been a tremendous support to our "tender" (Meribeth's word) little Liam. He made a couple really good friends this year as well - Nathan, his best friend, is the little guy in the picture. They are literally connected at the hip. Liam had many ups and just a few downs. He always comes home on Thursdays excited to show me all the things he has made. This last week was a bird house for Leif for Father's Day. He loves to have visitors and when grandma came to visit, Liam was very polite in making sure everyone got to know "Nancy." When Skyler comes in to visit, Liam pulls her close and shows her what to do. Little Isaac is another good buddy that Liam both adores and fears. Isaac is the boy that is total chaos and all boy - loves to build machines and lasers and guns that scare the ___ out of Liam yet Liam loves to hang out with him.
Family Garden
We have decided to do a family garden! Each person gets a bed! Leif and Liam spent the day on our back hill digging out the enormous grass like plant that was taking over the hill. Liam loves to help his dad and Leif is so good about including him. I think he loves it too, even though it takes a lot of patience!
Skyler gives up her paci and moves into her big girl bed!
We have fretted the day when we would have to pull the pacifier from Skyler but she has taken it like a pro. She has really proved what a flexible baby (dare I still call her that?) she is. She was a bit confused because, between Liam and I, we couldn't get our story straight: I told her that the paci fairy came and took her pacifiers to the little babies. Then Liam said "no, the fairy took them to the little fishies." Then I said "well, maybe the little fishies came and got them last night from her bed." Then Liam said "fish don't come in our house...they just swim in the water." At that point, I looked at Skyler and she had somewhat of a panicked and very confused look on her face. However, after one rough nap time (it took her about 35 minutes of crying before she went to sleep whereas she usually asks to go to bed and then falls asleep in 2 - 3 minutes), she was pretty much okay with it. Each time I put her down now she says to me "no more pacis for Skyler!" What an amazing child she is!
Brie's birthday!
What a great birthday weekend it was. Grandpa Teddy and Grandma Stephie stayed over Friday night with the kids (thank you) so Mom and Dad could celebrate her birthday in style at the Bellevue Westin. There was plenty of fun all weekend. Ending it at the Larson's with a great dinner.
The kids helped blow out the candles and of course loved Dad's strawberry pie.
