May 30

So, Deanna gave Emma some sort of high heeled flip flops. They are very cute, but not very practical but we needed a picture of them. Here she is strutting around in her shoes. Thanks Deanna.

I think she was a little frustrated because they kept falling off so here she is taking matters into her own hands. She is a true girl.

Today we met our friends Amanda, Shelby, and Elias at the zoo. Amanda was also babysitting her 3 nieces and nephews for the day. Here are all the kids from left to right: Ethan, Shelby, Elias, Sarah, Emma, Rachel, and Remmington.

Emma, Remmy, and Elias looking at the snakes.

Rachel and Ethan playing in the splash park. We didn't stay here long because the zoo was so crowded.

Ethan enjoying the jumping water.

Emma posing for the camera.

Emma had fun splashing in the water also.

Ethan and Emma on the train.

May 27

No new pictures for today but we have really had a good day. It is 8:30 and both kids are in bed. That is a miracle around here. Also, on the good news note, Daddy got accepted to the Alt-Cert program at Spalding University and will start classes on Tuesday, yes this Tuesday. Now all he has to do is find a teaching job for this fall and hopefully will be a teacher come August! As I was reading books to Emma tonight at bedtime, she was pointing to all the pictures in the books and talking so much that I thought that I would try to compose a list of all of the words that she is currently saying. She is of course only saying these words in front of her Mommy and Daddy though as she is so shy. So, here we go....
Mama
Dada
bub (cup)
Dora
Dog Dog
Night Night
Ruff Ruff
Bye Bye
Book
Nose
Eye
Mouth
Moon
Moo
Roar
Baa
Neigh
Papaw
Nana
Mamaw
Hi (when the phone is up to her ear)
There may be more, I will update this if needed.

May 26

No pictures from today. This one is from last night. Daddy and Ethan both fell asleep reading books at bedtime and Mommy couldn't resist this photo opp. Today we just came home from school and had dinner and then went to see Papaw and Mamaw Jayne for a few minutes. Trystan got in the pool (which is still green) and helped Papaw get the stairs put back into place. Then Tiffanie, Paige, and Logan came over for a play date since Daddy was back to work on the boat. It is 10:30 and the word is that the boat is now running, keep your fingers crossed!

Boat Progress

This is a picture of the finished floor with new carpet glued down and ski locker trim back on. The carpet matches really good with the old carpet. Can't wait to get the motor running and take the boat out on the lake and enjoy it!

This is a picture of the carpet before it got glued down. It was cut and dry fitted.

This is the floor after I put Fiberglass Resin on the pressure treated plywood. It needed the fiberglass resin so the floor wouldn't rot as quickly.

This picture is of the first 1/2" layer of pressure treated plywood that was put down.

This is another picture showing that there are now two 1/2" sheets of pressure treated plywood on the floor. It is really strong and shouldn't rot out any time soon.

May 25th

These pictures are from the week, which I will go ahead and say was exhausting. The picture of Emma above pretty much shows how we all felt this week.

This is our cousin/niece Morgan. Mommy really liked this picture.

Morgan and her sister Madison.
Uncle Chris and... the boat.

Mommy even helped out with... the boat.

Why such hesitation to speak of the... b-word... (really can't even stand the name right now). Well, just let me tell you why. Daddy started working on the boat LAST Saturday and worked on it every night all week long until Sunday. He would come home from work (days that he went in to work) and go straight down to Chris and Candace's (where the b*** is housed) and not come home until sometime after midnight. This past Saturday (day 8) was the worst. We really hoped to take it and put it in the water this weekend. Daddy worked on the boat all day Saturday really trying to get it ready to at least take it to the water for a few days. Problem after problem and we will just have to try again in the next few weeks. Mommy was so stressed and tired she called her friend Tiffanie Saturday night and Tiffanie could tell the stress level Mommy was at and she insisted that the kids and I come over for dinner and to hang out. Mommy just told her that she really needed adult interaction and the kids really needed to play with someone other than Mommy. THANKS SO MUCH Tiffanie! That helped alot. We walked up to the park after dinner and we even bathed all the kids there and came home (around 11:00) and they were ready for bed. When we discovered that the boat just would not be ready this weekend, Daddy decided to take a well needed break.

Sunday we slept in and got the much needed rest we all needed. No one woke up before 9 and my little sleeper Emma didn't wake up until after 10:00. We ran a few errands and then headed over to Brian and Tracy's house for a bike ride. We rode from there house and down to the bike path that goes around the whole city and down past the boat docks and to Mike Linnings for dinner. It was a round trip ride of 19.78 miles.

Brian, why are you sitting alone. (This could be because he had cokes spilled on him 3 times in a row!)

The whole crew eating. Down the right side of the table are Kyle, Rachel, and Emily. Down the left side are Trystan, Tracy, and Daddy. Ethan was already done eating and on the playground, Brian was sitting alone and Mommy was taking the picture. The kids (bigger ones) did really good on the ride. They were leading the pack the whole time.

Emma posing in Daddy's sunglasses.

Today we got up early and went downtown for the Mayor's semi-annual Healthy Hometown Bike and Hike. It is a 16.46 mile ride downtown, across the second street bridge and back and then to the park and all over the west end. We went with Brian and Kathy (Mommy's work wife aka job share partner. We are moving stuff in together now and it is just like a marriage. What is mine is yours. We even get to share a lap top!) The total ride today was 20.76 miles. The kids (little ones in the trailer) did OK. Emma had a little break down in the west end/portland area. Mommy discovered a little stinky problem in the diaper area and had to pull over and change a diaper on a sidewalk in a very questionable part of town. That was a first. Overall they did really good. So did all the adults. Mommy and Daddy are pretty tired though. We rode about 40 miles in less than 24 hours!

Ethan and Emma ready at the starting line. We told Ethan that it was a race and so he was ready to go. He kept asking where the finish line was though.

Brian and Kathy ready to take off.

Mommy and Daddy before the ride.

This is what the inside of the trailer looked like. On the floor we have a combo of fruit loops, puffs, and goldfish along with a binky, a baby doll and a few cups. That is what 2 kids confined to a trailer for a couple of hours looks like.

May 15th

Last night we decided to go down to Ohio Valley to watch some race cars (Ethan's favorite thing to do.) The Rodger's called us to see what we were doing and when I told them, I heard Bill laughing out loud, literally. But, as you can see, they went with us. We went to eat at Fazoli's first and there was no screaming involved and all the kids ate there food. It was amazing! Ethan was even a good sport and let Paige and Logan take turns feeding him.

The kiddos in their man muffs at the track.

Emma isn't much into the cars so she just uses this time to get in a good nap.

Logan and Tiffany watching the cars. I really liked this picture of Logan with his thumb in his mouth, his "baby" (the blanket) and his mommy. He would take his thumb out of his mouth long enough to tell you about how loud the cars and motorcycles were.

Today Daddy wanted to get the oil changed in all the cars and the kids wanted to help. Here is Emma under Tyler's car.

Joey teaching Tyler how to change his oil in his car. He got his license yesterday and now needs to get his car ready to drive.

I guess learning how to change your oil for the first time can be fun.

May 11

These pictures are from the weekend. Friday it was raining, and that is putting it lightly, so we stayed inside and Emma played with her new favorite toy "ball" (which is the little playschool toy that shoots balls all over the room and makes OCD people like Mommy have to chase them all over the house!) Anyhow, she really wanted to show all her friends her new fav.

Ethan is learning how to fake smile. Don't ya just love this phase.

Emma sure thinks that it is cute.

At least with all the rain, the kids are managing to entertain each other playing downstairs. And they are actually being nice to each other.

This is a hug and not a head lock, I promise.

Saturday morning, Mommy got up with Ethan and let Daddy and Emma sleep in a little. Here is the fake smile again and in the background on the train table you can see Ethan's OCD side coming out. He has some hot wheels cars out to play with and this is how he likes to play with them, he lines them up in perfect rows and says that they are waiting to race. He gets really upset if you turn one around to face the opposite direction of the rest of them.

Emma is our little sleeper still. I took this picture at around 9:00. Don't you just love the "ruffle butt." It sure is fun after 2 boys.

So after everyone woke up Saturday morning, Mommy decided that she wanted the flower beds totally redone for Mother's Day so off to Lowe's we all go. We spent from 10:00 am until bedtime outside. We worked in the yard until dinner and then went on a 13 mile bike ride that night.

Ethan helping plant the "planets."

Emma likes to cut the grass and Ethan was struggling with his patience. He really really wanted to water the plants and Daddy really really wanted him to wait.

He waited literally all day to water the "planets." He really thought that this was fun.

We really didn't give Emma time to take a nap on Saturday so Mommy threw in a Baby Einstein while cooking dinner and after about 3 minutes she was out.

The final product.

Ok, so be prepared, Mommy really really likes Emma summer wardrobe so there will be lots of pics of her just in her cute outfits. These are probably my favorite pj's (although I may say that about another pair in a few days.)

This is the dress that she wore on Mother's Day. Another favorite.

Now for Monday. We always have issues re-adjusting to work on Monday and it is usually pretty ugly, especially around dinner time. Next year I guess it will be the dreaded Tuesday since Mommy won't be working on Monday's. Emma was really struggling with her spaghetti this evening.

She really wants someone to pick her up and get her out of her chair. She can't understand why Mommy won't just grab her and wants to waste time washing her off?!?!

So, who wants to come over for dinner at our place?